Good evening!
We have now very cold and clear air. Dogen’s poem titled “The Original Face” reads:
Flowers in spring,
Cuckoo in summer,
The moon in autumn,
Snow in winter, cool and clear.
We will read the words of Zen master Xiang-yang in Dogen’s Praxis in our Dharma Study class:
Hundreds of means and thousands of measures are only for the body.
We do not know that the body is dust in the grave.
Stop saying that white hair has no words.
This is the messenger from the Yellow Spring (Nadir).
When the Buddha was asked why one must renounce the world while the hair is black, he said that it is too late to start digging a well after one has already become thirsty.
From moment to moment we are possessed by the body, driven by karma, thus becoming thirsty. To know this is to awaken and to stop it is Zen, Chan, Jhâna, or Dhyâna, which all buddhas practice constantly. This is the way to be in nirvana, cessation of karma or unconditioned peace, the single state where unsurpassed awakening is possible.
11/12/1
