LIVING by VOW: The Four Bodhisattva Vows - PP 31 to 41 (thru Magnanimous Mind)

[Jundo]

Hello All Vowers and Vowees,

I feel that this week's material is also pretty dense with good things, so let us take it slow. This week is only about 10 pages.

Another observation I need to let sink in: Uchiyama Roshi's "The true mind of sentient beings - that is, universal self - itself is vow."

Also, "the whole of sitting is the practice of vow and, at the same time, the practice of repentance."

And, "repentance does not mean saying 'I'm sorry' ... as Buddhists repentance means awareness of our imperfections and limitations."

As to the Three Minds, I find them beautiful perspectives on our Practice and all of life.

How would joyful mind come into play in your life and daily activities? How about parental mind? How about maganimous mind?

Gassho, Jundo


SatTodayLAH

[Mp]

Thank you Jundo, let the sinking begin. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Hoko]

Thank you, Jundo.

If I remember correctly these core teachings from Uchiyama Roshi are straight out of Opening the Hand of Thought and his translation of Instructions for the Tenzo.
They're really fantastic! "One sitting, two practices and three minds" spells it out 1, 2, 3.

The discussion of what is meant by vow (life itself, really) and repentance (awareness of our individual limitations as opposed to traditional, Western contrition) is also well written.
I like the three minds analogy and I believe it relates somehow to a traditional Japanese three stringed instrument?
In any case joyfulness, caring/compassion and equanimity clearly articulate the "posture" of the Bodhisattva.

Moving through our every day lives we can actualize these three minds in any activity and they support each other.
Working hard at a difficult task we use magnanimous mind to try to remember that "hard" or "easy" are a by product of discriminating thoughts (this reminds me of Ummon's "Mount Sumeru!" koan)
At the same time we can have compassion for ourselves and others (after all, we're only human and life can be difficult sometimes!)
And by seeing the situation with magnanimity and compassion we increase the possibility of bringing joyfulness to the surface.

Great stuff. Really enjoying this book so far!

Gassho,
Hoko
#SatToday
LAH

[Meitou]

I echo what Hoko says here

If I remember correctly these core teachings from Uchiyama Roshi are straight out of Opening the Hand of Thought and his translation of Instructions for the Tenzo.
They're really fantastic! "One sitting, two practices and three minds" spells it out 1, 2, 3.

I've just finished Opening the Hand of Thought, what an amazing book.

I thought this was beautiful and to be held in mind

According to Dogen Zenji, our sitting is not part of our practice, but rather other activities are part of our zazen.

I love the idea of the three minds, but admit I've had some difficulty with the terminology. I had no problem with Joyous Mind at all, it resonated with all sorts of things for me, from our Precious Human Birth right along to Thich Nhat Hanh's beautiful explanation of washing dishes and it's a practice that I use all the time, especially when those small dissatisfactions and graspings are biting me. I loved this..

Dogen remarks further, "Now I have the fortune to be born a human being and prepare food to be received by the three jewels. Is this not a great karmic affinity

and this

Cooking is in itself a perfect action if it is cooking just for the sake of cooking.

These small things have really helped me in my daily life - this might seem quite mundane, but I used to resent every second of doing household chores, thinking constantly of what a waste of time they were and how I could be doing something more enjoyable, like reading. By making myself fully present with what I was doing, and doing it for its own sake, I found that I wanted to wash the dishes, sweep the floors, clean the house to the very best of my ability - who'd have thought it

What I did find a bit problematic was the expression Parental Mind - would this be because I'm not a parent myself? I'm not sure. I'd much rather use the words Nurturing Mind, to me this is an expression that has a slightly different feel, less patriarchal perhaps, although as I write I am beginning to understand more clearly the analogy between 'watching over water and grain' and paying attention to everything and 'how the Buddha manifests parental mind, the attitude of caring for things and other people'. I really liked the idea of nurturing the Dharma, especially as I'm more used to thinking about how the Dharma nurtures me.

Magnanimous mind I also equate with equanimity, something that I sometimes find difficult and which I seem to be struggling with quite often at the moment, nearly every time I look at the news in fact, but I'm holding on to this..

Spring, summer autumn and winter are one season. We should accept them as one reality of life. This is magnanimous mind.

Sometimes I find it hard not to judge - in fact I was writing out the Nurturing Seeds reminder a couple of days ago and for my own sake I added 'Judgement' to the list, with equanimity and compassion as its opposite.

I like the idea of reminding myself daily of the Three Minds and vowing to practice them. This book is such a gift.

Gassho
Sat with you all today.

[AlanLa]

I read these pages this morning, then sat zazen, then lived life for a while (worked on a project, ate lunch, watched TV, took a nap, took out the garbage, etc.), then came back to write this...

I like the hand analogy.

Our life is like a hand. When we see it as a hand, there is no distinction between the fingers, each finger is independent and has its own name and characteristics. Each has a unique shape and function. They can act independently and are not interchangeable. In the same way human beings are individuals. If we cut off a finger, it can't function as a finger anymore. A finger always works with other fingers. This is the reality of human life as well, but we often forget and think of ourselves only as individuals. This is a fundamental delusion for us. We have to wake up to the reality that we can be a finger only in relationship to other fingers working as one hand. The hand can be a family, a sangha, a society, or the whole universe. Yet if we think of this community as an entity in itself, it can become another, bigger ego.

