Buddhist Wisdom

Hey you all (y'all),

Todays quote in "Glimpse After Glimpse" by Sogyal Rinpoche:

"If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."

SUZUKI-ROSHI

I have been reading this book (Glimpse After Glimpse) over and over again for many years (hoping that some of the eternal wisdom would sink in and it never ceases to amaze me how similar the quotes in this book are to things that O Sensei would say. I guess in the end, all Masters sound similarly cryptic and wonderful at once. I know that O Sensei was not technically Buddhist, but then again maybe he wasn't not a Buddhist either (ha!). Actually, he reminds me more of the Lao Tzu than anything. Please feel free to throw your favorite quote of wisdom onto this thread Here's another fave:

"This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain."

- LORD BUDDHA

and..

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

- Obi wan-Kenobi

" Not like Pooh, the most effortless Bear we've ever seen."
"Just How do you do it, Pooh?"
"Do What?" asked Pooh.
"Become so Effortless."
"I don't do much of anything," he said.
"But all those things of yours get done."
"They just sort of happen," he said

The Tao of Pooh

David

Joke:
Q: Why is duct tape like the force?
A: I don't know,Why?
Q: Because it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the entire universe together.

Jennifer Smith wrote: Joke: Q: Why is duct tape like the force? A: I don't know,Why? Q: Because it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the entire universe together.

Isn't that what Luke used to put his hand back on?

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love. This is the eternal rule." -- Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

Pull a bow string too tight and it will break, too loose and it will not shoot the arrow. Perfection is somewhere in the middle. Choose the middle path.

Boon.

Γνώθι Σεαυτόν Ε Μηδέν Άγαν (Greek, translates to:
Know yourself E Do not exagerrate)

Written on the front temple of the Delfi Sacred Temple of Apollo in Greece

Three jewels.
Four noble truths.
Eight fold path.
Five percepts.
Six virtuous acts.

Do the right thing. We all know what that is.

No matter where you go,
There you are.

-Unknown (at least, I don't know who said that)

James Davis, Jr. wrote: Isn't that what Luke used to put his hand back on?

"Who's your daddy?"
http://www.runleiarun.com/choppedoffhands/sw5.html

And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Little Gidding, TS Eliot

Before, you are unwise.

After, you are wise.

Now, you are otherwise.

"I y'am what I y'am and that's alll what I y'am."
Popeye

Nick Pittson wrote: No matter where you go, There you are. -Unknown (at least, I don't know who said that)

It was said by the main character in the movie Buckaroo Bonzai. Which is IMO the only thing in the movie that was amusing and worth repeating.

You laugh, Monkey boy!

Nick Pittson wrote: No matter where you go, There you are. -Unknown (at least, I don't know who said that)

I think that it was Buckaroo Banzai!

I'm-a goin' home!

Gene Martinelli wrote: It was said by the main character in the movie Buckaroo Bonzai. Which is IMO the only thing in the movie that was amusing and worth repeating.

I happen to think it's the best all-star-cast "B-movie" ever made!

I took the road less traveled. Now, where the hell am I?
-bumpersticker

"Peace will enter when hate is gone" - Percy Mayfield, the poet of the blues

"..you must cut away all excess baggage and walk triumphantly through this difficult world."

Hi Tony,

I've read a number of Suzuki Roshi books - you might like Thich Nhat Hanh also.

In reference to your points about how masters sound the same and how O'Sensei's sayings can seem similar to Buddha, I think that this is because the source of these is the same.

Lao Tse wrote about the Tao and is one of the founding books on Taoism. Zen stems from Taoism and is closely linked to Aikido because of the links Aikijutsu had with Samurai and the links between Iaido and Zen.

I once practiced at a dojo that taught Karate, Judo and Aikido and the teachers agreed that the more you understand about an art, the greater its similarities to other arts.

Since we are on an Aikido forum, IMHO lets not forget Shinto and Omoto wisdom.

"Isn't my enemy destroyed once I have made him my friend?"
~ Abe Lincoln