Zen is a current, a direction of Buddhism, formed in China in V-VI centuries influenced by Taoism. At the same time, Zen is both the doctrine of achieving enlightenment and the spiritual practice of "dhyana" itself, which is the most important practice of Buddhism. It is generally accepted to view Zen as a kind of practice that should lead to enlightenment or satori.
To get closer to understanding Zen, immediately prepare to discard logic and the belief that everything can be known by studying necessary information from written sources. Zen is full of contradictions, duality, there is no explanatory sacred text or set of rules for achieving satori.
Bodhidharma (in the Japanese tradition - Daruma, in the Chinese - Damo) is considered the founder of the Zen doctrine. According to legend, the “bearded barbarian,” as his students called him for his large build and disheveled, thick beard, arrived in China from India, settling near the world-famous Shaolin Monastery. Bodhidharma meditated in front of a stone wall for 9 years while sitting in a cave. There is a beautiful legend about the appearance of tea associated with many years of meditation. According to legend, Bodhidharma meditated without closing his eyes, but one day he succumbed to weakness and still fell asleep. When he woke up, he was so angry with himself that he ripped out his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Grew up in this place tea bush, and therefore high-quality long leaf tea is translated as "white eyelash".
Borges described the life of Bodhidharma in China interesting history. Bodhidharma met with the emperor who converted to Buddhism. The emperor told him about the successes of Buddhism, the construction of dozens of monasteries and temples, and the ever-increasing number of neophytes. But to His Majesty's surprise, Bodhidharma showed no interest in the emperor's words. Bodhidharma replied:
All this belongs to the world of illusions; monasteries and monks are as unreal as you are unreal and as I am unreal.
Then he turned away and fell into meditation. The astonished emperor asked: "What then is the essence of Buddhism?" Bodhidharma replied, "Emptiness and no substance."
Bodhidharma meditating in a cave
Bodhidharma said that Zen is "a direct transition to awakened consciousness, bypassing tradition and sacred texts." Bodhidharma formulated the four principles of Zen:
- special transmission outside scriptures;
- it is based on words and texts;
- a direct indication of the human consciousness;
- contemplating one's nature, one becomes a buddha.
The teachings of Zen must be transmitted from "heart to heart", although, of course, Zen cannot be taught, this is a purely personal, subjective experience. The teacher can only guide the suffering, but the most important thing the student must learn on his own. One of the main ideas of Zen Buddhism is the illusory nature of life and all human experience. Zen preachers teach to perceive the surrounding life as a dream, oneself as part of this dream. We must realize that we do not exist, as soon as this happens, we will stop thinking about achieving our happiness. We will stop frantically striving for happiness, because neither we nor happiness exist. There is great peace of mind. Agree, such reasoning is reminiscent of the philosophy of the film "The Matrix", which was sensational at the time.
Fuwa Katsuemon Masatane
In the main book of the samurai "Hagakure. Hidden in the leaves” you can find many Zen Buddhist texts. The author of Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, answers the question about what is most important for a person in terms of purpose and discipline in the following way. He says that it is important to achieve a state of consciousness that is pure and unclouded at the moment. Tsunetomo then explains:
As a rule, people look depressed. When a person has a pure and unclouded consciousness, he has a cheerful expression on his face. When a person does business, he is driven by what comes from his heart. In relation to the master, this is devotion; in relation to parents - filial veneration; in military affairs - courage, and, in addition, something related to the whole world around. It is extremely difficult to reveal this in oneself. But even then it is difficult to maintain this state constantly. There is nothing outside the thought of the present moment.
Zen master Shunryu Suzuki succeeded in popularizing the teaching in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. His book, Zen Mind, Beginner Mind, has become a reference book for many. famous people, among his students was Steve Jobs himself. He said that the position of the body in zazen posture is not the means to achieve the correct state of consciousness. To accept such a position of the body already in itself means to have the correct state of consciousness. In this case, it is no longer necessary to achieve a special state of consciousness. Suzuki explains the state of enlightenment very simply:
Enlightenment is not some pleasant sensation or a certain state of consciousness. Your state of mind when you are sitting in the right position is itself enlightenment. If you are not satisfied with the state of your mind in zazen, then your mind is still wandering somewhere. Our body and our consciousness should not be unstable, should not wander. In zazen posture there is no need to talk about the right state of mind. You already have it.
