Gate Fifty-two
Read the following, place it in your heart and sleep on it. Then, tomorrow, live it until evening when you can leave a brief comment on what you may have received during the process.
The body* as an abode of mindfulness is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] all dharmas are serene.
A “Dharma Gate” is a teaching or practice that can lead to spiritual growth: some kind of positive outcome in terms of our practice. A way to approach the truth.
Koan:
"The boundless sky is the nose of all people. The vast earth is the legs and feet of all people.Therefore, the ancestral teacher [Bodhidharma] came from the west and directly clarified how all buddhas appear in the world. The nose performs the Buddha work of the eyes, The eyes perform the Buddha work of the ears.** The six sense faculties function together, and all objects practice together. So it is said, "A stone person*** resembles you and sings a popular song. You resemble a stone person, and are in harmony with the music of the snow.**** Exactly thus, exactly now all sense fields are perfect wisdom. Everybody, do you want to enact this reality in complete detail? After a pause Dogen added: Who would complain that spring radiance does not seek after anything? The bright green grasses and hundreds of flowers are refreshing."
Click image for larger version.
Most note worthy replies :
When we're mindful of our body as the universe and the universe as our body, then there is no friction between "things", and serenity prevails.
Notes:
* “the whole universe in ten directions is the real body”
Abode: a place in which a person resides
** This is a paraphrase from chapter 33 of the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Ornament Sutra) See Cleary
*** "A stone person .... " is a quote from Yunman
**** The music of the snow may refer to silence
合掌 仁道 生開 - gassho, Jindo Shokai
stlah
Read the following, place it in your heart and sleep on it. Then, tomorrow, live it until evening when you can leave a brief comment on what you may have received during the process.
The body* as an abode of mindfulness is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] all dharmas are serene.
A “Dharma Gate” is a teaching or practice that can lead to spiritual growth: some kind of positive outcome in terms of our practice. A way to approach the truth.
Koan:
"The boundless sky is the nose of all people. The vast earth is the legs and feet of all people.Therefore, the ancestral teacher [Bodhidharma] came from the west and directly clarified how all buddhas appear in the world. The nose performs the Buddha work of the eyes, The eyes perform the Buddha work of the ears.** The six sense faculties function together, and all objects practice together. So it is said, "A stone person*** resembles you and sings a popular song. You resemble a stone person, and are in harmony with the music of the snow.**** Exactly thus, exactly now all sense fields are perfect wisdom. Everybody, do you want to enact this reality in complete detail? After a pause Dogen added: Who would complain that spring radiance does not seek after anything? The bright green grasses and hundreds of flowers are refreshing."
- Dogen's Extensive Record; Dharma Hall discourse 152, pg 179
Click image for larger version.
Most note worthy replies :
Knowing my substance
As the stuff of all, flowing
Same matter...
(Doesn't matter)
As the stuff of all, flowing
Same matter...
(Doesn't matter)
When we're mindful of our body as the universe and the universe as our body, then there is no friction between "things", and serenity prevails.
Knowing the whole world
As ourselves
We are always home
As ourselves
We are always home
Notes:
* “the whole universe in ten directions is the real body”
Abode: a place in which a person resides
** This is a paraphrase from chapter 33 of the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Ornament Sutra) See Cleary
*** "A stone person .... " is a quote from Yunman
**** The music of the snow may refer to silence
合掌 仁道 生開 - gassho, Jindo Shokai
stlah
Comment