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Thread: Does Shikantaza equal full trust in life itself?

  1. #1

    Does Shikantaza equal full trust in life itself?

    So far, Shikantaza is being revolutionary for me, because it is the only "thing" in which I just let everything be, just as it is, as a mirror that reflects whatever arises.

    Could Shikantaza be the equivalent of deep trust in things as they are? Is there an equivalent in Zen to this deep trust in life? It's as if the more I search for this trust, the less trust I put in life itself. And when I JUST SIT, then it's as if all of life became fundamentally OK. Thank you.

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat

  2. #2
    Hi Tomas,

    Yes, TOTALLY! WHOLLY & ABSOLUTELY!! It is a strange trust, however, because it is kind of a trust that, although things in life may sometimes not go as we want and we cannot depend on the fact that they always will (you know, all that sickness, old age, loss, natural disaster and death is simply unavoidable sometimes ), nonetheless, there is ultimately "no place to fall," and it is all the Great Dance of Life.

    Yep. I might compare it to bungee jumping life ... we fall, but there is some "Indra's Net" to catch us. There is a rope ... not to bind us ... but to set us free!

    Now, sorry to say, I cannot in any way promise you that you will live forever, never get sick, not grow old, win every bet, never go bankrupt, never get hit by a car ... sorry. The Buddha could not even promise that ... shown by the fact that he himself got old, sometimes sick, and eventually kicked the bucket (he did not get hit by a car, but they did not have any in old India!)

    But in Emptiness (which we know as the flowing Wholeness of all), there is no coming or going, nothing to lose or add ... and this is our net, our rope. When I was sick in the hospital a couple of years ago, worried that I would not live or ever get better ... I also knew this "no place to fall."

    Now, sometimes in our Practice we can taste or deeply experience this Net or Rope. Sometimes, we have to just take it on trust that it is here. But it is here. There is no place to fall, even as we sometimes fall.

    Gassho, Jundo

    STlah







    (images of cleaning the Giant Buddha in the town next to ours in Ibaraki Japan)



    (the little dots at Buddha's feet are people
    Last edited by Jundo; 12-19-2020 at 10:47 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  3. #3
    Deep bows Jundo, such inspiring advice and images. Thank you.

    Would love to listen to other stories from Sangha members, I find this to be a fascinating and fundamental topic.

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH

  4. #4
    As a teenager I was in a very dark place for few years. I will always be grateful for the blessing of growing up in the mountains and having deep connection with the nature. Whenever life was to much, I would go hiking for hours to clear my head. Once a fundamental shift happened while walking. It was like taking a plane for the first time, cutting through dark clouds and seeing the sun. Realising that the sun always shines, that my life, my thoughts my mind were clouds obstructing the light. When I came down, the problems were still there, but now I could notice "sunlight" even in the darkness. It is a huge relief to realise that all is as it is, as it should be, regardless of the stories we have in our heads. The mistake I did after that for a good amount of years was to run away from the clouds, chasing the sun. Until I couldn't run anymore and got stuck in a thunderstorm. The only way to transfer my suffering was to surrender inner struggle, to let it hurt, let it be, let the past change. Shikantaza opened up a space for everything : clouds, storms, sky, sun. Nothing to run away from, nothing to run towards to. With even deeper conviction than ever, that All is as it should be, that This is home.

    Couldn't fit in three sentences with this, sorry.
    Gassho
    Sat

  5. #5
    Trust is the exact word that always comes to mind for me. I think of it as having trust in the universe.

    Gassho
    ST-lah
    Shoki

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Ania View Post
    As a teenager I was in a very dark place for few years. I will always be grateful for the blessing of growing up in the mountains and having deep connection with the nature. Whenever life was to much, I would go hiking for hours to clear my head. Once a fundamental shift happened while walking. It was like taking a plane for the first time, cutting through dark clouds and seeing the sun. Realising that the sun always shines, that my life, my thoughts my mind were clouds obstructing the light. When I came down, the problems were still there, but now I could notice "sunlight" even in the darkness. It is a huge relief to realise that all is as it is, as it should be, regardless of the stories we have in our heads. The mistake I did after that for a good amount of years was to run away from the clouds, chasing the sun. Until I couldn't run anymore and got stuck in a thunderstorm. The only way to transfer my suffering was to surrender inner struggle, to let it hurt, let it be, let the past change. Shikantaza opened up a space for everything : clouds, storms, sky, sun. Nothing to run away from, nothing to run towards to. With even deeper conviction than ever, that All is as it should be, that This is home.

