Zen-a-day - June 28

Wednesday 25 June 2008
If one wants to have an understanding of the matter, look at the North Star by turning towards the south.
- Ch'uan-lao

Thursday 26 June 2008
If you keep a don't-know mind, your mind has already disappeared. Don't-know minds cuts off all thinking. Cuts off all thinking means no thinking. No thinking means empty mind. Empty mind means your nature before thinking arises. Before thinking, there is no mind. When thinking appears, mind appears. When mind appears, dharma appears. When dharma appears, form appears. And when any kind of form appears, suffering appears: life and death, happiness and unhappiness, good and bad, like and dislike . . . .
- Seung Sahn

Friday 27 June 2008
The question is the same, the answer is the same. Sand in the rice, thorns in the mud.
- Zen Commentary

Saturday 28 June 2008
A monk asked Wei-kuan: "What is Tao?"
Wei-kuan replied: "What a fine mountain!"
"I am asking you about the Tao - why do you talk of the mountain?"
"As long as you only know about the mountain," said Wei-kuan, "you can never attain the Tao."
- Zen mondo