Zazen practitioners in front of a wall on special zabuton cushions
Suzuki encourages students to leave any thoughts of achievement, success and a positive result. Any duality of consciousness must be discarded, it is simply necessary to practice zazen in a certain posture. You just need to sit on a special zabuton pillow and not think about anything, not expect anything. And then, as Shunryu Suzuki promises, the practicing person will regain his true nature.
To guide students on the path to enlightenment, Zen masters recite koans. Koans are small stories, riddles or questions, distinguished by their inconsistency, illogicality, which have no rational decision. The purpose of the koan is to put a person into a stupor, the solution must come to him from within, intuitively, as a kind of feeling or sensation, and not a verbal logical conclusion. The most famous koan in existence tells how the abbot of the Mokurai temple set a difficult task for a student named Toyo. He said, “You can hear two hands clapping as they hit each other. Now show me the clap of one hand.” Toyo spent a whole year of logical research to solve the koan, but all his attempts were in vain. And only when he reached enlightenment and crossed the border of sounds, he was able to know the sound of one hand clapping. After reading a koan, you will not know its solution, the purpose of the task is to make you think, feel, strive for a solution.
serene zen
Koans should not be equated with parables or fables, where there should be an obligatory morality. Although elements of teaching are often present in them. For example, a koan about the existence of heaven and hell. One day a soldier named Nobushige asked the Zen master Hakuin, "Is it true that there is heaven and hell?" Hakuin responded by irritating the soldier with mocking remarks about him. Nobushige became so enraged that he drew his sword and was ready to attack the master. Hakuin remarked dispassionately, "This is where the doors to hell open." Hearing these words, the soldier understood the profound wisdom of the master, put away his sword and bowed. Hakuin said, "The gates of heaven open here."
There are koans that do not require any solution, but clarify the essence of the teaching. A striking example is the koan about the officers of the Japanese army stationed at the Gazan Temple. Gazan ordered his cook to give the famous military men the same simple food as the monks. This decision made the military very angry, they rushed to Gazan and said: “Who do you think we are? We are soldiers sacrificing our lives for our country. Why don't you treat us like you should?" To this, Gazan replied sternly: “What do you think, who are we? We are the soldiers of humanity, our goal is the salvation of all things."
A koan about a Japanese wrestler named Oh-nami (Great Waves) teaches boundless self-confidence in a beautiful, poetic way. O-nami was a famous, extremely strong wrestler, he defeated everyone, even his teacher. However, he was lost in public, and nothing remained of his strength and art of wrestling. He was greatly saddened by this fact and decided to seek help from the Zen teacher Hakuji. The teacher advised O-nami to stay overnight at the temple, meditate, and think only of his name "Great Waves". O-we had to forget about our nature and imagine ourselves as huge waves destroying everything around. O-nami went into meditation, but he couldn't concentrate on the huge waves, his mind wandered. Gradually, however, the flow of his thoughts was ordered, and all extraneous things disappeared. In his mind, huge waves flooded everything inner space temple, demolishing all the monastic utensils on its way, not sparing even the Buddha figurine and vases of flowers. In the morning, Hakuji found O-nami still meditating, the teacher said with a smile: “Now you are these waves. You will sweep away everything in front of you." Since then, no man in Japan has been able to defeat O-nami.
These sumo wrestlers probably know the koan about the huge waves.
Someone treats Zen as a treasury of Eastern wisdom, someone as an incomprehensible philosophy, not amenable to logic and rational perception. But, as we see, Zen operates only with subjective perception, the experiences and feelings of each person are unique. The path of each person is unique, but only we choose where and why to go. Whether we hear the clap of one hand or not, ultimately depends only on ourselves.
At The patron of the Kennin Temple was Mokurai, the Silent Thunder. He had a little protégé named Toyo, who was only twelve years old.
Toyo saw senior students come into the teacher's room every morning and evening for general instruction in sanzen or for personal instruction in which koans were given to free the mind from delusions. Toyo also wanted to do sanzen.
- Wait a bit,- said Moku-rai, - you're still young.
