What a Buddhist temple! ~from Transmission of the Lamp Translator Yinfang Huang Zen master Shen Tsan became an ordained monk and studied at Ta Chung temple in Fuzhou, China, and later was enlightened by zen master Baizhang Huaihai when he was an itinerant monk after which he came back to Ta Chung temple. His master asked him: what did you accomplish when you left here and traveled outside? Shen Tsan replied: nothing. And then the master assigned work to him. One day the master wanted to take a bath and asked him to wipe the dirt off his body for him. Shen Tsan said when he wiped his masters back: what a Buddhist temple! And what a pity the Buddha in it is not brilliant! The master turned his head and stated at him. Shen Tsan continued without fear: the Buddha can still illuminate although He is not brilliant enough. One day the master read sutra beside the window and there was a bee continued ramming the window to fly out. Shen Tsan saw the situation and said: why insist on digging into the old paper instead of going out to the broad world outside? How long will it take to go out? The master put down the sutra and said: whom did you encounter during your travel? Your words seem unusual and different from before. Shen Tsan said: I met zen master Baizhang Huaihai during my travel who pointed out the direction for me. Now I am back to repay your kindness. The master then instructed others to prepare vegetarian meals and asked Shen Tsan to teach dharma. ~Transmission of the Lamp Commentary: The puns the Buddha can still illuminate although He is not brilliant enough why insist on digging into the old paper instead of going out to the broad world outside? are meant to remind the master not to be stubborn and insist on digging into the sutra. The instant enlightenment of self-nature cannot be reaped by words and speech. Blindly clinging to scriptures without flexible use in life will not break the hindrance in mind nor get true benefits and emancipation. Poem by Chinese zen master Bo Yun Shou Duan from Song Dynasty The fly likes to find the light and dig into the paper, into which it is so difficult to penetrate. Not until it rams suddenly into the way it came here does it realize that it has been fooled by its own eyes for its whole life.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:26:48 +0000
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