Find the SELF—- by your Camera

Internet Photo site / Frickr  has interesting functions.

It can be someone’s exhibiting space, even though nobody know actually how many people ever seen them.

Some of them are technically very advanced impressive photos, or

literally  “The moment was captured” kind.  It is the show off of the trophy to the world wide viewers.

Yet still, lots of people just uploading their own photos for no specific intention and the photos are just

an image as the sake of image.  The person who took photos may say, this is my expression, as I felt

it is beautiful, or interesting ———- in fact, what so ever the excuse.

———————

The reason why I’m interested in those photo stream are, not necessary only the contents, but also

the whole activities. When anybody aim a camera and take photo, the person is in one’s fully minded

state of the mind, and the photos are the result of one’s concentration.(even without a breath)

And as nobody directed the person, the photos are the result of their personal choice—– which they says

their unique View-point ——— its mean, the series of photos are the reflection of their SELF, of which

in most of the case, the reflection of person’s deep subconscious. (some times sheer  Ego  😀 )

If anybody watch the series of photos, soon certain tendency, specific interest or taste will emerge.

It is the person’s unconscious aim and the choice.——— in another words, hidden SELF.

In effect this is the very effective way to find the inner SELF.   The best things here is, it is displayed as

a collection of objective images. (Only need to have a bit analytical objective eyes to see the tendency, but

as it is visual, it is far easier than to think in the head)

————- Convinced  ?    Well, Try it. Its a fun in the same time.

HEALTH WARNING :

This is an approach more akin to the Psycho Analysis.  Therefore, important point is,

Don’t show the result to others unless you are prepared to show you inside out.

( Other than some Photographically good photos   😀 )

Taking photo of lots of Holy relics’ doesn’t mean ” You are the Holy spiritual person” but

more likely you are intellectually pretentious.  Seeking the SELF is the matter of personal quest.

Of cause, this observation works in its best to the photos taken casually in open minded and

its hard see the personality of the photographer in academic  or sports kind.

Clear the CONFUSION

While talking with the people who read through my blog,  I found , I still need to clarify the confusion,

which may caused by not clear enough explanation.

It seems, the most confusing part of the Zen teaching is,  the apparent crush of  the Selflessness

and the so-called  Mindfulness. As  this Mindfulness was mistook as the Concentration,  my explanation

of  Selflessness = Detachment /  Mushin  seemed to have utter conflict with  Mindfulness.

———- Yes it seems true, as long as the person is  ” Thinking them as the meaning of the words “.

Here,  the hardest part of the Zen phenomenon lays.

One is the matter of the SELF,  and the Awareness of the Self /  Thinking ——> Not Thinking

——> BUT do it under the control of  SUBCONSCIOUS.

When we do the things Unconsciously,  this is what the Zen called  MUSHIN  ( SELFLESSNESS ).

DETACHMENT  from  the Thinking, and the person who is Thinking = SELF.

( Detached from the Self or own Ego ——– not from the subject to do)

Do the things in  MUSHIN or  Subconsciously, yet fully committed  to  the subject,  is the state of  FUJI / ICHIJO.

In this state of the mind, ICHIJO,  there is nothing else of  the person  (selfless SELF)  and the subject.

——– this is what western Zenist described as the Fully Minded or  Mindfulness.

One of the grave  mistake of the western Zenist was the use of this word, Mindfulness.

The trouble is,  there is no mind should be there. ———– So that, as long as the person mind the

mindfulness,  there can never be the MUSHIN or SELFLESSNESS achieved.

—————————

And this is the fundamental trouble to approach Buddhism by the word and the thinking,  and

exactly with the same reason,  all the Buddhism sects (except the talking shop of western Buddhists) are

using the physical practice as their part of teachings. (You can bang a drum or cut a lemon without conscious,

though  you can’t read or talk without consciously thinking )

————- And this is the reason,  why I have started this blog saying   “Just Do IT,  Don’t Think “

let alone talking about. ( So, why am I blogging here ?   😀 ——– In Hinayana,  I should just

watching the people talking, puzzling, though it is yet another paradox of the Mahayana. I have to blog )

————————

So, it must be clear now,  Selflessness, MUSHIN  and so-called Mindfulness, and ICHIJO  are

all exist in the same time as One Phenomenon of a State of the Mind (of No-Mind / MUSHIN).

All those words are the superficial appearances of the same Phenomenon seen from different angle.

