CATCHING THE OCEAN IN A NET -- AN ESSAY ON NO-SELF AND IMPERMANENCE

Along this road
goes no one
this autumn evening. (1)

Matsuo Basho (1644 - 1694)

( Read more... )

WHEN YOU MEET A BUDDHA ON THE ROAD


( Read more... )

The Buddha Akshobia on my left bicep:


( Read more... )

Keizan, in the Denkoroku or Transmission of Light, said this ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

According to the Zen lore, in the 5th or 6th century, an Indian monk Bodhidharma (named in Japan Daruma) crossed the high sees and established the Zen Buddhism in China. His life is surrounded by numerous legends. According to one, shortly after arriving to China, he had an audience with the emperor Wu, a well known benefactor of Buddhism. The ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

This morning I wrote down this (highly unoriginal) haiku:
while squashing
an egg laying roach
Namu Dai Bosa!(*)
Then I had an uneasy feeling that I have already read it somewhere. Indeed, after only a little bit of research, I found these two gems by Kobayashi Issa (1763 - 1827; translation courtesy of David G. Lanoue: Read more... )

(July 1952)

morning service
offering its fragrance
a white lily

(September 1952)

into the twilight zendo
maple leaves
come dancing

( Read more... )

As sealwhiskers noticed, not everything happens for a reason (even though everything that happens gives us a reason to grow up). Similarly, according to Buddhist sources, not everything which happens to us is the result of karma (something that I probably fail to emphasize enough in my Eastern Philosophy classes). Here are two references to very early Pali ( Read more... )