The Gate to Zen - Wuyechang Zen Collection

Author: Jinghui
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features: By reading the Biographies of Eminent Monks and the Records of Lamp, it is not difficult to discover that seekers of the Dharma almost placed their lives in peril for its attainment. In their eyes, the Dharma was their very life, their life's refuge. It was precisely this strong desire to sacrifice their lives for the Dharma that drove countless seekers through the ages to perform a series of moving and heroic stories. At the very beginning, we mentioned that the Second Patriarch Huikai sought the Dharma from the Sixth Patriarch Da Mo. After nine years, his robes were knee-deep in red snow, only then did he receive the Sixth Patriarch's verification. Imagine, if the Second Patriarch had not possessed this spirit of entrusting his life, there would have been no later act of standing in the snow until his arm was severed, nor would there have been enlightenment of the mind and the transmission of the Dharma lineage. Therefore, we must remember that seeking the Dharma is no trivial matter; it is not settled by listening to a few words from a master and then considering the matter concluded. It requires a sincere heart that entrusts one's life and fortune to it. In the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was practicing in his previous lives, he was the same. You may have heard the story of the "Great Sage of Snow Mountain." In his previous lives, Shakyamuni Buddha practiced on a snow mountain and was known as the "Great Sage of Snow Mountain." One day, he heard someone recite a verse, and only heard the first two lines: "All phenomena are impermanent; this is the law of birth and death." He found this verse very important and walked up to the person, hoping to hear the next two lines. Who was that person? It was a demon in the form of Indra, the Lord of Heaven. The Great Sage of Snow Mountain did not care about this; he was solely focused on hearing the latter half of the verse and said to the demon, "The Dharma meaning of the verse you just recited is very profound. Where did you learn it from? There must be more to it." "There is indeed more," the demon replied, "but I am hungry and have no strength to recite the next two lines." The Great Sage of Snow Mountain asked, "What do you want to eat?" The demon answered, "I do not eat anything but humans." The Great Sage of Snow Mountain said, "If you want to eat humans, first tell me the next two lines, and I will let you eat." So the demon recited the next two lines: "Birth and death are extinguished, and Nirvana is the joy." Hearing this, the Great Sage of Snow Mountain was very pleased and offered his own body to the demon, allowing him to eat it. This was how seekers of the Dharma in ancient times were; they were willing to sacrifice their lives to obtain the Dharma. This earnest spirit of seeking the Dharma is something we should learn from. If we, as Buddhist practitioners, truly arise in this earnest heart from the depths of our being, entrusting our lives to it, what worry could there be about not awakening? What worry could there be about not being liberated? In our current age, where the view of annihilation is very prevalent, advocating the spirit of entrusting one's life to the Dharma may lead some to question: If I sacrifice my life for two lines of verse, will I no longer be able to practice in the future? What will happen in my next life? And so on. If you still have such doubts, you will never attain enlightenment. We know that life is eternal, and our current life is merely a link and a stage in an infinite chain of lives. In this life, if we can hear and practice the Dharma, in our next life, we can continue to practice and achieve the person of the Dharma, allowing our lives to become one with the Dharma. In that way, our lives will no longer be confused and trapped in the cycle of birth and death, suffering from various afflictions and pains. Therefore, ancient people, who believed in rebirth and the eternal nature of life, whether seeking the Dharma directly or seeking it for the sake of all beings, could confidently entrust their lives to it, possessing an fearless spirit of forgetting oneself for the Dharma. P206-207