Homeless Kodo's "TO YOU" - Chapters 6, 7 & 8

[Jundo]

Dear All,

Moving on, although no place to go ...

As it is a fairly easy read, and chapters are rather short, consisting mostly of small quotes, we will take a few chapters at a time. This week, Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

The rules of the game are pretty easy: Just mention here, in our discussion, any quotes (none, one or many) that ring your bell and resonate with you, and briefly say why.

That's it!

If you need a version to "cut and paste" a quote, there is one here. However, PLEASE PURCHASE THE ACTUAL BOOK! I ask everyone to use the following only for ease in cutting and pasting a quote or two into this discussion, not for purposes of reading the entire book. Thank you!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13v2...ew?usp=sharing

What trips your trigger, strikes your fancy, inspires and makes your day? Try to say why it does so for you. (You can also feel free to disagree with Ol' Kodo too, but be prepared to say why!)

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Tairin]

Four passages caught my attention in these chapters. All of them speak to realization I am having on my own personal journey

Some are strong, like lions. Others are long, like snakes. Others can see even at night, like weasels. Some have their young stolen one after the other, until the day when someone breaks their neck, like chickens. Some are taken advantage of their whole lives long, and in the end they are slaughtered and eaten,even the bones and the skin are put to use, like cows. Others always have a place on a woman's lap, where they're happy, like
tomcats. All of that is karma. It is neither good nor bad.
In the end, a person whose karma is too good falls headfirst into hell.

We all develop peculiar habits. The powerful, and the teachers and intellectuals who serve them, do their best train us in these peculiarities. In this way we are tied and twisted in the most complicated ways. Religion means untying these knots.

In the end, there is only emptiness.

We often wonder who here is really better? But aren't we all made out of the same lump of clay?

Poor and rich, important and unimportant- none of that exists. It's only glitter on the waves.

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heikyo]

I liked this very short and simple wrote:

Poor and rich, important and unimportant - none of that exists. It’s only glitter on the waves.

This brings to mind the analogy of the ocean for the universe. We are just an arrangement of space and time just as a wave is an arrangement of water molecules that is constantly changing and interacting with the rest of the ocean. Eventually the wave falls back into the ocean - it has never been apart from it, just as we have never been separate from the rest of the universe, although we may think that we are.

Gassho
Paul
Sat today, LAH

[Chikyou]

This one simple quote:

"Buddhism means no self, nothing to gain. You must be one with the universe and all living things."

Gassho,
SatLah
Kelly

[Nengyoku]

Everyone is trying to make themselves out to be important according to their worldly criteria.

In the buddha-dharma it isn't about winning or losing, love or hate.

some want to show off with their "satori." Yet it is clear that something which you can use to show off has nothing to do with real satori.

Non-self means not turning your back on people.

These quotes really stuck out to me. I've always had a constant struggle with my ego, and as I practice I have noticed that even practice is not safe from my ego.

I have caught myself fantasizing about somehow having a "better" understanding of the world than random strangers on the street.
But the buddha-dharma is about recognizing that there is no separation between myself and that random stranger. No way to be better, or worse.
You cannot degrade another human being without also degrading your own humanity.

But buddha-dharma is also about stopping that struggle. Realizing that this conflict with my own ego is not something to be won or lost. It is like an angry child lashing out, who maybe just needs a hug and a time out.

Gassho,
Nengyoku
Sat

[Onkai]

The quote in Chapter 6 that struck me was:

Everyone is talking about loyalty to the fatherland. The question is simply where this loyalty will take us. I too was completely convinced when I went to war against the Russians, but after our defeat, I realized that we had done something that we shouldn't have. In any case, it's better not to make war in the first place.

Although I'm glad to live in the United States, there is something about nationalism that does tend to violence, and closed-mindedness toward other cultures.

In Chapter 7:

Poor and rich, important and unimportant - none of that exists. It's only glitter on the waves.

That's what zazen is all about. It's a beautiful way of saying none of us is the center of existence.

In Chapter 8:

Illusion means being unstable. Illusion means being controlled by the situation.

It is so good to be seated and let the storms of the mind subside. Seeing things as they really are is a settling experience. Attachment is illusion and can't be maintained.

Gassho,
Onkai
Sat lah

[Shinchi]

Chapter 7:

Buddha-dharma means seamlessness. What seam runs between you and me?

Sooner or later we all end up acting as if a seam separates friend and foe.

Similarly, from chapter 8:

Buddhism means no self, nothing to gain. You must be one with the universe and
all living beings.

And:

Non-self means not turning your back on people.

