tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195414092011-04-22T03:46:51.099ZA non-Buddhist translator comments on Zen Master Dogen's "Rules of Sitting-Zen for All"... and thus gropes ineffectually towards non-preaching of the backward step of turning light and shining.Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-8975533216936076792008-09-14T11:17:00.001Z2008-09-14T11:19:35.904Z

Michael Thaler, being awake to unreality, truly endeavoured to see and to portray life as it was, lens cap off, stripped of the pretence with which people, in our small and pathetic search for meaning, would like to imbue it. The following is an interpretive translation of the Heart Sutra, translated specifically with Michael in mind and dedicated to his memory.The Heart Sutra of the Transcendent

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-4367982766336094152008-02-08T18:14:00.000Z2008-02-08T21:40:19.005Z

Michael Thaler; March 23, 1962-January 15, 2008.The photo was posted on Michael's blog One Foot in Front of the Other by Michael's sister, who took care of him in his final days. Yesterday I emailed Professor Richard Gombrich, Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and formerly Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, to ask if he would kindly clarify for me the

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-61177900550354440692008-01-14T14:13:00.000Z2008-01-14T15:10:20.730Z

On the post of last Tuesday, supposing that Michael Thaler (http://ohenrosan.blogspot.com) might have popped his clogs already, I invited tributes or non-tributes to Michael. Last night Bill said... Well, for starters, he's still with us, albeit barely (I saw him Thursday). Certainly not up to blogging.. Anonymous said... Bill,Please let Michael know that all us anonymous blog commenters are

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-62529758176360076982008-01-08T10:03:00.000Z2008-01-08T11:57:01.642Z

Michael Thaler has not posted on his blog since Thursday 03 January, and has not moderated any comments since that time. One senses that his learning of the backward step, in this world, has reached its conclusion. Michael appreciated what I wrote, and the appreciation was mutual. Michael had a certain ability -- albeit still underdeveloped -- to see through the superficial. He had the will, at

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-50320296472924280692008-01-05T08:09:00.000Z2008-01-05T08:23:11.534Z

Not yet knowing stillness in movementA buzzard floats like a buzzard.Stillness in stillnessDoes not move a withered old tree.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-75174994150456973772008-01-04T09:49:00.000Z2008-01-07T10:01:24.543Z

Preamble: Last summer I was asked to contribute something in the way of an obituary for Marjory Barlow, the niece of FM Alexander who devoted a large part of her life to keeping alive the principles of his work.Marjory used to say, "It is the most serious thing you can do, this work, but you mustn't take it seriously." This is not simply an encouragement to dance gaily around playing silly

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-49828164920510383082008-01-02T21:02:00.000Z2008-01-02T21:03:29.461Z

Between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day we have a family tradition of "two-year sitting-zen." We sit together for fifteen minutes or so from about ten to midnight to about five past. Even if our sons don't sit at all from New Year to New Year, most years they like to keep this family tradition going. This New Year's Eve I went to bed at 11.30 pm complaining that I didn't feel up to it. But

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-52301284809063656822007-12-31T13:36:00.000Z2007-12-31T13:56:53.541Z

Master Wanshi wrote:The water is clean right to the bottom,Fishes are swimming, slowly, slowly.The sky is wide beyond limit,And birds are flying, far, far away...But in this picture, on the look-out for a mouse to eat,A big hungry buzzard is flying like a big hungry buzzard.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-38662901630190343612007-12-31T13:25:00.001Z2007-12-31T14:39:25.460Z

long time - long timeforget peripheral things / involvementsOn his blog One Foot in Front of the Other, a bodhisattva who goes by the name of Michael Thaler, or ohenro-san, is describing what it really is to give up everything. Michael's account of his journey is an inspiration to understand more deeply what sitting-zen truly is. Master Dogen wrote: "Taking plenty of time to forget peripheral

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-54640003339982561612007-12-29T13:34:00.000Z2007-12-29T13:49:37.651Z

We are planning a short sitting retreat in France in the New Year. We will leave from Portsmouth at 3.15 pm on Wednesday 2nd January and arrive back at Portsmouth around 2.00 pm on Sunday 6th January.On Thursday, Friday and Saturday we will have four sessions of sitting-zen per day, interspersed with walking in the forest/countryside, and preparing and eating meals. We will split expenses for

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-47605605997276975222007-12-22T09:08:00.003Z2007-12-22T10:37:10.235Z

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-92198875931146297192007-12-22T09:08:00.001Z2007-12-22T10:27:58.819Z

The dojo is at the bottom of the valley, behind the line of hazel trees, within earshot of the forest stream which is flowing from west to east, towards the rising sun. Even at the height of summer it is a relatively cool place, in the shade of all those trees. In winter the valley forms a kind of natural refridgerator, so that on those days when, eventually, the sun rises unencumbered by cloud

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-2281797302862598192007-12-17T12:11:00.000Z2007-12-17T15:40:38.051Z

What is wrong with the Soto Sect? What have I got against the Soto Sect? There might be a clue in the name. I was hoping to finish making another sitting-platform tomorrow, before going back to England. I made one last week already, with two oak beams that I drove happily back from a local woodyard, atop my old blue Astra van. Flushed with success, I was looking forward to making one for the

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-9754976210555450172007-12-16T17:28:00.000Z2007-12-16T17:50:17.831Z

"Just sit in stillness," Dogen said, 'Til he lay On his deathbed. "Come back to stillness," FM said, Killing allIdeas dead.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-55319393410890894142007-12-12T10:12:00.000Z2007-12-16T17:28:25.715Z

Discovering Dogen's vital art, FM saw the place to start: "The neck releases," FM said, with hand on heart, and hand on head. Head then heart? Or heart then head? Without either, I'd be dead. Still more, when ears and shoulders part, and double spirals spread, the bowels and pelvis play their part, and thus the whole is fed. That's why, in healing head and heart, we chew brown rice and munch

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-82798878836250912922007-12-08T20:11:00.000Z2007-12-09T15:48:07.405Z

I am setting aside this post for Pierre Turlur's version of Fukanzazengi in French, which he is planning to work on over the coming holidays. I know that it will be worth waiting for. Pierre... YOROSHIKU!

