The prayer of the Frog

The Rule in a monastery was not, "Do not speak," but, "Do not speak unless you can improve on the silence."


Might not the same be said of prayer?


--


Nothing surpasses the holiness of those 
who have learnt perfect acceptance
of everything that is.


In the game of cards called life
one plays the hand one is dealt
to the best of one's ability.


Those who insist on playing, 
not the hand they were given
but the one they insist they should have been dealt
- these are life's failures


We are not asked if we will play
That is not an option. Play we must
The option is how.


--


Such is the fate of those who,
in their search for God,
are willing to shed everything
except their notions of what God really is.


--


Of what use is it to have eyes if the heart is blind?


--


Reconciliation alone will save the world,
not justice
which is generally another word for revenge


--


We almost never see reality.
What we see is a reflection of it
in the form of words and concepts
which we then proceed to take for reality.
The world we live in
is mostly a mental construct.


--


People do not want truth.
They want reassurance


--


Father to Svetaketu (considered greatest living expert on the scriptures when he was barely past his youth)


"Have you learned that by learning which there is no need to learn anything else?"


"Have you discovered that by discovering which all suffering ceases?"


"Have you mastered that which cannot be taught?"


"No", said Svetaketu.


"Then," said his father, "what you have learnt in all these years is worthless, my son"


So impressed was Svetaketu by the truth of his father's words that he set off to discover through silence the wisdom which cannot be expressed in words.


--


Those who seek for enlightenment fail to find it for they fail to understand that the object of the search is the seeker. God, like beauty, is in the I of the beholder.


--


Your duty is to be. Not to be somebody, not to be nobody -- for therein lies greed and ambition -- not to be this or that -- and thus become conditioned -- but just to be.


--


All it takes is a word of flattery or criticism to uncover the ego.


--


Among the truly religious
the Law is observed.
But it is neither feared ...
... nor revered ...
... it is neither absolutized ...
... nor magnified out of proportion ...
... nor exploited



--


The Truth that sets us free is almost always 
the Truth we would rather not hear


So when we say something isn't true what we all to frequently mean is:
"I do not like it"


--


I think,
therefore I am unconscious
At the moment of thought
I dwell in the UNREAL world
of abstraction
or - of the past
or of the future.


--

It is not necessary to make an effort to think in a particular way. Your thinking should not be one-sided. We just think with our whole mind, and see things as they are without any effort. Just to see, and to be ready to see things with our whole mind, is zazen practice. If we are prepared for thinking, there is no need to make an effort to think. This is called mindfulness. Mindfulness is, at the same time, wisdom. By wisdom we do not mean some particular faculty or philosophy. It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom.


Wisdom is not something to leam. Wisdom is something which will come out of your mindfulness. So the point is to be ready for observing things, and to be ready for thinking. This is called emptiness of your mind. Emptiness is nothing but the practice of zazen

When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity. Movement is nothing but the quality of our being. When we do zazen, the quality of our calm, steady, serene sitting is the quality of the immense activity of being itself

As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now. You may say, "I can do it tomorrow, or next year," believing that something that exists today will exist tomorrow. Even though you are not trying so hard, you expect that some promising thing will come, as long as you follow a certain way. But there is no certain way that exists permanently. There is no way set up for us. Moment after moment we have to find our own way. Some idea of perfection, or some perfect way which is set up by someone else, is not the true way for us.

It is necessary for us to keep the constant way. Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. If you become too busy and too excited, your mind becomes rough and ragged. This is not good. If possible, try to be always calm and joyful and keep yourself from excitement. Usually we become busier and busier, day by day, year by year, especially in our modern world. If we revisit old, familiar places after a long time, we are astonished by the changes. It cannot be helped. But if we become interested in some excitement, or in our own change, we will become completely involved in our busy life, and we will be lost. But if your mind is calm and constant, you can keep yourself away from the noisy world even though you are in the midst of it. In the midst of noise and change, your mind will be quiet and stable

The Bodhisattva's way is called "the single-minded way," or "one railway track thousands of miles long." The railway track is always the same. If it were to become wider or narrower, it would be disastrous. Wherever you go, the railway track is always the same. That is the Bodhisattva's way. So even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way. His way is in each moment to express his nature and his sincerity.

While you are continuing this practice, week after week, year after year, your experience will become deeper and deeper, and your experience will cover everything you do in your everyday life. The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.