Zen Proverb

Nothing is exactly as it seems, nor is it otherwise. ~Alan Watts

First days of spring

First days of spring the sky is bright blue, the sun huge and warm. Everything is turning green...Time is forgotten, the hours fly.  People passing by point at me and laugh: “Why are you acting like such a fool?” I nod my head and don’t answer. I could say something, but why? Do you want to know what’s in my heart? From the beginning of time: just this! just this! ~Ryokan Taigu

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower;
there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
~Basho

When all thoughts are exhausted...

When I am done thinking, I wander in the woods

gathering handfuls of flowers. ~Ryokan

The bunny and flowers pictures were taken while visiting Western Massachusetts in July 2010.

Blooming

"The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms." ~Thich Nhat Hahn

Beyond the wind...

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.  ~Baba Ram Dass

 rock squirrel
charmed by woodland stories
whispered by the wind

Beyond the wind,
listen to the bamboo.
~Shibayama Zenkei

"Beyond the wind" generally refers to the realm beyond the illusory, material world, while listening to the bamboo is a reference to the fact that some species of bamboo grow so quickly that if one listens carefully, you can actually hear them growing.  ~Enso: Zen Circles of Enlightenment by Audrey Yoshiko Seo

The Sound of Autumn

Autumn is come!
Though not visible
So clearly to the eyes,
One knows it by the sound
Of the wind as it blows.

~poem from Zen and Japanese Culture by D.T. Suzuki

Autumn takes its sweet time coming to the Sonoran Desert.  These pictures were taken yesterday by the creek.  With leaves gently rustling in the breeze, it felt like autumn, even though there was just a whisper of golden color on the trees.

Not knowing

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature's course.

~from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen poems of Ryokan,

translated by John Stevens

Keeping it Simple

Zen is not some kind of excitement, 

but merely concentration

on our usual everyday routine.

~Shunryu Suzuki

Roshi

"I have lived with several Zen masters -- all of them cats." ~Eckhart Tolle

The Sound of Breezes

And what is mind and how is it recognized?

If I clearly draw in sumi ink,

The sound of breezes drifting through pine is all that is seen.

~Ikkyu Sojun (15th century Zen master)

Nice and Easy

Don't seek the truth.  Just cease to cherish opinions.
~Zen saying