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-61836075256191293022007-12-03T22:49:00.000Z2007-12-09T15:45:48.572Z

FUKAN-ZAZENGILes Règles de S'Asseoir-Zen Pour Tout Le Monde(RUFU-BON)(L'Edition Populaire)TAZUNURU NI SORE, DO MOTO ENZU: IKADEKA SHUSHO O KARAN.Quand on le recherche, alors, le réveil du bouddha est dans l'origine tout autour: comment est-ce qu'il pourrait devoir une dette à la pratique et l'épreuve?SHUJO JIZAI: NANZO KUFU O TSUIYASAN? Le véhicule fondamental existe en soi: pourquoi doit-on

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-76895763427036809192007-11-25T16:04:00.000Z2007-11-25T16:40:50.408Z

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-88617664604033020982007-11-25T12:44:00.000Z2007-12-22T10:43:25.759Z

Oh marion, oh marjoryOm mani padme hum.Oh marion, oh marjoryWho loved me like my mum.That womb-like state of ease and grace,The gaa gaa goo of tit on face,I instinctively expect. But in just sitting, at this place,In thinking upward, from this base,All learn the backward step.So burglar, fraudster, pimp and whore,Whose birthright is not mine:On a hundred thousand sitting floorsLet's turn the

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-10050608649684925832007-11-24T20:47:00.000Z2007-11-24T20:51:38.428Z

"Of what use are the tiptoes of practice?"Sitting-zen, on a good day, is about stepping backward and forgetting everything.It is not about tip-toeing forth and practising something. "It does not leave this place: of what use are the tiptoes of training?"

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-90437210269264103362007-11-23T07:35:00.001Z2007-11-23T07:36:50.146Z

"In general, it does not leave this place."TOSHO means this place, or this moment in time.This place, or this moment in time, is the instant that a stimulus to activity is reaching our consciousness. In working on the self, it is the only instant that has any value whatsoever. This teaching was a particular strong point of Gudo Nishijima, who, like many Japanese people I met in Japan, manifested

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-47640677115342943982007-11-22T08:29:00.001Z2007-11-22T22:31:05.622Z

"Who could believe in a means of sweeping?""The whole body is out by far of dust: who could believe in a means of sweeping?"Marjory Barlow would sometimes recommend to her pupils the practice of looking in a mirror. The point of this practice was neither to get rid of any dust on the mirror nor to get rid of any postural imperfections or facial asymmetries reflected in the mirror. The aim of this

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-72742988399086360702007-11-21T08:32:00.000Z2007-11-21T09:43:56.551Z

"The whole body is out by far of dust."Despite feeling a tad rough this morning -- as a result of unwholesome conduct committed by me, stemming from greed, anger and delusion, and performed with body, mouth and mind, all of which I now confess and regret -- I shall press on regardless. In this introductory section of his Rules of Sitting-Zen for All, Master Dogen is still expressing his great

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-81115294203742337052007-11-20T09:47:00.001Z2007-11-21T09:48:59.594Z

"Why expend effort?"Master Dogen is denying a particular kind of effort; namely, the effort of wrong doing which stems from an endgaining idea.Alexander Technique teacher Patrick Macdonald wrote: "In learning the Technique considerable effort on the part of the pupil is required. A first step is to learn what sort of effort is necessary. The first essay nearly always produces more muscular

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-79289676363834374972007-11-18T18:47:00.000Z2007-11-19T13:21:12.428Z

In other words, the right thing does itself.When released, twisted fibres naturally tend to unwind....As long as it is not deprived of air, the stick of incense naturally tends to keep burning down, towards the earth.As long as it is not deprived of sunlight, the non-sentient being naturally tends to grow upward, towards the heavens.Master Dogen's words SHUJO, fundamental vehicle, as I understand

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-470730002745401722007-11-18T10:36:00.000Z2007-11-18T11:35:09.628Z

"How could it borrow from practice and experience?""Upon investigation, um, enlightenment roundly pervades: how could it borrow from practice and experience?" Even when going for a literal translation, there is not a definitive one that deserves to be set in stone. And even less can there be a definitive explanation of the meaning of each sentence. That is partly why I have gone through the

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-54837450269290582002007-11-17T10:26:00.000Z2007-11-17T10:42:17.108Z

Correct me if I am wrong but I remember hearing somewhere that Louis Armstrong said, when somebody asked him what is Jazz, "If you've got to ask the question, you'll never know!"The question I am asking now is this: What is the relation between the FU (everywhere) of FUKAN-ZAZENGI, and this ENZU (all-round pervasiveness)?Does anybody feel a dissertation coming on for a Ph. D in Buddhist studies?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-12619555620909020592007-11-17T08:00:00.001Z2007-11-17T09:27:24.516Z

What is enlightenment? Enlightenment might be what there was before I was ever deluded by my reaction to the word "enlightenment."A liberated neck, similarly, might be the original state of MT, before he was ever deluded by his reaction to the teaching that liberation is all around.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-27405709984773575802007-11-17T07:52:00.000Z2007-11-17T09:30:01.391Z

