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This is the Kyoto you came for. The spiritual, insightful one.

31/10/2024

Likuko said to Nansen, “In my house there is a stone that sits up or lies down. I intend to carve it as a Buddha. Can I do it?”

Nansen answered, “Yes, you can.”

Likuko persisted, “Can I really do it?”

Nansen answered, “No, you can not!”
===============

The stone is Likuko himself. He asked the Master if he could become a Buddha.

Nansen immediately said yes. But Likuko had doubts. So Nansen quickly said, “No, you can not.”

Zen is not thinking, but doing; not concept, but action. Nansen wants his student to jump in with his whole life.

29/03/2024

To display at last maturity of spirit.

12/03/2024

Here in the woods I have lots of free time. When I don’t spend it sleeping, I enjoy composing chants. But with paper and ink so scarce, I haven’t thought about writing them down.

Now some Zen monks have asked me to record what I find of interest on this mountain. I’ve sat here quietly and let my brush fly. Suddenly this volume is full.

I close it and send it back down with the admonition not to try singing these poems. Only if you sit on them will they do you any good.

-Shih-wu (1272-1352), Chinese Zen monk

07/02/2024

Enman-in is a Tendai Buddhist temple located in Otsu, Shiga. Founded in 987 by Emperor Murakami’s third son, Prince Goen, it became a monzeki temple- a temple where successive members of the imperial family take the position of head abbot.

On the grounds of Enman-in there are several elements to enjoy, such as the main garden which is considered a national important cultural property, and the Otsu-e Museum, which displays folk paintings from the Edo period.

The garden was created by the tea master Sen no Rikyu, who is considered to have had the most profound influence on the Japanese “Way of Tea”. Rikyu was the first to emphasize several key aspects of the tea practice, including rustic simplicity, directness of approach and honesty of self.

06/02/2024

Sitting quietly
in a hut—
White clouds rising
over the mountain.

03/02/2024

Shih-wu, a 13th c. Zen master, was renowned for his deep wisdom and unorthodox teaching methods. One day, a group of scholars visited him, eager to engage in philosophical debate.

Instead of engaging them in verbal discourse, Shih-wu simply picked up a cup and placed it on the table. Confused by his actions, the scholars pressed him for an explanation.

Shih-wu replied, “You see the cup as empty. I see it as full of emptiness.”

With a gentle yet enigmatic smile, Shih-wu continued to gaze at the cup, inviting the scholars to contemplate its significance. In his silence, a profound understanding began to dawn upon the scholars as they realized the depth of his teaching.

Shih-wu’s simple gesture transcended the limitations of language and intellectual discourse, offering a direct glimpse into the nature of reality. Through the cup, he conveyed the Zen concept of emptiness not as mere absence but as the boundless potentiality from which all phenomena arise and dissolve.

garden #詩仙堂

01/02/2024

An indescribable stillness reigns over the garden. The many insoluble difficulties which beset human life are here symbolized.

As the water wells up from the ground to rise in the lake, so the human spirit draws strength from the tranquillity of nature.

The white sand at the border of the pond has the same purifying power for the mind as has the pure water…

Constantly and inexhaustibly flows the stream;
The one stream flows deep and wide.
Gaze not upon the curved bank!
When night falls,
the moonlight is mirrored
in the heart of the waves.

-Muso Kokushi, 14thc. Zen master

25/01/2024

A Million Objects:

Gyosan asked Isan, “If a million objects come to you, what should you do?”

Isan answered, “A green article is not yellow. A long thing is not short. Each object manages its own fate. Why should I interfere with them?”

Gyosan bowed in homage.

Commentary: Gyosan asks a very practical and appropriate question. We live in a complex society, and a million things demand our attention. How can one be serene in such an environment?

Isan gives a beautiful and practical answer: meet things as they come, one by one.

People habitually worry about many things, but Gyosan takes one thing at a time. He sees, clearly, things as they are.

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