The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and JapanNukariya, Kaiten
Religion
The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan
Nukariya, Kaiten
Buddhism -- China; Buddhism -- Japan; China -- Religion; Human beings -- Origin; Japan -- Religion; Zen Buddhism
"I have an image of Buddha,
The worldly people know it not.
It is not made of clay or cloth,
Nor is it carved out of wood,
Nor is it moulded of earth nor of ashes.
No artist can paint it;
No robber can steal it.
There it exists from dawn of time.
It's clean, although not swept and wiped.
Although it is but one,
Divides itself to a hundred thousand million forms."
[FN#153] See Zen-gaku-ho-ten.
16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind.
Enlightened Consciousness in the individual mind acquires for its
possessor, not a relative knowledge of things as his intellect does,
but the profoundest insight in reference to universal brotherhood of
all beings, and enables him to understand the absolute holiness of
their nature, and the highest goal for which all of them are making.
Enlightened Consciousness once awakened within us serves as a guiding
principle, and leads us to hope, bliss, and life; consequently, it is
called the Master[FN#154] of both mind and body. Sometimes it is
called the Original[FN#155] Mind, as it is the mind of minds. It is
Buddha dwelling in individuals. You might call it God in man, if you
like. The following dialogues all point to this single idea:
On one occasion a butcher, who was used to kill one thousand sheep a
day, came to Gotama, and, throwing down his butcher-knife, said "I am
one of the thousand Buddhas." "Yes, really," replied Gotama. A
monk, Hwui Chao (E-cha) by name, asked Pao Yen (Ho-gen): "What is
Buddha?" "You are Hwui Chao," replied the master. The same question
was put to Sheu Shan (Shu-zan), Chi Man (Chi-mon), and Teu Tsz
(To-shi), the first of whom answered: "A bride mounts on a donkey and
her mother-in-law drives it;" and the second: "He goes barefooted,
his sandals being worn out;" while the third rose from his chair and
stood still without saying a word. Chwen Hih (Fu-kiu) explains this
point in unequivocal terms: "Night after night I sleep with Buddha,
and every morning I get up with Him. He accompanies me wherever I
go. When I stand or sit, when I speak or be mute, when I am out or
in, He never leaves me, even as a shadow accompanies body. Would you
know where He is? Listen to that voice and word."[FN#156]
[FN#154] It is often called the Lord or Master of mind.
[FN#155] Another name for Buddha is the Original Mind"
(Kechi-myaku-ron).
[FN#156] For such dialogues, see Sho-yo-roku, Mu-mon-kan,
Heki-gan-shu. Fu-kiu's words are repeatedly quoted by Zen masters.
17. Enlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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