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Why did Mahakashyapa smile?

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Transmission Speech

Zen Master Dae Gak

 

[Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

 

True perception has no root.

Clear listening has no sound.

When you hear the beat of hooves

Don't say zebra, don't say horse.

 

[Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

 

One ear appears

all sounds appear.

One ear disappears

all sounds disappear.

 

[Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

 

If you have ears

I will hit you thirty times!

If you have no ears

I will hit you thirty times!

 

Why?

 

KATZ!!

 

The roar of the great river

transforms heaven and earth.

The bald eagle rises slowly, slowly,

slowly

In the clear blue sky.

Aiee, Aiee ... Aiee

 

I would like to talk tonight about

a kong-an from Zen Master Man Gong:

 

" All Zen Masters say that in the

sound of the bell they attain

enlightenment, and at the sound of

the drum they fall down. Anyone who understands the meaning of this,

please give me an answer. "

 

A student named Song Wol stood up

and said, " If the rabbit's horn is

correct, the sheep's horn is false. "

Man Gong smiled.

 

Zen Master Seung Sahn's comment:

 

If you cannot hear the bell or the

drum, you are free. If you hear both

sounds you are already in hell. 

 

There are three points of entry into

this kong-an, three doors into the

kong-an. The first is, what is the

meaning of " all Zen Masters say they

attain enlightenment in the sound of

the bell and fall down at the sound

of the drum? " The second is, what is

the meaning of " when the rabbit's

horn is true, the sheep's horn is

false? " And the third point of entry

is, what is the meaning of Man Gong

Sunim's smile'?

 

Taking up the first door. Man Gong

said, all Zen Masters say in the sound

of the bell they attain enlightenment,

and at the sound of the drum they fall down. What is the meaning of attaining

enlightenment? What is the meaning

of falling down? Are the meaning of attaining enlightenment and falling

down the same or are they different?

If you say they are the same, you are

lost in oneness. If you say they are

different, you miss the very point.

How then do you reconcile these?

At the sound of the bell, all great

Zen Masters say they attain enlightenment

 

Notice that they are not saying,

because of the sound of the bell, but

in the very sound of the bell itself

all great Zen Masters attain

enlightenment. At the very sound of

the drum, they fall down. What

indeed is the difference between

attaining and falling down? Does he

fall down completely without leaving

a trace? Is this the complete

attainment of falling down? The falling

down of falling down. The

enlightenment of falling down. The

sound of the bell and the sound of

the drum: are they the same or are

they different? From one point of

view, they originate from the same

source, from no sound at all. Sound

arises from no sound.

 

Emptiness. From one perspective, the

sound of the bell and the sound of

the drum are exactly the same. From

another perspective the sound of

the bell and the sound of the drum

are quite different. Enlightenment

and delusion. And yet, Zen Master

Seung Sahn says if you hear either

you fall into hell.

 

What then can you do if you make the

mistake of hearing the sound of the

bell and the sound of the drum? What

can you do if you find yourself in

the hell realm of having heard?

 

Our life is falling down, getting

up. Falling down, getting up. Failing

down, getting up. Falling down,

getting up. Falling down, getting up

And when we see our life from a

certain aspirational perspective,

we see that falling down is a

response to certain circumstances.

Perhaps we are in psychotherapy and

we want to get over our anxiety or

our characterlogical nuances or our

trauma that has happened to us early

on. It is stuck in our consciousness

and seems to be affecting things

that we do in our daily life. If we

could get over some things... we want

to get over the falling down of

our life, the mistakes. So we go

about examining, evaluating,

considering becoming a way, working

through, deconditioning,

extinguishing, resolving our

failing down. And yet here Man

Gong says that at the sound of the

drum all great Zen Masters fall down

 

We have all heard an encouragement

when we are talking about our own

craziness. Zen Master Seung Sahn

says you must become completely

crazy. Then falling down is complete.

And there is no falling and getting up

 

This kong-an points to how our linear

mind wants to see things in a

relative way.

 

Something happens and something else

occurs because of it. That somehow,

the sound of the bell will bring

about a state called enlightenment.

It will call enlightenment to come

into being. When we are in a

particular state of mind that is not

very becoming to us, not very

satisfying, not complete, we seek

something outside of ourselves, like

the sound of the bell, to bring us

into another state. To create

something different from what we are

experiencing. To enlightenment us.

