With the pack well squared in the left hand face down, bring the right hand over it, thumb at the rear, fingers on the outer end. Make a motion of squaring the ends and at the same time press the fingers back a little making the ends of the deck s... Read more of Double Lift at Card Trick.ca

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Buddhism

Man Is Not Good-natured Nor Bad-natured But Buddha-natured
We have had already occasion to observe that Zen teaches Bud...

Zen After The Restoration
After the Restoration of the Mei-ji (1867) the popularity of ...

The Breathing Exercise Of The Yogi
Breathing exercise is one of the practices of Yoga, and somew...

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

The Establishment Of The Rin Zai School Of Zen In Japan
The Lin Tsi school was started by Nan Yoh, a prominent d...

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

Poetical Intuition And Zen
Since Universal Life or Spirit permeates the universe, the po...

Life Consists In Conflict
Life consists in conflict. So long as man remains a social a...

The Next Step In The Mental Training
In the next place we have to strive to be the master of our b...

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

Pessimistic View Of The Ancient Hindus
In addition to this, the new theory of matter has entirely ov...

Retribution In The Past The Present And The Future Life
Then a question suggests itself: If there be no soul that sur...

The World Is In The Making
Our assertion is far from assuming that life is now complete,...

Zazen And The Forgetting Of Self
Zazen is a most effectual means of destroying selfishness, th...

Introduction Of Zen Into China By Bodhidharma
An epoch-making event took place in the Buddhist history of C...

The Eternal Life As Taught By Professor Munsterberg
Some philosophical pessimists undervalue life simply because ...

The Ten Pictures Of The Cowherd
The pictures were drawn by Kwoh Ngan (Kaku-an), a Chinese...

The Awakening Of The Innermost Wisdom
Having set ourselves free from the misconception of Self, nex...

Thing-in-itself Means Thing-knowerless
How, then, did philosophers come to consider reality to be un...

How To Worship Buddha
The author of Vimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra well explains our at...

The Parable Of A Drunkard

Now the question arises, If all human beings are endowed with
Buddha-nature, why have they not come naturally to be Enlightened?
To answer this question, the Indian Mahayanists told the
parable of a drunkard who forgets the precious gems put in his own
pocket by one of his friends. The man is drunk with the poisonous
liquor of selfishness, led astray by the alluring sight of the
sensual objects, and goes mad with anger, lust, and folly. Thus he
is in a state of moral poverty, entirely forgetting the precious gem
of Buddha-nature within him. To be in an honourable position in
society as the owner of that valuable property, he must first get rid
himself of the influence of the liquor of self, and detach himself
from sensual objects, gain control over his passion, restore peace
and sincerity to his mind, and illumine his whole existence by his
inborn divine light. Otherwise he has to remain in the same plight
to all eternity.

Mahaparinirvana-sutra.

Lot us avail ourselves of another figure to explain more clearly the
point at issue. Universal Spirit may fitly be likened to the
universal water, or water circulating through the whole earth. This
universal water exists everywhere. It exists in the tree. It exists
in the grass. It exists in the mountain. It exists in the river.
It exists in the sea. It exists in the air. It exists in the cloud.
Thus man is not only surrounded by water on all sides, but it
penetrates his very body. But be can never appease his thirst
without drinking water. In like manner Universal Spirit exists
everywhere. It exists in the tree. It exists in the grass. It
exists in the ground. It exists in the mountain. It exists in the
river. It exists in the sea. It exists in the bird. It exists in
the beast. Thus man is not merely surrounded by Spirit on all sides,
but it permeates through his whole existence. But he can never be
Enlightened unless he awakens it within him by means of Meditation.
To drink water is to drink the universal water; to awaken
Buddha-nature is to be conscious of Universal Spirit.

Therefore, to get Enlightened we have to believe that all beings are
Buddha-natured--that is, absolutely good-natured in the sense that
transcends the duality of good and bad. "One day," to cite an
example, "Pan Shan (Ban-zan) happened to pass by a meat-shop. He
heard a customer saying: 'Give me a pound of fresh meat.' To which
the shopkeeper, putting down his knife, replied: Certainly, sir.
Could there be any meat that is not fresh in my shop?' Pan Shan,
hearing these remarks, was Enlightened at once."

Next: Shakya Muni And The Prodigal Son
Previous: Buddha-nature Is The Common Source Of Morals

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