Warm Zen Practice
A poetic version of Dogen's Bendowa
by Tai Sheridan
Published by Tai Sheridan at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Tai Sheridan
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Website:http://www.taisheridan.com
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Books by Tai Sheridan
Buddha in Blue Jeans Series
Buddha in Blue Jeans: An Extremely Short Zen Guide to Being Buddha
Relax...You're Going to Die
Secrets of True Happiness
Buddhist Classics in Modern Verse
Celestial Music: Sutras of Emptiness
The Lotus / Diamond / Heart-Wisdom / Loving Kindness Sutras
The Bare Bones Dhammapada: Big Mind Big Love
Buddha's Essential Teachings
The Buddhacarita: A Modern Sequel
The Poetic Saga of Buddha's Life From Birth to Enlightenment
The Zen Wheel of Life Mantra: A Song of Luminous Wisdom and Love
Based on the Bhavacakra - The Wheel of Life Mandala
Zen Classics in Modern Verse
The Light of the Ancient Buddhas: Ballads of Emptiness and Awakening
Based on Keizan's Transmission of the Light
Rice Eyes: Enlightenment in Dogen's Kitchen
A poetic version of Dogen's Tenzo Kyokun on enlightened living and practice
Snow Falling in Moonlight: Odes in Praise of Dogen's Shobogenzo
Twelve Poems based on Dogen's Shobogenzo:The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
Warm Zen Practice: A Poetic Version of Dogen's Bendowa
Whole Hearted Way
Spiritual and Collections
Buddha's Golden Light: Collected Works of Tai Sheridan
Patanjali: The Liberation of Spirit in Modern Metaphors
Dedication
To the Great Silence
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
Hans Hofmann
An Invitation from Ganite Mountains
Dogen's Bendowa encourages sincere and warm hearted Zen practice. Through meditation and dharma study, people can learn to rest in spaciousness and abide in peace and loving kindness. Bendowa is based on the Buddhist philosophy and experience of 'no-self' and the unconditioned reality of existence-being, also called the dharmakaya, the mystical and transcendent body of light.
In order to present the complexities of Bendowa in an understandable and clear way, I eliminated Dogen's redundancies, dogmatism, circularities, anachronisms, Buddhist terms, and dialectical arguments. I also recast his difficult and non-dual philosophical essay into contemporary verses and subdivided the essay into topics with titles.
I hope that by sharing my delight in Dogen's wisdom you might gain some insight into your vast nature.
los viejos old radiant wise people
merged bodies and hearts in blue sky
intuiting all shapes as their own body
they saw light petals raining on everyone
spacious light body an enduring presence
step into it like an old warm coat
walk silently within the rainbow light
already you are buddha of infinite sea mind
leave the sense of 'me' and sky rests in palms
a blessing beyond anything you willfully do
rest peacefully in this essential light home
without gap between you and things
your voice the mysterious rippling
the birth and death of galaxies
slipping inside spaciousness
no words clearly explain it
why divvy up the world like pie
sun and moon are always whole
please return often to sitting in oneness
the cage of self never had bars
search out your heart's desire
that ancient longing for light and space
tossing out fame and fortune
you are the treasured vulnerability
be leery of charmers and pundits
your soft heart can easily be enchanted
sail endless oceans seeking wise people
who can wander like clouds in spaciousness
colored multitudes live as spaciousness
they shower the silent blessing
although marvelously different all enjoy
calm minds focused and wide without goal
do not be lazy respond to the longing
the mystery of subtle spacious presence
you can simultaneously receive and give light
the entire world-cosmos your arms and limbs
what is more fulfilling in this life
than teaching the subtle light body
wait a bit before sharing the radiant light
until the cosmic meal is well digested
once everything is out of your house
teach others to open the windows wide
no matter what road you travel
spaciousness is everybody's friend
walking into spaciousness
is blessed and blessed again
the dank earth green trees are vastness
beach pebbles granite walls are infinite space
universe-mind the endless big bang
each piece of dust born this precise moment
spaciousness is the great mother
no mental gymnastics can get at it
forget tricks or folderol
to experience yourself as light
let go or your version of life
give up busyness rest in deep silence
ditch 'i'm only my body and mind'
sit still free yourself from concepts
not dividing inner from outer
is the whole sum of existing
feel the exquisite joy and splendor
as your light body breathes vastness
peanut butter fast cars you name it
each great spaciousness outside of concepts
the moment you know yourself as light
all space knows itself as light
the moment you know yourself as light
all things are light and balance
do not underestimate the importance of sitting still
it mystically connects all teachers teachings time
