Re-Emergence

Rebirth comes up throughout the texts. Here are some mentions from the heavy hitters.

If you merely do not think of the hundred things, and so completely rid yourself of thought, then as the last thought ceases, you die and undergo rebirth in another place. That is a great mistake, of which students of the Way should take heed. - Huineng

Do not be deceived. Venerable Zen students, if you do not meet the Buddha at this very moment, you will circulate in the Three Worlds for ten thousand Kalpas and a thousand births. - Linji

If you do not taint the mind as it appears, this is called ‘untainted wisdom’. You will not create human and god karma. You will not create hell-being karma. You will not give rise to any thoughts. All conditions will extinguish and you will not be re-born. This very body and mind are a self-created person. If [the process] of re-birth is not completely stopped, then you will be re-born as you wish. The sutra says, ‘Bodhisattvas are born into the bodies that they wish to be born into.’ This is so. The instant that they lose their understanding of no-mind, they will become attached to forms and create them. - Huangbo

Every one of you must strive for himself to obtain [a better] rebirth. Don't futilely tramp around China's districts and provinces! - Yunmen

Put your own mind to use to look back once: once you've returned, no need to do it again; you wear a halo of light on your head. The spiritual flames leap and shine, unobstructed in any state of mind, all-inclusive, all-pervasive; birth and death forever cease. - Foyan

Rebirth can mean a number of things. In a way, we die and are reborn every moment. Of course, we eventually stop breathing - who can say what happens after that (other than decomposition)?

From your POV, what are ZM's talking about when they mention rebirth? (Granted, some of the uses above are different from each other, so there's that.) Feel free to comment on whichever catches your eye.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

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As a semi-related aside, the song "Re-Emergence" by STS9 was randomly playing when my son was born. I thought that was kind of funny.

Submitted June 24, 2022 at 08:46AM by FingersTyping https://ift.tt/lb0FcMi