Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation by Cleary Thomas (TRN)

Author:Cleary, Thomas (TRN) [Cleary, Thomas (TRN)]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, buddhism, zen, Rituals & Practice, philosophy
ISBN: 9780834824867
Google: wcbvAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Published: 2009-02-10T00:09:16.457523+00:00

“One mass of fierce flames reddens the whole sky;

The Buddhas of all times are right in the center.

Having expounded the Teaching, now they are done;

Above the eyebrows there rises a pure breeze.”

[60] In the process of finding out the inner sanctum of Buddhism, spontaneously penetrating vision of the flames of fire expounding the Teaching is thus. So one mass of fierce flames blazes through time: it comes from nowhere, has no form, has no differentiation, and so ultimately has no extinction. Because it is completely undifferentiated, it is the scenery of the original ground of all phenomena, all beings, and all Buddhas.

[61] Why do students today not keep this in mind or believe in it resolutely? Because they do not believe in it resolutely, they become lowly ignorant fools, not escaping vicious circles. They should ask themselves where the fault is, and see all the way through.

[62] Those who are wedded to worldly conventions think that illusory and ephemeral phenomena are really permanent, so they are completely preoccupied with gain and loss of mundane profit. Placing profoundly abiding trust in a life that is like a temporary lamp before the wind, which cannot be guaranteed even until tomorrow, where each outgoing breath does not ensure that another ingoing breath will follow, they rejoice and lament according to vicissitudes.

[63] Even your physical elements will vanish in the funeral pyre, like evaporating dew; although there is not so much as an atom of anything that you can cling to as your own, you spend your life taking it easy, as if you were master of yourself.

[64] This does not depend on the teachings of the scriptures; it is an evident truth, right before our eyes. Since it is a mass of roaring flames, therefore the Buddhas of all times are also herein, and so are all beings in all forms of life also herein. In this context, how are living beings and Buddhas different? Those who erroneously cling to the ego do not believe in the light, so they are herein arbitrarily making themselves bob and sink in birth and death. Those who see through to the light, in contrast, are herein realizing impartial unhindered universal knowledge.

[65] Therefore Yongjia said, “Eternal calm is not apart from right where you are; if you seek, I know you cannot see. It cannot be grasped, cannot be rejected; within ungraspability it is attained just so. The ancient Nāgārjuna said in a eulogy of wisdom, “Transcendent wisdom is like a mass of fire; it is ungraspable on all four sides.”

[66] Although everyone hears and reads such great teachings, you study them as if they were only relevant to others. You do not free and ease your whole being, you do not penetrate the totality. Instead you say that you are lacking in capacity, or that you are beginners, or that you are latecomers, or that you are ordinary mortals who have not cut off a single delusion. You do not put down your former views or your self-image.

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