UnbornMind Zen

Posts Tagged ‘meditation’

(Chapter II verse 8) Those who see the Muni so serene and beyond birth and death will be cleansed of attachment, stainless both in this world and in the other. The Muni (Enlightened Sage) is not like others and never takes his cue from defiled dharmata. All karmic-ties have been severed and thus no longer confer imprisonment within the three-times. The skandhas no longer rule over him and thus he stands triumphant upon the crushed head of Mara. His domain is deathlessness itself—clear Read more [...]

(Hakeda) Part 4  On Faith and Practice  Having already discussed interpretation, we will now present a discussion of faith and practice. This discussion is intended for those who have not yet joined the group of beings who are determined to attain enlightenment.  Suzuki: This part of the discourse is intended for those beings who have not yet entered into the order of constant truth (samyaktvaniyata-rāśi-spiritual steadfastness) As is indicated this part of the discourse is Read more [...]

From this series on the Lotus Sutra it’s not hard to imagine why mystical-movements evolved from its teachings. The Japanese Tendai-School has its roots within the Chinese Tiantai Tradition and was established by a monk named Saichō, whom like his Shingon counterpart, the great Kūkai, had traveled and studied first hand in China. While Saichō emphasized encompassing many forms of Buddhist practice under the canopy of the Lotus Sutra, it was long after his death that Tendai-Buddhism evolved Read more [...]

A Photo of the Dragon Mind of Zen Tarot shows how these can be made and completed as laminated sets. The actual cards look better than the pic (don’t have the best camera) and are great for daily meditation. The two Black Dragon-Eye Mandala cards portrayed are what appear on the back-side of all the cards. This is a nice arrangement in that once your meditation on the card is complete, the card can then be turned-over and you can engage in Pi-Kuan with the Black Dragon-Eye Mandala. It’s Read more [...]

iii. 3. First-range Samadhi 3.3 Total Mind Absorption Swami Venkatesananda translates this sutra as: When the field of observation and the observing intelligence merges as if their own form is abolished and the total intelligence shines as the sole substance or reality, there is pure choiceless awareness without the divided identity of the observer and the observed – that is illumination. While this type of Samadhi is not the top-class seedless or “nirbija samadhi” that we discussed Read more [...]

ii.46-48 Postures favorable for meditation 2.46 Asana, or comfortable postures Asana means a steady and comfortable posture. By and large these next sutras highlight the importance of Hatha Yoga. Today this “body-positioning yoga” is what one considers “all-things-yoga” to be in today’s body-obsessed culture. Yet, Patañjali had more in mind than glorifying body positions and its accompanying overt-pridefulness. This is good news for those searching for that “balanced” stance Read more [...]

  Greetings from the blogger here at Unborn Mind Zen It’s that annual-junction wherein my time apart from active blogging begins. Since my last contemplative sojourn a lot of new material has been blogged: the Diamond, Heart, Platform, and the Surangama Sutras have been covered. Series on the Zen Masters Huang Po and Bankei have been offered, along with the beginning of a perpetual-series on the Wisdom from the Masters. Teachings from Tozen have been added as well. This last blogging-season Read more [...]

  Hui Hai (720-814)  Q: How is the fundamental Dharma to be practiced?  A: Only through meditation and dhyana contemplation in samadhi. The Dhyanaparamita Sutra says: "To seek the wisdom of Buddha, you need both dhyana and contemplation. Without dhyana and contemplation together, thought will be disordered and break the root of goodness." Q: What is dhyana and what is contemplation?  A: The non-arising of a single thought is dhyana. The original nature is your uncreate Read more [...]

(Yampolsky)  "Good friends, in this teaching from the outset sitting in meditation does not concern the mind nor does it concern purity; we do not talk of steadfastness. If someone speaks of 'viewing the mind,' [then I would say] that the 'mind' is of itself delusion, and as delusions are just like fantasies, there is nothing to be seen. If someone speaks of 'viewing purity,' [then I would say] that man's nature is of itself pure, but because of false thoughts True Reality is obscured. If Read more [...]

A day in the “apparent” life of a Lankavatarian is just that…it transcends all notions of apparency that usually dwarfs most people between the ironclad mountains of realism and nihilism. As such, a Lankavatarian is “marked with the mark of suchness.” “I focus on the personal realization of detachment, on transcending deluded views, on transcending the views of what exists or does not exist that are perceptions of one’s own mind, on obtaining the threefold liberation, on being marked Read more [...]