For a wanker starting to get the real thing, it may be important to study the meaning of foreplay. Even after many years of getting the real thing, wankers everywhere are liable to find it impossible to prevent ourselves from going directly to the target. Going directly to the target has always been a forte of the wanker who is writing this blog. Going directly to the target is another way of

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-15939561271592203522007-11-16T08:12:00.000Z2007-11-16T08:34:23.170Z

In Alexander work, the decision not to do is fundamental. One of the most important things not to do is unduly stiffen the neck. With this in mind, Alexander formulated the verbal direction "to let the neck be free." But, as Alexander well understood, a verbal direction is a dangerous thing. When we hear a word, no sooner have we heard it than we have reacted to it by doing something -- so that,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-57609114795876717602007-11-14T14:50:00.000Z2007-11-14T15:34:50.963Z

Gudo Nishijima made a complete horlicks of translating Shobogenzo into English. While realizing, as his student, that I had to redo the whole thing from scratch, in some ways I failed in that task. I left in tact some Gudo-isms that I should have questioned more extensively. The best example of my stupidity as a translator was leaving the translation of ZAZEN as "Zazen" -- what kind of

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-22053237284646941332007-11-14T10:57:00.000Z2007-11-14T13:40:18.088Z

Christmas Humphreys in one of his many books on Zen, Buddhism, et cetera, once wrote that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. If that is so, then any aspiring Messiah who wishes to save all beings in the ten directions, whether they like it or not, needs first and foremost a great idea whose time has come. Once the great idea, the idea that can lead the world to

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-67201732132753659012007-11-13T09:16:00.000Z2007-11-13T10:02:34.354Z

I haven't finished investigating yet Master Dogen's intention, after coming back from China at the age of 27, in writing this character:The two elements of the pictograph are said to be a sound (top half) and the sun (bottom half). How does that come to indicate the meaning of "everywhere"? I don't know. Waves/pulses of energy radiating out imperceptibly in all directions, as sound from the sun?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-83433714415192813662007-11-11T08:56:00.000Z2007-11-11T10:34:05.547Z

I love the fact that when the enlightened Dogen returned from China to his own narrow island, inhabited he thought by a small-minded people, the first Chinese character he wrote down in earnest was this one: FU is the Chinese-sounding reading of the above character. The corresponding Japanese word that existed before Chinese characters were imported from China into Japan is AMANEKU. So if you

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-74913461096208043162007-11-08T16:55:00.000Z2007-11-09T08:55:02.989Z

This one character, the FU of FUKAN-ZAZENGI, has in itself very profound and great meaning. Even to have met just this one character, somewhere in a past life in between the cheating and lying, pimping and prostituting, wanking and worrying, I must have done something good. Sometimes when I am in France (at time of writing I am back in England in pre-dawn insomnia mode) the sights or sounds or

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-3700946316666762672007-11-06T05:41:00.000Z2007-11-09T07:47:36.473Z

One Commandment covering allcut off from songbirds’ springtime callin a thousand shades of brown and yellowthe call to sitin fallis mellow: come cheats and liars, have a ball,come pimps and wankers, one and all.Like Bodhidharma, face the wall.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-29656764371493958712007-11-03T07:30:00.000Z2007-11-03T07:31:35.939Z

Alexander work, in a nutshell, is inhibiting unenlightened behaviour.Anybody who has followed my progress on the blogosphere over the last couple of years may have concluded that I am not a particularly good advert for it.What it entails, in any time that can be set aside just for work on the self, is taking some simple task -- say, rising from a chair, or moving a leg when lying down, or

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-56113878924598163592007-11-02T11:55:00.000Z2007-11-02T11:57:36.535Z

The practice and experience that penetrates the Buddha’s enlightenment seems to demand of us that we drop off all habitual attitudes -- i.e., deep impediments to the emergence of our original features, that we pick up along the way generally unbeknowns to ourselves. The subject of enlightenment is a difficult one. It seems to elicit particular reactions in people, depending on their own habitual

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-25582258521538299732007-11-01T08:28:00.000Z2007-11-01T08:30:29.609Z

Sitting-zen is the practice and experience that gets right to the top and bottom of the Buddha’s enlightenment. And yet, the Buddha’s supreme and integral enlightenment, called anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in Sanskrit, is far beyond the likes of a grim-faced grasper like me. That being so, there is a tendency in me, a very wrong disappointed tendency, when I grasp for the Buddha’s enlightenment as if

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-79342588424020619672007-10-31T11:43:00.000Z2007-10-31T11:45:16.499Z

The characters read in Japanese as BODAI, representing the Sanskri word bodhi which was used to represent the awakening or enlightenment of the buddha Gautama, appears twice in the later version of Fukan-zazengi.BODAI O GUJIN SURU NO SHUSHO NARI.“[Sitting-zen] is the practice and experience that gets to the bottom of bodhi.”BUTSU-BUTSU NO BODAI NI GATTO SHI“Accord with the bodhi of the buddhas.”

