What is a Buddhis master?

[Kyonin]

Over the weekend I went to a family dinner and everything was going fine and fun... until my aunt started making me questions about my practice.

She is not a Catholic, so she is more open to Buddhism. But she believes in faeries and everything new age.

I tried to respond as best as I could and it was actually a nice chat. The she said:

"Well you should focus on work, instead of playing the mystic". That was because I lead a very simple life and my family think I am the most mediocre man on Earth.

"Buddhist masters are very special people. They shine with a very bright light. And you are just like us."

And that got me thinking.

Setting the personal apart, what is a Buddhist master? To me he/she is just a regular person who committed to a life of study.

Then, why is it people tend to think you have to be like a powerful wizard to study Buddhism?

Aren't Buddhist masters just like any of us?

Buddha Nature is in all of us, and we all can become Buddha. But that's something I just couldn't make my aunt understand.

What do you guys think? Do you have to be born in Krypton, high midichlorian count or bitten by a radioactive Buddhist spider to be a Buddhist Master?

What is a Buddhist master, anyway?

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Hans]

Hello Kyonin,

nobody masters Zen. Bright and shiny religious leaders with special auras and perfume coming out of their anus are a dime a dozen. Doing the laundry, washing all that grime and blood and shit off your hands again and again..now there's some Zen.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Kyonin]

Hello Kyonin,

nobody masters Zen. Bright and shiny religious leaders with special auras and perfume coming out of their anus are a dime a dozen. Doing the laundry, washing all that grime and blood and shit off your hands again and again..now there's some Zen.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

Exactly! That's what I think. There is a lot of magical thinking that prevents people from seeing the fact that "Zen masters" are just regular folk.

Thank you, Mongen.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Hans]

Hello Kyonin,

well, hold your horses

I once saw an 80+ year old Nichiren monk weeding his garden in Lumbini. The care and attention he was paying was quite masterful. All I mean is that only because one should be careful not to hunt after idealised characters from a picture book, doesn't mean that my vanilla-sloth practise is on the same level as that of more dedicated practitioners.

Gassho and a wink,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Yugen]

Hello Kyonin,

nobody masters Zen. Bright and shiny religious leaders with special auras and perfume coming out of their anus are a dime a dozen. Doing the laundry, washing all that grime and blood and shit off your hands again and again..now there's some Zen.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

Hans.
Thank you indeed.

Gassho
Yugen

[Nengyo]

Hello Kyonin,

nobody masters Zen. Bright and shiny religious leaders with special auras and perfume coming out of their anus are a dime a dozen. Doing the laundry, washing all that grime and blood and shit off your hands again and again..now there's some Zen.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

I thought all zen masters has perfume dispensing anuses (or ani for you Latin lovers)

[Jundo]

Hi Kyonin,

I agree. In my view, "master" is someone with some "mastery" in an art or tradition to pass on and pass down ... from carpentry to medicine to martial arts to Zen Buddhary. It need not mean the "master" is perfect, one can be a "master carpenter", yet not every corner will always be smooth; a "master surgeon" cannot cure every patient, and even the most gifted lifesaver of thousands may sometimes make a bad cut or deadly error. However, one should be pretty darn skilled in applying the art in life, and much more skilled and competent than those without the skills required. As in mastery in the martial arts, there is no technique for never being hit or never losing one's footing ... let alone for winning every battle ... there is no training offered on how to never fall, but rather, endless training on how to fall well. Show me the man or woman who encounters life's obstacles, sunny and rainy days, loops and losses, ups and downs ... all the mess and mayhem of Samsara ... who may be sometimes knocked sideways or down ... but who demonstrates how to be hit well and recover one's footing ... and I will show you a great Zen teacher.

One of the unfortunate aspects of religion is the tendency to put the leader or "guru" on a pedestal as being perfect, beyond any and all human failing ... always wise, never saying the wrong thing, always balanced and in control. The Lineage legends and Sutra story books tend to dip in gold and place on pedestals all our long dead ancestors, scrubbing them of every human failing. I think that unfortunate. Plenty of wannabe cult leaders are ready to play to such an image even now ... and plenty of "need a daddy to tell me what to do" students are ever willing to buy into it. That is a shame.

In fact, there are really no "Zen Teachers" ... for Zen cannot be taught. The "Teachers" are more like experienced "Dharma Friends" offering tips and coaching to help the seeker do all the heavy lifting ... and sitting ... on their own.

I think I will offer a "sit-a-long" talk tomorrow on this very topic, and recent scandals with a couple of Zen teachers in the news. Look for that tomorrow.

Oh, and by the way ... before I leave the topic ... do you know that a Zen Master is Buddha, beyond all error and mistake, one with the universe, always doing what is to be done in every situation, always speaking with a Buddha's tongue, never possibly to trip or fall, at total peace and harmony and wholeness with all this self-life-world? Do you know that Zen Masters are, in fact, Golden Buddhas and Perfect Jewels? It is true. I bullshit you not,　I mean it in all seriousness.