 

To lighten us. And so there is hope

that there will be some kind of intervention that we will be saved

from our suffering in some way. We

look to certain groups of people

like Zen Masters, because our karma

is Zen Buddhist; it could be Desert

Fathers, gurus, PhD's, whatever...

teachers when we were young,

elementary school teachers, parents,

our mother and father, our friends.

We look toward them. We tend to automatically set ourselves apart

from certain groups of people and

presume that they have something

we don't. And sometimes this

presumption, especially in regard

to parents, is so subtle and so

unconscious that we don't even have

a sense that we are doing it. There

isn't even awe involved. It is

covered by our feelings while we

are growing up.

 

All Zen Masters say at the sound of

the bell they fall down and at the

sound of the drum they get up.

 

Falling down, getting up.

 

Attaining falling down. Losing. Having,

not having. Coming and going.

 

There are two mountains. Which one

is the true mountain? All Zen Masters

say at the sound of the bell, attain

enlightenment. At the sound of the

drum, fall down. Bell and drum. Which

one is best? Would you rather attain

enlightenment or falling down?

 

Which would you prefer? Would you

choose enlightenment over falling

down? Or do you choose falling down

over enlightenment?

 

Man Gong is saying the true Zen Master

both attains and falls down. And in

that attainment of falling down,

there is no attainment. And there is

no mistake. It is only when we are

worried about our particular life that

a mistake is possible.

 

When we live our big life we make

only big mistakes which are only for

all beings.

 

The second door to this kong-an is

the monk's comment: if the rabbit's

horn is true, then the sheep's horn

is false. This means: if the turtle's

hair is correct, then the lion's

hair is not correct. Form is form,

emptiness is emptiness. If the fist

is so, the open palm is not.

 

And the third door is, " what is the

meaning of Man Gong's smile? " Is Man

Gong approving or placating? Does

Man Gong approve of this monk's

statement or is he placating him?

One time on Vulture Peak, the Buddha

held up a flower. Only Mahakashyapa

smiled.

 

Was Mahakashyapa's smile the same as

or different from Man Gong's smile?

 

Zen Master Seung Sahn's comment:

" If you cannot hear the bell or drum,

you are free.

 

If you hear both sounds you are

already in hell. " When your conscious

- ness is discriminating this from

that, comparing, how could you

possibly know God. It is our tendency

to constantly think one thing is

better than another. Is it possible

for us to be free from our conceptualization and our suffering?

 

Master Seung Sahn's comment: " If

you don't hear either sound, you

are free; but if you hear either

sound, you fall into hell. "

 

But what if you make the great mistake

of falling into hell? What can you

do? Human beings do not understand

their job. Of all the animals on

earth, humans don't know what they

are supposed to be doing. We have technological advancements that

exceed our wildest expectations. We

can walk on the moon. But, in the

history of man there has never been

a period without war. We live in

conflict.

 

We are attached to our opinions

and ideas, the result being that

our fellow beings are in a constant

state of suffering.

 

So if you fall into hell and are

confronted by demons every day, what

can you do?

 

This whole world is turning, turning,

turning.

 

Before this world existed, there was only silence.

 

After this world disappears, only silence

Silence before, silence after,

Then where does sound come from?

 

KATZ!

 

Thank you for listening.

 

Please enjoy refreshments in the next room.

This page copyright

 

© Kwan Um School of Zen

 

 

Era ;-)

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devi: i think thats about the 8th cut and past from you in 3

days..i'm counting era

 

 

> Transmission Speech

> Zen Master Dae Gak

>

> [Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

>

> True perception has no root.

> Clear listening has no sound.

> When you hear the beat of hooves

> Don't say zebra, don't say horse.

>

> [Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

>

> One ear appears

> all sounds appear.

> One ear disappears

> all sounds disappear.

>

> [Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

>

> If you have ears

> I will hit you thirty times!

> If you have no ears

> I will hit you thirty times!

>

> Why?

>

> KATZ!!

>

> The roar of the great river

> transforms heaven and earth.

> The bald eagle rises slowly, slowly,

> slowly

> In the clear blue sky.

