Here Now

Being perfectly confused or having perfect understanding are the same if we are here now, which might also be called seeing our self-nature.

"Those who see their own nature can establish dharmas in their minds or not establish them as they choose. They come and go freely, without impediments or obstacles. They function correctly and speak appropriately, seeing all transformation bodies. Never departing from their self-nature they obtain spiritual freedom, and the samadhi of playfulness. This is what is called seeing the nature.”

-Platform Sutra (Dharma Jewel Version)

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My name is Carlo aka Tyr(h)onius. I'm a 34 year-old 6 foot tall black male (last seen wearing a ski mask) from the (southern) U.S. and I study philosophy at a university in Taiwan.

I've been studying Chinese Zen for the past four years and have particular interest in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch.

Enlightenment is not a mind state, it's a mind/body state.

3 comments:

raymoej said...

Welcome, Tyronious!

Gotta love the Zen. I'm curious though, are you studying general philosophy or a specific type?

>>Enlightenment is not a mind state, it's a mind/body state.<<
perfect nugget to pull the stray Buddhist back onto the "path"
Just perfect.

Tyronius said...

My focus is on Huineng's teaching of no-thought (with cross-cultural comparisons), which can only be partly philosophical, the other part will have to be intuitive, which means I can't write my thesis without negating what I write. So that's how I'm going to write my thesis.

Clemente said...

Interesting, I'm also studying Philosophy, but in Europe, and here Huineng is not even mentioned in the curriculum. You can easily finish the five years of study without learning a thing about Buddhism, for example...
Are things much different in Thailand?