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Buddhist : Zen / Chan Taoist 7th Century	About Yoka Genkaku (Yongjia Xuanjue) Timeline (665 - 713)
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English version by Robert Aitken Original Language Chinese	[46] People hear the Buddha's doctrine of immediacy, (from The Shodoka)
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Sound           Recommended Books Buddhism and Zen, by Nyogen Senzaki / Ruth Strout McCandless	People hear the Buddha's doctrine of immediacy, And if they accept it, the demons will be crushed As easily as a roofing tile. But they cannot accept, what a pity!
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

What is the Buddha's "doctrine of immediacy" that Yoka Genkaku refers to? It is the awareness that everything is present, eternally -- right here and right now.

If you can settle deeply into the present moment, without projections and artificial conceptualization, if you can allow yourself to perceive things simply and immediately as they are, rather than forcing them to tell a story about your ego -- then the "demons" that are the tug of karma and mental tendencies will be easily "crushed" like the "roofing tile" of an unsettled mind finally brought to peace.

But, sadly, few people are willing to cease their constant effort to stay distracted. They cannot accept that what they spend their entire lives looking for is, and always has been, immediately before them.

May we all come to rest in that immediacy!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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