From ‘The Quiet Mind. A Journey through space and mind’ by John E Coleman

Light, wholesome, balanced meals are easier to digest and better assimilated and keep the body, and therefore the mind, from becoming sluggish. It takes hard physical labour to burn up the elements contained in beef, pork, pastries and sweets.

“Pleasure and pain are really one and when this is clearly seen one drops the process of duality and lives in peaceful freedom” …… Krishnamurti

Dr. Suzuki explained that the aim of Zen was enlightenment or satori, an immediate, unreflected insight into reality without rationalization or intellectualization, the relation of oneself to the Universe.

“This new experience is the innocent pre-intellectual, immediate grasp of a child but on a different level,” he said. “The level of the full development of man’s reason, individuality and objectivity. While the child’s experience of oneness comes before the experience of duality, in enlightenment it lies after it.”

In the East, he said, before an artist paints a tree he “becomes” that tree.

“The object of Zen is to reach satori or enlightenment,” he said. “And this is done principally through the koan exercise and zazen. The koan is used instrumentally for opening the mind to its own secrets. The koan is neither a riddle nor a witty remark, but it sounds nonsensical upon hearing or reading. It has as its objective to arouse doubt and pushes the mind to its farthest limit.”

“It is a puzzle which cannot be solved by logical thinking; one must go beyond thinking into intuition. The more you think the more puzzled the mind becomes. Then the mind discovers it inadequacy in its attempt to solve an insoluble problem; the futility of effort is realized and the mind becomes quiet.”………

The Zen student is warned not to try to gain the eaning of the koan from the wording, or to permit his imagination to sek the answer or to try to find a solution through logical analysis. He is rather expected to use the koan as an instrument ….If other thoughts interfere they are not to be struggled with; one simply returns to the koan. The aim is to keep the koan before the mind regardless of what one is doing …..When all appears hopeless and a period of supreme frustration is experienced one may be approaching the moment of realization. Only when reason ceases does sudden intuitive enlightenment occur.”

Buddhists usually attain enlightenment by long and disciplined meditation, fixing their eyes on one position and practicing rhythmic breathing. This process usually takes years of devoted application before proficiency is attained. They may seem to be asleep, but in fact they are balanced delicately between relaxed serenity and instant alertness.

In a little book by Krishnamurti called Think on These Things, the subject of awareness is discussed:

Do you know what is happening in the world? What is happening in the world is a projection of what is happening inside each one of us, what we are, the world is. Most of us are in turmoil, we are acquisitive, possessive, we are jealous and condemn people; and that is exactly what is happening in the world, only more dramatically, ruthlessly …. And it is only when you spend some time every day earnestly thinking about these matters that there is a possibility of bringing about a total revolution and creating a new world. ….”

…..St. Denis, who said, “The most divine knowledge of God is that which is known by not knowing.”

An Indian master named Thayumanavar wrote the following poem:

You may control a mad elephant

You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger,

Ride the lion and play with the cobra.

By alchemy you may earn your livelihood;

You may wander through the universe incognito;

Make vassals of the gods; be ever youthful;

You may walk on water and live in fire;

But control of the mind is better and more difficult.

….the Sufi poet Rumi says:

Once you have been delivered from this cage,

Your home will be the rose garden.

Once you have broken the shell,

Dying will be like the pearl.

Krishnamurti…..

Tomorrow is the invention of thought as time, and if there is no tomorrow psychologically, what happens in life today? Then there is a tremendous revolution, isn’t there? Then your whole action undergoes a radical change, doesn’t it? Then you are completely whole now, not projecting from the past, through the present, into the future. That means to life, dying every day. Do it, and you will find out what it means to live completely today.

Isn’t that what love is? You don’t say, “I will love tomorrow,” do you? You love or you don’t love. Love has no time, only sorrow has time …. So one has to find out for oneself what time is, and find out if there is a “no tomorrow.” That is to live, then there is a life which is eternal, because eternity has no time.