Change Begins With Choice

by Jim Rohn

Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life - If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life - and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn


This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher.
To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com
or send a blank email to subscribe @ jimrohn.com
Copyright © 2000 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide

See also:

• Jim Rohn Quotes
• Failure & Success by Jim Rohn (audio)

Learning From Your Mistakes

Written by Brian Tracy

By: Brian Tracy

On the other hand, people with a benevolent or positive worldview see the world around them as filled with opportunities and possibilities. They believe that everything happens as part of a great process designed to make them successful and happy. They approach their lives, their work, and their relationships with optimism, cheerfulness, and a general attitude of positive expectations. They expect a lot and they are seldom disappointed. As a result, people with a benevolent worldview are able to deal constructively and effectively with mistakes and temporary setbacks. When you develop the skill of learning from your mistakes, you are the kind of person who welcomes obstacles and setbacks as opportunities to flex your mental muscles and move ahead. You look at problems as rungs on the ladder of success that you grab onto as you pull your way higher.

Two of the most common ways to handle mistakes are invariably fatal to high achievement. The first common but misguided way to handle a mistake is the failure to accept it when it occurs. According to statistics, 70 percent of all decisions we make will be wrong. That's an average. This means that some people will fail more than 70 percent of the time, and some people will fail less. It is hard to believe that most of the decisions we make could turn out to be wrong in some way. In fact, if this is the case, how can our society continue to function at all?

The fact is that our society, our families, our companies, and our relationships continue to survive and thrive because intelligent people tend to cut their losses and minimize their mistakes. It is only when people refuse to accept that they have made a bad choice or decision and prolong the consequences by sticking to that bad choice or decision that mistakes become extremely expensive and hurtful. In life, the quality of intellectual honesty is one of the most respected qualities possessed by individuals, especially leaders. When you are intellectually honest, you look at your world and deal with your circumstances as facts and realities, rather than hoping, wishing, and praying that they could be different. And the minute you begin to deal straightforwardly with life, you become a far more positive, creative, and constructive person. You become far more effective in overcoming your obstacles and achieving your goals. You became far more admired and respected by other people, and far more capable of achieving the critical results that are expected of you. On the other hand, the unwillingness to face the fact that you are not perfect, that you have made and will continue to make mistakes, is a major source of stress. One of the great teachings of history is the principle of non-resistance. Non-resistance means that when the wind blows, you bend like a willow tree rather than snap like a pine tree. You remain flexible, fluid, and open to new ideas, new information, and new inputs. You accept that, in a period of rapid change, nothing is written in stone.

The second common approach that people take with regard to their mistakes, one that hurts innumerable lives and careers, is the failure to use your mistakes to better yourself and to improve the quality of your mind and your thinking.

Learning from your mistakes is an essential skill that enables you to develop the resilience to be a master of change rather than a victim of change. The person who recognizes that they have made a mistake and changes direction the fastest is the one who will win in an age of increasing information, technology and competition. By remaining fast on your feet, you will be able to out-play and out-position your competition. You will become a creator of circumstances rather than a creature of circumstances.

Approach every mistake you make as a special learning experience, sent to teach you something valuable and necessary for your success in the future. Become an inverse paranoid, a person who is convinced that there is a vast conspiracy in the world to make you successful. Play with the idea that there are a series of guardian angels out there who are acting on your behalf. These angels are regularly planning learning experiences to enable you to grow as a person so that you can reach and achieve the great heights that are meant for you.

Whenever something happens of an adverse nature, immediately counteract your natural tendency toward disappointment and frustration by saying, That's good! Then, get busy looking into the situation to find out what is genuinely good about it. You must believe that difficulties come not to obstruct, but to instruct. If you look within any problem situation that you face, or any mistake that you have made, you will find that it contains the lessons and ideas that can be invaluable to you in the months and years ahead. In many cases, learning from mistakes with small costs and consequences will actually prepare you to avoid larger mistakes with huge costs and consequences.

