The Seventeenth of 108 Gates Of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

The Seventeenth Gate: Abandonment

Abandonment is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we turn away from the five desires*.(Nishijima/Cross)
Letting go is a gate of realizing Dharma; it frees you from the five types of desire*.(Tanahashi)

Gate Gatha:
May we, together with all buddhas;
Renounce any and all attachments,
That we may turn away from the five desires.*

* 1. Sensory desire, the particular type of wanting that seeks for happiness through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
*2. Ill-will, all kinds of thought related to wanting to reject; feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness.
*3. Sloth-and-torpor, heaviness of body and dullness of mind which drag one down into disabling inertia and thick depression.
*4. Restlessness-and-worry, the inability to calm the mind.
*5. Doubt, lack of conviction or trust.

Reflection Prompts:
1. Do you feel Abandonment on Letting go are synonymous?
2. Is turning away from the five desires the only result of letting go?
3. Is it fair to limit the types of desires to just five.

Capping Verse:
Drop all attachments
And the self
May just drop the self


gasho, Shokai
stlah

[Hosai]

[B]The Seventeenth Gate:
That we may turn away from the five desires.*

* 1. Sensory desire, the particular type of wanting that seeks for happiness through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
*2. Ill-will, all kinds of thought related to wanting to reject; feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness.
*3. Sloth-and-torpor, heaviness of body and dullness of mind which drag one down into disabling inertia and thick depression.
*4. Restlessness-and-worry, the inability to calm the mind.
*5. Doubt, lack of conviction or trust.

I don't desire: ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry and doubt....

_/\_
sat/ah
matt

[Choujou]

Reflection Prompts:
1. Do you feel Abandonment on Letting go are synonymous?
2. Is turning away from the five desires the only result of letting go?
3. Is it fair to limit the types of desires to just five.

1. No, abandonment is the releasing of harmful attachments/desires already formed. Letting go is a release of everything one holds as the “self”, all distinctions, judgements, thought, and ideas of self.

2. ohhhhhh No… there is SO much more…

3. It is hard to say whether all desires would fall under just these five categories. I would say that if one was unsure, to trust the feeling that the thought of an action brings… one can feel if an action/thought/word is in harmony with the precepts and the Dharma.

Gassho,
Jay

sat/lah today

[Tairin]

Every year when we cover this gate, I have trouble with the word abandonment. To me abandonment isn’t quite the right word I prefer “letting go”. Abandonment implies a degree of neglect where as letting go is more of a positive and conscious action.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[IanSmith]

1. I dont think abandonment and letting go are quite synonymous. They share a "Family resemblance",but are often used differently. Perhaps abandonment has a more pejorative connotation, letting go a more positive connotation ? so i agree with ZenJay to an extent.
2, I will have to think about that.
3. The five hindrances are simply a comprehensive list of everything you could possibly do that isn't attending to this very moment.

Gassho
Ian
Sat lah