DHARMA SPRING

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  Someone asked, "The Honored Ones of the ten directions all had a single gateway to ultimate liberation. What is this gateway?"
  Yunmen said, "I can't tell."
  "Why can't you tell?"
  Yunmen said, "If you, just you, present the problem, then I can."

from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans.

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  Once Yunmen said, "There is nothing whatsoever that does not explain the Dharma. Striking the bell or beating the drum is no exception. If this is the case, nothing will be Dharma, and nothing will not be."
  He added, "One should not assert that when one speaks, it is, and that when one doesn't speak, it isn't. Even what I just said has not quite made it. Well, as long as it benefits people, it may be okay. . . ."

from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans

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  Someone asked Yunmen, "What is Chan?"
  Yunmen replied, "That's it!"
  Then they asked, "What is the Dao?"
  Yunmen replied, "Okay!"
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  "What is the Dao?"
  Yunmen replied, "To break through this word."
  "What is it like when one has broken through?"
  "A thousand miles, the same mood."
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  Someone asked Yunmen, "What is Chan?"
  Yunmen said, "Is it all right to get rid of this word?"

-from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans

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  Someone asked, "How about when one makes a hole in the wall in order to steal the neighbor's light?"
  Yunmen said, "There it is!"

-from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans

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  A student asked Yunmen, “What’s the particle-by-particle samadhi?” (Another translation: "What's the deep state of mind in which, through any moment, you can enter all deep states of mind?")
  Yunmen said, “Food in the bowl, water in the bucket.”

Case 50 of the Blue Cliff Record

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 Someone asked, "How should one act during every hour of the day such that the ancestors are not betrayed?"
  Yunmen said, "Give up your effort."
  The person said, "How should I give up my effort?"
  Yunmen said, "Give up the words you just uttered.

-from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans

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 Someone asked, "How should one act during every hour of the day such that the ancestors are not betrayed?"
  Yunmen said, "Give up your effort."
  The person said, "How should I give up my effort?"
  Yunmen said, "Give up the words you just uttered.

-from Zen Master Yunmen, Urs App, trans

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While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here).
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I vow not to disparage awakening, the way, or my companions

Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is one, not holding dualistic concepts about ordinary beings and awakened beings is called the vow of not disparaging these Three Treasures.

Dogen: Your expression of the actual body is the harbor and the weir. This is the most important thing in the world. Its power comes from the ocean of essential nature. It is beyond explanation—we just accept it with respect and gratitude. 

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Send us a text

While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here).
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I vow not to indulge in anger

Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is selfless, not contriving reality for yourself is called the vow of not indulging in anger.

Dogen: Not attacking, not withdrawing, not real or unreal. There is an ocean of bright clouds. There is an ocean of solemn clouds. 

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Send us a text

While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here).
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I vow not to be stingy

Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is everywhere, not holding back resources is called the vow of not being stingy.

Dogen: A phrase, a verse: that is everything—each blade of grass. This way, this realization: that is all the Buddhas and Ancestors. From the beginning, there has been no stinginess at all. 

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