Wednesday 18 October 2017

BRINGING A CHANGE IN OUR PERSPECTIVE

There is a very famous koan or saying from Ch'an or Zen that provokes and brings a beautiful understanding of all things around us if pondered and meditated on. It goes as follows,
Before you study Zen,
mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers;
while you are studying Zen,
mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers;
but once you have had enlightenment
mountains are once again mountains and rivers again rivers.
Rev. Nonin Chowaney, a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, and Abbot and Head Teacher of the Nebraska Zen Center / Heartland Temple, Omaha, Nebraska, USA at 
First seeing mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers means seeing them as fixed and solid entities in and of themselves. 
Later seeing them as not mountains and not rivers means we understand that neither mountains nor rivers exist in and of themselves, that they are empty of inherent existence and made up of other beings that are also empty of inherent existence.
For instance, there is nothing within a mountain that we can pull out and say, "this is mountain," or, "this is what makes a mountain a mountain." Mountains are made up of rocks, trees, grass, snow, water, rivers, ponds, lakes, insects, birds, animals, etc., etc., etc., and all of these things are made up of other things. So, there are no mountains and no rivers. 
When we continue to practice, and our wisdom eye is fully opened, we realize that mountains are indeed mountains, and rivers are indeed rivers, for there is a mountain there and a river over here.
However, we deeply understand that both "mountain" and "river" are merely words that we use to describe the conditioned phenomena in front of us. Neither phenomena is a fixed nor permanent entity that exists in and of itself and possesses inherent existence as "mountain," or "river." In other words we experience and understand their true nature, and the true nature of all beings.
(Source:  https://terebess.hu/zen/qingyuan.html)

Agathiyar says he is in the prapanjam and the prapanjam is in him. Take away the labels and nothing exists on its own. Stop labeling things and all is seen as one, a cohesion of several things that takes a form.  

Similarly the moment we condemn another's faith, belief and practice we begin to differentiate and stay alienated. Stop differentiating and all is seen as one, a cohesion of several things that takes a form.  

It is thus that the Siddhas too after attaining a trans-formative state live among us, neither alienating themselves nor differentiating themselves from others, nay they do not see others as inferior nor condemn another's faith or practice but take everyone into their fold. They stay aloft yet with it just as the drop of water on the lotus leaf stays.

Just as the koan goes, the temple is a temple initially, then a temple is no more a temple and finally upon attaining the correct understanding we realize that the temple is once again a temple. Many who have progressed spiritually begin to shun idol and temple worship. There is nothing wrong with going to the temples upon attaining enlightenment. The temple remains a temple but the change is internal, in our perspective, in our understanding. The moment we reject temple worship, our spiritual path would not be one of inclusiveness. The prapanjam is inclusive. That is the way to come to advaita from dwaita.