Buddha Mind

Sentient beings are in essence Buddhas.

It is like water and ice.

There is no ice without water.

There are no Buddhas outside sentient beings.

What a shame, sentient beings seek afar, not knowing what is at hand.

It is like wailing from thirst in the midst of water,

Or wandering lost among the poor

Although born a rich man's child.

The cause of rebirth in the six realms

Is the darkness of our delusion.

Treading dark path after dark path

When can we escape birth and death?

Mahayana Zen meditation goes beyond all praise.

Giving, keeping precepts, and the other perfections,

Chanting Buddha's name, repentance, training and many

Other kinds of wholesome deeds

All find their source in zazen.

When you sit even once,

The merit obliterates countless wrongdoings.

How can there be evil realms?

The Pure Land is not far.

If by good fortune you have the occasion

To hear this teaching,

Admire it and rejoice in it.

You will attain boundless happiness

How much more if you dedicate yourself

And realize your own nature directly.

This "own nature" is no nature.

You are already apart from useless discussions.

The gate opens where cause and effect are inseparable.

The road of not-two, not-three goes straight ahead.

Make the form formless form,

Going and returning, not anywhere else.

Make the thought thoughtless thought,

Singing and dancing, the Dharma voice.

How vast the sky of unobstructed concentration!

How brilliant the full moon of fourfold wisdom!

At this very moment, what can be sought?

Nirvana is immediate.

This place is the lotus land.

This body is the Buddha body.

-Hakuin

(1685-1769)

The Story of Buddha 

Lecture by Swami Tyagananda

Zen is the meditation school of Japanese Buddhism,
Zen is a transliteration of the Chinese word chan,
Which is itself an abbreviation of chan-na, 
From the Sanskrit word dhyana,
Meaning meditation, or absolute stillness of the mind.

Buddha's Message to the World

Article by Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda said of Lord Buddha...

Surely he was the greatest man who ever lived. 

He never drew a breath for himself. 

Above all, he never claimed worship. 

He said, "Buddha is not a man, but a state. 

I have found the door. 

Enter, all of you!"

Buddha and His Beliefs

Lecture by Swami Bhaskarananda





If the heart is in accord with what is,
All single strivings have ceased,
All doubts are cleared up,
True faith is confirmed;
Nothing remains,
Nothing need be remembered.
Empty, clear, self-illuminating,
The heart does not waste its energy.

- Sosan 
The Third Zen Patriarch

Luminous One

Bliss of Identity

by Sri Aurobindo

All Nature is taught in radiant ways to move,

All beings are in myself embraced.

O fiery boundless Heart of joy and love,

How art Thou beating in a mortals breast!

It is Thy rapture flaming through my nerves

And all my cells and atoms thrill with Thee ;

My body thy vessel is and only serves

As a living wine-cup of Thy ecstasy.

I am a centre of Thy golden light

And I its vast and vague circumference,

Thou art my soul great, luminous and white

And Thine my mind and will and glowing sense.

Thy spirit's infinite breath I feel in me;

My life is a throb of Thy eternity.

The Vision of the Universal Form

Lecture by Swami Atmajnanananda

I have no plan for my life.
I accept the plan life has for me.
I follow that plan and what it provides me moment to moment.
I am not the roles I play in following the plan.
I am the witness of all that I interact with in my life.
I was a child, an adult, and will soon be an old woman.
I was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.
I was an artist, a business owner, a dancer, a spiritual practitioner, a friend.
I have been healthy, sick, successful, a failure, awake, and asleep.
Behind all those changing experiences, 
I am the changeless consciousness that is constantly present.
I am that I am, in spite of the changes that "I am" experiences.
I AM THAT.
My present is pregnant with all my past.
My future unfolds from the way I live my present.
My being manifests in the present.
I AM PRESENT.
I am at home in the eternal now, living the plan life has for me.

- Amrit Desai

The Moral Gymnasium

Lecture by Swami Brahmarupananda

Remember: 

Though weighed down by past life samskaras, 

The soul (ball of energy) within you is a part of 

The mother field of Brahman (God). 

You are this ball of energy. 

You are NOT what you see in the mirror. 

YOU were born with the stars.

Evolution is in nature, 

Not in the soul. 

Evolution of nature, 

Manifestation of the soul.

- Swami Vivekananda

No Thought Zone

Sri Ramakrishna says retire to solitude and seek him with tears and spiritual discipline. Free of family and friends pray to God and make efforts to realize him. Churn the butter of the mind in solitude and focus on the heart center, the butter of love & devotion will prevail. In Silence, stillness, solitude as the inner witness is realized. Free from outer distraction by practice of Meditation we realize the oneness (Atman) within.

