TREELEAF ZENDO PODCAST
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - (MORE) The Virtue of Mystical Powers
Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
More of the Bodhisattva Virtue of Miraculous, Mystical Powers (bala)
In the Tashin tsû (Penetration of Other's Minds) portion of the Shôbôgenzô, the subject is mental telepathy, one of the supernormal powers (abhijñâ) regularly said in Buddhist literature to be accessible to great meditators. Here, Dôgen takes up the famous story of a Zen master's test of the mind-reading powers of an Indian monk claiming such ability. Dogen expresses his doubts about such powers, while seeing the mind of self and the mind of others in a grander way ...
:
[T]he National Teacher's basic intention in testing the Master [from India by] saying, "Tell me, where's this old monk right now?" is to test whether the [Indian] Master is an eye to see the buddha dharma -- to test whether the [Indian] Master has the penetration of other minds in the buddha dharma. ... The National Teacher's saying, "Where's this old monk right now?" is like his asking, "What is this old monk?" [To say,] "Where's this old monk right now?" is to ask, "What time is right now?" [To ask,] "Where?" is to say, "Where is here?" There is a reason [to ask] what to call this old monk: a national teacher is not always an "old monk"; an "old monk" is always a "fist." ... Do not think that those types who seek to get the penetration of other minds can know the whereabouts of the National Teacher ... If it cannot know the way of the buddhas and ancestors, what good is [such ability]? It is useless to the way of the buddha ...In the buddha dharma, if we are going to say that there is the penetration of other minds, there should be the penetration of other bodies, the penetration of other fists, the penetration of other eyes. If this is so, there should also be the penetration of one's own mind, the penetration of one's own body. And once this is the case, one's own mind taking up itself is at once the penetration of one's own mind. To express such a statement is the penetration of other minds as one's own mind itself. Let me just ask, "Should we take up the penetration of other minds, or should we take up the penetration of one's own mind? Speak up! Speak up!
Friday Sep 18, 2009
Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Mystical Powers
Friday Sep 18, 2009
Friday Sep 18, 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.
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Vow & Commitment
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
In keeping with our 100-day Ango Practice Season, we look at the Bodhisattva Virtue of ....
Vow and Commitment (pranidhana)
The most fundamental Bodhisattva's vows are these four, which we chant daily ...
To save all sentient beings, though beings numberless
To transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustible
To perceive Reality, though Reality is boundless
To attain the Enlightened Way, a Way non-attainable
Likewise, 'Ango' is a time of many other vows ... an expression of dedication and intention sustaining effort, practice and beneficial activities toward our self and others (not two)