October Read

Title: Straight to the Heart of Zen
Author: Kapleau, Philip
Call Number: 294.384 K17S 2001
Book Description from amazon.com:
Koans are at the very heart of Zen practice; this collection of informal koan talks will bring the Zen student into the presence of Roshi Philip Kapleau, the famous author of The Three Pillars of Zen . The talks in this collection came directly from the zendo (training hall) and from the intense form of practice known as sesshin, a Japanese word meaning "to train the mind." These are direct presentations of the practice and understanding of one of the century's greatest American masters. 

These Zen talks focus on koans that illuminate fundamental issues of the spiritual life. While koans may be said to be uniquely Zen, in Roshi Kapleau's talks they become as familiar, everyday, and relevant as the questions we ponder—in one form or another—all our lives. Why was I born? Why must I die? How can I find an end to suffering? 

The book has three main sections. As Zen begins with the Buddha's life and enlightenment, the threeteishos (talks) in Part One are each drawn from an incident in the life of the Buddha. Since Zen in the West is a lay movement, not a monastic one as it is in Japan, Part Two presents koans and commentary drawn from the lives of three great lay figures in Zen. Part Three contains five teishos on traditional koans that reflect fundamental concerns common to all of us, man or woman, monastic or lay, Buddhist or otherwise: What is the road to enlightenment? What will happen to me when I die?
My Read:
Page 92-"Foor the rich man a thousand mouths are too few and for the poor man one body is too much."
Page 93-"If you try to be a good person, a loving person, the very effort will undermine the result. To be truly good and loving is the outcome of a certain mind-quality, a certain harmony, poise, and equilibrim, a certain inner purity, if you will. In other words, when you remove the hindrances to the natural outflow of these qualities, which are your birthright, everyone's birthright, then you naturally become what the world would call good and loving and compassionate. People in our society are constantly told to be good and loving-to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Perhaps from a purely ethical point of view, this has value, but it's a superficial approach to the matter. And it is most difficult to achieve. In as sense it is looking backward. Analogously, if you try to find a buddha, you can never see one. If you search for a dharma ancestor, you will never meet one. The very effort clouds your vision."
Page 115-" Having nothing, such a person has everything."
Page 122-"Our whole life is nothing but cause and effect, our own thoughts and deeds."
Page 125-"Having the freedom means being free of attachments, free of the addictive need to grasp at people, things, or even concepts."
Page 126-"We can get so taken up with work we have to learn to take one thing at a time, to be fully one with it and then when it's over, to be fully one with whatever's next."
Page 127-"As long as we are separated from life we think about life and death."
Page 132-"To work physically is to rediscover one's body and to empower it."
Page 150-"But as long as there is a thought in the mind of wanting to do this or to achieve that, there is limitation."
Page unknown-"We walk the road asking "Where is the road?"
Last night as I was closing the book one question popped up in my head:If nothing is allowed to carry away with me then what can I leave behind as I am leaving this world? My answer is "my hardworking."
At least, that's what for now.