I strongly recommend going to take a look at this section of Foyan for yourselves. It is dense and rich and with the meltdown currently happening at work, I don't have the time to give it the attention it needs to be understood in all its detail.
When you want to step back, if there are any sayings or stories you don’t understand, place them in front of you, step back and see for yourself why you don’t understand.
-Foyan
I've made a lot of mistakes since coming here; writing posts for others, speaking without knowing, looking for praise, hoping someone will explain something to me, falling in with the wrong crowds, teaching when I should be listening, getting caught up in drama, saying way more than I need to.
Foyan cuts through all that nonsense (so does making mistakes spectacularly, but Foyan teaches expedience). The fastest way is to look at the cases, and when I don't understand, take a moment, and look again.
Honestly, I marvel at how far I've come in the past month. R/Zen has motivated me to submerge myself in practice and study everyday for hours and hours. I am barely recognizable to myself. I learned let go of all kinds of delusions; I now see my fears as the dream they are; I let go of my Atmanesque, materialist view of one mind; worked towards perfecting seeing phenomenon as the arise and dissipate; and made good friends who encourage, teach and support.
Am I done? Not even close. I still see that tinier ball of doubt and I will pursue it to the end. This is my thank you to r/Zen post. I'll leave you with Foyan's story; may it inspire and challenge you too, as you have all inspired and challenged me.
Haven’t you read how Yunyan studied with Baizhang for twenty years without clarifying this matter? His elder brother Daowu bit his finger to the quick out of concern for him. See how that man of old still did not worry even though he hadn’t clarified this matter, saying he did not understand. His will never gave out, and he didn’t go chasing after verbal expressions either.
And how about master Xuefeng, who went to Touzi three times and Dongshan nine times! When he was at Touzi’s school, one day he rolled up the screen and entered the hermitage. When Touzi saw him coming, he got off his bench and stood.
Xuefeng hesitated, searching for something to say; Touzi pushed him out. Xuefeng could only cry. Later, when he went to Dongshan, he was still unable to understand. Then, when he went to Deshan, he asked, “ Has the student a part in the enlightenment of the sages of time immemorial?” Deshan hit him and exclaimed, “ What are you saying!” At that, Xuefeng’s mind opened up, like a bucket with the bottom fallen out. When he got to Tortoise Mountain, however, he said he still had some doubt. See how that man of old would not rest until his mass of doubt had been broken up. So it is said, “ The task done, the mind rests; this actuality, after all, is everywhere you find it.”
Nowadays most Zen students create interpretations based on words, arbitrarily assuming mastery, or else they take stories of the ancients’ awakenings and look at them, calling this “gazing at sayings.” What relevance is there? When Xuefeng went to Touzi three times and Dongshan nine times, do you suppose he did it for the sake of words?
Submitted September 06, 2020 at 04:30AM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/3i6RL1Z
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