Stories of the Lotus Sutra - 1 - Foreword and Introduction

[Bion]

Bion recording the biweekly talks. If you are willing to put in the extra effort, is definitely something I would take advantage of. Im not great at "half doing" things that are important to me and I suspect that ill be working every Saturday until my regular work season rolls out again.

Gassho
Onsho
satlah

I completely understand that, yes. No worries, everything is recorded and will be available on the Study Page and notified via the forum and emails for those who've subscribed!
I did bring up your marvelous analogy of the firmware update

Gassho
sat lah

[MikeH]

Thanks, everyone, for the great discussion yesterday, especially Bion for organizing and leading this group. I'm very grateful to have learned about this group just as it was starting so that I can engage more deeply in some Zen literature and get to know the members of Treeleaf better through discussion.

I also wanted to give a heads up, in case anyone checks out Kurosawa's Rashomon after my little pitch, that it deals with some heavy sensitive topics (rape and murder) and includes some disturbing sexist language and themes. I also realized that I was just assuming that the priest in the film is Buddhist and that the film has Buddhist themes. Maybe I'm wrong? I'd be curious to hear (maybe in another forum) others' perspectives on that and anything else about the film. I mentioned it yesterday only because, like the book we're reading, it has stories within stories, and the viewer is meant to see the stories as inseparable from reality.

Looking forward to more discussions!
gassho
satlah,
mike

[Chikyou]

I’ve been reading the Lotus Sutra itself over the past couple days - I am through the first three “opening” chapters so far (ending with Ten Blessings). I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am surprised at how familiar it all is. I have already recognized several of Jundo’s dharma talks within it.

I was also surprised to read the description of the physical attributes of the Buddha. I was not imagining mirror ball eyes and Marge Simpson blue hair! (Coincidentally, I have a painted image of the Buddha on my altar which depicts him with blue hair- I had assumed that it was an artist’s impression of black hair reflecting sunlight. Apparently not! )

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō

[Jinjitsu]

I'm looking forward to participating in the discussion with you all across space and time if possible!

I don't know if anyone is familiar with the novel "Life of Pi" but it crossed my mind as I was reading the foreword and introduction, which felt serendipitous because I happened to find my old copy as I was cleaning out a closet at my parents' house today. Anyway, to grossly oversimplify, that book presents a choice between two narratives to describe a journey from point A to point B. The outcome is the same, but one story is dry and grim and fluorescent-lit and the other is colorful and fantastical and involves lots of animals. The impression I got from the introduction is that the Lotus Sutra similarly presents us with an imaginative vehicle for the truth of Reality, as long as we don't miss the forest for the trees.

Of course, I may be wildly off-base with this comparison but maybe that's part of the fun too! Looking forward to practicing with you all!

Gassho,
Jinjitsu
satlah

[Bion]

I was also surprised to read the description of the physical attributes of the Buddha. I was not imagining mirror ball eyes and Marge Simpson blue hair! (Coincidentally, I have a painted image of the Buddha on my altar which depicts him with blue hair- I had assumed that it was an artist’s impression of black hair reflecting sunlight. Apparently not! )

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō

I believe there are 32 physical marks of a Buddha in total, and interestingly, this is one of the reasons it was traditionally believed that women could not be a buddha. The sign of the soft, retractable male organ was simply impossible for a woman to possess. Jan Nattier, the scholar, has noted that in Indian culture, and even beyond it, it was outside the realm of imagination that a woman could be a Buddha. There was no problem, however, with the idea that women could be arahants or bodhisattvas.

Gassho

[Bion]

My apologies to those who have signed up for email notifications, as I totally forgot to add to the email the link to watch the Book Club meeting we had on Saturday.

Everyone, you can watch the recording here>>

Gassho
sat lah

[Shujin]

I'm a bit late, as my copy of the book arrived this morning. Both the forward an introduction do a good job of generating anticipation for the chapters to come. Hakuin's enlightenment story skips many details, as they often do, but I think it's important in that he didn't really appreciate the Lotus Sutra from the start. Sometimes there are things which only make sense later, and are verified or affirmed through practice . I don't have anything approaching Hakuin's level of understanding, but we'll see what develops.

Martin notes that we must possess an ability to imagine concepts within the Dharma. I'm not sure this is always the case. The dogwood flowers through rain, sunlight and the earth. Likewise, we can take care of our zazen throughout time, and something may blossom as well.

Gassho,
Shujin
st/lah

[Bion]

Martin notes that we must possess an ability to imagine concepts within the Dharma. I'm not sure this is always the case. The dogwood flowers through rain, sunlight and the earth. Likewise, we can take care of our zazen throughout time, and something may blossom as well.

Gassho,
Shujin
st/lah

An unsui-wizard is never late, Shujin Baggins. He arrives preciely when he means to!

shujin baggins.jpg

Thanks for jumping in and reflecting on this. I tend to agree with you on the topic of imagination.

Gassho
sat lah

[Shujin]

An unsui-wizard is never late, Shujin Baggins. He arrives preciely when he means to!

shujin baggins.jpg

Thanks for jumping in and reflecting on this. I tend to agree with you on the topic of imagination.

Gassho
sat lah

That rendition is terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Thank you for a good laugh, and maybe a nightmare or two.

[Chiko]

"Taking the stories seriously, without taking them too literally" seems like a good practice in all areas of life! This brings to mind Maro's remark from our first discussion that the differences we perceive between the Lotus Sutra and other texts are a reminder of their intrinsic emptiness (hopefully I'm paraphrasing well). Very helpful reminder not to cling to our critical evaluation of the Lotus or its style...maybe let the seeds scatter, and see what blooms?

Big thanks to Bion for leading our discussion with Dharmic dexterity!

Gassho, Chiko
st lah

[Maro]

maybe let the seeds scatter, and see what blooms?

Gassho, Chiko
st lah

I am bowing deeply to that Chiko :-)
(in the midst of such a difficult day...)

Gassho
Maro
satlah