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-64462433810771720082007-10-30T08:01:00.000Z2007-11-09T05:43:21.788Z

a big fishreleasedinto the vast, vast ocean of moonfulnessis what?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-59387312776680362732007-10-28T10:23:00.000Z2007-10-28T10:24:25.166Z

In his original instructions for sitting-zen (see link on right of this page), Master Dogen wrote NEN OKOREBA SUNAWACHI KAKUSEYO, “When an idea arises, just wake up.”Just wake up. Just become conscious. What this means in practice, I came to understand, was that when I noticed I was thinking something, I should just go back to adjusting my posture, holding the body straight and pulling the chin

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-83593180443211490462007-10-27T10:15:00.000Z2007-10-27T10:16:53.761Z

Yesterday on a shopping trip to La Ferte Mace, I prepaid for 20 litres of heating fuel, and took my ticket and jerry can to the pump. To save the woman at the pump the trouble of bending down I held the can up to the nozzle for her. Then, as the can started filling up, I let it drop very slightly. Not much, but just enough for the nozzle to come out and spray diesel fuel all over my trousers. My

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-46037952583090918422007-10-26T09:51:00.000Z2007-10-26T09:52:22.103Z

In the autumn of 1998, shortly after being conned, primarily by myself, into receiving the transmission of the Buddha-Dharma, I was sitting opposite at dinner a very experienced virtuoso of piano playing and Alexander teaching, a woman of magical hands, named Nelly Ben-Or. I cannot remember exactly what Buddhist subject I was pontificating about but Nelly stopped me in my tracks by saying “You

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-58075115655928232082007-10-25T10:25:00.000Z2007-11-09T05:48:58.150Z

MOZO: [To Meet} The Fake ElephantMO: fake, imitationZO: image, statue; elephantHISASHIKU MOZO NI NARATTE SHINRYU O AYASHIMU KOTO NAKARE. “Do not, after a long time studying under a fake elephant, doubt the true dragon,.”A friend of mine who is also an Alexander teacher, Jeff Hall, has expressed on this blog a thoroughly outlandish view on the existence of mind outside of time and of space. And so

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-15571249256210621412007-10-21T07:40:00.000Z2007-10-22T20:57:43.042Z

My Alexander head of training between 1995 and 1998, the late Ray Evans, used to tell a story from World War I: A captain in the trenches barks a message back down the line: "SEND RE-INFORCEMENTS, WE'RE GOING TO ADVANCE!"Several transmissions later, the message arrives at field HQ: "SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE, WE'RE GOING TO A DANCE!" Over the years several requests have come in from people wanting

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-62289026034744670162007-10-20T05:26:00.000Z2007-10-20T06:03:30.945Z

SHO-NEN true consciousnessJO stillness, samadhiThese teachings may be the conclusion of the Budddha's noble eightfold path -- number 7 and number 8. A bastard son of a king of masturbation, who spent 70 years looking into them is strongly of the following view: true consciousness means balance of the autonomic nervous system, and the power of samadhi is the harmonized energy of a person enjoying

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-89020155248208416672007-10-19T06:41:00.000Z2007-10-19T07:17:49.376Z

What these words SHOSHIN-TANZA can mean to me when I am actually sitting in the full lotus posture, on a good day, is the simplest thing in the world: Just sit upright. The more I worry about translating those words perfectly into English, the more problematic they become. Which phase do they belong to? Bodily sitting in the full lotus posture? Mentally sitting in the full lotus posture? Sitting

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-19526339411964869982007-10-18T17:42:00.000Z2007-10-18T18:19:02.462Z

What did Master Dogen really intend by this instruction SHOSHIN-TANZA? I don't know. I can't know. I can form a view about it, but the stronger the view I form, the further away than ever I am from dropping off all views. Intensive translation of Master Dogen's teaching, of the kind I have been doing for the past couple of weeks on Fukan-zazengi Shinpitsu-bon, is an open invitation to go wrong,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-87523902000908833402007-10-17T16:26:00.000Z2007-10-17T16:41:17.553Z

Redeem the body by upright sitting. Don't be a wanker like I was in Japan, trying to manipulate my body into something that a bastard son of a king of masturbation called "the right posture." Bent and twisted though your outward form may be, don't add insult to injury by trying to make your body straight. Rather, redeem your body by learning to allow a lengthening direction to flow through it --

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-13086760683615418292007-10-17T08:52:00.000Z2007-10-17T12:14:04.373Z

The first two characters, SHO-SHIN, mean to right the body, to make the body more right, more true, more straight, more upright. The third and fourth characters, TAN-ZA, mean upright sitting. SHOSHIN-TANZA means upright sitting which causes or allows the body to change for the better, to become more balanced, more true, more upright. People today -- not only readers of this blog who don't

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-52251787377103341402007-10-16T05:42:00.000Z2007-10-16T09:59:46.249Z

The meaning of the bottom character, NEN, embraces a very wide range of mental phenomena -- including not only countable ones such as ideas, worries, thoughts, wishes, desires, feelings, impulses, et cetera, but also uncountable ones such as attention, awareness, mindfulness, consciousness. In the footnotes to the Shobogenzo translations published from 1994 onwards, a distinction was drawn

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-86648044531212772312007-10-15T12:59:00.000Z2007-10-15T13:23:26.213Z

Peter asked:Hi Mike, In the introduction to Shobogenzo you translate Sho as “right” or “true” so why do you translate Shoza as “upright sitting” and not true as in say “the true sitting practiced by the ancestors” or just “the sitting practiced by the buddhas”? Could the concept of “uprightness“ stimulate an attempt to achieve (conform to?) a preconceived moral (upright) and physical position,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-46364764595583567992007-10-12T07:11:00.000Z2007-10-12T07:30:27.116Z

The top character, I, means to go against; the bottom character, JUN, means to follow unquestioningly, to conform. IJUN WAZUKANI OKOREBA FUNZEN TOSHITE SHIN O SHISSU. "If the least tendency arises to go against or conform, the mind is lost in confusion."After reading Pete's question yesterday on the meaning of IJUN, I had something of a worried evening and a sleepless night, feeling a bit like

