🅸Week 2021-38: On Insight

"If anyone thinks that the one’s insight exceeds the other’s, he has no eyes."  (Mumon Ekai, "The Gateless Gate" ["Mumonkan"], 1228)

"Genuine insight into one's True Nature only emerges in the midst of Great Doubt and Great Faith; it is not the result of accumulated learning and discrimination. When the time is ripe, it appears of itself. Following this ripening process step by step is the purpose of this book. It is relatively easy to accomplish the important matter of insight into one's True Nature, but uncommonly difficult to function freely and clearly (according to this understanding), in motion and in rest, in good and in adverse circumstances. Please make strenuous and vigorous efforts towards this end, otherwise all the teachings of Buddha and patriarchs become mere empty words, rather than the living Dharma. Tread the path of sincere practice with uninterrupted concentration, and once things have become clear, then it is the time to take up and penetrate the sayings (of the Sutras and Masters)." (Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp" ["Shumon Mujinto Ron"], cca. 1800)

"One should be aware of the errors of little knowledge and insight" (Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp",  cca. 1800)

"The strength and its functioning vary greatly according to the depth or shallowness of insight, and the corresponding freedom of action. It is for this reason that now as in the past students with the same insight and training differ as to strength and virtue." ((Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp" ["Shumon Mujinto Ron"], cca. 1800)

"Zen purposes to discipline the mind itself, to make it its own master, through an insight into its proper nature. This getting into the real nature of one's own mind or soul is the fundamental object of Zen Buddhism. Zen, therefore, is more than meditation and Dhyana in its ordinary sense. The discipline of Zen consists in opening the mental eye in order to look into the very reason of existence." (Daisetsu T Suzuki,"An Introduction to Zen Buddhism", 1934)

"Enlightenment is always through surrender, but surrender is achieved through intelligence. Only idiots cannot surrender. To surrender you need great intelligence. To see the point of surrender is the climax of insight; to see the point that you are not separate from existence is the highest that intelligence can give to you." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "From I to Q", 1984)

"Meditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind." (Ajahn Chah, "A Still Forest Pool", 1985)

"Meditation is making research into yourself, and into the subtler fields of activity. Day after day we culture our minds with the deep silence of our own Being. This is not the silence of a stone, but creative silence. We have to find it for ourselves. We decrease activity until silence becomes creative, and we sit in creative silence and close the gates of perception for insight into the content of life." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"To understand ourselves and our life is the point of insight meditation: to understand and to be free." (Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation", 1987)

"In meditation we try to focus and become one-pointed on the subject of meditation, so that the mind eventually becomes very calm and serene, and gains the power and strength to realize insights." (Ayya Khema, "Know Where You’re Going", 1991) 

"Most people sit down to meditate in order to make their minds peaceful. But a calm mind is only one of the two essential aspects of meditation. Insight (vipassanā) is the other. The goal of meditation is insight, and tranquility (samatha) is the means to that end." (Ayya Khema, "Know Where You’re Going", 1991)

"So we need to remember that karma is always initiated in the mind and then followed up by speech and action. We only have these three doors: thought, speech, and action. Since all starts in the mind, that’s our first and foremost focus of attention. Meditation is the means by which the mind can be made sharp, clear, and insightful enough for us to change from the negative to the positive. We don’t have to carry on with thinking negative thoughts; it’s totally unnecessary." (Ayya Khema, "Know Where You’re Going", 1991)

"There’s only one way of dealing with suffering when it arises, and that’s to drop the wanting; suffering will then disappear. Such insight is only possible when we stop going outward, through communication and through our many activities. We must have quiet times when we can really look inside ourselves." (Ayya Khema, "Know Where You’re Going", 1991)

"While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves. We can become the world’s greatest experts on anger, jealousy, and self-deprecation, as well as on joyfulness, clarity, and insight. Everything that human beings feel, we feel. We can become extremely wise and sensitive to all of humanity and the whole universe simply by knowing ourselves, just as we are." (Pema Chödrön,"The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness", 1991)

