Let go of who you were, so you can be yourself!

“In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You will have something remaining which is not completely burned out. Zen activity is activity which is completely burned out, with nothing remaining but ashes. This is what Dogen meant when he said, ‘Ashes do not come back to firewood.” Ash is ash. The firewood should be firewood. When this kind of activity takes place, one activity covers everything…

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it. If you understand this point, all dualistic thinking all the problems of life will vanish.” ~from Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Alan Watts talks about this is the context of Yoga and Western culture… Brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVjcoh12UuU&feature=related

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