Bodhidharma Speaks ...

Text no 3: First Letter

From the Bodhidharma Anthology, this text is popularly attributed to Bodhidharma but is technically by an anonymous author.

I have always admired the former wise ones. I have broadly cultivated all the practices. I have always esteemed the Pure Lands of the Buddhas and looked up to the teachings that have come down to us as a thirsty man longs for water. Those who have been able to meet Sakyamuni Buddha and realize the great path are in the millions; those who have obtained the four fruits are numberless. I really thought that the heavenly mansions were another country and the hells another place, that is one were to attain the path and get the fruit, one’s bodily form would change. I unrolled sutra scrolls to seek blessings; through pure practice I [tried to produce karmic] causes. In confusion I went around in circles, chasing my mind and creating karma; this I passed many years without the leisure to take a rest. Then for the first time I dwelled upright in dark quiescence and settles external objects in the kingdom of mind. However, I had been cultivating false thought for such a long time that my feelings led me to continue to see characteristics. I came to the point where I wanted to probe the difficulties inherent in these illusionary transformations. In the end I clearly apprehended the Dharma Nature and engaged in a course practice of Thusness. For the first time I realized that within the square inch of my own mind there is nothing that does not exist. The bright pearl comprehends clearly and darkly penetrated the deep tendency of things. From the Buddhas above to the wriggling insects below there is nothing that is not another name for false thought. There are calculations of thought. And so I have given written expression to my dark musings. Moreover, I will reveal the Verses on Devices for Entering the Path [Ju-tao fang-pien chi], to be used as an admonition to those who have the conditions for the same type of awakening. If you have time, unroll and read it:

Through cross-legged sitting dhyana, in the end you will necessarily see the Original Nature.

Inevitability you will fuse and purify mind.

If for a split second [thought] arises, [you will be in the conditioned realm of] arising and extinguishing.

In the midst [of birth and death], to remember thoughts is [like a Buddhist aspirant] engaging in an improper means of livelihood.

You may search for Dharma and surmise various things, but your karma will not be changed.

Given revolving and increasing defilement, mind finds it difficult to reach the ultimate.

The wise one, upon suddenly hearing the eight characters, awakens to the principle.

He realizes for the first time that his six years of ascetic activity were in vain.

All over the world, everywhere, are people of the Evil One

Who clamor in vain and engage in meaningless arguments.

Making false explanations, they teach sentient beings.

Talking about remedies, they cure not one disease.

Things have always been in a state of quiescence and there has never existed a perceiving subject.

How could there be good and evil, false and correct?

Even arising is no-arising; even extinguishing is no-extinguishing.

Moving is no-moving; concentration is no-concentration.

Text no 4: Second Letter

From the Bodhidharma Anthology, this text is popularly attributed to Bodhidharma but is technically by an anonymous author.

Shadows arise from bodily forms; echoes follow upon voices. Some play with their shadows to the point of tiring their bodies, not realizing that their bodies are the shadows. Some raise their voices to stop the echoes, not realizing that the voice is the source of the echo. Searching for nirvana by eliminating the defilements is like searching for the shadow by getting rid of the body. Seeking for Buddhahood by rejecting sentient beings is like seeking for the echo by silencing the voice. Therefore, we know that delusion and awakening are one road, that stupidity and wisdom are not different. In a place of namelessness they mistakenly think of erecting names, and because of these names, is and is-not are born. In a place without principles they mistakenly think of creating principles, and because of these principles, disputations flourish therein. Illusionary transformations are not real, so who is right and who is wrong? Falsity is unreal, so what exists and what does not exist? One should know that obtaining is having nothing to obtain and losing is having nothing to lose. Having not yet been able to talk with you, I have composed these lines, but how can one discuss the dark purport?

The above is from a book of early Zen records - and supposedly written by the near mythical Bodhidharma himself.

I typed out the text myself to help me understand it and make it a part of my everyday life. I found the above to be the most moving in the book. I am still in awe at how much strength, clarity and humanising honesty the author was able to use in such short pieces of text.

While typing out the above on a warm day, I felt the spiritual and physical longing of the thirsty for cool water and I mindfully sipped in between typing. I am also hearted to know that even in some of the pitfalls of the Buddhist path that I am not alone.

Thank you to all those who struggled and suffered while helping me along my way so I may sit here out of the harsh sun, with water to cool my belly and time to enjoy such sentimental text. I hope I do not dally when I am able to help others along their various paths.

The Heart Sutra: Remix

Click to jump to the Heart Sutra Remix

The Heart Sutra is a fundamental teaching from the Mahayana branch of Buddhist doctrine, as this branch then sprouted more branches itself (such and Chan/Zen, Pure Land and Vajrayana to name a few) most lineages have their preferred version or an opinion on the Heart Sutra.
[If you are reading this and are a mostly in the Theravada lineages, I would be interested in hearing a Theravadin perspective on this teaching.]

