Good morning!
We will see the full moon in the clear sky tonight. After the leaves have fallen, trees are exposed to crisp cool air. The world is chilly, going to the freezing point now.
After our sittings, we now have full moon minds, bodies exposed to the golden wind, and the clear cool world, the fallen leaves being mulched into the ground by our samu, work.
The Buddha said,
“Better than the one who would live one hundred years not seeing amrita is the one who would live one day seeing amrita, ambrosia of immortality.”
Also he said,
“Better than the one who would conquer thousands upon thousands in the battlefield is the one who would conquer one-self. That is the true conqueror.”
I would add,
“Better than the one who would undergo a million migratory miseries is the one who would attain one awakened amrita.”
We undergo millions, billions, of ups and downs, births and deaths in transmigration becoming hell beings, hungry ghosts, animal beings, fighting devils, humans, and celestial beings.
We go through the triple characteristics of impermanence, suffering, and selflessness in dependent origination with separated, small, smelly skin sacks because of our karmas.
We must lose our selves, going through impermanence in separation, sickness, and severance due to our delusions, desires, and divisions.
We can not avoid them, as long as we are caught up in karmic perceptions, conceptions, emotions, volitions. Sitting is stopping karmas, present, past, physical, verbal, and mental.
If we go up, we must fall down; if we gain, we must lose; if we are born, we must die due to the natural course of things in the integral intertwined world.
If we want to stop such samsara and suffering, we must stop our karmas in the triple poisons of attachment, aversion, and delusion through the triple learning of sîla, samâdhi, and prajñâ.
We all can practice sitting, stopping karmas, and seeing amrita. Then, we can witness the true triple treasures. As we practice more, we can appreciate their values more.
This is going back to the origin, before all divisiveness, desires, and delusions, like the iPS (induced Pluripotent Stem) cell before divisions, development, and even before evolution.
Tathâgata-garbha, Thus-being-fetus, is the original state and nature of all beings in thusness or truth before evolutions, devolutions, and involutions.
It is not something special, but universal, a natural principle and practice to reverse devolution, divisions, delusion, stopping the dependent origination of them through our karmas.
So, let us practice this simple, straight practice constantly, continuously, and concentrated. Hopefully more people will practice and pervade the world for pure peace and prognosis.
10/28/12
