Case 41 never ends, yet now comes ...

Case 42: Nanyo's Washbasin

Shishin Wick explains well the references to "Vairochana Buddha" and such.

http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=i...hbasin&f=false

Here is a bit more background:

Vairocana Buddha is sometimes called the primordial Buddha or supreme Buddha [in Mahayana Buddhism]. He represents the wisdom of shunyata, "emptiness." He is considered a personification of the dharmakaya -- everything, unmanifested, free of characteristics and distinctions.

...

As the Buddha who occupies the center of the mandala in esoteric Buddhism, Vairocana is well known to students of Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Shingon [Esoteric Buddhist Sect]. He also shares with such Buddhas as `Saakyamuni, Amitaabha, and others a wide circle of devotees among the exoteric forms of Buddhism in Japan and China. ... Vairocana is, of course, the cosmic Buddha of Great Illumination, whose body is infinitely large and whose life is infinitely long. A pamphlet given to the visitor at Toodai-ji, the headquarters of Japanese Hua-yen, in Nara, tells us, "... Vairocana Buddha exists everywhere and every time in the universe, and the universe itself is his body. At the same time, the songs of birds, the colors of flowers, the currents of streams, the figures of clouds -- all these are the sermons of Buddha."

http://cubuddhism.pbworks.com/w/page...0Directions%22
Some folks may expect their Buddha to look like this ...



But Nanyo reminds us that this (or whatever they used for a washbasin back in old China) is the face of Vairocana for those with eyes to see.



To those who are Wise, such is most Intimate. In our Ignorance, it feels 10,000 miles away. Why do we look for the sky and heaven while missing the ground where we stand?

Question: Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?

Question: If Vairocana is the dirty dishes, why bother to wash them?


Gassho, J