Hundred Mountain Journal

Without Wine or Money

To this place of retreat,
The world does not follow;
But many old ailments heal here.
I polish words of old poems;
View mountains, and sleep
Outside my hut.
Colored clouds
Cross the setting sun;
Cicadas ring in the leaves
Of trees.
With this my heart again
Knows happiness;
And who would have thought it,
Without wine or money?

- Yao Ho (831)

(from the invaluable www.dailyzen.com. Posting for may 7, 2005)

Head's Up!

What Buddhism isn't

"Buddhism can be understood on many different levels, and people who actualize the Buddhist path do so gradually. Just as you pass slowly through school and university, graduating from one year to the next, so do Buddhist practitioners proceed step by step along the path to enlightenment. In Buddhism, however, we're talking about different levels of mind; here, higher and lower depend upon how much spiritual progress you have made.

"Also, in the West, there's a tendency to consider Buddhism as a religion in the Western sense of the term. This is a misconception. Buddhism is completely open; you can talk about anything—the evolution of both the external and the internal worlds. Buddhism has its doctrine and philosophy but it also encourages scientific experimentation, both inner and outer. Therefore, please don't think of Buddhism as being some kind of narrow, closed-minded belief system. It isn't. And also, Buddhist doctrine today is not an historical fabrication derived through imagination and mental speculation. Rather, it is a true psychological explanation of the actual nature of the mind...."

Excerpt from Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Click here to read on.

Turning Point

When you can listen to your thoughts
without becoming lost in what you hear;
when you can hear them
without adding or subtracting,
without editing;
when you can remember the
very worst without cringing,
without even an eyeblink of the mind,
it's then your life will turn.

-- Journeys on Mind Mountain

Sit Like This, No. 2

The Little Ones

"Once, when I was stuck with something huge, Trungpa Rinpoche gave me some advice. He said, 'It's too big; you can't let go of it yet, so practice with the little ones. Just start noticing all the little ways you hold when it's actually pretty easy and just get the hang of letting go.'"

----- Pema Chodron (from 'The Answer to Anger and Other Strong Emotions," Shambhala Sun, March 2005)

What Matters....

[Ajahn Chah] saw that the Dhamma itself was the most priceless jewel, which could provide genuine protection and security in life, and yet it was continuously overlooked for the sake of the promise of minor improvements to samsara.

----- (from "Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah," Wisdom Publications, 2002)

A Very Impermanent Fruit

BUDDHA'S HAND: This strange-looking citron consists mostly of yellow fingers and looks like a huge, rough lemon. The flesh is dryish and can be either sweet or sour. It has a weak lemon flavor. The peel offers a pleasant, unique fragrance. Often used in the same manner as grated lemon peel, it is best when candied or used in candy, sorbets, sherbets and desserts. Season: November to February. Storage: Wrap in plastic; refrigerate in crisper drawer. So delicate, it lasts only a few days. (description from the web)

Ajahn Chah Knew What Was Up

As Ajahn Chah once said: "All those who seriously engage in spiritual practice should expect to experience a great deal of friction and difficulty." The heart is being trained to go against the current of self-centered habit, so it's quite natural for it to be buffeted around somewhat.

----- (from "Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah," Wisdom Publications, 2002)

Sit Like This

What the Buddha Saw...

"THE BUDDHA DID NOT SEE HIMSELF as a philosopher constructing an ethic of argumentation but as a healer concerned to cure the suffering of mankind, from which he himself had recovered. The tumor of desire and attachment was diagnosed as causing the sickness and it was to be excised by all possible means."

----- Steven Collins (from "Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Therevada Buddhism," Cambridge University Press, 1982)