But the child insisted, so the teacher finally had to agree. In the evening, at the appropriate time, little Toyo came to the threshold of Mokurai's san-zen room. He struck the gong to announce that he had come, bowed three times in front of the door in respect, entered and sat before the teacher in respectful silence.
- You can hear the clapping of two palms when they hit each other, Mokuray said. - Now show me the clap of one hand.
Toyo bowed and went to his room to consider this problem. From the window he heard the music of the geishas. " Ah, I got it!" he exclaimed.
The next evening, when the teacher asked him to show the clap of one hand, Toyo began to play geisha music.
- No no, Mokuray said. - it won't fit. This is not the clap of one hand. You didn't understand him at all.
Thinking the music would get in the way, Toyo went into more quiet place. He again plunged into meditation. " What can be the clap of one hand? He heard water dripping.
- I understand Toyo thought.
In front of the teacher the next time, Toyo started dripping water.
- What is it? Mokurai asked. - It's the sound of dripping water, but not the sound of a hand clapping. Try again.
In vain did Toyo meditate to hear the sound of one hand clapping. He heard the sound of the wind, but this sound was also rejected. He heard the cry of an owl, but this sound was also rejected.
More than ten times Toyo came to Mokurai with various sounds, everything was wrong. For almost a year he pondered what could be the clapping of one hand. Finally, little Toyo reached true meditation and passed beyond sounds. " I couldn't collect them anymore he later explained, so I reached the soundless sound.»
Toyo realized the clap of one hand.
COMMENTT oyo was younger than the other students and he wanted to get older, to become like them. To do this, he wanted to do what they do. So he asked for a koan to imitate them.
M Many have heard the story of the general walking around the line of paratroopers and asking if they liked skydiving. Everyone answered what they liked. But one admitted that he was not right. “So why are you here?!” the general was surprised. “Because I love being with guys who love skydiving!”
M We know that often young people choose to enter a university exactly the subject that was taught by that school teacher, which they liked more than other teachers purely from the human side, regardless of the subject he taught.
Lesson 10
Sometimes a person, in order to become the same as the one he would like to be like, begins to do the same thing that his ideal does. And so his future destiny is determined.
AT To what extent does each of us do not exactly what he would like to do, but what our ideal does? Does this path lead to where we want to go?
At The reader at first did not want to give the koan to Toyo, believing that it was too early for him to do it. The teacher referred to the fact that Toyo is still young. What does young mean? It is obvious that Toyo, according to the teacher, does not yet have certain qualities to work on a koan, and which come with a person's age.
AT During my student years, I was constantly late for lectures, exams, and in general everywhere you could be late, and this did not bother me at all. But over the years, not only did I become much less late, but my own tardiness began to annoy me much more than the tardiness of others. I am very philosophical about other people's delays. None visible reasons for such a change, except for age, I could not establish.
Lesson 11
Some business and human qualities simply come with time, age or experience. You have to be able to wait. Do not pull carrots out of the garden to grow faster, but do not leave them there until next spring.
To Of course, it can be said that if a person begins to engage in serious, responsible matters, then he will involuntarily learn not to be late. But on the other hand, it is precisely with age that he begins to engage in serious and responsible affairs, that is, when a certain period comes up - for each his own. And for some, it never will.
H about Toyo insistently asked. To work on koans, perseverance is exactly what is needed. Toyo did not persuade the teacher that he already had perseverance, but simply presented it. Show, present, not tell - this is Zen. Seeing Toyo's persistence, the teacher agreed.
AT student years, when all the Soviet people were indignant at the American action against Cuba, my friend and I tried to walk independently through the gates of the Cuban embassy, past the policeman on duty, in order to meet with the Cuban ambassador. The policeman, of course, stopped us: “Do you even know where you are going?” “We know, we know! We will not go to Chaikovka!” This phrase was of decisive importance - he understood: his guys! The fact is that the American embassy was located on Tchaikovsky Street. As a result, he let us go where no one invited us, but the meeting with the ambassador nevertheless took place. We did not try to convince that we are “ours”, but showed it.
Lesson 12
When a person is in no hurry to fulfill our request, suspecting that we are missing something, the best way to convince him is a passing, as if by chance, unaccented demonstration of this “something”.
P Before receiving the koan, Toyo performed a ritual emphasizing respect for the teacher, respect for the task that the teacher would give him. Respect means first of all the utmost attention.
