Monday, November 28, 2011

observations by Ta Hui

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I had occasion to copy this out elsewhere today and thought I would append it here as well for anyone who may not have read it. It is an excerpt from a letter by the Zen teacher Ta Hui (1088-1136) and addresses the supposed and real differences between monks/nuns and lay students of Zen practice.

"As a gentleman of affairs, your study of the Path differs greatly from mine as a homeleaver. Leavers of home do not serve their parents, and abandon all their relatives for good. With one jug and one bowl, in daily activities according to circumstances, there are not so many enemies to obstruct the Path. With one mind and one intent (homeleavers) just investigate this affair thoroughly. But when a gentleman of affairs opens his eyes and is mindful of what he sees, there is nothing that is not an enemy spirit blocking the Path. If he has wisdom, he makes his meditational effort right there. As Vimalakirti said, 'The companions of passion are the progenitors of the Tathagatas. I fear that people will destroy the worldly aspect to seek the real aspect.' He also made a comparison: 'It is like the high plateau not producing lotus flowers; it is the mud of the low-lying marshlands that produces these flowers.'....

"We leavers of home are on the outside breaking in; gentlemen of affairs are on the inside breaking out. The power of one on the outside breaking in is weak; the power of one on the inside breaking out is strong. "Strong" means that what is opposed is heavy, so in overturning it, there is power. "Weak" means what is opposed is light, so in overturning it there is little power. Though there is strong and weak in terms of power, what is opposed is the same."


-- Letter to Hsu Tun-chi in "Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui." Tr. Christopher Cleary.
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3 comments:

  1. Thanks, I've never read this and never heard of Ta Hui. I have a question, I found the text "The great zen master Ta Hui" by Osho, can you recommend this or is it better to start with something else?
    So long!
    Tim.

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  2. Tim -- My understanding is that Osho's take on Ta Hui is just that -- his take. It may be very good or it may not be so good -- I don't know since I never read the whole book.

    I prefer getting as close as possible to the horse's mouth, i.e. a translation such as Christopher Cleary's noted above.

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  3. I really like the saying "getting as close as possible to the horse's mouth" therefore I went to my local bookstore(I'm from Belgium) and ordered "Swampland Flowers". I hope to recieve it soon, I'm still waiting for "Crow with no mouth" by Ikkyu. But I have Dogens "Shobogenzo Zuimonki" witch I'm reading again now after I read the poem "reading the record of Eihei Dogen" by Ryokan a few days ago.Anyway the future will bring me some good reading.
    So long!
    Tim.

    ReplyDelete