Noing know thing

The chartreuse (or any off tint of green) knight

About six weeks ago a wrist pain developed.—to type ? it’s painful, or, its hunt & peck. A couple of days ago I got an MRI . . .

Sometimes I reflect on the last times I saw my father, a period of about 4 years,  while he was increasingly physically and mentally deteriorating, and while the various discomforts and pains in my own body get progressively worse mostly I reflect on the former.

Now, fifteen years later I find myself  going through similar physical entropy –a nice scientific term for it—I askwhy did I not talk to him about it a bit more, No, a lot more;

Its not so much whether I remember the specific situation correctly—as it happened—as much I understand the situation differently .

Alameda Creek

There is a rhythm to Alameda Creek or there is n’s one.

Weather, time of day, calendar days, work day or weekend, light or dark, all influence the number of people using the path.

Its generally, but not specifically , predictable

Why do people do the things they do? What else would we do?

What is stopping us from doing those things?

Nansen said, “The mind is not the Buddha; knowledge is not the Way.”
Case 34 Nansen’s No Way Mummonkan Blyth translation

The weather is fine, and the sun appears;
Rain falls and the earth becomes wet.
With exceeding kindness he explains everything,
But how few have faith in his words!
Ummon’s Verse Case 34 Nansen’s No Way Mummonkan Blyth translation

When I thought about losing the use of my hands or even one hand, I wondered if my father—one of his favorite child hood books was Facing Death by Horatio Alger— had ever had to face something like that.

But the answer is “Of course he did!!!”. . .

. . . because he/she is a human being.

Being Buddha means to escape the cycles of birth and rebirth?

 the Truth of suffering,
the Truth of the cause of suffering,
the Truth of the end of suffering, and
the Truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

Do Buddhists believe that awakening their Buddha inside will end their cycle of birth, death and rebirth?

Why are we separated from our Buddha hiding inside of us ?

Why are these kinds of “religious questions ” more important than understanding why some people behave in abusive ways towards others?

Only thank God men have done learned to forget quick what they ain’t brave enough to cure.”
from The Hamlet William Faulkner

Maybe religion works better to help individuals get though the crap that it does to get rid of it.

“I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours” (Bob Dylan said that).

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An old Zen story: If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him.

Would you recognize Buddha if you passed one on the street?

That said, How many would recognize Muhammad or Jesus walking along the street?

Maybe only a small few would fail to recognize Krishna —the only original Blueman in the crowd,

A monk asked Base, “What is the Buddha?”
Baso answered, “Not mind, not Buddha.”

If you are a Buddhist,
if you practice Buddhism,
if you have the hope of awakening the Buddha inside of you,
When it happens how will you know its happening, or even that it happened?

The thing that always bothered me about reincarnation, was; if at the beginning there was enough “human material” to make “N” amount of humans, with the human population getting bigger, does reincarnation mean that each new human born has progressively less of the needed amount to be “like the original human”

ShakaBuddha was born as a bodhisattva, so it was written anyway.

How did he get so far ahead? He never tells us the real secret—or maybe I just cannot hear it.

The eye of know-eye,
the ear of know -ear,
the nose of know-nose;
the tongue of no-tongue,
the touch of know-touch.

I don’t think I’m going to make it this time around, maybe someone younger will . .

. . . or won’t..
Who knows!! Maybe this guy is a Buddha and I just cannot recognize it.

I’d rather have a paper doll to call my own
Than have a fickle-minded real live girl
from a popular song by The Mills Brothers

Maybe a wooden Buddha is better than than a real live one.

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha