This is a wonderful story, Richard, and one that I've never heard before, thank
you for posting. Next time I sweep snow off the front deck, I'll pay closer
attention to the sound of the broom on the wood. There's hope for me yet!
On Thursday, December 12, 2013 7:41 AM, Richard J. Williams
<pundits...@gmail.com> wrote:
It's like a zen koan: You can think of this way - there are souls, but no
over-soul; you have a soul while you are living, but not an eternal soul; when
you pass away, there's no permanent soul to reincarnate; but there may be
left-over karma that you have to deal with; so there is rebirth, so you can
continue to deal with, to work it out, your past karma; so you can become
enlightened, liberated, from the endless round of becoming.
Excerpt paraphrased from 'Buddha Speaks:'
"One day a bright and intelligent student of the Buddha asked if
he could fetch his younger brother to join the order. Delighted,
the Buddha agreed. But the younger brother, although kind and
gentle, turned out to be slow and dull witted. He could understand
nothing of his studies and asked to go home so that he wouldn't
waste the Buddha's time or let down his brother. "There's no need
for you to give up," said the Buddha. "You should not abandon your
search for liberation just because you seem to yourself to be
thick witted. You can drop all the philosophy you've been given
and repeat a mantra instead - one that I will now give you."
He gave the young monk a mantra and sent him away affectionately.
But soon the monk was back, this time even more humiliated. "My
beloved Buddha, I can't remember the mantra you gave me and so I
can no longer practice." The Buddha kindly repeated it for him.
But twice more he came back, having forgotten it each time. So the
Buddha gave him a simplified form. But when this too slipped
completely out of his mind, he hardly dared visit the Buddha
again. "There's an even shorter version," the Buddha told him,
with a smile, "It's just two syllables. See if you can remember
that." But he could not.
In his hut, he broke down and wept. His brother found him and was
furious, feeling that his own reputation was now sullied. He told
the young monk to go home, and so the boy left the hut and sadly
made his way along the path. As he neared a grove of trees, he met
the Buddha coming from it. The Buddha smiled and took his hand.
Together they went to a temple where two old monks were sweeping
the floor. The Buddha said to them: "This young monk will live
here with you from now on. Continue your sweeping, and as your
broom moves back and forth, listen to the sound of the broom.
Don't stop until I come back."
The young monk sat down and listened to the movement of the
brooms, to and fro over the floor. He heard the whispered rhythm
of the broom sound as it was repeated over and over again. This
went on for many months, and before the Buddha came back, the
young monk had found full liberation and so had the two old
monks."
Work Cited:
'Buddha Speaks'
by Anne Bancroft
Shambhala Publications 2000
Chapter on Clarity, From the Majjhima Nikaya
p. 47
The above is an excerpt from a great book from Shambhala
Publications, by Anne Bancroft, author of the classic 'Zen: Direct
Pointing to Reality.' A must read for anyone aspiring to the
Middle Way and or for the plain curious TMer, as to what the
Buddha actually said. Authoritative. Scholarly. Destined to be a
classic. Beautifully bound and designed. Affordable. Available at
Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
On 12/12/2013 6:47 AM, Share Long wrote:
>Richard, if it's all just an appearance then I guess there's no one to reply
>to. And no one replying either! Is everything a metaphor for everything else?
>(-:
>
>
>
>On Thursday, December 12, 2013 6:21 AM, Richard Williams
><pundits...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>The problem here is that there's no blonde on either side - it's all just an
>appearance.
>
>
>In reality, there's nobody to be blonde, no sides at all, and no going over
>either. We talk as if there was another shore on the other side and a boat
>that takes us over, but those are just conventions of speech- a metaphor.And,
>what's a meta for? A metaphor is for dummies that don't understand and can't
>experience directly the way things really are. Go figure.
>
>
>
>On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 2:53 AM, TurquoiseB <turquoi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>>--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Richard J. Williams" wrote:
>>>
>>> That's like a zen
koan:
>>>
>>> "You need a boat
to cross over to the
other side. But, once
you cross
>>> over, you find
that there is no other
side and no crossing
over. This
>>> being so, you
would look foolish
carrying a boat around
on top of your
>>> head."
>>
>>I prefer the version of the koan in the Blonde Joke Sutras:
>>
>>A brunette on the
shore of a river
sees a blonde on
the other side of
the river and
shouts out,
"Hey...how do I
get to the other
side?
>>
>>The blonde shouts
back, "You *are*
on the other
side."
>>
>>:-)
>
>
