Hsin Hsin Ming

 Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen, Hsin Hsin Ming Seng Ts'an, Translation by Richard B. Clarke

https://web.csulb.edu/~wweinste/HsinHsinMing.html

The Great Way* is not difficult for those who have no preferences.  When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised.  Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for, or against, anything.  To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.  When the deep meaning of things is not understood, the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

The Way is perfect, like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.  Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things.  Live neither in the entanglements of outer things, nor in inner feelings of emptiness.  Be serene in the oneness of things, and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.  When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity, your very effort fills you with activity.  As long as you remain in one extreme or the other, you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single Way fail in both activity and passivity, assertion and denial.  To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality; to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.  The more you talk and think about it, the further astray you wander from the truth.  Stop talking and thinking, and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

To return to the root is to find the meaning, but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.  At the moment of inner enlightenment, there is going beyond appearance and emptiness.  The changes that appear to occur in the empty world we call real only because of our ignorance.  Do not search for the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.

Do not remain in the dualistic state; avoid such pursuits carefully.  If there is even a trace of this and that, of right and wrong, the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion.  Although all dualities come from the One, do not be attached even to this One.  When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothing in the world can offend, and when a thing can no longer offend, it ceases to exist in the old way.

When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.  When thought-objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes, as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.  Things are objects because of the subject (mind); the mind (subject) is such because of things (objects).  Understand the relativity of these two and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.  In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable and each contains, in itself, the whole world.  If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine, you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.

To live in the great Way is neither easy nor difficult, but those with limited views are fearful and irresolute; the faster they hurry, the slower they go.  And clinging (attachment) cannot be limited.  Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.  Just let things be in their own way, and there will be neither coming nor going.  Obey the nature of things (your own nature) and you will walk freely and undisturbed.

When thought is in bondage, the truth is hidden, for everything is murky and unclear, and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.  What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separation?

If you wish to move in the one Way, do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.  Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with true enlightenment.  The wise man strives to no goals, but the foolish man fetters himself.  There is one Dharma, not many; distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.  To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind is the greatest of all mistakes.

Rest and unrest derive from illusion; with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking.  All dualities come from ignorant inference.  They are like dreams or flowers in air; foolish to try to grasp them.  Gain and loss, right and wrong; such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.

If the eye never sleeps, all dreams will naturally cease.  If the mind makes no discriminations, the ten thousand things are as they are, of single essence.  To understand the mystery of this One-essence is to be released from all entanglements.  When all things are seen equally, the timeless Self-essence is reached.  No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary, and the stationary in motion; both movement and rest disappear.  When such dualities cease to exist, Oneness itself cannot exist.  To this ultimate finality no law or description applies.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way, all self-centered striving ceases.  Doubts and irresolutions vanish, and life in true faith is possible.  With a single stroke we are freed from bondage; nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing.  All is empty, clear, self-illuminating, with no exertion of the mind's power.  Here thought, feeling, knowledge and imagination are of no value.  In this world of Suchness, there is neither self nor other-than-self.

To come directly into harmony with this reality, just simply say when doubts arise, "Not two".  In this "not two", nothing is separate, nothing is excluded.  No matter when or where, enlightenment means entering this truth.  And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time or space; in it, a single thought is ten thousand years.

Emptiness here, emptiness there, but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.  Infinitely large and infinitely small; no difference, for definitions have vanished and no boundaries are seen.  So, too, with being and non-being.  Don't waste time in doubts and arguments that have nothing to do with this.  One thing, all things, move among and intermingle without distinction.  To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.  To live in this faith is the road to non-duality, because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.

Words!  The Way is beyond language, for in it, there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today.

YOU DO NOT EXIST

YOU DO NOT EXIST

You are either of the Kingdom of Heaven or you are not. Sickness is not a part of wholeness.

Don’t believe in people. No human being exists at all! I don’t, you don’t. Labels exist, but no people exist.

You have a name, a body, the tone of your voice. You have education or none. You are American or British. All these are attributes but your attributes are not you. It is because you believe they are that you have every grief you have.

And I know you don’t understand this at all.

I know right now while I am talking to you that you are not you. You still think you are “you,” a distinct, separate person. You are not.

When you understand that all you are is a temporary vehicle for the expression of life, then things become clear to you. And you cease to ask wrong questions because you already have the answer.

