From Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, chapter 77, Koku (Space); Nishijima/Cross translation, Book 4 (you can download entire Shobogenzo as *.pdf from here: Numata Center):
Archpriest Ryo of Seizan Mountain in Koshu once goes to practice in Baso's order. Patriarch [Baso] asks him, "What sutra do you lecture on?"
The master replies, "The Heart Sutra."
The patriarch says, "With what do you lecture?"
The master says, "I lecture with mind."
The patriarch says, "[They say] mind is like a leading actor, the will is like a supporting actor, and the six kinds of consciousness are the accompanying cast: how are these able to lecture on the sutra?"
The master says, "If mind is unable to give the lecture, space is hardly able to give the lecture, is it?"
The patriarch says, "Space itself is indeed able to give the lecture."
The master swings his sleeves and retires.
The patriarch calls to him, "Archpriest!"
The master turns his head.
The patriarch says, "From birth to old age, it is just this."
At this master gains insight. Eventually he conceals himself on Seizan Mountain and nothing more is heard of him.
Photo by Humanoide
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7 comments:
"Daibutsu would like to tell Shakkyō the following:
“Before, when you grabbed Seidō’s nostrils, if you wanted to grasp
space, you should have grabbed the nostrils of yourself, Shakkyō, and you should have understood how to grasp the fingertips with the fingertips.”"
I love this!! My wife, a professional editor, says this should read "..grabbed the nostrils of your self", a subtle point. For my own part, this grasping of fingertips with the self-same fingertips had me gasping and laughing!
"the assertions and questions
of buddhas and of patriarchs are just the grasping of space."
David
Thanks for posting this Uku. Thought-provoking. And LOVE the pic of your little puppy...at least that is who I think it is...
Hey Markus,
I thought you might get a kick out of this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/entertainmentfinlandoffbeat
Al
David, thank you very much for your comment and for telling your wife's professional opinion. All the best!
Molly, thank you, Dharmasis. I found that picture from Flickr (details in the post) and it's a picture of a little fox. As you might know, fox is quite famous animal in Zen literature. :)
Al, hahhaa, thank you, Dharmabro! :) Actually we have a lot of weird competitions like famous swamp soccer competition and throwing Nokia's mobile phones (longest distance), sitting in a sauna and competing who can sit in there longer in the extreme heat and so on. Lot of weird events.
Sounds like I should move there my Dharmabro.
So space is indeed the "final frontier" in the trek of stars? Of course, stones crying out is not bad either.
Anon, thank you for your comment!
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