    Couldn't fit in three sentences with this, sorry.
    Gassho
    Sat
    Thank you for sharing Ania

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Ania View Post
    As a teenager I was in a very dark place for few years. I will always be grateful for the blessing of growing up in the mountains and having deep connection with the nature. Whenever life was to much, I would go hiking for hours to clear my head. Once a fundamental shift happened while walking. It was like taking a plane for the first time, cutting through dark clouds and seeing the sun. Realising that the sun always shines, that my life, my thoughts my mind were clouds obstructing the light. When I came down, the problems were still there, but now I could notice "sunlight" even in the darkness. It is a huge relief to realise that all is as it is, as it should be, regardless of the stories we have in our heads. The mistake I did after that for a good amount of years was to run away from the clouds, chasing the sun. Until I couldn't run anymore and got stuck in a thunderstorm. The only way to transfer my suffering was to surrender inner struggle, to let it hurt, let it be, let the past change. Shikantaza opened up a space for everything : clouds, storms, sky, sun. Nothing to run away from, nothing to run towards to. With even deeper conviction than ever, that All is as it should be, that This is home.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Ania View Post
    As a teenager I was in a very dark place for few years. I will always be grateful for the blessing of growing up in the mountains and having deep connection with the nature. Whenever life was to much, I would go hiking for hours to clear my head. Once a fundamental shift happened while walking. It was like taking a plane for the first time, cutting through dark clouds and seeing the sun. Realising that the sun always shines, that my life, my thoughts my mind were clouds obstructing the light. When I came down, the problems were still there, but now I could notice "sunlight" even in the darkness. It is a huge relief to realise that all is as it is, as it should be, regardless of the stories we have in our heads. The mistake I did after that for a good amount of years was to run away from the clouds, chasing the sun. Until I couldn't run anymore and got stuck in a thunderstorm. The only way to transfer my suffering was to surrender inner struggle, to let it hurt, let it be, let the past change. Shikantaza opened up a space for everything : clouds, storms, sky, sun. Nothing to run away from, nothing to run towards to. With even deeper conviction than ever, that All is as it should be, that This is home.
    thank you, Ania.




    aprapti


    std

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

  9. #9


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah
    泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods

  10. #10


    Gassho
    Kyōsen
    Sat|LAH
    橋川
    kyō (bridge) | sen (river)

  11. #11


    Evan,
    Sat today, lah
    Just going through life one day at a time!

  12. #12
    Matt_12
    Guest
    It is absolutely necessary for everyone to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color - something which exists before all forms and colors appear. I do not mean voidness. There is something which is always prepared for taking some particular form, and it has some rules, or theory, or truth in its activity. This is called Buddha nature.

    Warm wishes,

    Matt

  13. #13
    It is absolutely necessary for everyone to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color - something which exists before all forms and colors appear.
    Hi Matt

    Do you think that Buddha Nature is something separate from form? It sounds from your description like Buddha Nature is something in itself rather than the expression of things just as they are.

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt_12 View Post
    It is absolutely necessary for everyone to believe in nothing.
    That sounds like a Koan, I like it

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Kokuu View Post
    Hi Matt

    Do you think that Buddha Nature is something separate from form? It sounds from your description like Buddha Nature is something in itself rather than the expression of things just as they are.

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-
    I was just reading something yesterday, a paper on the influence of "Huayan" (Flower Garland) Buddhism on our Ancestor Dongshan's so-called "5 positions" (no link, as the paper was not so good. ). I only mention it because the Buddhism historian who wrote it went into quite a bit of detail on the 1000+ year old debate on whether the "absolute" came before and gave rise to the "relative" world of all things and division, or whether they are one and the same, or both, or so identical that there is no "they" at all. Maybe each and all in its way. A Dharmic "Chicken and the Egg."

    Is "Buddha Nature" or "Dharmakhaya" or "Emptiness" or whatever ya want to call it even an "it?" Or maybe just a process, or a happening or an interpretation of the mind? Hmmm. Maybe each and all in their own way too. Perhaps there is not even a "chicken" apart from crossing the road! The road crossing is chickening!

