Zen a day - Mar 18

Friday 7 March 2008
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant . . .
   The Truth must dazzle gradually
      or every man be blind.
- Emily Dickinson

Saturday 8 March 2008
Just keep clear mind, go straight ahead, and try, try, try for ten thousand years.
- Zen saying

Sunday 9 March 2008
Chasing after fantasies is always a bad idea. Stick with reality. Reality's all you've got. But here's the real secret, the real miracle: It's enough.
-Brad Warner

Monday 10 March 2008
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
- Philip K. Dick

Tuesday 11 March 2008
One day Master Kuei-shan called for the manager of the temple. When he came, the Master said: "I called for the manager of the temple. Why should you come here?"
The manager made no answer. Then the Master sent an attendant to summon the head monk. When the head monk appeared, the Master said: "I called for the head monk. Why should you come here?"
The head monk made no answer.
- Zen story

Wednesday 12 March 2008
When you walk, watch the walking; when you sit, watch the sitting. When you recline, watch the reclining; when you see and hear, watch the seeing and hearing; when you notice and think, watch the noticing and thinking. When joyful, watch the joy. When angry, watch the anger.
- Muso Kokushi

Thursday 13 March 2008
Lose your mind and come to your senses.
- Fritz Perls

Friday 14 March 2008
Seeing into one's own nature.
- Hui-neng's definition of zen

Saturday 15 March 2008
When Hui-hai was asked, "What is the way?" he answered, "It is right in front of your nose!"
"Then how come I can't see it?"
"Your 'Me' is in the way."
- Zen mondo

Sunday 16 March 2008
I lose myself at some point during almost every musical performance. There's a point of the struggle and super self-consciousness, but I always get lost at some point. While I'm playing, there's a pattern of struggling through something and then cracking through it by a weird combination of willpower and letting go. That's the most enjoyable thing for me: "Uh-oh, he's gone!"
- David Torn

Monday 17 March 2008
Don't know is very important. "What am I?" Don't know . . . "Where is my mind?" Don't know . . . "When I was born, where did I com from?" Don't know . . . "When I die, where do I go?" Don't know . . . And actually, you really don't know, in the deepest, truest sense. And it is very important to look into that.
- Seung Sahn

Tuesday 18 March 2008
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.
- Blaise Pascal