While working on a sermon the pastor heard a knock at his office door. "Come in," he invited. A sad-looking man in threadbare clothes came in, pulling a large pig on a rope. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" asked the ma... Read more of Women Drivers at Free Jokes.ca

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Samurai

Let Go Of Your Idle Thoughts
[FN#263] A famous Zenist, Mu-go-koku-shi, is said to ha...

Bodhidharma And His Successor The Second Patriarch
China was not, however, an uncultivated[FN#29] land for the s...

Nature Is The Mother Of All Things
Furthermore, man has come into existence out of Nature. He i...

The Progress And Hope Of Life
How many myriads of years have passed since the germs of life...

The Betterment Of Life
Again, people nowadays seem to feel keenly the wound of the ...

Zen And Supernatural Power
Yoga[FN#250] claims that various supernatural powers can be a...

Difficulties Are No Match For The Optimist
How can we suppose that we, the children of Buddha, are put a...

Zazen Or The Sitting In Meditation
Habit comes out of practice, and forms character by degrees, ...

The Spiritual Attainment Of The Sixth Patriarch
Some time before his death (in 675 A.D.) the Fifth Patriarch ...

The Method Of Instruction Adopted By Zen Masters
Thus far we have described the doctrine of Zen inculcated by ...

The Parable Of The Robber Kih
Chwang Tsz (So-shi) remarks in a humorous way to the followi...

The Buddha Of Mercy
Milton says: Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt; Surp...

Hinayanism And Its Doctrine
The doctrine of Transience was the first entrance gate of Hin...

Bodhidharma's Disciples And The Transmission Of The Law[fn#31]
[FN#31] For details, see Chwen Tang Luh and Den Ka Roku, b...

The First Step In The Mental Training
Some of the old Zen masters are said to have attained to supr...

Life And Change
Transformation and change are the essential features of life;...

The Sermon Of The Inanimate
The Scripture of Zen is written with facts simple and familia...

Great Men And Nature
All great men, whether they be poets or scientists or religio...

The Theory Of Buddha-nature Adequately Explains The Ethical States Of Man
This theory of Buddha-nature enables us to get an insight int...

Shakya Muni And The Prodigal Son
A great trouble with us is that we do not believe in half the...

The Mystery Of Life

Thus far we have pointed out the inevitable conflictions in life in
order to prepare ourselves for an insight into the depth of life. We
are far from being pessimistic, for we believe that life consists in
confliction, but that confliction does not end in confliction, but in
a new form of harmony. Hope comes to conflict with fear, and is
often threatened with losing its hold on mind; then it renews its
life and takes root still deeper than before. Peace is often
disturbed with wars, but then it gains a still firmer ground than
ever. Happiness is driven out of mind by melancholy, then it is
re-enforced by favourable conditions and returns with double
strength. Spirit is dragged down by matter from its ideal heaven,
then, incited by shame, it tries a higher flight. Good is opposed by
evil, then it gathers more strength and vanquishes its foe. Truth is
clouded by falsehood, then it issues forth with its greater light.
Liberty is endangered by tyranny, then it overthrows it with a
splendid success.

Manifoldness stands out boldly against unity; difference against
agreement; particularity against generality; individuality against
society. Manifoldness, nevertheless, instead of annihilating,
enriches unity; difference, instead of destroying agreement, gives it
variety; particularities, instead of putting an end to generality,
increase its content; individuals, instead of breaking the harmony of
society, strengthen the power of it.

Thus 'Universal Life does not swallow up manifoldness nor extinguish
differences, but it is the only means of bringing to its full
development the detailed content of reality; in particular, it does
not abolish the great oppositions of life and world, but takes them
up into itself and brings them into fruitful relations with each
other.' Therefore 'our life is a mysterious blending of freedom and
necessity, power and limitation, caprice and law; yet these opposites
are constantly seeking and finding a mutual adjustment.'

Next: Nature Favours Nothing In Particular

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