joe..so awakening is not a spring storm from what i gather here.. .how can you make that clear assumption?.. can not it be a spring storm?... you have made clarification here however i am yet to be convinced... merle
No, Merle. Awakening dawns in a lightning flash. There is no time taken. Experience this, and be happy. It may last for days, or months. It depends on one's preparations (overall practice). It is not a one-shot deal: awakenings are possible continuously. Awakenings are mostly a physical state: if anyone tells you that awakening has anything to do with thinking, or takes time to dawn, then they have never been so blessed, themselves. Awakening is a grace, but it takes all one's efforts to make oneself *susceptible* to the lightning striking. It strikes gently. And changes everything. But you cannot measure the length of time it takes to dawn. It is, well, "Sudden". And called-so, for millennia, for good reason. Else, it's all fantasy, projection, and a posturing parroting of reading. This is serious. This is a matter of Life and Death. It concerns the body. In fact, it's the ONLY significant matter of life and death, independent of health, or length of years lived. Awaken once, awaken several times, or never awaken. We have THIS life in which to practice. We know nothing about other lives... . Again, this is ...SERIOUS. It's called, "The Great Matter". No, not the Grey Matter. Nope! Ancients said: "Awaken in the Morning, and happily die in the Evening!" Mayor Ed Koch of New York City said, in 1972, "Heroin: it's so good, don't even try it ONCE." (and then it was plastered all over the Subway in Public-Service-Announcement signs). Storms take time to manifest. Awakening does not. Zen is the "Sudden" school. Even in Soto Zen, awakening is sudden. Progress in Zazen and overall practice is steady (or not...), but awakening is Sudden, and something that the Teacher will recognize, at about the same time that you do. There's no hiding it. And, there's no faking it. ...no matter which of the three surviving Zen schools you practice in, or in any hybrid of them. Quiet, gentle Lightning; not storms, Merle. One flash will do you. And it may last a while. Depending on you. And on causes and conditions. And that is the *START* of Zen practice. Then you may begin. --Joe / in Lightning-Country, Sonoran Desert, USA / Summer 2013 > <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > joe...yes indeed... the music comes from the heart..the zen awakening comes > as swiftly as a spring rain storm..merle