Every day, all day long, you have problems in your work. In fact, if the problems did not exist, your job would not exist either. A powerful way to change your thinking is to realize that solving problems is what you are paid to do. Your job is to be a problem-solver, no matter what your title might be. All day long, you deal with problems and mistakes caused by you and others. The more of them you can spot and redirect before the consequences are felt, the more valuable you will become and the more you will be paid.

Whenever one of my children make a mistake of any kind, I stop them, get their attention, and ask, What have you learned? I have asked them this question since they were two or three years old. Now, whenever they make a mistake of any kind, they know I am going to ask the question so they are ready with the answer. I always tell my children that as long as they learn from a mistake, and establish a rule or guideline for future action, they are growing and becoming smarter as they move through life.

In both your personal and professional life, there are seven steps you can take to deal with almost any mistake you make. The first step is to approach the mistake with a positive, constructive frame of mind, using the techniques outlined above.

The second step is to define the mistake clearly. Exactly what happened? Write it down. Think on paper. The more clearly you can write about it, the more clearly you will understand the mistake and its possible corrections.

The third step is to examine all the known causes of the mistake. How did it happen? Why did it happen? What were the critical variables that triggered the mistake? Any attempt to pass over a mistake without identifying how it occurred in the first place will leave the roots of that mistake in the ground, to grow up again in the future. The fourth step is to identify all the possible ways of mitigating the mistake. What are all the different things that you could do to minimize the cost of the mistake, or to solve the problem that has arisen? The more ideas you have, the more likely it is that you will come up with the approach that will prove most effective.

The fifth step is for you to make a clear, unequivocal decision about how to handle the mistake. Decisiveness is a characteristic of high performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all. Even the most effective leaders make mistakes, but then they quickly make decisions to offset those.

The sixth step is to assign specific responsibility for taking the steps necessary to mitigate the mistake within a certain time frame. Who exactly is going to do what, and when, and how, and to whom will they report? The failure to assign or accept responsibility to achieve results before a specific deadline will leave the situation open-ended, and it will often get worse as a result.

Finally, the seventh step in dealing with mistakes is to take action. Intense action orientation is a characteristic of the top two percent of the population.

The only guarantee in life is that most of the decisions you make and conclusions you come to will eventually prove wrong. How you deal with these situations is the chief determinant of your success or failure.

Mistakes and problems are good. Without them there would be no opportunities for greatness. When you take every challenge that life throws at you, accepting it as an inevitable part of the growing experience, you can turn it to your advantage in every way possible. Almost every mistake you make contains a hidden treasure that you can apply to your life to forge a future that is extraordinary and worthwhile.


About Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy is a leading authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning programs. Copyright 2001 Brian Tracy International. All Rights Reserved. http://www.briantracy.com/

See also:

• Success Quotes
• Experience Quotes
• Goal Quotes
• Life-Choices Quotes
• Positive thinking Quotes
• Motivational Quotes
  

Heart

Written by Chuck Gallozzi


Only from the heart can you touch the sky (Rumi)

All objects, however large or small, have an essence (nature) and act (do things). If objects did not act, there would be nothing to distinguish them from nonexistent objects. The essence of the sun, for instance, is that of a nuclear furnace and among its actions, it sends a stream of photons to the earth that nourishes plant life, which in turn produces oxygen and makes other forms of life possible. Magically, the photons not only help create life, but make it possible for life to see itself. That is, we can see thanks to the photons that strike our retinas.

It is by observing and experiencing nature that we come to understand the essence and actions of things. What is the essence of man? It is happiness. And happiness is existence aware of itself. What is the natural action of man? It is love. As infants, we are overflowing with happiness, taking delight in ourselves and the world. We express that happiness by embracing our inner and outer worlds with love. We radiate endless streams of love. Benjamin Disraeli agrees, for he wrote, "We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end."

