It has been occasionally claimed that "there is no such thing as Zen Buddhism" and other wild statements regarding the teachings and practices of Soto Zen in the modern day. I offer the following which was discussed at length during a period of study of the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts at my temple and what it means to live by vow.
For those of you unfamiliar with Soto Zen practice, when preparing to receive the precepts and make the Bodhisattva Vow, one sews a representation of the Buddha's patched robe called a Rakusu. This is the "bib" you might sometimes see a Zen Buddhist wear.
Shenshan was mending clothes when Dongshan asked, “What are you doing?”
“Mending,” said Shenshan.
“How is it going?” asked Dongshan.
“One stitch follows another,” said Shenshan.
“We’ve been traveling together for twenty years and that’s all you have to say?”
said Dongshan. “How can you be so clueless?”
“How do you mend, then?”
“With each stitch the whole earth is spewing flames.”
Submitted May 03, 2023 at 06:59PM by Acrobatic-Rate4271 https://ift.tt/JKUxXbF
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