Behind My Hand

  The universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever. When it plays 'hide,' it plays it so well, hides so cleverly, that it pretends to be all of us, and all things whatsoever, and we don't know it because it's playing 'hide.' But when it plays 'seek,' it enters onto a path of yoga, and through following this path it wakes up, and the scales fall from one's eyes. - Alan Watts in “The World as Emptiness”.

There is no point in becoming “like” Buddha or Ramana or any other so-called enlightened being. In effect, that is simply mindstuff. “The ideas of enlightenment and need for vichara belong to ego alone. When ego searches within the foothills of its own existence and finds its source it settles down exhausted, vanquished. At that point there is no longer any need for vichara. Only wayward mind needs the map of vichara. Self is ever self-aware of its whereabouts.” ( Excerpt From  Talks on Self Enquiry ,  Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert) Don't think, do it!

19th January, 1936, Talk 139. Mr. Ellappa Chettiar, a Member of the Legislative Council, from Salem, asked: “Is it enough to introvert the mind or should we meditate on ‘I am Brahman’?” M.: To introvert the mind is the prime thing. The Buddhists consider the flow of ‘I’ thought to be Liberation; whereas we say that such flow proceeds from its underlying substratum - the only - Reality. Why should one be meditating ‘I am Brahman’? Only the annihilation of ‘I’ is Liberation. But it can be gained only by keeping the ‘I-I’ always in view . So the need for the investigation of the ‘I’ thought. If the ‘I’ is not let go, no blank can result to the seeker . Otherwise meditation will end in sleep. There is only one ‘I’ all along, but what arises up from time to time is the mistaken ‘I-thought’; whereas the intuitive ‘I’ always remains Self-shining, i.e., even before it becomes manifest. (Emphasis by the poster)

Buddha’s Parable of the Poison Arrow A man was going through the forest when he was ambushed by an enemy and shot with a poisoned arrow. One of his kin having stumbled upon him, immediately raised the alarm and soon others arrived with antidotes to the poison. As they attempted to pull the arrow, prior to applying the healing ointment, the man prevented them and began to ask various questions such as, "Who was that enemy?; and what was his family?;Was he tall?; What colour was his hair?; What kind of bow did he use?; and how was it strung? What was the arrow made of? etc..." When it was suggested that these questions were irrelevant in the present pressing situation and that without application of healing herbs he would surely die, he merely continued his procrastination, in the same vein, intent on gathering maximum information, thus delaying appropriate healing action. Needless to say the cure was never effected. The required action never having been taken, the man d...

D.: Can we not get realisation instantaneously? M.: Realisation is nothing new. It is eternal. There is no question of instantaneous or gradual realisation. - Ramana Maharshi,   Talk 164

A fun introduction to Alan Watts.

D.: Does the Karma theory mean that the world is the result of action and reaction? If so, action and reaction of what? M.: Until realisation there will be Karma, i.e., action and reaction; after realisation there will be no Karma, no world. —- Talk 484; Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

Once on a journey Tzu-ch'i saw a huge tree with strange knots, big enough to shelter a thousand chariots in its shade.  Tzu-ch'i said, "What kind of tree is this?  It must have unusual potential." Looking up at its branches, he saw they were too crooked to be used as beams. Looking down at its roots, he saw it was not solid enough to be used for coffins. When he tasted the leaves, his mouth became inflamed; and they had a smell that would madden a person for days. Tzu-ch'i said, "This is in fact a useless tree.  That's how it got to be this big." Yes, this is why sages cannot be exploited. --- --- --- The Essential Tao, Thomas Cleary (1993; 93)

Brahman is other than the universe. Brahman is not other than the universe. Note: bhedābheda - a seeming contradiction which serves as an interesting koan. “Different and the same.”

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

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

“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...

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 .”

To attain Zen enlightenment, it is not necessary to give up family life, quit your job, become a vegetarian, practice asceticism, and flee to a quiet place, then go into a ghost cave of dead Zen to entertain subjective imaginings. - Zen Essence, The Science of Freedom, Thomas Cleary, 1989; p. 56

It is as though you have an eye that sees all forms but does not see itself––this is how your mind is. Its light penetrates everywhere and engulfs everything, so why does it not know itself? from Zen Essence - The Science of Freedom