wholeheartedly to the study of Zen; second, there came
those who were not so single-minded seeking a solution
in books or other activities; the third and lowest group
was made up of students who mouthed the words of
Buddha or the Patriarchs instead of digging for the
treasure within themselves.
If Zen is not a teaching which can settle the matter
once and for all, then a lay student has Httle chance of
becoming a first class disciple. Zen belongs to the abrupt
school of Buddhism. You may spend a long time mining
for your inner treasure, but the moment you unearth it, you will see its brilliance instantly. Those who insist that
you will find only a fragment at a time are like those
who would carry out the darkness before lighting a room. You can forget your worries of the past and future to
live only in the peaceful present. Each moment contains
an opportunity for you to be an excellent student of
Zen.
Some may slander or argue against Zen.
They are playing with fire, trying to bum the
heavens in vain.
A true student of Zen will take their words
as sweet dew-drops,
Forgetting even this sweetness when he enters
the region of non-thinking.
A Zen student will find few people who agree with
his beliefs, nor understand his effortless effort. Other
sects of Buddhism decree that a student must go
through many stages even to hope to attain enlighten-
ment in a future incarnation, and other religions will
find many points of difference on which to hang their
arguments. Since argument never convinced anyone, let
alone enlightened him, a Zen student will avoid all fruit-
less discussion, helping others whenever he can without
seeking assistance for himself. He knows where his treas- ure lies and how to use it.
One night many years ago a blind man, visiting a
friend, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.
"I do not need a lantern," he said, "darkness and light are the same to me." "I know you do not need a lantern
to find your way home," his friend replied, "but if you
do not take it, someone else may run into you. You must
take it." The blind man took the lantern, but before he
had gone very far, someone walked straight into him.
"Look where you're going," the bHnd man exclaimed.
"Can't you see this lantern?" "Your candle has burned
out," the stranger answered.
Always be sure your candle is burning, both for your
own safety and for the sake of others.
I observe abusive words as virtuous action,
And consider the abuser as one of my good teach-
ers. Since my feeling is neither for nor against the
abuser.
Why should I express the two powers of persever-
ance, the knowledge of the unborn and the love
of all beings?
In the preceding stanza Yoka-daishi teaches the nega-
tive attitude towards slanderers, whereas this one regards
the abuser positively. A man may confess his sins to God,
but does not care to have another person criticize one of
his minor faults. Much as he may admit deserving such
criticism, it is painful to him. A Zen student not only
listens, but accepts the words with gratitude.
When Yoka-daishi asks, "Why should I express the
two powers of perseverance," he means to avoid fussing
about "reasons," worrying about "why" and 'iDecause."
When there is no cognition of "I" or "he," there is no
relativity of "I" and "not I." This is the knowledge of the
unborn. Every Bodhisattva or Zen student loves all sen-
tient beings irrespective of appearance or condition. He
does not fall into the trap of dualism, saying, "This man
has slandered me. I shall be especially loving to him."
Joel pfeiffer's comment "Psychologically the more we put money , work and time and energy into something the more attached we get and that makes us like something more.so I should just not put in any work or real thoughts or ideas into rzen just use it and throw it away.
It kind of sounds like the duelistic differences we use to describe our self is the ego. if good and bad don't mean anything. all actions and thoughts are ok to have and do if you make that choice it's not my problem.
Look at the salesman that have to sell the zen image and the zen story .that is the same for everything . it is ok to be flawed it is ok to do or not do anything.
Excepting that everything has a value and not changing any ideas just let them flow out of your mind that is enlightenment.
Arguing and fighting is forced ideas. And those ideas are not going with the flow of the river. If we were going with the flow we would except other people's right to have their own ideas.and let them change their opinions by choice. you do not realize that supiriority means nothing all ideas are important to someone else.one person doesn't like a idea and 100 more people love the same idea.everything has a value to someone else even if you don't see it."
Submitted November 03, 2019 at 05:39AM by acidrain69420 https://ift.tt/2C8PrnT
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