Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dullness

Poetic insight & philosophy by Cecil Lee.

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Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dullness

Post by mtmynd » January 22nd, 2012, 3:11 pm

Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dullness
"Lift the stone and you will find me; cleave the wood and I am there." - attributed to Jesus thru the Gospel of Thomas.

I first came across the line in a favorite book, "The Little Zen Companion," which has inspired many of my Streams over the years. Simple yet enlightening, so many sayings throughout time by many people of many beliefs and ideals, but they each and all touch upon what Zen is, and in all honesty, to speak of Zen one can (and has) written extensively about Zen and conversely, Zen has also been touched gently by few words, none of which call Zen by name.

The word 'Zen' is Japanese derived from the Chinese word, Ch'an (Mandarin word), which is derived from Sanskrit's word 'Dyana' which translates into our English speaking world as 'absorption' or 'meditative state'.

Zen has over the long history of the word, become closely associated with the Buddha (or Buddhism). This is because of what Siddartha did in the end of his long search for answers - mediated under the Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa).

Siddhartha searched long and hard for a great length of time before he sat under this tree and meditated. It was during one of his meditation sessions that he had his enlightenment. Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha.

What has been attributed to Gautama Buddha, Zen, is not a religion but a state of mind which in it's purity is, as Zen says, 'empty mind.'

"Lift the stone and you will find me..." a reference to daily work where one might be clearing an area of rock and without truly thinking about it, lifts the stone in order to complete the task... nothing more, nothing less, but yet it is that singular moment where activity of the mind stops. No mind... empty mind... mindless... but in tune to the present... the stone is lifted as so the veil is lifted at that very moment. It is an action that most people ignore or don't consider to be anything other than a chore that needs to be done at that moment in time. That is all it is... but to become one with that moment is important - where did mind go? where did time go? where was ego when this moment occurred? These are basic questions that are infinitely important to knowing. And more important than knowing (which follows knowing) is being. Being one with the timelessness of the moment.

Why is that so important? "... cleave the wood and I am there." While splitting the wood, one should be in tune to the task at hand. If mind intrudes and gets the action off track, one could experience an accident. One should be with that moment... the moment of splitting the wood in order to make a good fire... of use the wood for construction purposes, whichever it is, being within that moment is most beneficial.

Meditation requires that same state of mind... no mind in order to be at one within. Be at one within and Be One with all... beyond time and space, beyond ego and place.

Also attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas:
"Consider the one who is alive while you are alive, lest you die and then seek to behold that one - and you will not be able to behold."

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (563 BCE to 483 BCE) was a meditator. Jesus the Christ was a meditator. Over 500 years difference between the two and they both meditated. Jesus said: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21); Muhammad, the founder of Islam, (570-622) 500 year difference, was also said to meditate... in the caves of Mount Hira near Mecca (where he is said to meet the angel Gabriel "The Holy Spirit" for the first time (enlightenment?). I've heard Muhammad denied ever receiving enlightenment but this comment of Gabriel and the Holy Spirit coincides with the state of enlightenment. The cave of Mt Hira is also the place where he received the first revelations of the Holy Qur'an).

So we have here three major religions, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, that each had their adherents to the point that 'religions' sprung up around them. And as we hu'mans are prone to do, we divide and split amongst ourselves. These three major religions have become fractionalized into different branches of the same enlightened beings, each of whom never practiced the religions that grew up around their teachings. (We'll save that conversation for another time! ;))

It's documented that Buddha's last words were :
"Impermanent are all created things;
Strive on with awareness."


[enough]

cecil
1.22.12

Picture of the Week:
"the bones of a tree"
______________

Image
the bones of the tree
ask not for a burial
nor a tombstone
but to lie in peace
disturbing not
the pulse of
the living
-
an awareness that
life transcends
the remains of
our world
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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by stilltrucking » January 23rd, 2012, 2:30 pm

thanks for the stream and picture

happy I got to see and read.

something "sticky" with me since i read it this morning somewhere
"a duality of mind body moments"

thinking about being in the moment when an atome was split over Japan.

Did I miss it or did you say what Zen means in Japanese? Just a rhetorical question, I could google it.
Oh yes, absorption. Like a Zen sponge taking it all in.
I enjoyed the poem, I'll take your word on it, I can't get my head around transcendent, just in the most abstract way. But then I don't have a practice, less than a beginner student of Zen.
Someday I will transcend my self absorption.

I wantabezen2 a new user name maybe :wink:

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by stilltrucking » January 24th, 2012, 12:55 pm

"Consider the one who is alive while you are alive, lest you die and then seek to behold that one - and you will not be able to behold."

I have considered that, and I have wondered if the dead know nothing.