O One day two young men came to me with a request to discuss their business idea. They gathered for commercial purposes to lay a tunnel under the Baltic Sea, connecting Tallinn and Helsinki. I decided not to brush aside, but to treat this business idea with respect, and analyzed in detail the pros and cons of the project, possible obstacles and pitfalls, outlined solutions for them and an extensive scenario for the next steps. They left greatly puzzled, but satisfied. A few years later, I learned that they are still grateful to me that I took their arrival so seriously.
Lesson 13
To a man the best way performed something, it is necessary that he treat the upcoming task with respect in advance. Not with the usual attention, not thoughtlessly, not condescendingly, not self-confidently, but with respect! This can be helped by a ritual, which is best taken care of in advance.
T oyo was instructed to show the clap of one hand. Not the movement of the palm, but its clap. Show the sound of a clap. Show, i.e. depict. Show to whom? Teacher. Not to tell, but to show, to portray!
O Once my young assistant caught fire to buy himself a heavily used jeep “for cheap”. Switching to a Jeep was his dream, and I imagined how difficult it would be to keep him from buying. All my arguments were known to him in advance. Therefore, I did not say anything, but simply let him down and showed rust stain on the footboard. He sighed and declined the purchase.
L People often, even when you ask them to show and not tell, they still begin to tell. And even after you ask again to show it, they begin to tell again. Because telling is often much easier than showing.
Lesson 14
Having set a task for a person, orient him to a form of result in which the result can be seen with one's own eyes, and not listen to a story about it.
E that means not to tell what he paid, but to show the receipt. Do not tell that he accepted the apartment, but show the keys to it. Do not tell that you know the way, but show the way.
T oyo heard the music of the geishas. He is still young, imitation is still important for him, and he places his hopes primarily on imitation. So he decided to portray the music of the geishas to the teacher. I took the first one that came to hand! In the hope that he either guessed right, or the teacher one way or another, voluntarily or involuntarily, will give him some hint, point to the right direction of the search. So far, Toyo solves the koan not for himself, but for the teacher! To, so to speak, pass exam.
To When, after the ninth grade, I went to work at a factory, my first teacher of life, Sasha Zaitsev, a mechanic of the 6th category, criticizing my own stainless steel tool, explained that there is work for my uncle and there is work for myself. If you did poor-quality work for your uncle, they will understand you - the master has closed the outfit and order! And if you do it poorly for yourself, no one at the factory will respect you! But I turned out to be a bad student - I feel embarrassed for others to do worse than for myself.
With The system of tests and examinations adopted in schools and universities aims at work specifically “for the uncle”, which explains the speed of forgetting knowledge after training. But the habit of working in order to "pass the test", that is, to get rid of work, of the task - for many remains on long years.
Lesson 15
When making a request or giving a task to a person, it is important to understand: is he going to do something for you or get rid of you? / And, if necessary, immediately take action.
At The reader said that geisha music is not the clap of one hand, that Toyo did not understand the clap. Here's a hint: to depict cotton, you need to understand it.
T oh, didn't get the hint. He is young and counts on luck - he prefers to act by trial and error. He depicts the teacher the sounds of dripping water, the sound of the wind, and so on. As long as he still has hope for good luck. At first, hope increased - just about guessing! But then it began to fall, because more and more attempts did not give any experience, nothing accumulated! And that's when Toyo understood the teacher's hint: one should not try to guess the cotton, but one should understand it!
H remember the old playful truth: when you have tried all the options, but nothing works, it remains, finally, to look into the instructions!
T oyo needed patience, and he showed it. But the teacher also needed patience, and he patiently rejected everything that Toyo presented to him - he did not help or interfere with him. Not that, not that, not that ... Why not that? Because it's not. Toyo himself must understand that "that!".
Lesson 16
There are people who, when solving a problem, are satisfied with the first solution that comes to hand. To get a really high-quality solution from such a person, demand not one, but several solutions, rejecting each proposed one by one and without explanation. Not that, not that, not that ..! Then he will get something really valuable. Both of you will win!
T yo took up meditation. What is the "clap of one hand"? All we can say about it is not cotton, but our words about it. When we discard everything that is not cotton, we will understand what cotton is. Because only he will remain.