    In any case, we sit, letting the wholeness be the separation, the separation dance the wholeness. Just sit, and put the questions down for a time. Just sit, then cross the road and make an omelette!

    (Sorry to run long ... more words about emptiness! )

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    Last edited by Jundo; 12-19-2020 at 12:35 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  16. #16
    Oh my, I am not a fan of heights, those pictures really drive home the message here!!

    In Mumon’s The Gateless Gate, Case 46, Master Sekiso says, “From the top of a pole one hundred feet high, how do you step forward?” Another ancient master, Mumon, tells us, “One sitting at the top of a pole, one hundred feet high, even if he has attained it, has not yet been truly enlightened. He must step forward from the top of the pole one hundred feet high and manifest his whole body in the ten directions.”

    Gassho,
    Jakuden
    SatToday/LAH

  17. #17
    Jakuden, I am trying to understand the quote. Is this to say that we have to drop all attachments even to life itself to be fully realized in this life? If so it reminds me of the experience that made me seek the Dharma in the first place.
    I have been meditating in various methods since I was 14(44 now) off and on mostly off. One day I was meditating and dropped all attachments for a brief moment.
    No thought of whether i lost my partner at the time. No thought to whether I had a job or not, or having food and clothing. And I believe I caught a glimpse for an hour or two of things as they are. It was like everything flowing in and out of myself simultaneously. Touching all things in the Universe and being touched back all at once. I felt a strange liberation, nothing but love and compassion for all including the tiniest particles of existence.
    But to reach that point I had to really not care about anything. Dropping all thoughts as I understand it. I've felt this only 3 times in my life. And when i read that quote that's what it reminded me of. Whether it happens again or not I don't know and have stopped trying to recreate it. I just sit ( and feel the sunshine pouring in lately that I mentioned in the other thread, but this was beyond that). I learned not to be attached to such things but it was a hard lesson.
    Am curious as to anyone's input but yours specifically too since I was prompted by your post.

    Dave SAT/LAH

    Sorry this is more than three sentences
    Last edited by Shonin; 12-24-2020 at 08:29 AM.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Shonin View Post
    Jakuden, I am trying to understand the quote. Is this to say that we have to drop all attachments even to life itself to be fully realized in this life? If so it reminds me of the experience that made me seek the Dharma in the first place.
    I have been meditating in various methods since I was 14(44 now) off and on mostly off. One day I was meditating and dropped all attachments for a brief moment.
    No thought of whether i lost my partner at the time. No thought to whether I had a job or not, or having food and clothing. And I believe I caught a glimpse for an hour or two of things as they are. It was like everything flowing in and out of myself simultaneously. Touching all things in the Universe and being touched back all at once. I felt a strange liberation, nothing but love and compassion for all including the tiniest particles of existence.
    But to reach that point I had to really not care about anything. Dropping all thoughts as I understand it. I've felt this only 3 times in my life. And when i read that quote that's what it reminded me of. Whether it happens again or not I don't know and have stopped trying to recreate it. I just sit ( and feel the sunshine pouring in lately that I mentioned in the other thread, but this was beyond that). I learned not to be attached to such things but it was a hard lesson.
    Am curious as to anyone's input but yours specifically too since I was prompted by your post.

    Dave SAT/LAH

    Sorry this is more than three sentences
    Hi Shonin.

    I'll offer my own impression. If we really were completely unattached to life, completely without fear, really okay with jumping off a 100 foot pole without net or bungie cord ... one would die, smoosh, kaput! We need some fear, attachment to life and body (and some common sense) not to do so. Even the Buddha did not go walking off cliffs! (I know that there are actually people who have brains that don't register fear like the rest of us are hard-wired to do by millions of years of evolution, and they literally do step off cliffs ... )

    https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...ber-s-Amygdala

    However, the experience you had, however briefly, is something to cherish and learn from. On the other hand, to be that way all the time is not the point of this practice.

    Instead, I always recommend something which is the best of both worlds, as one world ... finding fearless fear, fear that is fearless, death without death, unattached attachments ... which we Zen folks might call "non-fear, non-death, non-attachment" ...

    I wrote about this a little in my book ... in fact, I wrote it exactly 3 years ago this month ...

