In an archery contest, when the stakes are earthenware tiles a contestant shoots with skill. When the stakes are belt buckles he becomes hesitant, and if the stakes are pure gold he becomes nervous and confused. There is no difference as to his skill but, because here is something he prizes, he allows outward considerations to weigh on his mind. All those who consider external things important are stupid within.

- Chuang-Tzu

"When shooting, sometimes we will hit the target but miss the self. At other times we will miss the target but hit the self. Our purpose, though, is to hit the target as the self and hope that the sharp sound of arrow penetrating paper will awaken us from the so-called 'dream of life' and give us real insight into the ultimate state of being."
-Onuma sensei

(Joel...where or where can I find zen? )

'The mountain flows, the river sits.' - zen saying

...and leaves fall.

Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.

- John Burroughs

Good one, Joel. I like it.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
-Isaac Asimov

Play so that you may be serious.
-Anacharsis, 6th century B.C.E.

I have actually been thinking about that...how we ascribe value to certain specific things that then are reflected in our behaviours...not by any tangible merit, but by what we imbue them with.

Interesting! Thanks.

-B

Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is: “Does this path have a heart?” If it does, the path is good. If it doesn’t, it is of no use.

- Don Juan

'A path with heart' or 'the good, red way'. There is something terribly poignant about the loss of the Native American spiritual traditions.

Don Juan, if he ever existed outside of Carlos Castenada's imagination, revealed a particular way of living and understanding the natural world. But for a more spiritual view, I suggest folks add to their reading list:

Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions

and

Black Elk Speaks

I think three of the best books I've ever read on Zen Buddhism all concern a single man. Shunryu Suzuki (Not D.T. Suzuki, but he does pay homage to D.T.) created the first Zen Temple in America in CA, Tassajara in the bay area...

Zen Mind, Beginners Mind
Streams Branching in the Darkness
Not always So

They are the most influental books I've read. He never wrote these books, but they are his talks transcribed into books. He died many years ago unfortunately, but I think his books approach Zen in a way that is often neglected. We seen the Metaphoric Teacher, who gives us these similies to stretch our thought. We have the Koan Teacher, who teaches by the obscure example of those who came before... I think Shunryu Suzuki was a teacher who taught through pushing his students to question. Often Questions are rewarded, often they show where the student is. Some teachers are hard with their answers to force their students to look inside, or be vulnerable. There is something to be said for Shunryu Suzuki's straight forward language of "As it is" mindset. Please enjoy these books with an open heart... You don't need to know the depths of Zen or Buddhist history/Mythos to understand these books, and I think that is the truest heart of Zen... When one relies to much on the stories of the past, we often lose the moment we are in and see things no longer as what they are, but what they were...

An old man carrying, for no obvious reason, a sheaf of sticks, met another donkey whose cargo consisted merely of a bundle of stones.

"Suppose we swop," said the donkey.

"Very good, sir," assented the old man; "lay your load upon my shoulders, and take off my parcel, putting it upon your own back."

The donkey complied, so far as concerned his own encumbrance, but neglected to remove that of the other.

"How clever!" said the merry old gentleman, "I knew you would do that. If you had done any differently there would have been no point to the fable."

And laying down both burdens by the roadside, he trudged away as merry as anything.

COBWEBS FROM AN EMPTY SKULL.

BY DOD GRILE

what we carry is what we choose to carry, there's nothing outside (of ourself) to stop us from letting go (but sometimes an old man can be of help)

Dont trust strange donkeys. Or overly cheerfull old men.

lesson: Some false fables are created just for the sake of balancing the true fables.

You are never too old to be what you might have been.

- George Eliot

Case in point, I'm 25 years old. According to the Department of the Navy, I'm too old to join. However, that still doesn't stop me from being a soldier. What I might have been had I joined at 18, I can still be.

"Even false words are true if they lead to liberation; even true words are false if they become the object of attachment."

-Zen saying

"It is the greatest sin to do the right thing for the wrong reason."

Amen to that.

Aye. Who said that oldman?

I wish I could tell you, sorry.

I think the quote is a translation of one of the teachings within what is known as 'the greatest commandment: Love'.

"The greatest commandment tells us that love should motivate everything we do. And yet we fall short in our motives. Sometimes we do right for the wrong reason. Perhaps we are afraid of what others think. We want others to think well of us, so we do right, but our motive is essentially self-centered."

This is the kind of wisdom that spans all religions and secular beliefs and non-beliefs. why? because it's wise, reguardless of who said it.

Sometimes I wonder if everything that happens in the physical world is just a representation of our heart's motives and decisions. Then I think to myself "whoa there Nick, even if that's true it's not much good to think about". Then I sign on here so I don't have to think .

"Sometimes nothin's a pretty cool hand."
-Cool Hand Luke

(from Daily Zen)

There’s no point in translating all of the old Chinese texts—not if you’re serious about understanding real Zen. The sound of the rain needs no translation.

- Morimoto Roshi

I think this may have something to do with the differance between academic reasoning and direct experiance, at least that's what my academic reasoning leads me to believe

"The adventure playground of the mind is waiting with it's gate wide open, and admission is free"

zen is universal, it is felt by the Chinese as much as it can be felt by anyone else. And like nennip said, experience as opposed to academia

"The greatest sin is to do the right thing for the wrong reason". Whoa that really hit my heart Beautiful

Two simple, but fun lessons for today (flash cartoons):
http://www.buddhanet.net/flash/book-of-zen/index.html

Don’t go back to sleep.

Jalal Ad-din Rumi

Good one, Joel. That one has my mind reeling with implications. I refer the "awakening" to enlightenment or knowledge of some sort. I have had many personal moments of being "glad to be awake" and other times when I would rather not have "been awake".

For some reason, this post made me think of the Nazi war crimes, and Mengele's "medical experiments" in particular.

*shiver*

thought that was a quote from 'Nightmare on elm Street'? oh wait...you meant something deeper...

That was the last day of my Daily Zen Calendar. I don't hav one for 2006 so for now I don't forsee any new entries for now, unless somebody else buys the calendar.

I know it died off during the second half of the year, but I would like to take a small moment to thank everybody who contributed to the threads throughout the year. Wisecrackers, thoughtful commenters, and silent readers, you are all appreciated and I thank you so much for everything.

-Joel