Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
If this koan of the innkeeper appeals to you, you might want to notice whether you can see the light in the most ordinary of places. Can you find the light in your own kitchen? Can you find it in your own body? Where is the light in your own face? At what point in your life are you certain that there is no light? Is it painful to hold that belief?
... See moreJohn Tarrant • Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans That Will Save Your Life
Superior te is not te, and thus has te. Inferior te does not let go of te, and thus is not te. Superior te is non-active [wu-wei] and aimless. Inferior te is active and has an aim. (38)
Alan Watts • The Way of Zen
Inspired by the Confucian philosophy of the original nature of goodness and the Zen techniques of stilling the mind, a synthesis of the three philosophies—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—was reached. This form of Taoism is found in the teachings of two major Taoist sects today: the Complete Reality School (Ch’üan-chen) and the Earlier Heaven Way
... See moreEva Wong • Taoism: An Essential Guide
In practice, it stresses the level of wuwei (無為) (doing nothing), the stage of “regulating of no regulating”(調而無調). That means things happen naturally and automatically without thinking or intention.
Yang Jwing-Ming • The Dao De Jing: A Qigong Interpretation
Parched wheat and pine pollen make a fine meal vine flowers and salted bamboo make a tasty dish when I’m exhausted I think of nothing else let others become buddhas or immortals
Stonehouse Red Pine • The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse
Not knowing what else to do, I turned to taking and sending (Tibetan gtong len, pron. tonglen), a practice I knew well.
Ken I. McLeod • Reflections on Silver River
In his commentary, Nan Huai-chin likens “So it is, Subhuti. So it is” to an enigma that doesn’t make sense until we solve it ourselves. And he cites the story about Chinhua Chu-ti. Master Chinhua Chu-ti learned One-Finger Zen from Hangchou T’ien-lung, and this is all he taught. Whenever anyone asked for instruction, he held up one finger and
... See moreRed Pine • The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom
The contribution of Zen to Japanese culture has by no means been confined to bushido. It has entered into almost every aspect of the people’s life–their architecture, poetry, painting, gardening, their athletics, crafts, and trades; it has penetrated the everyday language and thought of the most ordinary folk. For by the genius of such Zen monks as
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