7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 1/14 Title: Tao is ordinary ( 道在橋下流水 ) (version 20170724_1) by tom7yu (Feng-chi YU) (free distribution / 自由流通 ) 1) " 人生誰都是過客 相守百年也是夢 世上萬般帶不去 只有所造業隨身 " quote and quote 人活在世間， 不是為了好生好死。 人一定要修行 若不修行 , 人生就不圓滿了 道在藍天白雲 道在橋下流水 道在綠葉黃花 道也在屎尿中 意思就是說︓道在平常。 道在當下。 道也在一分鐘。 The following will be in English for the global audience. 2) Life is not about owning and controlling. Life is about letting go of owning and controlling. Just allow everything to be as it is. Just allow everything to be the way it is. Let it be. Let it flow. Let it come and go. It took me so long to realize that what isvisible is the manifestation of what is invisible. In other words, everything came from nothingness. Everything form came from the formless. Everything information came from the information-less. So, just allow. Let it come and go. Let it flow. 3) Sight is just sight. Sound is just sound. Smell is just smell. Taste is just taste. Touch is just touch. Thoughts are just thoughts. There is no story about those forms. No grasping, no pushing away. Data is just data. Nothing really happens. If something has happened, it is only the mental interpretation of data. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 2/14 4) The ultimate truth is something that cannotbe described in words. Cannot be explained in words. Cannot be measured in numbers. It is something unseen. Unheard. Unsmelled. Untasted. Untouched. Unthought of. When you're trying to draw an apple, is the apple in the painting edible? No, you can't. In the same way, however hard you're trying to describe the truth, is the truth you're describing is the ultimate truth? No, you can't. So, just let the truth be the truth. Everything, however, is a pointer to that truth: the ultimate truth, and the ultimate truth that no human beings can touch upon. 5) Pure awareness is defined as moment-to-moment awareness without any mental interpretations. So, in the everyday life, just treat everything as it is. Just treat everything as the way it is. Meditation is not for controlling. Meditation is for letting go of controlling. Meditation is not for doing. Meditation is for being. Meditation is not for mastering a skill. Meditation is for the action-less. Just sit. Just watch. No doing. No controlling. Just let everything come and go. Life is simple. It's just that people make it so complicated by mental interpretations. Just sit. Just watch. Just be. Just be as it is. 6) Everybody has an invisible and built-in pair of wings. One wing is called compassion; the other wing is called wisdom or insight or Prajna, which is the wisdom beyond wisdom. The deeper silence you are in, the bigger and longer you can extend the wings. The purpose of this pair of wings is to: FLY OVER difficulties in the lifetime. 7) The color is no different from the colorless. The image is no different from the image-less. The sound is no different from the silence. The smell is no different from the smell-less. The taste is no different from the tasteless. The touch is no different from the touch-less. The thoughts are no different from the thoughtless. Forms are no different from the formless. They are not two different things. They are one thing: ONENESS. It's just like the two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one side without having the other side. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 3/14 Wherever they go, they go together. Whenever they go, they go together. They are ONENESS. Just ONENESS. Anytime, anywhere, any way. 8) There are two kinds of watching TV. One is watching TV without seeing the TV frame. What do I mean by the TV frame? The TV frame is the part other than the TV screen. The other is watching the TV and the TV frame as well. There are also two kinds of being angry. One is being angry without knowing it. The other is being angry and knowing it at the same time. The awareness of the anger is just like the frame of anger. So, the frame of anger is not the anger itself. If you get caught with anger and you don't know it. Your anger belongs to the first kind. Anger can fuel itself without getting noticed. The mind is good at fueling emotions. On the other hand, when you get angry and you know it. Your anger falls into the second kind. The second kind could give you a chance to break off the anger. Because you, as PURE AWARENESS, simply keep watching the fire. In this case, the fire is the anger. The AWARENESS stands out from the anger at this moment. The fire without more fuel will die down. Every time you get angry, don't forget to break off the anger by just WATCHING your fire. The fire is slowly burning itself out. It's quite interesting to watch. 9) Everything is perfectly complete. Nothing to add on. Nothing to take away. Everything is completely complete. You're riding a donkey, still trying to locate the donkey. You're the fish in the water; and you're trying to locate the water. You yourself is the manifestation of the Tao. And you're trying to find the Tao. Tao is everywhere; Tao is every-time; Tao is everywhere. Just sit. Just listen to what Tao has to say. Just sit. Just listen. 10) Life is just like getting on the bus. When we get on the bus, there are three things to know. First, how do I get off the bus: front door? or back door? Secondly, what is the destination? Last one, how do I spend the time on the bus? Taking a nap? Looking out the window? Or playing with my smartphone? There are also three things to know about this lifetime. First, "How do I get off the bus?" is the analogy of "the way we're dying." Some people are leaving this earth peacefully. