"There is a way. No one will reveal the secret. 

You must enter the door yourself. 

But there is no door. In the end, there is not even a way.

The great achievements of the world are but snowflakes melting on fire,

Accomplishments that move oceans are but dew disappearing in the glare of the sun,

Why live a dream in this ethereal life of dreams,
I forsake all to walk towards the great eternal truth.

- Dongshan (Tozan)

Although not a Chinese like Dongshan, this master of the Tibetan tradition, Khampar Kagyud Togden Achö. (1980) radiated what the quote expresses.

THE LOOK OF PEACE

 

"As children our attitude to Bhagavan was perhaps slightly different from that of the adults. We of course knew that He was God and a wonderful person to be near - truly a magical feeling, but we accepted this quite naturally and without a feeling of awe. However sometimes even children can be awed:

One of these memories i have is rather strange because to this day i recall my amazement and yet nothing actually happened at all. A lady came to Tiruvannamalai from North India; in those days all 'foreigners' whether they were North Indians or Norwegians were sent to our home. I was about ten years old at the time and not an especially sensitive child but even i could not bear to stay in the room with her as she was so tense, nervous and unhappy that it made me most uneasy.
Her story was that she had married a man she loved very much although her parents had not approved as he was of a different caste - however they had overcome all the opposition and they went to the seaside somewhere for their honeymoon. They had a week of great happiness until one day he was killed by a shark right in front of her eyes. All this had happened about 2 years earlier and the distraught widow was traveling through India, going to various ashrams and seeing various holy men. She had a list of questions which she asked at each place - all more or less a demand why such a thing should happen if there was a God of Justice and so on. She was an unhappy and aggressively angry lady and my heart sank when my mother asked me to show her the way to the hall where Bhagavan sat.. I led in silence and she followed me, i showed her the hall and went off to play. A while later i realised it was lunch time and i went to collect her and bring her home - most reluctantly.

I will never, never forget the change that had come over her in just an hour or so. She was calm and relaxed and peaceful and happy! I was so awed and intrigued that i hung around anxiously waiting for my mother to ask her what Bhagavan had said to her. Whatever it was it must have been words of the greatest wisdom and power to have such an effect. Eventually my mother did ask and the lady answered that she had gone into the hall and sat down and Bhagavan had just looked at her - just looked -with such infinite compassion that she felt that her questions were of no importance any more. She sat there and felt the peace and no word was spoken ...." (Katya Osborne)

(from 'Moments Remembered, by V. Ganesan); Photo shows Katya Osborne standing besides Bhagavan

World of the Absolute

Buddhism claims that present reality is absolute. If you open the eye of the heart, you'll see that samsara is paradise. So there's no need to look elsewhere for the absolute world; simply strive to open the eye.

And once you do, you'll see that a great sun lights all the universes and beyond. If you perceive this correctly, you'll realize that wherever we sit, wherever we stand, wherever we go — everyplace — is the world of the absolute.

Tong Songchol (1912~1993), also SeongCheol, one of the great Zen masters in the last century was also called the Living Buddha of Korea.

BEING IS TRUTH

We are all born with being veiled in obscurity. We may recognize the transparency of being shining in the eyes of an infant, but such being is not conscious of itself. It is veiled in an absence of self-awareness. Infants live in a magical world of unconscious being, while adults live in a world of egocentric separation and denial of being. Rectifying and restoring being to its true dominion and sovereignty is what spiritual awakening makes possible.

The question of being is everything. Nothing could be more important or consequential—nothing where the stakes run so high. To remain unconscious of being is to remain asleep to our own reality and therefore asleep to Reality at large. The choice is simple: awaken to being or sleep an endless sleep.

Adyashanti, THE WAY OF LIBERATION

There Is a Wonderful Game

There is a game we should play,
And it goes like this:

We hold hands and look into each other's eyes
And scan each other's face.

Then I say,
"Now tell me a difference you see between us."

And you might respond,
"Hafiz, your nose is ten times bigger than mine!"

Then I would say
"Yes, my dear, almost ten times!"

But let's keep playing.
Let's go deeper,
Go deeper.
For if we do,
Our spirits will embrace
And interweave.

Our union will be so glorious
That even God
Will not be able to tell us apart.

There is a wonderful game
We should play with everyone
And it goes like this...

Hafiz

I used to know my name

I used to know my name.
Now I don't.
I think a river understands me.

For what does it call itself in that blessed
moment when it starts emptying into the
Infinite Luminous Sea,

and opening every aspect of self wider than
it ever thought possible?

Each drop of itself now running to embrace
and unite with a million new friends.

And you were there, in my union with All,
everyone who will ever see this page.

- Hafiz

SEXUALITY AND CHASTITY (BRAHMACHARYA)

Q: What are the passions?

M: They are the same force that is used in meditation, but diverted into other channels
.
Q: Isn't brahmacharya necessary?

M: Brahmacharya means 'living in Brahman". It has no connection with celibacy as is commonly understood. A real brahmachari finds bliss in Brahman, the same as Self.

Q: But isn't celibacy a requirement for yoga? 

M: Yes, it is. It is one of many aids to realization.

Q: Isn't brahmacharya essential? Can a married person realize the Self?

M: Certainly! married or unmarried, a person can realize the Self because it is here and now. It is only a matter of the fitness of the mind. Have there not been people living with their spouse and family yet attaining realization?

Q: Is it better for reaching salvation to be married or celibate?

M: Whatever you think better. There is no difference. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear. Feeling is the prime factor in meditation, not reason. It ought to come at the right side of the chest, not in the head, because the Heart is there. It must be held tight.

Q: Is marriage a bar to spiritual progress?

M: The householder's life is not a bar, but householders must do their utmost to practice self-control. If a person has a strong desire for the higher life then sexual desire will drop away. When the mind is destroyed the other desires are also destroyed.

Q: How can we root out the sex idea?

M: By rooting out the false idea of the body being the Self. There is no sex in the Self. Be the real Self, then there will be no trouble with sex.

Q: Do you approve of sexual continence?

M:. A true brahmachari is one who dwells in Brahman. In that case there will be no question of desires any more.

If you understand the truth in nature, sexual desire will not arise at all. If you remove the sense of diversity, that which gives sex its power will also be removed.

Q: At Sri Aurobindo's Ashram there is a strict rule that married couples can live there on condition that they abstain from sexual intercourse.

M: What use is that? If it exists in the mind, what use is there in forcing people to abstain?

Conscious Immortality