Reggae Koan.

This guys is one of my favorite artists. Matisyahu is a Hasidic Jewish Reggae/hip-hop artist. I'm a big fan of reggae and find the rhythms especially soothing, inspirational and enlightening. The lyrics in reggae are often about social justice, peace, love, spirituality and harmony and like a lot of music it brings about a sort of musical satori. Music is a powerful force in my life and one that often acts as guide along the middle-path between somethingness and nothingness. I especially like this lyric from Matisyahu's version of this Bob classic, which is a kind of reggae koan:

Everyman thinks that his burden is the heaviest.

~Peace to all beings~

Dr. Seuss Wisdom.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

-Dr. Seuss

(If you don't know who Dr. Seuss was and want to know click on his name above).

James: I really like that quote. In other words, enjoy the moment. This quote speaks so much to me of the wisdom of being mindful at all times so that I can enjoy the happy times but also be thankful for the not so happy ones because they have taught me a valueable lesson that will most likely help me avoid some suffering in the future. As well as help lighten my karmic load. It's not always easy to see it that clearly but that is why I practice.

I find that in knowing all is impermanent I tend to savor things more and feel more prepared for those inevitable changes to come that might not be seen by my ego-mind as "enjoyable." It has helped me learn to deal with my fear of death and now I am prepared to die, whenever that present moment is born. That is because I stopped worrying about when or how it will happen and instead focused on being in the moment, being the moment and enjoying life to its fullest. So that death has just become simply another moment in the filmstrip of my karmic movie.

I tend to be a bit of a worrier and when you worry you lose out on a lot of life and before you know it you can worry your life away and miss precious opportunities to practice the Dharma in this precious life. I do my best to live life without regrets and to be happy to just be apart of this grand project we call this moment, this existence and this essence. So when my passing from this life to the next occurs I'm be able to "smile that it happened" as the sagely Dr. Seuss advises like a Zen master offering up a koan.

~Peace to all beings~

Zen Master Franz Kafka?

You need not do anything.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
You need not even listen, just wait.
You need not even wait,
just learn to be quiet, still and solitary.
And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked.
It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

~Franz Kafka from his poem, "Learn to Be Quiet."

James: It's somewhat hard to imagine the brooding Franz Kafka as a student of mindfulness but here he is teaching it with just as much clarity as many monks!!

Then there is this Zen-like comment from Kafka regarding his relationship with Judaism/spirituality (he was known to show interest in Judaism especially later in life), "What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe."

His questioning of what he has in common with "himself" and what that "self" even means seems like an almost koan-like statement. The whole of the quote sounds as if it came from a Zen Master trying to teach a novice that the label "Buddhist" is not important but rather the essence and teachings of Buddhism. For example, being present to be content with the basic things in life such as standing (or sitting) in a corner and breathing.

PHOTO: Franz Kafka by Anthony Hare 2003.

~Peace to all beings~

Looking For Buddha.

Trying to find a Buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It's not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can't grab it. Beyond this mind you'll never see a Buddha. The Buddha is a product of your mind. Why look for a Buddha beyond this mind?

-- The Zen teachings of Bodhidharma

James: This reminds me of the koan, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." Which for me means many things such as the message/teachings being more important than the teacher. For some It can be easy to get attached to the idea of Buddha and see him as some kind of god to be worshiped but I see that as being a distraction. It attempts to shift the responsibility for our liberation away from ourselves to a caricature of Buddha as a savior rather than an example. Buddha is not a god--my understanding is that Buddha is beyond all labels, forms and titles. For me, worshiping the Buddha is like worshiping a bar of soap because Buddha can not do anything for us except shine the torch to show the way.

Buddha is almost always depicted as meditating, which for me is a symbol of the DIY (do it yourself) philosophy that is so popular today. When Buddha was meditating on the night of his enlightenment he did not worship some mystic deity hoping that he didn't have to do the difficult work and could be saved without effort on his part. I have to do the heavy lifting on my journey just like Buddha so many years ago. Praying to Buddha is in my view pointless. I see it as a waste of time that could be spent meditating, which is the vehicle Buddha used to awaken from the slumber of the eg0-self and liberate himself from samsara. Again, the message (the dharma) is more important than the messenger. Buddha is long gone into mahaparinirvana.

Even if Buddha was around to hear those prayers he couldn't answer them or fulfill the desires they contain because he is not a god. The very idea of prayer is the act of trying to satiate our desires and that is a dead-end path according to Dharma.

~Peace to all beings~