tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-606508531452049469.post2289373098539432736..comments2022-11-30T07:20:36.413-08:00Comments on Rocks and Streams: Chasing the Bowl?matt.kitterman@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12687253984989060722noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-606508531452049469.post-26470574946353239102012-11-01T22:07:29.461-07:002012-11-01T22:07:29.461-07:00PZC Discussion, Saturday Oct. 27
Some notable asp...PZC Discussion, Saturday Oct. 27<br /><br />Some notable aspects of this week’s meeting were our discussion of virya, “the advancement of single-minded vigor,” and how this is exemplified in life: we constantly return to practice, even off the cushion. This lead someone to recall the “dust is mirror/mirror is dust,” and we followed some twists of this saying through our minds. Are our daily jobs the dust, practice the mirror? We talked about suffering as arising from what ever interferes from practicing the dharma. As usual, we pulled from all available texts to weave the discussion – the sutra, the commentary, and Jack’s epistle – includes those texts we’ve woven into our own minds and hearts. We read from the three poems in the sutra; we shared our experience of reading the text, and discussed the difference between the “legend” of Hui Neng it portrays, and the “truth” of the biological human being (if there is any difference). In particular we were drawn to the anecdote about writing the gatha on the wall, and how “writing” (for the illiterate Hui Neng) becomes a way to see his mind/nature. We discussed his dilemma – should he show his mind, and risk being perceived as desiring power, of trying to show off his knowledge? This may encourage us to examine our own intentions, and we related this to our own discussions as a group – the different levels of comfort we feel with sharing, drawing attention to ourselves: is it selfish? Or can we make room for the necessity of ourselves/others to speak his or her or our thoughts, so to see and know our own mind and nature?<br />Linda Russohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08941140227843883150noreply@blogger.com