Dear all
This week we will look at sections 21-23 of the sutra, ending Huineng's bestowal of the formless precepts.
In section 21 Huineng asks his audience to chant the four bodhisattva vows. This sutra was written in the 7th or 8th century but 1200 years later, the form of these vows remains the same. He goes on to explain precisely what each line of the vow means based on the perfection of wisdom teachings that are the underlying theme of the sutra.
Red Pine adds to this saying that through a daily recitation of these vows we are in fact creating the realisation and transformation bodies of a buddha, and realising our lack of separation from the dharma body.
Section 22’s use of the Verse of Atonement is also very familiar, although it is noticeable that Huineng has three verses for separate atonement of words, thoughts and acts produced by delusion, ignorance and envy, whereas we have greed, anger and ignorance all in one verse now.
Huineng defines repentance as “to be aware of past misdeeds and not to commit them again for the rest of your life.”
In section 23, Huineng leads his audience in the recitation of the three refuges, although interestingly he already did this in one way in section 20. He goes on to explain that the three treasures refer to our own nature with the buddha being enlightenment (or our original self/buddha nature), the dharma is the truth itself and the sangha is purity.
Huineng says that only to take refuge in the external three treasures is wrong and we need to understand the internal aspects for it to have any meaning. Where can we find the buddha except within ourselves through seeing the essential nature of our own mind.
Questions
Wishing you all a good week. Please do come to the retreat on Saturday if you can!
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
This week we will look at sections 21-23 of the sutra, ending Huineng's bestowal of the formless precepts.
In section 21 Huineng asks his audience to chant the four bodhisattva vows. This sutra was written in the 7th or 8th century but 1200 years later, the form of these vows remains the same. He goes on to explain precisely what each line of the vow means based on the perfection of wisdom teachings that are the underlying theme of the sutra.
Red Pine adds to this saying that through a daily recitation of these vows we are in fact creating the realisation and transformation bodies of a buddha, and realising our lack of separation from the dharma body.
Section 22’s use of the Verse of Atonement is also very familiar, although it is noticeable that Huineng has three verses for separate atonement of words, thoughts and acts produced by delusion, ignorance and envy, whereas we have greed, anger and ignorance all in one verse now.
Huineng defines repentance as “to be aware of past misdeeds and not to commit them again for the rest of your life.”
In section 23, Huineng leads his audience in the recitation of the three refuges, although interestingly he already did this in one way in section 20. He goes on to explain that the three treasures refer to our own nature with the buddha being enlightenment (or our original self/buddha nature), the dharma is the truth itself and the sangha is purity.
Huineng says that only to take refuge in the external three treasures is wrong and we need to understand the internal aspects for it to have any meaning. Where can we find the buddha except within ourselves through seeing the essential nature of our own mind.
Questions
- In regard to the bodhisattva vows, what effect (if any) do you notice they have on both as you chant them, and cumulatively over time?
- How do you view going for refuge? Is this something you do at all? (I ask this as during my time in the Tibetan traditions, going for refuge was done daily, or multiple times a day, and that is more absent in Zen, mostly appearing as part of the precepts, and even then we tend to focus more on the other 13 parts)
Wishing you all a good week. Please do come to the retreat on Saturday if you can!
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
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