"Easy Street"

                                                           I have a personal matter to attend to this morning so I will be as brief as I can .   It's Sunday so I'm headed over to "EASY Street" to hang out and snack all day .   We have had TREMENDOUS Success this week , and such Success should be appreciated if not celebrated .   We NEED these "small victories" --- they are Proof of our Efforts, and the Quality of Our Intentions .

                            I have yet to devise the "Planetarian Manifesto", even the use of the word >Manifesto< conjures a sense of Negativity -- the after-effect of "Communist Manifesto" --  but as far as Rhetoric 'goes' I find it Necessary to use it, because of its Definition --->  "A written statement declaring, publicly, the intentions, motives, or  views of the issuer ."  [Meriam-Webster] .   

                              These "items" arrived first thing this morning with regard to the 'Manifesto' :

                                                       Devotion to One's Self and the Attainment of Self-Knowledge

                                                       Devotion to PERPETUAL Self-Investigation

                                                       Devotion to the Planet and Its Civilization

                                                       Devotion to Society and Culture and their Advancement

                                                       Devotion to OUR Species and Its Health and Hygiene 

                                                        Devotion to the Universe and its Absolutes 

                           

                               That's all I have at the moment .   As I said, I'm headed out to "Easy Street" .

                                                           "Tare Forward" and  "Keep the Faith" 

"The Whole World Is Watching"

                                                I conclude with one of my fav quotes from Dr. Joseph Campbell .

                      "... we have not even to risk the adventure alone;  for the Heroes of all time have gone before us ;  the labyrinth is thoroughly known ;  we have only to follow the thread of the Hero Path ;   where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves ;  where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our existence ;   where  we  had thought to be alone, we shall be with the whole World ."

                            Take Heart my Fellow Planetarians,  Victory over Ugliness is our Fate, Karma and                                                                         Destiny .

                                                       "Tare Forward" and "Keep the Faith" .  

"Great Question" WHAT IS THIS ?

                                                           There are "Methods of Meditation" they follow "

                   Soto Zen =  Sitting in silent meditation  [Muk Jo  Perceive Silence]

                   Rinzai Zen = Illumination, Calming {looking into words}    [Kwan Hwa Perceive Kong-An]

                  

                    Chogye Zen = If you understand 'don't know' >just this< is enlightenment 

                                                                               [Shi Shim Ma  What is this ?  Perceive 'Don't know']

                  {{{  The Chogye Order is MY Order .  }}}

                                                                       Energy in Zen

         When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking, being silent, moving, being still ;  at all times in all places without interruption, WHAT IS THIS ?   

         One Mind is infinite kalpas ."

                                  

Skyglass

                                                           The example of the glass filled with soil is NOT enough .   Zen Master Seung Sahn used the image of a Clear Sky to example Mind .   He Taught, "The Mind is like a clear sky, thoughts are like clouds that appear and disappear .   If we attach, [hold on to] these clouds the sky becomes UNCLEAR , but if we simply let them go, the sky again is "Empty", free of clouds, free of thoughts . "    This Teaching gets deeper .   Zen Master Seung Sahn adds profundity ;   "Life is like a cloud that appears, Death is like a cloud that Disappears".   I LOVE that and have taken it as MY "Understanding of Life" as "IT" relates to both Birth and Death .   "IT" may seem shallow but the Buddha felt it UN-NECESSARY to get to the Source of all Life .   The Buddha said: "A dying man does NOT have to know the origin of the medicine that will save his life, he simply must consume it ."   2 words :   PERFECT .

Shower Power

                                                            Modern Zen Masters are fond of using a glass of water to which common soil has been added and the glass shaken to produce an opaque murky liquid .   Once the glass is set down the soil begins to settle, and after a brief period CLEAR water, with the sediments at the bottom, is the Result .  Meditation acts like that .   The Mind is quieted, the thoughts are stilled and Clarity is achieved {attained} .   The Problem is, that the clear water is temporary, and if the glass is disturbed the Clarity is lost .  I mean, that's Life . 

                              I have not yet been able to devise a definition of "Planetarian-ism", but I'm certain a Core Tenet MUST be, the Practice of Meditation .   Planetarians Meditate, and do so to HEAL, Rest, and Quiet the Mind, to allow things to Settle, in order to  produce the Clarity needed to address issues and solve problems .   

                             Elsewhere I have defined Meditation as Hygiene, in the same way that we shower at the close of every workday so we can wash off the dirt, and SHIT of daily contamination, so it is with Meditation .   We don't THINK about taking a shower, we just DO IT .   Meditation is no different .  I MUST add, Meditation is the WAY of the Ancients .   Meditation and Its Benefits have been PROVEN and has withstood "The Test Of Time" .   

Miss Aligned

                                                          I have been accused of being an "Ancestor Worshiper" because of my extensive use of the works of Ancient Authors .   I wear that Accusation as a "Badge of Honor" .   The word 'worship' is, in my view, too strong .   I admit that I DO use the Ancients to give Richness and Texture to my words, I DO use them as reinforcement, I DO Use them to strengthen my own Arguments, Contentions, and Challenges , and I do so because the words of an aging Sword'sMan may  not be enough to find acceptance among Modern Readers .   Even the greatest of the Ancient Sages spoke of THEIR Ancients with Veneration,  I VENERATE the Ancient Sages, and have modelled my Life around THEIR Understanding(s) of Life .   Theirs is a PURE Reality, uncomplicated by modern-day sensory bombardment .   Even one of the Greatest Sages, Lao Tzu, spoke of "The Clear Mind(s) of the Ancients" .   When the Late Great Zen Master Seung Sahn spoke of achieving {attaining} a "Clear Mind, which is Clear like space" I BELIEVED I had "found a home" in Modern Day Zen .   

                             A "Clear Mind" is needed to address issues and solve problems .   A muddled Mind is fucking useless in such critical endeavors :  we often hear, "Things are so fucked up, I can't think straight".    The Condition of "fucked-up" is one of Chaos, and even {perhaps} Confusion .   Our Minds are similar to a cyclone or tornado, where thoughts swirl around at such a TREMENDOUS velocity that they cannot be 'grasped' by the Waking Consciousness, and instead of being grasped, their velocity causes a 'sickening' that causes a paralysis, both of Mind and Body =  We don't know what to do,    so we do nothing .    We grudgingly admit, "Things are out of control" but sub Consciously, we add, so I CAN'T do anything .   We've all "Been There and Done That" , we must conclude that "IT" is part of Human Nature and Species Behavior .   

32. Heng / Duration (con't)

                                                                   32.   Heng  /  Duration

                                                                                The Image

                        "Thunder rolls, and the wind blows ; both are examples of extreme mobility and so are seemingly very opposite of Duration, but the laws governing their appearance and subsidence, their coming and going,,  endure .   In the same way the independence of the superior man is not based on  rigidity and immobility of character .   He always keeps abreast of the time and changes with it .  What endures is the unwavering directive, the inner law of his being, which determines all his actions ."

                             What exactly IS "the inner law of one's being" ???   

                              2 words :   Consider ... .

                                                       "Tare Forward" and "Keep the Faith"