Wed, 13 Sep 2006
KTD Watch Out
The Dalai Lam is scheduled to visit KTD next week to give a Chenrezig empowerment. But a Christian newsletter warns of the trail of destruction the Dalai Lama leaves in his wake.
If you are following the news, it's apparent that everywhere the Dalai Lama goes, the visited areas are followed by a period of severe calamity, devastation and destruction (weather, economics, etc.). This has been documented by several Christian ministries in the U.S. and elsewhere. This is due to the activities he and his followers commit in those areas.
I wonder if KTD knows the danger they're in. Its sounds like they better get the roof on the addition to the monastery quick. :-o
Hrtbeat7, the pseudonym of a long time practitioner on the Zen forum of E-Sangha wrote something so nice that I'm quoting it here.
Whatever comes up [in meditation], it's just to be thrown away. Really, it's all garbage, not to be picked through, there's nothing there. Whatever it is, just throw it away, nothing that we can think, feel, or believe is real. If it has no place to nest, it will eventually become discouraged and wither off. All of it -- just mush. Our fascination with any of it only holds us back. Zazen is a sword, not a fork.
And I found some nice Zen stories on a jujitsu site. My favorite is The Assembly of the Cats. Here's the punchline to the story.
Because, Kuroi-san, although your skill is indeed great, and you have both spiritual and physical power you are not without desire. When you faced the rat you had an object in your mind, you did not have mushin. The rat sensed this, and his intuition was better than yours. Because you did not have mushin you were unable to harmonise your strength, your technique and you consciousness. I was able to use all these three elements naturally and unconsciously to defeat the rat. This is why I was successful.
But I know of another cat, in a village not far from here. His fur is snow white with age, and he's not very strong looking. He doesn't eat meat, but lives on vegetables and rice gruel, although he is known to take a little sake occasionally. He hasn't caught a rat in years because the rats are all terrified of him! As soon as he walks into a house all the rats leave at once. Even in his sleep he chases away rats! We must all learn to be like him, beyond violence, beyond technique, beyond even the desire for skill.
