Dogen - meditation

Above all, don't wish to become a future Buddha; Your only concern should be, As thought follows thought, To avoid clinging to any of them.  ~ Dogen

Swell Entry

Sort of a journal entry:
Whatever it is, a light, or spark of life that allows us to be conscious and live these lives we're living.....it is amazing.  Come upon it all as if just arriving.  Patterns we've lived by for so long, are like clothing....just extra, they're not a "who" we are.

So many people dying around us the older we get.  We're just as fragile and vulnerable.

Life is faster than we think.  Life doesn't become solid.  It changes.  So, don't tell yourself, this is the way it's going to be forever......stay positive and search for the truth that you tell yourself stories and narrate your own experience in this life as you go.  It can be a nice stay, because you see people go through all kinds of things, but maintain a great attitude toward life.  It can be an awful stay, because you see people going through the same things, but they have a negative view.  We are the masters and creators of our "ride" in this life.  It takes work, but EVERYTHING is work...whether negative or positive...it takes energy to put into it.

Our imaginations are capable of giving us "resources" to gain an upperhand on how we THINK life is going for us.  We can imagine ourselves handling things so well & then actually follow through with it.  We can imagine things being bad, and not handle it so well....which is what we do many times.  

I heard a new phrase:  "no shit, no roses..."---the guy from Swell Season said it on a youtube video I watched.

Been a while

A lot has happened in my life, new gf, new job, new stuff all around.  When I started this blog it was when I had a lot more free time, and was in a search for a "healing" & understanding of what to expect or not to expect from life.  I'm still doing that everyday actually.  It was also about finding peace of mind & contentment with life.  I'd still like to blog, because life is full of things to knock the ground out from under our feet & blogging was a nice way for me to sort out my thoughts/outlooks in order to adapt & learn how to roll with things better.  It is also nice to share ideas with others, and get feedback either way.  That's one way we learn.  We're doing each other a favor by sharing.  Everything can be a resource, whether "good" or "bad."  In our short time living, we struggle to maintain our "happiness" without EVER having a bad day, BUT bad days are going to happen...bad things are going to happen.  In my opinion, our job as "seekers" is to decide WHAT we're really seeking for & be honest with ourselves as best we can.  Are we seeking a basic joy of living, along with realistic expectations of life?  I've tried, but things get busy and I slip back to old reactions & attitudes...even if its only for a few minutes before I come to my senses.  I do think this life is amazing and a miracle....every second is a miracle.

I just found my username/password for this account, and thought I'd stop by.  I'll try to devote some time sometime soon to using this account and checking out what you're all writing.  It wouldn't be fair for me to just show up and start writing without visiting my neighbors. :)  That would be like a "blog hermit" or something Hope all is well with you. ttyl -j

Quick hello i've been very busy

Things have been super busy.  I'm trying to get back to remembering to be present.  

Be well, take care, until next time;  Enjoy Jim Carrey sharing his satori story.....

Entheogen

Very interesting.  I don't know how long they'll have this video up, but here it is.

very short quote continued from last post

“What we are looking for is what is looking.”----St. Francis of Assisi 

Advaita Vedanta and Zen; THAT WHICH SEES and HEARS

Ramana Maharshi's Maha_Yoga pdf file contained this quote:

Page 105: The Sage tells him that the real Self is the source of the ego, and should be sought and found, if he would have fullness of Life. 

The Zen Master Bassui quotes: 

 "..keep asking with all your strength, What is it that hears?"

"To realize your own Mind you must first of all look into the source from which thoughts flow."

"Realization of the self-nature is the sole cure for all (mind) illness. Do not rely on any other remedy. Find the subject which casts the shadows, it is the very source of all Buddhas."

"What kind of master is it that this very moment sees colours with the eyes and hears voices with the ears, that now raises the hands and moves the feet?"

http://sriramanamaharshi.org/Allpub_demo.html

The below quote is from page 17 of 29, from Maharshi's Glimpses of life...pdf:

"The phenomena we see are curious and surprising — but

the most marvelous thing of it all we do not realise and that

is that one, and only one, illimitable force is responsible for:-

(a) All the phenomena we see,

(b) The act of our seeing them.

Do not fix your attention on all these changing things of

life, death, and phenomena. Do not think of even the actual

act of seeing them or perceiving them but only of that which

sees all these things. That which is responsible for it all. This

will seem nearly impossible at first, but by degrees the result

will be felt. It takes years of steady, daily practice, but that is

how a Master is made. Give yourself a quarter of an hour a

day. Keep your eyes open, and try to keep the mind unshakenly

fixed on That Which Sees. It is inside yourself. Do not expect

to find that “That” is something definite on which the mind

can be fixed easily; it will not be so. Though it takes years to

find that “That” the results of this concentration will soon

show themselves — in four or five months’ time — in all

sorts of unconscious clairvoyance, in peace of mind, in power

to deal with troubles, in power all round — always

unconscious power. I have given you this teaching in the same

words as the Masters give it to their intimate chelas. From

now onwards let your whole thought in meditation be not on

the act of seeing nor on what you see, but immovably on That

Which Sees."