————————

Since the result is much better done in Zen,  the question arose ” Who did this, as the Self was

not there,  WHO ELSE ? ” ——– Hence, ” It must be done by the  Dharma ”

and the riddle of  ” Is SELF really exist ? ” was born.

London Marathon

Last weekend I’ve joined an invigoration party for a runner of London Marathon, went to the

course side in  Dock Land in the morning, taking my camera with me.

Captured top runners, few Japanese runners and fun-runners. ——- then, I waited and waited for our

hero to come, while watching and clicking tens of thousands of the fun-runners photos for many hours.

The trouble was, I didn’t know what kind of guise he is wearing.    Apparently we had phone

communication with him which saying ” I’ll be there in 10 minutes” again and again, always

another 10 minutes. ? ? ? ——- May be the time was kept stretching ahead of him as Einstein predicted.

This must be the revers of  Xenon’s  Paradox ( Arrow never able to hit Achilles)     😀

————————–

While waiting him, a pretty young lady spoke to me saying, she wants to see my dancing as she is a dancer

herself—— it seemed she hard the rumor from her friend who has seen my dancing in somewhere.

I told her to contact me through my blog, as this blog will come up on top of Google search, just by typing

“yoshizen”——it must be the easiest way to remember. ——- May be I should have talked her more, and

pay more attention to the pretty lady though, I had a task to take picture of my friend running, who may

appear in any moment  (and needs to find him among the crowd, in distance)——– m m m.

———————–

Zen works only to the task on front of the eyes or a thing in the hand.

Other than that, which exist in the mind should be treated as a delusion or a noise.

And I was in the fully minded state of capturing the runner—— not a young lady.  (How shame !   😀 )

Someone may say ” What happened the Open-mind” or  ” Just receive it, what so ever comes—– which

could be a crossing point of the Karma” ——- well  well  well,  I may say,  ” As it’s happened when I was

in the fully minded state in photography, but as it happened in not very convenient time —— its mean

the Dharma was not very keen to this. ———(so-called not very promising encounter).Any how, at last our man David has come with 50 kg load of back-pack. (seems car battery etc was loaded)

———- Why needed to carry 50 kg on the back to run 26 miles marathon ?

No reason.  It’s like an engagement of 60th  Existentialist.  This is the Absurd theater.

Most of the people just run and it is hard enough.  Though, in the same time “Why not with 50 kg on the back”

( heavier lord than the Army runners carrying).   Still, Just Do It.  Don’t think too much.

Without reason, someone may born in a remote corner of Africa, and may need to fetch 20 kg of water

every day while walking 10 miles bare foot.   This is the life there, the one has to accept, without choice.

So, we in the middle of  Stone age London, invent something out of any rationality, and do it as imperative.

( You know, 50 kg is pretty heavy and 26 miles is quite a distance ——– how nice  😀  )

This is why I like this group of people / Spacehijackers.

As soon as he appeared in sight, he was sieged by the members and bathed by beers, fed pizza ——-

and went on yet another 6 miles.  Good boy,  Good boy !

(Though, I haven’t heard the news, he got the finishing line. ——- Has anybody seen him collapsed

on the side of the road  ? )   Ha Ha Ha  😀                ( ——->   PS:  Please see the comment)

Which Practice ?

As you may noticed,  my approach to the Buddhism is by means of Doing.

And my Doing is not a fixed practice.

It can be even cutting lemons or twisting a wire to make figures or make small electronic circuit etc ——.

In fact it can be any activity in the daily life,  like somebody’s daily job.

———- The reason is obvious,  (1)  It is not an activity intentionally designed on purpose.  As it is a part of

daily life and carries no special meaning or pretence, such as  ” This is the Special noble practice for the

Higher Spiritual Achievement”, it is natural.   This is the Jinen.

(2)  Basically I’m a humble mean person.  I can’t afford to spend a  time for such a special exotic activity.

If ordinary activity can serve the same purpose,  why not do them.  It would save the time and energy.

Most important point is, the Buddhism is a way of the life.  It wouldn’t work like to buy a piece of Indulgence

and sit as a formality.  Buddhism  needs to go down all the corner of one’s life.  This is the Ichijo in total.

The matter is to live the life in  Mushin.