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-71422685836063461892007-10-05T06:24:00.000Z2007-10-05T06:39:29.973Z

DROPPING OFF ALL VIEWPOINTS WAS THE SITTING-ZEN THEY SATHOW THEY DID IT I DON'T KNOWHAIL DOGEN, NAG, & GUAT.Last year I promised MT that I would go through Fukan-zazengi in a systematic way. It occured to me yesterday that the best place to do this would be on my web-page at www.the-middle-way.org. (If I try to do it on this blog, the characters will appear in reverse order.) And so, with my

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-19383075688398097152007-10-03T11:31:00.000Z2007-10-04T08:36:41.686Z

“When an idea arises, just wake up. Just in the waking up to it, it ceases to exist. Taking plenty of time to forget involvements, spontaneously to become one piece: this is the secret of sitting-zen. What is called ‘sitting-zen’ is just the great Dharma-gate of ease.”Or, as per Master Dogen's revised version:"Sit still, 'Thinking that state of not thinking.' How can the state of not thinking be

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-63862968808659623782007-10-02T11:42:00.000Z2007-10-03T14:54:07.506Z

This summer by the seaside in France, I learned something afresh about ease as opposed to un-ease, from re-learning how to be in, how to breathe in, and how to swim in the sea. In that re-learning process I was aided by my wife, who is an Alexander and swimming teacher, and by a little book written by my brother Ian, called Swimming without Stress, Lessons for Land Lovers (available from

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-10146746436157133792007-10-02T10:24:00.001Z2007-10-02T10:54:56.182Z

SHUTSU get outSHIN bodyRead in Japanese as SHUSSHIN, "getting the body out." It is opposed to the subject of the previous post, NYUTO, "putting in the head." The words NYUTO, "putting the head in," and SHUSSHIN, "getting the body out," appear in both the original and revised versions of Fukan-zazengi. The orignal version, read in Japanese, is:NYUTO NO RYO ARI TO IEDOMO, NAO SHUSSHIN NO RO O KAKU.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-90398564893148363022007-10-01T09:34:00.000Z2007-10-02T09:26:20.819Z

NYU put in, poke in, enterTO headIn the original version of Fukan-zazengi these two characters appear in the 6-character phrase read in Japanese as NYUTO NO RYO ARI TO IEDOMO “even if there is the capacity to put in the head," i.e. -- even if we have intellectual ability. The corresponding phrase in the revised version has 9 characters read as NYUTO NO HENRYO NI SHOYO SU TO IEDOMO, “even if we

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-37661968636526284992007-09-29T11:14:00.000Z2007-09-30T08:11:17.648Z

YOKU wanting, desiringTOKU to get, to attain, to realizeINMO [2 characters] it, the ineffable“Wanting to get it,”KYU emergency, urgencyMU duty, task, practiceZAZEN [2 characters] sitting-zen“urgently practice sitting-zen.” In Japanese, these eight characters are read as:INMO O EN TO HOSSEBA, KYU NI ZAZEN O TSUTOME YO.INMO itO [object particle]EN to getTO [particle]HOSSEBA if wantKYU NI in haste,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-91266877325071668642007-09-28T07:30:00.000Z2007-09-28T07:40:41.721Z

Black cushion at bottom right is the main place I have been asking questions on Fukan-zazengi every day for the past 12 years, since moving to Aylesbury. Answers run from right to left along the top. Are there any questions?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-75671977513290496332007-09-27T11:38:00.000Z2007-09-27T16:09:08.352Z

JI oneself, naturally, of itself, by itselfNEN in such a manner [adverbial suffix] SHIN bodySHIN mindDATSU drop off, shedRAKU fall In Japanese:JINNEN NI SHINJIN DATSURAKU SHIJINNEN NI naturally, spontaneouslySHINJIN body and mindDATSURAKU SHI drop off“Body and mind spontaneously drop off.” Originally our original face existed. As we sucked on our mother’s breast, we had no conception of body,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-74198490654482664612007-09-27T05:38:00.000Z2007-09-27T11:37:57.897Z

KON now, the presentJIN peopleKA how? how not?BEN make effortIn Japanese: KONJIN NANZO BEN ZEZARUKONJIN people todayNANZO how?BEN ZEZARU not make effort“How could people today not make effort?” The kind of effort Master Dogen has in mind can be understood from the context:Gautama Buddha devoted himself to sitting for six years before his first turning of the Dharma wheel; Master Bodhidharma

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-74941932375431407652007-09-26T09:23:00.000Z2007-09-26T10:08:50.507Z

NYO likeRYU dragonTOKU get, findSUI waterIn Japanese:RYU NO MIZU O URU GA GOTOKURYU dragonNO [joining particle]MIZU waterO [object particle]URU getGA GOTOKU is like“Like a dragon finding water.” The essence of waterNo dragon knows,But unless something stops it,Downward it flows.The secret of ZazenNo buddha knows,But an edifice crumbles, And consciousness grows.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-87152652064543726012007-09-24T07:54:00.000Z2007-09-25T08:17:43.111Z

SHI thisZA sittingZEN dhyana, zen, thinking, meditatingZAZEN [= ZA + ZEN; one word] sitting-zenNO ofYO main point, essence, secret, keyJUTSU art, technique, skill, means, artifice, trick, strategem. YA isIn Japanese:KORE ZAZEN NO YOJUTSU NARI. KORE thisZAZEN sitting-zenNO ofYOJUTSU vital art, essential technique, secretNARI is“This is the secret of sitting-zen.” “When a desire arises [to gain