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 4/14 Some restlessly. Some painfully. Some with regrets. Some with satisfaction. The first one is the most urgent to know. Because life is probability while death is certainty. So everyone--young or old, male or female--has got to be prepared. Secondly, "What is the destination while we're on the bus?" is the analogy of "What is the purpose of this life?" "What is the purpose of this life?" is the most important thing to know. Because that is the MEANING of living. Last one, "How do I spend the time on the bus?" is the analogy of "How do I spend the lifetime on earth?". Actually, that is suggesting "Do you have a dream/dreams to go for?". Because dreams can make this life colorful. So, the last one is the most interesting to know. 11) People always thought they were in the invisible jail. People thought they were in bondage. If you ask him or her: "Where exactly you're in bondage?", however hard they try, they fail to pinpoint the location of the bondage. Actually, people are always in the already existing liberation. Yet, they thought they were in bondage. So, they spend the whole lifetime seeking freedom. Actually, freedom and bondage are nothing but thoughts. People like to live in the duality. Good and bad. Correct and incorrect. Beautiful and ugly. Holy and unholy. Blessing and cursing. High and short. Right and wrong. They are all duality. The whole world is nothing but the manifestation of your mind. If you don't touch your thinking mind, the whole world/the whole universe is just ONENESS. No up, no down. No right, no left. No front, no back. No past, no future. And so on. So, Dharma practice is to get you OUT of duality. 12) Every single typhoon always comes with the eye of typhoon. The eye of typhoon is the central part which is motionless. In the same way, what is changing always comes with what never changes. As Dharma practitioners, we can rest as what never changes. Resting as what never changes, we have the absolute peace. This absolute peace cannot be described in words. Cannot be explained in words. Cannot be measured in numbers. This part is TRUE SELF. 13) What is changing is no different from what never changes. What never changes is no different from what is changing. What is changing is what never changes. What never changes is what is changing. Both are not two different things. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 5/14 Both are ONENESS. What is changing corresponds to all things. What never changes corresponds to ONENESS. All things are ONENESS; ONENESS is all things. When ONENESS is all things, we call it compassion. When all things are ONENESS, we call it wisdom. With compassion and wisdom as one, we have absolute peace. We have eternal life. 14) The sunshine is the functioning of the sun. The sun is the entity of the sunshine. There is the sun where there is the sunshine. There is the sunshine where is the sun. When the sun gets heavily clouded, the sunshine turns weak. When the sunshine turns weak, it's not easy to find back the sun. In the same way, STILLNESS is the entity of AWARENESS. AWARENESS is the functioning of STILLNESS. Resting as STILLNESS, it's easier for us to be aware of everything. Being aware of everything, it's easier for us to rest as STILLNESS again. So, STILLNESS as entity and AWARENESS as functioning are not two different things. Both are ONENESS. Both are equally important to Dharma practitioners. 15) Tao is the blue sky. Tao is the white cloud. Tao is the wooden bridge. Tao is the flowing river. Tao is the green leaf. Tao is the yellow flower. Tao is the chicken shit. Tao is also the chicken egg. Tao is everything, everywhere, and every way. All the things--including living forms, non-living forms, or whatever else--all point to the same ultimate truth, which is beyond all the understanding. Through any of the pointers, which is just the manifestation of Tao, it is possible for us to get AWAKENED at any moment in any place. 16) Be aware and be still. Be still and be aware. This is the foundation of living. Nothing special. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing particular. Nothing to push away. Nothing to grasp. Nothing to chase. Why not STOP? Just listen. Just watch. Just sit. 17) The thinking mind is the copilot. The pure awareness is the chief pilot. The copilot and the chief pilot are inside the airplane all the time. In this case, the airplane is the analogy of our physical body. Being always active, the chief pilot is guiding the copilot all the way, NOT the other way around. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 6/14 In the same way, being ALWAYS AWARE, we are guiding the thinking mind all the way, NOT the other way around. 