———- So, as one of the by-product,  I got nicely twisted wire as well ——- How nice  Ha Ha Ha   😀

( I don’t think so many people in the world, found an interest of twisting the wire.   Its mean, this is a very

peculiar activity specifically occurred only on my Karma,  therefore this is a part of  Yoshizen.  Ha Ha Ha  😀  )

Since,  it was the task, I only had to do  (on that moment), I only doing it,  nothing else, therefore I didn’t need

to specially concentrate for  “Mind-fulness”  kind, as there was nothing else to think about anyway.

——————–

Almost synonym of the (misconceived) Buddhism, “Meditation”, “Mind-fullness”, “Selfless” are all too

prominent though, they are bore out of the unnatural pretenceful activity.

Because of it is a peculiar exotic practice, the person has to fight to concentrate to get mind-fullness and

while (utterly contradictively) hustle to get selflessness.  (If a man has to wear Mini-Skirt he can’t be calm.  🙂 )

——————-

But if you do the activity which you can abandon yourself,  you automatically start to do fully minded

without any conscious of self.  In this way, anybody, in any activity, they can reach to the Mushin.

This is the Mahayana Buddhism.

Door is open to anybody,  not only to the professional monk whose task (and the mean of earning money)

is to Perform and Demonstrate “Buddhism”—— in other words, other than a monk, most of the people

don’t need to demonstrate and perform it.

——————- Though,  to do the things which is not your choice,  even a kind of task you hate,

and still able to do it in  Mushin,  needs to have special training to disconnect your  Thinking and  Emotion,

which I have explained before,  ” Starting with absolute obedience and repeat the practice until it

reaches to the state of  Mental Fatigue—–”

———- And almost legendary  ” Hyper state of the Brain ”  could be achieved only through very dangerous

practice and the Visualization.   ( Some Martial Artist can do this.   And the people competing with their

memory power, while memorizing hundreds of cards in order, using this Visualizing skill under

the hyper state of the Brain ——- but don’t ask me about it)

Though,  in my view from my experiences,  I’m not necessary agree with those special  Mind Engineering is

in the scope of the Buddhism.   Those highly specialized  Mind Engineering  was a discovery of the

professional monk though it is necessary to born with particular genetic condition.

Most Bizarre Story in Zen — Disco Dancing in ZEN

” Dancing can be a practice for Zen “

This must be the most ( yet I got many ) bizarre story.  You believe or not I was a Disco King.

(This must be the most rare photo of me dancing — taken far later date / Sept 2015 

and it shows Rotating LED and LED flushing pants !)

As I used to take photo of many musicians, one occasion at a rehearsal session, a drummer

complained me, even though they work hard to make their tune unique and new, when it was

played at a gig, everybody dance exactly same to the other.

So, I promised him,  ” I’ll dance as the exact reflection of your tune and show it to you.”

(Here I’m not talking about a kind of common body-shaking in one-two-one-two, regardless

whether the music is 8 beat or 16 beat.  Its got to be much more athletic, expressive movements )

——————–

First I get rid of all the patterned crèche such as typical John Travolta’s or Micheal Jackson style kind.

and resorted to the natural dynamics of the body.  Since its heavy inertia, we can’t shake the bottom in

16 beats (still I met 3 person who can do) so the rhythm of the percussions should be assigned to the steps,

bass drum to the bottom and the melody to the hands.

On the end 3 parts of the body started to move independently in different speed in the same time   🙂

And as the use of natural dynamics of the body,  with its maximum speed, lots of people miss took

my dancing as a kind of Martial Art, and asked me which school is it ?

Funnily enough, one person even asked me, Is it related to a religious practice ?

( This is the back ground of previous post ” Shaolin Martial Art “)

——In my knowledge the Indian Barathnatyam Dance which follows some tradition of the ancient

Dancing Yoga,  exactly synchronizing with the music (in its Tara / drumming pattern and the melody)

So,  I applied this to my dancing.  (My favourite is the German Bass. It is the limit the body can follow)

——————–

Even dancing every weekend,  it took 3 years to achieve this movement.

And during this period,  I noticed, this is the process to learn unconscious body coordination,

same as to learn skiing or riding a bicycle,  and this must be the matter what the Zen said about

the ” Ichijo ” as a sword become a part of the body ( or the sword and the body become one )

and then the Dharma would be prevailed.  (How exiting ! ! ! )

When your body follows the incoming music signal automatically, we don’t need to think what

is the music or how to move.    So, I thought, if I can leave the business to the unconsciousness,

I would be connected to the Dharma. ——– though there was not such simple paradise and

nothing changed in my life. ——– Then, Waite a moment,  I realized,  all the baby has

to learn to walk, and all of them become able to walk unconsciously. 

