Foyan, Meditation, Vigilance

My teacher said, “ Suppose a bit of filth is stuck on the tip of the nose of a sleeping man, totally unknown to him. When he wakes up, he notices a foul smell; sniffing his shirt, he thinks his shirt stinks, and so he takes it off. But then whatever he picks up stinks; he doesn’t realize the odor is on his nose. If someone who knows tells him it has nothing to do with the things themselves, he stubbornly refuses to believe it. The knowing one tells him to simply wipe his nose with his hand, but he won’t. Were he willing to wipe his nose, only then could he know he was already getting somewhere; finally he would wash it off with water, and there would be no foul odqr at all. Whatever he smelled, that foul odor wouldn’t be there from the start. Studying Zen is also like this; those who will not stop and watch themselves on their own instead pursue intellectual interpretation, but that pursuit of intellectual interpretation, seeking rationales and making comparative judgments* is all completely off. If you would turn your attention around and watch yourself, you would understand everything.

One must realize that the smell is not from any particular thing but rather that the smell is from the filth on ones nose... once one realizes this and clears the filth away, the smell is gone, but this is not enough! To think that once you catch a glimpse, you will be good forever is stupid... to think that once your nose is wiped that you'll never become deluded by fresh filth ever again is stupid. Once your nose is wiped, the smell is gone, but you must remain aware and vigorously vigilant, lest you become deluded once again by fresh filth.

When arising and vanishing quiet down, there appears the great Zen master; sitting, reclining, walking around, there’s never an interruption. When meditating, why not sit? When sitting, why not meditate? Only when you have understood this way is it called sitting meditation.

There is not a special circumstance or situation where you say "oh, now is the time I must meditate and only in this meditation time am I making progress"... no, this is wrong understanding. Remaining aware and vigilant of your nose and its cleanliness is something to be done while sitting, reclining and walking around, there’s never an interruption... only then is ALL sitting considered sitting meditation.

It's work that takes vigor, but always be on guard to keep your nose clean... never an interruption

Submitted September 11, 2020 at 09:07PM by conn_r2112 https://ift.tt/32jwqwH