Seeking our true nature we connect with our inner peace devoid of ripples, thoughts and waves, distractions. The conscious awareness of the infinite space inside our heart will reveal inner purity, truth, love & bliss.

Thought vibrations (vrities) of the mind carry real force... Energy. Because it is our special nature, our true divine nature, we must keep our thoughts in check. The goal is to increase the space between thoughts. Happiness, calmness, and the underlying joy of the Atman will be realized as the veil of Maya is lifted.

Peace will result when we can train the monkey mind by meditation practice and prayer. This is the power of stillness and refusing to engage or quarrel over worldly matters. Stop yacking and chattering!... Disturbance is caused by our break with our divine peaceful silent nature. Rather, think and then say.... Listen and observe. Find space in between... Let the divine shine... Try to connect with silence outside and silence inside will happen. Hold the tongue in non reaction and the victory will be yours. Love is greater than hate. Greater than external silence is inner silence. Be the observer.... Be the witness.... Be silent.... "Beginner's Mind".

Even the space between words on a page gives us the opportunity for divine silence. Like the space bar on a computer keyboard, our language has a built in silent pause where the still bliss of our inner nature will reveal itself, if we will only stop and take notice.

A fixed time of day and meditation location is crucial to making progress on the Raja Yoga path. Sunrise 6am, 12 noon, sunset 6pm, and midnight will give a boost to our spiritual practice. Concentration of mind on our (Mantra) divine name, or chosen Ishta will create a space of stillness where self realization can become manifest.

Grow joy thru inner silence. God is in our hearts and we are in the heart of a God. Self realization can be kindled by noticing the beauty of nature, by the calm peaceful mind of the observer. When ever we feel Oneness it is really the True Divine Love of God in our soul. Such is the sweetness of The Lord.

- From "Stillness & Silence" lecture by Swami Sarvadevananda

God Intoxication - Bhakti Yoga - Devotion

Lecture by Swami Sarvadevananda

Outside is Inside

As clouds are blown away by the wind, 

the thirst for material pleasures will be driven away 

by the utterance of the Lord's name.

- Sarada Devi

Life Above the Clouds

Lecture by Swami Tyagananda

High above the clouds things aren't always what they seem. The sufferings of life appear non existent here... if only for a few moments. Up here... it is absolutely quiet and peaceful. A state of brightness, stillness and light temporarily transcends time and space. We seem to be softly floating, weightless and without worries. Suddenly a moment of clarity and the audible hum of OM tranquility, or maybe that's the planes engines. Our ears seem to be plugged and we swallow to equalize them. Much too soon our time above the clouds is over and the airplane begins to descend. Looking out the window we say goodbye to the peaceful heavenly cloud display. Back to earth, back to our daily responsibilities and material pleasures. The three levels of our personality: gross (material body), subtle (mind, intellect, ego) and the causal body are essentially cloud coverings that separate us from the divine. The seat of pure consciousness is present in all the waking, sleeping and dreaming states we experience in this life. Learning to open up our awareness to the divine and lift the clouds of life requires a daily practice of centering ourselves in God's love and wisdom. The highest creed is Oneness. I am so-and-so is a limited idea, not true of the real ‘I’. I am the universal; stand upon that and ever worship the Highest through the highest form, for God is Spirit and should be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

The sky can accommodate anything

Birds cut through the sky

Or a plane

The sky comes back

It is as it is

Effortless, whole

Volcanoes erupt

Forests burn

The sky is not burned

Nothing added

Taken away

Boundless and vast

Tornados, hurricanes, typhoons

Planets collide

The sky accommodates

Sun and moon

The countless stars

Bodhisattva of the great earth!

Bodhisattva of sky!

Widen our reach

To embrace and put our arms around.

- Chan Master Guo Jun

Strength Verses Self-Realization 

Lecture by Bramachari Satchaitanya

Longing for God

Yearning for God lecture by Pravrajika Servaprana

 "You seem to be quite satisfied with your present condition, but I tell you, 

do not remain satisfied with yourself as you are now.

Contentment with the external conditions, yes, but never

be contented with your state of spiritual growth. 
Become dissatisfied. Try to move ever onward in your search. 
Do not stop until you have found the diamond mine!"

- Swami Brahmananda -

Like Drops in the Ocean

The soul lives and forever expands 

Worlds must come into the soul 

Worlds must disappear into the soul like drops in the ocean.

Swami Vivekananda


http://www.vivekananda.net/BooksBySwami/PracticalVedanta/10_SoulNatureGod.html