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-41482177071023735612007-09-23T08:39:00.000Z2007-09-27T16:31:00.605Z

JI self, by iself, naturally, spontaneously(This character, the big one, is originally the same size as the following three. It appears bigger here because on the original scroll it is at the bottom of one line of text, and I don't know how to make one character in one photo the same size as three characters in one photo.) JO realize, becomeICHI oneHEN pieceIPPEN [= ICHI + HEN] being in one piece

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-36647721853113979242007-09-22T08:35:00.001Z2007-09-27T16:33:13.430Z

The Chinese-sounding reading of these four characters is:KYU a long timeKYU a long timeBO forgetEN relation, condition, connection, bond, involvement, border -- peripheral thingRead aloud in Japanese, this phrase would be:HISABISA NI EN O BOJI HISABISA NI after a long time, for a long time, over a long timeEN involvement, peripheral thingO [object particle] BOJI forget“Over a long time, forget

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-64742134305979759562007-09-19T20:50:00.000Z2007-09-21T06:57:53.069Z

The four characters in their Chinese-sounding readings are:KAKU wake up, become conscious, become fully sensorily awareSHI this, itSOKU just, immediately, at onceSHITSU be lost, vanishIn Japanese, these four characters are read aloud as:KORE O KAKU SEBA SUNAWACHI SHISSUKORE thisO [object particle]KAKU SEBA if we wake up, if we are fully aware SUNAWACHI just, immediately, at onceSHISSU [= SHITSU +

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-62224844967085061132007-09-18T13:39:00.000Z2007-09-19T08:42:47.959Z

The Alexander teacher Patrick Macdonald wrote:‘The pupil must learn to stop doing, “to leave himself” in the hands of the teacher, neither tensing nor relaxing. Further, any emotional involvement in trying to learn what to do, or in what is going on, should be avoided. The best results are gained when a pupil can disassociate himself from what is happening, as if he were standing on one side

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-33838110485434904812007-09-18T09:52:00.000Z2007-09-18T10:25:53.781Z

The above five Chinese characters, in their Chinese-sounding readings, are:(1) MAKU Do not(2) KO emptily, in vain(3) DO traverse(4) KO light(5) IN shade, yin KO-IN light & shade, day & night, means precious time.In English, the natural order of elements would be similar to the Chinese: 1, 3, 4-5, 2 : "Do not pass precious time in vain." Keeping the order of the Chinese wouldn't sound too strange,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-15627190067649526882007-09-17T08:17:00.001Z2007-09-17T08:43:21.519Z

The pelvis belongs to the back. The pelvis is not part of the legs, the pelvis is part of the back. The pelvis is the base of the back. Originally, the pelvis is separate from the legs, at the hip joints. There is nothing that you have to do when sitting in lotus to cause the pelvis to belong to the back. The pelvis belongs to the back already. (This is not “Alexander theory”; this is me, after

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-19273153258741217742007-09-16T09:18:00.000Z2007-09-16T09:42:01.212Z

In the run-up to the publication of Shobogenzo Book One in February 1994, I indulged myself in a veritable end-gaining fest. By the end of it I was in a state of great irritability. I had constant pain down the right side of my neck and shoulder. All the stress-busting things I usually did in addition to sitting-zen, such as running, lifting weights, and stretching, didn’t make it better -- if

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-33041368585236589672007-09-14T23:16:00.000Z2007-09-14T23:23:13.260Z

HISASHIKU INMO NARU KOTO O NASABA, SUBEKARAKU KORE INMO NARU BESHI.HISASHIKU for a long timeINMO itNARU isKOTO thingO [object particle]NASABA if doSUBEKARAKU should, must, duly, properlyKORE [emphatic] is just INMO itNARU BESHI should be, will be, must be“If for a long time you do that which is it, you will be just it.” Whatever I assert that it is, it is not that.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-29505785478745386232007-09-13T05:59:00.000Z2007-09-13T17:49:06.849Z

SHUSHO ONOZUKARA ZENNA SEZUSHU practice, trainingSHO verification, experience, enlightenmentONOZUKARA, naturally, by itself, inherentlyZENNA SEZU is not taintedSHUSHO ONOZUKARA ZENNA SEZU“Practice-and-experience is naturally untainted.”Untainted by what? I, along with many others, habitually tend to answer that question by pulling back the head.In boxing, for example, this tendency is recognized

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-11085806994675552432007-09-13T05:57:00.000Z2007-09-13T05:59:16.503Z

A mother holds you to her naked breast, and you have no reason to believe it won’t last forever. A young woman tells you you are The Only One, she could never ever get into bed with another.A certified Buddhist Patriarch in the lineage of Zen Master Dogen tells you that he has not just one Ejo in Jeffrey Bailey, but four Ejos, and you, Mike Cross, are one of them!Endorphins flow around and you

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-55721990548822293952007-09-12T08:43:00.000Z2007-09-12T11:51:50.910Z

Living in this reality of spontaneous flow, the biggest sin I can commit is to become strongly attached to particular people, things, and places, and to become fixed in a particular view. Being attached and being fixed are, in the end, just manifestations of end-gaining. This has been the story of my life, especially since my world was shaken by a kiss one autumn evening 28 years ago, and even

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-3258489112015667852007-09-11T21:40:00.000Z2007-09-11T21:46:21.361Z

