Practicing the Way

“Its like chopping down a huge tree of immense girth. You won’t accomplish it with one swing of your axe. If you keep chopping away at it, though, and do not let up, eventually, wether it wants to or not, it will suddenly topple down. When that time comes, you could round up everyone you could find and pay them to hold the tree up, but they wouldn’t be able to do it. It would still come crashing to the ground… But if the woodcutter stopped after one or two strokes of his axe to ask the third son of Mr. Chang, ‘Why doesn’t this tree fall?’ And after three or four more strokes stopped again to ask the fourth son of Mr. Li, ‘Why doesn’t this tree fall?’ he would never succeed in felling the tree. It is no different for someone practicing the Way.“

~ Zen Master Hakuin.

This is a wonderful quote for anyone practicing ‘the Way’, or, ‘a Way’. What you soon realise after walking any path for a certain number of days, weeks, years is that nothing miraculous occurs. No life changing experiences, no inner tranquility which the books and teachers speak of, no enlightening meditations. But, as the above quote tells us so very clearly, ‘You won’t accomplish it with one swing of your axe!’

‘If you keep chopping away at it, though, and do not let up, eventually, wether it wants to or not, it will suddenly topple down.’ This sudden toppling down which Hakuin is speaking of is a most evasive thing in the Western world! We want results right now, with one swing of our axe. “I’ve been meditating for six months now. Why am I not enlightened?” Is something one may ponder as time passes us by.

Practice a Way! The Way, your Way, my Way, her Way, his Way or even their Way.. But do not practice it with thoughts about the results coming from your efforts. Do not think of felling the tree. Just continue ‘chopping away’, hour after hour, day after day, purely because you love to chop at ‘your tree’. And, ‘eventually, wether it wants to or not, it will suddenly topple down.’

This will be unmistakable.

Strive for Freedom

“We must strive for freedom if we strive for self-knowledge. The task of self-knowledge and of further self-development is of such importance and seriousness, it demands such intensity of effort, that to attempt it any old way and amongst other things is impossible. The person who undertakes this task must put it first on his life, which is not so long that he can afford to squander it or trifles!”

~ G. I. Gurdjieff

Harmlessness

“Harmful magnetic conditions, as the result of man’s wrong handling of force, are the causes of evil in the world around us, including the three sub-human kingdoms. How can we, as individuals, change this? By the development in ourselves of Harmlessness. Therefore, study yourself from this angle. Study your daily conduct and words and thoughts so as to make them utterly harmless. Set yourself to think those thoughts about yourself and others which will be constructive and positive, and hence harmless in their effects. Study your emotional effect on others, so that by no mood, no depression, and no emotional reaction can you harm a fellow-man. Remember in this connection, violent spiritual aspiration and enthusiasm, misplaced or misdirected, may quite easily harm a fellow man, so look not only at your wrong tendencies but at the use of your virtues.
“If harmlessness is the keynote of your life, you will do more to produce right harmonious conditions in your personality than any amount of discipline along other lines. The drastic purgation brought about by the attempt to be harmless will go far to eliminate wrong states of consciousness…”

Alice Bailey.

The best you can be!

To begin with I would like to apologise to my regular readers and subscribers for the long gap in between the last blog and this. Life circumstances have changed slightly and there are only so many hours in a day.

With this blog I would like to describe what I have been up to, and at the same time help the reader become the best you can be.

Every now and again one must re-assess their goals and values in life. Even if you are very happy and positive and achieving great things, this is no reason not to re-assess and aim even higher in the one life you have been gifted with!

I came across a certain concept recently: List your vices, bad habits and negative character traits. List them all and be sincere with yourself otherwise there is absolutely no point in this exercise. And don’t think it will be simple and painless, because it won’t be.

Now you have a clear view in your mind of the things holding you back or that you would like to change. Then comes the time to get to work! Writing a list will not change you for the better. Hoping you might change will not make you the best you can be! Don Juan told Castaneda “Watch yourself like a hawk.” Be your own critic.

