Dear all
This week we will be reading sections 34 and 35. In section 34 the Magistrate (whom we might remember from section 1 as Wei Ch’u of Shaochou who instructs Huineng’s disciple Fa-hai to make a record of the Sixth Patriarch’s lecture) requests to ask a question of Huineng. He goes on to ask about Bodhidharma’s legendary encounter with Emperor Wu in which the Emperor tells Bodhidharma about all of the temples he has built and offerings he has made in support of the dharma and asks how much merit is in that. Bodhidharma’s answer ‘No merit’ confuses the Magistrate and he wishes to understand better.
Echoing his formless poem in section 33, in which he says that “Fools work for blessings and not the way”, Huineng explains to the Magistrate that giving alms and building temples are down for blessings rather than merit. Giving to gain blessings is not practice but done for the sake of self, the true merit rests in our own dharma nature.
As is now familiar in this sutra, Huineng’s teaching also draws on The Diamond Sutra in which the wisdom contained in the prajnaparamita literature is seen as far greater than a near infinite number of offerings.
In section 35, the Magistrate bows and asks another question, this time about whether chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha will lead to rebirth in his Pure Land as that tradition says.
Huineng explains that the Pure Land is actually no different from our buddha nature itself and if we realise that, we are born there in an instant. However, if we remain deluded about our nature, no amount of chanting will take us there.
Red Pine restates this clearly, “If our minds are impure, we live impure lives no matter where we find ourselves. And if our minds are pure, what need is there to be reborn somewhere else?”
Samsara and nirvana are not two different places but rather the difference between an unrealised and realised mind.
Huineng goes on to ask the Magistrate if he would like to visit the Western Paradise (Pure Land) here and now and the Magistrate of course says that he would.
Huineng explains that our physical body is like a city, with the sense doors acting as the city’s gates. Our minds are the kingdom and our true nature is the king. He then goes on to make other comparisons and says that when our enlightened nature shines through our body and mind (the city), the three poisons disappear, the hell realms vanish and all is no different from the Pure Land itself.
There is a story like this in The Hidden Lamp koan collection called The Old Woman and the Pure Land:
An old lady of faith was walking along the road when she met a Zen master, who said to her, “On your way to the Pure Land, eh, Granny?”
She nodded.
“Holy Amitabha’s there, waiting for you, I expect.”
She shook her head.
“Not there? The Buddha’s not in his Pure Land? Where is he then?”
She tapped twice over her heart and went on her way.
Questions
Wishing you all a beautiful week.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
This week we will be reading sections 34 and 35. In section 34 the Magistrate (whom we might remember from section 1 as Wei Ch’u of Shaochou who instructs Huineng’s disciple Fa-hai to make a record of the Sixth Patriarch’s lecture) requests to ask a question of Huineng. He goes on to ask about Bodhidharma’s legendary encounter with Emperor Wu in which the Emperor tells Bodhidharma about all of the temples he has built and offerings he has made in support of the dharma and asks how much merit is in that. Bodhidharma’s answer ‘No merit’ confuses the Magistrate and he wishes to understand better.
Echoing his formless poem in section 33, in which he says that “Fools work for blessings and not the way”, Huineng explains to the Magistrate that giving alms and building temples are down for blessings rather than merit. Giving to gain blessings is not practice but done for the sake of self, the true merit rests in our own dharma nature.
As is now familiar in this sutra, Huineng’s teaching also draws on The Diamond Sutra in which the wisdom contained in the prajnaparamita literature is seen as far greater than a near infinite number of offerings.
In section 35, the Magistrate bows and asks another question, this time about whether chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha will lead to rebirth in his Pure Land as that tradition says.
Huineng explains that the Pure Land is actually no different from our buddha nature itself and if we realise that, we are born there in an instant. However, if we remain deluded about our nature, no amount of chanting will take us there.
Red Pine restates this clearly, “If our minds are impure, we live impure lives no matter where we find ourselves. And if our minds are pure, what need is there to be reborn somewhere else?”
Samsara and nirvana are not two different places but rather the difference between an unrealised and realised mind.
Huineng goes on to ask the Magistrate if he would like to visit the Western Paradise (Pure Land) here and now and the Magistrate of course says that he would.
Huineng explains that our physical body is like a city, with the sense doors acting as the city’s gates. Our minds are the kingdom and our true nature is the king. He then goes on to make other comparisons and says that when our enlightened nature shines through our body and mind (the city), the three poisons disappear, the hell realms vanish and all is no different from the Pure Land itself.
There is a story like this in The Hidden Lamp koan collection called The Old Woman and the Pure Land:
An old lady of faith was walking along the road when she met a Zen master, who said to her, “On your way to the Pure Land, eh, Granny?”
She nodded.
“Holy Amitabha’s there, waiting for you, I expect.”
She shook her head.
“Not there? The Buddha’s not in his Pure Land? Where is he then?”
She tapped twice over her heart and went on her way.
Questions
- Given that the first paramita is the perfection of generosity, why is there no merit in giving alms and building temples? Is there a way of giving that does have merit (which is itself related to the paramita)? Do you have any sympathy for Emperor Wu?
- Do you think there is a place for chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha and other similar practices or is this, as Huineng says, a pointless exercise if we do not work to see our own nature?
Wishing you all a beautiful week.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
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