10/15 TRANSMISSION of the LIGHT: to Rahulata

An ungrateful monk, thinking he deserved what he received.

All of us had best remember that we enter this world naked, and we leave this world the same way too. In between, every breath we breathe, every bite of food and swallow of water, is provided by life and supports us now. Your dwelling place is not truly your own, nor your clothing or the car in the drive. As Keizan said, your life was totally conceived by this land as if by a pregnant woman. It is supported by the wind, the rain, the stars. All belongs to that from whence it came. Can you repay that debt? Do you know humility and gratitude (even for a life that is sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet)?

Truly, this whole universe is placed in your begging bowl. How rare to be born in human form, to have the opportunity to practice as we do.

Whether you take literally or not the story of a monk who came back as lunch, know that we all feed each other ... we all have a duty to feed the others. Here is a famous Buddhist story, though it is told in other religions too ...

Quote:

---

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, ‘You have seen Hell.’

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand.’

‘It is simple,’ said the Lord. ‘It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.’

---

Cook from 96. Hixon from 93

"...Thus, thugh you are now sentinent, possess some awareness, and can distinguish between pain and tickle, you are not different from a tree fungus"

Right said, what difference could be there if not one created from thinking mind. Not only in the one Mind we're all one, even if we look at form, this form is a fungus, and that form is me, are we not from the very same source ?

Watering the tree, I feed the tree fungus.
_()_
Peter

When I first read Hixon's Rahulata I was totally caught in the conceptual aspects of the teachings he mentioned like 'dependent origination' and 'interdependence', and 'karmic signs -events - attractions' . This is my karma which leads to an obsessive compulsive mindstream. Only after re-reading Jundos ' Do you know humility and gratitude (even for a life that is sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet)? ' did I understand a little bit about myself and Rahulata.

/Rich

For me interdependence jumps out of this weeks reading. Reality is an interdependent matrix to which we are all connected. Where we are now is a result of causes and conditions; our actions reverberate throughout time. Seeing the matrix the Universal Eye opens.

Gassho,
Jisen/BrianW

A peach blossom becomes a peach. When the peach ripens it has a pit at the core. When a peach pit reaches the soil and favorable circumstances exist it will become a peach tree and the cycle will reproduce. WHY IS THAT?
Nagarjuna was asked, " is Buddha Nature large or small?" Nagarjuna replied, " it is neither wide nor narrow, it has no blessings or recompense, and it is not born and does not die. Why then be concerned about karma?
Being concerned with karma is like living life condemed to yesterdays. In now the greatest gift is THIS! Gassho zak

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zak

A peach blossom becomes a peach. When the peach ripens it has a pit at the core. When a peach pit reaches the soil and favorable circumstances exist it will become a peach tree and the cycle will reproduce. WHY IS THAT?
Nagarjuna was asked, " is Buddha Nature large or small?" Nagarjuna replied, " it is neither wide nor narrow, it has no blessings or recompense, and it is not born and does not die. Why then be concerned about karma?
Being concerned with karma is like living life condemed to yesterdays. In now the greatest gift is THIS! Gassho zak

---

Its not that you have to be concerned with karma but if you understand karma you might be more careful about what you do with your mind/body. It would nice if I was a peach tree and could 'just be' all the time but sometimes understanding is necessary and does not come easy. :) and I am grateful even for that.

/Rich

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rich

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zak

A peach blossom becomes a peach. When the peach ripens it has a pit at the core. When a peach pit reaches the soil and favorable circumstances exist it will become a peach tree and the cycle will reproduce. WHY IS THAT?
Nagarjuna was asked, " is Buddha Nature large or small?" Nagarjuna replied, " it is neither wide nor narrow, it has no blessings or recompense, and it is not born and does not die. Why then be concerned about karma?
Being concerned with karma is like living life condemed to yesterdays. In now the greatest gift is THIS! Gassho zak

---

Its not that you have to be concerned with karma but if you understand karma you might be more careful about what you do with your mind/body. It would nice if I was a peach tree and could 'just be' all the time but sometimes understanding is necessary and does not come easy. :) and I am grateful even for that.

/Rich

---

Yes understanding is sometimes necessary but also necessary is the realization that there are times to accept what is beyond the minds comprehension. Is the mind willing to accept the undefinable or will it create systems that define order and thus understanding to its own satisfaction? Not being like a peachtree but realizing its mystery beyond understanding and being grateful even for that.
Choose Right Action for its own sake without punishment or reward as a result.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zak

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rich

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zak

A peach blossom becomes a peach. When the peach ripens it has a pit at the core. When a peach pit reaches the soil and favorable circumstances exist it will become a peach tree and the cycle will reproduce. WHY IS THAT?
Nagarjuna was asked, " is Buddha Nature large or small?" Nagarjuna replied, " it is neither wide nor narrow, it has no blessings or recompense, and it is not born and does not die. Why then be concerned about karma?
Being concerned with karma is like living life condemed to yesterdays. In now the greatest gift is THIS! Gassho zak

---

Its not that you have to be concerned with karma but if you understand karma you might be more careful about what you do with your mind/body. It would nice if I was a peach tree and could 'just be' all the time but sometimes understanding is necessary and does not come easy. :) and I am grateful even for that.

/Rich

---

Yes understanding is sometimes necessary but also necessary is the realization that there are times to accept what is beyond the minds comprehension. Is the mind willing to accept the undefinable or will it create systems that define order and thus understanding to its own satisfaction? Not being like a peachtree but realizing its mystery beyond understanding and being grateful even for that.
Choose Right Action for its own sake without punishment or reward as a result.

---

We just try to do the best we can with what we have and I think we agree that gratitude smooths the way to acceptance. Thanks for your feedback.

/Rich

Rich
I agree Rich. Your comments are always well received and appreciated. gassho zak

This whole transmission chimes well with the Meal Gatha, and was good to read during Ango.

This food comes from the efforts
of all sentient beings past and present,
and is medicine for the nourishment of our Practice.
I offer this meal of many virtues and flavours
to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
and to all life in every realm of existence.
May there be sufficient nourishment
for all sentient bengs throughout the universe.

gassho,
Monkton

Interesting that the father wakes up in this transmission.
Master Keizan cautions "do not be vainly proud of assuming the appearance of a monk and do not deludedly stop at home departure" very timely!

Gassho
Shohei

I LOVE the concept of interdependence, though I thought both versions of this story were way too complicated an expression of that compared to Jundo's story, which I don't ever recall hearing before. That said, I really liked Hixon's

Quote:

---

Let us become instead an edible, inexhaustible fungus for the pure-hearted. Let us silently attract them to their destined encounter with the Awakened One. Let us cease to be superficial monks, nuns, and laypersons.

---

And we should be delicious, too! And when people are interdependent on us, we will grow back because while acting in the Way we are inexhaustible!

I also really liked Hixon's talking about how our world is full of subtle karmic signs that are clearly recognizable by those that are awakened but not others. I think we've all seen glimpses of this.

Don't you realize
Body, food, clothing, everything
Is only on loan?

Not to say we must return everything at the end of our lives (think of the lines!), but really it is all given back to that big blue marble call Earth and Empitness. What comes is only "ours" so long as we exist. Even then, that sandwhich really isn't yours. Are we still hasty to say "Give that back!" when it's nothing more than waste in the bathroom?

How can we say we own Buddhanature? That it is ours? It simply is. A rock is Buddha just as Buddha was Buddha. Hm?

Taylor

To think that we eat for ourselves is a silly notion.