Showing posts with label face. Show all posts
Showing posts with label face. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tao Te Ching Chapter 81-7 Tao in Heaven


Today's Tao

Heaven's Tao gives benefits and does not damage any. (Ch.81)


"Heaven" signifies "this world right here right now", which is your hologram.

Therefore, "Heaven's Tao" means Tao in a hologram, that is to say, Tao manifested as a hologram.

This manifestation is called Hossho 法性 in Buddhism.

Your life is Hossho.

Don't worry about how you live and how others live.

All the lives are more or less the same.

Your life that manifests itself right here right now is the most important.

Don't worry about someone else's criteria to judge a man's life.

When you see them in a book or on TV, just say "thanks" and ignore them.

Gratitude is an act of sending Love (=Tao).

All the acts take place in a hologram.

So, an act of sending Love takes place in a hologram, which is the life right here right now.

That's why you must not despise this world.

You receive "Tao's Love" and all the hologram it projects.


Zen Master Dogen says:

"You must not look at anywhere but this world in order to meet Buddha".

いわゆる世界は十方みな仏世界なり

(Kobutsushin 古仏心, «Shobogenzo»)


Meeting Buddha is receiving Love.

It takes place on your face. (☞See Face Transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8)

That's why Dogen asks you to wash your face and body well. (Senjo 洗浄, «Shobogenzo»; Senmen 洗面, «Shobogenzo»)

The world is an extension of your body.

Keep your face clean.

It is one easy and practical way to accept this world.


«Related Articles»
-Beautiful words 81-1
-Good one 81-2
-Not knowledgeable 81-3
-Accumulate not 81-4
-Act of others 81-5
-Richer detachment 81-6
-Tao in Heaven 81-7
-Sage's Tao 81-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 81


Lao Tzu answers your question!



«Recommended Books 17» Zen Master Ikkyu was a good friend of Konparu Zenchiku, a dancer/actor of Noh theatre. This eccentric duo wrote and performed «Yama Uba» in a village in medieval Japan. You can study Zen Buddhism, but studying something is not necessarily living it. Rather, you can learn Zen without analyzing Sutras and Mantras. Meditation will certainly help you find out what Zen is, but if you think squatting a la Japonaise will teach it better than theatre does, you will never learn what it is. You can even learn Zen while frying French fries at a diner. Peter Brook's «Empty Space» inevitably makes a Japanese think about "Ma 間", spacial or sonic emptiness. The Japanese have been considering it as the rich source of creativity. If you find the concept of Everything = Nothing a bit too hard to grasp, why don't you look to this theatrical genius for advice? You don't have to go straight to the gate of Tao or Zen. Anne Bogart will show you some backstage door to get in there. Read her «Viewpoint», and you will see why theatre is a good friend of Zen Buddhism.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Tao Te Ching Chapter 81-1 Beautiful words


Today's Tao

Trustworthy words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not trustworthy. (Ch.81)


If you don't have time, please just check this chapter.

As Lao Tzu says, reading words is not very important.

The important thing is living.

Living is the most religious act of all.


There are three basic points.

1. The so-called world is a hologram and catalyst to keep Tao's energy circulating.

2. "Self" doesn't exist. "Self" is just a word given to one part of a hologram. (☞See also Tao Te Ching / Chapter 7 / No Self)

3. Words, including knowledge and thoughts, are part of a hologram.


What is living?

Living is turning the prayer wheel.

It is called Tenborin 転法輪 in Zen Buddhism. (☞See Tao's flower 38-14 and Kensho Jobutsu / No away 47-3)

It is receiving Tao's energy through a hologram and emitting Tao's energy while projecting a hologram.

On your face, it takes place.

It is called Menju 面授, Face transmission. (☞See Face Transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8)

Beautiful words, such as logic, analysis, judgment, and justice among others, are obstacles that increase your resistance.


«Related Articles»
-Beautiful words 81-1
-Good one 81-2
-Not knowledgeable 81-3
-Accumulate not 81-4
-Act of others 81-5
-Richer detachment 81-6
-Tao in Heaven 81-7
-Sage's Tao 81-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 81
-Words are not good enough 1-1
-Empty words 22-13
-Say no words 23-1
-Without words 43-4
-Adorned words 62-4


Lao Tzu answers your question!