    I am writing this some weeks after receiving an esophageal and stomach cancer diagnosis. The doctors are optimistic, but they won’t know the real prognosis until they do surgery a few days from now. Like many twists and turns in life, this news came as quite a surprise to me. In general, I’m doing okay with it, but I am also afraid sometimes, as we humans often are when faced with our mortality. I don’t want to pretend that I am some kind of hero who is beyond all fear. I am not. I’m a complete Zen coward! I believe that some level of fear is hardwired into the deepest parts of our brains, and it awakens when we ponder our own sickness and death.

    But that’s okay, because it’s not the end of the story.

    Another part of me is beyond all fear. I mean that. Part of me is afraid but part of me is not afraid at all. It’s the part of me that is wonderfully beyond “me,” beyond all fear of death—an aspect of my being that is fine with whatever happens. The part of me that knows there is no place to fall to and that does not believe in death in the usual way we think about it. I feel content, even though I am also worried about my upcoming surgery. There are serious risks, and the operation might not work. I want to get the cancer out, but the treatment is painful and without guarantees. I am afraid, and sometimes the fear makes me sweat from head to toe. I realize I may not be here in a year or two, or even months from now. I may not be here tomorrow. What will become of my family? I miss my kids, my wife, the cat. Who will teach my daughter to ride a bike, or show my son how to shave? Sometimes the loneliness I feel makes me cry at night.

    At the same time, I am beyond all fear, and there is not the least resistance to death in my heart. Through Zen practice, I stopped being concerned about death a long time ago. If death comes, let it come. Whatever happens, I’m willing to dive right in. Thus, I am content to be here in this hospital room. All is as it should be and I overflow with joy. An amazing aspect of Zen, the essence of the wisdom and compassion at its very center, is that it allows all such feelings to be true at once, each in its own way. Each perspective has its place, and there is not the least bit of conflict among ideas and emotions that at first appear to be contradictory.

    I would like to tell you where this strength comes from—it comes from zazen and Dōgen’s way of shikantaza. These are my source of courage today.
    Sorry to run long.

    Gassho, J

    stlah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    Hi Shonin.

    I'll offer my own impression. If we really were completely unattached to life, completely without fear, really okay with jumping off a 100 foot pole without net or bungie cord ... one would die, smoosh, kaput! We need some fear, attachment to life and body (and some common sense) not to do so. Even the Buddha did not go walking off cliffs! (I know that there are actually people who have brains that don't register fear like the rest of us are hard-wired to do by millions of years of evolution, and they literally do step off cliffs ... )

    https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...ber-s-Amygdala

    However, the experience you had, however briefly, is something to cherish and learn from. On the other hand, to be that way all the time is not the point of this practice.

    Instead, I always recommend something which is the best of both worlds, as one world ... finding fearless fear, fear that is fearless, death without death, unattached attachments ... which we Zen folks might call "non-fear, non-death, non-attachment" ...

    I wrote about this a little in my book ... in fact, I wrote it exactly 3 years ago this month ...



    Sorry to run long.

    Gassho, J

    stlah
    Yeah, losing respect and appreciation for life, existence and this particular form of it is not exactly the point of Zen or Buddhism in general. We can cherish the life and body we have and protect them from obvious harm, as much as we can, yet not cling to them and live in dread of being touched by what is out of our control.

    SatToday lah
    Bion
    -------------------------
    When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi

  20. #20
    TY for clarifying , Roshi.

    Jake, maybe I didnt explain clearly.I struggle to find the right wording when I mention it. I was okay with death but not looking to die ..more of an "If it happens it happens and I accept it". I was not in the mind to say jump in front of a car. Or step off the 100 ft. poll as it were. It wasn't apathy it was acceptance.

    But it was an occurrence I have always been curious about. Was a life changing experience. I did cling to it for many years trying to recreate it( this was pre-Buddhism in my life).

    Dave SAT/LAH

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Shonin View Post
    Jakuden, I am trying to understand the quote. Is this to say that we have to drop all attachments even to life itself to be fully realized in this life? If so it reminds me of the experience that made me seek the Dharma in the first place.
    I have been meditating in various methods since I was 14(44 now) off and on mostly off. One day I was meditating and dropped all attachments for a brief moment.
    No thought of whether i lost my partner at the time. No thought to whether I had a job or not, or having food and clothing. And I believe I caught a glimpse for an hour or two of things as they are. It was like everything flowing in and out of myself simultaneously. Touching all things in the Universe and being touched back all at once. I felt a strange liberation, nothing but love and compassion for all including the tiniest particles of existence.
    But to reach that point I had to really not care about anything. Dropping all thoughts as I understand it. I've felt this only 3 times in my life. And when i read that quote that's what it reminded me of. Whether it happens again or not I don't know and have stopped trying to recreate it. I just sit ( and feel the sunshine pouring in lately that I mentioned in the other thread, but this was beyond that). I learned not to be attached to such things but it was a hard lesson.
    Am curious as to anyone's input but yours specifically too since I was prompted by your post.