18) No one, no thing, no object has the power to cause you to suffer. Reversely speaking, no one, no thing, no object has the power to make you happy. The suffering and happiness are nothing but the creation of your mind. The thinking mind is very good at differentiating, separating, or comparing. Separating as an example, I go to work. I go to school. I eat the food. I study a book. and so on. Very obviously, there is an "I" and "the rest of the world". See, there are the two parts: "I" and "the rest of the world". Comparing as an example, This one is better than that one. That one is more useful than this one. This flower is more beautiful than that one. This computer is more powerful than that one. So comparing goes on and on. There is nothing wrong with differentiating, separating, or comparing. But there is something wrong with the ATTACHMENT to differentiating, separating, or comparing. When there is a delusion, like separation from ONENESS, suffering will follow. For example, jealousy as suffering is quite common. Because of differentiating, separating, and comparing, there is an ego, which never exists, and the other part, which never exists. The thinking mind itself does not exist. But the thinking mind compares two parts, and gets attached to differentiating, separating, or comparing. So, the solution to the attachment to any separation from ONENESS is to BACK TO ONENESS. 19) We cannot be at ease because we cannot let go of attachments. We cannot let go of attachments because we cannot penetrate through delusions. Delusion is defined as lack of clear seeing. In other words, people cannot see things as they really are. When we need to deal with a problem, it's much better to deal with the source of the problem. The precursor of attachment is differentiation. The precursor of differentiation is thoughts as delusion. So how to penetrate through delusion? You need to develop the capacity to see things as they really are. Therefore, be still and be aware. Be aware and be still. This is the most important foundation to any kinds of Dharma practice. 20) You are excited, angry, worried, obsessed, sad, frightened, or shocked. No matter what kinds of emotions, the pure awareness has no comments. The only functioning of the pure awareness is to be aware. The pure awareness is to receive, JUST receive, what is given. No comments. No stories. No interpretations. All kinds of emotions do not affect the pure awareness. The pure awareness is UNTOUCHABLE. UNPOLLUTABLE. Just like the weather types, no matter it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, or even stormy, the weather types do not affect the space at all. Yet the space allows all kinds of weather types. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 7/14 Just like the pure awareness just allows all kinds of emotions. So, why not REST as the pure awareness. 21) Like the weather, the thinking mind creates storms in silence. Like the space, the pure awareness stays silent in storms. The real silence is not defined as no noises. The real silence is defined as the still mind not affected by mental storms. Therefore, Be the space and know. Know and be the space. The silence is already there. 22) We don't get to see the outside world. We don't get to hear the outside world. And so on. How come? A good analogy goes like this: We don't get to see the unborn baby inside the mother. But, we do see the ultra-sound monitor showing a moving unborn baby. So, all things you "see" are just the mental interpretation of data from your eyes. Let me repeat. All things you "see" are just the mental interpretation of data from your eyes. Does the so-called "color" exist? Does the so-called "sound" exist? Does the "smell" exist? Does the "taste" exist? Does the "touch" exist? Do the "thoughts" really exist? Because, you know the ultra-sound monitor's moving baby image is not the actual unborn baby inside the mother. They are two different things. Maybe, both sides have a corresponding relationship through a special BLACK-BOX, which we call "function". However, the ultra-sound monitor's baby is not the actual baby inside the mother. So, it's safe to say that all things, or so-called OUTSIDE WORLD, are nothing but the mental interpretation of data. 23) What we do in school is adding something every day. What we do in Dharma practice is letting go of something every day. Schooling is the collecting process while Dharma practice is the letting-go process, quite the contrary. Schooling is developing the resourcefulness, in which we know so many HOW-TOs. However, the Dharma practice is guiding us to rediscover the ORIGINAL INSIGHT, which everybody already has. This original insight, or Prajna, is the wisdom beyond wisdom. Everybody has Prajna. It's just that Prajna is very easy to get heavily clouded by our delusion, differentiation, and attachments. So the Dharma practice is to penetrate through our delusion, differentiation, and attachments. So, we can rediscover the original insight, in which we can see things as they really are. 24) There is nothing you can do to live in just this moment. There is nothing you need to do to live in just this moment. Whatever you do, whatever you think, whatever you are is totally INCLUDED in this moment. No actions, no thoughts, no beings are beyond this moment. Be still in this moment, the awareness already is. 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 8/14 Be aware of this moment, the stillness already is. by tom7yu / Feng-chi YU 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 9/14 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 10/14 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 11/14 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 12/14 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 13/14 7/24/2017 tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt http://tom7yu.netii.net/articles/Tao_Is_Ordinary.txt 14/14