[paimei01]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')yokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('paimei01', '
')Schools are only tools for the corporations, their purpose is to create the worker-consumer of tomorow.

[paimei01]

Zen is applied philosphy, it cannot be discussed upon it loses it's meaning. Zen teaches about how to live a simple life, in the present moment and to escape materialism.
"Before enlightement chop wood carry water, after enlightement chop wood carry water"

In high school Zen stories would be very good. Not Zen practice, that is for whoever wants it personaly, but these stories are good to know.

Imagine a world where everybody lives the Zen way

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')The Last Poem of Hoshin

The Zen Master Hoshin lived in China many years. Then he returned to the northeastern part of Japan, where he taught his disciples. When he was getting very old, he told them a story he had heard in China. This is the story:

One year on the twenty-fifth of December, Tokufu, who was very old, said to his disciples: "I am not going to be alive next year so you fellows should treat me well this year."

The pupils thought he was joking, but since he was a great-hearted teacher each of them in turn treated him to a feast on succeeding days of the departing year.

On the eve of the new year, Tokufu concluded: "You have been good to me. I shall leave tomorrow afternoon when the snow has stopped."

The disciples laughed, thinking he was aging and talking nonsense since the night was clear and without snow. But at midnight snow began to fall, and the next day they did not find their teacher about. They went to the meditation hall. There he had passed on.

Hoshin, who related this story, told his disciples: "It is not necessary for a Zen master to predict his passing, but if he really wishes to do so, he can."

"Can you?" someone asked.

"Yes," answered Hoshin. "I will show you what I can do seven days from now."

None of the disciples believed him, and most of them had even forgotten the conversation when Hoshin called them together.

"Seven days ago," he remarked, "I said I was going to leave you. It is customary to write a farewell poem, but I am neither a poet or a calligrapher. Let one of you inscribe my last words."

His followers thought he was joking, but one of them started to write.

"Are you ready?" Hoshin asked.

"Yes sir," replied the writer.

Then Hoshin dictated:

I came from brillancy
And return to brillancy.
What is this?

This line was one line short of the customary four, so the disciple said: "Master, we are one line short."

Hoshin, with the roar of a conquering lion, shouted "Kaa!" and was gone.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

It also teaches to live in this moment and to value what is not. For instance, we value the bowl, not because of what it is or its exterior but for the emptiness it contains so we can use that. It is the middle and what is not that has value to us.

It also teaches us objective mind so that we can more readily explore and understand both ourselves and the world around us. Its is a Zen philosophy that you will learn more as a mirror to the world. If you want to know the true nature of a man you will find more in the exceptional or unordinary things he does than his habits and rituals.

Provoking yourself and others is a great way to learn about them....

[FourOfSwords]

Ryokan is the closest person I have as a hero. Reading two books of his collected Zen poems: One Robe, One Bowl. Dewdrops On A Lotus Leaf. have had and still have a profound effect on my thinking and life. Of all the thousands of books I've read in my life, these two are the only two that I have kept for almost 30 years.
I first read Ryokan in my early twenties(wish I had learned Japanese so I could have read them in their original),and it was this wise man( or as he liked to call himself 'old fool') that set my feet on the path of studying/living Zen these past 30 years.
I'm glad others have found this wonderful flower hidden among the weeds.
Can't sign off, without quoting my two favorite poems of his:

I sit quietly, listening to the falling leaves --
A lonely hut, a life of renunciation.
The past has faded, things are no longer remembered.
My sleeve is wet with tears.

The gaudy beauty of this world has no attraction for me --
My closest friends are mountains and rivers.
Clouds swallow up my shadow as I walk along,
When I sit on cliffs, birds soar overhead.
Wearing snowy straw sandals, I visit cold villages.
Go as deep as you can into life,
And you will be able to let go of even blossoms.
Ryokan~

With happiness~
Alex.

[paimei01]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.