Learning to see the world as it truly is
The ground may not have moved, here in Korea, but I still feel a little shaken. Not only by the disaster in japan, but all the other recent ones along with it.
Today, I’d like to share one of my favorite shots from my trips to Japan.
May things settle, maybe not exactly as they were before, but to some sense of normalcy for all those who have to keep going on in the midst of their world having been shaken up and washed away.
Weeds are the bane of fields, lust is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of lust yields abundant fruit.
Weeds are the bane of fields, hatred is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of hatred yields abundant fruit.
Weeds are the bane of fields, delusion is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of delusion yields abundant fruit.
Weeds are the bane of fields, desire is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of desire yields abundant fruit.
-Tanhavagga Sutta
Our Buddha nature is like a light in a house. Even if you close all the doors and cover all the windows, some light still shines through to the outside. That’s how we know Buddha-nature is there.
-Mingyur Rinpoche
This photo looks like a double exposure, but it was taken through the huge glass window that covers the front entrance of the Dharma Hall at Jogyesa during Winter time. The light shining off the massive gold Buddha is just enough to shine through the reflection of the tree and buildings, just like our Buddha-nature.
The one “rule” I’d set for myself when posting Sunday Photos was that I would only post images from Korean temples.
Well, today, I’ve decided to take a bit of a vacation to Bangkok, where Chong Go Sunim has been for the last few days to attend a short retreat at the Bangkok Hanmaum.
He’d mentioned to me a few times before that he really had a nice feeling from Wat Pho, one of the most famous attractions in Bangkok, the temple that houses a massive gold Parinirvana Buddha. During my last trip to Bangkok, I took this photo of the Buddha’s eye, about to close for the last time in this realm.
Last Saturday, Mingyur Rinpoche gave a talk at a small temple in Suwon. His talk was centered around the Prayers for Long-Kindness and compassion. Near the beginning, he spoke a bit of Buddha-nature, and I thought it complimented Dae Haeng Kun Sunim’s teachings nicely;
We are all looking for our home. We are homesick. I think we’ve all got homesick, so we are trying to return to our home. Our home is Buddha-nature.
The Buddha gave one example; There is a bird and the bird has a nest. Sometimes the bird flies away, flies very far. But the bird doesn’t think he’s going to stay there. Always he’s going to return to its nest, because the real home for a bird is its nest. The real home for us is our true-nature, our Buddha-nature.
Because I wish to be happy and I don’t want to be suffering is a sign of Buddha-nature. And this is also the basis of Loving-Kindness and compassion.
I visited Chong Go Sunim last weekend at Hanmaum and took a few photos on the way out before heading to the subway.
It’s not the best photo, but thought it was still a nice one to share~
“One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.”
-Bhagavad-Gita
Awakening is likened to a lotus rising from the muddy waters, flowering in consciousness.
I’d never really considered, though, where does the mud come from?
(<– continued from Why did the rabbit give the tiger a pipe?)
“Why did the rabbit give a pipe to the tiger?” the monk asked.
The only thing that came to mind was, “To save their own skin!” but lacking confidence in my thoughts, especially when it comes to Zen, I shook my head.
The monk eventually said, “Because the rabbits don’t want the tiger to eat them.”
Out of pride, I sort of wished I’d spoken my mind, but once that wore off, I thought about the answer a little more.
Initially, it seems basically selfish of the rabbit. He’s not genuinely concerned for the tiger’s wellbeing. If he were, he’d offer him something like a cup of tea, or perhaps his own flesh. I suppose back when tigers smoked pipes, they may not have been aware that it wasn’t very healthy, though. He’s only concerned about the tiger’s contentedness for his and his friend’s sake.
As I thought about it more, it reminded me of my own path. I didn’t become interested in the Buddha’s teachings for anyone’s sake but my own. I was (probably still am) self-centered, depressed, and hid behind a mask of cheerfulness not to let anyone see the real me. Eventually, I read in a book that I should shift my attention outwards, to be concerned for others. Grudgingly, I tried, because it was supposed to bring me happiness also, of course. Eventually, it started working, not because I was any happier, but because I’d genuinely started developing more concern for those around me.
So, maybe the rabbits, acting out of self-preservation, do have some concern for the tiger’s joy. And knowing rabbits, they probably have a den full of babies who are depending on their safe return, in which case, they’d be much more needed there than in the tiger’s belly!
Happy Korean New Year! Saehae Bok Mani Badeusaeyo!
Have a nice Year of the Rabbit!
Tomorrow begins the holiday for Lunar New Year, one of the two major holidays in Korea. With the new moon will begin the Year of the Rabbit.
I don’t have much to say about what the Year of the Rabbit represents, I thought I’d share a bit of an anecdote from a small temple in downtown Suwon a few weeks ago…
We’d gone into the courtyard to have a space for our baby away from the traffic and crowds for a few minutes. Just as we were about to leave, a monk came down from one of the buildings and motioned us to follow him around to the side of the main hall. He wanted to show us the painting and see what we thought.
Usually, the paintings on a temple wall are depictions of the Buddha’s life, or Zen stories, such as the ten ox herding paintings, but here was a painting of two rabbits offering a pipe to a tiger.
After admiring it for a moment, the monk asked,
“So, why do you think the rabbit is holding the pipe for the tiger?”
(continued–>)
¤~∞~
¤
A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
-Albert Einstein, 1921
Wake Up and Laugh! 