I began reading. It starts:
This wonderfully describes the essential purpose of Buddhism and sets a noble ideal for all Buddhists to uphold.The Purpose of Buddhism
First attain enlightenment,
then instruct all creatures.
I began reading. It starts:
This wonderfully describes the essential purpose of Buddhism and sets a noble ideal for all Buddhists to uphold.The Purpose of Buddhism
First attain enlightenment,
then instruct all creatures.
Always thought this book was his best book out of all of them.
What’s interesting here is that the usual third mark is dukkha, suffering. I’ve seen some references to a Fourth Mark as Nirvana, but not presented like this as the third mark. This points to samsara/nirvana as not-two.The Three Marks of Existence
All compound things are impermanent.
All dharmas are without self-nature.
Nirvana is perfect stillness.
Middle says “view of no self”. On the right 住 or abide is mistakenly written instead of 生 or arise.clyde wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 6:52 pm I’m still working on the first several pages before he summarizes several sutras key to Zen teachings, including the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and more. WOW!
But first, this is the top of page 5:
page 5.jpg
In studying this I noted the symbols in the center are not translated. Can anyone translate what is written there?
The other thing I noticed is that the symbols for Stability are the same for external phenomena and mind - but in the column of “Aspects of the mind” the symbols for Arising are the same as the symbols for Stability. HUH? Can anyone explain how this is?
ItsRaining, Thank you.ItsRaining wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 10:15 pm Middle says “view of no self”. On the right 住 or abide is mistakenly written instead of 生 or arise.
I’m not certain what you’re asking. In general, it’s a wonderful summary of Buddhism with some original insights and a few unexpected twists. But I haven’t begun to study the next section on Zen Buddhism.
So, the document Clyde is reading is the Compass of Zen by ZMSS in it's original form. There is also a book called "The Compass of Zen", by ZMSS. Each chapter references the original Compass.
My teacher said pretty much what I said above, that ZMSS didn't speak English around this time, and was relying on students to translate Chinese characters to English. According to my teacher, the math part was an "inelegant" way to simplify the teaching of karma. To quote him directly: "In any case. it's framed as simple math. If you think of karma points, + for good actions and - for bad actions, then you add them up and voila! you get a rebirth body."clyde wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 5:01 am I have another question. Between pages 12 and 13 are three unnumbered pages. Below is the first:
Theories.jpg
On the far right is the list of “Six Ways of Samsara” and each of the six domains has a number value associated with it. Below that are two examples(?) A and B. But of what?
A good cause leads to a good result. A bad cause leads to a bad result.
Some of that can be found here.clyde wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 5:59 am I have another question.
On page 15 ZMSS lists “Three occasions of transmission from Mind to Mind.” All three are about the ‘transmission’ from Buddha to Mahakashyapa. The second one is the traditional Zen origination story of Buddha holding up a flower, but I’m unfamiliar with the first, “”Sharing the cushion with Mahakashyapa in front of the Pagoda of Many Children,” and the third, “When he sat with folded knees on the bank of the Niranjana River.”
Is anyone familiar with these stories and know where I might read about these events?
I am guessing the third event was translated in correctly in the original compass.KeithA wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 11:37 pmSome of that can be found here.clyde wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 5:59 am I have another question.
On page 15 ZMSS lists “Three occasions of transmission from Mind to Mind.” All three are about the ‘transmission’ from Buddha to Mahakashyapa. The second one is the traditional Zen origination story of Buddha holding up a flower, but I’m unfamiliar with the first, “”Sharing the cushion with Mahakashyapa in front of the Pagoda of Many Children,” and the third, “When he sat with folded knees on the bank of the Niranjana River.”
Is anyone familiar with these stories and know where I might read about these events?