Sunday, June 1, 2014

Via Blue Nation Review / FB:


Via Daily Dharma


The Art of Begging | June 1, 2014

Although we hold the bowl open for an offering, the practice of takuhatsu [begging] does not teach us to be dependent upon society, asking for something that is not earned, or pressuring a community for an entitlement to food or goods. Rather, it teaches us the fundamental lessons of the Buddha: to be dependent on everyone, to live our original homelessness, to include the homeless in thought and deed, to share everything, to accept what comes to us, to be generous, to be humble in society.
 
—Eido Frances Carney, “Zen and the Art of Begging”
 

Via Daily Dharma


The Remedy Is Generosity | May 31, 2014

Generosity trusts the emptiness that runs through things, even ungenerous or ungainly things—it links to the clarity that underlies all our madness. Whenever my thoughts turn toward greed, acquisitiveness, or stinginess, my shoulders tense up, and it feels as if I’m holding my breath. To find a remedy, I don’t have to improve my thoughts, though—just be generous with them.
 
—John Tarrant, “The Erotic Life of Emptiness”