The mind is so powerful. The first thing I thought of when I started to read the writing. To be completly honest, this wasn't the easiest writing to comprehend. An almost repetitive style of writing used. It basically says that the mind is uncomprehendable. If we try and figure it out we will get know where. It compares Buddha and all ordianary beings in the first part of the writing. I got out of it that it is saying that the two are basically the same thing. Basically saying that the only difference is that the ordinary mind searches outside of its body and mind for buddahood (65). Really he's saying that we underestimate the power of our mind.
The writing talks about how the ordinary person, uses way too much conceptual thinking. That if we didn't focus so much on what he hear, feel, and see that the real truth would be exposed. The way Huang-Po thinks is almost out of my realm, and it's something I don't fully comprehend. One quote that caught me was, "When most people hear that the Buddhas transmit the teaching of the one mind, they suppose that there is something to be attained or realized apart from mind, and they use mind to seek the teaching, not realing that mind and the object of their search are one"(66). It says that too many people make the mistake to search for answers about the mind. That really all along its up in your head.
You know honestly, I could be interpreting this all wrong, but I see it as a way of almost explaining that the Buddha is an ordinary person like all of us. It's almost confusing for me, because it explains how to free from the Buddha; but saying that the Buddha is the entire visible universe. Feel free to comment if you have an idea to explain what is being said. I basically feel that what he hear, see, and feel can't fully explain the reality of the mind.
4 comments:
The Buddha was/is just an ordinary man like the rest of us. The Buddha saw that which we can all see, that there is nothing to see here... move along.
As westerners, we are disadvantaged in that we have been taught science. We need to see and grasp, smell, hear and taste to know something exists. What if this is all a dream of a dream of a dream, and nothing exists? Or that you choose to see what you think you see? What if you could just turn off your brain for a while, and watch the world without thinking at all...
We all get to try and understand the world in the way that seems best for us. You for you, me for me. If you somehow come to a great realization about the world, one that liberates you from fear, desire, judgement, etc., it will mean nothing except to you. But what a great thing to experience!
Thanks for making me think... LOL
Hi Donny,
Great blog...I really enjoyed it. Huang-Po (and many of your readings) are definitely confusing. They are trying to express something that is ultimately beyond words. There's a saying I really love by an Islamic master: "This thing we speak of cannot be gotten by seeking, yet only seekers find it." The pursuit of wisdom leads to wisdom, and the confusions and contradictions are an essential part of the path.
I think maybe the reading from Dogen this week is most direct, about how to practice sitting meditation. It's there that one experiences the sort of thing that all these guys are trying to say. The mind is, in its most basic elemental nature, perfectly calm and serene. We muddy the water with our thoughts and confusions, but originally every soul is already at peace.
Donny,
I don't know if this will help, or if it's even correct, but I think what Huang-Po is getting at is that Buddha isn't a person so much, as it is a state of mind. That state of mind being the one Professor File explained in his comment, one of serenity.
Although I have struggled with these readings this week because they are so contradictory to me, I do feel I get what they are saying.
But getting to that place, is so difficult to think about. I guess that's why they say not to think.
I almost think that the only way we (meaning, the majority of highly stressed people of the present day) could get to that state of a perfectly calm mind, would be with the assistance of Zanax!
This stuff IS really confusing. Every time I read any of these passages, especially the Hindu and Buddha ones, it makes my mind go crazy! I'm glad I'm not the only one. Great job!
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