Takuin is currently traveling throughout Japan and will be away for the next few weeks.
I’ll be in Hiroshima and will visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in addition to several other locations. Then it is off to Kyoto for a few days. Mix in some Kabuki theater, a sumo match, and a trip to Toyama and you have a pleasant journey.
And for those I have not already contacted, there will be no dialogs through skype until the end of the month. (This does not affect those I have already scheduled.)
And remember, in your quest for wholeness (as silly as that may sound), don’t forget to go out into the world to see the beautiful creations of both humanity and nature. Every moment is a moment to sit, even if you are standing.
So leave your effort behind (don’t worry, you can return to it later), walk out your front door, and take in what the world has to reveal.
Always listen, and take what is given with gratitude.
6 Comments
Beautifully said. Always sit, even when standing
Ah , love this “So leave your effort behind (don’t worry, you can return to it later), walk out your front door, and take in what the world has to reveal.
Always listen, and take what is given with gratitude.”
I have been making so much effort in trying to find peace, seeing through limiting beliefs and finding my purpose.
I would like to walk out my door and just take in what the worlds reveals as you say.
Thanks for that reminder.
Have a great trip
Uzma,
Keep up with it…walk next to it. Once you see the futility of effort, keep up the exploration. Probably you have done this, so it needn’t be said.
Then do it. It reminds me of when people say they ‘practice’ kindness. Stop practicing kindness and be kind!
OK, Takuin is off to Hiroshima.
I am told I need do nothing. But this is so hard for ego to accept. Like an actor who has been asked to play himself but the Self has no script! (laughs)
It may be true that you need to do nothing (although I do not like that particular phrasing), but why would you need to accept it? Forget ego for a moment; it is you isn’t it? It is difficult for you to accept?
Luckily for you, Eric is not needed in any of this. You are not necessary. But you have probably heard all of this before, correct?
Imagine you crash landed on a deserted island. You have enough food to live fully and healthily. You decide to spend your time coming to this ‘end.’ What will you do?
There is only Eric on the island, and he cannot depend on anyone to help in his spiritual search. What will he do first?
Reject all of the teachings that have been placed before you now, at this moment, and do what desert island Eric would do. It is all there right before you. (But you have probably heard that as well, haha!)
Yes, I have heard too much and understood too little. I could use an island with no roads, no sign posts. Not-doing is hard for my (the?) mind to accept because that’s what minds do; doing (laughs). Why would I (ego,mind) need to do anything to awaken and experience reality? Is there something that needs to be added to it that only I can supply through doing, other than attention, in order for it to exist? How can WHAT IS be affected by my doing? I’m probably not making sense, as usual.
Do you, Takuin, believe in anything, or is belief of any kind an impediment to experiencing WHAT IS? I’m inclined to “believe” it is. What a rabbit hole. (laughs) So yes, when I sit I try to do nothing; then I try to not try to do nothing, and so it goes.
I just want to take a second to thank you,Takuin, for taking the time to respond and, most importantly, always challenging me (and others) to see what IS. Some day it may actually take. Who knows (laughs)
Eric,
You are that island. It is your job to find out what is there.
No, you are making sense, and you are asking good questions. But remove the word ‘Why’ from the first question, and ‘How’ from the last.
In order to deal with reality you have to go into what the thing is. Come to your own reasoning of it, regardless of whether or not so-and-so said it differently. But whatever you discover, do not believe it. In other words, never say, “Yes, it is THIS and only THIS,” because then you are done for. You will have just built another ’secure’ wall to lean against.
What is belief? You have to question this. Find out what it is then share it with us.
As far as what Takuin believes, or if indeed he believes in anything at all, will be in the next post.
Well, that is the thing; you never will know. Even if you are there, you will never know. It may take, and Eric will be finished, but it won’t be because of something HE did. But don’t take my word for it.
Thank you for your patience in all of this.