This post is inspired by Michael Thaler who writes the blog One Foot In Front of the Other, and in particular by his recent post titled Dropping Away of Body (7th September).ZA sittingDATSU drop, expireRYU standingBO lose one’s life, dieMO [subject particle]KONO thisCHIKARA powerNI [particle] onICHI, one, a hundred percent, totallyNIN rely on, be left to, be up toICHININ SURU be totally reliant

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-84990504012409611892007-09-11T13:55:00.000Z2007-09-11T13:56:56.446Z

Don’t take what I write personally, MT, especially seeing as we have never met. To the increasing annoyance of my missus back in Aylesbury, I am still at play by the forest in France and there is only one person of cheap views around here. On this blog I am only really talking to myself, while working on a totally non-definitive, not copyrighted, no rights reserved translation of Fukan-zazen-gi,

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-50541473057198730802007-09-09T19:22:00.000Z2007-09-09T19:24:18.922Z

ZAZEN sitting-zenNO [particle] ofYO vital, pivotalJUTSU art, technique, secretZAZEN NO YOJUTSU“The vital art of sitting-zen.”In the previous post I wrote that Master Yakusan’s phrase HI-SHIRYO “non-thinking,” was Master Dogen’s mature expression of the vital art of sitting-zen. His mature expression, in other words, was not his own expression. In his original version of Fukan-zazengi written on

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-67476350110094821462007-09-08T07:54:00.000Z2007-09-08T07:56:25.745Z

FM Alexander spoke of “carrying out an activity against the habit of life.” What a struggle this is -- like constantly swimming upstream, against the current of end-gaining. But what an adventure also. Boredom cannot come into it. Marjory Barlow began her apprenticeship under her uncle FM Alexander around the age of 17. More than 70 years later, she reminded me often that FM used to say, “This

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-34437725708667136312007-09-07T09:37:00.000Z2007-09-07T09:38:27.947Z

HI non-, anti-, againstSHIRYO thinkingHI-SHIRYO“non-thinking”Yakusan was asked by a monk, while sitting in lotus, “What are you thinking?” Yakusan said, “Thinking that state beyond thinking.”The monk said, “How can the state beyond thinking be thought?”Yakusan said, “Non-thinking.” Fukan-zazengi says: KONO FU-SHIRYO TEI O SHIRYO SE YO. “Think that state beyond thinking!” FU-SHIRYO TEI IKAN GA

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-77511873666451383022007-09-06T07:27:00.000Z2007-09-06T07:28:13.506Z

HI non-, anti-, againstSHIRYO thinkingAgainst what? In my writing of this blog, I have been answering just this question. I have been answering this question all my life, in a manner once described, by a woman who knew me well, as “like a bulldozer.” Its hard work being like a bulldozer. But its harder still to practice non-thinking.

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-53769048389644139732007-09-06T07:25:00.000Z2007-09-06T07:32:23.751Z

KAN lackKI breath, oxygen, kiICHI oneSOKU breathKANKI ISSOKU“Breathe out fully once”If the head and spine are being directed upwards, without undue fixity in the joints or narrowing of the back, then, in order to breathe out fully, the naturally inherent outward-springing tendency of the rib-cage must be opposed by some muscular doing. An intention must be formed to breathe out fully; a

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-29280134533126682002007-09-04T11:18:00.000Z2007-09-04T11:20:20.075Z

SPONTANEOUS INTEGRATION:DOGEN CALLED IT THAT.NOT BY HIS OWN DOINGHE LET HIMSELF BE SAT. AN UPWARD FLOWING HEAD AND SPINEBUT NOT A NARROW BACK.HIS CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE IS NOW MINE:I FOLLOWED A WRONG TRACK. Are there any questions?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-88336296163674761082007-09-04T06:06:00.000Z2007-09-04T06:07:10.889Z

DROPPING OFF ALL POINTS OF VIEWWAS THE SITTING-ZEN HE SATUSING CONSCIOUS MEANS-WHEREBYI BOW TO HIM: KING GUATAre there any questions?

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-7879599508103473382007-09-03T21:24:00.001Z2007-09-03T21:24:52.076Z

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-21746891859779959242007-09-03T21:21:00.001Z2007-09-03T21:22:41.931Z

SO-SO NO ZANMAI O TEKISHI SEYO. SO grandparent, ancestor, patriarch/matriarchSO [repeated to suggest the one-to-one transmission through the lineage of ancestors]NO [joining particle]ZANMAI samadhi (rendered phonetically)O [object particle]TEKI rightful heir, legitimate successorSHI succeedTEKISHI SU to succeed as a rightful heirSEYO [imperative] do it! “Succeed as a rightful heir to the samadhi

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-84621644277212333742007-09-03T19:13:00.000Z2007-09-03T19:14:50.765Z

MOSHI IPPO O AYAMAREBA TOMEN NI SAKA SU.MOSHI ifICHI oneHO stepIPPO (=ICHI+HO) one stepO [object particle]AYAMAREBA if we make a mistakeTO the present, the thing in question, this one, the here and nowMEN scene, face, aspectTOMEN the moment of the presentSAKA SU pass over, pass through in vain, lose, wasteMOSHI IPPO O AYAMAREBA TOMEN NI SAKA SU.“If we misplace one step we waste the moment of

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-44136135207378090412007-09-03T11:35:00.000Z2007-09-03T11:36:46.554Z

MASA NI SHIRUBESHI, SHOBO ONOZUKARA GENZEN SHI KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O.MASANI exactly, trulySHIRUBESHI should know, rememberSHO true, right, straightBO (=HO) Dharma, thingONOZUKARA naturally, spontaneously, by itselfGEN manifest actuallyZEN beforeGENZEN SHI appears in front of our eyes, emerges, happensKON darknessSAN being scatteredMAZU from the first, from the outsetBOKU strikeRAKU

