BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 14

[galen]

I have been on both sides of this sort of exchange many times, both as a teacher and as a student. Questioner asks a question that gets quickly answered, and then some time later the answerer goes, "Oh, that really wasn't the question, was it?" and finally addresses the real question. The point in these situations is not that the answerer misses the original point, but that they finally get the point at all. It takes patience on both sides; the teacher needs to let the question settle in, and the student needs to let the true answer bubble up.

I cannot count how many times (not so much because it was so many as much because it's too hard to look back on) I have spouted off only to find out later I was just plain Wrong. OOPS, but I learned from those experiences, and so they were painfully valuable.

As for the buddha nature question:

Well done. Always good to hear from you, Alan.

Thus helping to make the point, there is No wrong, only a perception of that moment in time.

[BrianW]

Can you recall an instance where looking back at past events revealed to you what should have been understood there and then by you?
Who has more Buddha nature, your father, or your mother?

Hello all,

First off...nice job Shohei in keeping your cool. It is difficult sometimes, but a patient response can sometimes do wonders.

Looking past I can see many times in my practice when I should have understood, but was clueless. Nevertheless, sometimes things just have to soak in. When I started practice at Treeleaf I was really after experiencing "a different kind of mind" to quote the Beatles. (Of course that's not what zazen is all about, but my quest created an interest. All this talk of samu and all was nice and happy talk and I agreed we should help others and such, but I didn't really pay much attention to it all. Now samu if a daily concern and I just do it....not a "thou shalt" but something just soaked in and bang!

As for the mother/father question....I'll let that soak in a bit.



Gassho,
Jisen/BrianW