"Perceiving a situation or experience from multiple perspectives allows a person to gain broader insight and understanding with respect to the event." (Robert B Dilts, "Modeling with NLP", 1998)

"You cannot transmit wisdom and insight to another person. The seed is already there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout, and to grow." (Thich Nhat Hanh, "Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children", 2007)

"In terms of the martial arts, there are two training methods: one focuses on the rational aspect of training while the other emphasizes the technical aspect. The martial arts owe its origin to people’s attempts to rationally unify the mind, body, and skill. In the martial arts, truth will reveal itself once your mind gains insight into the empty nature of the world and your body masters and perfects physical techniques." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010

⛩️Week 2021-37: Koun Ejo - Collected Quotes

"Deep practice of the Way requires tireless exertion and confidence in what is true. Unless you join the Lineage of the Buddhas life after life, how can you understand anything that I say at all? Do not move away from it." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"Do not be pulled around by states of mind or objects. Do not rely on intellectual knowledge. Don't show in your hands what you receive on your seat in the Monks' Hall. Just throw body and mind into the Great Treasury of Luminosity and don't look back." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"Even in the midst of change, the Light is not hindered by it. Forests, flowers, grass, and leaves; human beings or animals, big or small, long or short, square or round: all manifest themselves simultaneously, independent of discriminating thoughts or will." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"Just sit as if you were the boundless empty sky or a ball of fire. Trust everything to the inhalation and exhalation. Even if eighty-four thousand idle thoughts arise, each and every one may become the Light of prajna (undiscriminating wisdom) if you do not pay them any attention and simply let them go." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"Not only in sitting, but every step you take is the movement of the Light. Step after step, no discrimination… To inhale or to exhale, to listen or to touch, being without thoughts and discrimination is nothing other than the tranquil illumination of the Light in which body and mind are one. Therefore, when someone calls, you answer. This is the Light in which ordinary people and sages, the deluded and the enlightened, are one." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"Those who follow conventional views believe that what is illusory is real, what is transient is permanent, and so they are concerned only with gain and loss and coarse profit. Their lives are like candles in the wind and yet they place their trust in what is uncertain even for tomorrow. Breathing out does not mean that you will necessarily breath in again. And so they are filled with glee and despair at momentary changes." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"You students, are you trying to learn zazen or are you trying to learn sitting Buddhahood? If you are learning zazen, Zen is not sitting and lying down. If you are learning sitting Buddhahood, Buddha is not a fixed form. According to the teaching of non-attachment or non-settling down, you should not adopt this or reject that. You students, if you try to become a sitting Buddha you kill the Buddha, and if you become attached to sitting you will not reach that principle." (Koun Ejo,  "Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki" ["The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard"], cca. 1239)

"You students! Are you trying to learn zazen or are you trying to become a Buddha? If you are trying to learn zazen, you must not be taken up by the form called 'sitting' because Zen is something beyond sitting and lying down. Again, if you say you are trying to become a Buddha, you cannot become a captive to the one set form called 'sitting' because Buddha is something absolute." (Koun Ejo, "Kōmyōzō Zanmai" ["Absorption in the Treasury of Light or Samādhi of the Treasury of Radiant Light", 1278)

Resources:
[1] Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century [link]

🥋Week 2021-36: Toshitsugu Takamatsu - Collected Quotes

"As the sennin lives on wonderful pictures of Mother Nature and makes the singing of birds and the sight of animals his mental food, so do the ninja." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"Being natural is the ultimate secret of our art." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"Develop a Zen spirit and understand its implications. Become aware of sincerity and faith. Self-reflection and self-realization, then thankfulness and benevolence, are to be pursued." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu, "Ninjutsu Hiketsu Bun” ["The Essence of Ninjutsu"], 1958)

