It's Been a Long Strange Trip: March 2014

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Movie in Your Mind

The world you see is just a movie in your mind.
Rocks dont see it.
Bless and sit down.
Forgive and forget.
Practice kindness all day to everybody
and you will realize you’re already
in heaven now. --- Jack Kerouac ---

Monday, March 10, 2014

Chattering Minds

Blanketed by an azure sky, the orange-yellow rays of the setting sun can, at special times, gift us with a moment of such considerable beauty, we find ourselves momentarily stunned, with frozen gaze. The splendor of the moment so dazzles us, our compulsively chattering minds give pause, so as not to mentally whisk us away to a place other than the here-and-now. --- Russell E. Dicarlo ---

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Hui-neng and the Southern School of Zen

According to tradition Hui-neng taught "no-thought", the "pure and unattached mind" which "comes and goes freely and functions fluently without any hindrance". The alleged Northern schools emphasis on quiet contemplation was criticized by Hui-neng:

When alive, one keeps sitting without lying down.
When dead, one lies without sitting up.
In both cases, a set of stinking bones!
What has it to do with the great lesson of life?

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Meaning of Life

“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

Alan Watts

It's Been a Long Strange Trip