Miaozong's Apology: The cowardice of people who violate the precepts

The Case:

Angulimala and the Difficult Delivery

After Angulimala [Before being converted by Buddha, Angulimala was a notorious murderer who had killed 999 people, stringing a finger from each victim in a garland around his neck - Angulimala means “garland of fingers] had left the householder’s life and become a monk, he went into the city with his begging bowl. He came to the home of a wealthy man whose wife was having a difficult delivery.

The man said, “As a disciple of Gautama, you must be very wise. Is there not something you can do to spare my wife this difficult delivery? Angulimala replied, “I have only recently entered the way, and do not yet know any way of doing this. I will go and ask the Buddha and then return to you.” And so he returned and explained the matter to the Buddha who then told him, “Go quickly and say to him, “In all the time I have followed the saintly and sagely Way, never once have I taken life.”

Angulimala went back and told the wealthy man. As soon as his wife heard this, she gave birth; both mother and child were fine.

Verse by Miaozong:

Neither slow by a single step, Neither quick by a single minute.

The clear-eye patch-robed monk: How does he know what to do?

Shattered bones and crushed flesh won’t cancel your debts;

One word of insight is worth ten million words of apology.

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Welcome! ewk comment: I recently had a post taken down by the mods because the post used the example of several other posts in talking about liars who lie on r/zen, and how even if they only lie 10% of the time, I was obligated to block them. Apparently the mods were alarmed that the examples of the liar posts were all from a regular r/zen contributor. That post came after a conversation with that guy on discord, and since then conversations with other people about that guy, blocking, liars, precepts, and such kept bringing me back to Angulimala. While Angulimala appears in a sutra that is famous in Theravada, I don't know that this Case is... ehem... found in the sutra.

So what the heck is going on in this Case? Why does Buddha offer this advice, and what explains it's magic effect? Moreover, what are we supposed to learn from the Case?

Miaozong, one of my favorite Zen Masters, has offered this instruction on the Case... what do we make of this instruction?

How are people who are coming to Zen instruction unobstructed by the precepts supposed to understand those people who claim to "study" but can't stop lying, stealing, sexually harassing, hunting for leisure, and/or depending on drugs/alchohol "for fun"?

Ten million words of apology... the people who outright lie in this forum aren't even trying for a word of apology, right?

Submitted June 12, 2022 at 08:03AM by ewk https://ift.tt/Y5Ux92c