"Even when you are faced with certain death, die laughing." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"For taijutsu, the flexibility of the legs is the most important factor, not the strength of the legs." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"'How difficult is life when one is not surprised by anything and laughing every day? " (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"I'm not telling you to defeat the enemy, but be a man who can live. Never be enslaved by martial arts take pleasure in them." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"If an expert in the fighting arts sincerely pursues the essence of ninjutsu, devoid of the influences of the ego’s desires, the student will progressively come to realize the ultimate secret for becoming invincible - the attainment of the ‘mind and eyes of god’." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"Ninja should have the benevolence to protect men of justice since there are lots of good and respectable people in the world." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"Supernatural power is not a skill or trick. It exists in your heart, in your sincerity. Religion is the same, too." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The heart of taijutsu is important and only through training will one polish that heart (like a gem) and understand true taijutsu." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The ninja should dedicate themselves to sincerity and justice." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The skills of self-protection, which should provide a feeling of inner peace and security for the martial artist, so often develop without a balance in the personality and lead the lesser martial artist into warped realms of unceasing conflict and competition which eventually consume him." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu,"Ninjutsu Hiketsu Bun" ["Secret Writings on the Essence of Ninjutsu"]) 

"The true value of Budo is to train the mind to see clearly and maintain spiritual strength." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The way of the martial artist is the way of enduring, surviving and prevailing over all that would destroy him. More than delivering strikes and slashes, and deeper in significance than the simple outwitting of an enemy, Ninpô is the way of attaining that which we need while making the world a better place. The skill of the Ninja is the art of winning." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The way to experience ultimate happiness is to let go of all worries and regrets, and to know that being happy is the most satisfying of life's feelings. Reflect back on all the progress in your life and allow the positive, creative and joyous thoughts to outshine and overwhelm any sorrow or grief that may linger in the recesses of your mind. Knowing that disease and disaster are natural parts of life is the key to overcoming adversity with a calm and happy spirit. Happiness is waiting there in front of you. Only you can decide whether or not you choose to experience it. Take this to heart." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu,"Kōfuku no Shiori" ["A Guide to Happiness" or "A Bookmark of Happiness"], 1963)

"[...] the enemy who stands against the laws of nature has lost his battle before he begins the fight. The first priority to the ninja was to win without fighting." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"What matters in a text is read between the lines in the spaces between the words." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

🪷Week 2021-35: Gautama Buddha - Collected quotes

"A mind unruffled by the vagaries of fortune, from sorrow freed, from defilements cleansed, from fear liberated - this is the greatest blessing." (Gautama Buddha, "Mangala Sutta",  cca 1st century)

"All created things will pass away. When one achieves the wisdom to realize this, one may rise above this world of sorrow." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"Animosity does not eradicate animosity.
Only by loving kindness is animosity dissolved.
This law is ancient and eternal." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century) 

"If a man were to conquer in a battle a thousand times a thousand men, and another conquer one himself, he indeed is the greatest of conquerers." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"It is just as if a man were to draw out a reed from its sheath. He might think: This is the reed, this is the sheath, reed and sheath are different. Now the reed has been pulled from the sheath. […] In the same way a monk with mind concentrated directs his mind to the production of a mind-made body. He draws that body out of this body." (Gautama Buddha,"Digha Nikaya" [Sutta 2 (Samaññaphala Sutta), verse 86], cca 1st century)

"Long is the chain of existence to the foolish who do not know the true law." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"Mind is a forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with corrupt mind,
suffering follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart.

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind,
happiness follows,
As surely as one's shadow." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"The wise who control their body, who likewise control their speech, the wise who control their mind are indeed well controlled." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"This is deathless, the liberation of the mind through lack of clinging." (Gautama Buddha, "Majjhima Nikaya", cca 1st century)

"Though you might conquer in battle
A thousand times a thousand men,
You're the greatest battle-winner
If you conquer just one - yourself." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"To him who constantly practices reverence and respects the aged, four things will increase: life, beauty, happiness, and strength." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"We are shaped by our thoughts;
we become what we think." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century)

"Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.

Whatever a mother, father or other kinsman might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better." (Gautama Buddha, Pali Canon [42-43 Cittavagga The Mind], cca 1st century)

"Whatever living beings there may be - feeble or strong, long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large, those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born as well as those yet to be born - may all beings have happy minds." (Gautama Buddha,"Karaniya Metta Sutta", cca 1st century)