These are notes on the end of Chapter 10, mindfulness of physical characteristics, in Joseph Goldstein’s book Mindfulness. The last section of mindfulness of the body is the contemplation of corpses in various states of decay. Buddha’s contemplation in the sutta is: Again, monks, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in … Continue reading The Corpse in Decay
Tag: life and death
Practicing with Terrorism
Am I terrorized? That’s what the extremists want. They want the “other”, the West, to be paralyzed by fear. My husband told me a quote from the paper that the extremists said, paraphrased something like this: “The West is afraid of death. We are going to win because we are not afraid of death.” This … Continue reading Practicing with Terrorism
Talk for Carl Myosen’s memorial
From Reb Anderson’s Chapter on “Do not kill” in “Being Upright”: Life does not change into death. death does not change into life. life is just life; death is just death Life and death are not before and after In reality, death vividly and peacefully coexists with the fullest expression of life the ancient buddhas … Continue reading Talk for Carl Myosen’s memorial
Losing our balance in a background of perfect harmony
Quotes from Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, page 27 “To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment” This quote seems to support what we have been studying in Dogen’s Being-time. Our small being attaches to the appearance of life, to linear progressive time, to … Continue reading Losing our balance in a background of perfect harmony