Part I: Bhagavan, Huang Po and an ancient analogy

[Guest guest]

Namaste All,

 

I have come across and ancient analogy similar to one used by Bhagavan.

Huang Po was a great Chinese zen master living in the 9th century AD. The

analogy centers around already possessing what one is seeking. For

Bhagavan, the analogy was a lady and her necklace. For Huang Po, it was a

warrior and his forehead pearl. Here then, are the two analogies and their

significance as expounded by these two masters of non-dualism.

 

 

===========BHAGAVAN'S ANALOGY==========

 

This excerpt taken from The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi edited by David

Godman, found at <http://www.hinduism.co.za/self-.htm>:

 

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: You are already that. Time and space cannot affect the

Self. They are in you. So also all that you see around you is in you. There

is a story to illustrate this point.

 

A lady had a precious necklace around her neck. Once in her excitement she

forgot it and thought that the necklace was lost. She became anxious and

looked for it in her home but could not find it. She asked her friends and

neighbours if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last

a kind friend told her to feel the necklace round her neck. She found that

it had all along been round her neck and she was happy. When others asked

her later if she had found the necklace which was lost, she said, 'Yes, I

have found it.' She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.

 

Now did she lose it at all? It was all along round her neck. But judge her

feelings. She was as happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly

with us, we imagine that we will realise that Self some time, whereas we

are never anything but the Self.

 

===========End necklace analogy=======

 

 

 

===========HUANG PO'S ANALOGY==========

 

This excerpt is taken from

<http://www.stephenmitchellbooks.com/anthologies/enlightenedMindExcerpt04.html>

 

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 realizing that mind

and the object of their search are one. Mind can't be used to seek mind; if

it is, even after millions of eons have gone by, the search will still not

be over.

 

Suppose that a warrior forgot he was already wearing his pearl on his

forehead, and sought for it somewhere else: he might search through the

whole world without finding it. But if someone simply pointed it out to

him, the warrior would immediately realize that the pearl had been there

all the time. In the same way, if you students of the Tao are mistaken

about your own mind, not recognizing that it is the Buddha, you will look

for it somewhere else, indulging in various practices and hoping to attain

something. But even after eons of diligent searching, you won't be able to

attain the Tao.

 

These methods can't be compared to the elimination of conceptual thinking,

when you understand there is nothing that has absolute existence, nothing

to hold on to, nothing to depend on, nothing to dwell in, nothing

subjective or objective. When you prevent the rise of conceptual thinking,

you will be free men, and this just means you will realize that the Buddha

has always existed in your own mind. Eons of striving will turn out to be

wasted effort; just as, when the warrior found his pearl, he simply found

what had been hanging on his forehead all the time, and his discovery had

nothing to do with his efforts to find it elsewhere. Therefore the Buddha

said, "I didn't attain a single thing through Supreme Perfect

Enlightenment." It was because he was concerned that people wouldn't

believe this that he taught by less direct methods. This statement of his

isn't idle chatter; it expresses the highest truth.

 

===========End forehead pearl analogy============

 

Jai Bhagavan,

 

David M.