Accomplishing the Truth
Master Dogen wrote that accomplishment of the truth is like the moon being reflected in water.
He did not state that accomplishment of the truth is some particular property of the water.
If some stupid person stated that accomplishment of the truth was, for example, just the stillness of water, would that be an expression of true accomplishment of the truth?
Or might it be only the inaccurate thought and unreliable feeling of a stupid person? Might it be that the stupid person has been expending much valuable energy got from meals in vain? Might that person be guilty of having emptily recited, like a frog in a spring paddy field, the words “JODO NO TAME NO YUE NI” without ever having truly verified, in his own experience, the meaning of JODO? And might the cause of the stupid person’s failure be his arrogance to think that his own inaccurate thought and unreliable feeling had hit the target that can never be hit by thought and feeling, the target which is hit by the moon itself?
Might that stupid person be a very conspicuous example of the second part of Fukan-zazen-gi, beginning with the caution: “If, however, there is the slightest gap....”? And if that stupid person devoted his life to criticizing the intellectual basis of Western civilization, might all that criticism be understood, in the end, as a very clear example of the mirrror principle?
Because of my own enormous arrogance, I sought out as a true mirror the most arrogant Buddhist teacher in the world -- Gudo Nishijima, who thinks he has hit the target with his theory of balance of the autonomic nervous system.
So now, because the mirror principle never fails, I am continuing, for a while, to express my fury with myself. Gudo Mike Cross: You stupid, blind, arrogant bastard.
Even a person like this can accomplish the truth. Such is the all-encompassing virtue of the moon.
He did not state that accomplishment of the truth is some particular property of the water.
If some stupid person stated that accomplishment of the truth was, for example, just the stillness of water, would that be an expression of true accomplishment of the truth?
Or might it be only the inaccurate thought and unreliable feeling of a stupid person? Might it be that the stupid person has been expending much valuable energy got from meals in vain? Might that person be guilty of having emptily recited, like a frog in a spring paddy field, the words “JODO NO TAME NO YUE NI” without ever having truly verified, in his own experience, the meaning of JODO? And might the cause of the stupid person’s failure be his arrogance to think that his own inaccurate thought and unreliable feeling had hit the target that can never be hit by thought and feeling, the target which is hit by the moon itself?
Might that stupid person be a very conspicuous example of the second part of Fukan-zazen-gi, beginning with the caution: “If, however, there is the slightest gap....”? And if that stupid person devoted his life to criticizing the intellectual basis of Western civilization, might all that criticism be understood, in the end, as a very clear example of the mirrror principle?
Because of my own enormous arrogance, I sought out as a true mirror the most arrogant Buddhist teacher in the world -- Gudo Nishijima, who thinks he has hit the target with his theory of balance of the autonomic nervous system.
So now, because the mirror principle never fails, I am continuing, for a while, to express my fury with myself. Gudo Mike Cross: You stupid, blind, arrogant bastard.
Even a person like this can accomplish the truth. Such is the all-encompassing virtue of the moon.
posted by Mike Cross at 12:41 AM
2 Comments:
Mike,
I see that you are continuing on the righteous path of self flagellation. Allow me to add a gentle tap on the shaved head while you are at it. In the previous post you mention our much loved Dojo Kun. I think you might have combined two of them to come up with your own. If my memory serves me correctly, they were "Doryoku no seishin o yashinau koto" ( Foster a spirit of making effort),and my personal favorite, "Makoto no michi o mamoru koto" (Follow the path of sincerity).
Just for the record.
love,
david
Thank you, David, for still thinking that I might be worth the trouble of correcting.
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