Book of Equanimity Case 25

[Oheso]

the fragment is broken,
broken from the Whole-
and yet the Whole remains intact,
as can be seen by its entire reflection
in each fragment.

gassho,
-O

[MyoHo]

Hey O. your poem is very butifull! It realy inspired me.
What do you think about it, if we do this:

There is no fragment to be broken
there is no whole to be broken off
What then could break the Whole?
Since there is nothing to reflect on
where does the light we see come from?

Enkyo

[Oheso]

very nice Enkyo! my Hui Neng!

[MyoHo]

Exactly! I just could not resist! Are you going to chase me into the mountains now? Maybe you cán pick up the robe and bowl?

By the way, I never realy grasped why Hui Neng had to run away? Must have been quite the monastic snakepit then!


Delighted

Gassho

Enkyo

[Risho]

He ran away because the other monks were jealous that he received Dharma transmission. The senior monastic expected to get transmission and be the next teacher. The teacher held a competition about who could express the dharma best. The senior monk wrote his poem. No other monastics even attempted to compete because they accepted him as their next teacher. In swoops Hui Neng, he writes an even better poem, and he receives the seal. This really pissed off the other monks who regarded him as some illiterate guy just working the grindstone everyday. Anyway I'm paraphrasing quite a bit, but he had to take transmission in secret and get the hell out of dodge basically.

Gassho,

Risho

[MyoHo]

Not what I meant Risho, but thank you . I’m familiar with the story. What I don't understand is why even the 5th Patriarch could not prevent all of this from happening? In the Sutra of Hui Neng we can see he wasn't even a monk, but a low lay servant at the time and had to have contact with the Master in secret. Also that the senior monk got very nervous because all other monks there expected him to deliver big time. In the end a five star general tuned monk caught up with Hui neng in the mountains. Must have been one dangerous place, both for Masters and the unassuming.

Some say the whole story never happened, but is meant as a metaphor and there is a lesson in there. What do you guys think?

Gassho

Enkyo

[Jakudo]

Honestly I don't think it matters if it really happened, as long as the teaching shines through. We can never know if anything really happens can we? (sorry for sounding so "zenny")
Gassho, Jakudo

[Risho]

I think it points to the danger of greed,anger and ignorance. In one's job, for instance, it can be easy to let ego get in the way. If someone else has an idea that is perceived or really is better, that can perhaps get us very angry. Or if you are passed up for a promotion, then you might get angry or even jealous that someone else got what you feel you deserved. And maybe you did deserve it, but is it worth all of the negativity that would come from exploding over it? The other monk, in this case, was passed up for a promotion that he expected. I guess in the end, it goes to illustrate how even "serene Zen practitioners" are human after all, and practice is ceaseless, as Dogen said. Greed, anger and ignorance are always there for us, reminding us of how important it is to practice.

Those are just a couple of thoughts. Sorry Enkyo, I read the earlier post literally, so I provided a paraphrased story. hahahah

Gassho,

Risho

[MyoHo]

No problem Risho! I kinda got that, yeah!

As for the story, I think there probably are several good lessons in it. As I understand, even the great Dogen wrestled with the question why human “mischief” does not vanish or totally disappears after enlightenment? I quite agree it does not really matter if all of it happened or not.

I just like to try and imagine what and how things really happened, because time tends to dip things in *&# (pardon my language ) or in gold Common sense sometimes gives a whole new perspective on things. Like the detail that the monk that made the initial poem, and was expected to become the new Master, never joined the posse that went after Hui Neng. Maybe the guy didn't want to be boss anyway? Makes ya wonder....

Are you familiar with the Sutra of Hui Neng? If not, I really can recommend it, because the man was ( and still is) well known for his common language and straight, simple explanations. The guy was initially a woodcutter, a simple working guy, like the most of us but nevertheless became the 6^th patriarch! His way of explaining is very different (still very profound and hard to grasp though) from the deep, intellectual and polished prose of Dogen Zenji. Maybe we should ask to put it on the reading list someday?
Anyway, I just love to talk and exchange ideas about these more practical sort of Zen things with you guys and enjoy your input very much! Thanks m8 .

Gassho
Enkyo