𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓? - 𝐊𝐨𝐝𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐢

WHY HASN’T HUMANITY 

PROGRESSED IN THE LEAST?

The modern world musters up all of its knowledge just to run down a dead end street.

People were idiots in the old days too. They wasted a fortune in gold and manpower building castles. And what was it all for? To bicker with each other. Today, people are even dumber. They build atomic and hydrogen bombs in order to erase humanity with one push of a button.

How is it that humanity itself, unlike its science, hasn’t progressed in the least?

- Kodo Sawaki, To You

"... 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠" — 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐣

 

"𝐃𝐳𝐨𝐠𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧" ... 𝐂𝐡ö𝐠𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐮

Dzogchen doesn’t ask you to change your religion, philosophy or ideology, nor to become something other than what you are. It only asks you to observe yourself and to discover the ‘cage’ you have built with all your conditioning and limits. In fact Dzogchen teaches us how to regain that freedom of being which we all have in potentiality. “Freedom” in this case means a state in which we are no longer conditioned by dualism, by judgements, by the passions and by everything we believe in. One might ask, “But what is then left of a person?” Pure presence, uncontaminated clarity, like that of a mirror that reflects everything, which is the true treasure of mankind

- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

𝐙𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩!

"The monks that teachers must deal with today are generally ignorant, stubborn, unmotivated types who aren't even up to sitting through a single stick of incense. They teach these people and nurse them along with tender care.

"But they might as well take load of dead cow-heads, line them up, and try to get them to eat grass. The teachers muck about, doing this and trying that, endeavoring to get these fellows free of themselves. Instead, they end up saddling them with an enormous load of shit. Then they sanction them, give them fine certificates of enlightenment, and loose them upon the world. The difference between such 'teachers' and priests like Ling-yu and Chih-kuan is a difference of mud and cloud."

- Hakuin, Essential Zen

- Hakuin Ekaku (1686 - 1769) possessed an unusual ability to convey the meaning of Zen to large numbers of people from all classes and religions. Though he chose to work at a small temple in the countryside, he was frequently invited to lecture, and his writings were published, eventually bringing him fame. His writings could be rough, humorous, or sometimes even shocking, intended to rouse his followers from their complacency into a deeper contemplation of religion and spiritual life. His copious writings continue to maintain pivotal importance within the Rinzai Zen sect. His work, both as spiritual leader and as painter, had a profound effect on all subsequent Zen study and Zen painting.

"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 ... "

‘When someone dies, the first thing to do is nothing. Don't run out and call the nurse. Don't pick up the phone. Take a deep breath and be present to the magnitude of the moment.

There's a grace to being at the bedside of someone you love as they make their transition out of this world. At the moment they take their last breath, there's an incredible sacredness in the space. The veil between the worlds opens.

We're so unprepared and untrained in how to deal with death that sometimes a kind of panic response kicks in. ‘They're dead!’

We knew they were going to die, so their being dead is not a surprise. It's not a problem to be solved. It may feel sad, and it's not cause to panic.

If anything, their death is cause to take a deep breath, to stop, and be really present to what's happening. If you're at home, maybe put on the kettle and make a cup of tea.

Sit at the bedside and just be present to the experience in the room.

What's happening for you?

What might be happening for them? What other presences are here that might be supporting them on their way?

Tune into all the beauty and magic.

Pausing gives your soul a chance to adjust, because no matter how prepared we are, a death is still a shock. If we kick right into ‘do’ mode, and call 911, or call the hospice, we never get a chance to absorb the enormity of the event.

Give yourself five minutes or 10 minutes, or 15 minutes just to be. You'll never get that time back again if you don't take it now.

After that, do the smallest thing you can.

Call the one person who needs to be called.
Engage whatever systems need to be engaged, but engage them at the very most minimal level.

Move really, really, really, slowly, because this is a period where it's easy for body and soul to get separated.

Our bodies can gallop forwards, but sometimes our souls haven't caught up.

If you have an opportunity to be quiet and be present, take it.

Accept and acclimatize and adjust to what's happening.
Then, as the train starts rolling, and all the things that happen after a death kick in, you'll be better prepared.
You won't get a chance to catch your breath later on. You need to do it now.

Being present in the moments after death is an incredible gift to yourself, it's a gift to the people you're with, and it's a gift to the person who's just died.
They're just a hair's breath away.

They're just starting their new journey in the world without a body. If you keep a calm space around their body, and in the room, they're launched in a more beautiful way.

It's a service to both sides of the veil."

~ Sarah Kerr via Daniela Hess on Facebook

(Photo : Thích Nhất Hạnh's body after 'death')