Wake Up and Laugh!

Seon Club starts each month with everyone reciting the refuges and a little sitting meditation, and then we sit on benches in a kind of rough circle for our discussion. And every month Mrs Nam brings in a tray with little metal cups, seen everywhere in Thailand, and a big jug of cold water.

I placed my cup on the floor behind me, so as not to get in the way, and leant back to reach for it and have a drink. Sunim, following our discussion about the fairness or otherwise of the world, asked the group “what is the difference between an Englightened and an unenlightened person drinking water?”

“The taste of the water”, someone said. “The quality of the experience of drinking”, someone else added. “An Enlightened person” I thought to myself “would drink noiselessly and without drawing attention to himself!”

Sunim smiled at our answers and said “True. But the main difference in an Enlightened person would be, whilst drinking, the willingness and ability and action to help all other beings also quench their thirst too.”

———

Photo: The incredible image that accompanies this post is, like all images in the seon club notes series, a generous contribution from Joseph. Thank you brother.

The Venerable Ya-un’s Admonitions to Beginners (continued)

Okay, I have to admit that this admonition doesn’t seem to apply to our modern societies. I don’t know if it’s the residue of the protestant work ethic or not, but these days it may be a lack of sleep that hinders people. Perhaps, the modern situation requires us to ask ourselves to what are devoting so much time that fatigue is actually taking years off our lives? Is this just busy-ness as a form of intoxication? Is this also a form of anesthetizing ourselves?
       About the cultural context of this admonition, I have noticed a monk or two from other asian countries who have been able to sleep at the drop of a hat, and who spent most of their free time napping. It seemed like this was  common in their home countries. It was probably habits like this that the Venerable Ya-un had in mind when he wrote this admonition.

Don’t sleep outside of the fixed hours for sleeping.

Ever since ancient times, sleep has been considered the greatest hindrance to spiritual cultivation. For the entire day, keep the hwadu with a clear mind and don’t allow yourself to become dull. Whether you are sitting, standing, lying, or moving, always return to the bright light within you and carefully examine your mind. If you pass your life idly, grief will follow you for a thousand kalpas. Time passes in an instant, everyday you should be alarmed at where the time went. Even though it is said that life is short, in fact nobody can guarantee whether they will be alive even an instant from now. If you still haven’t penetrated the great meaning of the Patriarchs, how can you sleep peacefully?

                           Worse than a poisonous snake,
                           sleepiness clouds the moon of mind
                          practitioners forget which way to go
                          when they reach this point.
                          If you hold up a sharp-edged sword,
                          the clouds vanish,
                         revealing the brightly shining moon.

I’m forever asking questions I’ve asked before, it must be really annoying for Sunim and everyone in the group. But there I was, asking, once again, about relying on the Buddha and transference of merit. Surely the Buddha, in all his compassion, sees my suffering and will give me a hand. Isn’t that what Amida Buddha promises?

“What you mean” someone laughed, “is that you want the Buddhas to do all the work for you!”

Sunim laughed too and gave her response. “It’s like those children’s toys” she said “that always spring up into their original position. So even if someone were to pick you up and carry you to another place, who’s to say you wouldn’t just re-find the position that you are most comfortable with?”

The whole group took Sunim’s analogy and ran with it, saying that it is possible to make our Buddha-naure, or Juingong, our centre of gravity rather than giving that role to our small selves, and that we can rely upon that Buddha-nature to always spring us back up. I’m sure they are right.

I’m also sure that Sunim is spot on; even if (or rather, when) Amida Buddha does carry (or perhaps kick!) me to the Pure Land, unless I make some effort and unless I develop the skill and habit of relying completely on my own inherant Buddha-nature, I may soon find myself back where I started!

“Amitabha Buddha existing within my mind, I vow to hurry and meet.”
 – A Thousand Hands of Compassion

Marcus’ post on Monday really had me thinking. It touched on some half-realized thoughts I’d had for a while now and made them whole.

This world” Sunim replied with gravity as well as a smile, “is perfectly fair. Everything you create eventually comes back to you.

The momentum of our Karmas surrounds us, pulling and pushing like magnets. Through our thoughts, our words, our actions we direct this momentum, we control it, as much as it may seem the other way around. As Sunim spoke, “Everything you create comes back to you.”