I forgot to mention that yesterday.

Did I say the poem and picture were stunning? :D

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by mtmynd » January 24th, 2012, 3:59 pm

Re: "I have considered that, and I have wondered if the dead know nothing."

When speaking of death it is valuable to know death only comes to the vessel that contains the essence of all life - the One Light, which is without death.

Think of ourselves as light bulbs. When the bulb no longer illuminates where does the electricity go?

"Did I say the poem and picture were stunning?"

Thank you very much, amigo... I do appreciate you. ;)
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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by stilltrucking » January 24th, 2012, 11:53 pm

consider the one who is alive while you are alive
the one I will look for after I die? I don't know anything about Thomas.

yes, the one who alive while I am alive
I have felt for quite sometime that there are at least two of us alive in me. The other is the one I pray to I suppose.
thanks for the stream thought about it a couple times today when I was getting stressed out shopping, brought me back into the moment...for a moment

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by mtmynd » January 26th, 2012, 3:15 pm

"yes, the one who alive while I am alive
I have felt for quite sometime that there are at least two of us alive in me."


i believe you're correct - metaphysically speaking, your ego life and your true being (another yin/yang).
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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by Arcadia » January 26th, 2012, 9:19 pm

so beautiful poem & photo, Cecil!!!!!! :D gracias for sharing them with us!
And the reminding of "The little zen companion"..., I recived it as a gift with a Thich Nanh Hahn book many years ago, and yeah, they were both of them great companions!! Now they have more companions but I like to re read them in random way from time to time.

saludos!,

Arcadia

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by stilltrucking » January 27th, 2012, 1:12 pm

"The little zen companion"...,
going to get that book by hook or crook

easy to playwords, I like that tag line I use sometimes

"where can I find a man who forgets about words and have a word with him"

There are at least two of me here and one of us is killing the other one with kindness and lies
and a third me watching it all happening
just word play, first thoughts

thanks Cecil, I appreciate the stream, the flow,
the GO.
infriendship
jt

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by mtmynd » January 27th, 2012, 2:03 pm

here's a little jumpstart for you, JT... methinks you'd enjoy it mucho. :)

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=moz ... lla-search
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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by stilltrucking » January 27th, 2012, 10:44 pm

I already checked it out for Kindle amazon got for a $1.95 as an e-book. I am buying it almost as I type. I usually read the best review and the worst review for any book I buy on Amazon.

The Best
Woderful little book, November 12, 2001
By Jesse C. Morano "jmorano@magicmelon.com" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Little Zen Companion (Paperback)
You will learn little about ZEN in any worth while sense with this book, but if you are just beginning to wonder what ZEN is this is a great book. It gives you quotes from many traditions and personalities and it is very easy find things to inspire further thought and experience. If you're more familiar with ZEN it's still a great book because of the diversity of its source material and for the ocassional quick whack up-side the head. If you want SERIOUS zen books check out Meditation in Action (or Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism) -- by Chogyam Trungpa
The Worse
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Zen About It, February 8, 2011
By It's the Truth, Yo. - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Little Zen Companion (Paperback)
There is more "Zen" and wisdom on the TV show "Life", than this stupid collection of quotes from various individuals like John Lennon and Ms. Channel. It's like a high school project; throwing quotes you can pull off the internet, and presenting it as a final product. Thank goodness it was dirt cheap; like $1.95 with free shipping.

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by SadLuckDame » January 27th, 2012, 11:46 pm

I read this and last thought was...
death only eats up the body.
I gotta keep a focus on the fruits that feed the spirit, cause the spirit is going to have more to say after-words.
Aww thank you, Cecil.
`Do you know, I was so angry, Kitty,' Alice went on...`when I saw all the mischief you had been doing, I was very nearly opening the window, and putting you out into the snow! And you'd have deserved it, you
little mischievous darling!
~Lewis Carroll

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Re: Sunday Stream [268] ~ Desert Dreams upon Dromedary Dulln

Post by mtmynd » January 29th, 2012, 1:35 pm

Dame: "I read this and last thought was...
death only eats up the body.
I gotta keep a focus on the fruits that feed the spirit, cause the spirit is going to have more to say after-words."


Indeed, SLD, our lives are limited as long as we use our bodies to transmit what it is we are. Once we realize that our lives depend upon a far greater source, the Light within, which lives in perpetuity, we lessen our fear (or even lose fear) of living, a far-greater consternation we have than most are willing to admit. Fear and stress are two pieces of the same baggage we carry with us throughout our lives... until we accept that fear is more of a liability we pass on to each generation, albeit unwillingly!

Thank you! Enjoyed your comment...
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