Toronto Cityscapes

Toronto Cityscapes

Cities have their own transcendent landscapes and the stories they tell are never the same.   Take a stroll with me through some streets:

Fini

Structures - Real Prosperity

Structures - Real Prosperity

A rich man asked Sengai to write something for the continued prosperity of his family so that it might be treasured from generation to generation. 

Sengai obtained a large sheet of paper and wrote this on it: "Father dies, son dies, and grandson dies."

The rich man became angry. "I asked you to write something for the happiness of my family! Why do you make such a joke as this?" 

"No joke is intended," explained Sengai. "If before you yourself die you son should die, this would grieve you greatly. If your grandson should pass away before your son, both of you would be broken-hearted. 

If your family, generation after generation, passes away in the order I have named, it will be the natural course of life. I call this real prosperity."

The ultimate standpoint of Zen … is that we have been led astray through ignorance to find a split in our own being,

that there was from the very beginning no need for a struggle between the finite and the infinite, that the peace we are seeking so eagerly has been there all the time.

D. T. SUZUKI

Our mind is like a clear glass of water. If we put salt into the water, it becomes salt water; sugar, it becomes sugar water.... But originally the water is clear. No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem.

SEUNG SAHN

There is only one thing certain and that is that nothing is certain.

G. K. CHESTERTON

Voyages are accomplished inwardly, and the most hazardous ones, needless to say, are made without moving from the spot.

HENRY MILLER

Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. 

Not till your thoughts cease their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate.

HUANG-PO

The End.

Structures 2- 2014- My Heart Burns Like Fire

Structures 2- 2014

My Heart Burns Like Fire

My Heart Burns like Fire

Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: "My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes." 

He made the following rules which he practiced every day of his life.

 

In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.

Retire at a regular hour. 

Partake of food at regular intervals. Eat with moderation and never to the point of satisfaction.

Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone. When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.

Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.

When an opportunity comes do not let it pass by, yet always think twice before acting.

Do not regret the past. Look to the future.

Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.

 

Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. 

Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

The End