Merle, I was in response to JM's repeated remarks to differentiate mind from heart. Anthony
________________________________ From: Merle Lester <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, 22 September 2012, 5:33 Subject: [Zen] open your heart anthony..it just is...open your heart and let the sun shine in...why complicate that what is so simple?...merle JM, On the contrary, I agree with you, except that my expression will be: we need to relax our xin, in order to discover the intuition of our xin. Both mind and heart are expressed by 'xin' in Chinese. I think it is the same with Sanskrit 'citta' and the modern Thai 'jai'. No matter how you try to differentiate mind from heart, they always come close, but to different aspects sometimes. There is no Chinese word that represents solely 'mind'. I am interested in your translation of Diamond Sutra. Anthony From: 覺妙精明 （JMJM） <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: Kristopher Grey <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, 22 September 2012, 1:15 Subject: Re: [Zen] seeking traction Indeed, KG. Thank you. We use the following instructions -- "Focus and not focus. Observe all and every." Then you see the wisdom in all. Even during chakra focusing, it is not a mental focusing. We need to relax the mind, in order to sense with our heart. Heart is where our spirit reside. Pure heart means pure awareness. Again, a few people, such as Anthony or Bill may "disagree" as usual. :-) It's actually an experience and not a dogma. Newest translation of an old saying(probably version 7), of this phrase from Buddha, "Cast not in words. Transmit beyond teaching." BTW, my team is working on translating "Practice and Witness Diamond Sutra" from our Shifu. I know. I know. It's courageous. If there is any online version of Diamond Sutra you sync with, please share with me. Much obliged. jm On 9/21/2012 9:18 AM, Kristopher Grey wrote: > >When we think of 'mindfulness', we may think of not being distracted, but >distraction fills the mind just as effectively. Silence, is the ultimate >distraction. > >Concentration or distraction, different in form only. Both are moments of >attention to this and not that, in that moment, then gone. Effort applied to >cultivate mindfulness is often merely a distraction from distractions. >Mindfulness presents formlessly in all forms. Attempts to be mindful, to wrest >it from the rest, naturally will fail to grasp this. > >Concentration cannot free the mind, distraction cannot hold it. Thoughts come >and go effortlessly. This is not a problem. Following them or ignoring them, >grasping and rejecting them - in relation to self - reveals ordinary mind's >habitual ignorance of Original mind. > >Mindfulness allows dis-tractions to serve as reminders not to seek traction. > >KG > > > > > > > > >On 9/21/2012 1:51 AM, Anthony Wu wrote: > > >>Bill!, >> >>Some guests are stubborn. You can tell them you are busy or write down what >>they want, they still insist on sitting on your sofa and making tea out of >>your teapot. Master Seung Sahn has a koan where a burly man keeps dropping >>ash on a Buddha image, and nothing can dissuage them. He is also strong that >>there is no way you or your family can beat him. What should you do? I have >>not had the answer to this koan. >> >>Anthony >> >> >>From: Bill! mailto:[email protected] >>To: [email protected] >>Sent: Friday, 21 September 2012, 9:40 >>Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion >> >> >> >>Anthony, >> >>I was always told to just let the thoughts 'flow through you', acknowledge >>them but then let them go. The teaching analogy that went with this is 'when >>you're busy working in your house and someone comes and knocks on your door, >>acknowledge them but tell them you're busy and ask them to come back later. >>Don't invite them in for tea and a conversation.' >> >>Some zen practitioners I know suggest keeping a notebook and pen/pencil near >>you when you meditate. That way if a thought comes that you just cannot get >>rid of you can write it down, and then can go back to meditating with the >>assurance you will attend to the thought later. >> >>I've never done that nor felt the need to do that, but it might be worth a >>try if these thoughts/questions are keeping you from meditating. >> >>...Bill! >> >>--- In mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu mailto:wuasg@... wrote: >>> >>> KG, >>> Â >>> Some say you should not suppress questions when you meditate, but let them >>> come and go. Well they come here to stay. It takes time and effort to make >>> them disappear. >>> Â >>> Anthony >>> >>> >>> ________________________________ >>> From: Kristopher Grey mailto:kris@... >>> To: mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com >>> Sent: Thursday, 20 September 2012, 9:38 >>> Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion >>> >>> >>> Â >>> Same problem is created by attachment to thinking "well" applies to >>> meditation! *L* >>> >>> Your "tip", perhaps pointier than it may appear! ;) >>> >>> KG >>> >>> >>> On 9/19/2012 6:09 PM, Anthony Wu wrote: >>> >>> Â >>> >Merle, >>> >Â >>> >I give yo a tip. If you always want questions to be answered, you can >>> >never meditate well. >>> >Â >>> >Anthony >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> >> >> >> >> >
