< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 1 Now Sit Down and Listen 1 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall THE MASTER BANKEI’S TALKS WERE ATTENDED NOT ONLY BY ZEN STUDENTS BUT BY PERSONS OF ALL RANKS AND SECTS. HE NEVER QUOTED SUTRAS NOR INDULGED IN SCHOLASTIC DISSERTATIONS. INSTEAD, HIS WORDS WERE SPOKEN DIRECTLY FROM HIS HEART TO THE HEARTS OF HIS LISTENERS. HIS LARGE AUDIENCES ANGERED A PRIEST OF THE NICHIREN SECT BECAUSE THE ADHERENTS HAD LEFT TO HEAR ABOUT ZEN....

< Previous | Contents ‌CHAPTER 10 A Song Untouched by Time 10 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 THE CONTEMPORARY IDEAL OF LIVING COMPLETELY WITHIN THE PRESENT MOMENT, NO LESS THAN THE CLASSICAL MYSTICAL NOTION OF LIVING TOTALLY WITHIN THE DIVINE ETERNAL, IS AS IMPOSSIBLE AS IT IS INHUMAN. IT RESULTS IN A DISEASED RATHER THAN A GRACEFUL PRESENT. GRACEFUL EXISTENCE INTEGRATES PRESENT, PAST AND FUTURE....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 2 Only One Exists 2 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 IS RELIGION REALLY THAT SIMPLE THAT EVEN I CAN UNDERSTAND? YES, SHEELA – EVEN YOU. But when I say religion is simple, I don’t mean in the sense of easy. I mean in the sense of uncomplicated. Life is uncomplicated, existence is not complex. All complexity is brought into it by the mind....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 3 Take no Thought for the Morrow 3 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall WHILE VISITING GASAN, A UNIVERSITY STUDENT ASKED “HAVE YOU EVER READ THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE?” “NO, READ IT TO ME,” SAID GASAN. THE STUDENT OPENED THE BIBLE AND READ FROM ST. MATTHEW: “AND WHY TAKE YE THOUGHT FOR RAIMENT? CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD, HOW THEY GROW. THEY TOIL NOT, NEITHER DO THEY SPIN, AND YET I SAY UNTO YOU THAT EVEN SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY WAS NOT ARRAYED LIKE ONE OF THESE....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 4 Therapy is a Function of Love 4 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall THE FIRST question: Question 1 HOW CAN I WORK AS A THERAPIST IN AN EGOLESS WAY? WHAT SHOULD I DO? THERAPY IS BASICALLY A FUNCTION OF LOVE, and love flows only when there is no ego. You can help the other only to the extent that you are non-egoistic....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 5 A Master Echoes You 5 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall A MONK ASKS, “WHAT IS THE BUDDHA?” TOSU (THE MASTER) ANSWERS, “THE BUDDHA.” MONK: “WHAT IS THE TAO?” TOSU: “THE TAO.” MONK: “WHAT IS ZEN?” TOSU: “ZEN.” TRUTH CANNOT BE SAID, BUT ONE CANNOT be silent about it either. Truth cannot be said because words are inadequate. You cannot be silent about it either, because silence is also inadequate....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 6 Grace is Being Herenow 6 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 HOW MAY I LIVE GRACEFULLY IN TIME? IN MY TIMES? GRACE COMES OUT OF ETERNITY. GRACE is never a part of time. Time creates hurry, time creates tension, time creates anxiety. The more you are conscious of time, the more neurotic you will be. Time is a neurosis....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 7 A Snowflake Dissolving in Pure Air 7 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall BASSUI WROTE THE FOLLOWING LETTER TO ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES WHO WAS ABOUT TO DIE: “THE ESSENCE OF YOUR MIND IS NOT BORN, SO IT WILL NEVER DIE. IT IS NOT AN EXISTENCE, WHICH IS PERISHABLE. IT IS NOT AN EMPTINESS, WHICH IS A MERE VOID. IT HAS NEITHER COLOUR NOR FORM....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 8 The Great Doubt 8 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 WHY SHOULD SILENCE BE THREATENING? SILENCE IS GREAT DEATH, THE GREATEST THAT one can pass through. The ordinary death is nothing compared to it, because in the ordinary death you still carry the seed of being reborn. The ordinary death is not real death. One dies really in silence – that is utter death....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 9 Look! 9 July 1977 am in Buddha Hall CHI CH’ANG ASPIRED TO BE THE GREATEST ARCHER IN THE WORLD, SO HE BECAME THE PUPIL OF WEI FEI. FIRST WEI FEI ORDERED HIM TO LEARN NOT TO BLINK. CHI CH’ANG CREPT UNDER HIS WIFE’S LOOM AND LAY THERE ON HIS BACK STARING WITHOUT BLINKING AT THE TREADLE AS IT RUSHED UP AND DOWN DIRECTLY BEFORE HIS EYES....