BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 42

[Jundo]

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=ijhXoKc95nUC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=nanyo%27s+washbasin&source=bl&ots=C_Si9ps1qp&sig=iu6IAJuTwTaUQMbmSTUC7KGlSQo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AaKlU_W1OszQkwWJyIGoDA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=nanyo's%20washbasin&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/25044638/Vairocana%20%28Jp%20Dainichi%29%2C%20%22The%20Spre ader%20of%20Light%20in%20All%20Directions%22

Some folks may expect their Buddha to look like this ...

http://www.photodharma.net/Malaysia/Sam-Poh-Chi/images/Sam-Poh-Chi-Original-00002.jpg

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.

https://www.wowiwe.net/bslator/photo-album/upstairs/bathroom-sink1.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVDxfz_iRbc/Un84AF1xfmI/AAAAAAAAdno/Aihfx8L6nKQ/s1600/washing+upbowl.jpg

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

[Myosha]

Hello,

Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?

Right now, right here.


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

If the sun stops shining, why sit?


Gassho,
Myosha

[Ishin]

Vairocana heart
Washes away the sacred
Pigs lie in heaven

[gassholook]
C

[Kokuu]

Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?

Outside, two pigeons fight over a bowl of sunflower seeds.


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

Wiping the windows clean, I can see the trees across the park.


Gassho
Andy

[Byokan]

Not to defer the question, but no discussion of dishwashing is complete without the lovely words of Thich Nhat Hanh:


"To my mind, the idea that doing the dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you are not doing them. Once you are standing in front of the sink with your sleeves rolled up and your hands in warm water, it really is not so bad. I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands. I know that if I hurry in order to go and have a cup of tea, the time will be unpleasant and not worth living. That would be a pity, for each minute, each second of life is a miracle. The dishes themselves and the fact that I am here washing them are miracles! Each bowl I wash, each poem I compose, each time I invite a bell to sound is a miracle, each has exactly the same value. One day, while washing a bowl, I felt that my movements were as sacred and respectful as bathing a newborn Buddha. If he were to read this, that newborn Buddha would certainly be happy for me, and not at all insulted at being compared with a bowl."

Gassho
Lisa

[Geika]

No need to look for the imminent, but still, we sit.

No need to wash Vairocana, but still, we must eat from clean dishes to stay well enough to practice.

Gassho all.

[Mp]

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

Everywhere and nowhere at the same time.


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

Is Vairocana hidden by my mind of delusion?

Gassho
Shingen

[Jishin]

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

Over there. :)

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

Because they are dirty. :)

Gassho, Jishin

[Byokan]

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


Close your eyes and rest in Vairocana’s left palm.


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


Wash the dishes, sweep the floor, clean the window, who or what is asking why? Kitchen’s clean, start a pot of soup.


(Alternate answer:
Because my sweetheart won’t do them until pigs lie in heaven. Sigh.)

Gassho
Lisa

[Jundo]

I wonder if, when you see a Golden Buddha in a chipped bathroom sink ya see this ...

http://www.emodno.com/ww/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/golden-sink-bathroom-fixtures-black-room-decorating-ideas.jpg


Hmmmm. :p Here is the matching seat ...

http://www.dmc.tv/images/!!!!!-Buddhism-News/Stop-disrespecting-Lord-Buddha-1.jpg


[monk] Honor and keep the bathroom clean!

Gassho, J

PS - Some Buddhist folks got really upset by the above ...

http://www.gadling.com/2013/03/07/buddha-toilet-in-france-causes-international-fracas/

[Risho]

Question: Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?
I can't say. If I look, Vairocana is long gone!


Question: If Vairocana is the dirty dishes, why bother to wash them?
If we are already enlightened, why bother to practice? Form is Emptiness AND Emptiness is Form, so things do have a proper place, position and function even though they also are completely just as they are where they are.

Gotta go shop for groceries.

Gassho,

Risho

[RichardH]

Thank you, Jundo. I'm like those who like their buddhas with painted eyes, or the old Gandhara style... but now there are kitchen sinks, and how can things be the same after this ?...1799

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

Who's looking for who?

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

Vairocana made the mess, and Vairocana has to clean it up.

Gassho
Daizan

[Jishin]

Vairocana made the mess, and Vairocana has to clean it up.

Gassho
Daizan

Love it. :)

Gassho, Jishin

[Ishin]

Love it. :)

Gassho, Jishin
Me too :)
Gassho C

[Jundo]

:)gassho1

[Ongen]

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

Who's looking for who?

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

Vairocana made the mess, and Vairocana has to clean it up.

Gassho
Daizan


Nothing to add to that :D

Gassho
Vincent

[Kantai]

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

One does not know where to look until one finds what one's looking for.
And then we don't look for it anymore.

"but I still haven't found what I'm looking for".
U2 and Me2.. Us2

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

We need something to eat on.

Gassho
Kantai

[Risho]

Thank you, Jundo. I'm like those who like their buddhas with painted eyes, or the old Gandhara style... but now there are kitchen sinks, and how can things be the same after this ?...1799

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

Who's looking for who?

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

Vairocana made the mess, and Vairocana has to clean it up.

Gassho
Daizan

hahahah, Succinct, articulate, no-separation. Brilliant!

Gassho,

Risho

[Nengyo]

Question: Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?
You can't look away from Vairocana


Question: If Vairocana is the dirty dishes, why bother to wash them?
Because, while they are Vairocana, they are also covered in E. coli... one of the less pleasant realizations of Vairocana to ingest.

[Ongen]

Why look for Vairocana? Just do the dishes.

Gassho

Vincent

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kaishin]

1: No need to look

2: Vairocana is always cleaning

[AlanLa]

Today was a difficult day for reasons I don't need to go into. To face it I decided this morning that I would treat as sacred every pang of unpleasantness, as (I find out now) Vairocana. Just be present with it all, not running away from it, but more like embracing life's "dirty dishes." Know what? It turned out to be a pretty fine day. To look for Vairocana in the good life seems like treating him with blinders on, besides it being too easy. That Buddha toilet seat Jundo posted looks too way clean to be Vairocana, though he is there in the clean and the dirty, which is exactly the point. I clean life's dirty dishes because that's what they require. Every crumb and smudge has come so very far to serve me, so it deserves to be treated it as sacred.

Said much more crudely: Shit happens and then we clean it up and move on. To ask why misses the whole point of the process.

[Meishin]

Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?

There's no looking.


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

There's no why.

Gassho
John

[jeff_u]

After putting my 4 month old to bed after some lengthy, banshee-esque screaming I was finally able to sit. I approached my cushion with whew-now-I-can-relax-and-find-Vairocana mind. Then, after some pleasant non-scream-filled sitting, screaming. Lots of it. After some moments of just sitting with it, I rose to go comfort the little guy. Turns out he had a diaper blow out. After some lengthy cleaning, walking, and calming he was back asleep and I was back on my cushion. Again I sat with the thought, "Now I can find this Vairocana."

The inquiring monk from the story and I were one in that moment. He with his water and wood, and me with my baby shit.

Where is the best place to look for Vairocana?Ear shattering screaming. Hands covered in baby poop.
If Vairocana is the dirty dishes, why bother to wash them? Vairocana poops. Vairocana cleans.

Gassho,
Jeff