While reading The Sayings of Layman P'ang translated by James Green, I believe that I have developed a greater understanding for what it might be like after you have attained. I felt like this might be useful information to share with you all.
Agree or disagree, you may do as you please, these are just my interpretations of the behaviors of those who have attained, and what I think it implies.
Again, I won't have sources for everything that I say, because this is my interpretation of The Sayings of Layman P'ang. Before y'all shit on my words, at least read this to the end where I make my main points.
Buckle up, buttercup.
---
This book paints a clearer picture of The Attained as ordinary people. They visit each other, they crack jokes, they laugh, they get bored, they act silly, they feel regret, they even seem sad on some occasions as well.
Some have questioned me about ZM's feeling regretful or sad. If you see them constantly laughing as they do in the text, how is it so difficult to imagine that they are sad as well?
Can you not imagine that some people, after taking the "Blue pill", might wish they could go back to being ignorant sometimes? Of course, those are fleeting, empty feelings, but they arise all the same.
Here are some examples that strike me as a little sad.
One day, Master Tan-hsiaT’ien-jan (Tanka Tennen) came to visit the Layman. He had just passed through the gate
when he saw the Laymans daughter, Ling-chao, holding a basket o f vegetables.
Tan-hsia said, “Is the Layman here or not?”
Ling-chao dropped the basket, stood up, and clasped her hands together on her chest.
Tan-hsia again asked, “Is the Layman here or not?”
Ling-chao picked up the basket and walked away, and Tan-hsia left.
When the Layman returned home, Ling-chao told him what had happened.
The Layman said, “Was it Tan-hsia?”
Ling-chao said, “He’s gone now.”
The Layman said, “You’ve spilled the milk, in the mud.”
+
Afterward, Tan-hsia went to visit the Layman again. When the Layman saw him approaching, he didn’t stand up or say anything.
Tan-hsia held up his whisk.
The Layman held up a pestle [that he was holding].
Tan-hsia said, “That’s it? Nothing else?”
The Layman said, “Now I see you have become a master.
Things are not the same as they were before.”
Tan-hsia said, “Don’t be prejudiced by appearances.”
The Layman said, “But you’ve already been put to the test once [when you came before].”
Tan-hsia said, “I don’t know why I said nothing then.”
The Layman said, “It was your right to say nothing. When I am annoyed, I also say nothing.”
Tan-hsia lowered his whisk and turned to leave.
The Layman called to him, saying, “Brother Jan! Brother Jan!” but Tan-hsia did not turn around.
The Layman said, "Not only cant you say anything, you also cant hear anything."
+
One day the Layman came while Tan-hsia was in meditation.
The Layman stood in front of him and clasped his hands on his chest [in greeting], but Tan-hsia did not look up. After a few minutes, the Layman moved away and took a seat. Tan-hsia then got up and stood in front of the Layman with his hands clasped to his chest. After a few minutes, he turned to go into his room.
The Layman then said, “I come in and you go out. What’s the matter?”
Tan-hsia said, “When this old man comes, he comes. When he goes, he goes. There’s really nothing to it.”
The Layman said, “Don’t you have one iota of compassion?”
Tan-hsia said, “This Chinaman just goes along to wherever he is led.”
The Layman said, “When you are being led along, what takes hold of you?”
Tan-hsia then pulled off the Laymans head scarf and said, “You look just like an old master to me.”
The Layman grabbed his head scarf back and put it on Tan-hsias head, saying, “And you look just like a young coolie to me.”
Tan-hsia said, “Yes sir! Yes sir! Yes sir!”
The Layman said, “So, there is still a little of that old-time spirit left after all.”
Tan-hsia took the Laymans head scarf o ff his head and said, “What a filthy old rag this is!”
The Layman said, “Yes sir! Yes sir! Yes sir!”
Tan-hsia said, “The attempt to maintain the old-time spirit has been long forgotten.”
The Layman snapped his fingers three times and said, “Heaven and Earth have changed places!”
Now, to me, there are many rather saddening cases in this book. Some of them have happier endings, though. I'm just showing the ones that stand out to me.
People seem to idolize Zen Masters like they're super human, and always happy.
This is far from the truth. The book does have a lot of laughs in it as well, don't get me wrong! But for me, it has clearly outlined how The Attained feel, and how human they are. (Assuming the written words are accurate to what happened.)
Seeing the True Nature doesn't mean you're no longer human, or that you no longer feel human things. It just means that you also see the emptiness, or perhaps the pointlessness, of living in Samsara.
What else is there to do when you see, first hand, that everything is empty? It sounds rather nihilistic, sure, but those who have attained see the pointlessness in feeling that it is nihilistic, as well.
One day Shih-t’ou said, “I’ve come to visit you. What have you been doing?”
The Layman said, “If you’re asking what I do every day, there’s nothing to say about it.”
Shih-t’ou said, “What did you think you were doing before I asked you about it?”
The Layman made up a verse:
What I do every day
Is nothing special:
I simply stumble around.
What I do is not thought out,
Where I go is unplanned.
No matter who tries to leave their mark,
The hills and dales are not impressed.
Collecting firewood and carrying water
Are prayers that reach the gods.
It sounds to me, that even after you have attained, and see your True Nature, you will still need to come to terms with it.
After you see the void, you start to see the futility of doing things on purpose, or planning things, and so you just live spontaneously. (ZM Mazu also says this.)
To me, with a mind that still clings to Samsara as I know it, this might sound melancholy, but to those who have attained, it is ultimate freedom.
---
Another misconception that people have, is that attaining will bring you intelligence or cleverness. Yes, a lot of Zen Masters are intelligent and clever, but that's because they're the Zen Masters we are reading about.
Only the Zen Masters who were clever and well-spoken have monks following them around, wanting to learn from them, and writing down their words.
In the texts I've read, many monks do attain, but they do not become Zen Masters. They often go out on their own and disappear.
If you manage to realize your original mind, and you can articulate it well for others to understand and realize it as well, then you're well suited for being a Zen Master, and people will come to you for answers.
If you have had a sudden realization, and you are not well spoken or a good teacher, you probably would just continue doing what you're doing.
---
Layman P'ang is well-celebrated in part because he was not a Zen Master.
He did not speak like a Zen Master, he did not teach like a Zen Master, he did not act like a Zen Master, because that was not his personality! He was very clever, though!
Because of his cleverness, even though he wasn't a Zen Master, his words and actions were recorded.
He was simply another dude who saw his true nature, and understood the Zen Masters.
He spent a lot of time with them, probably because they were people he understood, who understood him as well, and that was pleasant sometimes.
Anyway, I hope you'll check out some Layman P'ang. It's a nice read.
Submitted December 09, 2018 at 09:41PM by McNubbitz https://ift.tt/2Ekrv47
No comments:
Post a Comment