> Aiee, Aiee ... Aiee

>

> I would like to talk tonight about

> a kong-an from Zen Master Man Gong:

>

> " All Zen Masters say that in the

> sound of the bell they attain

> enlightenment, and at the sound of

> the drum they fall down. Anyone who understands the meaning of

this,

> please give me an answer. "

>

> A student named Song Wol stood up

> and said, " If the rabbit's horn is

> correct, the sheep's horn is false. "

> Man Gong smiled.

>

> Zen Master Seung Sahn's comment:

>

> If you cannot hear the bell or the

> drum, you are free. If you hear both

> sounds you are already in hell. 

>

> There are three points of entry into

> this kong-an, three doors into the

> kong-an. The first is, what is the

> meaning of " all Zen Masters say they

> attain enlightenment in the sound of

> the bell and fall down at the sound

> of the drum? " The second is, what is

> the meaning of " when the rabbit's

> horn is true, the sheep's horn is

> false? " And the third point of entry

> is, what is the meaning of Man Gong

> Sunim's smile'?

>

> Taking up the first door. Man Gong

> said, all Zen Masters say in the sound

> of the bell they attain enlightenment,

> and at the sound of the drum they fall down. What is the meaning

of attaining

> enlightenment? What is the meaning

> of falling down? Are the meaning of attaining enlightenment and

falling

> down the same or are they different?

> If you say they are the same, you are

> lost in oneness. If you say they are

> different, you miss the very point.

> How then do you reconcile these?

> At the sound of the bell, all great

> Zen Masters say they attain enlightenment

>

> Notice that they are not saying,

> because of the sound of the bell, but

> in the very sound of the bell itself

> all great Zen Masters attain

> enlightenment. At the very sound of

> the drum, they fall down. What

> indeed is the difference between

> attaining and falling down? Does he

> fall down completely without leaving

> a trace? Is this the complete

> attainment of falling down? The falling

> down of falling down. The

> enlightenment of falling down. The

> sound of the bell and the sound of

> the drum: are they the same or are

> they different? From one point of

> view, they originate from the same

> source, from no sound at all. Sound

> arises from no sound.

>

> Emptiness. From one perspective, the

> sound of the bell and the sound of

> the drum are exactly the same. From

> another perspective the sound of

> the bell and the sound of the drum

> are quite different. Enlightenment

> and delusion. And yet, Zen Master

> Seung Sahn says if you hear either

> you fall into hell.

>

> What then can you do if you make the

> mistake of hearing the sound of the

> bell and the sound of the drum? What

> can you do if you find yourself in

> the hell realm of having heard?

>

> Our life is falling down, getting

> up. Falling down, getting up. Failing

> down, getting up. Falling down,

> getting up. Falling down, getting up

> And when we see our life from a

> certain aspirational perspective,

> we see that falling down is a

> response to certain circumstances.

> Perhaps we are in psychotherapy and

> we want to get over our anxiety or

> our characterlogical nuances or our

> trauma that has happened to us early

> on. It is stuck in our consciousness

> and seems to be affecting things

> that we do in our daily life. If we

> could get over some things... we want

> to get over the falling down of

> our life, the mistakes. So we go

> about examining, evaluating,

> considering becoming a way, working

> through, deconditioning,

> extinguishing, resolving our

> failing down. And yet here Man

> Gong says that at the sound of the

> drum all great Zen Masters fall down

>

> We have all heard an encouragement

> when we are talking about our own

> craziness. Zen Master Seung Sahn

> says you must become completely

> crazy. Then falling down is complete.

> And there is no falling and getting up

>

> This kong-an points to how our linear

> mind wants to see things in a

> relative way.

>

> Something happens and something else

> occurs because of it. That somehow,

> the sound of the bell will bring

> about a state called enlightenment.

> It will call enlightenment to come

> into being. When we are in a

> particular state of mind that is not

> very becoming to us, not very

> satisfying, not complete, we seek

> something outside of ourselves, like

> the sound of the bell, to bring us

> into another state. To create

> something different from what we are

> experiencing. To enlightenment us.

>

> To lighten us. And so there is hope

> that there will be some kind of intervention that we will be saved

> from our suffering in some way. We

> look to certain groups of people

> like Zen Masters, because our karma

> is Zen Buddhist; it could be Desert

> Fathers, gurus, PhD's, whatever...

> teachers when we were young,

> elementary school teachers, parents,

> our mother and father, our friends.

