..续本文上一页 There is no mistake as to why Thich Nhat Hanh made the first precept in the "Order of Interbeing" (which means to continue to realise or to be in touch with): Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology - this includes Buddhist ones. This encourage us to experience directly for ourselves the truth. What often gets in the way is our own self-centred preoccupations. It”s when we get out of our own way, let go, that the great universe opens up. If we return to the story, there is something very beautiful in this process, Seijo”s longing to return home. Essentially we all have this deep longing to return to our true home, however often it is masked by the veils of our desires and ignorance. It is often pain and discontent that leads us in search of the truth, and our longing for inner peace and harmony that turns us around. Our suffering and our joy returns us to our practice over and over.

　　When the Buddha said the first noble truth is ~Life is suffering", what did he mean

　　 The statement was not made from a morbid depressing view of life. Yet if we are intimate with the moment to moment impermanent nature of all things, we recognise that there is an underlying dissatisfaction. The question arises: is there something more

　　 What emerges is the longing to understand. I know in my own life there welled up inside of me a great passion to want to know what I am, what I am. In fact, it was that passion and determination that led me to meet Aitken Roshi and it”s the same passion and determination that the Buddha had when he sat down under the Bodhi tree. Our search for peace is, in truth, the longing for the empty infinite self, the heart longing to discover its own original face. It is this very longing which is the manifestation of the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings.

　　So we do our zazen and we patiently refuse the domination of our fantasies, judgmental opinions about ourselves and others and we turn around as Seijo did to this moment. We turn the dharma wheel when we encounter this moment this is our focus and our samadhi will gradually deepen us, the process has its own natural momentum and unfolding .

　　The story has a beautiful and inspiring ending, symbolic of the process of realisation. The Seijo sick at home in bed and the Seijo with the two children from the distant city rejoined and became one. Seijo is here with us now, she is inviting us to discover our affinity with the stones and clouds, not to change from one form into another but rather to enable us to experience this ancient truth of no-self.

　　Another aspect that is reflected in this story, probably relevant more to women, is that we have traditionally experienced our lives and defined ourselves by who we are with. For example, Seijo was a daughter in relationship to her parents, Seijo was a wife in relationship to her husband. The person we are partner to can very often define who we think we are. We are constantly in relationship, each moment is relationship and in truth there is only one relationship. All things are no other than one”s very self, so we are constantly in relationship with the self, with our infinite true self. The split Seijo became one, our maturity is not to just define ourselves by the person in our lives but to stop and be in communion with our original face without definition. The true self knows no separation.

　　The moon and the clouds are the same

　　Mountains and valleys are different.

　　All are blessed, all are blessed.

　　Is this one

　　 Is this two

　　Yes, indeed the blessed outcome. The Bodhisattva way is to nurture our longing to return home, to find our unity with all beings. The moon and the clouds are the same, essentially all beings by nature are the Buddha Tao. If we cannot see into the essential world, and only recognise our uniqueness and our differences, (mountains and valleys are different) this thinking directly leads to chaos. Such chaos is evident in our society and reflected in the way we treat our environment. Dharma/Gaia calls us to wake up the light of dawn and remember that the moon and clouds are the same, even in our darkest valleys and most difficult moments. The garden is watered, Dharma/Gaia is nurtured, all are blessed, all are blessed.

《Seijo and Her Soul Separated》全文阅读结束。