Where are You?... Staring at what's before you. I've jumped from Buddhas' palm across countless world systems only to land in Zen Notes? THE SUTRA OF Just can't get away from that guy... PERFECT AWAKENING TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE Saturday, January 28th, 1939 "The four great elements are immobile; hence you must know the nature of awakening is uniform and immobile. Furthermore, the eighty-four thousand gates of Dharani are also uniform and immobile; hence you must know that the nature of awakening is uniform and immobile. "O Obedient One. The nature of awakening is pure and immobile and pervades endlessly the multifold directions; hence you must know that the six roots of consciousness extend throughout the Dharmadhatu. The roots of consciousness extend everywhere; hence you must know that the six qualities of dust extend throughout the A limited number of complete sets of Dharmadhatu. The dusts extend; hence you must know that Zen Notes the four elements of matter extend throughout the (from Vol. I, 1954 to Vol. XLVIII, 2002) Dharmadhatu. Furthermore, the gates of Dharani extend are available for sale. Price - $300.00. throughout the Dharmadhatu." If you are interested, contact the Institute at the phone number below. SOKEI-AN SAYS: This is part of the Buddha's answer to the question asked by Bodhisattva Samantanetra. It is the Buddha's view of the elemental aspect of the world. This view is quite different from that of Western philosophers. This observation of the elemental aspect of the world is quite new to the Occident, so I shall explain it briefly. Copyright 2003 PUBLISHED BY The Buddha's world was entirely subjective -- that is -- the world which extends before me is my world, the world which extends before you is your world, etc. FIRST ZEN INSTITUTE OF AMERICA, INC. While we have the same consciousness, the world extending 113 East 30th Street before us has the same appearance -- yet each one sees it New York City, New York 10016 according to his subjective state. But a sentient being which has a (212) 686-2520 different consciousness from ours, sees the world quite differently. How does sweet taste to an animal? Red may be green to him. VOLUME XLX, NUMBER 3 Summer 2003 Editor, usually anonymous artist, poet... Peeter Lamp When we change our consciousness by alcohol or drugs, round may become square and thin may become fat -- one day I took ALL RIGHTS RESERVED too much aspirin and all O's in my dictionary become square... We call this a subjective appearance -- but to a Buddhist -- the whole world is subjective and there is no objective world. Standing upon this subjective view -- the Buddha observed all Dharma, existences in four types: First - The absolute elemental type -- beyond our sense perception. To this type, for instance, the city of New York is a city of transparency -- no time, space, color, sound -- no three dimensions; it is empty, but solid and omnipotent. This is what the Buddha called "Bhutathata," and what the Western philosophers call "the state of reality." Second - The type is this (struck bowl). There are many things displayed in kaleidoscopic phenomena: green, gold, yellow, shining and dark, standing, moving, sitting, and lying down, in space and time. These two types are not in a different place or in a different time (and not in consecutive time) -- but in the same place and at the same moment. To illustrate this by the analogy of water: One is a state of liquid and one is a state of vapor -- but both are H2O which takes two states; one is liquid and the other is transparent. Third - The state in which the Dharmadhatu (the whole world) can be seen in the two states -- emptiness and phenomena. The two states are the same, are in complete unity, yoga. They are YAMANTAKA The Terrible One transfused, amalgamated into one form of existence which is this existence. "Yamantaka Vajrabhairava or Terrible Vajra is the most ferocious Buddhist deity. He is a manifestation of Manjushri, who adopts this The Buddha does not call it either an "empty" world or a form to conquer Yama, the god of death, turning death into a guardian "phenomenal" world. This view does not exist in Western of blissful life. With a great fan of arms holding implements for the philosophy. thirty-six branches of enlightenment, and with sixteen legs for the sixteen types of avoidance, he has eight buffalo heads topped by a head Fourth - In this phenomenal world are many worlds and this world is in many worlds. I embrace 1,000,000 worlds. These of Manjushri. The message of this deity is that fully enlightened worlds are common property -- each one has his worlds and they beings, while not omnipotent, are strong enough to contend with are all the same, yet all different. dangerous energies