FT.TUMBLR

Metaphors of struggle may just make the phantom dramas of the mind more solid, thus perpetuating the struggle, since even high spiritual warfare is one of the ego’s self-aggrandizing dreams.

If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgement about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgement now. But if anything in thy own disposition gives thee pain, who hinders thee from correcting thy opinion?

Willingly give thyself up to Clotho, one of the Fates, allowing her to spin thy thread into whatever things she pleases.

The advantage of the _koan_ method is perhaps, that for general purposes, the other way is too subtle and too easily subject to misinterpretation–especially by monks who might all too readily use it as an excuse for loafing around the monastery while living off the donations of the devout laity. The his almost certainly why the emphasis of the T'ang masters on "not-seeking" gave way to the more energetic use of the _koan_ as a means of exhausting the strength of the egoistic will. Bankei's Zen without method or means offers no basis for a school or institution, since the monks may just as well go their way and take up farming or fishing. As a result no external sign of Zen is left; there is no longer any finger pointing at the moon or Truth–and this is necessary for the Bodhisattva's task of delivering all beings, even thought it runs the risk of mistaking the finger for the moon.

Awakening almost necessarily involves a sense of relief because it brings to an end the habitual psychological cramp of trying to grasp the mind with the mind, which in turn generates the ego with all its conflicts and defenses. In time, the sense of relief wears off–but not the awakening, unless one has confused it with the sense of relief and has attempted to exploit it by indulging in ecstasy. Awakening is thus only incidentally pleasant or ecstatic, only at first an experience of intense emotional release. But in itself it is just the ending of an artificial and absurd use of the mind... One method of muscular relaxation is to begin by increasing tension in the muscles so as to have a clear feeling of what _not_ to do. In this sense there is some point in using the initial koan as a means of intensifying the mind's absurd effort to grasp itself. But to identify satori with the consequent feeling of relief, with the sense of relaxation, is quite misleading, for the satori is the letting go and not the feeling of it. The conscious aspect of the Zen life is not, therefore, satori–not the "original mind"–but everything one is left free to do and to see and feel when the cramp in the mind has been released.

Furthermore, as muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, it could be argued that those who sit quietly and do nothing are making one of the best possible contributions to a world in turmoil.

Fame puts you where things are hollow.

Raise the Stakes: Make sure that your pilot is one of the most important things you've ever done. Jack Black might see it, right? So, don't fuck around. Don't have fun. Keep in mind during every stage of production that your goal is to get into the screening so that everyone can finally see how awesome you are. This is the first and most important rule, because if you can just realize how make-or-break the Channel 101 experience is, the rest of the steps toward a shitty pilot will come naturally. This philosophy will not only ensure your submission's suckiness, it will make almost everything you do sucky. Your relationships, your poems, your driving, your sense of humor: If you just focus less on what you're doing (ex: telling a joke) and more on why you're doing it (ex: to be funny), the suckiness will take over. The Master of Suck lives outside the moment at all times, therefore everything he does is horrible.

Every new concept gives rise to a new symbolism.

Leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground—so is the race of men.