It is nothing special.

———————–

Still, at least, I got an insight = unconscious or subconsciousness has the Key to decipher the Zen.

——– (And since then many clubs’ owner, manager offered me free entry for my strange dancing.

It was unexpected bonus——but they too, need a prominent dancer who become a talking piece )

(Some of the readers might have seen me dancing in a club called Flex in Hitchin,

Enigma in Maswell Hill, Limelight in Shaftesbury Avenue, Fridge in Brixton

(Escape from Samsara) = in every weekend, continuously up to 5.5 years (for

Fridge) often having with flashing light pendant or trousers.  🙂 ) 

So, I had my 60th Birthday Party at a D & B club (organizer called Movement with DJ Fabio etc) and

invited teens to septuagenarian who never seen my “legendary” dancing.  Ha Ha Ha,

It was a good  laugh.  😀

[]

—

Selflessness demonstated

” This is the Demonstration you can discover the Selflessness On The Spot “

In this post I’m going to demonstrate what is the Selflessness and

what is the Meditation should be in the simplest and clearest term.

—— m m m ?      Interested ?

Until here, to read those lines, did you noticed, your eyes has been reading this ?

I don’t think so.

Unless you got poor eye sight and struggling to read the screen, your eyes is

out of your scope, out of your mind. ————-(So, the Mantra says, Its exist as not exist)

When we read, we just read without noticing the existence of the eyes, let alone

a knowledge how visual signal running and processed in the brain etc etc.

——————-

Until you have read and get the meaning of what I am talking about,

your eyes is just taking the pattern of letters.  You are not thinking.

Neither you are noticing who is reading this.

———-As I asked you and you were alerted, then you start

to think ” I AM reading this, who else ”

(so there was a Zen Mondo ” Who was reading this, minute ago ? “)

——————–

Then, try reading a line of words alphabet by alphabet.

In this input your brain has to work harder to make sense of the word, what was written here.

As you try to think and process the word, it takes much longer time.

Here, you must be convinced, the automatic process of the Reading Routine is much quicker.

——————–

Now you must be convinced, how most of our activity was carried

out without we are noticing it. We are doing it unconsciously,

and because of the teachings of Buddhism is based on this subconscious activities,

the argument of ” Who did this without my conscious ” is

persistent all through the history. (And some are doing even today  😀 )

——————–

When you read those first few lines, YOU were just reading, nothing else,

otherwise you couldn’t concentrate to read—— its mean you were in the

Mindfull state.

As you been doing this without even noticing that the eyes are reading NOR

having the conscious of  ” I AM reading “.  This is the Selfless state.

———-Do you think is this too simplified and lost the glory of Holy Grail ?

Don’t over glorify.   It is your arrogance and the delusions.  Truth is always simple.

——————–

To apply this condition to the sitting, as sitting is supposed to be just sitting nothing else,

(in Theory  :-)), it must be the best practice to practice not thinking

or selflessness——– so the ancient Guru thought.

But we are here in such noisy destruction full world, it is very hard

to vacate the brain.  Even worse, we are accustomed to sit to think.

——– So, if you are struggling to attain selfless meditation, don’t worry, relax, sit on

a sofa, forget the Notion of meditation and play a non-vocal  slow music to just fill the atmosphere.

Keep you eyes open and fix it on something, insignificant object on front of you.

(As the visual signal of insignificant object stays the same, the brain start to ignore the signal all together)

But as your eyes has been fixed to the object, brain couldn’t visualize anything else, and soon

it become empty. (but don’t fallen asleep  😀 ) ——But ! getting sleepy is not necessary bad, it is

the sign of your brain found nothing to do, its mean its empty ——though, if you fallen asleep,

you lose the opportunity to see the Dharma of which you may only able to see it in this state.

It is the Paradoxical state, almost sleep but fully awake, without even knowing you are awake.

This is the reason why many of the primitive religion (?) resorted with hallucinogenic drug.

Any how, have the emptied brain  is more important than the posture.

——–Don’t torture your legs. It’s no good to your body which was given by the Dharma.

