Wealthy patrons invited Ikkyu to a banquet. Ikkyu arrived dressed in his beggars robes. The host, not recognizing him, chased him away. Ikkyu went home, change into his ceremonial robe of purple brocade, and returned. With great respect, he was received into the banquet room. There, he put his robe on the cushion, saying, "I expect you invited the robe since you showed me away a little while ago." and left.
"When Tao is lost, there is stil Natural Goodness.
When Natural Goodness is lost, there is still Kindness.
When Kindness is lost, there is still Justice.
When Justice is lost, there are only social niceties,
And these are neither genuine nor honest:
Then all is lost."
-- Lao Tzu
[One who looks for Shiva in the external world, ignoring the Shiva in the internal world,
Is like one who throws away the rice that is in one's hand and wanders from door to door in search of one's livelihood.]
(From: Namah Shivaya Shantaya by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, Pg 243)
We have to undertand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye.... the hand is the cutting edge of the mind.
All the world is merry as a holiday or as if climbing to a vista in spring. I alone seem listless and still, as one without desire - like an infant which has not yet smiled; dejected and forlorn, like one with no home.
All the world has enough - and more. I alone seem to have lost everything.
My mind is that of a fool, lost in a cloud of indiscerning.
People on the street are bright and knowing. I alone seem in the dark.
The people are sharp and discriminate. I alone make no distinctions.
I drift about, at sea, with nowhere to rest. All the world has a goal. I alone seem aimless and unable, like a rustic new to the city.
I alone seem different from the world, because I value the food of the Dao.
When aware that the content of awareness is empty, empty awareness is complete. When hearing the content of hearing is finite, finite hearing does not remain.
Even if you can see in this way, you are already involved in process. Has it not be said, "If feelings retain notions of the holy, this is still involvment in external objects; if the idea of self is not forgotten, it's the same as leaking."
How could it be possible to suppose that discoursing on the mind and nature and lecturing on Zen and the path are effective vehicles to the source?
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