Yuanwu writes, “You must not cling to wrong knowledge and wrong views. You must not mix poison into your food. You must be uniformly pure and true and clean and wondrously illuminated to step directly into the scenery of the fundamental ground and reach the peaceful and secure stage of great liberation (page 24).[1]
From the day we were born we began learning. We learned good and bad things, right and wrong things, true and false things. We began adding poison into our lives, thoughts, and relationships when we followed the path of fear, anger, lack, and limitation. Food is angulose to our thoughts and actions here. This is true in your life and mine.
How are those thoughts and actions affecting your life? Is your life filled with wonder, peace, security, and liberation? Or is it filled with old habits, fears, anger, and pain? Are you poisoning your mind, body, and spirt or filling it with goodness? Remember it is all up to you.
I would equate “wrong knowledge and wrong view” to anything that is hurting and/or hindering me. Or negatively affecting the lives of those around me from family, friends, strangers on the street, and co-workers. When the expression on a person’s face is wide eyed and filled with fear, or tears are welling up in them (and not from laughter), or their eyes are focused on the ground—that is because the words you were “feeding them” were poisonous. Each time you feed them this poison you damage your relationship with them and you damage their level of self-worth and self-esteem. Thus, they end up believing those things and begin to poison themselves and others even after you are long gone.
That is why Yuanwu says, “You must not cling to wrong knowledge and wrong views.” That may seem hard if you were brought up with the “wrong knowledge” and you should not punish yourself for the “sins of others.” There is a recipe for curing this circle of pain and suffering. Simply do not mix poison into your food [thoughts/words/deeds]. When you catch yourself doing it immediately adjust your thoughts and actions. Remove the poison and replace it with love, compassion, and peace for yourself and others.
It may not be easy at first to undo the pains that you have been feeling for years, but all things are possible for those who wish to live a different life–who wish to live a life filled with loving friends, peace, and happiness.
If you saw someone picking up a can of lye you would run toward them screaming NO- NO-NO don’t drink that! How about for us NO-NO-NO don’t THINK that! Changing your thoughts will change your actions which will change your life for the good and the food you will be eating will be filled with love, peace, and compassion and your life will be transformed.
Great liberation is yours for the asking! Let me know how that goes!
In gassho
Shokai
[1] Cleary J.C. and Cleary, T. (1994) Zen Letters Teachings of Yuanwu. Boston & London: Shambhala
prayer will help keep you alive through the night—great what can you lose! If not eating meat is how you desire to live your life wonderful, go for it. If eating meat but not pork or crustaceans (lobster, crabs, shrimp, etc.) is your choice that’s great too. In ancient times you might have been better off not eating pork because it caused an infection we know as trichinosis, but so did lots of other foods. Just a few more reasons “not to believe” everything found in your ancient texts.
ll whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment.”
rada Roshi in his beautiful book, Moon By The Window, wrote:
t is the source of everything.”
Meet Your Good Today… Part 13 Liberation
Posted in attachment, BUddhism, cause and effect, clinging, fears, happiness, Kazuaki Tanahashi, love, meditation, Mindfulness, self-help, sickness, suffering, The Four Sufferings, Uncategorized, wisdom, Zen, Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary, tagged "Setting Out the Bowls", anger, anxiety, boundlessness, Buddah, Buddha, Buddhism, challenges, compassion, contemplation, fear, goals, happiness, health, joy, Kazuaki Tanahashi, liberation, life, love, meditation, mind, mindfulness, monasteries, oryoki, patience, peace, sitting, stinkin thinkin, suffering, Tathagata, Zazen, Zen, Zen Buddhism on August 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I opened up one of my favorite books by Kazuaki Tanahashi, Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary, looking for some sage advice today and sure enough I got it!
In Buddhist monasteries you may sit and eat in oryoki style which is sitting on the floor with your bowls of food in front of you. The word oryoki roughly means “that which contains just enough.”[1] When you are ordained you receive these three bowls nested together with chopsticks and wrapped in a napkin. Additionally, you carry these with you wherever you travel. This allows you to dine sitting anywhere.
When was the last time you took a meal where you focused your time and energy on the eating. Where you did not fill the plate to over flowing and eat way too much—but just enough to be satisfied. If you focus your attention on the food and savor the textures and the flavors and the smells your food will taste better, it will satisfy you more, and the process will ultimately have you eating less.
You will be liberated from indigestion that is caused by the ruminations controlling your mind from the day or the week of that nasty boss, or the bills, or the fears and anxieties of everyday living. You can focus on the boundlessness of that liberation and know that through silence comes liberation, whether the silence is during a meal, during your meditation, walking the dog, or at break during your workday.
Our lives are filled with noise from the TV, radio, cellphone, traffic, people talking, children crying, or the chatter inside our heads. Silence is a “utensil” that you can use to clear your mind and body of irritations, “stinkin thinkin,” and more. Silence can bring you liberation from the self-talk and exaggerations that we create about our life and its circumstances. Liberate yourself from hyperbole, and critical thinking, and see how peaceful your life can be. See how filled with gratitude, love, and compassion it can be. Then watch your physical ails slowly disappear into nothingness.
Remember you are boundless and limitless only if you think you are! Create your own “three wheels” of peace, love, and compassion in your body, mind, and spirit then watch what happens in your life—liberation!
Let me know how it goes!
Shokai
[1] The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (1991) Shambhala Press:Boston
[2] The three wheels of boundlessness:
The Four Noble Truths
Emptiness
Buddha Nature
[3] Tanahashi, K. (2015) Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary. Shambala: Boston & London
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