Since love is all we knew, it is all we expected. But something odd happened. Born to love; we learned to fear. We fear that our love will not be returned unless certain conditions are met. It is no longer okay to be ourselves, but we must become what others what us to be. For example, if I'm uncomfortable and cry at 4 am, I may upset mommy and daddy. If my room is untidy or I "pester" my parents with pleas to play, I may be met with cold reproaches instead of warm hugs or stern rebukes instead of gentle pats on the head. The music of laughter may fade into the noise of anger and silence. The world around me changes from one of beauty to one of fear. Each step I take places me in danger of upsetting someone.

Is it surprising that I grow stressful, fearful, and resentful and my love shuts down? I need to find my way back to my original purity. I need to recall the words of Lao Tzu, "The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself."

Once we mature, understand our true nature and what led to our problems, we can decide to change and open our hearts to love. It's simple. Go ahead and do what you want to do. That is, love the world. The only thing that stops you now is the fear of being hurt. But you cannot be hurt if you expect nothing in return. Life is unconditionally wonderful, so love it unconditionally.

Love your family, your job, your country, and everyone you meet without any strings attached. As Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevski wrote, "Love all that has been created by God, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf and every ray of light. Love the beasts and the birds, love the plants, love every separate fragment. If you love each fragment, you will understand the mystery of the whole resting in God." The only Russian author greater than Dostoevski, Leo Tolstoy, wrote, "Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source." Buddha's simple message was, "Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child."

For centuries, mystics have sought to experience God by depriving their bodies of food, sleep, and comfort and by spending countless hours in contemplation or deep meditation. They were successful in their quests, but it isn't necessary to go to such extremes. For all one need do to experience God is to experience God's work, which is unconditional love. When we open our heart to love, we open our heart to God. When we experience unconditional love, we experience God.

What better way to begin the millennium than by accepting all those we met without conditions. We can allow them to be themselves. Every encounter, no matter how brief, is an opportunity to nurture, be nurtured, or both. When we love others unconditionally, we shower them with understanding, encouragement, and forgiveness whenever necessary. Some of those you love will return love. They will love you, not for what you are, but for what they are when they are in your presence. You will both experience love for the future good you bring out in each other.

Not everyone will return love, but doesn't the sun shine on the "bad" as well as the good? Aren't the least deserving in the greatest need? So go ahead and love anyway. Forgive, forget, and be blind to their errors, for as Rabbi J. Gordon said, "Love is not blind -- it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less." In other words, love will find a way while indifference will find an excuse. Also, as Emmet Fox wrote, "It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all."

Marianne Williamson aptly summarizes what I've been trying to say, "Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us." Finally, I was struck by Victor Hugo's description of a young man in love, "I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes -- and the stars through his soul." Perhaps, if you and I join hands and greet the world with love, those behind us may see stars passing through our souls.

© Chuck Gallozzi
For more articles and contact information,
Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck

Making a Commitment

A good start isn’t good enough

We all have flashes of insight and bright ideas. But of the countless number of inspirational moments we’ve had and already acted upon, how many of them have we pursued to the end? How many of them have we realized? Ideas are seeds. Locked within them is great potential. Yet, what good are seeds unless we plough, harrow, and fertilize the soil, and follow that by planting, watering, and looking after the seeds until they bloom? Great ideas often lead to good starts and bright beginnings. But good starts are not good enough, for brilliant ideas are no better than poor ones, unless we follow through.

A good idea and follow-through is an explosive combination. It is the material that is used to transform lives and change the world. The detonator of this highly charged package is COMMITMENT. It is also called DETERMINATION. Commitment means NO MATTER WHAT! And determination is a refusal to allow obstacles to stop us. Here is how this idea was expressed by the man named “Coach of the Century” by ESPN, Vince Lombardi (1913 ~ 1970), “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” Similarly, Victor Hugo (1802 ~ 1885) wrote, “People do not lack strength; they lack will.” In both cases, the word ‘will’ refers to commitment or determination.