T ri years ago we holy man Paramananda discussed the differences between our pictures of the world. He concluded by saying:
Your painting lacks a soul, but mine does.
What is a soul?
And this is what remains after the answers to the question of who I am. Who am I? My hands are not Me. My legs are not Me. My body is not Me. My head is not Me, it is only my head. My thoughts are not I. My feelings are not I… And who is I? What remains is the soul.
Let's continue: my soul is also not Me, but only my soul!
No no! My soul is what I am!
And Toyo managed to do it. He did not show cotton to the teacher, but simply, having discarded everything that was not cotton, he became different. He became a man who understood what the clap of one palm is. The teacher now did not need to see the image of the clap of one hand.
The teacher needed Toyo to become different: to become a person who understood what soundless sound sounds like. That is, to show the clap of one palm means to become a person who understood the clap of one palm. Just as they show that the medicine is good by presenting a cured person.
Lesson 17
Best Solution or the fulfillment is such that the person who managed to achieve this did not remain the same, but became different - the person who managed to do it!
AT Let's remember Pushkin, jumping on one leg and exclaiming in delight from himself: “Oh, Pushkin! Oh, you son of a bitch!” - after he finished Boris Godunov. That is, he realized that he was no longer the Pushkin who was before that.
H a man changes after a job he has done perfectly because he takes a step into his own area of proximal development, i.e., has experience in performing this and that quality that he has never done before. And his area of proximal development takes a step with him and now extends even further ahead.
Lesson 18
If a person, having completed a task that requires high quality, did not become different, it means that he did not do this task with the same high quality to which he is capable!
On the other hand, if a person does something for the first time much worse than usual, which he has never done, then he “develops” into reverse side. Now this is also new person, which can now be expected to perform poorly. Especially if it's not about bad job but about a bad deed. The criminal is not the one who has broken the law - let's remember Chekhov's "Intruder" - but the one who has crossed the moral line in his soul and now it is much easier to commit a bad deed again.
The abbot of the Kennin monastery was Mokurai - Silent Thunder. He had a pet named Toyo, who was only twelve years old. Toyo saw other students come to the teacher every morning and every evening for guidance on sanzen, individual instruction in which the student is given a koan, an exercise to stop the wandering mind. Toyo also wanted sanzen for himself.
- Wait a bit, - said Mokurai, - you are still too small.
But the child insisted so much that the teacher finally agreed.
In the evening, at the appointed hour, little Toe came to Mokurai for sanzen. He announced his arrival by striking a gong, without crossing the threshold, bowed respectfully three times and sat down in front of the teacher, maintaining polite silence.
"You can hear the sound of two clapping hands," Mokurai said. - Show me what one sounds like.
Touyo bowed and went to his room to think about the problem.
Geisha music was heard from the window.
- Yeah, I found it! he exclaimed.
The next evening, when the teacher asked him to show the clap of one hand, Toe began to play geisha music.
- No, no, - said Mokurai, - not good. It's not the clapping of one hand at all. You did not understand anything.
Deciding that music might interfere with him, Toe moved to live in a quiet place. He meditated again. What can be the clap of one hand? Here he accidentally drew attention to the sound of dripping water. "Yes," Touye guessed. Coming again to the teacher, he portrayed this sound.
- What? Mokurai asked. - It's the sound of dripping water, but not the clap of one hand. Try once more.
In vain Toyo meditated again, trying to hear the sound of one palm. He heard the sound of the wind, but that sound was also rejected. He heard the cry of an owl, but that didn't fit either. And the rustle of locusts was not the sound of one hand either.
More than ten times Toyo came to Mokurai with different sounds. They all didn't fit. For almost a year he thought about what the sound of one palm could be. Finally, Toye entered into real meditation and found himself beyond all sounds.
“I could no longer collect sounds,” he later explained, “and therefore reached a soundless sound.
Toye comprehended the sound of one palm.
Zen parables
Czyan:
Rereading this parable, I thought: how do I know the answer?
Did I come to it by thinking, or did I peep the answer in another book?
It would seem - what's the difference?
And if you put the question differently: what and who is the source of thoughts and ideas there, under the skull?
Do we create our thoughts ourselves or serve as an eternal mirror reflecting other people's ideas?
Who are we - creators or eternal consumers?