«Recommended Books 11» I am glad you are the one who is reading this recommendation. I am sure that I can count on you. Next time you meet one of your friends who are interested in Japan's literature, please mention the name of Osamu Dazai. "Who's that Dazai guy? I know Mishima and Banana, but I have never heard of him", he might reply. Osamu Dazai is probably the most underrated Japanese novelist outside the country. So, the artist needs your help. When the situation is the most desperate, you just feel like laughing. Why? Because laughter has magic. It transforms a tragedy into a comedy within a second. «No Longer Human» and «The Setting Sun» are tragically funny. Both are considered masterpieces in Japan. Smile guaranteed.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Tao Te Ching Chapter 80-13 Life without intervention


Today's Tao

But they get old and end their life without coming and going between their countries. (Ch.80)


"Without coming and going" is a key (=Kanreisu) to understand how holograms work.

It suggests "no intervention", "no interference".

Why is Lao Tzu against the interference to a hologram?

A dewdrop reflecting the moonlight. (☞See Dogs and Roosters 80-12)

This is a beautiful metaphor of the Tao/hologram mechanism, Shin 心.

The moonlight is Tao, which is true You.

The whole world is a dewdrop reflecting the moonlight, which is a hologram.

Without the modern concept of a hologram, Zen Buddhists needed to invent the expression "Eye storage / 眼蔵 [genzo]".

In terms of our interpretation of space, there is only one hologram, which includes all the beings, objects and intangible information such as thoughts alike.

In terms of our interpretation of time, there are a myriad of holograms, which are being created simultaneously.

"Life" is a name given to one group of them. (☞See Out-Tao (Heresy) Seniya / Gedo Senni / Settled 80-9)

"Life without coming and going" implies that there is no causation between holograms or dewdrops.

No causation, therefore no intervention. It is no use.

The unique causation is 複 [fuku] / return, which is to keep Tao's energy cycling and recycling.

A hologram stimulates Tao.

Tao gives birth to a hologram.

In conclusion, there is only the receiving and giving of Love, which is also called Tao.

This receiving and giving of Tao's energy takes place on your face. (☞See Face Transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8)

That's why we don't have our face in the hologram.

Have you ever seen your face directly?


«Related Articles»
-Small country 80-1
-"110 vessels" 80-2
-Don't travel 80-3
-Boats and Cars 80-4
-Armor and Arms 80-5
-Tie the rope 80-6
-Hunger and Food 80-7
-Face transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8
-Out-Tao (Heresy) Seniya / Gedo Senni / Settled 80-9
-Enjoy your customs 80-10
-Neighbors 80-11
-Moonlight and Dewdrops / Dogs and Roosters 80-12
-Life without intervention 80-13
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 80


Lao Tzu answers your question!



«Recommended Books 10» Which is more dangerous, nature or human beings? To many Japanese, the question doesn't make sense because they think human beings are part of nature. The word "artificial" is not an antonym of "natural". The outside world is filled with plenty of Kami, gods, which may help and protect us, but sometimes in a whimsical way destroy us, destroy us completely. Please read Masuji Ibuse's short story «Salamander» first. The work is considered a masterpiece in Japan, and many students read it at school. Into a cave under the stream, a frog was swept. The salamander blocked the entrance of the cave with his body. The salamander had been captured there because his body was too big to get away. Now he had a "friend". If you have some time, before you go straight to «Black Rain», please read his «Castaways». It is about a young fisherman cast away by a typhoon and rescued by an American boat when it was illegal to leave Japan. Their docile acceptance of what it is and what it is happening will certainly give you another flavor when you read «Black Rain». Although Shohei Imamura's film is excellent, the end of the story is not precisely the same. It is worth reading the novel. Which after-taste do you prefer?

Friday, July 29, 2011

Tao Te Ching Chapter 80-8 Face transmission / Menju / Beauty

Today's Tao

Make them appreciate the beauty of their clothes. (Ch.80)


The face is the place where the contact between Tao and a hologram takes place.


Zen Master Dogen puts it this way:

"Face-giving [Menju 面授/ Face (to face) transmission] is receiving and giving at the face."

面授は面処の受授なり

(Menju 面授, «Shobogenzo 正法眼蔵»)


Your face is the interface between Tao and a hologram.

That's why you cannot see the face.

You can see only an interpretation of it, such as your reflection on the mirror or the reputation.

Since it is the important interface, let's keep it clean.

Therefore, Dogen painstakingly explains how to wash the face and other body parts. (Senjo 洗浄, Senmen 洗面; «Shobogenzo 正法眼蔵»)

Your body is a manifestation of Tao (=Love, =Buddha).

By washing it, you can emit Love (=Tao, =Buddha).

That's one basic way to keep Tao's energy circulating.

Your clothes are an extension of your face.

Forget someone else's criteria.

Please appreciate your beautiful clothes, your beautiful body, and your beautiful face.


[Note]
The titles of the two chapters in Shobogenzo above, that is to say, Japanese words "Senjo 洗浄" and "Senmen 洗面", signify "wash" and "washing the face" respectively.


