T. O. M's Magnificent Zen Bonanza.

Hello and welcome to all Zen Redditors, Seekers of the way, Trolls and Blockers, Meditators and Mods, Zennists with no practice as practice, Alts, Shit talkers and Legitimate students of Zen, Wanabee Gurus, Teachers and Students, Academics and Self inquisitors, Those with Ordinary Mind as the way and those with ardent practice, I welcome one and all to T. O. M's Magnificent Friday Bonanza of Zen.

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What is this Magnificent bonanza I hear you ask?

Well, it's just me, chatting some knackers about Zen, what else would you expect?

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Please understand, that these are just my ideas and I am in no way an authority on Zen, nor am I trying to teach anyone anything ( as many here have suggested) I am merely a student of Life, a perpetual learner who is here to shoot the breeze, I'm never too old to learn new ways of looking at things, never too big to be knocked down a peg or two, and if I come across as being arrogant or crass, you will have to put that down to my upbringing in the working class north of England, and just get a grip, yer gret mardy snowflakes.

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Anyway, back to it.. Where was I?

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Oh yeah, Zen..

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What is this thing called Zen? Fucked if I know..

I keep reading the Zen literature as if more knowledge will help me realise enlightenment, or an understanding...

Some old dude said...

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Good people, this requires that you sweep away your previous concept of life, your actions and doings, understanding and not understanding.

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Huang po said something similar.

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If you wish to understand, know that a sudden comprehension comes when the mind has been purged of all the clutter of conceptual and discriminatory thought-activity. Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate.

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I feel like I'm going round in circles, I've been reading and posting this shit for ages now, but I just can't seem to drop that pesky clutter of conceptual and discriminatory thought activity.... Its almost like the state that Huang po describes is my habitual condition, imprinted on me through years and years of schooling and tuition in language and societal norms...

Didn't the Buddha say something like, you have built up your mind over countless years, don't think that you can do away with all that shit in an instant..

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Does that bring me to the instant vs gradual schools?

Don't get me started on that one..

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According to one master, Buddhism is a simple affair, yet according to another, it requires years of effort..

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Joshu said, "There is nothing lacking."

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Maybe that's all just a part of the duality, simple vs complex, instant vs gradual..

What if, we are simultaneously Buddha and Ordinary mind?

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What if I just stop chatting knacker, sup me coffee and goto work..

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Note.. All bold type are quotes from Zen literature. The rest is my own.

Submitted June 10, 2022 at 12:42PM by transmission_of_mind https://ift.tt/Rpmhcnu