I wanted to give some background to 2 previous posts:
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Flowers bloom in the proper soil, under the right conditions...with sunlight, warmth, water, and love.... Is anything any different? And, first, you have to be a flower if you are to have a chance of blooming.
Friday, December 19, 2008
There isn't a single moment that the flower fails to bloom.
These were inspired by a famous Zen text called "The Platform Sutra of the 6th Patriarch" (六祖壇經).
The idea for the latter one was in part sparked by that text. It was, also, inspired by - and meant to inspire, a woman that I find to be incessantly twinkling. And, I wanted to remind her that this, at least to me, is always her nature. In good times and less good times - she is a newly blooming flower. Thus, we can find a deeper aspect of our nature that blooms, or at least have grounds for looking for it because it is always there - when we are happy, fearful, angry, loving, even in despair...at every single moment.
So, now to the Sutra. In short, there is a sort of competition from the monks in a certain order in Canton, China in the 7th century. The winner will succeed the 5th Patriarch (who is getting on in years) and become the 6th Patriarch. The winner wins by writing the most enlightened verse. The 5th Patriarch is the judge. The verse must demonstrate enlightenment, for he will be in charge of the whole order of monks and must be able to lead them to enlightenment.
Many believe that 1 monk, Shen Hsiu (玉泉神秀), will win. He is sortof like a teacher's pet. He has great knowledge. He knows countless sutras by heart. The question is, does this (book)knowledge necessarily lead to wisdom? The verse Shen Hsiu writes to demonstrate his enlightenment is:
The Body is the Bodhi Tree
The mind is like a clear mirror
At all times we must strive to polish it,
And, must not let the dust collect.
The Buddha meditated a very long time - for years in fact, before becoming enlightened. So, this verse is meant to convey Shen Hsiu's understanding of this fact. He strives to meditate, to get rid of extraneous thoughts (greed, hate, lust, delusion, etc.) which cloud the mirror. The purpose of this is to purify his mind.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Flowers bloom in the proper soil, under the right conditions...with sunlight, warmth, water, and love.... Is anything any different? And, first, you have to be a flower if you are to have a chance of blooming.
Friday, December 19, 2008
There isn't a single moment that the flower fails to bloom.
These were inspired by a famous Zen text called "The Platform Sutra of the 6th Patriarch" (六祖壇經).
The idea for the latter one was in part sparked by that text. It was, also, inspired by - and meant to inspire, a woman that I find to be incessantly twinkling. And, I wanted to remind her that this, at least to me, is always her nature. In good times and less good times - she is a newly blooming flower. Thus, we can find a deeper aspect of our nature that blooms, or at least have grounds for looking for it because it is always there - when we are happy, fearful, angry, loving, even in despair...at every single moment.
So, now to the Sutra. In short, there is a sort of competition from the monks in a certain order in Canton, China in the 7th century. The winner will succeed the 5th Patriarch (who is getting on in years) and become the 6th Patriarch. The winner wins by writing the most enlightened verse. The 5th Patriarch is the judge. The verse must demonstrate enlightenment, for he will be in charge of the whole order of monks and must be able to lead them to enlightenment.
Many believe that 1 monk, Shen Hsiu (玉泉神秀), will win. He is sortof like a teacher's pet. He has great knowledge. He knows countless sutras by heart. The question is, does this (book)knowledge necessarily lead to wisdom? The verse Shen Hsiu writes to demonstrate his enlightenment is:
The Body is the Bodhi Tree
The mind is like a clear mirror
At all times we must strive to polish it,
And, must not let the dust collect.
The Buddha meditated a very long time - for years in fact, before becoming enlightened. So, this verse is meant to convey Shen Hsiu's understanding of this fact. He strives to meditate, to get rid of extraneous thoughts (greed, hate, lust, delusion, etc.) which cloud the mirror. The purpose of this is to purify his mind.
After it (the mirror/the mind) becomes pure, he maintains, we will necessarily become enlightened. Our dusty, sullied minds will become like a pure, clean mirror. This clean mirror will reflect nature just as it is. Seeing nature just as it is then, is enlightentment - seeing things just as they are.
But, Hui Neng (惠能), an uneducated, illiterate monk writes a very surprising verse. There are 2 verses which survive (a result of the text being corrupted, but he supposedly would have written just one) - they are similar in meaning. I include them both.
Bodhi* originally has no tree
The mirror also has no stand.
Buddha nature is always clean and pure;
Where is there room for dust?
Another verse said:
The mind is the Bodhi tree
The body is the mirror stand.
The mirror is originally clean and pure;
Where can it be stained by dust?
This is surprising because he is saying the enlightened mind is, was, and always shall be "clean and pure". In other words, we are always already enlightened.
The 5th patriarch judged the latter verses to be those of one who is enlightened. Hui Neng, consequently, succeeded the 5th patriarch to become the 6th patriarch.
I will add a few points. There was a lot of debate about this subject. Clearly Shen Hsiu is saying that we need to practice and meditate in order to become enlightened. Hui Neng is saying - if we can ever become enlightened, we must already be enlightened. So, one of them is saying that we become enlightened through practice gradually (The Gradual School), the other that we can become enlightened - or, realize enlightenment - at any moment...suddenly (The Sudden School)
But, Hui Neng (惠能), an uneducated, illiterate monk writes a very surprising verse. There are 2 verses which survive (a result of the text being corrupted, but he supposedly would have written just one) - they are similar in meaning. I include them both.
Bodhi* originally has no tree
The mirror also has no stand.
Buddha nature is always clean and pure;
Where is there room for dust?
Another verse said:
The mind is the Bodhi tree
The body is the mirror stand.
The mirror is originally clean and pure;
Where can it be stained by dust?
This is surprising because he is saying the enlightened mind is, was, and always shall be "clean and pure". In other words, we are always already enlightened.
The 5th patriarch judged the latter verses to be those of one who is enlightened. Hui Neng, consequently, succeeded the 5th patriarch to become the 6th patriarch.
I will add a few points. There was a lot of debate about this subject. Clearly Shen Hsiu is saying that we need to practice and meditate in order to become enlightened. Hui Neng is saying - if we can ever become enlightened, we must already be enlightened. So, one of them is saying that we become enlightened through practice gradually (The Gradual School), the other that we can become enlightened - or, realize enlightenment - at any moment...suddenly (The Sudden School)
It is useful and necessary to practice. But, while books and words can point the way...they must be discarded at some point. Otherwise, they get in the way of seeing what is right in front of us. It is useful to realize that this enlightened mind must already be there - how can we search for something we hope to find if it isn't already within?
*Bodhi means enlightenment
**The image is of Hui Neng tearing up the Sutras.
Verses were taken from The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (六祖壇經)
http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Platform_Sutra_Yampolsky.pdf
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