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Sixty-First Case from the Blue Cliff Record: Xuefeng’s One Atom of Dust
Don't be upset or mad at all
Don't feel regret or sad at all
Hey, I'm still a part of the family of r/zen
And I'm fine, I am totally fine
I will stand on the side as you shine
I'm not fine, I'm not fine
I can't write translations
I can't make the forum bloom
I can't take another night up in r/zen
Waiting on a miracle
Can't dispel delusions
Can't control discussion tone or evasive mods
Can't keep down the unspoken invisible pain
Always waiting on a miracle, a miracle
Always walking alone
Always wanting for more
Like I'm still at that gate longing to shine
Like all of you shine
All I need is a change
All I need is a chance
All I know is I can't stay on the side
Open your eyes, open your eyes, open your eyes
I would write some book reports
Make new OPs and scholarship grow
Someone please just let me know, where do I go?
I am waiting on a miracle, a miracle
I’d dispel delusions
Show this family something new
Who I am inside, so what can I do?
I'm sick of waiting on a miracle, so here I go
I am ready, come on, I'm ready
I've been patient, and steadfast, and steady
Bless me now as you blessed us all those years ago
When you gave us a miracle
Am I too late for a miracle?
After my Tío GreenSage introduced himself this week, I felt inspired to keep the momentum going and introduce myself as well. In order to keep doing so, I cite this public case,
Case
Xuefeng, giving a talk, said, “If you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes; if you do not set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes.”
Xuefeng raised his staff and said, “Are there any patchrobed monks who will live together and die together?”
astrocomments:
-Every culture and tradition, either implicitly or explicitly, has had to answer the question of what their ideal of a person is, which is just a way of showing what they value.
The greeks had heroes like Aquilles, Odysseus and Ayax, who exemplified the value they placed in both words and actions.
In México we have los caudillos revolucionarios, people who, in people’s eyes, know what they want and take it, regardless of anything else. That sentiment is echoed by the now prevalent narco culture that has developed.
Stories matter. Stories and symbols shape the way we talk to each other and how we relate to the world. In that sense, the Zen Record is full of people and encounters that you can see play out in daily life all the time. What’s the ideal of a person we see in them? What is Xuefeng talking about here? How do I fulfill the ideal I discover trough listening to him?
He produces principles based on facts. “If you do this, then that will happen.” I don’t see anything that leads me to believe he is saying or implying one should do one and not the other. Do you want the nation to perish? Do you want it to flourish? Why?
We all have to make our choices. Isn’t that the Zen ideal? “A person who stands on their own two feet” Any subject that’s brought up is for you to consider. Do you want to be honest? Or do you want to lie? Do you want to be literate in the subject you claim to study? Or not?
Literacy
Ray Bradbury never went to college. He graduated, as he said, from the library. Not a dime spent, no fancy titles or people telling him what to read. Just a man, who had a job and a family to support, taking responsibility for his education.
There’s a lot of people who never had access to a college education. Hell, even a high school education is tough to finish for a lot of people. So why even make it a subject when these poor illiterate fellas never stood a chance in getting educated?
Well, it sucks that education is not equally accessible to all, but the questions that concern us are,
Who do you want to be? The person who just accepted their lack of access to degrees as synonymous with lack of access to education? Or the person who realizes they can take responsibility for their own learning and use every tool available to educate themselves?
So how does Zen play into all of this? Think of Xuefeng’s words. Is the Zen teaching “read a book”? Is it “keep being illiterate”?
What’s your criteria?
There is no Zen ideal of a person aside from striving for enlightenment. Ask anyone how an enlightened person behaves and they won’t be able to say anything about it that’s not really vague or sounds made up.
Do I need to be witty to understand Zen? Do I need to be intelligent? Do I need to read the whole Zen Record?
Who should I be?
I think the only question worth asking in that regard is, what’s my criteria for myself? Who do I want to be? Who am I?
As I understand more about who I am, I see I can’t do things other people do. That’s okay. Discovering who I am and what I can and can’t or won’t do is part of the trip.
The miracle never comes because Zen doesn’t come with special dharma gifts. The miracle is not enlightenment. You already possess it, it’s in your nature. That doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be challenged or challenge yourself. It just means you can choose your own criteria for what that looks like.
I’m astroemi and this is the OP I can contribute.
Submitted May 30, 2022 at 01:12AM by astroemi https://ift.tt/LJWzQCE
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