Self Knowledge

Foyan says:

I tell people to get to know the self, but seekers who hear this equate it with what beginners see, and think there is nothing hard to understand about it. You should take it more slowly for a while, and be more careful. What do you call the self?

I understand the idea that what's simple and ordinary could not possibly be where the prizes are. Where have I ever seen what is ordinary boasted about in real life? Maybe Protestantism (I'm a Westerner BTW), but their ordinariness isn't ordinary at all; it's a practice that will later reap the best rewards allegedly.

Cultivating ordinariness has been on my mind lately. I noticed there's a particular feeling that goes with expecting more.

How about the sayings of ancient worthies on the self? “Roaming the mountains, enjoying the rivers”— you say, “ I understand— who else is it?” Another saying goes, “ It is your self”— you say, “ I understand this too; it is myself.”

From Sayings of Joshu:

90.Joshu preached to the people. He said: "It is said that 'To reach the Way is not difficult; the only setback is that of choice. The moment you use words, it is a matter of choice.' I am not even in the realm of understanding, let alone choice. But you, are you not still very concerned with understanding?"

A monk asked, "Since you are not in the realm of understanding, what is there that you say we should not be concerned with?"

Joshu answered, "I myself do not know."

The monk said, "You say you do not know, but why then did you say you are not in the realm of understanding?"

Joshu said, "It is only because you asked that I answered. Now go away."

Damn fox kid.

Foyan also recommends not knowing. They say:

Whenever I see that people have misunderstood, I quote ancient stories to question them. For example, Jingqing asked Xuansha, “I have just entered the school; please point out a way in.” Xuansha said, “Do you hear the sound of the valley stream?” Jingqing replied, “Yes ” Xuansha said, “Enter from here.” Jingqing got the message from this.

They also say this for anyone who hasn't gotten the message yet:

Buddhism is an easily understood, energy-saving teaching; people strain themselves. Seeing them helpless, the ancients told people to try meditating quietly for a moment. These are good words, but later people did not understand the meaning of the ancients; they went off and sat like lumps with knitted brows and closed eyes, suppressing body and mind, waiting for enlightenment. How stupid! How foolish!

So that's that!

Submitted September 11, 2020 at 06:10AM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/3bMSGSR