Commitment is like an icebreaker going through an ice floe; it is unstoppable. The whole world steps aside when a committed person passes. Such is the power of deciding to follow through. Determination brings freedom and control. No longer buffeted by the winds of fate, committed people are guided by the power of their will. They understand that it is not faith or belief that moves mountains, but determination. “Determine that the thing can and shall be done,” said Abraham Lincoln (1809 ~ 1865), “and then we shall find the way.” The difference between the impossible and the possible, then, lies in commitment. Anything is possible for the determined because they reject the very notion of ‘trying’ and insist on doing.

Despite the jeers and skepticism of their friends, young people move to Hollywood with the dream of becoming a star. Even for those who are committed, however, not everyone will make it. You see, it is not ALWAYS true that “Where there is a will there is a way,” but one thing is certain: where there is no will, there is no way. So, I admire those who set out on grand adventures and wish them well. What is the harm in trying? When shooting for the stars, they may have overreached, and ‘merely’ land on the moon. But isn’t that a lot further than most of us venture? The problem we have is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. Yes, not ALL the dreams of committed individuals will come true, but rest assured neither will any of their nightmares come true.

When we commit ourselves to a cause, project, or relationship, we embark on an adventure, so how can we lose? A successful outcome is not predicated on the task as much as it is on our character. By remaining determined, we live by design, not by force of habit.

Let’s look at a few things that may prevent us from making a commitment and experiencing the joy we were meant to have.

1. Disappointment. A certain amount of negative feelings are inevitable, even necessary. But don’t repress them or get bogged down in them. Instead, experience them, work through them, and learn from them. For example, don’t allow disappointment to halt your progress. Disappointment is just a message or feedback telling you that things are not going according to plan. So, instead of quitting, find out what went wrong and what changes need to be made.

2. Lack of confidence or low self-esteem. Your experiences in early childhood may have caused you to lose confidence in yourself. If so, that is a FACT, not an EXCUSE. It’s time to let go of the past, acknowledge you are an adult, and accept responsibility for your own actions. Stop chasing after self-esteem because it is not a goal, but a result. It is something you win each time you reach a goal. So, stop refusing to act just because you may fail. Who cares if you fail? You don’t have to win every battle, you just have to win the war. And you do so by remaining determined and plodding ahead, no matter what.

3. Rebellion. Stop rebelling. Stop getting in your own way. Stop fighting yourself. Many of us are stuck in the ‘resistance syndrome.’ That is, when we were forced as children to yield to the will of an adult, we expressed our autonomy by rebelling. Each time you tell yourself you SHOULD be doing something, you remember the commands you received as a child and automatically resist. You need to change your self-talk. Rather than saying, “I SHOULD go to night school to complete my degree,” say “I WANT to go to night school to complete my degree BECAUSE I will be learning new things, making new friends, feeling great about my accomplishments, and improve my chances for future advancement.” Recapping, SHOULD’s create resistance while WANT’s dissolve resistance. Don’t forget to give power to your WANT’s by adding BECAUSE plus the reasons for your choice.

4. Here is another point for us to think about: follow the path of wisdom. Your life is too short to experience and learn everything by yourself. So, learn from the wisdom passed down to us. For example, consider the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero (c. 106 ~ 43 BC), “What one has, one ought to use: and whatever he does he should do with all his might.” Are you using what you have, your talents, and using them with all your might? To bring this point home, let’s add the comments of Orison Swett Marden (1850 ~ 1924), “The greatest trouble with most of us is that our demands upon ourselves are so feeble, the call upon the great within us so weak and intermittent that it makes no impression upon the creative energies; it lacks the force that transmutes desires into realities.” If we make only half-hearted efforts, why are we surprised by half-hearted results? If we're not ready to do our best, someone else is, so we’d better be prepared to be left behind.

“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men,” said Charles De Gaulle (1890 ~ 1970), “and men are great only if they are determined to be so.” How about us? Are we determined to be great men and women? Are we DETERMINED? Are we COMMITTED?


