Blue Cliff Record (Case 3) Master Ma is Unwell

[BikeZen]

- How long will you live?

I don't know. My physical body will live as long as I live, eighteen hundred years or one day and night.

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

Everything is impermanent but it's also permanent. The body may die and decay (as living beings we are impermanent) but the atoms that make up our bodies never really cease to exist, they just become part of something else.

Gassho,
Bill

[Jundo]

Some lovely responses to the Koan this time from all you guys, very wise and deep.

I do remind everyone, of course, what the Koan commentary reminds us: Saying this wisdom is easy, but getting the wisdom truly in our bones to live by (and die, and nondie by ) is the hard part.

One tiny comment, Bill (besides, please don't forget to SatTodayLAH ). In Buddhism, we usually avoid the idea of "permanent." Even atoms and the whole universe are not, and will someday fade away. We tend for "timeless," "beyond measures of time" and such. In fact, Zen folks often sit beyond "permanent vs. impermanent," "time vs. timeless vs. beyond measures of time" ... even dropping all such opposites and categories from mind ... sitting thus.

Gassho, J
stlah

[Tairin]

How long will you live?

No time at all and many Kalpa

If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die?

No old age and death. No cessation of old age and death.

Edit: Chikyō Beat me to this

Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

Yes by my understanding


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Ramine]

- How long will you live?

I will be there, every moment, as long as there are moments to be lived. I won't be there, every moment, in the three times and the ten directions.

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

Master Ma and Bodhidarma are undying gates of Dhrama illumination. Don't bruise the dead or hit the gate trying to enter - you're already in.

Ramine
Sat and Lah

[Hoseki]

- How long will you live?

A multitude of deaths while the question was being read.


- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

how can the unborn die?

Gassho,

Hoseki
sattoday/lah

[Myoku]

Oh, I like this ... however, my usual responce would be (genuinely) "I dont know" which might get a bit boring. But nonetheless I promiss to follow along. Thank you for the opportunity!
Gassho
Myoku
sat lah

[ZenJay]

QUESTIONS:

- How long will you live?

Who? (Anatta)

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

Anicca

Gassho,
Jay

Sat/lah today

[mdonnoe]

- How long will you live?

Yesterday's headache passed with the morning light.
Today's light should last an entire year.

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

May I die to my ignorance a thousand more times.


Gassho,
Jika (Michael)
SatLah

[Koriki]

How long will I live? Physically, at least 59 years. But how long will my karma live? Gosh, I guess kinda forever.

If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

I think that he may have had a physical ailment, but may have found contentment despite it. So he was sick and not sick.
If our actions have effects on others and so on and so on, then I suppose he is still with us in some form today. Trippy.

Gassho,
Koriki
s@lah

[Anthony]

- How long will you live?
Always, but at the same time there was never a "me" that lived.

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?
The "stuff" that made up what his contemporaries called "Master Ma" expired like everything must one day because that's just the way things are. Yes, he/we die exactly like Bodhidharma in that what we are will still live on.

Gassho,
Anthony
satlah

[Tai Do]

- How long will you live?

A thousandth of a second, from de Big Bang to the end of time!

- If Master Ma (or us, for that matter) was never really sick, why did he (we) die? Did he/we die like Bodhidharma died in the previous Koan?

Master Ma died for the benefit of all sentient beings. teaching the unteachable dharma of the great matter of life and death.

Gassho,
Tai Do
Satlah