Denying
the fear
is the name of the game.
XXVIIIa
Owl was reading this essay aloud,
"Our original nature has no life, no death, no coming or going.
When the true dharma appears, which means form is form,
emptiness is emptiness or sky is blue, tree is green-
that energy -BOOM! - will appear,
all the sarira will turn to water and disappear.
Our teaching is substance, truth, and correct life.
Our Zen practicing means attain your true self,
find the correct way, truth, and life.
Any style of practice is OK -- even using a mantra.
But, don't be attached to samadhi -- you must 'pass' samadhi.
Zen means 'everyday mind,' not special states of mind.
Moment to moment keeping a clear mind is what's important."¹
Coyoté was perplexed and shifted himself
to rest on his elbow
so he could see that
mumbling Owl
as he rested on the shaded side of the boulder.
"Without desire everything is sufficient.
With seeking, myriad things are impoverished."²
The
great
Indian poet, Tagor, a Nobel prize-winner, wrote:
Dust of dead
words adheres to you.
Wash your soul with silence.
What is silence? In Zen practice, silence is samadhi³ itself.
from A
Dharma-talk by Yu Ogushi, Roshi
Sept. 7, 1997 at the Hazy Moon Zen Center.
XXVIIIb
Owl turned toward him
put the book down.
Coyoté waited,
quiet.
Owl sat, quiet.
Don't
give me
your life,
I have one of my own.
XXVIIIc
Coyoté
finally asked,
"What is sarira?"
Owl blinked.
He began carefully,
"As I understand it,
'Sarira, also
sometimes Sharira,
is a term derived from a Sanskrit root-word
which can best be translated as something close to
"what is easily dissolved,"
that is, easily worn away;
the idea being something transitory,
foam-like, full of holes, as it were.'"
Owl blinked.
Coyoté stared at Owl.
"So, you don't know either do you?"
Owl blinked again.
"Well," he began,
"I know what it means to me.
But to speak of it
is to confuse.
You hear what fits your ears
not what I mean."
Owl blinked.
Coyoté blinked.
Then Coyoté stared at Owl.
And began to chuckle.
"This is too rich!
Owl the all-knowing
gimmicks an answer."
Owl sat, quiet.
Coyoté stared at Owl.
Thinking, "Does he really mean that?"
Finally Owl just said,
"Don't give me your life,
I have one of my own."
And he stared back,
still, silent.
Coyoté looked past Owl
thinking, "Does he really mean that?
Form is form,
emptiness is emptiness."
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