If you happen to live near the sea or river, go there and absorbed by

the atmosphere and the sound of water which is persistent but not

in the exact pattern. (So, the Brain wouldn’t bother to decipher the meaning—–its just the noise)

Or the woods is also good to be there in the same effect.

The Nature is where we came from.  So, just relax.

——————–

Don’t struggle to attain something in the Buddhism. Intention itself is bad.

Don’t worry , there is nothing there.   So that you don’t need to even

boast that you are The Buddhist, just be it.  Never think you are anything special.

If you are born to go to the Hell, go to the Hell.

Once you accept this, you don’t need to worry anymore while you are still alive.

The matters in the Buddhism is to live now in peace and with confidence.

So that, struggle to find something in the Buddhism is the silliest thing.

Since, as long as you  want to do intentionally, its mean you are THINKING.

When you sit, without noticing even you are sitting, this is THE sitting without thought.

Forget Buddhism, forget Enlightenment, forget the notion of Meditation. Just sit.

——– Use the words from Michael  ” Let it go ”

When you let it go, you will get whole of your life.(strangely ! )

This is the Paradox in the Buddhism.

Mindfullness

” Understanding the Buddhism by the translated word carries the burden “

The most fundamental difficulty in the approach or to seek

Buddhism is lie in its English translated word.

From the word such as Fully minded or Mindfullness the people start to

think  ” What is the Mind ? ” and end up in the endless puzzles.

The trouble is, the mind has hundreds of layers like an onion. We only see

its outer skin.

Especially if the one thinks  ” The mind is where the thought is being processed ”

it would end up against the wall.

The mind in the Buddhism is  not exist or not noticeable.

It is deep inside of the onion. (To see it you have to shed a tear or two.  🙂 )

Or in human term, it is in the subconsciousness.

——————–

So that, the word  ” Mindfullness ” is, in fact, has to be exercised  subconsciously.

This is the fundamental trouble to think about the Buddhism and this is why the

study or aproach to the Buddhism by way of thinking or try to understand it,

is utterly wrong.

And this is the reason why all the Buddhism sects employ the practice.

The practice is there to teach or lead the people to learn to do it

without thinking or empty the mind.

——————–

The another trouble or misunderstanding lie in the word  ” Meditation “.

The word Meditation is almost a synonym of the Buddhism though,

the popular understanding of its meaning  ” Think deep ” mislead the people too.

As one of the practice in the Buddhism, the Meditation is also the way to lean

to do it without thinking.  This is why even the Master Dogen said ” Just sit “.

And this is why the Buddhist has to get rid of even the notion of the Enlightenment.

When you forget to reach to the Enlightenment and get on your life, You are Enlightened.

This is the biggest Paradox in the Buddhism.

* FUNNY STORY (1)

Many years ago I was talking with my friend about the Zen.

When I said ” The matter of the Zen is to control one’s subconscious”.

My friend said ” No, subconscious is outof one’s control”.

So, I told him “Have look, as you got young daughter, you must have noticed, when she wear mini-skirt

her body movement become completely different, and she does it unconsciously”.

“Another sample is the time when we encounter an escalator which is not moving. When we step on it we

almost tumble as the body is adjusting to the expected movement.

But it couldn’t happen in the second time. And we are not necessary consciously thinking about it”

—— A question here, if we can behave or act without conscious, WHO is operating the puppet / us.

(Of cause now all we know it is the programed movement in our motor legion of the brain)

This is what the Mantra described “Mind is there as it is not there, therefore it is there”

(Before the notion of  Subconsciousness was defined,  it was so difficult to explain the

phenomenon even to the Buddha himself, and made the follower to puzzle.

The Buddhism to find the notion of Alaya (close meaning to subconscious) is

300 years after Buddha’s death.)

Any how my friend was convinced that this phenomenon is the one of element of the Zen.

The conscious of wearing mini-skirt, went down deep into the subconscious, and started to

control her behaviour.

So, when you  were re-programed or put a conscious of that you are a Buddhist, deep down

into your invisible subconscious, you start to behave and live as a Buddhist.——Provided,

you know what the Buddhist is, in the same time.

And this is the reason why all the Buddhist sects employ the physical practice as a part of

the Buddhism study.   Since, physical practice goes into subconscious faster as a routine.

—————-? ? ?     Really ?

Once you have been re-programed, you no longer spread your legs wide open.

Though, I wouldn’t imply that’s the reason why Buddhist is not sexy.    Ha Ha Ha 🙂