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Thread: The Zen Master's Dance - 10 - Fukan Zazengi (bottom of p. 41 to bottom of p. 45)

  1. #1

    The Zen Master's Dance - 10 - Fukan Zazengi (bottom of p. 41 to bottom of p. 45)

    Happy New Year, and we "turn over a new leaf" in our reading ...

    We continue from "Think of not thinking" at the very bottom of page 41, stopping right before "no distinction should be made between the sharp and the dull."


    First Assignment -

    Can you give an example of a third sentence exemplifying "thinking-not-thinking," with the first sentence being an example of ordinary thinking, the second being the wholeness beyond analysis, categorization, division and judgements, and the third sentence (which you will provide) being an example of the two coming together as one, showing how 1 transforms into 3 when passing through the clarity of 2? I will help by giving you, so you do not need to, the first and second sentences already filled out (although the 2nd really might be an empty and open space beyond words).

    DO NOT look at what others post before responding.

    The third sentence should not be a meaningless non sequitor or Zenny "MU" of the like, but should make use of the following elements (cat, anger, then, caught, mouse, lunch), but with the meaning and grammar structure changed by having passed through 2:

    Sentence 1 = The cat became angry, then caught a mouse for lunch.

    Sentence 2 = Clear, open, boundless, beyond all divisions, separation, friction and judgements.

    Sentence 3 (1 + 2) =



    Second Assignment -

    Dogen references several old Koan stories in which ancient Teachers expressed the dropping away of divisions, or the coming together of the absolute (beyond divisions) and the relative (this world of divisions). Examples include a fist in which five finger come together as one hand, or a needle tossed into water which thus vanishes from sight, yet is still present. There is also the example of Manjusri announcing in grand words a Talk by the Buddha in which nothing is said.

    Please choose some picture or shout or phrase that does the same in your heart. No need to explain why.

    Gassho, J

    STLah

    Sorry to run long, in a teaching about silence talking.
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-06-2022 at 12:22 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  2. #2
    assignment two:

    let silence take you to the core of life



    aprapti

    sat

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

  3. #3
    Assignment one:

    No division between myself and the cat, and so I embody the boundless anger of the cat. That distinction of cat and mouse too drops away, and so myself the cat realizes the mouse is not separate either. With no mouse to chase after, boundless anger dissolves into peace.

    Assignment two:

    What face did you have before your parents were born?

    Gassho,
    William.
    Sat

  4. #4
    1st Assignment:

    Mouse becomes the cat who who has caught lunch and gone thoroughly beyond.

    2nd Assignment:

    Photo attached

    Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk
    Jukai '09 Dharma Name: Shinko 慎重(Prudent Calm)

  5. #5
    First assignment: Having attained tolerance of the birthlessness of things, the mouse saw the cat's hunger had made it angry, so the mouse allowed itself to be caught for lunch to benefit the cat and encourage it to conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.

    Second assignment: "Hey, kid! What is the buddhadharma?" *holds up bloody stump where finger was cut off*
    おつかれさまです

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Max Andrew View Post
    ... so the mouse allowed itself to be caught for lunch to benefit the cat and encourage it to conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.
    Heck of a saintly mouse!

    If it was me, I'd be scratching and scrambling to get back to my mousehole!

    Actually, I believe that in the old Jakata legends, about the previous lives of the Buddha, have a few such tales! However, even the Buddha seems to have fought back ...


    Long ago, the Buddha-to-be happened to be born as a mouse. He was the leader of a
    large group of mice, and he was very large, as big as a small piglet. A cat used to
    roam nearby, and spotted the group of mice. He decided to find a way to make a
    meal of them. He took on the pose of a holy ascetic, standing on one foot, facing the
    sun, breathing in the air. When the chief of the mice saw him, he approached and
    asked, “What is your name?” “I am called the Holy One,” said the cat. “Why do you
    stand on one foot?” “Because the earth cannot support all four of my feet.” “Why do
    you have your mouth open?” asked the mouse. “I do not eat food, but only the
    wind,” he replied. “And why do you face the burning sun?” “I am paying honour to
    the Sun-god,” replied the cat.

    “He must be very holy,” thought the mouse, and so every day he brought his
    company of mice to pay respects to the cat. And every day, the last mouse to leave
    was caught by the cat and eaten, without the other mice noticing.
    After some time, the chief mouse noticed the reduction in size of his company of
    mice. He began to suspect the cat, and so the next time the mice visited the cat, he
    made sure he was the last to leave. The cat sprang forward to catch him, but the
    chief mouse saw him coming and jumped up to bite his neck. “So this is your holy
    practice is it?” he cried out. Then he severed the cat’s neck and killed him, and all
    the mice came and ate him up with a crunch crunch crunch. Or at least I have heard
    that the first ones got meat, but those who were at the back got none, for it was all
    gone.