Life, God, the Whole expresses itself for a certain period of time through a physical body. Then, after a while, when God ceases to express Himself, to send energy through that temporary time-body, it ceases to walk around. But at no time did God say that you are you, distinct and opposite from the people in the next house.

Wholeness, Oneness, is life without names. Please don’t believe names are anything but a temporary convenience. To have a body is only a temporary convenience which is animated by cosmic energy. When this is withdrawn, “you” don’t die because “you” were never born!

A body came into the world, but it wasn’t you. Because you were unenlightened, you thought it was you. And everybody else said it was, so you swallowed it. Cosmic energy came into the world, but it wasn’t you.

You swear you were born, so therefore you think you are going to die; you fear that “you” are not going to continue. The purpose of this class is to withdraw such false information that you have about yourself, which causes fear.

You fear for the extinction of this temporary house you walk around in. You thought that your house was real, that when your physical body was no longer animated and walking around, you died. “You” didn’t die. “You” were never born, except in imagination which you wrongly think is Reality.

You thought your name and experiences were real. Upon the extinction of the energetic animation of your physical body, all that you called yourself disappears. But it was never anything more than a collection of beliefs that your body housed for awhile; you don’t take it into eternity.

There’s no way you can die because you were never born. “You” don’t die because there’s nothing to go into eternity. Eternity has no birth or death. 

The only reason you are afraid is because you’re identified with your name and experiences and want them to continue. But you know they won’t. 

You’re sure that you are you. You are not.

The fear of death will vanish—and can only vanish—when you know that you were never born! Understand this. You will then know who you really are.

 — Vernon Howard

Awakening

MY 

BODY IS 

A CANDLE

I have become a candle

The flame of my being is on fire

I am watching the candle

melt before my eyes

soon my eyes shall melt too

My flesh is dripping away

leaving my bones naked

and disconnected

The sockets of my eyes

have become empty

My spirit self rises

from what used to be me

and the me I have become

dips her spirit thumb

into the melted mass

of bones and flesh

and devours the me

I never was

Angels of Death

Angels of Life

arrive and say

'Turn  from

the unreal

to the Real'

and when I do

my spirit body

becomes a candle

My spirit self melts

and reveals a new self

and when I turn to look

I see nothing

and the new me

the me I Am now

begins to melt . . .

The cessation of belief

Millions of human beings believe in their goodness, which makes them hypocrites. The other millions of human beings believe in their badness, which make them reprehensible. Just awful. There is a handful of human beings living on this earth who do not want either of those self-destructive courses. This small group of people doesn't want to believe in anything at all—doesn't believe in goodness, doesn't believe in badness. But has the courage to not believe a single thing — even while realizing that the cessation of belief is going to lead the cessation of their life as they now know it. — Vernon Howard

Awakening to Reality

Try reading this slowly and see if it applies to you, or perhaps someone you know? Or perhaps to the world in general. There are many ways we run from ourselves...even getting involved in useless thoughts, daydreams...even nightmares. 

"Truths come to us a thousand times a day, but unless we open our hearts

and minds, they cannot enter with their supply of health and
youthfulness.

For instance, Grace L. was not receptive to one of these health-giving
truths. Her emptiness compelled her to sigh, 'I'm always worn out. I
know I'd feel better if I stopped running so hard. Why do I drain my
strength in so many activities? I have a compulsive drive to get
involved in this stupid activity or that mad chase. Why am I driven to
get involved in so many pointless pursuits?'

'There is something you must understand, a new truth you must receive.
You see, Grace, you really don't want to go toward these activities. You
want to go away from something.'

'You mean I want to escape from something?'

'Yes.'

'What do I want to escape?'

'Yourself.'

'My own self?'

'It is a self that you don't like, don't understand and don't trust; so
it pains you. Your frantic activities are attempts to escape from an
unwanted self. The objects of your chase really mean nothing to you. To
prove this, notice how often you change directions. One day it's a new
hobby, then a new club, then some social cause.'

'That's right. I'm like a child wanting a new toy every day.' She paused
for a moment, then asked, 'So I wear myself out with these pointless
pursuits in an attempt to escape my own inner pain?'

'Yes. Try to see this clearly. Then, you will stop running. Your time
and energy will then go into healthy channels, such as self-discovery.
And you will no longer be tired.'"

                      -Vernon Howard

Thank God for the writers and artists, the musicians, and sages.

 

Because you're not what I would have you be, I blind myself to who, in truth, you are. ―Madeleine L'Engle

And when we do this ― we blind ourselves to who, in Truth, we are. What we do to others, we do to ourselves.

