Finding a standpoint

I was talking to a dharma friend today. She guessed we were almost in the same standpoint regarding buddhism.

I immediately asked myself where my standplace was. When I first contacted the Boundless Way school I was making a slow attempt of transition from theravada to chan/zen. I didn't know if I would succeed and through this time I've been strongly based on the teachings of the Pali Canon. With time I've learnt to discuss, question and defend certain viewpoints, creating in this way a kind of identity, which as with all sense of identity is subject to decay and death.

Some place in the process I feel like I lost contact with something essential. Something I can only get in contact through abandoning what I've learnt, what I have, what I am... standing alone, naked and in silence, shading light into it until it reveals itself, wandering along, finding no standpoint, just as leaves do not say "my true nature is green" or "my true nature is yellow" in this boundless empty field.

It has nothing to do with buddhism or any other -ism. Becoming proficient in defending a certain view has nothing to do with it either. If it had, it would be like setting boundaries to the boundless. It cannot be done, no matter how hard one tries.

Seeking a home, seeking a refuge I was worried about where my standpoint was and thus my mouth was dry like a desert. My feet treading the boundless way, the sky as the limits of my head, where could worry find a standpoint?

effortless effort

Look at the way the trees move,

effortless effort,

and then arriving...

may this be my model.

See, though without eyes;

There is vast distance between a thought

and the space that exists around it.

Does a tree concern itself as it grows green, lush in the warm spring air?

Does a bird doubt the beauty of the nest it builds?

Set your worries to the side to rest.

See, though without eyes;

the simplicity around us shows us the path to touch eternity.

the great way is gateless

The Great Way is gateless, approached by a thousand paths.
Pass trough this barrier, you walk freely in the universe.
Mumonkan

It is through Zen practice that we approach the gateless gate of our own self restricted minds. Every one of us is capable of accessing the boundless mind and passing freely through the mental barriers created by our fears and preconceptions. By letting go of our preconceptions, dualistic thinking and communal delusions, we discover the previously unrealized potential of our own unlimited consciousness and become self liberated. This is the fundamental tenet of Zen.

The Dojin Roku, translated into English as The Wayfarers Record, is a collection of thoughts, observations and shared teachings as presented by the Dojin, or Wayfarers, of the Boundless Mind Zen School. The purpose of this journal is to connect like minded individuals who understand their Zen practice to be a continuing journey beyond standardized Zen practices and independent of sectarian differences.

As of this writing, the Wayfarers of the Boundless Mind Zen School are in five countries and three continents and include individuals from various lineages and traditions who have come to find that the philosophy and practices of Boundless Mind Zen resonate with their own understanding of Zen. It is our intention to make these various thoughts, observations and teachings open to the world as part of the direct and free transmission of the Dharma.