If I were a tree among trees,
a cat among animals,
this life would have a meaning,
or rather this problem would not arise,
for I should belong to this world.
I should be this world to which I am now opposed by my whole consciousness and my whole insistence upon familiarity.
This ridiculous reason is what sets me in opposition to all creation. I cannot cross it out with a stroke of a pen.
– Albert Camus.
Mist clears from ancient cedars and days last
forever… right and wrong don’t enter the
clouds.
– Stone House
Original Face is the reality of realities:
Stretch your hand to the winging bird.
Vertical nose, horizontal eyes – and then?
What if your mind is empty?
– Tokugaku (15th Century)
If you have not
Linked yourself
To true emptiness,
You will never understand.
– Morihei Ueshiba
The moonlight
High in the sky,
Shining through the eves,
Falls on a mind
Undisturbed by what
Might have been.
– Rikyu
Truth is perfect and complete in itself.
It is not something newly discovered;
It has always existed.
Truth is not far away.
It is nearer than near.
There is no need to attain it,
Since not one of your steps leads away from it.
– Dogen
Deep in the mountains,
on an isolated peak,
I live on my own in a stand of pines.
In a simple hut,
I sit meditating without concerns,
silent and alone, dwelling peacefully, lighthearted.
Once you’ve awakened,
it’s done:
no effort needed.
– Yung-chia (d.713)
Traceless, no more need to hide.
Now the old mirror reflects everything,
Autumn light moistened by faint mist.
– Suian (Southern Sung Dynasty)