Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Today's Tao / The form without a form 14-2


«Today's Tao»




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«My Koan Horoscope»

(available in Taoísmo en Español)

1. If you have the mother of the country, you can last forever. (Ch.59 / Middle luck)

2. Heaven attained One and got clear. (Ch.39 / Middle luck)

3. The characteristic of the great attainment is to follow Tao and Tao only. (Ch.21 / Bad luck)


«From Yama Uba»

[Time passes]
Hag
Here we are.
Make yourself at home.

«Interpretation»

Middle luck - Middle luck - Bad luck.

Do you wonder if you have to work hard to get what you want? Do you wonder if you have to meditate for more than 30 years before you reach Satori, or the enlightenment? Do you wonder if you have to donate some thousands of dollars in order to get accepted as a Taoist disciple? Do you wonder if it is difficult to attain Tao? Do you wonder if it is at least difficult to practice Taoism? Listen to Zen Master Dogen's caution: "You must not think that Juki(bestowal) will take place after you have completed your mortification." What do we have to think about it, then? Simple and easy. You have already got it with doing nothing because true You are Tao. "Here we are. Make yourself at home."


Please try Koan Horoscope (although it is in Spanish).


Naoto Matsumoto



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you Naoto!

Recently, I found a new way to remember true me when I forget, it seems to work so far... and that is to forget! Sometimes I start thinking about getting satori, or being one with tao, then I just remember to forget and at that moment I forget about everything, which then makes me remember.

Maybe because remembering and forgetting are the same thing?

A question: Why in Buddhism do they seem to have a more "negative" outlook on life? (if thats true, I don't know much about Buddhism)

thank you!

Unknown said...

It is a very good suggestion, Rinor-san. As you mentioned, remembering and forgetting are the same thing. In fact, everything is the same thing because it takes place in Genzo(Hologram).

Negative? If you are talking about Zen, which is the Japanese pronunciation of 禅, it is not negative at all because life is Zen itself. A Japanese craftsman is an excellent example.

If you are talking about Chan, which is the Chinese pronunciation of the same character, it might have the tendency as you mentioned above. This is one of the reasons why Japanese Zen Master Dogen was very disappointed when he studied Buddhism in China before he met his master Nyojo. Chan was just a tool for the personal benefit of the mind's tranquility.

If you are talking about Buddhism in general, you have to take into account the geographical and historical background. Each school has its cultural essence integrated in their teachings. That's why I feel quite uncomfortable when I hear someone talking about Japanese Buddhism, particularly Zen, in English or another Indo-European language. How can they well explain the nonexistence of Self (I or Yo in Spanish) in a language that requires a subject in a sentence, for instance? Aren't they talking about an image of Zen projected in the mind of an Occidental and Cartesian mind?

I hope that this lack of clarity in the explanation by an English-speaking person is responsible for the negative impression you have about Buddhism. Life is Buddha's manifestation. How can it be negative?

Thank you, Rinor-san, for giving me an opportunity to clarify one important point.


Naoto Matsumoto