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-46416724010442138032007-09-03T06:35:00.000Z2007-09-03T06:36:19.838Z

IWAYURU ZAZEN WA SHUZEN NIWA ARAZU, TADA KORE ANRAKU NO HOMON NARIIWAYURU what is calledZA sittingZEN dhyana, thinking, zen, meditationWA [subject particle]SHU learningZEN dhyana, thinking, zen, meditationNIWA ARAZU is notTADA justKORE [emphatic] this, just isAN easeRAKU easeNO [particle] ofHO DharmaMON gateNARI is“What is called sitting-zen is not learning Zen; it is just a Dharma-gate of being

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-71432932973860846232007-09-03T06:33:00.000Z2007-09-03T06:35:11.141Z

GON O TAZUNE GO O OU NO GEGYO O KYU SU BESHI. GON sayingsO [object particle]TAZUNE investigate, research, study GO wordsO [object particle]OU chase, chase after NO [joining particle] GE understandingGYO goings on, conduct, work O [object particle] KYU, rest, ceaseSUBESHI should "We should cease the intellectual work of studying sayings and chasing words." In endeavoring to clarify what this

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-67278470654687423142007-09-02T19:59:00.000Z2007-09-02T20:01:07.585Z

NEN OKOREBA SUNAWACHI KAKU SE YONEN desire, thought, wish, idea, mental image, something in the mindOKOREBA if it arisesSUNAWACHI just, immediately, instantlyKAKU SU to wake up, to become consciousYO [imperative]“If an idea arises, just wake up!”What NEN means changes according to context. So each person has to come to their own understanding, out of their own practice. I can’t tell you

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-31722390504444326602007-09-02T05:54:00.000Z2007-09-02T05:57:22.570Z

KOAN GENJO RARO IMADA ITARAZU. MOSHO KONO I O EBA RYU NO MIZU O URU GA GOTOKU.KOAN universal lawGENJO realizedRA net (suitable for catching fish or dragons)RO cage (suitable for trapping tigers)IMADA yet, neverITARAZU not arrived.”The laws of the universe are realized, and nets and cages have not arrived.”MOSHI ifKONO thisI intention, meaningO [object particle]EBA if it is gotRYU dragonNO [

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-34899775067840939302007-09-01T06:12:00.000Z2007-09-01T06:14:05.391Z

JI naturally, spontaneouslyJO become, realizeICHI oneHEN pieceIPPEN (= ICHI + HEN) one pieceJI-JO-IPPEN spontaneous integration -- Master Dogen's own original secret of sitting-zen. Remember, you heard it here first.As FM Alexander was fond of saying, “The right thing does itself.”The difficult thing to learn is how to get out of its way. And the more you care about it, the more difficult it is -

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-53295031522204199632007-08-31T19:48:00.000Z2007-08-31T19:49:25.073Z

EKO HENSHO NO TAIHO O GAKU SUBESHIE turnKO lightHEN turn aroundSHO luminance, lightNO [particle] ofTAI backwardHO stepO [object particle]GAKU SUBESHI should learn“Learn the backward step of turning light around.”I love this sentence. This sentence has often saved me from myself. It suggests a return to a natural state of being, a more simple, primitive, integrated condition of being, compared

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-28137544207155827872007-08-31T16:23:00.000Z2007-08-31T19:37:16.703Z

IWAYURU ZAZEN WA SHUZEN NIWA ARAZU, TADA KORE ANRAKU NO HOMON NARIIWAYURU what is calledZA sittingZEN dhyana, thinking, zen, meditationWA [subject particle]SHU learningZEN dhyana, thinking, zen, meditationNIWA ARAZU is notTADA justKORE [emphatic] this, just isAN easeRAKU easeNO [particle] ofHO DharmaMON gateNARI is“What is called sitting-zen is not learning Zen; it is just a Dharma-gate of being

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-54920459775622807592007-08-29T20:12:00.000Z2007-08-29T20:14:34.262Z

I would like to answer questions on Master Dogen’s rules of sitting-zen, Fukan-zazen-gi, if there are any such questions.If no questions spring to mind, here are some key words and phrases that might spark your curiosity. ZAZEN; sitting-dhyana, sitting-zen or sitting-meditation (not “sitting zen”; never “seated meditation”)GORI NO SA; the slighest gapSHUSHIN NO KATSURO; the vigorous road of

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-1134403979111255562005-12-12T16:12:00.000Z2005-12-12T16:12:59.120Z

Champsecret, summer 2005 

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-1133874223049606582005-12-06T12:57:00.000Z2005-12-06T13:03:43.053Z

Zen Master Dogen’s instructions for sitting-meditationa free interpretation by Mike Cross, Autumn 2005 Let Dogen tell the truth he found:Enlightenment is all around.So don’t go trying, when you sit,To grasp or hold or polish it.There again, don’t be too proudAnd hold your head up in a cloud.Don’t think you’ve grasped the truth of actionWhile still a slave to blind reaction.Ancient sages sat and

Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19541409.post-1133873708927001482005-12-06T12:40:00.000Z2005-12-06T12:57:49.770Z

During the 13 years I spent in Japan, endeavoring to learn how to practice Zazen, I was taught that the most important text of Japanese Zen Buddhism is Fukan-zazengi by Master Dogen. Zazen-gi means “rules for Zazen (sitting-meditation).” Fukan means “universally recommended,” i.e. recommended for everyone.There are two extant versions of it, one that Master Dogen wrote straight after coming back

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