Gassho,
Steve
STLah


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Onrin]

From chapter's 6 and 7:
"A person who seeks his true calling won't want to seek a career. A person who wants to become president doesn't know where he is going in life."
and
"What could be more boring than showing off your skills? Skills are only relative; they're not really worth anything. What lies behind your talents, that's what matters."

There are a couple terms some musicians use, "covert chops" and "overt chops", which means those who are playing in service of the music, perhaps playing less, have covert chops - other experienced musicians can spot who can really play without having to show it, while flashy techniques may get likes on social media but lack substance.
The same can be said for my profession of teaching health and exercise - After being in it for many years I began to see that those engaging in best practices for their clientele are not constantly marketing themselves, or doing the cool thing for likes. But that can present issues with maintaining a "successful" career in terms of money and status.
In other words having principles by which one lives that does good by others and ultimately for one's self.
Gassho,
Chris
Sat

[Mokuso]

Dear All,

Moving on, although no place to go ...

As it is a fairly easy read, and chapters are rather short, consisting mostly of small quotes, we will take a few chapters at a time. This week, Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

The rules of the game are pretty easy: Just mention here, in our discussion, any quotes (none, one or many) that ring your bell and resonate with you, and briefly say why.

That's it!

If you need a version to "cut and paste" a quote, there is one here. However, PLEASE PURCHASE THE ACTUAL BOOK! I ask everyone to use the following only for ease in cutting and pasting a quote or two into this discussion, not for purposes of reading the entire book. Thank you!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13v2...ew?usp=sharing

What trips your trigger, strikes your fancy, inspires and makes your day? Try to say why it does so for you. (You can also feel free to disagree with Ol' Kodo too, but be prepared to say why!)

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

Chapter 6
“Most people don’t live from their own strength. They let themselves be fed by the system.”

Many people have forgotten their true personal strengths. They don't allow themselves to stop and reflect on themselves.

Chapter 7
“We often wonder who here is really better? But aren’t we all made out of the same lump of clay?”

Who is the best is a matter of interpretation. In my opinion, no one is the best. We all have our flaws and faults. And we're all good at something. We all add something good and useful.

Chapter 8
“Sooner or later everyone starts thinking of nothing besides themselves.
You say, “That was good!” But what was good? It was only good for you personally, that’s all.”

When we are too self-absorbed, we only see what makes us happy and what is good for us. We cannot then feel joy for anyone else.

Gassho, Mokuso

[Zenkon]

I was most struck by the saying:

(QUOTE) We often say, “I saw it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears!” We act as if
this was the firmest foundation there is, but these eyes and ears are not to be trusted at all. Everyone is deceived by their eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and
mind.(QUOTE/)

We falsely assume that we all "see" or "hear" the same things, the same way. Actually, what I "see" or "hear" is greatly determined by my past experiences, my preconceptions, my expectations. Remembering this, I can more easily understand what you "see" or "hear".

Gassho

Zenkon

[Tokan]

Hey all

Everybody’s karma is different. What’s important is the fact that everyone is pulled forward by Buddha in the same way. Dropping off body and mind means to stop wearing yourself out, and instead to trust in Buddha, to let yourself be pulled by Buddha.

I like this one because it is a reminder to be humble, to recall that it is not about being a better zennie than anyone else. Trust in your own awakening, trust in buddha, trust the buddha in you.

We often wonder who here is really better? But aren’t we all made out of the same lump of clay?

This reminds me that, although we might judge people as good or bad, from the universal perspective, of wholeness, we are all made out of the same lump of clay, a very big lump!

Last one,

We often say, “I saw it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears!” We act as if this was the firmest foundation there is, but these eyes and ears are not to be trusted at all. Everyone is deceived by their eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.

We chant it every week, but how often do we hear it!


Gassho, Tokan (Satlah)

[Tai Do]

Everyone is trying to make themselves out to be important according to their worldly criteria.

What could be more boring than showing off your skills? Skills are only relative: they’re not really worth anything. What lies beyond your talents, that’s what matters.

These really showed me how I'm so worried about "doing things rights", led by a misleading perfectionism that is nothing but my own insecurities. How foolish of my ego to want to show off the same skills about which I'm insecure? Much to think about...

Besides, these other quotes filled me with hope and faith in our practice as a remedy to the poisons of my ego:

In the same way, Shakyamuni isn’t the only buddha.
Everyone who imitates Buddha’s zazen is a complete buddha.

Everyone should sit firmly anchored in the place where there is no better and worse.

Buddhism means no self, nothing to gain. You must be one with the universe and all living beings.

Gassho,
Mateus
Satlah

[Nengyoku]

How foolish of my ego to want to show off the same skills about which I'm insecure?

