Shoshin

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This morning arrived late. I am usually up and at my day by 4:30 or so. Today I opened my eyes at 5:15. Suki was sleeping in the Zendo. I made coffee, washed, and sat down to see how the world was presenting itself.



I wish I hadn’t. Saber rattling everywhere, good grief.



Yesterday afternoon, our discussion group got into a pesky little hole. This often happens. We are examining the Platform Sutra. It is a teaching, a history, a biography, and a work of great fiction. Some of us do not like to hear that. Yet, it is so of all “sacred” texts. We must drop away this notion of “sacred” completely; it is no more sacred than doggy doo, but no less sacred, either.



Twhen studing text we must not approach the work as literalists, hanging on every word as it is. We need to learn how to let go of the literal and swim in the deeper tapestry of text history, culture, context, and so on.



One piece of text gave us pause. After Hui-Neng has Dharma Transmission, the Fifth Patriarch says to him,



“…since ancient times the lives of those to whom this teaching has been transmitted have hung by a thread. If you stay here, someone will harm you. You must leave at once.”



Most of us take this literally. We say, well, all the monks will get up in arms about the newbie getting the robe and bowl, etc. It gives rise to all sorts of discussion regarding human nature, politics, human life, etc.



I suspect there is a deeper understanding here, a teaching of immense significance that if we reside on the surface, we will completely miss.



The teaching referred to here by the Fifth Patriarch is not a teaching, per se, as nothing was “taught,” but rather, the experience of direct, Mind-to-Mind transmission and the question of how to remain free and easy in the marketplace. Transmission is a “born again” sort of thing. As a newborn, every step is fraught with the danger of us losing our shoshin, beginner’s mind. This life is always hanging by a thread and people are always out to steal your life from you. That someone might even be our self.





One of the aspects of this piece that has captured my attention is the aspect of a demand to leave home. We got into that a little yesterday, but again, I fear the literal understandings can be an obstacle to deeper understanding.



Homeleaving does not simply or solely mean, get up and go. It is also a metaphor for clear mind. Setting aside what we know is as much “leaving home” as getting on an airplane. If we have left home, we are always at risk for setting up housekeeping elsewhere. It is in our nature to nest. There are powerful social and psychological forces at play to move us in that direction.



This is one aspect of the enlightened Fifth Patriarch’s message to the enlightened Sixth Patriarch: “stay awake, there are always those who will help put you to sleep!”



Be well.