These Zen Buddhist Koans Will Open Your Mind by Carol Kuruvilla (excerpt by Kosin Paley Ellison) Huffington Post
"These Zen Buddhist Koans Will Open Your Mind" by Carol Kuruvilla (excerpt by Kosin Paley Ellison) Huffington Post
Once a monk made a request of Joshu.
“I have just entered the monastery,” he said. “Please give me instructions, Master.”
Joshu said, “Have you had your breakfast?”
“Yes, I have,” replied the monk.
“Then,” said Joshu, “wash your bowls.”
The monk had an insight.
“The Acorn” by Dianne Bautch
The acorn grows into the grand oak tree,
not caring if the little sapling
longs to be something else …
a maple, a birch, an evergreen.
It becomes what it was created to be,
what it was meant to be.
"Walk On" by Jyoti
Good morning, Grandfather.
I entered this life a ways back
and put skin on to walk two-legged on this Creation— and what a glorious time it was.
It taught me about breath
and about sensing and feeling and caring through my heart.
The Real Work by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come our real work...
"Freedom" by Keith Basar
Do you know what freedom is?
An exiting of the 'nest of knowing',
a burrowing beyond what is,
soaring into life's uncharted mysteries.
"Half-Enlightened Masters" (from Hua Hu Ching - Reading 80) by Brian Browne Walker
The world is full of
half-enlightened masters.
Overly clever,
too "sensitive" to live in the real world,
they surround themselves with selfish pleasures
and bestow their grandiose teachings
upon the unwary.
“I’m Listening” by Nat Sanders
“I’M LISTENING”
Tell me, Love,
all the things that hurt-the hidden places,
the betrayals,
the wounds
created by those whose best-they-could
wasn't enough to prevent suffering.
SOURCE: Nat Sanders
“The End of Suffering” by Thich Nhat Hanh
May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos.
Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly
so that all suffering in them cease, understanding comes to their heart
and they transcend the path of sorrow and death.
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"Haiku: Eastern Culture" - Translations and commentary by Reginald H. Blyth
A haiku is not a poem, it is not literature;
it is a hand becoming,
a door half-opened,
a mirror wiped clean.
It is a way of returning to nature,
to our moon nature,
our cherry blossom nature,
our falling leaf nature,
in short, to our Buddha nature.
Zen Poem — Ikkyu
Every day priests minutely examine the Dharma (universal law)
and endlessly chant complicated sutras.
Before doing that, though,
they should learn how to read the love letters
sent by the wind and rain,
the snow and moon.