A Zen master named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a pail of water to cool his bath.

The student brought the water and, after cooling the bath, threw on to the ground the little that was left over.

“You dunce!” the master scolded him. “Why didn’t you give the rest of the water to the plants? What right have you to waste even one drop of water in this temple?”
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The young student attained Zen in that instant. He changed his name to Tekisui, which means a drop of water.

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
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Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

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Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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Sozan, a Chinese Zen master, was asked by a student: “What is the most valuable thing in the world?”

The master replied: “The head of a dead cat.”

“Why is the head of a dead cat the most valuable thing in the world?” inquired the student.
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Sozan replied: “Because no one can name its price.”

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Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: “The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.”

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
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“If nothing exists,” inquired Dokuon, “where did this anger come from?”

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Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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​Tantra is one of the path towards liberation.  It is believed that the real spirituality started off with Tantra.  The path is not advised for all the levels of people in the society like the other path – karma yoga, bhakti yoga, etc.  

The basic objective of Tantra is to liberate the soul by expanding the consciousness.  Unlike other practices, tantric path can be followed only under the guidance of a spiritual master who has attained self-realization. Guru initiates the disciple to this path through “diksha”. 

​This is for highly evolved spiritual aspirants who are competent enough who can fight with the nether forces of ignorance in the self.  But that doesn’t mean that one who has passion towards tantric path cannot follow this route for the self-realization.

​For any type of aspirant, tantra finds the right starting place for him.  It naturally means, the aspirant has to perform the practices based on his level of understanding about himself.  Controlling the mind through the control of senses are the ways of tantra. 

The way of tantra is to understand the functioning of the mind in various situations, without the help of senses. From the scientific perspective, it is detaching the matter from consciousness.

One has to come out of the body consciousness in order to experience the self.  It is based on the principle of Shiva and Shakti – the consciousness and the energy manifested through the body. Existence is the combination of both the energy and consciousness. To reveal the real nature of the mind, it is necessary to free the mind from the past impressions, the unimportant knowledge, samskaras, etc. 

The entire human existence is based on two forces – prana and mind. These two forces are responsible for action, life and knowledge. Whenever there is a problem with the balancing of these two forces, there arises problems throughout the life. These two forces symbolize the ida and pingala nadis (energy channels). 

All these concepts are described in tantra by the ancient sages. Tantra is basically expansion of the mind and then liberation of the soul. When the mind is expanded towards several other planes of existence, mind starts experiencing the internal consciousness. This process increases the internal awareness by liberating the mind from its unlimited functionality.  

As a result of the intense spiritual practices performed by the spiritual aspirant performed under a guru, he evolves to the higher planes or existence there by expanding the consciousness. 

The serpent power symbolizing the human consciousness called as Kundalini shakti is awakened gradually as the aspirant goes forward in this spiritual practice. Starting with hatha yoga, the practices involves kriyas (physical purification), yoga, meditation practice, japa, etc. Yoga is part of tantra. 

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom,   Ascension,  Buddhism,     Spiritual Awareness , and    Tantra Traditions
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​Here is a Zen Buddhist prayer made by ringing prayer bells, lighting candle and with an incense offering...

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Ancient Wisdom    and   Buddhism

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As we walk our path, we search- sometimes we search for answers to our questions and ironically sometimes we search for the right questions to explain all that we observe and experience!!

The expansiveness of all that surrounds us, makes it seem like an outwards-path.

But the reality is that, it is an inward-path. What we are seeking- our questions and our answers are all within us. As it is said in the Vedic tradition- the observer, the observed and the process of observation is all the same (which is the conscious self).

Here is a short Zen story that nicely highlights this lesson…

Daiju visited the master Baso in China. Baso asked: “What do you seek?”
“Enlightenment,” replied Daiju.

“You have your own treasure house. Why do you search outside?” Baso asked.
Daiju inquired: “Where is my treasure house?”
Baso answered: “What you are asking is your treasure house.”

Daiju was enlightened! Ever after he urged his friends: “Open your own treasure house and use those treasures.”​

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