Spiritual Stories of the East

From the Lotus Sutra

From the state of Emptiness man’s body is a body pervading the universe, his voice is a voice filling the universe, his life is a life that is without limit.

One day Nasrudin was seen sprinkling powder on the ground around his house. “What are you doing?” his friends inquired. Oh, the powder will keep the tigers away. “There are no tigers around here,” pointed out the friends. “See, works well, doesn’t it!” crowed Nasrudin.

Hakuin at the time was deep in koan practice and steeped in concentration on his problem as he knocked on the door of a small house in the village. So intense was his concentration that he did not hear ”Go away!” from the busy woman inside. Again he knocked and again the woman shouted Go away!” When he knocked a third time the old lady grabbed a broom, and seeing Hakuin standing outside the door, broke it over his head. At that moment, the bottom dropped out of everything for Hakuin. Later, he said, “After this, seeing the things of the world was like seeing the back of my own hand.”

Hakuin’s Song of Enlightenment

All things are primarily Buddhas.

It is like water and ice. There is no ice apart from water.

There are no Buddhas apart from beings.

Not knowing how close the Truth is to them, beings seek it afar.

What a pity!

They are those who, being in the midst of water cry out for water, feeling thirst.

Those who for once, listening to the Dharma in all humility, praise it and faithfully follow it, will be endowed with innumerable merits.

But how much more so, when you turn your eyes within yourselves and have a glimpse into your Self Nature.

You will find that the Self Nature is No Nature, the Truth permitting no idle sophistry.

For you then opens the gate leading to the oneness of cause and effect.

Before you then lies a straight road of non-duality and non-trinity.

When you come to understand that form is the form of the Formless, your coming and going takes place nowhere else than where you are.

When you understand that thought is the thought of the Thoughtless, your singing and dancing is no other than the voice of the Dharma, how boundless is the sky of Samadhi.

How refreshingly bright is the moon of the 4-fold wisdom.

Being so, is there anything you lack?

As the Absolute presents itself before you, the place where you stand is the Land of the Lotus, and your person is the body of the Buddha.

Dear Justin, your body now no longer serving the physical world – it does not matter. Your spirit lives into infinity. Every time we practice, think of you, read your words or meditate with you, in mind you are with us over and over again. Thank you for your life and the gift of T’ai Chi Chih. It has changed my life. May all be comforted in their sorrow and raised up in their Joy.

– Roberta Taggart, Eugene, WA

I am lost in no words. My heart overflows with joy whenever I see a photograph of him or hear his voice or read Justin’s words. What I know is that Justin Stone resides in my heart forever.

– Terry Jennings, Honolulu, HI

As a Chinese growing up in Indonesia and then migrating to the U.S., I have found the East in the West through Justin’s work on T’ai Chi Chih. I was glad I found my identity and get reconnected with my Mom from a distance by learning TCC. Justin will be always in my heart.

– A. Wong, Bethesda, MD

Unforgettable, that’s what you are.

– Terry Gay Puckett, San Antonio, TX

My heart and prayers are with you all as you grieve the loss of a great man. Justin has given us a gift to share with joy. Every time I begin a class I say, “Justin would say, “If everyone did TCC there would be peace in the world.” I taught two classes today and spoke of Justin and the simple soft movements that he has gifted us with. Justin told me he never met anyone with so much joy as he saw in me. May you all know I will carry you in my heart each day. May Universal Love guide your path.

– Meg Costello, Philadelphia, PA

So grateful for your life, Justin. Your presence is always with us, through every T’ai Chi Chih practice. I am grateful, I give thanks.

– Sky Young-Wick, Parkville, MO

I met Justin back in the 1990′s at the Southwest Yoga Conference in Albuquerque. He was doing a demo of T’ai Chi Chih and I felt the Chi in the demo that I had never experienced before. Somehow I was drawn to Justin. He was very kind and had a warm energy. I had no idea that meeting Justin would change my life and that of those around me. Today, in starting class, I tried to make the announcement that Justin passed, but I was filled with emotion. We listened to a Justin CD, watched one of his first videos, and we read a comment from his 75th birthday: “Life is temporary.” Maybe so, but his legacy and T’ai Chi Chih will live forever.

– Larry Sava, Lubbock, TX