© Chuck Gallozzi
For more articles and contact information,
Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck

Thinking Freely and Clearly: Cicero

By Denise Breton and Christopher Largent, 1999

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE)—known as Cicero or Tully—was a Roman lawyer, philosopher, and statesman, educated in Rome. He became the best orator Rome had and one of the best translators and writers in Latin. Scholars still consider his works "high Latin." More than just an "ivory tower" intellectual, though, Cicero was also a courageous political activist. Risking his life, he exposed the conspiracy of Catiline to overthrow the republic.

An ardent republican, he refused to join the political alliance of Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey, realizing that its success would mean the end of the republic. Even today, "Star Wars" episodes remind us of the difference between a republic (a state run on laws and principles) and an empire (run on the whims of rulers)—a difference first noted for us by Cicero.

Cicero wrote philosophy to help himself recover from the death of his beloved daughter and to endure the tyranny of Julius Caesar and Rome’s shift from a republican to an imperial nation (though he played no role in the assassination of Caesar). He eventually paid a terrible price for refusing to join one of the imperial factions: the ruling triumvirate of Octavian (later Augustus Caesar), Antony, and Lepidus had him executed.

The Good Life

Many people today use the phrase "the sword of Damocles" without knowing where it comes from. We didn’t until we found it in Cicero—and it relates to the inner life of tyrants. For those of us who are supposed to admire the wealthy and powerful, Cicero reminds us of the price they’re paying to play the power game. This account is from Cicero: On the Good Life, translated by Michael Grant, book V of "Discussions at Tusculum":

Dionysius himself [the king of Syracuse in the time of Plato] pronounced judgment on whether he was happy or not. He was talking to one of his flatterers, a man called Damocles, who praised the monarch’s wealth and power, the splendors of his regime, the immensity of his resources, and the magnificence of his palace. Never, Damocles declared, had there been a happier man than Dionysius the king.

"Very well, Damocles," replied the ruler, "since my life strikes you as so attractive, would you care to have a taste of it yourself and see what my way of living is really like?" Damocles agreed with pleasure.

So Dionysius had him installed on a golden couch covered with a superb woven coverlet embroidered with beautiful designs, and beside the couch was placed an array of sideboards loaded with gold and silver plate. . . There were perfumes and garlands and incense, and the tables were heaped up with a most elaborate feast. Damocles thought himself a truly fortunate person.

But in the middle of all this splendor, directly above the neck of the happy man, Dionysius arranged that a gleaming sword should be suspended from the ceiling, to which it was attached by a horsehair. And so Damocles had no eye for his lovely waiters or for the artistic plate. Indeed, he did not even feel like reaching out his hand towards the food. Presently the garlands, of their own accord, just slipped from his head. In the end he begged the tyrant to let him go, declaring that his desire to be happy had evaporated. (pp. 84-85)

On Clear and Free Thinking

As a philosopher, Cicero was one of the earliest to argue against dogmatism. He defined himself as a skeptic in the Platonic tradition. That is, contrary to the labeling he receives from scholars these days ("a Stoic"), Cicero conceives of himself as a follower of Plato. (The reason that scholars can’t handle this self-identification on Cicero’s part is that they keep trying to turn Plato into an absolutist.)

What this means is that Cicero feels free to search for higher meaning in life (Plato’s "ideas") while refusing to absolutize his values. Cicero wants guiding principles to live by while remaining open to learning. He doesn’t need certainty to feel secure in his intellectual adventures, and he wants the freedom from dogmatism to allow him to continue those adventures.

What’s refreshing about Cicero’s skepticism is that this openness used to be associated with mature thinking. These days, of course, the "mature" person is supposed to never change opinions. Those people who change their minds are looked down on as frivolous thinkers, having no intellectual ground to stand on. Meanwhile, the religious or scientific "experts" we meet in the media—or if we’re unlucky, in person—are absolutely convinced that they’re right and that everyone else should convert to their religious or scientific "truths." Cicero would have found these "experts" to be close-minded and immature.

The freedom Cicero found in his skepticism was the freedom not to be bound by circumstances, to find ways to rise above situations that would otherwise defeat human beings. He also wanted this freedom to help himself and others rise above the temptations that led the wealthy and the powerful to create the inhuman conditions that he saw developing in the empire.

