aged rustics sing songs @the-forever-novice - Tumblr Blog

—Marissa Davis, from Notes Left for the Ohio River to Read After It Tells Me It Has Forgotten Its Source

#poetry - marissa davis #post how we make our way in this world #You know she does mean something else entirely by this #than what I am taking it to mean #choosing it to mean #but isn't that the beauty of words #self and not-self

"Forget everything. Open the windows. Clear the room. The wind blows through it. You see only its emptiness, you search in every corner, but don’t find yourself."

the diary of franz kafka

#post - the practice of pointing #quotes - other #franz kafka #as dazu huike said #''I cannot take a hold of it''#or as mumon said #''you entrusted the dharma and so troubles arose''#mumonkan

I suggested that, if they still insist on building a stupa, they have the plaque say, “I am not in here.” But in case people don’t get it, they could add a second plaque, “I am not out there either.” If people still don’t understand, then you can write on the third and last plaque, “I may be found in your way of breathing and walking.” [...] There’s no beginning and no end. I will never die. There will be a dissolution of this body, but that does not mean my death.

Thich Nhat Hanh (credit for text, images are Getty and SCP)

#thich nhat hanh #obey your master - thich nhat hanh #say what you will of his buddhism #i think he understood plenty #post - how we make our way in this world

Mystic Familiar album cover, illust. Cristina Daura close your eyes and become a mountain become all around you [...] and remain the mountain

#it's good advice #mystic familiar #dan deacon #cristina daura #art - illustration #art - curious devices #post - the practice of pointing

my father says show me the poet who knows absolute darkness is the light my niece sings this little light of mine & points in the darkness -- from “there is no flash,” metta sáma

#metta sáma #there is no flash #poetry - metta sáma #post - the practice of pointing #i wanted to do an appreciation post for the 28th case of the mumonkan #but i found myself without words

prokopetz

Today’s topic: what does the eternal cycle of desire and suffering within which our souls are bound have to teach us about roguelike metaprogression design?

believerindaydreams

This post has suddenly made clear to me how one can be enlightened and yet not desire to be the Buddha who helps others attain that state of blessedness. I’ve never really grasped that before, but to be able to ascend Nethack is not the same as being able to help others attain that state.

prokopetz

If it turns out that I’ve aided someone’s journey on the path toward enlightenment via a Tumblr shitpost I am going to be so angry.

#he got the spirit #post - the last thing you should ever do is take yourself seriously #quotes - other

thezenbuddhismproject

The Ten Oxherding Pictures

Here are a set of numbered drawings, together telling a story. I was not quite sure what these pictures were supposed to mean, so I had to do some research. I learned that these pictures, also called the ten bulls, are a sequence of little poems and supplementary drawings that are meant to exemplify the stages of a Mahayana Buddhist practitioner’s succession towards becoming enlightened, as well as his or her succeeding mastery of knowledge.

This sequence of pictures and accompanying poems explains how the student goes out into the deep forest in to search for the Bull or Ox. This animal is a familiar symbol of enlightenment, or the true self. The creature represents how his labors turn out to be unproductive at the beginning. But he is still determined and he continues to look, until he stumbles upon some footprints next to a river. Upon seeing the bull for the very first time, he is dumbfounded by the magnificence of its appearance. It is seen as ‘empty and marvelous’ which is a common descriptive phrase of the nature of Buddha. Yet, the learner has not disciplined the animal, and it will be a difficult task to control the beast. Ultimately he attains the uppermost enlightenment, goes back into the world and proclaims that ‘everyone [he] looks upon becomes enlightened’.

the-forever-novice

“ [...] the ox is no more; the man alone sits serenely. Though the red sun is high up in the sky, he is still quietly dreaming, Under a straw-thatched roof are his whip and rope idly lying.” trans. dt suzuki