However, so are you ... and all people ... and every mountain and tree and star! Each and All Buddha, Beyond Error and Mistake, totally at one piece and harmony and wholeness with the universe, all preaching with a Buddha's tongue, with no place possibly to fall etc. etc.

The Zen Master may simply realize (know and embody) that fact more than the average bloke ... and hopefully has some skill in helping her students realize such too in their lives.

Gassho, J

[Jundo]

By the way ... Buddhist Masters also have amazing mystical powers! It's True!

Here, for example, is my returning from the PAST ... and a sit-a-long talk from way back in 2009 ...

We now come to the Bodhisattva Virtue of ....


Miraculous, Mystical Powers (bala)


Mahayana sutras and lore refer to a variety of supernatural powers developed through meditation and Buddhist practice, said of aid to the Bodhisattva ... such as the ability to foretell the future, to see the past lives of beings, to read minds, to radiate light and to cause rain ... others too ...

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Taigen Dan Leighton writes ...

Buddhist attitude toward such powers has often been ambivalent, particularly in the Zen tradition, which emphasizes attention to ordinary, everyday activity. This outlook was epitomized in the legendary utterance by the great eighth-century Chinese adept, Layman Pang, that the ultimate super- natural power was chopping wood and carrying water. The ordinary world, just as it is, can be appreciated as an amazing, wondrous event. And experiences that seem supernatural and miraculous may only appear so to the limited portions of our mental and spiritual faculties that we conventionally employ.

Unfortunately, my amazing powers did not including fixing the sound and picture quality on Youtube back then.

[RichardH]

Sure there is mastery and masters. I have mastered the craft of oil painting by working at it non-stop my whole life. That just means knowing the medium and the process inside-out.. it means working at it so long the handling becomes precise and intuitive. It doesn't mean being perfect and having nothing to learn. I'll always be a student. It does mean being able to speak and teach on oil painting with complete relaxed confidence, without hesitation. I also know I am not a Buddhist master, and feel embarrassed at even entertaining such a thought. ...but I am absorbing the teachings and determined, and do aspire ....not to achieve "mastery", but to practice every day until this process is well known down to the bones, inside-out. There is a long way to go, and I am grateful for masters who can help me. I am grateful for the mastery demonstrated by teachers here... and wouldn't be here if it wasn't demonstrated.

gassho/ kojip


ed. I also aspire to master typing..

[Kyonin]

Thank you, Mongen.

Gassho,

Kyonin

Hello Kyonin,

well, hold your horses

I once saw an 80+ year old Nichiren monk weeding his garden in Lumbini. The care and attention he was paying was quite masterful. All I mean is that only because one should be careful not to hunt after idealised characters from a picture book, doesn't mean that my vanilla-sloth practise is on the same level as that of more dedicated practitioners.

Gassho and a wink,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Kyonin]

One of the unfortunate aspects of religion is the tendency to put the leader or "guru" on a pedestal as being perfect, beyond any and all human failing ... always wise, never saying the wrong thing, always balanced and in control.

Yes, this is exactly how a lot of people think about Buddhist Masters. They tend to idealize them and fail to see the fact that they aren't living gods.

Thank you, Jundo

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Risho]

Thank you!

Gassho,

Risho

[Kaishin]

"Buddhist masters are very special people. They shine with a very bright light. And you are just like us."

Interesting--is she under the impression they are born that way? Maybe again this is the influence of the Dalai Lama/Tibetan Buddhism on the West. Since they "find" reborn Lamas, maybe she thinks that all traditions are that way?

[Jinyo]

I guess it's inevitable that there is a hierachy in Zen - as in all of life. It's maybe harder to gauge - it's not like we sit an exam paper - or build
up credentials in a systematic way. I think with Zen it comes down to a matter of trust - does this person seem dependable, am I learning in a positive
manner from him/her? etc.

I do think it's important that 'certified' Zen teachers adhere to a written code of ethics, etc - perhaps Zen will need to go the way of other training organisations?


I'm not keen on the word 'master' - that's just a personal thing - I'm happy with 'teacher' - feels more user friendly and downplays the mystique that can get
attached Zen.


I'm very happy with the teaching here - pretty darn excellent

Gassho


Willow

[Risho]

I'm with you on the master thing. I think that' just a cultural difference.

I like the style here. We come together in a very natural, friendly way. Jundo and Taigu aren't pushy, and are very open. They respond when they see crap posted, etc, and they help guide us. I really like this format. The only thing that concerns me is the inner circle, where they teach the secret ways of the force. I'm concerned about getting force choked, but I suppose it comes with the territory. lol

Funny sidenote: I love how the Buddhist books are always bundled in Eastern Religion, near the same section as new age. Oh what the hell, lump them all together. I hope one day we start seeing magic in that section as well...or perhaps we could use a book named "The zen of Harry Potter". that would sell. hahahhahha (ok I'm done with my sarcasm)