These excerpts are from On Duties, which translator Michael Grant says, "has perhaps exercised more influence on the thought and standards of the western world than any other secular work ever written", which Cicero, a Platonist, wrote for his son, an Aristotelian:

Whereas the philosophical school I support [the Academy] maintains that nothing can be known for certain, here I am not only presenting views on all manner of subjects but actually trying to lay down rules indicating what our obligations are.

But I must ask our critics to understand our position. For in spite of our negative attitude towards the certainty of knowledge, we are far from being intellectual drifters who flounder about without any idea what we are looking for. To be without any sort of principles to base our discussions and our lives upon would totally rule out any intellectual life or indeed any life at all. . .

In fact, nothing prevents me from accepting what seems to be probable and rejecting what does not. Such an approach avoids the presumption of dogmatism and keeps clear of irrationality, which is the negation of all accurate thinking.

On the other hand, our people always argue against all categorical assertions. Their reason for so doing is that you can only get a clear view of what is probable by setting out, comparing, and weighing the arguments on both sides of every question. (p. 123)

Life and death, wealth and want, exercise an overwhelming effect on the entire human race. It is only when human beings become capable of displaying high-minded detachment and disregarding such outward circumstances, whether good or bad—when they get totally immersed in some noble, honorable purpose—that we cannot help admiring their splendid qualities.

The ability to rise above outward circumstances, then, wins special admiration, and that is why justice—which is the peculiar mark of a good person—is universally regarded as marvelous. And quite rightly. For if someone possesses this virtue, it means that he has freed himself from the fear of death, pain, exile, and poverty. In other words, he does not regard it as more important to achieve the reverses of these conditions than to behave like a decent person.

Above all, people admire someone who refuses to be influenced by money. To prove oneself in that particular direction is the equivalent of emerging triumphantly from a fiery ordeal. (p. 139)

A View on Buddhism Zen Poems and Haiku - A selection from a 'non-zennist'

SOME CLASSICS

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
Dogen

Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma
see no Dharma in everyday actions.
They have not yet discovered that
there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma.
Dogen
It is as though you have an eye
That sees all forms
But does not see itself.
This is how your mind is.
Its light penetrates everywhere
And engulfs everything,
So why does it not know itself?
Foyan
Who is hearing?
Your physical being doesn't hear,
Nor does the void.
Then what does?
Strive to find out.
Put aside your rational Intellect,
Give up all techniques.
Just get rid of the notion of self.
Bassui






What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for
Self-realization, but continue
To ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?
Bassui
Few people believe their
Inherent mind is Buddha.
Most will not take this seriously,
And therefore are cramped.
They are wrapped up in illusions, cravings,
Resentments, and other afflictions,
All because they love the cave of ignorance.
Fenyang

Hell is not punishment,
it's training.
Shunryu Suzuki





The most important thing is to find out
what is the most important thing.
Shunryu Suzuki

Well versed in the Buddha way,
I go the non-Way
Without abandoning my
Ordinary person's affairs.

The conditioned and
Name-and-form,
All are flowers in the sky.

Nameless and formless,
I leave birth-and-death.
Layman P'ang (740-808)


If you want to be free,
Get to know your real self.
It has no form, no appearance,
No root, no basis, no abode,
But is lively and buoyant.
It responds with versatile facility,
But its function cannot be located.
Therefore when you look for it,
You become further from it;
When you seek it,
You turn away from it all the more.
- Linji




Where beauty is, then there is ugliness;
where right is, also there is wrong.
Knowledge and ignorance are interdependent;
delusion and enlightenment condition each other.
Since olden times it has been so.
How could it be otherwise now?
Wanting to get rid of one and grab the other
is merely realizing a scene of stupidity.
Even if you speak of the wonder of it all,
how do you deal with each thing changing?
-Ryokan-

Though I think not
To think about it,
I do think about it
And shed tears
Thinking about it.
Ryokan