Strange situation…
We have learned to move at speeds that are many times faster than the speed of sound, we have created powerful machines for moving on land, in the air and under water ... but we have forgotten how to walk ...
With the help of a calculator and a computer, we multiply and divide multi-digit numbers ... but the need to add two-digit numbers becomes a problem for us ...
We have learned how to search and process terabytes of information, but we have forgotten how to think.
A disadvantage is an incentive to improve.
Absence is the incentive to create.
In ancient times, confused people, in search of themselves, pondered over the mean words of the Teachers.
Now we do not think, but immediately look into the "Answers" section.
The best students are those who are the most skilled at searching online libraries.
Now it is not enough for us to get the direction of the search - we demand a ready-made "user's guide" with answers and solutions to all questions.
It is not enough for us to receive support - we want everything to be put on the shelves, food to be cooked and chewed - so that we just open our mouths and swallow the prepared concentrate of knowledge.
A person who reads books using the “quick reading” method is like a tourist who has flown around the world and examined the planet from the window of an airplane.
He was everywhere, but what did he see? ..
He is familiar with the classification of flowers of every conceivable kind, but he has not smelled the fragrance of a single flower.
He flew over all mountain peaks, but he did not conquer a single one.
He studied all religions, but did not find God in himself.
Why is no one teaching thoughtful reading?
Maybe ... read a little, but understand what you read?
In fact, a dozen books are enough to read and reread ... and learn how to find answers to questions.
A dozen books that teach you to think are more valuable than all that pulp and paper garbage produced in abundance by the printing industry.
I think about all this and understand:
It is useless to retire to the mountains and think about the meaning of clapping with one hand if you already know the answer!
Reflections on the book by Alexander Bogadelin "Kikimora and others ..."
RETRACT FIRST. COTTON ONE PALM
The difference between Western and Eastern thinking is best illustrated by the well-known Zen parable “The Cotton of One Palm”.
The Kennin Temple's teacher was Mokurai, the Silent Thunder. He had a little student named Toyo, who was only 12 years old.
Toyo saw older students come into the teacher's room each morning and evening for general instruction in San Zen or for personal instruction in which koans were given to free the mind from delusions.
Toyo also wanted to do San Zen.
- Wait a bit, - said Mokurai, - you are still young.
But the child insisted, so the teacher finally had to agree. In the evening, at the appropriate time, little Toyo came to the threshold of Mokurai's room for San Zen.
He struck the gong to announce that he had come, bowed three times in front of the door in respect, entered and sat before the teacher in respectful silence.
"You can hear two palms clapping as they hit each other," Mokurai said. - Now show me the clap of one hand.
Toyo bowed and went to his room to consider this problem.
From the window he heard the music of the geishas.
- Ah, I understand! he exclaimed.
The next evening, when the teacher asked him to show the clap of one hand, Toyo began to play geisha music.
- No, no, - said Mokurai, - it won't do. This is not the clap of one hand. You didn't understand him at all.
Thinking that the music would interfere, Toyo went to a quieter place. He again plunged into meditation.
- What can be the clap of one hand?
He heard water dripping.
I understand, Toyo thought.
In front of the teacher the next time, Toyo started dripping water.
- What is it? Mokurai asked. - It's the sound of dripping water, but not the sound of a hand clapping. Try again.
In vain did Toyo meditate to hear the sound of one hand clapping. He heard the sound of the wind, but this sound was also rejected. He heard the cry of an owl, but this sound was also rejected.
More than ten times Toyo came to Mokurai with various sounds, everything was wrong.
For almost a year he pondered what could be the clapping of one hand.
Finally, little Toyo reached true meditation and passed beyond sounds.
“I couldn't collect them anymore,” he explained later, “so I achieved a flawless sound.
Toyo realized the clap of one hand.
How does the Western mind view this koan? Like another problem that needs to be solved. He will prove with maximum persuasiveness, by logical reasoning, that the result of the clapping of one hand can only be silence, which, by definition, is the absence of sounds.
But Silent Thunder, if anyone hadn't noticed, didn't ask Toyo to answer in words. He asked his student to SHOW him the solution.
Moreover, the student had to hear the silence not in a room tightly isolated from the outside world, but in the midst of a cacophony of sounds.
