TREELEAF ZENDO PODCAST

The Ten Oxherding Pictures (II)

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Knowledge

The Tenth of the Bodhisattva's Ten Virtues is .... Knowledge (Jñāna)
 ...
In Saving All Sentient Beings ... Knowledge Goes a Long Way ...

The Ten Oxherding Pictures (I)

This is an Enso from the great Zen teacher Nantembo who lived a century ago, his temple in Nishinomiya is very close to where I live.
It says: Everything fundamentally is perfect roundness in this world. As soon as you are born in this world, your mind is fundamentally perfect roundness.

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - (MORE) The Virtue of Mystical Powers

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!

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Mystical Powers

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.

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Vow & Commitment

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)

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Skillful Means

We continue with our series on the Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" of a Bodhisattva ....
 
with Skillful Means (Upaya)
 
Historian and Soto Zen Priest Taigen Dan Leighton writes ...
Skillful Means, upaya in Sanskrit ... is an essential concept in Mahayana Buddhism. Skillful means, sometimes translated as tactfulness, expedients, or ingenuity, is the practice of applying awakening teaching to the diverse variety of students or practitioners. ...
The idea of skillful means became crucial to the adoption of Buddhist ideas into China, and thereafter in all of East Asia. Skillful means is fully expressed and elaborated in the Lotus Sutra, probably the most influential Buddhist text in East Asia. Several colorful parables depict aspects of skillful means. In the parable of the burning house, a man comes home to find his house in flames and his children playing inside. When he tells them to flee the house they refuse, as they would rather play with their toys. The father finally entices them from the house with descriptions of many colorful carriages waiting outside. They exit to find only one ox cart, symbolizing the One Vehicle of Buddha's Way that can carry everyone. The One Vehicle includes all the various skillful teachings for saving beings from the flames of worldly suffering. The sutra emphasizes that the father in the parable was not lying, as he lured the children from the burning house to save them. ...
The idea of many teachings and practices applied skillfully to the single aim of spiritual awakening is an appealing approach for a modern Western understanding of the sometimes confusing abundance of Buddhist schools. Moreover, skillful means might be a way of respecting the pluralism of all religious traditions in our contemporary global interconnectedness. All traditions may be equally respected for the value of their teachings as they apply to different peoples' particular approaches to ultimate religious truth, and to primary principles such as kindness and compassion. ...
The practice of skillful means reminds us to listen to others respectfully, honor their differences, and recognize that others may have different needs and benefit from different teachings and practices. Following the model of the bodhisattva of compassion, we must not self-righteously cling to any particular method. We can learn various useful approaches, and as we learn to trust and respond with whatever is at hand, our skillfulness can develop.
(from An Introduction to Skillful Means)

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Wisdom

Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" are fundamental to the Bodhisattva path.
Now we come to Wisdom (Prajna Paramita)
In Mahayana Buddhism, this means seeing into, piercing  ... emptiness ... 
being, allowing, witnessing and losing ourselves in ... the dance of emptiness ...