«Related Articles»
-Small country 80-1
-"110 vessels" 80-2
-Don't travel 80-3
-Boats and Cars 80-4
-Armor and Arms 80-5
-Tie the rope 80-6
-Hunger and Food 80-7
-Face transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8
-Out-Tao (Heresy) Seniya / Gedo Senni / Settled 80-9
-Enjoy your customs 80-10
-Neighbors 80-11
-Moonlight and Dewdrops / Dogs and Roosters 80-12
-Life without intervention 80-13
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 80


Lao Tzu answers your question!



«Recommended Books 5» When you travel in an unknown territory, you might be happy to have a guide. If he is good, your journey will be safe and fun. The best Japanese guide to Zen in English is, without question, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. It is a pity that this learned scholar did not translate Dogen's «Shobogenzo» into English. He may have had thousands of reasons not to do it, and his decision was wise. Still, many Zen learners in the non-Japanese speaking world cannot help imagining how enormous his contribution to the humanity would be if he had done it. This excellent guide with a hearty sense of humor wrote a summary of Zen Master Ikkyu's play «Yama Uba» in his «Zen and Japanese Culture». Ikkyu, who would be a cynic poet dressed in a John Galliano dress if he lived now, wrote the play in order to tell how Zen functions. (☞Read its modern adaptation «Yama Uba the Zen play» by Naoto Matsumoto)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Tao Te Ching Chapter 70-5 Precious one


Today's Tao

The fewer people know me, the more precious I am. (Ch.70)


Why can't you see your face?

Because you don't have a face.

What?

But you can see it on the mirror!

No, it is not your true face.

It is just an image in the mirror.

Do you know who you are?

You are the most precious one, or "the only respectable being" as the baby Buddha said. (☞See No boasting 22-11 and Ordinary? 67-3)

True You are the light that projects the holographic world.

As the actors in a film aren't interested in what kind of a projector they use at the movie theatre, people in your hologram don't care who is lighting them up.

Others don't know you are the Buddha of Infinite Light.


«Related Articles»
-Easy Tao 70-1
-Comprehension and Practice 70-2
-Center and Actor 70-3
-They know nothing 70-4
-Precious one 70-5
-Shabby clothes 70-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 70


Tao answers your question!



☞Buddha of Infinite Light is also called Amida or Amitābha. "Na mu Amida Butsu". Just call his name, and he will be always there for you. In fact, he is always there for all of us. He is the amazing power source of Tariki. This Other-power lights up all. A life is a process to learn Jiriki / Self-power is the same as Tariki. It is not surprising at all that Zen specialist Daisetz Suzuki was not only a Zen specialist. He was interested in Tariki of Shin Buddhism.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Tao Te Ching Chapter 15-14 Break your face


Today's Tao

It doesn't fill up. So, you can wear it out, and it will not be created again. (Ch.15)


No matter how big your ego is, it cannot fill your hologram.

As Zen Master Dogen said, you can polish a tile and make a mirror.

You can "wear out" your hologram.

When you have polished it completely and "worn it out", your face is broken.

"Break your mirror!"

"Break your face!"

All right.

But it is worth thinking what kind of state it is when your face is broken.

Lao Tzu drops a hint:

"It will not be created again".


«Related Articles»
-Dark Depth 15-1
-How profound! 15-2
-Mr I-know-Tao? 15-3
-Take time 15-4
-Hesitant 15-5
-Solemn 15-6
-Disintegrating 15-7
-Thick 15-8
-Empty 15-9
-Muddy water 15-10
-Muddy but clear 15-11
-Restructured World 15-12
-Break your mirror 15-13
-Break your face 15-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 15


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.15 text / Next video

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Tao Te Ching Chapter 15-13 Break your mirror


Today's Tao

He who keeps this Tao doesn't want to be full. (Ch.15)


"Break your mirror."

"Break your face."

These are famous Zen sayings.

The mirror and the face are metaphors for your hologram.

A man who knows he is one with Tao doesn't want his hologram "to be full".

With desire and resistance, the hologram gets bigger and bigger, in a way.

The bigger it is, the harder it is to break it.


«Related Articles»
-Dark Depth 15-1
-How profound! 15-2
-Mr I-know-Tao? 15-3
-Take time 15-4
-Hesitant 15-5
-Solemn 15-6
-Disintegrating 15-7
-Thick 15-8
-Empty 15-9
-Muddy water 15-10
-Muddy but clear 15-11
-Restructured World 15-12
-Break your mirror 15-13
-Break your face 15-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 15


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.15 text / Next video