Reflection on the Path
1. Topic for reflection -
2. Cotton of one palm -
3. Combination of incompatible -
4. The difference between Eastern and Western thinking -
5. Western interpretation of the Way -
6. The Lonely Way of Friedrich Nietzsche -
7. Technical and humanitarian balance -
8. The humanitarian component of the balance -
9. Excessive variety. Big and small Ways -
10. Meditation on "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" -
11. Personal balance -
12. Awareness of the Way -
13. Loneliness Walking the Path -
14. Moving on - how scary -
15. Van Gogh and his Way -
16. Response of the Path -
17. Wise Harald -
Reflection on Happiness and Unhappiness
1. Mythology as an element of understanding the world -
2. Slavic Share and Nedolya -
3. Life on the edge of survival -
Reviews
What makes you think that a European thinks that the clap of one hand is silence? Clapping with one palm sounds like half-clapping with two palms. After that we go to the area mathematical abstractions or characters. This is an example of European thinking. We always extrapolate from an empirically fixed value. As deep as Eastern wisdom. Simply - an approach from the other side. The European takes the paradox outside of himself - into the realm of logic, since European culture extroverted, the oriental person takes into himself, brings to the level of feelings, as he is introverted.
That's the whole difference. It is as ridiculous for a European to engage in Eastern spiritual practices as it is for a right-hander to develop left hand and as a result lose existing skills right hand. Just for the sake of being left-handed.
“Today, when Europe is experiencing the collapse of Christianity, the current search for symbols and religions in the East seems justified. However, the treasures of Eastern wisdom turn out to be completely unsuitable for Europeans: they are so saturated with “foreign blood” that they cannot enter the symbolic universe of a European and are even able to bring him Europeans cannot put on them as if they were someone else's clothes.By borrowing carefully developed systems of ideas and practices of meditation, the European only exacerbates his contradictions.For the Hindu, yoga is an excellent means of mental self-regulation, for the European it turns out additional tool to suppress the forces of the collective unconscious. In the Western version, Eastern teachings either acquire the features of primitive religious movements, or become "psychotechnics", "gymnastics". No borrowing from the East will help Europeans, they need to remember their own religious tradition. "(c) Jung
Zen wisdom
If your consciousness is concentrated in one point and shines with the light of non-discrimination, then you are always and everywhere, under any circumstances, the true Samantabhadra.
lin chi
One palm cotton
zen story
The Kennin Temple's teacher was Mokurai, the Silent Thunder. He had a little protégé named Toyo, who was only 12 years old.
Toyo saw older students come into the teacher's room each morning and evening for general instruction in San Zen or for personal instruction in which koans were given to free the mind from delusions.
Toyo also wanted to do San Zen.
"Wait a bit," said Mokurai, "you're still young."
But the child insisted, so the teacher finally had to agree. In the evening, at the appropriate time, little Toyo came to the threshold of Mokurai's room for San Zen.
He struck the gong to announce that he had come, bowed three times in front of the door in respect, entered and sat before the teacher in respectful silence.
"You can hear two palms clapping as they hit each other," Mokurai said. "Now show me the clapping of one palm."
Toyo bowed and went to his room to consider this problem.
From the window he heard the music of the geishas.
"Ah, I got it!" he exclaimed.
The next evening, when the teacher asked him to show the clap of one hand, Toyo began to play geisha music.
"No, no," said Mokurai, "that won't do at all. It's not the clapping of one hand. You didn't understand it at all."
Thinking that the music would interfere, Toyo went to a quieter place. He again plunged into meditation.
"What can be the clap of one hand?"
He heard water dripping.
"I understand," Toyo thought.
In front of the teacher the next time, Toyo started dripping water.
"What is it?" Mokurai asked. - It's the sound of dripping water, but not the sound of a hand clapping. Try again."
In vain did Toyo meditate to hear the sound of one hand clapping. He heard the sound of the wind, but this sound, too, was rejected. He heard the cry of an owl, but this sound was also rejected.
More than 10 times Toyo came to Mokurai with various sounds, everything was wrong.
For almost a year he pondered what could be the clapping of one hand. Finally, little Toyo reached true meditation and passed beyond sounds. "I could no longer collect them," he later explained, "so I achieved soundless sound."
Toyo realized the clap of one hand.