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Monthly Archives: November 2012
The Diamond Sutra: Closing Reflection
The great Light-Bearer, Jesus the Christ, would summarize this sutra as “being in the world but not of it.” His will was always to do the Divine Will of his Unborn Father. In like fashion, the Mahabodhisattvas embrace a Transcendent Will not of their own making, but the Dharmakayic Will of the Tathagatas; they endeavor to view the nature of things through their prajna-eye, and in so doing they give birth to that blessed Undivided Awareness Power in perfect conjunction with the Luminous Spirit-Mind of the Tathagatakaya. As stated elsewhere in this series, the Diamond Sutra is a bodhi-pearl that empowers one to view True Reality (Dharmadhatu) through the very Eyes of the Tathagatas themselves; indeed, to aspire to their own full Supracognitive Stature. Having reverently approached the sutra in this fashion, then the Bodhichild will be fully empowered to continue the Bodhisattvic Mission in expounding this beloved teaching to others. As one of Gemmell’s closing footnotes states:
Shadows on the Wall
Thirty-two: Shadows on the Wall
[Gemmell & Mu Soeng]
The Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying : “If a disciple, having immeasurable spheres filled with the seven treasures, bestowed these in the exercise of charity; and if a disciple, whether man or woman, having aspired to supreme spiritual wisdom, selected from this Scripture a stanza comprising four lines, then rigorously observed it, studied it, and diligently explained it to others; the cumulative merit of such a disciple would be relatively greater than the other.”
Posted in The Diamond Sutra, Zen
Tagged animating principle, dream, Plato's Cave, shadows
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Nothing is Real, Nothing to get hung about
Thirty-one: Nothing is Real, Nothing to get hung about
“O Subhuti, if anyone were to say that belief in an ego-self, belief in a being, belief in life, belief in personality had been taught by the Tathagata, would they be speaking truly?”
What’s in a Name?
Thirty: What’s in a Name?
“Subhūti, what do you think? If a good son or good daughter were to take all the worlds contained in three thousand galaxies and crush them into tiny particles, would these particles not be numerous?”
No Footprints
Twenty-nine: No Footprints
“And again, O Subhuti, whoever says that the Tathagata goes, or comes, or stands, or sits, or lies down does not understand the meaning of my teaching. And why? Because the word Tathagata means one who does not go to anywhere, and does not come from anywhere; such a one is called the Tathagata, arhat, and fully enlightened.”
No Strings Attached
Twenty-eight: No Strings Attached
Subhuti, if one Bodhisattva bestows in charity sufficient of the seven treasures to fill as many worlds as there are sand-grains in the river Ganges, and another, realizing that all things are egoless, attains perfection through patient forbearance, the merit of the latter will far exceed that of the former. Why is this, Subhuti? It is because all Bodhisattvas are insentient as to the rewards of merit.
Nothing ended, Nothing destroyed
Twenty-seven: Nothing ended, Nothing destroyed
Subhuti, you should not assume that the Tathagata has attained Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi by virtue of his possession of the thirty-two bodily marks. Why? Because the Tathagata could not have attained the Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi through possession of bodily marks alone.
The True Body of the Buddha
Twenty-six: The True Body of the Buddha
“Subhūti, what do you think? Can one discern the Tathāgata by means of the thirty-two bodily characteristics?”
Seeds of Light
Twenty-five: Seeds of Light
“Subhūti, what do you think? You should not claim that the Tathāgata thinks ‘I will save sentient beings.’ Subhūti, do not think such a thing. Why? There are in fact no sentient beings for the Tathāgata to save. If there were sentient beings for the Tathāgata to save, it would mean that the Tathāgata holds the notions of an ego-self, person, sentient being, and life span. Subhūti, when the Tathāgata says ‘I,’ there is actually no ‘ I.’ Yet immature beings take this to be an I. Subhūti, as far as immature beings are concerned, the Tathāgata says that they are not immature beings.”
Sans Karma
Twenty-four: Sans Karma
“Again, Subhuti, if one were to pile up seven precious treasures in the three thousand chiliocosms and give them away as a gift, the merit resulting from such an act would be less than that of someone who was to memorize but one stanza from this Vajrachedika Prajna-Paramita and teach it to others. The merit of the latter would indeed be so great that no comparison could be made.”