Gate Eighty
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.
Right practice is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we arrive at the far shore.
Right practice : repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.
By “Dharma Gate”, We mean 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 raft parable is one of the best known of the Buddha's many parables and similes. Even people who know little else about Buddhism have heard the one about the raft (or, in some versions, a boat).
A man traveling along a path came to a great expanse of water. As he stood on the shore, he realized there were dangers and discomforts all about. But the other shore appeared safe and inviting. The man looked for a boat or a bridge and found neither. But with great effort he gathered grass, twigs and branches and tied them all together to make a simple raft. Relying on the raft to keep himself afloat, the man paddled with his hands and feet and reached the safety of the other shore. He could continue his journey on dry land. Now, what would he do with his makeshift raft? Would he drag it along with him or leave it behind? He would leave it, the Buddha said. Then the Buddha explained that the dharma is like a raft. It is useful for crossing over but not for holding onto, he said. Variations on the raft parable appear in other scriptures. One notable example is found in the sixth chapter of the Diamond Sutra. Many English translations of the Diamond suffer from the translators' attempts to make sense of it, and versions of this chapter are all over the map, so to speak. This is from Red Pine's translation:
"...fearless bodhisattvas do not cling to a dharma, much less to no dharma. This is the meaning behind the Tathagata's saying, 'A dharma teaching is like a raft. If you should let go of dharmas, how much more so no dharmas.'"
This bit of the Diamond Sutra also has been interpreted in various ways. A common understanding is that a wise bodhisattva recognizes the usefulness of dharma teachings without becoming attached to them, so that they are released when they have done their work. "No dharma" is sometimes explained as worldly matters or to the teachings of other traditions.
In the context of the Diamond Sutra, it would be foolish to consider this passage as a permission slip to ignore dharma teachings altogether. Throughout the sutra, the Buddha instructs us to not be bound by concepts, even concepts of "Buddha" and "dharma." For that reason, any conceptual interpretation of the Diamond will fall short."
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.
Right practice is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we arrive at the far shore.
Right practice : repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.
By “Dharma Gate”, We mean 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 raft parable is one of the best known of the Buddha's many parables and similes. Even people who know little else about Buddhism have heard the one about the raft (or, in some versions, a boat).
A man traveling along a path came to a great expanse of water. As he stood on the shore, he realized there were dangers and discomforts all about. But the other shore appeared safe and inviting. The man looked for a boat or a bridge and found neither. But with great effort he gathered grass, twigs and branches and tied them all together to make a simple raft. Relying on the raft to keep himself afloat, the man paddled with his hands and feet and reached the safety of the other shore. He could continue his journey on dry land. Now, what would he do with his makeshift raft? Would he drag it along with him or leave it behind? He would leave it, the Buddha said. Then the Buddha explained that the dharma is like a raft. It is useful for crossing over but not for holding onto, he said. Variations on the raft parable appear in other scriptures. One notable example is found in the sixth chapter of the Diamond Sutra. Many English translations of the Diamond suffer from the translators' attempts to make sense of it, and versions of this chapter are all over the map, so to speak. This is from Red Pine's translation:
"...fearless bodhisattvas do not cling to a dharma, much less to no dharma. This is the meaning behind the Tathagata's saying, 'A dharma teaching is like a raft. If you should let go of dharmas, how much more so no dharmas.'"
This bit of the Diamond Sutra also has been interpreted in various ways. A common understanding is that a wise bodhisattva recognizes the usefulness of dharma teachings without becoming attached to them, so that they are released when they have done their work. "No dharma" is sometimes explained as worldly matters or to the teachings of other traditions.
In the context of the Diamond Sutra, it would be foolish to consider this passage as a permission slip to ignore dharma teachings altogether. Throughout the sutra, the Buddha instructs us to not be bound by concepts, even concepts of "Buddha" and "dharma." For that reason, any conceptual interpretation of the Diamond will fall short."
-Barbara O'Brien's Learning Religions; link here
Most note worthy replies :
Synonymity,
All these things that are life
Coalescing
.Already perfect
We practice
For that's perfection
合掌 仁道 生開 - gassho, Jindo Shokai
stlah
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