Hi Agnes, I may agree with you. I don't know, as I don't know what you wrote below entails for you in terms of going about freeing the mind. If one goes about 'freeing oneself' by getting rid of the ties that bind, then it's been my experience that you will only tie yourself tighter to the path of freedom.
It is quite simple really - the Way is what you cannot take hold of, it is impossible that one could be attached to the genuine way. It has no corners by which one could do so. If you have a concrete approach, something to do, then you know this is building on the house. If you have nothing to do, then you've already made a concrete understanding of the Way. One of my favourite koans is the one of the man hanging in a tree by his teeth and someone comes and ask him of the meaning of the first Patriarch's coming from the West. Answer and you lose your life, refuse and you evade your responsibility. This is practise. Every corner we take, we are hanging up that tree having to lose our life or evade responsibility, yet neither will carry us over birth and death. Samsaric practise, we keep on doing it over and over again. Afterwards, it is not different, exept that when we fall and lose our lives we just lose our lives and when we evade our responsibility, we just evade our responsibility. On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 04:00:30 -0700 (PDT), "Agnes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > Anders, > > This might be my last posting to this forum. But for me, study and > practice Zen in daily life is to learn how to free our mind, ease and > search deeper in our heart, but not to regulate one's mind, either > ourselves or others. I truly believe the more we want to regulate > others, the more we will first regulate ourselves and put our minds in a > smaller box, which will drag us more further apart from freedom and > humanity > > Anders Honore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Al, > > Do you really believe the verse below? If you wrote it yourself, then I > must ask why you are subjecting yourself to a Dharma that is unfounded > by your own experience of the here and now. > > The verse is all well and good for someone happily content to make the > Way into a prison of awareness and clarity - In fact, for those who can > do so consistently, they form a strong basis for the application of > practise, if perhaps somewhat lacking in wisdom. I don't see such a > temper in you nor particular affinity for it. I may be completely > offtrack of course, wouldn't be the first time, but if you think > regulating the mind is gonna help you cross over birth and death, then > how is that different from common missionary work, beating people with > sticks over old dogma? > > On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 21:39:25 -0400, "AC" > said: > > > > Agitation Within > > robs one of reflection > > and clarity of vision. > > In this state of mind, > > it is of course impossible > > to act with presence of mind. > > The right thing then, > > is to keep still > > until balance is regained. > > > > One can only do this > > when he himself > > is not affected by the turbulence, > > although its disastrous effects > > are already visible in those around him. > > If he withdraws in time > > he remains free of error. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