I am part of many sanghas, and I take refuge in them, but I also act too much like a finger sometimes. I am working on the whole concept of freedom within the constraints of a sangha, which leads me to this:

To vow to save all beings doesn't mean that we believe we have the power to help all those who are in trouble. Imagining that were so would truly be quite arrogant. to same all beings means to be one with all beings. We cannot become one with others by means of our individual efforts. But we can wake up to the reality that from the beginning we are one with all beings. That is why we [I] study the obstacles that prevent us from seeing this reality.

As for the three minds, I think of joyful mind as grateful and dynamic, parental mind as nurturing and attentive, and magnanimous mind as equanimous. I like the metaphor of a surfer who surfs the waves of a great ocean (life), constantly adjusting for balance, and sometimes falling before getting back up to catch another wave, and sometimes he even needs to rest on the beach. It's zazen as life and life as zazen.

Hang 10 everyone.

[Shokai]

Thanks for sharing that Jigen

gassho, Shokai

sat/LAH

[AlanLa]

[Risho]

ha! that's cool!

I love this book. "How to cook your life" is such a great book also. These 3 minds are such a fundamental attitude of my practice, and it is absolutely practice for me because I fall back into habits.

A great practice ground for me is work. Over the years I've become more senior on the team, and my responsibilities have grown to reflect that. I could really write a lot about these 3 minds, but I couldn't do Shohaku justice, so I will try to keep this as terse as possible.

All 3 minds are very important. There are stressors at work. Different priorities etc. This goes for life too of course. In any case, when leading I was nervous at first because I wanted to do a good job. Then it occurred to me, if I focus on taking care of my people, then the rest will into place. That parental mind is really important. It extends to life; taking care of people, taking care of ourselves. How should I eat, workout, etc to take care of myself? That's parental mind. These 3 minds are really all so related, I think I'll just keep on with parental mind. At work, I used to be so used to deferring to someone with more authority, but I've started to just try to defer to myself as much as I can. Not only do I have to take care of my people, but I have to take care of my manager as well. For example, I feel one of my main job functions is to not add to and to relieve stress. So with so much going on at work, I try to be very careful with burdening others.

I really love this practice. Taking care of others and taking responsibility for whatever you can, not complaining, these can be difficult but at the same time they root me into my life. These attitudes bring about joy and magnanimity. Complaining does no good. Step back, slow down, and assess. Where are we? What do we have to do to move on? I default to complain mode, but by dropping that it really brings a lot of joy. That magnanimity does not come natural; its' much easier to complain.

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday/LAH

[Joyo]

I have a son that was recently diagnosed with having a disorder that causes many behaviour problems. This book is really helping me learn how to nurture myself and how to be a better parent to him.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today/lah

[Risho]

Joyo,

I just wanted to wish you metta.

Gassho,
Risho
-sattoday

[Joyo]

Joyo,

I just wanted to wish you metta.

Gassho,
Risho
-sattoday

Thank you, that is very kind!

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Shoka]

I really love the hand imagine in this section. The duality of nature is something that is always hard to describe and understand.

I really liked this

Life is like a hand. When we see it as a head, there is no distinction between the fingers. But when we see it as a collection of fingers,
each finger is independent and has its own name and characteristics. Each has a unique shape and function. They can act independently and are not interchangeable. ... This is the reality of human life as well, but we often forget and think of ourselves only as individuals.

I don't have much to say about it, but I have a feeling I will come back to that line of thinking over and over.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

[Jakuden]

Thank you for all the lovely insightful posts, as usual. This book is like drinking a cold glass of water when thirsty I am catching up to you all the past couple of days, the way practice and vow is described in these pages is so poetically and beautifully written. Confronted by multiple situations which in years past would have sent me spiraling into shock and depression, I have practiced joyful mind: how fortunate am I to be presented with these situations, providing me with both a chance to learn about myself and help others at every turn.... parental mind, keeping a watchful, skillful eye over multiple situations that require attention.... and magnanimous mind, this period of time is neither "bad" nor "good," just what it is right now.

Treeleaf is indeed providing the environment in which these vows are nurtured, as I have received messages of support and love from my dear brothers and sisters here over the past week that have made it much easier to be awake to my own vows. It works!

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Jakuden]

Another thought that occurs to me: it seems as if living by vow naturally follows the arising of bodhicitta?

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Entai]

First, I'd like to say thanks for taking this slowly and in smaller bits. My ability to read and process info isn't what it used to be due to some medical stuff. However, I'm enjoying the book.

I really like this quote from Dogen. I think it's a wonderful perspective on performing any task:

"Now I have the fortune to be born a human being and prepare food to be received by the three jewels. Is this not a great karmic affinity? We must be very happy about this."

Serving others isn't always pleasant or glamorous. It's helpful to remember that we are lucky for the opportunity to do so.

Gassho,
Entai
St/LAH