If you want a simple and painless life, then don’t begin this exercise. If you are happy in your routine and the circumstances you find around you, don’t begin this exercise. But, if you want to become the best you can be in this life, start today gaining resources and working on yourself. There is nothing else of any value!

Every-Minute Zen

Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: ‘I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or the left side of the clogs.’
Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realised that he was unable to carry his Zen in every minute. He became Nan-in’s pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen.

Have you given a thought to what this last statement means? To accomplish every-minute Zen? For Tenno, who, already assumed to be a master after ten years of training, and the teaching of others, we can see he was unable. For me this means that it is not an easy thing to acquire and takes much attention and effort.

But it must be attainable otherwise their would be no trace of the idea. This is the interesting point! It is spoken about, often, in certain circles. It is a thing that interests me a great deal.

The constant striving for every-minute Zen is all that we can hope for. If it was difficult for Tenno in fortuitous circumstances, what hope do I have in London? But to think like this is to be already defeated!

Taste it now for a second.. Be present to yourself and your surroundings. Register this impression and see if it is possible to come back to it later on. Only you will be able to answer, and if you answer yourself sincerely you will have begun.

The Moon Cannot be Stolen

Ryokan, 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 may 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.
Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon, ‘Poor fellow,’ he mused, ‘I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

Is That So?

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parents went to the master. ‘Is that so?’ was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbours and everything else the little one needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth- that the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask his forgiveness, to apologise at length, and to get the child back again.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: ‘Is that so?’

Attention

Attention. If you were to look up the word in the dictionary you would find words similar to this; ‘the act or faculty of attending, especially by directing the mind to an object.’ Or; ‘Observant care, consideration,’ or ‘notice or awareness’.

This last example is the one that I am interested in. Awareness, or similarly, attention. I came across a question yesterday. It is a question directed at oneself and can be formulated thus: Where is my attention now?

It is an interesting thing to have the awareness at occasions throughout the day to ask oneself; where is my attention now?

If you are at work, it should be on the work you are doing. If you are with a loved one, it should be only on them. And if you are on the beach or out in glorious nature, it should be on your surroundings!

But i’m afraid I have to point out that this is hardly ever the case. If we are outside in a beautiful setting, our attention is often elsewhere, on work or some other trivial matter. If we are with a friend or partner, do they have all of my attention or only a small part of it?

I felt like sharing this today because in theory this is a very simple exercise to do. Ask yourself whenever you can remember, or whenever it may come to mind: Where is my attention now? And just by asking this simple question, you will find it will be easier to have some small control over it for a second. But please, don’t take my word for it, try it.

If you find your mind racing at some stage during the day and dislike the flow of thoughts that constantly go on. Take a second for yourself… Just ask.

My heart burns like fire

Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to america said; ‘My heart burns like fire, but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes.’ He made the following rules, which he practiced every day of his life:

- In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.
- Retire at a regular hour.
- Partake of food at regular intervals.
- Eat with moderation, and never to the point of satisfaction.
- Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone.
- When alone maintain the same attitude you have when receiving guests.
- Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.
- When an opportunity arises, do not let it pass by.
- Always think twice before acting.
- Do not regret the past, look to the future.
- Have the fearless attitude of a hero, and the loving heart of a child.
- Upon retiring, sleep like you had entered your last sleep.
- Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly, like you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

To incorporate any of these into ones daily life would improve it. But don’t take my word for it!

Secrets of the Samurai

This quote comes from the book, ‘Secrets of a Samurai’ by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, 1973. This is a fragment of the book, which is a fragment of a teaching. The school of the Samurai:

“The book of changes (I Ching) is often considered the Oriental apotheosis of adaptation, of flexibility. In this book the recurring theme is one of observing life and blending with its flow in order to survive and develop. In effect, the theme of this work is that everything in existence can be a source of conflict, of danger, and, ultimately, of violence if opposed from the wrong angle or in the wrong manner- that is, if confronted directly at the point of its maximum strength, since this approach renders the encounter potentially devastating. By the same token, any and every occurrence can be dealt with by approaching it from the right angle and in the proper manner- that is, at its source, before it can develop full power, or from the sides (the vulnerable ‘flanks of a tiger’).”