When we can see our Karma unfold from this lifetime, it’s easier to accept, but when it’s Karma from a life long ago, it can seem unfair.

The realization I had was, what if we could see into each other’s past? What if we all saw exactly what we’ve all created and have coming back to us? What if if knew where the Hitlers, the Mussolinis, the Pol Pots were today? Would we doubt the fairness of their suffering for a moment?

What I know about the people who are able to see into the Karmic affinity of others (Dae Haeng Kun Sunim is the first to come to mind) is that they would still have compassion, even knowing what they’d done. It can be difficult to accept, but these are the ones who need compassion the most. Perhaps that’s why, for the most part, we can’t see into each other’s past, through rebirth we’re given a clean slate.

JiJang Bosal is one of the great Bodhisattva because he vowed to enter the Hell realms and help the suffering there. But who are the beings there who he’s sacrificed his Nirvana to help? Most likely beings who have committed despicable actions. With Seung Sahn Daesanim there to help him now, they must have a half-decent Zen Center on the go! Maybe even a Sangha!

My point is, when we see suffering in the world, as unfair or undeserved as it may appear, the only way to respond is with compassion.

Here’s a guest post by Barry Briggs of Ox Herding

Recently someone new to Buddhism asked how it was that the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Quanyin, could serve as the “patron” of both vegetarians and fishermen.

There was an aggrieved tone in the person’s voice:  How could she?

I replied that true compassion does not depend on conditions.

Without hesitation, Quanyin offers unstinting compassion to vegetarians and carnivores, fishermen and farmers, and saints and murderers.

That’s because Quanyin has laid down the mind that picks and chooses based on like and dislike. She only responds to what is.

Indeed, love can only arise in response to what is. Everything else is fantasy.

These are easy words to write, but to live without dependence on conditions . . . well, that’s something else. That’s why clear-eyed direction is so important.

Here’s a nice mantra posted by Nathan at Dangerous Harvests a while back.

Repeat it out loud three times, and see how you feel! 😉

There were only five people at Seon Club last week; me, Young, Arthur, MJ, and, of course, Hyedaeng Sunim, and yet the discussion was incredibly rich and covered a whole range of topics of concern to all in the group. I wish I’d taken notes, but some things stood out for me very clearly, and this month I’ll try to relate a little of it here on this blog.

The first was Sunim’s response to a question from me. I’ve asked this before, but it still bothers me. I understand, and can see in my own life, how everything we suffer is a manifestation of the Buddha-nature and necessary in order to learn and make progress, and in fact, last time I raised this, Sunim talked about how suffering is itself the compassion of the Buddha.

It’s like a father, she explained again to me on Saturday night, who cares for his child. Sometimes the father will reward the child, sometimes the father will need to use discipline. But the child, far from seeing the love, might see only the suffering and not the bigger picture and the opportunity to learn.

“Yes”, I argued, “Yes, I understand that, I see that, but look at the awful suffering in the world, the poverty, the hunger, the concentration camps. Rape, murder, torture. Surely there are better ways of disciplining, ways that don’t involve flaying the child alive. I mean, it’s just not fair.”

“This world” Sunim replied with gravity as well as a smile, “is perfectly fair. Everything you create eventually comes back to you.”

Link: Wake up and Laugh!: Suffering

Here’s a translation of a short but powerful Dharma talk by Daehaeng Kun Sunim.

Everything that confronts you-
take it all and entrust it to one place, one hole,
change negative things into wholesome things
by firmly entrusting them to that one place.

Do this with everything that confronts you.
Even when something arises from within you,
even when something confronts you from outside,
remember that all of those things are your foundation
testing you,
to see how you react.

Even when things seem overwhelming,
don’t be afraid.
Without dwelling on like or dislike,
just silently entrust it all.
Take what confronts you, and know
“This is what I have to do,”
and silently take care of it.

Answer others gently,
speak gently, think gently,
think gently,
and trust that one place with everything.

If you keep doing this,
if you become adept at this,
then the time will come when
your true self makes itself known to you.
This will absolutely happen.

I have personally confirmed and verified this.
There is the core inside of an electric cable
that makes it possible for energy, for light, to go back and forth.
Likewise, there is a core that underlies this shell of ours.
Taking everything and returning it to this core  
is the path of completing yourself.

                                              -Daehaeng Kun Sunim

 
 
copyright 2010, The Hanmaum Seonwon Foundation