August 17th ~ How can there be a fusion of the thinker with his thoughts? Not through the action of will, nor through discipline, nor through any form of effort, control, or concentration, nor through any other means. The use of a means implies an agent who is acting, does it not? As long as there is an actor, there will be a division. The fusion takes place only when the mind is utterly still without trying to be still. There is this stillness, not when the thinker comes to an end, but only when thought itself has come to an end. There must be freedom from the response of conditioning, which is thought. Each problem is solved only when idea, conclusion, is not; conclusions, idea, thought, are the agitations of the mind. How can there be understanding when the mind is agitated? Earnestness must be tempered with the swift play of spontaneity. You will find, if you have heard all that has been said, that truth will come in moments when you are not expecting it. If I may say so, be open, sensitive, be fully aware of what is from moment to moment. Don’t build around yourself a wall of impregnable thought. The bliss of truth comes when the mind is not occupied with its own activities and struggles.
November 21st, 2019 ~ Tonight, at Middle Way Zen in Japantown in San Jose, we had our usual meditation and dharma talk. Cornelia, the head Zen Priest, talked about Emptiness. It was a follow up to the week before where Wes talked about a chapter called Emptiness in Zen Mind Beginners Mind. Towards the end of the questions and discussion period. I brought up Dependent Arising which is Form. Because there is Emptiness, there is Form or Dependent Arising. I mentioned I had read a description of Dependent Arising which helped explain it better to me. “Phenomena arises dependent on Causes and Conditions.” It was from The Dalai Lama’s How to Book: “How to See Yourself As You Really Are.” It is translated by Jeffrey Hopkins. Before, I was hung up on the word Dependent. Things are dependent on other things. When it is put in a sentence with the verb arises, it gives me a visual that phenomena or things arise dependent on other things i.e. causes and conditions. There are many things involved which explains why there is emptiness of anything existing from its own side. Plus, it is instantaneous. And then it happens again. And again. . . . I mentioned no wonder we can’t grasp it. Just this. During my brief offering, I blanked. Or more to the point, I came to a point where I was through, at least for a brief moment. It reminded me of a thought that perhaps this moment was emptiness. I brought up my struggle between these ideas and Karma. It’s a relief to believe in Karma. But is Karma really real? Do we just have this? Krishnamurti says: “. . . . truth will come in moments when you are not expecting it.” I was looking for but I wasn’t expecting it. Cornelia said what I said was interesting or funny, what she might have said. When my mind went blank, when I had nothing to say at that moment, that was emptiness. She mentioned that thoughts are ideas put into form. So no thoughts equal emptiness. However, even the thoughts are Empty. Everything is Empty.