The First Principle
A Zen master, Shou-shan, was asked by a disciple, "According to the scriptures, all beings possess the Buddha-nature; why is it that they do not know it?"
Shou-shan replied, "They know!"
Shou-shan said, "They know! But they are avoiding it."
It is not a question of how to know the truth. The truth is here; you are part of it. The truth is now; there is no need to go anywhere.
Says that old rascal Bodhidharma: "All know the way, few walk it, and the ones who don't cry regularly, 'Show me the way! Where is the way? Give me a map! Which way is it?'"
Life is the way, experience is the way. To be alive is the way; to be conscious is the way. You are alive; you are conscious.
Truth cannot be handed down by somebody else; it is not borrowed, it is not an inference. It is an experience.
--excerpts from Zen, its history and teachings
Labels: philosophical
posted by Sheela @ Thursday, May 21, 2009
2 Comments:
Ach! Thank you for reminding me. And me, I'm supposed to be the Buddhist! :-)
Hi Dale, Isn't is so sweepingly simple to note that we are all built to experience the sublime state of being and yet, we tangle ourselves up with the mundane and easily lose sight of it?!
Sometimes, as I pore over my everyday life under the microscope, I can't help ask myself, "Is this all life is about?"
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