Behind My Hand

Ancient pool,  A frog jumps in, [the sound of splashing water] - Basho —- —- —- Ego sinks,  into the Self. Who hears the sound? - MWright

svabhāva (self nature) is revealed, having resolved all opposites by means of vicāra (self enquiry), a sudden understanding, with reliance on neither name nor form, unattached to a single thing. - MWright

Buddhists of the present day look outward, instead of inwardly into their own minds. They get themselves attached to forms and to the world--which is the violation of the truth. From Huang Po’s Sermon ( 9th Century ) , found in  MANUAL OF ZEN BUDDHISM,  DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI ( 1935) —- —- —-

To make Buddha seek after himself, or to make Mind take hold of itself-- this is an impossibility to the end of eternity. We do not realize that as soon as our thoughts cease and all attempts at forming ideas are forgotten the Buddha reveals himself before us. - MANUAL OF ZEN BUDDHISM,  DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI ( 1935), from Huang Po’s Sermon —- —- —- Engage in Self-investigation, then the non-self will disappear. The Self will be left over. This is self-investigation of the Self. The one word Self is equivalent to the mind, body, man, individual. the Supreme and all else. - Ramana Maharshi in Talk 238

So take it or leave it! You will be better off if you leave it. Anything you listen to is turned into a method, a system. You want to get something through this. For example, somebody says there is a mind and you must uncondition your mind. How are you going to uncondition your mind? You are conditioning your mind through this lingo. That is all that it is necessary for you to see. ... All paths must go. As long as you follow somebody else's path, the path is the product of thought. So it is actually not a new path, it's the same old path, and you are playing the same old game in a new way. It is not a new game. It is the same old game that you are playing all the time, but you think you are playing a new game. You have to come to a point where you can't do anything at all. - The Natural State, U. G. Krishnamurti

A saying of Laotze from Tao Teh Ch’ing was read out in the hall: “By his non-action the sage governs all.” Sri Bhagavan remarked: Non-action is unceasing activity. The sage is characterised by eternal and intense activity. His stillness is like the apparent stillness of a fast rotating top (gyroscope). Its very speed cannot be followed by the eye and so it appears to be still. Yet it is rotating. So is the apparent inaction of the sage. This must be explained because the people generally mistake stillness to be inertness. It is not so. - Ramana Maharshi in Talk 599

Mrs S.: How to Pacify the mind? Gurudas Maharaj.: To find out what is real in life, that which does not change; when one knows that truth, happiness or misery, love or hatred, praise or blame –– nothing can affect the mind. This is the only way to get above events, to know what is real. - Swami Atulananda in "Atman Alone Abides" (Chapter VIII, 224)

“The universe and the body are both simultaneously revealed to me. I have no right to say that the body is mine and the universe is not mine because both are revealed to me.” -Swami Virajananda

“What are you doing?" asked the master—a question that never got a straight answer from an enlightened Ch'an monk. "I am herding an ox," the man replied, a metaphorical way of saying he was trying to discipline himself. "And how," shot back Ma-tsu, "do you go about tending it?" The monk replied, "Whenever it starts to go to grass [i.e., self-indulgence], I yank it back by the nostrils [the tender part of the great animal]." To which Ma-tsu admiringly replied, "If you really can do that by yourself, then I may as well retire.” (From The Zen Experience; Thomas Hoover,  https://amzn.to/2JRbO4H ) --- --- ---  D.: Is it enough if I spend some time in the mornings and some time in the evenings for this atma-vichara? Or should I do it always - say, even when I am writing or walking? M.: Now what is your real nature? Is it writing, walking, or being? The one unalterable reality is Being. Until you realise that state of p

"Whatever you try to become, that is not you. Before the words come out, before you say "I Am", that is you. You must be concerned only with yourself. Don't worry about anybody else. What are you?" (Nisargadatta Maharaj, Consciousness and the Absolute, January 12, 1981)

...if you say, I’ve got the Knowledge,” or “I’m a Master,” that is ego. People often make a show of their Knowledge. Some renounce and put on special clothes. Showing anything is not correct. Understanding is what is required, nothing else. If a man puts on women’s clothes, that does not make him a woman, and vice-versa. Thinking is the first obstacle that has come upon you, but you are thoughtless. Thoughts are of the mind only. (Sri Ranjit Maharaj; Illusion vs. Reality, January 6, 1998.)

