Dear Friends in All Directions,
The POINTER begins with one of the most powerful analogies we have to express the Insight of Zen ... the Clear Mirror. (As a matter of fact, I made it the centerpiece of the little talk during Zazenkai this time, from 57:30 here: LINK) The mirror holds all things without rejection ... the beautiful and ugly, friend and stranger, good and bad, life and death. We are also this mirror, and our heart can recognize all things with equal non-rejection and acceptance. The mirror shines a light which illuminates all of it. Nonetheless, let us choose the beautiful and peaceful, and not the ugly, greedy and violent. We should know the world all these ways at once ...
... holding all, room for all, accepting, all of it just part of the great show, And yet, we should work to see that ugliness is not beauty, charity is not greed, violence is not peace ... and we should choose the better directions. In the mirror "beautiful vs. ugly" VANISHES ... and yet it does not vanish too, so we should distinguish the two, and know that they are NOT the same.
Chao Chou is the name of a Buddhist priest, but also the name of a town where the priest's temple is located. The CASE plays on this double meaning. So, Chao Chou says he is the 4 city gates. New York City is ever changing, yet also remains on solid ground as people, trains, cars, happy times and sad times, peace and violence passes in and out of its streets. However, I get the sense that, like the town, the priest Chao Chou is a still place while people and events pass through and come and go. He is a still and clear being, although scenes and happenings and thoughts pass in and out of his various senses. He is like the clear mirror which is unmoving, as things come and go within it.
The COMMENTARY reminds us again not to take this as just some intellectual idea of formula, but to really pierce this. It pours forth lots of words to remind us not to get caught in words alone. (I just read a passage this morning, in the Hokyoki, in which Master Dogen said that the truth is in both words and the wordless, but we should not be a prisoner of either.)
The COMMENTARY on the VERSE highlights a bird that is "alive or dead," "going in or coming out" a doorway, a hand that is "open or closed." Such distinctions also vanish in the mirror ... yet they remain.
ASSIGNMENT: Propose a new analogy for something that is still, peaceful or welcoming even as it holds scenes of movement, chaos, struggle, differences. Using the analogy, briefly describe some aspect of your own life that is filled with movement or chaos, busyness or struggle, differences and even some tensions, but that is also held within the analogy you pick.
Here is a song, sadly, a few years old, about hope for peace by opening gates in all directions (there are subtitles to turn on).
Gassho, J
sttlah
The POINTER begins with one of the most powerful analogies we have to express the Insight of Zen ... the Clear Mirror. (As a matter of fact, I made it the centerpiece of the little talk during Zazenkai this time, from 57:30 here: LINK) The mirror holds all things without rejection ... the beautiful and ugly, friend and stranger, good and bad, life and death. We are also this mirror, and our heart can recognize all things with equal non-rejection and acceptance. The mirror shines a light which illuminates all of it. Nonetheless, let us choose the beautiful and peaceful, and not the ugly, greedy and violent. We should know the world all these ways at once ...
... holding all, room for all, accepting, all of it just part of the great show, And yet, we should work to see that ugliness is not beauty, charity is not greed, violence is not peace ... and we should choose the better directions. In the mirror "beautiful vs. ugly" VANISHES ... and yet it does not vanish too, so we should distinguish the two, and know that they are NOT the same.
Chao Chou is the name of a Buddhist priest, but also the name of a town where the priest's temple is located. The CASE plays on this double meaning. So, Chao Chou says he is the 4 city gates. New York City is ever changing, yet also remains on solid ground as people, trains, cars, happy times and sad times, peace and violence passes in and out of its streets. However, I get the sense that, like the town, the priest Chao Chou is a still place while people and events pass through and come and go. He is a still and clear being, although scenes and happenings and thoughts pass in and out of his various senses. He is like the clear mirror which is unmoving, as things come and go within it.
The COMMENTARY reminds us again not to take this as just some intellectual idea of formula, but to really pierce this. It pours forth lots of words to remind us not to get caught in words alone. (I just read a passage this morning, in the Hokyoki, in which Master Dogen said that the truth is in both words and the wordless, but we should not be a prisoner of either.)
The COMMENTARY on the VERSE highlights a bird that is "alive or dead," "going in or coming out" a doorway, a hand that is "open or closed." Such distinctions also vanish in the mirror ... yet they remain.
ASSIGNMENT: Propose a new analogy for something that is still, peaceful or welcoming even as it holds scenes of movement, chaos, struggle, differences. Using the analogy, briefly describe some aspect of your own life that is filled with movement or chaos, busyness or struggle, differences and even some tensions, but that is also held within the analogy you pick.
Here is a song, sadly, a few years old, about hope for peace by opening gates in all directions (there are subtitles to turn on).
.
.
.
Gassho, J
sttlah
Comment