If you meet the Buddha …
There is a zen saying, if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him. It’s a metaphorical pointing to the truth that buddha is awareness of the impermanence of our experience. Buddha is not any specific experience. It is not suffering or joy, wealth or poverty, abundance or deficiency. Buddha is not a being outside ourselves who requires our belief or compliance. Every attempt to externalize Buddha is an attempt to prevent our realization of awareness and release from suffering.
Buddha is literally, “being aware.” Seeing anyone or anything as a Buddha obscures this reality and we need to destroy this illusion in order to be free from suffering. The saying emerged from the fact that in his last teachings, the Buddha said to “believe nothing” he has said. Only be aware of your experience. Awareness is sufficient for all skillful means. Only be here, now. Only notice.
December 1st, 2007 13:25
Thank you, Jack.
Being “of the experience” or being “an outsider to the experience.”
Being of the experience forces the impermanence to move through you like an honored guest.
By standing outside the experience, we allow judgement, gain and loss to remove us from being in harmony with our experience.
December 1st, 2007 14:01
Fr. Matthew at Gethsemani Monastery told me that Thomas Merton liked saying, “If you see in the monastery, tell him to get the hell out.” Thank you Fr. Louis (his monastic name.) Thanks, Jack.
December 1st, 2007 14:14
Allowing awareness is allowing impermanence. Holding onto anything, no matter what our rationalization, keeps us outside. Thanks Elaine and Jim.
December 1st, 2007 21:25
Sorry for the typo- The quote is:
If you see Jesus in the monastery, tell him to get the hell out. Jim
December 2nd, 2007 14:17
Hi Jack,
Interesting post. I love when the fox is added to the equation when killing of the Buddha. I find this to be the real connection of the teaching, illuminating the formlessness.
Gassho,
Wade
http://themiddleway.net
“Both the Fox and the Buddha are often disguised and each tries to pass as the other for strategic purposes. Distinguishing between them is a valuable skill. As decisions hang in the balance, the Unmoving Mind is a tool to separate truth or authenticity from illusion or untruth. Illusion renders you vulnerable to anxiety and confusion and unable to react to critical situations with clarity and lucidity.”
December 2nd, 2007 16:48
Thanks for clarifying that, Jim. I thought that would be it. You reminded me that in one of his books Merton writes about an experience of his which he identifies as “spiritual gluttony”. I’ve always found it a telling insight.