Madeleine L'Engle was a wonderful writer of children's books, books for adults, and poetry. Her book, A Wrinkle in Time, was one of the first books I read as a child which began to wake me up to Reality ― to what I knew in my heart was true. Thank God for the writers and artists, the musicians and sages. 

The very first book from my young childhood, which showed me what I knew deep inside, was one I have also written a lesson about ― Miss Hickory, by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. It revealed to me that we all have hard hickory nut heads. We must begin the spiritual journey to melt into the softness of our heart ― which is the only true strength.

The 3rd book from childhood that I also I fell in love with was, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnettt, published in 1911. This book was also about the spiritual journey, of growing from darkness to light.

We must all grow from darknessc― our negative thoughts, feelings, and actions ― to the Light of Truth. 

Nisargadatta Maharaj Q&A

Dialogue between a visitor and Nisargadatta Maharaj (from I AM THAT)

Question: I come from a far off country. I had some inner experiences on my own and I would like to compare notes.

Maharaj: By all means. Do you know yourself?

Q: I know that I am not the body. Nor am I the mind.

M: What makes you say so?

Q: I do not feel I am in the body. I seem to be all over the place, everywhere. As to the mind, I can switch it on and off, so to say. This makes me feel I am not the mind.

M: When you feel yourself everywhere in the world, do you remain separate from the world? Or, are you the world?

Q: Both. Sometimes I feel myself to be neither mind nor body, but one single all-seeing eye. When I go deeper into it, I find myself to be all I see and the world and myself become one.

M: Very well. What about desires? Do you have any?

Q: Yes, they come, short and superficial.

M: And what do you do about them?

Q: What can I do? They come and go. I look at them. Sometimes I see my body and my mind engaged in fulfilling them.

M: Whose desires are being fulfilled?

Q: They are a part of the world I live in. They are just as trees and clouds are there.

M: Are they not a sign of some imperfection?

Q: Why should they be? They are as they are, and I am as I am. How can the appearance and disappearance of desires affect me? Of course, they affect the shape and content of the mind.

M: Very well. What is your work?

Q: I am a probation officer.

M: What does it mean?

Q: Juvenile offenders are let off on probation and there are special officers to watch their behaviour and to help them get training and find work.

M: Must you work?

Q: Who works? Work happens to take place.

M: Do you need to work?

Q: I need it for the sake of the money I like it because it puts me in touch with living beings.

M: What do you need them for?

Q: They may need me and it is their destinies that made me take up this work. It is one life, after all.

M: How did you come to your present state?

Q: Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings have put me on my way. Then I met one Douglas Harding who helped me by showing me how to work on the 'Who am I?'

M: Was it sudden or gradual?

Q: It was quite sudden. Like something quite forgotten, coming back to one's mind. Or, like a sudden flash of understanding. 'How simple,' I said. 'How simple, I am not what I thought I am. I am neither the perceived nor the perceiver. I'm the perceiving only.

M: Not even the perceiving, but that which makes all this possible.

Q: What is love?

M: When the sense of distinction and separation is absent, you may call it love.

Q: Why so much stress on love between man and woman?

M: Because the element of happiness in it is so prominent.

Q: Is it not so in all love?

M: Not necessarily. Love may cause pain. You call it then compassion.

Q: What is happiness?

M: Harmony between the inner and the outer is happiness. On the other hand, self-identification with the outer causes suffering.

Q: How does self-identification happen?

M: The Self, by its nature knows itself only. For lack of experience whatever it perceives it takes to be itself. Battered, it learns to look out (Viveka) and to live alone (Vairagya). When right behaviour (uparati) becomes normal, a powerful inner urge (mumukshutva) makes it seek its source. The candle of the body is lighted and all becomes clear and bright (atmaprakash).

Q: What is the real cause of suffering?

M: Self-identification with the limited (vyaktitva). Sensations as such, however strong, do not cause suffering. It is the mind, bewildered by wrong ideas, addicted to thinking: 'I am this', ' I am that', that fears loss and craves gain and suffers when frustrated.

Q: A friends of mine, used to have horrible dreams night after night. Going to sleep would terrorise him. Nothing could help him.

M: Company of the truly good (Satsang) would help him.

Q: Life itself is a nightmare.

M: Noble friendship (Satsang) is the supreme remedy for all ills, physical and mental.

Q: Generally, one cannot find such friendship.

M: Seek within. Your own Self is your best friend.