For some,
finding one’s “center” is very problematic.
Either you have no “center” and feel lousy about the emptiness or chaos;
or, you have a “center” and dislike the way the “center” is now. Or like me, you just don’t care at all about
having or not finding an illusive “center.”
Yes, I’m the smiling uncaring yellow cupcake, just enjoying a nice
moment of pleasant relaxation while sitting centered on my wide butt.
Why Did the Bodhidharma Walk So Far Away?
Two old friends were resting after morning chores on the farm. They sat and watched the busy traffic on the dirt road from Wuhan to Huarong.
Seigen asked Obaku: "What was Master Bodhidharma's intention in walking west from India to China?"
Obaku, a Taoist scholar, answered: "He likely preferred the warmer winters of Wuhan to the blizzards in Tibet. Or, he just enjoyed backpacking for great distances back and forth."
Seigen, a Chan man, said: "Really, Obaku, don't you believe he traveled to spread the Buddha Dharma to our Chinese people?"
Obaku replied: "Maybe, but why then did he choose to sit in silence facing a stone wall for seven years in China? How could he help others in so doing? He could have died from such extreme austerities. And, he could have saved Dazu Huike's arm. He should have spent the time learning to speak, read, write, and teach in Chinese."
Seigen, a bit annoyed, said; "But, Obaku, was he not a great leader at the Shaolin Temple in Luoyang and the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism?"
Obaku retorted: "He could have been more gracious towards the generous and kind Emperor Wu. Was he not sort of a rough Tibetan hardened fellow, a Foreigner? His alleged name, "Bodhidharma," seems suspicious to me."
Seigen would not give up, and said: "What? Did not the Bodhidharma bring vital bodily exercises and martial arts to those lazy Shaolin monks?"
Obaku replied: "The Chinese people were doing many longevity exercises and internal alchemy practices a thousand years before the Bodhidharma arrived. Hua Tuo and He Gong were more influential in this respect for more people."
Seigen said: "The Bodhidharma lived for 150 years to show his great healing powers."
Obaku snorted: "50 years or 150 years ... In the end we all rot in our graves. Only but a few are reborn as the fictions of legends."
Seigen responded: "Obaku, you are full of harsh judgments today. I sense a bit much of the judgmental thinking of the Action and Karma brothers of your creed; also, your being rather chauvinistic about our beloved Chinese heritage."
Obaku replied: "You are correct, Seigen! Too much judging distorts our greater awareness, and threatens wisdom. Also, I should be more respectful of the Patriarchs and our shared new insights. I'm sorry old friend.
Seigen said: "You are also correct, Obaku. I must curb my hero worship and simple love of legends. Anyway, back to some quiet sitting, my brother."
Obaku's daughter brought them both a cup of hot tea. They sipped in silence. They listened to the oxen carts rattling by on the road, and watched the many walkers traveling west. A smattering of being enlightened occurred for both of them.
Considerations
Too much sitting stiffens the body-mind.
Even the Bodhidharma made the monks work more.
Many Chan monks distained learning and reading,
and because they could not read.
Beware of overgrown imagination and legends.
Question the scriptures and tales.
Don't read with one eye blind.
Beliefs can disrupt sound judgments.
Without right judgments we cannot flourish.
Friendships close the door to petty arguments.
Comments, Sources
Refer to Master Dogen's Shinji Shobogenzo, Case 10.
Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories.
Pulling Onions Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo
Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans
Refer Also to Fireplaces, Hearths, Campfires, Stoves
The painting shown at the top of this post is from the book: The Chinese Art Book, p. 182. It was a famous oil on canvas painting made in 1967 by the artist Liu Chunua. It is titled: Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan.
The Fireplace Records By Michael P. Garofalo
I was cheerfully and energetically walking with my dog, Bruno, on Sunday morning (9/10). The weather was cool and overcast, almost foggy. We both had spirit and liveliness in our quick walking pace. The evergreen pines were impressive borders to our morning jaunt, and many deciduous shrubs and trees added a few autumn colors to delight our views.
Suddenly, a large black cat jumped out from some shrubs and scrambled directly in front of our path. Bruno, predictably, lunged in pursuit of his longstanding DNA enemy. I gathered my strength and balance and controlled his aggressiveness via the leash. We walked another ten feet. Then Bruno suddenly turned in front of me and ran into my legs. I quickly lost my balance and fell forward on to the asphalt street.
I injured my left knee, right hand, right shoulder, and overall sense of well-being. Blood dripped from my hand and bruised knee. I slowly assessed the damage, and gradually returned to standing, supported by my cane. We slowly and carefully walked back home.
Karen helped me bandage and treat my wounds. I applied ice to my bruised knee. I rested and hoped for the best.
I had a scheduled a yurt camping trip to Pacific Beach State Park on the Southwestern Washington Pacific coast, from 9/11-9/14. I was quite disappointed that I could not go camping because of my leg injuries from the Sunday fall. I lost the $150.00 I had spent on the Yurt reservations.
Now, for three days, I have been sitting, resting, doing some gentle massage and rehab movements for my bruised knee, icing, and reading.
Multiple injuries to my right hand, and arthritis, have resulted in permanent impairment, pain, and weakness in my dominant right hand.
Injuries to my legs have resulted in fewer problems and more rapid recovery.
I've been reading many books on 20th Century history. I particularly enjoyed "The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails" by Sarah Bakewell. The extreme challenges and choices of Europeans living from 1910-1960 are very disturbing to read about. Bakewell tells the story via the lives of many French and German intellectuals of that era. Eric Hobsbawn's "The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991" chronicles the influences of socialism, fascism, communism, capitalism, and the devastating Wars, and the Cold War, during that time period.
