Prajnatara, who WAS a woman by the way (THE WAY, get it? Hehehehe-- ohh alright! Whatever!), was also the 27th Patriarch and instructor of Boddhidharma, the one sent East into China to kick the hornets nest and bloom the flower of the five Chinese houses of Chan.
She was once asked why she never bothered to read scriptures to which she answered with the following, "Breathing in I do not dwell with the subject, breathing out I do not join with the object. One hundred, a thousand, a million scrolls I read daily."
WHY DOES NOBODY MENTION HER VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PRACTICE ZEN? I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS.
Ahem. Sorry about that. Moving on.
How to follow Prajnatara's advice? Let's ask some moar of the zen family.
Zen Exemplar (I like this word better than "master", and no I don't care if picking and choosing gives anybody a rash in here, so there), ahem....zen EXEMPLAR LINJI (whose name means "view of the river ford") advised, "Never ever engage in random speculation", and zen EXEMPLAR HUANGBO (Whose name comes from a mountain in China) advised, "Cease your conceptual thought and drop your anxiety", and lastly zen exemplar JOSHU (whose name comes from the Jo prefecture of Shu) advises, "Having nothing inside, seeking nothing outside".
So! What do we have?
We have a "methoooood" of breathing (something that can be done sitting/walking/standing/laying & 24/7/365--the real kicker) within which the practitioner does not have/dwell/engage inner random speculation upon INHALING, aaaaaand does not seek/join/be-anxious-about the myriad outside appearances upon EXHALING.
THIS IS CASE 3 FROM THE BOOK OF SERENITY C'MON PEOPLE!
So! Since we all know zen is about being your true self and practicing being your true self is stupid...we have Prajnatara (whose name means wisdom &, um,....TARA[Little help somebody?]) to thank for providing a way for our "poor way" (literally the "I" of self) to GET OUT OF THE WAY of the "rich way" which is the true self of perception otherwise known as mind that we alllllll share.
Ok!
Donations are welcome. PayPal and Cash only (Tax reasons). The line forms to the left people!
Nananasty.
Submitted May 19, 2020 at 08:26AM by johnjonesthrownaway8 https://ift.tt/36dpBgQ
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