Apart from Beings, no Buddha

Phew! I had all sorts of plans for a posting today but then ‘life happened’ and I’ve run out of time. As good fortune would have it somebody (Michael you’re a brick) sent me this photograph and poem so here they are:


All beings are by nature Buddha,
as ice by nature is water.
Apart from water there is no ice;
apart from beings, no Buddha.

-Hakuin Zenji, “Song of Zazen

Now there is something to ponder on…then move on!

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One thought on “Apart from Beings, no Buddha”

  1. “Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here is where things grow.”
    -Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    On the Buddha

    The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha…which is to demean oneself.
    page 18

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