    The Buddha gave his teaching and explained the connection of the births: “At that time I was
    the leader of the mice, and the cheating monk was the cat.”

    https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...scetic&f=false
    Wow, I guess that even the Buddha fought back sometimes!

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  7. #7
    First assignment

    My sentence 3 is: Anger caught the cat, then lunch caught the mouse.

    Second assignment

    Since I was a kid, my Mum will occasionally, with no warning, and for no apparent reason, poke me in the arm and then stare at me questioningly. It invariably makes me drop my thinking and come back to the present moment.

    @Jundo: I very much enjoyed the turning over a new leaf pun.

    I sat today

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Eamonn View Post
    First assignment

    My sentence 3 is: Anger caught the cat, then lunch caught the mouse.
    Meow!
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  9. #9
    Assignment 1: No cat, no mouse, no anger, no lunch, yum!

    Assignment 2:

    41CACBA4-5FE4-4EBC-9E8C-A34E50A7F783.jpeg


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah
    泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Tairin View Post
    Assignment 1: No cat, no mouse, no anger, no lunch, yum!

    Assignment 2:

    41CACBA4-5FE4-4EBC-9E8C-A34E50A7F783.jpeg


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah
    Yum
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  11. #11
    Lunch is still a mouse until caught- then anger makes lunch just a mouse again. Poor cat stirring circles in itself, never fed.

    NJXOE9916 (2).JPG


    Kodo Tobiishi stlah
    It occurs to me that my attachment to this body is entirely arbitrary. All the evidence is subjective.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Tobiishi View Post
    Lunch is still a mouse until caught- then anger makes lunch just a mouse again. Poor cat stirring circles in itself, never fed.

    NJXOE9916 (2).JPG


    Kodo Tobiishi stlah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  13. #13
    First assignment: The cat chomps down the mouse.

    Second assignment: Rising after a deep sleep.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    Sat/lah
    美道 Bidou Beautiful Way
    恩海 Onkai Merciful/Kind Ocean

    I have a lot to learn; take anything I say that sounds like teaching with a grain of salt.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Onkai View Post
    First assignment: The cat chomps down the mouse.

    Second assignment: Rising after a deep sleep.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    Sat/lah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  15. #15
    Is that like early morning Shikantaza??

    合掌
    stlah
    合掌,生開
    gassho, Shokai

    仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

    "Open to life in a benevolent way"

    https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Shokai View Post
    Is that like early morning Shikantaza??

    合掌
    stlah
    On occasion. My shikantaza had been counting breaths until the discussions on the forum about that being wrong if without reason; then I concentrated on the breath. Lately I've finally been able to just sit, lightly aware of the breath in the hara, and it's much less exhausting.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    Sat/lah
    美道 Bidou Beautiful Way
    恩海 Onkai Merciful/Kind Ocean

    I have a lot to learn; take anything I say that sounds like teaching with a grain of salt.

  17. #17
    First assignment: The cat became angry, then caught a mouse for lunch.

    Second Assignment: JUST THIS.

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post

    Sentence 1 = The cat became angry, then caught a mouse for lunch.

    Sentence 2 = Clear, open, boundless, beyond all divisions, separation, friction and judgements.
    Sentence 3 (1 + 2) = The cat caught the mouse while mousing as the mouse as the mouse ran from the cat while catting as the cat and both cat and mouse are not two, both faces of the other dancing the dance of life.



    Second Assignment -

    Dogen references several old Koan stories in which ancient Teachers expressed the dropping away of divisions, or the coming together of the absolute (beyond divisions) and the relative (this world of divisions). Examples include a fist in which five finger come together as one hand, or a needle tossed into water which thus vanishes from sight, yet is still present. There is also the example of Manjusri announcing in grand words a Talk by the Buddha in which nothing is said.

    Please choose some picture or shout or phrase that does the same in your heart. No need to explain why.
    The moon disappears in the night sky, obscured by clouds or the Earth's shadow, sometimes visible only in a sliver. The moon disappears in the daytime sky, outshone by the brilliant sun.

    And yet, we know that the moon is always there, orbiting the earth, to become visible once again.

    Gassho,
    SatLah
    Kelly

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