Why I have trouble keeping a straight face in sutra study

[mithriltabby]

So we’re covering Bodhidharma’s Bloodstream Sermon and hit a passage:

People who don’t understand and think they can do so without study are no different from those deluded souls who can’t tell white from black. Falsely proclaiming the Buddha-Dharma, such persons in fact blaspheme the Buddha and subvert the Dharma. They preach as if they were bringing rain. But theirs is the preaching of devils not of Buddhas. Their teacher is the King of Devils and their disciples are the Devil’s minions. Deluded people who follow such instruction unwittingly sink deeper in the Sea of Birth and Death. Unless they see their nature, how can people call themselves Buddhas? They’re liars who deceive others into entering the realm of devils. Unless they see their nature, their preaching of the Twelvefold Canon is nothing but the preaching of devils. Their allegiance is to Mara, not to the Buddha.

I remarked: “The allegiance of devils isn’t very useful. My wife can’t even get them to help out with the housework.” (She’s named after the Biblical Mara, not the demon, but it’s just too funny when the name pops up in the scripture.)

Comments

[inflectionpoint.livejournal.com]

Interesting quote.

Sounds like the riff from Corinthians - if I speak with the tongues of men and angels but don't have charity, it is just clanging gongs and crashing cymbals.

My favorite demon quote comes from Stephen King - "bla bla bla, that little demon in your head who won't get him away and gets you into trouble... put him to work for you." It's true.

[mithriltabby]

In context, Bodhidharma is talking about the rewiring of the brain that goes on during zazen, leading to great ease in taking the ego offline. It’s one of the things that Zen koans are used for: the master isn’t looking to see if you answered the koan “correctly”, but to see if you did so out of the kind of deep realization that comes from a flash of insight. Apparently, if you’ve gotten that far, you can spot it in others.

Bodhidharma was invited to visit the Emperor Wu of Liang, who was a great patron of Buddhism. The Emperor had built many monasteries, and he asked Bodhidharma what merit his generosity had earned. “No merit,” said Bodhidharma. Startled, the Emperor asked Bodhidharma the supreme truth of the Dharma. “Vast emptiness; nothing holy,” replied Bodhidharma. Finally, the Emperor asked, “Who are you?” “I know not,” said Bodhidharma.

He didn’t get a second invitation. :-)