“If there were any object, any doctrine, that could be given to you to hold onto or understand, it would reduce you to bewilderment and externalism.” Beating or hitting represents putting a stop to an impulse or a stream of thought seeking something to grasp. It generally represents breaking down fixation. Where the fixation is on detachment, or immersion in stillness, or absorption in abstraction, the impact also represents returning awareness to the immediate experience of the present moment, the impact of life in the world. Thus in general it signifies the Chan methodology referred to as the sword that kills and the sword that enlivens.
Deshan
From "The Measuring Tap: A Chan Buddhist Classic" translated by Thomas Cleary
I looked for awhile for more context on that sword lol, and I found it going through the first case of this little Cleary book I just got, released last year. It's 4 bucks on Amazon, comparable to the Treasury of the Eye books.
Submitted May 10, 2020 at 07:06AM by NorthStarIV https://ift.tt/2WjBIW1
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