Gassho,
Mateus
Satlah

[Nengei]

I find this brilliant:

The life and death of many depends on whether a single Stalin is born or not.Whether a single person is born or not makes a huge difference. That’s why it is so signicant that the one person, Shakyamuni, was born.

And this:

You say, “I’ll show you!” Yet you don’t even know how long you’ll live. Don’t you have anything else to do?

Things are what they are. All is the same. Anything that creates separation is not dharma.

It's all only glitter on the waves.

Gassho,
Nengei
Sat today. LAH.

[JudyE]

From Chapter 6:

What one system built, the other will destroy. What one political power accomplished will be replaced by the next.

From Chapter 7:

Poor and rich, important and unimportant — none of that exists. It’s only glitter on the waves.

Both of these resonate with me as reminders of impermanence. The Chapter 7 quote takes me back to the “waves in the ocean” illustration of “no-self” as well as our impermanence.

Gassho,
Judy
sat/lah

[ZenKen]

There was a lot to like, and some very funny, passages in these chapters. The ones that really stood out to me were:

Chapter 6

Everyone's karma is different. What's important is that everyone is pulled forward by Buddha in the same way. Dropping off body and mind means to stop wearing yourself out, and instead to trust in the Buddha, to let yourself be pulled by Buddha.

The reminder to trust, as well as practice, is important for me. "If I just sit more, it'll be fine" when it should be, "it's already fine, I trust".

Chapter 7

Poor and rich, important and unimportant - none of that exists. It's only glitter on the waves.

This is such a beautiful passage, with such a simple message, it really stood out to me. A moment of poetry.

Chapter 8

Non-self means not turning your back on people.

I like how short, simple and direct this one is, which is a feature of Sawaki Roshi's writings anyway, but this is so succinct. Here, you fools, just read this and do it.

Gassho, Anna
st

[Soka]

You don’t have to be a Goemon Ishikawa to be a thief. Even somebody who’s stolen something only once, on a whim, is still a complete thief.
In the same way, Shakyamuni isn’t the only buddha. Everyone who imitates Buddha’s zazen is a complete buddha.

This wonderfully reminded me of discussions I have had with a Theravāda friend who believes it will take her many lifetimes to achieve any kind of Buddhahood. I joke with her that she should not worry and that she is already Buddha.

And like others here, I find this a beautiful quote.

Poor and rich, important and unimportant - none of that exists. It's only glitter on the waves.

Gassho,
Sōka
sat

[Mark-us]

These quotes really stuck out to me. I've always had a constant struggle with my ego, and as I practice I have noticed that even practice is not safe from my ego.

I have caught myself fantasizing about somehow having a "better" understanding of the world than random strangers on the street.
But the buddha-dharma is about recognizing that there is no separation between myself and that random stranger. No way to be better, or worse.
You cannot degrade another human being without also degrading your own humanity.

But buddha-dharma is also about stopping that struggle. Realizing that this conflict with my own ego is not something to be won or lost. It is like an angry child lashing out, who maybe just needs a hug and a time out.

Gassho,
Nengyoku
Sat

I appreciate you putting that last quote in. I completely missed that quote when I was reading. So I guess what I said in the previous discussion is disproven! I also like your comment on how degrading another human is degrading your humanity. I realized in my life that in anything, one person would be better than you, and one person would be worse than you. So I always try to learn from people who are better than me and help others who are not. It is not a competition but helping others out.

Also, to add my own in

Sooner or later everyone starts thinking of nothing besides themselves. You say, “That was good!” But what was good? It was only good for you personally, that’s all.

I have been thinking about this lately. How something good for one is bad for the other—each thing we do leaves waves that affect others around us.


Gassho,
Markus
SatLah

[rj]

"Illusion means being unstable. Illusion means being controlled by the situation". -- This is a constant work-in-progress for me, particularly in stressful times... and a reminder to take a step back and try to see said situations without letting myself be controlled by them. I feel I have made some progress since I have started practicing, but of course there is much more to be made.


rj/sat

[Onki]

There are a few quotes that struck me:

“Most people don’t live from their own strength. They let themselves be fed by the system.”

“What could be more boring than showing off your skills? Skills are only relative: they’re not really worth anything. What lies beyond your talents, that’s what matters.”

“We often wonder who here is really better? But aren’t we all made out of the same lump of clay?”

What really matters? I am deceived by my own senses: ears, eyes, nose, tongue, body, and mind. All these things are distractions of what truly matters in this life. Zen is life. Zen is everything. I am me and yet there is so much more than what I can myself see. I’m slowly learning this to be true.

Gassho,

Finn

Sat today