Nobly, the great priest
deposits his daily stool
in bleak winter fields
Buson





The monkey is reaching
For the moon in the water.
Until death overtakes him
He'll never give up.
If he'd let go the branch and
Disappear in the deep pool,
The whole world would shine
With dazzling pureness.
Hakuin
Food and clothes sustain
Body and life;
I advise you to learn
Being as is.
When it's time,
I move my hermitage and go,
And there's nothing
To be left behind.
Layman P'ang





A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle
Issa
Look for Buddha outside your own mind,
and Buddha becomes the devil.
Dogen


Old pond,
frog jumps in
- splash
Basho







How reluctantly
the bee emerges from deep
within the peony
Basho

Lightning:
Heron's cry
Stabs the darkness
Basho
Even though I'm in Kyoto,
when the kookoo cries,
I long for Kyoto.
Issa

The past is already past.
Don't try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don't try to touch it.

From moment to moment.
The future has not come;
Don't think about it
Beforehand.

Whatever comes to the eye,
Leave it be.
There are no commandments
To be kept;
There's no filth to be cleansed.

With empty mind really
Penetrated, the dharmas
Have no life.

When you can be like this,
You've completed
The ultimate attainment.
Layman P'ang (740-808)

Just stop your wandering,
Look penetratingly into your inherent nature,
And, concentrating your spiritual energy,
Sit in zazen
And break through.
Bassui

Cast off what has been realized.
Turn back to the subject
That realizes
To the root bottom
And resolutely
Go on.
Bassui

Look directly!
What is this?
Look in this manner
And you won't be fooled!
Bassui

1. Experience Chan! It's not mysterious.
As I see it, it boils down to cause and effect.
Outside the mind there is no Dharma
So how can anybody speak of a heaven beyond?

2. Experience Chan! It's not a field of learning.
Learning adds things that can be researched and discussed.
The feel of impressions can't be communicated.
Enlightenment is the only medium of transmission.

3. Experience Chan! It's not a lot of questions.
Too many questions is the Chan disease.
The best way is just to observe the noise of the world.
The answer to your questions?
Ask your own heart.

4. Experience Chan! It's not the teachings of disciples.
Such speakers are guests from outside the gate.
The Chan which you are hankering to speak about
Only talks about turtles turning into fish.

5. Experience Chan! It can't be described.
When you describe it you miss the point.
When you discover that your proofs are without substance
You'll realize that words are nothing but dust.

6. Experience Chan! It's experiencing your own nature!
Going with the flow everywhere and always.
When you don't fake it and waste time trying to rub and polish it,
Your Original Self will always shine through brighter than bright.

7. Experience Chan! It's like harvesting treasures.
But donate them to others.
You won't need them.
Suddenly everything will appear before you,
Altogether complete and altogether done.

8. Experience Chan! Become a follower who when accepted
Learns how to give up his life and his death.
Grasping this carefully he comes to see clearly.
And then he laughs till he topples the Cold Mountain ascetics.

9. Experience Chan! It'll require great skepticism;
But great skepticism blocks those detours on the road.
Jump off the lofty peaks of mystery.
Turn your heaven and earth inside out.

10. Experience Chan! Ignore that superstitious nonsense
That makes some claim that they've attained Chan.
Foolish beliefs are those of the not-yet-awakened.
And they're the ones who most need the experience of Chan!

11. Experience Chan! There's neither distance nor intimacy.
Observation is like a family treasure.
Whether with eyes, ears, body, nose, or tongue -
It's hard to say which is the most amazing to use.

12. Experience Chan! There's no class distinction.
The one who bows and the one who is bowed to are a Buddha unit.
The yoke and its lash are tied to each other.
Isn't this our first principle... the one we should most observe?

Master Xu Yun




Good and evil have no self nature;
Holy and unholy are empty names;
In front of the door is the land of stillness and quiet;
Spring comes, grass grows by itself.
Master Seung Sahn
However deep your
Knowledge of the scriptures,
It is no more than a strand of hair
In the vastness of space;
However important appears
Your worldly experience,
It is but a drop of water in a deep ravine.