sitting still the denouement of past
precise now the vast luminosity
practicing and resting in calm is intertwined
with incomprehensible vast spaciousness
spaciousness runs through everything you do
sitting still is just one way to know vastness
the sweet world of separateness
already the miraculous spacious unity
so what if your mind and things move about
calm and spacious presence can't be bothered
once you walk as light-spaciousness
enjoy the inside and outside of everything
two rivers flowing in and out of each other
the mystical cooperation of you and all things
after you can walk through myriad light gates
spread the insanity benefit the world-cosmos
how sad it is for those
asleep to their vast body
sitting still is not a new fad
it is the essential reality of inter-being
fine words and practices can touch the heart
do not mix these up with calm spacious presence
greed and conceit will drown you
forcing your mind is not peaceful
why doubt such time worn truth
get out of your own way and sit
if you can breathe you can sit
already you are in an ocean of sky
believe in spaciousness
put all you've got into it
take your time and awaken little by little
pay precise attention to now and awaken instantly
when you see as your teacher
you can dwell in joyous spaciousness
the honored cosmic ones
live fully in each spacious moment
An Invitation from Granite Mountains
no school of buddhism is the only right buddhism
the zen flower makes no ridiculous claims
when people of other faiths ask for teachings
we give them warm hearted encouragement
better and worse are one sided misfortune
be wary of people proclaiming high ground
do not get caught in the net
of flowery words and ideas
you need to experience the subtle reality
of spaciousness for yourself
the green earth and granite mountains
invite us into spacious truth
the great vastness is infinitely wide
more abundant than the sum of all things
every atom manifest the arising of truth
the spaciousness of reality
sitting still goes beyond apparent duality
embedded within thoughts feeling concerns awareness
how wondrous to remember that spaciousness
has never been apart from your essential being
the trustworthy zen way relies on wise teachers
confirming students spacious wisdom
awakening spaciousness is more essential
than precepts equanimity or wisdom
the treasure of spacious inter-being
is the quintessential teaching of buddha
the old worn path of sitting still
dynamic truthful reality beyond compare
do not be misled by names like zen or sitting
the experience of spaciousness has no name
it manifest in standing sitting walking lying
yes wise ones claim sitting the finest gate
when you sit there is nothing to attain
you exist as the original state of spaciousness
everything is included in spacious mind
an even balanced mind holds confusion clarity equally
a beginner sitting still before realization
shares the experience of spaciousness
practice and awakening are not two stages
los viejos the ancient wise ones clarified this
spaciousness always present
sitting matters before and after awakening
when you see the way practice the way
beginners and mature students sit the same
ideas of an eternal mental essence
flies in the face of inter-being
nothing exists separate and apart
no soul nothing immortal nothing eternal
spaciousness and things have always been one
vastness and your body mysteriously entwined
trying to get free of life and death
foolish as thinking a beach pebble is gold
living and dying itself spacious stillness
all reality flashes of lightening this moment
mistake after mistake can not be avoided
continuously benefit from sitting
devotion to sitting still
a sure-fire way to awaken
people of all genders races dispositions
capable of joyful stillness in spaciousness
priests householders salespersons officials murderers
no station precludes awakening
don't let the suffering anguished world
inhibit practicing stillness-spaciousness
you can verify your experience of unity
you know if bath water is warm or cold
the subject object gap won't disappear intellectually
focus your attention and penetrate unity intuitively
sitting in spaciousness is the zen way
before during after intuitive wisdom awakens
anyone awakening stillness-spaciousness
realizes there is no second person
do not depend on external or internal circumstances
keep faith in bright light spaciousness
seeds aplenty of awakened spaciousness are within you
keep maturing in receiving and using them well
be like a wandering cloud without a fixed nature
when exploring the truth of spaciousness
why wait for the right time and place to practice
today is a good day for teaching and learning truth
Tai Sheridan is a poet, philosopher, and Zen priest. He transforms ancient Buddhist and Zen texts into accessible and inspirational verse. His Buddha in Blue Jeans series offers a contemporary approach to Buddhist philosophy and awakening.
View more books by Tai Sheridan, Ph.D.
Connect with Tai Sheridan
Website:http://www.taisheridan.com
Email: mailto:tai@taisheridan.com
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