I had anticipated adding reports, photographs, and poems about my yurt camping trip to Pacific Beach after I returned on Thursday (9/14).
In the remaining three months ahead in 2023, I have scheduled Yurt camping beach trips to Nehalem Bay, Grayland, and Cape Lookout. Each month, I yurt camp four days and three nights at a State Park along the ocean shores. Hopefully, I will be physically able to enjoy these local adventures and retreats to the Pacific Coast in 2023 and 2024.
Memories of Pacific Coast Places: Highway 101 and 1
Reports from Yurt Camping Retreats at the Ocean from 2021
The Fireplace Records, Chapter 19
The Roshi's Clapping Cell Phone
"What is the sound of one hand clapping? asked Hakuin Ekaku in 1740.
Thousands of monks and householders have introspected this famous Zen Koan Case since 1740. They pounded on tables with one hand, tapped their staff against the floor with one hand, and came up with many wordy replies to reveal the sound of one hand clapping.
After years of study with Hakuin, after satisfactory revealing the spiritual and psychic impact of the koans, after achieving enlightenment, and after following the Dharma Path thereafter, Hakuin would award his close friend/student, his Dharma heir, with a painting of a whisk and dragon staff.
Of course, the mind does the clapping itself, patting ourselves on the back with one hand, cheering us on, applauding our daily efforts.
Bravo! With one hand or two hands clapping, no matter, show your respect and appreciation for all our good work.
Haikuin painted with one hand, and applauded his student's efforts and achievements.
My Roshi has a Apple cellphone. His ring tone is the sound of clapping. Naturally, he holds the phone with one hand.
I applaud his Dharma efforts! He needs a pat on the back.
A Student's Considerations:
Different centuries, different ideas and things at hand.
Applaud, clap for, cheer on the good efforts of everyone.
Talking is the father of metaphors.
Practical realists would say that a single hand makes no clapping sound; but, poets and mystics favor playing with entangling expressions. And,
we all hear the sound and know the direct meaning of a pat on the back.
Occasionally, the wrong answer is revealing in new ways.
Even if a pat on the back is not forthcoming, keeping working.
Pulling Onions Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo
Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans
Fireplaces, Stoves, Campfires, Kitchens, Pots, Firewood
Brief Spiritual Lessons Database Project: Subject Indexes
Sparks: Brief Spiritual Lessons and Stories
Matches to Start a Kindling of Insight
May the Light from Your Inner Fireplace Help All Beings
Taoist, Chan Buddhist, Zen Buddhist, Philosophers
Catching Phrases, Inspiring Verses, Koans, Meditations
Indexing, Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Research by Michael P. Garofalo
The Fireplace Records
By Michael P. Garofalo
"Teach us to care and not to care.
Teach us to sit still."
Back in 1985, I purchased a book titled “Zen Master Dōgen: An Introduction with Selected Writings.” Translation and commentary by Yuho Yokoi with Daizen Victoria. Weatherhill, 1984. Later, I read Moon in a Dewdrop and other translations and commentary by Kazuaki Tanahashi about Master Dōgen, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan. These authors brought Dōgen to California for me ... a real Dharma treasure.
“The quality of our life
depends on what seeds we water in our consciousness.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
I watered the seeds of wisdom from Dōgen for many years, tended to my garden of life, and reaped many fruits. I maintained correct remembrance of Dōgen's contributions.
One of the sermons by Zen Master Dōgen (1200-1253 CE), was “The Eight Aspects of
Enlightenment” (Hachi Dainin-gaku), written the year Dogen died. In this lecture, Dōgen tells the story of the
last sermon spoken by the Buddha Shakyamuni before he died around 400 BCE.
Here is an abbreviated
version of Dogen’s sermon:
“The various Buddha’s have
all been enlightened persons. Their
enlightenment is designated hachi dainin-gaku because it has eight
important aspects, the comprehension of which lead to Nirvana. It was the Buddha Shakyamuni himself who, in
his last sermon on the eve of his death, clarified these eight aspects.
The firs [important aspect]
is freedom from greed. This means to
forsake the five desires. Be a person of
few wants.
The second is
satisfaction. This means to be satisfied
with whatever one has.
The third is to enjoy
quiet. This means to lead a solitary
life, separated from all worldly disturbances.
The fourth is right speech,
considered speech, avoidance of gossip and useless discussions.
The fifth is diligence. The means to do good single-heartedly and
continuously. If you are diligent in
your practice of the Way, it will not be difficult for you to realize
enlightenment.
The sixth is correct
remembrance. This is also called the
preservation of correct remembrance, the word “preservation” signifying the
comprehension of the Law.
The seventh is the practice
of samadhi. Samadhi means
to reside in the Truth, in an undisturbed state of mind.
The eight is the practice of
Wisdom. Wisdom stems from enlightenment,
which is the result of having practiced the Law that one has heard and thought
about.
A person who possesses true
Wisdom is like a stalwart ship sailing across the ocean of old age, sickness,
and death; like a bright lamp dispelling the darkness of delusion; like a good
medicine for all those who are sick; and like a sharp axe used to cut down the
tree of illusion. The Wisdom resulting
from having heard, thought about, and practiced the Law can thus be used to
increase your merit in the Way. If a
person has come into possession of the light of Wisdom, he has the power to see
the Truth with his naked eyes. Such is
the nature of Wisdom.”
“These, then, are the eight
important aspects of enlightenment. Each
of these aspects has eight different functions, for a total of sixty-four
functions in all. In a broader sense,
however, these eight actually have an infinite number of functions, the figure
sixty-four being merely an abbreviated form of the latter. The Buddha Shakyamuni spoke the preceding,
his last teaching on the essence of Mahayana, around midnight on
February 15th. Thereafter, he
said nothing more, being silent until his death.”
Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path
