Look at me over here slacking, making another OP when the Friday Night Poetry Slam is up. Problem is, it isn’t Friday night here—it’s Friday afternoon. So first things first, a brief (4 minute) pointer video:
And now the text we are looking at (I decided to borrow some Aeonic Fire):
From Case 30 of Book of Serenity Translated by Thomas Cleary:
Destroyed, not destroyed,
Going along with that, the billion world universe.
In their statements after all there’s no hook and chain action—
Their feet are much obstructed by entangling vines.
Do you understand or not?
For a matter which is distinctly clear, punctiliousness is extreme.
Those who know the heart bring it forth, don’t haggle—
You’ll lose to me, buying and selling at the market.
Commentary:
Yunji said to an assembly, “Speech must be like tongs, like pliers, like hooks, like chains—you must make them continuous, unbroken.” Now Tiantong versifies the two teachers’ answers—they give it over right away, without getting too subtle—but what can be done—everybody’s been tripped up by the entangling vines.
Lunar book reports are excellent tools for studying Ch’an in a military dictatorship. Why? Don’t ask me—just look at Wansong.
That’s right—our boy Wansong spent the last 20 years of his life under the rule of the Mongol Military dictatorship. No wonder he relied on literary study and commentary. How else was he going to keep the conversation of Ch'an and the lineage of Bodhidharma going? Read these snippets of his bio, and read the gatha he wrote at the end of his life—they are illuminateing.
Do you remember how the case 192 TEoTT from my recent post began? Probably not. The middle and end of that case are so brilliant and useful that the beginning is easy to overlook:
A Hindu king asked Parati, "What is buddhahood?" Parati said, "Seeing nature is buddhahood."
Seeing nature is buddhahood.
That sure makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Frankly, I think this case is packed to the rafters with treasure, it "really spills the beans" as one user stopped by to comment (paraphrasing?) in a previous post.
So imagine these Ch'an masters, right? Seeing nature all the time. Eating when hungry, sleeping when tired. When they use their: body, person, seeing, hearing, smelling, talking, gripping, and stepping...they are always seeing nature, always seeing function. When they usetheir nature it results in all the function they see, from eating to sleeping.
And also speaking.
See they are sitting up there on the dharma seat, right? And some monk walks in from the other side of the country. Ch'an master sees: "This monk's nature is expressing entangling vines"—and reaches out and uses the function/nature at their disposal—often speech like tongs or pliers—to slash the vines or block the monk off with the appropriate action or speech—which is a continuation of the conversation that the Ch'an master is having 24/7 with the nature / function that they see (in everything including their own self). They just reach out and use the tongs they are already holding.
Eat when hungry.
I say that because it's time for dinner.
Is it okay if we continue the conversation over there, in my cooking nook? I'll invite some other quests.
A two minute invite to noodles.
Ahh, where were we? Yes. Wansong. Literary commentary. Lunar book reports.
The Book od Serenity: A continuous, unbroken literary conversation of the lineage of Bodhidharma, that begins with the ancients oral sayings and doings and ends with Wansong's literary commentary–constructed with story and allusion.
The verse and commentary are written by ZMs who see the function of the case. Wansong sees the function of Tiantong's verse and brings it out in the open by unearthing the allusions for his readers—just as Tiangtong's verse had done for the case: unearthing its function with poetry and allusion.
Wansong wrote his book because doing so was a continuation of the ongoing conversation of the lineage of Bodhidharma (function). He tells anecdotes and makes literary allusions that draw out nature/function for his readership to see—wherever they are.
There are a lot of good moon and Ch'an and r/zen jokes in the term "Lunar Book Report"—but for today, let me say this about it. When a Military Dictatorship is in town—like the Mongols back in Wansong's day—people who read and write for their day jobs are illiterate. They are no longer a part of the continuing conversation—they are preventing conversation. It's those who write by moonlight in such circumstances who maintain it.
I was just in town a bit ago, and ran into this younger guy I know. He even walks around with a staff sometimes, and is super funny. Today he walks up in the grocery store and says: "The world is hell. People are surprised I keep surviving." Then he tells me he has info that an asteroid is going to strike our town in 2029—but that some people were saying "maybe it will hit somewhere else" so he "couldn't be sure." I asked him what he was up to: "Assembling a team to for a quest as soon as the asteroids start falling." I asked him what the quest was and he says: "Well obviously to go down south and raid all the museums." Lol, a good eye for history!
"Raiding museums" is a function of nature under military dictatorships—I'd wager my afternoon tea on it.
Speaking of which, did you guys see u/aestromi's new video in the slam last night? The r/zen muppet show? That was like the funniest thing I've ever seen—you should go check it out.
Making lunar book reports about our Ch'an study is the bees knees. Astroemi's little video was as packed with Ch'an study and allusion as one of Wansong's cases–and there was Wansong, standing right there inside of it...after travelling by moonlight all the way from the Mongol Empire's doorstep.
I'm delighted with how many tools we have today. I can plunder museums from all over the world using a device in my pocket—and use the contents to discuss the Ch'an masters and Ch'an and nature / function—and make my own literary commentary on Ch'an texts. Seems like appropriate work for Ch'an study these days. ::looks around for next museum to open like coconut::
Anyway, as bonus, here's a new video I threw together about study in r/zen this spring. It ain't as good as star kid's—but the funny thing's that we both chose Saturday Night Live as the museum to "raid" this week—which resulted in some funny resonance:
Peace. 🕊
Golden Eyebrow,
Year of the Tiger
Submitted July 24, 2022 at 06:22AM by golden_eyebrow https://ift.tt/kFOT3Ky
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