I have even posted before about the Heart Sutra although that time was mostly as a reference version in the early days of the internet.

There are many versions available these days - an interesting collection can be found at dharmanet.org. Many things come to mind when presented with soo many versions of a key text:

• Most are translated by a group of people, usually due to the specialist knowledge required to authentically translate some of the more thoughtful or idea-dense words.
• Sometimes the translators are just linguists that have no intrinsic "feel" for the scriptures being translated.
• None come close to a "Conversational English" version (some of the Zen translations get surprisingly close) and all end up sounding like they are ancient texts translated via specialist terms that were only discovered and shared by religious missionaries, both Buddhist and Christian - and few missionaries have such perfect language skills to base such important translations on.
• The dharmanet.org version by "the Reverend Xuan-Zang" is by Tripitaka from Monkey/Journey to the West fame. "Xuan-Zang" was his Chinese name and upon his return to China, he was famous for his teaching on this scripture - in fact in the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West based on his adventure has the full text of the Heart Sutra in it out of respect to him.

Christian scholars have had very similar problems with the Bible; constantly battling to make it "sound right" but still make sense. This had lead to some "Remix" Bibles - such as the Message translation - Bibles in a conversational tone that can be used to get the idea of what is being said without being bogged down in some very linguistic matters.

Here is a similar version of the Heart Sutra I managed to compose, keep in mind I only speak English and that this may be revised or reposted to keep it up to date.

The Heart Sutra Remix

By the author of this blog

The great compassionate one, while wading through coursing thoughts of glowing light realized that the five parts that make a human were hollow.

Talking to Shariputra, the great compassionate one said:
“Do you realize that the five things that make a person aren’t real?
Physical things are hollow, and hollow things are physical - As one takes up space and the other is the space between what is there.
That’s because, the physical and the non-physical define each other!
The same is true with people’s feelings, what they see of the world, how they think the world works and how they think of themselves!
It doesn’t mean a thing! - except to the person who is feeling, perceiving, thinking of the world and themselves.

So all truths are just as hollow!

There are no building blocks to make a person out of!
There is no birth and no death!
No purity or impurity!
No increasing or decreasing!

So, Shariputra, in this hollow, empty space of a place there is:
No physical forms,
No feelings,
No perceptions,
No ideas,
No self-consciousness!

No eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, nothing other than my mind to think of, nothing for an eye to see, nothing outside for your mind to notice, no other place of truths to discover and no identity or self to be conscious of!

There is no ignorance, no end to ignorance - up to no old age and death AND no end of old age and death!

In short:
No Suffering!

Nothing to get caught up in and suffer over and so, no end to suffering!

There is no “path”, no “wisdom”, nothing to “get” - and nothing you don’t already have!

Because - people like me Shariputra, have nothing to “get” they sit around in these clear, coursing and glowing thoughts all the time.

Since there is nothing for my mind to hide behind - there is no fear of anything.
Since there is nothing left that can be false - I only see the truth around me.

All those perfect people out there, know this and do this as well.

So, the idea behind all this - the key thing is:
“Go, go! Go beyond! Keep on going and go completely beyond! Wake up and see the light!!”

The Heart Sutra

Translation by the Nalanda Translation Committee

Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha at Vulture Peak mountain, together with a great gathering of the sangha of monks and a great gathering of the sangha of bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One entered the samadhi that expresses the dharma called "profound illumination," and at the same time noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, while practicing the profound prajnaparamita, saw in this way: he saw the five skandhas to be empty of nature.

Then, through the power of the Buddha, venerable Shariputra said to noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, "How should a son or daughter of noble family train, who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita?"

Addressed in this way, noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, said to venerable Shariputra, "O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita.

Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times, by means of prajnaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true, complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajnaparamita, the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth, since there is no deception. The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA

Thus, Shariputra, the bodhisattva mahasattva should train in the profound prajnaparamita.

Then the Blessed One arose from that samadhi and praised noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, saying, "Good, good, O son of noble family; thus it is, O son of noble family, thus it is. One should practice the profound prajnaparamita just as you have taught and all the tathagatas will rejoice."
When the Blessed One had said this, venerable Shariputra and noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, that whole assembly and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.

Quick Links + Updates - Week ending 11/12/2015

This week:

I have been busy with my first attempt to celebrate Rohatsu. I have previously forgotten to check when it is, only to end up missing it - this year I noticed early enough to try to make it a part of my life. It was a very moving time for me, and they may be some shareable writing coming out of that - so keep your eyes peeled!

I have also started to read the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness again. Each time I read this wonderful book, I take something new away from it. Most recently I was noticing how Howard C Cutler describes the presence and actions of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. I have read the text enough to have an idea of what will be said and the topics within so because of that I am noticing the comments on how His Holiness conducts himself, smiles or even seems uneasy or confused by the questions and discussion topics presented.