    Dave SAT/LAH

    Sorry this is more than three sentences
    As with most Koans, I think there is more than one way to view the quote. As Jundo has said, it is probably not good to literally drop the attachment to living to the extent that we step off a 100-foot cliff! I think it was your question about "deep trust in the way things are" that brought the Koan to my mind. I get from this Koan that we can sit on our hundred-foot pole, preach the Dharma from it, comfortably do all the motions of our practice, but can we really take that step into the unknown, leave our safe place, and trust that the Dharma will hold up? I also remember reading some of Joko Beck's writings, where she presented some pretty tough questions for the reader about what situations are particularly feared and whether we could "walk the razors edge" and accept those things.

    Gassho,
    Jakuden
    SatToday/LAH

  22. #22
    Ty Jakuden. Yes i think that's a much more succinct way of sayin what i was thinking. Leaping into the unknown. I just prattled on about examples and i think my point got lost. LOL

    Dave SAT/LAH

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Tomás Sard View Post
    Deep bows Jundo, such inspiring advice and images. Thank you.

    Would love to listen to other stories from Sangha members, I find this to be a fascinating and fundamental topic.

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH
    My experience from Jundo’s teachings, sitting, and pondering my sittings, is that Shikantaza is a trust and a radical acceptance (and yet is more than “radical acceptance,” the words I choose don’t do it justice). It’s a trust and acceptance that everything is whole and complete before, during and after I do or don’t do anything, whatever happens, nothing will tear a hole in this wholeness and completeness (in fact, it’s so whole and complete that if a hole were to be torn into this wholeness and completeness, then that itself would be the wholeness and completeness). There is nothing to do or not do to make things whole and complete. The way I sometimes think of it is that Zazen is a yoga posture held for and extended period of time embodying and reflecting the whole complete universe in every time and place. But this is all ultimately beyond words and logic to me and probably better left unspoken. The words trust and acceptance don’t do justice to what is reflected in my sitting. Maybe someone else can explain it with words and logic?

    The closest I’ve seen anyone get to this wholeness in practical down to earth terms is through phrases like “the dharma is good yesterday, good today, good tomorrow” and when Jundo says things like “Non-problem problems” or “every bad day is a good day” or “its like a tear rolling down the face and a smile at the same time.” Etc.. etc...

    The puzzle piece that I didn’t get, that clicked once I did get it, was when I asked Jundo “What is this ‘Great Doubt’ that I keep reading about?” And his answer was along the lines of “Great Doubt? That’s a Rinzai thing. We have Great Trust/Faith in Soto Zen that everything is whole and complete.”

    (This is more than three sentences, I apologize.)

    Gassho,
    Tom
    Sat/Lah
    Last edited by StoBird; 12-28-2020 at 02:49 AM.

  24. #24
    The mere mention of death brings places in to perspective one's fear. Is it necessary to discus that which is natural? I have some fear that pain will rise above 10; goodness I hope there is nothing stronger than bones, C3C4 and Jaw bones ripped through face and neck by truck speeding from dead stop at 60 mph with rope connected to bones. This I have felt and wept. May there be some relief with numbing narcotics? I watched my mother die of cancer while hooked to morphine. All I could do was watch her as she was vegetable. Would my pain dissipate from days I had of withdrawal from Oxycodone.
    Gassho
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 12-31-2020 at 02:18 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    The mere mention of death brings places in to perspective one's fear. Is it necessary to discus that which is natural? I have some fear that pain will rise above 10; goodness I hope there is nothing stronger than bones, C3C4 and Jaw bones ripped through face and neck by truck speeding from dead stop at 60 mph with rope connected to bones. This I have felt and wept. May there be some relief with numbing narcotics? I watched my mother die of cancer while hooked to morphine. All I could do was watch her as she was vegetable. Would my pain dissipate from days I had of withdrawal from Oxycodone.
    Gassho
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi
    We trust and experience that there is a face of the world beyond this body and its pains. Nonetheless, this body does suffer so much sometimes.

