Happy Thanksgiving All

[Guest guest]

"You must follow your heart, Young Traveller . . ."

 

 

Life and death as nirvana. Don't be picky, don't choose this or that.

However comfortable your life is, right now at this moment, I know some of you have pain.

Whatever painful situation you are involved in, consider that as the

very life of the Buddha, the very state of nirvana itself, and be it.

Just live that life.

It doesn't matter whether it is

life of hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal. It's okay.

Just live that life, see. And as matter of fact, no other way. Where you stand, where you are

that's what your life is

right there, regardless of how painful it is, or how enjoyable it is.

That's what it is.

That condition never continues forever. You can even say it changes

completely in less than a second. This life, death.

~Taizan Maezumi

 

 

 

 

 

 

"You should know, that that which God gives to those men who seek to

do His will with all their might, is the best. Of this thou mayest be

as sure, as thou art sure that God lives, that the very best must

necessarily be, and that in no other way could anything better

happen. Even if something else seems better, it would not be so good

for thee, for God wills this and not another way, and this way must

be the best for thee.

Whether it be sickness or poverty or hunger or thirst, or whatever it

be, that God hangs over thee or does not hang over thee--whatever God

gives or gives not, that is all what is best for thee; whether it be

devotion or inwardness, or the lack of these which grieves thee--only

set thyself right in this, that thou desirest the glory of God in all

things, and then whatever He does to thee, that is the best.

Now thou mayest perchance say: How can I tell whether it is the will of God or not?

If it were not the will of God, it would not happen. Thou couldst have

neither sickness nor anything else unless God willed it. But know that

it is God's will that thou shouldst have so much pleasure and

satisfaction therein, that thou shouldst feel no pain as pain; thou

shouldst take it from God as the very best thing, for it must of

necessity be the very best thing for thee. Therefore I may even wish

for it and desire it, and nothing would become me better than so to

do."~Meister Eckhart

 

 

 

 

 

"Self is always Present, Bliss is always Present.You are not to work

at attaining it,just remove the obstacles by which you can't see it.

The hindrance is only one: Attachment to the past."~ PapajiHappiness

is our natural state. Nevertheless, there is a curious and chronic

taboo against such simplicity of happiness. It is an innocent

misunderstanding that seems to support the perception of an

individual entity inherently separated from happiness, so that

happiness becomes an object of pursuit, rather than being recognized

as one's very condition, prior to any sense of conflict or opposition

within the miracle of being-ness itself.

"Happiness is our real nature. That happiness does not depend on our

possessions or achievements.Existence is the same as happiness and

happiness is the same as being.That which is called happiness alone

exists. Knowing that fact and abiding in that state of Self enjoy

bliss eternally.Perfect bliss is the absolute.Perfect peace is the

Self.That alone exists and is consciousness.Self is not other than

perfect happiness.That which is called happiness is only the nature

of Self.One's own reality, which shines within everyone as the Heart

is itself the ocean of unalloyed bliss."~ Ramana

 

 

 

Sonome

was a well-known poetess

and a profound student of Buddhism.

She once wrote to Zen master Unko:

"To seek neither reality nor falsehood

is the root source of the Great Way.

Everyone knows this,

so even if I seem immodest for saying so,

I do not think this is anything special.

As goings-on in the source of one mind,

the willows are green,

the flowers are red.

Just being as it is,

I pass the time reciting verse and composing poetry.

If this is useless chatter,

then the scriptures are also useless chatter.

I dislike anything that stinks of religion,

and my daily practice is invocation, poetry, and song.

If I go to paradise, that's fine;

if I fall into hell, that's auspicious."

*By myself I remembernot to seek mind;the green lamp has already

illuminedmy lone lamp heart.Whether in clamor or silence,I have a

clear mirror:it thoroughly discernspure hearts among humans.

It is not something existing,that anyone can see and know,nor does it

not exist:such is the lamp of truth.*

 

When Sonome was about to pass on,

she bade farewell to the world with this poem:*The sky of the autumn

moonand the warmth of spring:Is it a dream? Is it real?Hail to the

Buddha of Infinite Light!*

 

I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you and I think to myself....

"what a wonderful world"

I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright blessed day, the

dark sacred night and I think to myself....

"what a wonderful world"

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky are also on the faces

of people going by I see friends shaking hands, saying, "how do you

do?" They're really saying "I Love You"

I hear babies cry...I watch them grow they'll learn much more than

I'll ever know and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

LoveAlways,

 

Mazie

 

 

&

 

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