..續本文上一頁I”m talking about. Even though you—you haven”t enlightenment—you haven”t attained enlightenment, but to try to attain enlightenment is good enough to help others.
Student O: Must we live in community to help others
Is it possible—
Suzuki-rōshi: No, no, no.
Student O: —to live in a cave and help others
Suzuki-rōshi: Yeah, it is possible. Even though you seclude yourself, it is possible.
Student P: I—I don”t think it”s a matter of helping others or not helping others. If you—if each moment you are fully responsive to the situation in which you find yourself, you”ll do everything you have to do.
Suzuki-rōshi: Yeah.
Student P: You don”t have to try to do anything. You just respond to the situation.
Suzuki-rōshi: Yeah [laughs]. That is complete answer. But when you bring that problem in—in more emotional, you know, realm, this kind of feeling, is necessary, you know—to go this way is to come down; to go up is to come down. Even though you do not attain enlightenment, it”s all right.
Student Q: But if I myself am able to respond honestly to a situation which—the minute I open my mouth now, I”m responding dishonestly—
Suzuki-rōshi: Mm-hmm.
Student Q: —what is the distinction between this and enlightenment
If I can respond honestly, it would seem to me that [laughs] this is something which is—
Suzuki-rōshi: Yeah. That is what I was saying, you know. Just to respond to some outward stimulation is not right, not right. That is, you know, to behave like just [laughs] animal-like, you know. That is not what we mean by “to be natural.” To be natural means to follow the pattern of human life, not animal. We have clear distinction from animal life, natural as a human being, or natural as an animal. So the way should be—is “way as it is,” we mean. This—this point is opposite. If you make—if someone hit you, to hit back. That is, you know, animal-like response. You should not forget your true nature, inmost nature. We do not feel good when I hit someone. It is much better than[3] to be hit [laughs]. As a human being, it is much better. You will be regret if you hit others. But even though you were hit by others, there is much—there is not much discouragement in it.
Student R: How do we distinguish between a concern which is healthy and unhealthy with people
We know that somebody needs help, but when we—how—how do we—
Suzuki-rōshi: Yeah. That is very difficult to distinguish which is which. Pretty hard. We should know it is hard. Not so simple. Looks like very simple [laughs] question, but it is not all—not at all simple. That is why we have—we want some training with right understanding. Not at all easy to tell.
But even though you reflect on what you have done, you know, in past [laughs], you cannot tell which is which [laughs, laughter]. That is no good to count, you know, date—animal”s age is not so good. So to have bodhisattva-mind [laughs]—strong bodhisattva mind in here [points] is only way to tell, or you will have intuition. You should have always intuition. Without trying to do something, your intuitive action should help others. If you actually have bodhisattva-mind, you can help others anyway. The bodhisattva-mind is to pursue good and truth and beauty is bodhisattva-mind. To follow the way should be—is bodhisattva-mind. If one person follow the right way, that one person will help hundreds of people.
Thank you very much.
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[1] antonymy: a word having a meaning opposite to that of another word.
[2] The letters identifying students are only approximate. When there was a continuous exchange between a student and Suzuki-rōshi, the letter was repeated for that series of exchanges. But it was not possible reliably to identify the various students” voices throughout the lecture, so a particular student may have asked a question early in the Q&A session but was later identified with a different sequential letter.
[3] Suzuki-rōshi probably meant, “It is much better to be hit.”
《6Pm Sesshin Lecture - July 27 1965 2nd Talk》全文閱讀結束。