“Returning again and again to the object of meditation when you find yourself distracted is the actual practice, not a problem to overcome so that one day we can engage in ‘real’ meditation.”

-Sharon Salzberg

This Week’s Discussion Topic
What are some common frustrations you’ve experienced with sitting, and how did you overcome them?

“One of the most interesting things about practice is that we get to test it out. One way or another, we will get to see what works for us and what doesn’t, what happens when we do certain practices or follow the advice of certain teachers, as well as what happens when we don’t.”

-Daniel Ingram

This Week’s Discussion Topic
What does “not-self” mean to you?

“It’s obvious that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentary and fluid.”

-Alan Watts

Book of Serenity Case #82: Unmon’s Voice and Color
Unmon instructed the assembly and said, “To realize the way through hearing a voice, to enlighten the mind through seeing color—Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara comes with some small change and buys poor rice cakes. If he throws it away, he will get nice manjû cakes instead.”

“We all get sick, lose people we love, and each of us will die. Our practice is not to try to get rid of this pain, which would be impossible. Rather, it is to avoid constricting around our pain, or blaming ourselves or others for it, or lashing out when we feel attacked.”

-Donald Rothberg

Book of Serenity Case #19: Unmon’s Mt. Sumeru
A monk asked Unmon, “Not a single thought arises: Is there any fault or not?”
Unmon said, “Mt. Sumeru.”

“Earnestness, not perfection, is the precondition to self-realization.”

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

Book of Serenity Case #11: Unmon’s Two Diseases
Great Master Unmon said, “When the light does not penetrate, there are two diseases. Everything is unclear and things hang before you—this is one disease. Even after you have realized the emptiness of all things, somehow you feel as if there were still something there. This shows that the light has not yet penetrated thoroughly.

“Also there are two diseases concerning the Dharma-body. You have reached the Dharma-body, but you remain attached to the Dharma and cannot extinguish your own view; therefore, you lead a corrupt life around the Dharma-body—this is one disease. Suppose you have truly penetrated to the end, if you give up further efforts, it will not do. You examine yourself minutely and say you have no flaw—this is nothing but a disease.”

“It really boils down to this: all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gateless Gate Case #1: Joshu’s Dog
A monk in all seriousness asked Master Joshu: “Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?”
Joshu retorted: “Mu!”

“Zen is not effort. Effort is tension, effort is work, effort is to achieve something. Zen is not something to achieve—you are already that. Just relax. Relax so deeply that you become a revelation to yourself.”

-Osho

Blue Cliff Record Case #87: Unmon’s Medicine and Disease
Unmon, instructing the assembly, said, “Medicine and disease correspond to each other. The whole earth is medicine. What is your true self?”

“So many of our relationships and our society as a whole are built around productivity, consumption, and speed. Even a meditation practice can turn into a self-improvement project to get ‘good at.’ Choosing to slow down and not accomplish anything is a revolution in itself.”

-Sister Ocean

Blue Cliff Record Case #86: Unmon’s Bright Light
Unmon, giving instruction, said, “Everyone has his own bright light. When you look at it, you can’t see it; it is complete darkness. Now, what is your bright light?”
He himself answered on behalf of the monks, “The kitchen and the entrance gate.”
Again he said, “It would be better not to have even the best things.”

“To know that you are a prisoner of your own mind, that you live in an imaginary world of your own creation is the dawn of wisdom. To want nothing of it and to be ready to abandon it completely is earnestness.”

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

Blue Cliff Record Case #83: The Old Buddha and a Pillar
Unmon, instructing the assembly said, “The old Buddha and a pillar intersect each other. What number of activity is that?”
On behalf of the assembly he said, “Clouds gather over the South Mountain; rain falls on the North Mountain.”

“Most of us approach Zen practice as if it offers something we need to get. But actually, it’s more like something to get rid of.”

-Steve Hagen

Blue Cliff Record Case #77: Unmon’s Rice Cake
A monk asked Unmon, “What is meant by the pronouncement to ‘go beyond the Buddha and the patriarchs’”?
Unmon said, “Rice cake.”