Go Drink Tea!

Sitting

A monk once asked Hsiang Lin, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?"

Hsiang Lin said, "Sitting for a long time become toilsome."

Commentary
How can we fully express the truth of each moment? Hisang Lin was tired of sitting. But his exhaustion was not ordinary. He had completely used up sitting and gave it away to the monk. Truth is wonderful, but if we fail to use it in the service of others, it's like gold dust that gets into the eyes.

Source: The Blue Cliff Record, translated by Thomas Cleary and J.C. Cleary
Image by Richard Lazzara

It's Alive!

A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is meditation?"

The Master said, "It is not meditation."

The monk said, "Why is it 'not meditation'?"

The Master said, "It's alive, it's alive!"

Commentary
We desperately seek something to hold onto, some technique or recipe that will help us negotiate the constant flux of life. Maybe we think meditation will help us. And it will! But only when it's not meditation, not when it's meditation.

Source: Zen Sourcebook by Stephen Addiss, and others
Photo by premasagar