> We look toward them. We tend to automatically set ourselves apart

> from certain groups of people and

> presume that they have something

> we don't. And sometimes this

> presumption, especially in regard

> to parents, is so subtle and so

> unconscious that we don't even have

> a sense that we are doing it. There

> isn't even awe involved. It is

> covered by our feelings while we

> are growing up.

>

> All Zen Masters say at the sound of

> the bell they fall down and at the

> sound of the drum they get up.

>

> Falling down, getting up.

>

> Attaining falling down. Losing. Having,

> not having. Coming and going.

>

> There are two mountains. Which one

> is the true mountain? All Zen Masters

> say at the sound of the bell, attain

> enlightenment. At the sound of the

> drum, fall down. Bell and drum. Which

> one is best? Would you rather attain

> enlightenment or falling down?

>

> Which would you prefer? Would you

> choose enlightenment over falling

> down? Or do you choose falling down

> over enlightenment?

>

> Man Gong is saying the true Zen Master

> both attains and falls down. And in

> that attainment of falling down,

> there is no attainment. And there is

> no mistake. It is only when we are

> worried about our particular life that

> a mistake is possible.

>

> When we live our big life we make

> only big mistakes which are only for

> all beings.

>

> The second door to this kong-an is

> the monk's comment: if the rabbit's

> horn is true, then the sheep's horn

> is false. This means: if the turtle's

> hair is correct, then the lion's

> hair is not correct. Form is form,

> emptiness is emptiness. If the fist

> is so, the open palm is not.

>

> And the third door is, " what is the

> meaning of Man Gong's smile? " Is Man

> Gong approving or placating? Does

> Man Gong approve of this monk's

> statement or is he placating him?

> One time on Vulture Peak, the Buddha

> held up a flower. Only Mahakashyapa

> smiled.

>

> Was Mahakashyapa's smile the same as

> or different from Man Gong's smile?

>

> Zen Master Seung Sahn's comment:

> " If you cannot hear the bell or drum,

> you are free.

>

> If you hear both sounds you are

> already in hell. " When your conscious

> - ness is discriminating this from

> that, comparing, how could you

> possibly know God. It is our tendency

> to constantly think one thing is

> better than another. Is it possible

> for us to be free from our conceptualization and our suffering?

>

> Master Seung Sahn's comment: " If

> you don't hear either sound, you

> are free; but if you hear either

> sound, you fall into hell. "

>

> But what if you make the great mistake

> of falling into hell? What can you

> do? Human beings do not understand

> their job. Of all the animals on

> earth, humans don't know what they

> are supposed to be doing. We have technological advancements that

> exceed our wildest expectations. We

> can walk on the moon. But, in the

> history of man there has never been

> a period without war. We live in

> conflict.

>

> We are attached to our opinions

> and ideas, the result being that

> our fellow beings are in a constant

> state of suffering.

>

> So if you fall into hell and are

> confronted by demons every day, what

> can you do?

>

> This whole world is turning, turning,

> turning.

>

> Before this world existed, there was only silence.

>

> After this world disappears, only silence

> Silence before, silence after,

> Then where does sound come from?

>

> KATZ!

>

> Thank you for listening.

>

> Please enjoy refreshments in the next room.

> This page copyright

>

> © Kwan Um School of Zen

>

>

> Era ;-)

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why not stick with one path karta, your mind is like a stupid monkey

that swings from tree to tree but forgets to grap the banana so it

starves and dies...

 

 

 

Nisargadatta , " Era " <mi_nok> wrote:

>

> > > > devi: i think thats about the 8th cut and past from you in 3

> > > > days..i'm counting era

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > -you can count, and watch my posts

> > >

> > > and believe in a ghost infested

> > > universe..

> > >

> > > --and, that you will live for ever

>

> reincarnating

>

>

> > > none of it will improve your

> > > understanding

> > > of who you are

> > >

> >

> > good start would be to ask yourself:

> >

> > why am I counting the C & P ?

> >

> > who is the one who wants to know their

> > number ?

> >

> > is there such a self, or Self ?

> >

> > is that me ?

> >

> > etc etc

> >

> >

>

> --but by all means; do not forget to

> Google about Mahakashyapa smile

>

> metta, Era

>

> > > > > Transmission Speech

> > > > > Zen Master Dae Gak

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