All movement is change. Since there can be no “non-movement” there can be no “non-change”. Even if I sit still and hold my breath the very cells and moving parts to my body (my heart, lymphatic system, etc.) it is all cycling, thumping, moving, popping into existence and changing into something else. Of course there …
A superb quote from a book just re-released (The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley): Nothing in our everyday experience gives us any reason for supposing that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen; and yet when we subject water to certain rather drastic treatments, the nature of its constituent elements becomes manifest. Similarly, nothing …
Zen Master Bassui wrote the following letter to one of his disciples who was about to die: “The essence of your mind is not born, so it will never die. It is not an existence which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void. It has neither colour nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pains. I know you are very ill. Like a good Zen student, you are facing that sickness squarely. You may not know exactly who is suffering, but question yourself: What is the essence of this mind? Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet nothing. Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in pure air. Death is not the enemy. It appears to be so because we cling too much to life.The fear of death arises out of the clinging. And because of this clinging we are unable to know what death is. Not only that, we are unable to …
I’ve decided to ask for some volunteers, a few folks who’d like to take a stab or two at some zenspeaks articles. I know there are a lot of you out there reading this and I’m glad for that. But I think we all will benefit from some others who might like to take a …