Tokusan





If you have never taken
The principles of the teachings to heart,
You have no basis
For awakening to the hidden path.
Kuei-shan Ling-yu

Whether you are going or staying or sitting or lying down,
the whole world is your own self.
You must find out
whether the mountains, rivers, grass, and forests
exist in your own mind or exist outside it.
Analyze the ten thousand things,
dissect them minutely,
and when you take this to the limit
you will come to the limitless,
when you search into it you come to the end of search,
where thinking goes no further and distinctions vanish.
When you smash the citadel of doubt,
then the Buddha is simply yourself.
Daikaku







When mortals are alive, they worry about death.
When they're full, they worry about hunger.
Theirs is the Great Uncertainty.

But sages don't consider the past.
And they don't worry about the future.
Nor do they cling to the present.
And from moment to moment they follow the Way.
Bodhidharma





There are thousands upon thousands of students
who have practised meditation and obtained its fruits.
Do not doubt its possibilities because of the simplicity of the method.
If you can not find the truth right where you are,
where else do you expect to find it?

Dogen



All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas.
As with water and ice, there is no ice without water;
apart from sentient beings, there are no Buddhas.
Not knowing how close the truth is,
we seek it far away
--what a pity!
Hakuin Ekaku Zenji

NOT-SO CLASSICAL
Not believing in anything I just sit,
listening to my breathing
After thirty years
It still goes in and out.
Albert Coelho

One step
A hundred crickets
Jump
Jerry A Levy
Adding father's name
to the family tombstone
with room for my own.
Nicholas Virgilio
When you hear your inner voice,
forget it.
Hyoen Sahn
in one gust
the last leaf decides:
gone
Robert Henry Poulin




first on a track
night spider webs
catch my face
Yao Feng (Tasmania)
Brown mimosa seed
where blossoms once invited
hummingbirds to feed.
Ethel Freeman


troubled night
no resting place
for my thoughts
Phil Adams

Look!
The beggar's shouting fingers
find no listener's eye.
Owen Burkhart

loud window thud
in my cupped hand
the little bird dies
Yao Feng (Tasmania)

Empty morning streets
Cold path to the castle
Castle colder still
pierre42@aol.com




bang!
robin feathers stuck to the frosty window
-- just the cat's tail moves
rhahn@u.washington.edu



SOME OF MY OWN ZENNISH ATTEMPTS

A cross-legged monk
Silent awareness
A battle for peace.






The cry of a child
The cry of an ambulance
The cry of a newborn.

I am so tiny
The Universe so endless
All my creation



Yellow young spring
Sky full of hope
Future won't come.

Frenzy of insects
Heat of our star
The past has dissolved.

Red humid forest
Light rays in fog
Shattering silence.

Black naked trees
White topping of snow
A perfect year gone.



A dinner with friends
Love, laughter and trust
Dukkha disguised.



Grasping attachment,
Insisting on trouble:
My life as a fool.

Grasping a Path,
Insisting on my view:
My life as a fool.

Grasping, Insisting:
Fool.


Schoolyard with children
Shameless screaming and fun
When did I loose that?





Thundering silence
Colorful darkness
Wanting to be free
Buddha is dead
Not even born;
Light without darkness.

Dust from the mirror
Cleansed with much care
Gone is the mirror.



With metta to act
With wisdom to be
The struggle to end.


All is so many
All is but One
None.




Nowhere is here
Never is now
End of the tunnel
No tunnel
No me.


Who am I?
Am I?
Am?
.






A tree in the wind
The wind in a tree
All in me.





Links on Zen Haiku and more:
'In the moonlight a worm... silently drills through a chestnut' - including a course how to make your own Haikus
An Introduction to Haiku

The Daily Zen site - good newsletter


Ref: A View on Buddhism Zen Poems and Haiku - A selection from a 'non-zennist'