and to transform the environment from a place of fear and violence into a safe and supportive realm for the practice of This theory is largely expanded in the Avatamsaka Sutra, one meditation." of the great sutras of Buddhism. Each one of you is existing in my mind, and I am existing in The text of these blurbs was written by Priya Hemenway [The your minds; we are exchanging the world between us. Upon this Tao Box], who has lived in India where she studied Asian conception, the Buddhist morality is established. Here is money -- scriptures. The Tibetan Buddhist Deck is published by Chronicle ten dimes (holding out). They belong to everybody (or nobody) Books, San Francisco © 2003, and is available from Amazon.com but I possess them for a little while. (It is like a family in which for $9.95. everybody works and on Saturday night, bring their salaries home to mamma. Then every child will come running -- "Mamma!" -- and mamma never gets a new hat.) In the previous part of his answer, the Buddha explained the unsuspecting monks tiptoed back to the temple and climbed the first type of the subjective world -- the world of Reality. The wall. But as they lowered themselves down on the other side, they second is the world of actuality. Here is the third world, where were disconcerted to find that the footstool they always left behind Reality and actuality are completely inter fused. Then the fourth, was missing. Their feet groped in confusion in the darkness for where one actuality will embrace all and all will embrace one -- as the stool. Finally they managed to find something in its place that Indra's Net. All is reflected in one mirror. allowed them to lower themselves from the wall, and placing their feet on it, one by one they stepped down into the temple yard. As "The four great elements are immobile; hence you must know they peered around in the shadows, they were astonished to that the nature of awakening is uniform and immobile." -- The discover that the object they had used as a footstool was the shaved four great elements: earth, water, fire, air -- a very ancient study of head of their teacher! White with fear, they prostrated themselves matter -- dividing them into these four qualities. They are on the ground. But Master Sengai, in admonishing them, blamed "immobile" because you cannot change their nature -- cannot only himself, saying their misbehavior was due to his own destroy or disturb it. negligence in teaching. Today we analyze everything into many elements -- but in ancient days there were only these four types of matter -- essential and elemental. "The nature of awakening" is, of course, our own consciousness. The body of this nature of awakening is emptiness, the first existence; it means reality, primary existence which is not developed into the six consciousnesses. It is innate in everyone's mind. This innate nature of awakening is uniform in every mind, and it is indestructible (no one can destroy it). Our consciousness originally has the nature to awake to this world -- and from this world to awake to higher worlds. When you die, your body will be destroyed -- but this innate nature of awakening will never be destroyed. Thus the Buddha made a connection between the four great elements and our inmost qualities of consciousness. The reality of Book Review it is emptiness -- called Nirvana. Though it is "empty," it possesses by Ian Chandler omnipotent power. "Furthermore, the eighty-four thousand gates of Dharani are Buddhist Saint Cards also uniform and immobile." -- Each gate is an entrance to each principle of religion. The Buddha's religion has 8,000 gates. Each You collected Baseball cards when you were a kid, playing principle holds the whole world, as the First View of the world cards for poker, and Tarot cards for Halloween. Now, you can get holds all the other three worlds, the second view -- the other three, The Tibetan Buddhist Deck, a set of 36 cards depicting the heroes, etc. All principles hold every principle and support all. This is gods and saints of the Tibetan Buddhist Pantheon. They are called "Dharani," a Sanskrit word with this meaning. So each divided by number into 6 Dhyani Buddhas, 11 Historical Figures, different principle of Buddhism is not really different -- they are and 19 Guiding Spirits various Bodhisattvas, protectors and uniform, essential, and immobile principles. deities. I found these beautiful cards in the gift shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: each has on its face an art "hence you must know that the nature of awakening is uniform reproduction of a Tibetan Buddhist saint and on the reverse side is and immobile." -- First, the Buddha made a relation between a brief description, e.g.: joined them all for buckwheat noodles in broth.