    I will sit Zazen tonight in memory of your mother, Taishi.

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  26. #26

    Does Shikantaza equal full trust in life itself?

    As alway or often, Jundo, your comment brings me to tears for my mother, or is I’m mother who still brings me to tears when my memory looks down at what once was. Marjorie echos another person, “Be here now!” And, now I’m listening to what was. The Silk Road.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Tomás Sard View Post
    So far, Shikantaza is being revolutionary for me, because it is the only "thing" in which I just let everything be, just as it is, as a mirror that reflects whatever arises.

    Could Shikantaza be the equivalent of deep trust in things as they are? Is there an equivalent in Zen to this deep trust in life? It's as if the more I search for this trust, the less trust I put in life itself. And when I JUST SIT, then it's as if all of life became fundamentally OK. Thank you.

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat
    Thanks for starting this discussion. I have gone through the posts and they have been so insightful. Last June, I had surgery. After the operation, I laid on the bed and had palpitations during the night. Eventually, at one point, I stopped the fight and just stayed with the situation. It wasn't giving up. It was accepting things as they are and found peace in it. In a way, you could say, I trusted life and surrendered to it as in Zazen.

    Gassho,
    Sat today,
    Geerish.

    Sent from my PAR-LX1M using Tapatalk
    Has been known as Guish since 2017 on the forum here.

  28. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Guish View Post
    Thanks for starting this discussion. I have gone through the posts and they have been so insightful. Last June, I had surgery. After the operation, I laid on the bed and had palpitations during the night. Eventually, at one point, I stopped the fight and just stayed with the situation. It wasn't giving up. It was accepting things as they are and found peace in it. In a way, you could say, I trusted life and surrendered to it as in Zazen.

    Gassho,
    Sat today,
    Geerish.
    That's it! Good hospital bed Zazen!
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    That's it! Good hospital bed Zazen!
    I learnt it from you.

    Gassho,
    Geerish.

    Sent from my PAR-LX1M using Tapatalk
    Has been known as Guish since 2017 on the forum here.

  30. #30
    Dear Jundo,
    I think of you often. At one time I was a big man. I was 270 lbs, 5’8” and that was with my clothes on. I now am 190 lbs, 5’61/2” the AS taken it’s toll on my body. You know that, but Jundo I just want to thank you for being so tender about my mother. Who knows? I might go that way myself. We all have our March of Bhutan, no winners there. Well, thank you.
    Gassho
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  31. #31

    Does Shikantaza equal full trust in life itself?

    Writing must instruct and beautify
    Writing is the essence of humankind
    Speech in many diverse places, but reading and writing for all to be.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 01-04-2021 at 03:44 AM. Reason: concision, spelling.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  32. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    Dear Jundo, this is a brief continuation of previous comment. Since 1990, three years later, I was forced out of places I loved, the former a graduation from academia with terminal degrees (sounds like diseases). The later was leaving higher education as teacher except for two extep classes. I found my ground without tenure in sporatic part-time positions. I ended my careers with S.S.D.I. (disability) payments and fast food joints. I am now on Social Security, Medicare, and my wife's insurance. Her houshold support in her pensions makes us secure. Marjorie is the true heroin in our lives. Soon I will finish my third book. Since 2009, I have devoted myself to health recovery, this Zendo, and writing; only a lay person here, I hope I am a good person, and good poet. Maybe I will finish four books in my writing career, maybe not. "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft a glay." according to Robert Burns. Excuse what my auto correct says are 9+ errors. Jundo my length is fomidible. For this, I appoligize again. Another history, for the benifit of young, maybe "Dukah," unfolds in one of the poetry threds. I am "Teacher, Poet, Lover, Friend" according to my loving wife. You, Jundo, are one of the four best teachers I have encountered, the other three professors. Thank you, may I call you friend?
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi
    I bow to your courage, brother.

    Gassho,
    Sat today,
    Guish.

    Sent from my PAR-LX1M using Tapatalk
    Has been known as Guish since 2017 on the forum here.

  33. #33
    Ghosh, yes I get it, and for posterity, thank you for copying what I deleted. Someone is reading here in the corners of our Forum.
    Sat
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

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