A post in my "coming down from the clouds, makin' it real" series ...
Someone somewhere on the Zen Buddhist interwebs made a post (now gone) about attaining an Enlightenment that is said to be free of all confusion, where one's entire life is a constant meditation that does not break or stop no matter what you are doing or going through "even if you are being tortured." It is said to be without weakness or flaw and with complete clarity of view permanently, 24/7/365,
That is an extremely idealized depiction of Enlightenment that I believe tends to become true only in legends about dead people as they gradually are transformed in story telling and are heralded as our long dead religious heroes. It is generally not true of living people during their life (although some cults do try to raise their leaders to such levels during life). When someone respected dies from George Washington to Dogen, even perhaps the historical Buddha, the biographers began to strip away all their humanity, and emphasize exaggerated perfections, in a process common in all societies and religions called "hagiography" of saints. Soon, many in the religious world are dipped in gold, made into statues put on pedestals, perhaps even assigned extreme "Marvel Comics" like powers and abilities. That does not mean that they were not incredible, wise, good, heroic, special people with something vital to teach, only that we tend to turn living flesh into heartfelt but imagined legends as time passes (even with modern people, and the process slowly begins during their life sometimes:
Folks like D.T. Suzuki, with their early extremely romantic descriptions of the Ancestors, contribute to this impression among many folks in the English speaking world, and folks in all cultures, countries and religions want to believe the best about their religious saints and heroes.
That being said, it is not the end of the story either:
Zazen and Zen Enlightenment truly holds all this world ... including a world of birth and death, sickness and health, war and peace, love and torture, yet free of all that. Such is beyond time, so in that way, is truly "no break no stop." A Buddha's Eye truly does see and contain all in the world that is done or gone through or not done. Such is without "weakness or flaw" and nothing is lacking even as and amid this oh so flawed world. There is not an ounce of confusion, though life can be so confusing (not a drop of confusion about confusion). YIPPEE!!
And yet, and yet ... We are flesh and blood in a world of birth and death, sickness and sometimes war. When I am tortured, I will likely scream, thank you. When my loved one dies, I will cry. (Yes, this is a Great Koan, and if the meaning is unclear of how all this can be true at once, someone perhaps knows "squat" about squatting Zazen
) ...
Yantou Quanhuo (Japanese Gānto Zenkatsu) ... became master of Yantou Monastery, where he led a congregation of students. In 887 on the "eighth day of the fourth month" his temple was raided by bandits. When the bandits realized the temple had nothing of value to take, one of them stabbed Yantou—murdering him. it is said that his scream at death could be heard for ten miles. He was given the title Ch'an Master Clear Severity following his death. Yantou is the subject of several koan cases that appear in the Mumonkan. (https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...master&f=false)
Such is my belief as one practitioner, others may disagree.
Gassho, Jundo
Someone somewhere on the Zen Buddhist interwebs made a post (now gone) about attaining an Enlightenment that is said to be free of all confusion, where one's entire life is a constant meditation that does not break or stop no matter what you are doing or going through "even if you are being tortured." It is said to be without weakness or flaw and with complete clarity of view permanently, 24/7/365,
That is an extremely idealized depiction of Enlightenment that I believe tends to become true only in legends about dead people as they gradually are transformed in story telling and are heralded as our long dead religious heroes. It is generally not true of living people during their life (although some cults do try to raise their leaders to such levels during life). When someone respected dies from George Washington to Dogen, even perhaps the historical Buddha, the biographers began to strip away all their humanity, and emphasize exaggerated perfections, in a process common in all societies and religions called "hagiography" of saints. Soon, many in the religious world are dipped in gold, made into statues put on pedestals, perhaps even assigned extreme "Marvel Comics" like powers and abilities. That does not mean that they were not incredible, wise, good, heroic, special people with something vital to teach, only that we tend to turn living flesh into heartfelt but imagined legends as time passes (even with modern people, and the process slowly begins during their life sometimes:
Folks like D.T. Suzuki, with their early extremely romantic descriptions of the Ancestors, contribute to this impression among many folks in the English speaking world, and folks in all cultures, countries and religions want to believe the best about their religious saints and heroes.
That being said, it is not the end of the story either:
Zazen and Zen Enlightenment truly holds all this world ... including a world of birth and death, sickness and health, war and peace, love and torture, yet free of all that. Such is beyond time, so in that way, is truly "no break no stop." A Buddha's Eye truly does see and contain all in the world that is done or gone through or not done. Such is without "weakness or flaw" and nothing is lacking even as and amid this oh so flawed world. There is not an ounce of confusion, though life can be so confusing (not a drop of confusion about confusion). YIPPEE!!
And yet, and yet ... We are flesh and blood in a world of birth and death, sickness and sometimes war. When I am tortured, I will likely scream, thank you. When my loved one dies, I will cry. (Yes, this is a Great Koan, and if the meaning is unclear of how all this can be true at once, someone perhaps knows "squat" about squatting Zazen
) ... Yantou Quanhuo (Japanese Gānto Zenkatsu) ... became master of Yantou Monastery, where he led a congregation of students. In 887 on the "eighth day of the fourth month" his temple was raided by bandits. When the bandits realized the temple had nothing of value to take, one of them stabbed Yantou—murdering him. it is said that his scream at death could be heard for ten miles. He was given the title Ch'an Master Clear Severity following his death. Yantou is the subject of several koan cases that appear in the Mumonkan. (https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...master&f=false)
Such is my belief as one practitioner, others may disagree.
Gassho, Jundo
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