the surrealist

"Alone, the Surrealist wanders the streets without destination but with a premeditated alertness for the unexpected detail that will release a marvelous and compelling reality just beneath the banal surface of ordinary experience."


peter galassi





Pic by mandalaybus@Flickr

Zen No Sho

Llyoyd Nick in the Foreword to Zen No Sho:

"The mind of pure spirit flows through the ink onto the pressed rice paper stretched on the floor, quietly forming the leaves of the table of Moses, the vast hidden encyclopedia of insight, the notes of transcendent symphony. All to instruct us to a quieter and higher place.

When the last stroke is complete and spoken, a breath of air leaves like the soul leaving at the time of expiring. It has spoken, has been created, has left its mark. We have received the wisdom of the ages, the word of our own god, the sound of our inner being. For a split second, we are in tune with the universe. The image travels through the limits of our universe in our mind and into our limitless unconsciousness. Knowledge, sacred and profound, pure and mystical, pierces us like the arrow of Theresa of Avila. We have just experienced the joy of life's ode and the unveiling of its glorious and benevolent secrets."


Zen No Sho

unmoved

Picture: Wat Arunratchawararam or Temple of the Dawn, Bangkok @ www.sacred-destinations.com



When all is whirling around you,
there is one that stands unmoved.


aml2007

is there room in yr mind?

Once, there was a young monk who was very anxious to become enlightened.
He studied and practised relentlessly in a number of monasteries for many years.
His mind was full of desire to be enlightened, full of the methods he had learned, and full of anxiety.
After visiting many monasteries, he was told of a very wise and accomplished old monk, who was highly respected by all who knew him.
So the young monk went to stay with the old monk, hoping to learn from him the correct and the fast way to enlightenment.
He imitated the old monk in every possible aspect. But after three years, nothing happened.
Then, one day, the young monk learned that the old monk was gravely ill and probably would die.
The young monk became very upset and thought, "I have spent three years here and he hasn't taught me any way to reach enlightenment. If he dies, how will I find anyone to teach me?"
So the young monk went to the master with a knife. He pointed the knife at the old monk, who lay seriously ill on his mat.
The young monk said to him, "Reverend master, for three years I have served you, hoping you would tell me the way to enlightenment, but you have not done so. Now you are very ill and this is probably my last chance. You must tell me the way to enlightenment now, or I will kill you."
The old monk looked at the young one and sighed, "My dear brother, even if I have something to teach you, where is the room in your mind to receive it?"


Teachings of Dr C. T. Shen, Chuang Yen Monastery

after the rain

"The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life."

HH The Dalai Lama



Pic: Aizu Wakamatsu stands tall with a rare circle rainbow overhead, taken on 1JUN07 by grinchwsig@flickr.com

real wisdom

Those who possess real wisdom seldom speak, for language invariably misrepresents "truth", while those who only pretend to wisdom are quick to proclaim it to others. Wisdom consists in knowing when to speak and when to keep silent, when to elaborate and when to be brief.




Notes to The Dhammapada, Glenn Wallis


The Dhammapada, translated by Glenn Wallis

The Gethsemani Encounter

A dialogue on the Spiritual Life by Buddhist and Christian Monastics, Spring 1996

HH Dalai Lama in his tribute to Thomas Merton:
"As for myself, I always consider myself as one of his (Merton) Buddhist brothers. Since my meeting with him (in 1968), so often when I examine myself, I really follow some of this examples. And so for the rest of my life, the impact of meeting him will remain until my last breath."

Final Reflections by Diana Eck:
"The diversity of streams of traditions, the richness of traditions that has flowed from these two teaching sources - Buddhism and Christianity - present us with many varieties of monastic life. We see here that they are really living traditions. Thomas Merton wrote: Living is not thinking but the constant adjustment of thought to life, life to thought, in such a way that we are always growing, always experiencing new things in the old, old things in new. Life is always new."


The Gethsemani Encounter @ Amazon.com

HH Dalai Lama visits Gethsemani

Merton & Buddhism: Realizing the Self (New Book @ Amazon.com)

mindful living in silence

If you are able to breathe and smile when your sister says something unkind,
that is the beginning of love.

You do not have to go some place else to serve. You can serve right where you are
by practising meditation and smiling.

We want to go out and share what we have learned.
But if you do not practise mindful breathing to untie the knots of pain in ourselves -
the knots of anger, sadness, jealousy and irritation -
what can we teach others?

We must understand and practise the teachings in our DAILY lives.



Thich Nhat Hanh

and so what do we learn?

Sometimes we laugh,
Sometimes we cry,
Sometimes we fall.

I don't know where you are,
or how you got so far from me.
Coz people make mistakes
Sure, it makes your heart break.

There is nothing left to say,
No promises to fake,
We all make mistakes,
People make mistakes.


Source: Lyrics from ZenCast