यतः वाचः अप्राप्य मनसा सह निवर्तन्ते।  ब्रह्मणः आनन्दं विद्वान् कुतश्चन न बिभेति। yataḥ vācaḥ aprāpya manasā saha nivartante |  brahmaṇaḥ ānandaṁ vidvān kutaścana na bibheti | (Taittiriya upanishad 11.9.1) (quoted in Talk 317) From whence, unreachable, words are turned away along with the mind. One who knows that bliss of Brahman is never afraid of anything.  --- --- --- Ramana Maharshi, in Talk 146: "Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method."

दृष्टिं ज्ञानमयीं कृत्वा पश्येद्ब्रह्ममयं जगत् । Dṛṣṭim jñānamayīm kṛtvā paśyet brahmamayam jagat | (Aparokshanubhutih 116)  (Quoted by Ramana Maharshi in Talk 311) Having filled one’s sight with knowledge, one should see the world as consisting of Brahman. (trans: MWright)

Nāmarūpa An old Zen monk wrote the word “mind” on the gate, on the window, and on the wall of his retreat. A visiting monk commented, "Surely the gate should have the word “gate” written on it, the window should have the word “window” on it, and the wall should have the word “wall” on it.” A third monk, however, said, "Ha! Surely, all three, gate, window and wall, appear without recourse to labelling.” —- —- —- "A visitor said: “The Supreme Spirit (Brahman) is Real. The world (jagat) is illusion,” is the stock phrase of Sri Sankaracharya. Yet others say, “The world is reality”. Which is true? Ramana Maharshi: Both statements are true. They refer to different stages of development and are spoken from different points of view. The aspirant (abhyasi) starts with the definition, that which is real exists always; then he eliminates the world as unreal because it is changing. It cannot be real; ‘not this, not this!’ The seeker ultimately reaches the Self and there find

Master Bashō said to his disciples, "If you have the staff, I will give it to you. If you have no staff, I will take it away from you!" Ramana Maharshi said, “There is no gaining of anything new. All that is required is to rid the Self of ignorance. This ignorance is the identification of the Self with the non-Self.” (Talk 125)

When asked, “What is Buddha?” Bashō replied, “This mind is not Buddha.” When asked again, “What is Buddha?” This time, Bashō replied, “This mind is Buddha.” What mind? “The sea is not aware of its wave. Similarly the Self is not aware of its ego.” (Ramana Maharshi in Talk 47) “If the enquiry is made whether mind exists, it will be found that mind does not exist. That is control of mind. Otherwise, if the mind is taken to exist and one seeks to control it, it amounts to mind controlling the mind, just like a thief turning out to be a policeman to catch the thief, i.e., himself. Mind persists in that way alone, but eludes itself.””(Talk 43)

One night an opportunist thief wandered into Ryōkan's secluded but unlocked hut. Ryokan, while appearing to be sound asleep, watched the thief from his bed. Having searched and found nothing of value, the thief removed the single blanket which Ryokan used to fend off the autumn cold. Ryokan lay motionless. The thief took flight with the old blanket. Ryokan shivered and rose from his bed. At this very moment the light of the full moon broke through the clouds. Ryokan said, “Oh! He left it behind. What a shame! If only he could have seen this enchanting moon. Ramana Maharshi tells a story about King Janaka, in Talk 328: “”I have now found the robber (namely the mind) who has been robbing me of my ‘I’-ness. I will instantly kill this thief.” The perturbation owing to thoughts appears to rob the Self of its peace. The perturbation is the mind. When that ceases the mind is said to take flight. The Self remains as the undisturbed substratum .”