DROPPING SHIT AND SPRAYING PISS

If you read words or listen to anyone claiming to be a master, an expert or a teacher, then you must be clear that if you take his words and ingest them making them your own the teacher will have done no more than drop shit and spray piss.

Now I think that this is a rather elegant way of transmitting this truth. But I cannot take credit for it, for they are the words of Yunmen.

First of all we must remember that Buddha left no succesors to the Dharma throne and declared that the Dharma itself is the Master.

The Parinirvana Sutra, Part 2. 31 declares:

After the conversion of Subhadda, the Buddha spoke again to Venerable Ananda.

"It may be, Ananda, that some of you will say, 'without the Buddha, the Sublime Teacher, there is no teacher for us'.

"No, Ananda, you should not think in this way.

"Whatever doctrine and discipline taught and made known by me will be your teacher when I am gone."

It is the doctrine and discipline, namely the Dharma, that is the teacher and not an apparent teacher or master.

So when you read or hear the words "master," "expert" or "teacher," remember that he or she is really just a vehicle of the Dharma behind words, not merely transmitter of the words of Dharma themselves.

So beware of the apparent teachings that are "people catchers."

Beware of the dressing on the Turkey that is a "people catcher."

Master Yunmen once declared, "Speaking of the actions of Chan Masters; snapping fingers, chuckling, raising eyebrows, winking, picking up a mallet, holding up a whisk and sometimes drawing a circle: these are nothing but people catchers".

What one calls Buddha Dharma has never yet been expressed in words. If it had, then that would have been no more than dropping shit and spraying piss.

With my words presented here and in the Seminary I use words, but it is not my idea to be dropping shit or spaying piss. I hope that I am just getting your attention.

If your attention is then directed at the words as no more than a loop on the end of a pole to catch dangerous animals then perhaps, using more than intelligence you will see why the pole and loop have been used.

Let us review here the pole and the loop an the way they are to be really understood.

WebRep

Overall rating