The Call of the Inanimate

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From Treasury of the Eye of True Teaching #314

Dongshan went to Guishan and asked, "I recently heard that National Teacher Zhong held that inanimate things teach; I have not yet plumbed that subtlety."

Guishan said, "Here I also hold this, but it's hard to find suitable people."

Dongshan said, "Do tell, master." Guishan said, "The mouth born of my father and mother will never explain for you."

Dongshan said, "Is there anyone who sought the Way at the same time as you?"

Guishan said, "There is a series of caves from here; there is a wayfarer, Yunyan - if you can watch the wind by the way it blows the grass, he'll certainly be esteemed by you."

When he got to Yunyan he asked, "Who can hear the teaching of the inanimate?" Yunyan said, "The inanimate can hear."

Dongshan said, "Can you hear?" Yunyan said, "If I could hear it, you wouldn't hear my teaching."

Dongshan said, "Why don't I hear?" Yunyan stood up his whisk and said, "Do you hear?" Dongshan said, "No."

Yunyan said, "You don't even hear my teaching; how could you hear the teaching of the inanimate?" Dongshan said, "In what scripture is the teaching of the inanimate?"

Yunyan said, "Haven't you read the Amitabha scripture saying, 'Water birds and woods all remembrance Buddha and remembrance Dharma; inanimate plants and trees pipe and sing in concert'?"

At this Dongshan had insight. He then produced a verse saying,

Wonderful, wonderful!
The teaching of the inanimate is inconceivable.
If you listen with your ears you'll never understand;
When you hear their voice with your eyes, only then will you know.

I relate to this case as a reminder to take things as they are, not grasping or rejecting based on something I bring to the table. Not painting them with my own conceptual interpretations.

It calls to mind Qingliang, who said, "If a thought is not produced, then before and after are cut off, and the luminous essence stands alone; others and self are one suchness. Go directly to the source of mind, and there is no knowledge, no attainment; you neither grasp nor reject, so there is no opposition and no cultivation."

The Amitabha sutra to which Yunyan referred says:

In this Buddha-land, there is a slight breeze that stirs the rows of jewel trees and jewel nets, so that they emit subtle wondrous sounds, like hundreds and thousands of melodies playing all at once. All those who hear these sounds spontaneously develop the intention to be mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha.

One of my favorite dharma poets, Ippen, wrote:

Among all living things —
mountains and rivers, grasses and trees
the sounds of blowing winds and rising waves—
there is nothing that is not the Name.

"The Name" refers to the nembutsu, which is Amitabha as nirmanakaya. Infinite life. Infinite light. Only the voice of Amitabha's call sounds, resounding everywhere. There's nothing for me to do. Just listen.

How do you relate to this case?

From your perspective, what does the inanimate teach? How do we hear it?

Submitted May 18, 2023 at 11:57PM by FingersTyping https://ift.tt/orXip2m