While His Holiness is a "simple monk", I am taken aback at how inquisitive, yet calming and casual he seems to be - also his patience while being a busy person and dealing with a western and (at least) cultural Christian's perspective on Tibetan Buddhism and monastic vocations in general, is a patience I would like to have one day.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama's respect, generosity, equanimity and calm has even been remarked upon by those who tested it - it is claimed that Chairman Mao was unnerved at the His Holiness seemingly good nature after he told His Holiness, to his face that "religion is a poison".

Here, in a feature I hope to help me share more of the things I have found useful from the internet (as well as entertain): a playlist of 5 tracks I have found, think are fun and share a vague (sometimes very vague) Buddhist theme.

So until next week(?):

Same lazy time!

Same Buddhist channel!

Quick Links - Week ending 4/12/2015

Welcome in what I hope to do more regularly - a list of quick links and interesting things to share.

This time there is:

Listen to the Soil: A meditator's experiences at Auschwitz

Sinfest - a religious webcomic (with the Buddha as a character)

the Lotus Sutra Song

And now (more) Jeff Bridges:
"Everyone I meet is in my sangha. I don't know if that's the proper definition, but that's the way I'm going to hold it in my mind."

Listen to the Soil: A meditator's experiences at Auschwitz

"Listen to the soil. Let Auschwitz be your teacher." - these words greeted a meditator, raised in an Orthodox Jewish tradition, at the place where the carriers of her culture and cultural identity wept and gnashed their teeth at the hands of those who sought to make all that she was less than a memory.

"For my grandparents, Auschwitz represented more than the place; it was the symbol of the Nazi annihilation of nearly half of Europe's Jews - from six to eleven million - inconceivable numbers of mothers and fathers, daughters and sons gone. Auschwitz also seeded in my grandparents a fear and hate so visceral and terrifying that it seemed to shape every encounter of their lives, including their relationship with me. I saw how my parents carried that inherited fear and hate like an heirloom, and how they lived with it and defined themselves by it and painfully struggled against my anxious longing to unshackle from it.

And I saw in myself how, even though I didn't want it - how desperately I didn't want it - I claimed that same fear and hate I saw in my grandparents and parents and brought it into me. It didn't matter that I wanted so much to reject those stories and seeds, and that I ran away in the thousand ways I could find to run away-still, I became their carrier."

Sounds like an interesting series of posts to keep a watch out for.
[Retrieved from: https://www.upaya.org/2015/11/listening-to-the-soil-reflections-on-bearing-witness-at-auschwitz-berkenau-part-one]

Sinfest - a religious webcomic

Sinfest is an interesting web comic that is based around questions of religious ethics and how they interact with everyday life, the Buddha is an occasional character (an incomplete list of his appearances can be found here.

the Lotus Sutra Song

A sparkling version of "Our Hero"/the Lotus Sutra Song. The creators have more information about it at their website dharmacowboys.com. You have to respect anyone who can slip the word "hegemony" into such an upbeat song.
Also, the chorus has some pleasant words to recall:

"I would never disparage you or keep you at arm's length
Where you only see your weaknesses, I only see your strength
I would never despise you or put you down in any way
Because it's clear to me
I can plainly see
You'll be a buddha someday
I love you."

For more about Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and how to use his example from verse 20 of the Lotus Sutra to enrich your everyday life, I find Open Gate Zen's page to be a good resource.

And finally a word from Master Dogen:

Weird Advice for a Broken Hearted Person

[this was written a while ago after waking up feeling inspired by someone else's heartbreak]

A quiet intensity hides behind fiery eyes.

Eyes that shock in their open stillness.

Sight that lights up spaces when laughing.

Reserved sorrow courses deep within.

Princes are rebuffed when trying to move you.

You decide on how you are moved.

Past unpleasantness poisons your freedom.

The dirt from before should be used as a foundation for growth.

Manure helps the flower grow.

The lotus is untouched by the dirt of it's surrounds.

Space and time can heal much harm.

Beyond these things is beyond harm.

Slight smiles of bent lips when you can walk to the harmer of you and admit:

They are not a person.

They are not a memory.

They are a delusion.

You can no longer see them.

You see straight through them.

You see their pain, sorrow, anger and arrogance.

And you feel sorry for them.

Swimming in an ocean of confusion and delusion.

You see them for what they are and you say:

You are not useful.

Not here.

Not now.

Go bother another.

Leave my sight lest I end up destroying you wherever you stand.

Wherever you run.

Wherever you hide.

You can run.

You can hide.

Unless you change you will be confusion and delusion.

Leopards cannot change it's spots.

You can't polish a turd.

You will never change without opportunity.

I can change as I wish, when I wish.

Nothing as tiny as you can stop me.

I can go further without you.

Without carrying your ideas of  good or ill.

The tempter ends up poisoning all.

In seeing this refuse to take poison.

Go forward until you learn to grow from the sullen sod of your past.

Grow.

Don't let the insects that walk over you change that.

See them for what they are:

Insects.