JMJM,
Most kind of you, too; thanks.
And/But...
I would not repeat those words, "We all are already enlightened". It's
misleading.
(I know you say, "originally", and I agree with you: it's more technically
correct. BUT... it does NOT make a practical difference, which is what COUNTS.
Pls. see below).
It's like saying:
"Sick people all came from a state of being WELL. Therefore, they need NO
DOCTOR and no medicine. Their sickness is just a modified state of WELLness,
so no one needs to do anything. They just need to snap out of it".
First of all, the Doctors' and Nurses' unions would all complain. Second, many
people would die quickly.
Let's forget about people being "enlightened". It's not a helpful or skilful
application of the word, and nobody knows what it means.
Let's emphasize BEHAVIOR, as we do in Ch'an and Zen. Is everyone's behavior
enlightened, yet? No. Then, people need methods in order to awaken, and they
need to rub shoulders with Shifu and Sangha, at least for a while, in order to
learn correct practice. That's the way it's always been done.
When we have one eye open to Wisdom, then of course everything teaches and
preaches the Dharma, and Shifu is just one among other things, and a very
kindly one, who is quite easy to relate to. ;-)
But of course everything is one's Shifu, then. Including Shifu.
--Joe
> <chan.jmjm@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Joe,
>
> Agreed with your emphasis about the role of a teacher.
>
> I would say, "Everyone and everyone thing is our teacher, because there
> are Chan in everyone and everything." Yet, "no one and none needs to be
> our teacher, because we were originally enlightened."
>
> Having a teacher on one hand creates an external attachment, though the
> teacher does provide guidance. Once awakened, with high spiritual
> sensitivity, we'll KNOW, we don't need a particular teacher, because we
> see Chan in everything and everyone around us.
>
> Just some response to your heart-felt perspective.
>
> Thank you for pointing out..
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