Good morning!
We could see the beautiful bright full moon on Christmas morning and evening. The round
clear full moon represents the Buddha’s heart – round meaning perfect, without lack or
edge, and clear meaning bright and pure – unsurpassed awakening (bodhi) in
unconditioned peace (nirvana) or prognosis (prajňā) in perfect peace. People may not
care about it, or they may care but can’t see it due to different reasons.
Nib-bāna (Pali for Sanskrit nirvana) or ni-vāta etymologically means no-wind, as in the
stock phrase “nivāte padīpa” (lamp-light in no-wind). This is the state of nirvana, of the
candle flame burning still and straight, illuminating the room without flickering or moving
shadows, as you see on the altar. It is not blowing off light or fire in pitch darkness, but
brightly and clearly illuminating the world in pure peace.
Kanchi Sosan (Seng Can) says the following in his “Faith Mind Maxim:”
The perfect way is not difficult.
It only avoids discrimination.
If only there is no love or hate,
Completely clean and clear is it.
It is not easy, however, to become completely clean and clear, because living beings,
especially humans, as karma-heirs and karma-machines, add on.
Gensha Shibi (Xuansha Shibei), on leaving a monastery to visit other places, stubbed his
toe on a stone. The pain penetrated through his body, mind, and world. He reflected on
where it came from and stopped going around (hensan). On the master’s questioning why
he returned, he said, “I’ll never be deluded.” He later said that the entire world in ten
directions is a clear crystal ball. Dogen loved this able expression and wrote Shobogenzo
Hensan, which is not going around, but exhaustive pursuit.
It is echoed in his Fukan-zazen-gi (Universal Recommendation for True Zazen). Zazen is
the exhaustive pursuit of the Buddha’s heart in sitting, stilling karma-wind, seeing
dharma, settling in nirvana, serving and saving all in prognosis. The full moon is always
there, but we see only its aspects, or we do not even see such a beautiful bright moon with
a beautiful story (of a hare sent there to pound rice cake for all beings, like the Buddha’s
feeding of hungry lion cubs.) *
12/27/15
*Ryokan’s poem on the story of the hare in the moon:
“The Hare in the Moon”
Long, long time ago
there lived in the world
Monkey, Hare and Fox
bound in friendship
playing in the morn
in field and on mount,
returning in the evening
into forest.
Thusly as years passed,
the Lord of Heaven,
hearing it, wanted
to know if it’s true.
Becoming an old man,
he tottered along
to where they lived,
and asked them,
“I have heard that
you are different
in species, but are
playing in the same
mind among yourselves.
If it is as I heard,
please help this old man
of his hunger.”
So saying he rested,
throwing his staff aside:
Having said, “It is easy,”
and after a while,
Monkey came collecting nuts,
from the woods behind.
Fox gave fish to him
brought from a stream in front.
Hare hopped and jumped,
but nothing to gain.
Being abused of the mind,
different, poor indeed,
the Hare plotted and said,
“Monkey, bring firewood.
Fox, please set fire!”
As they did as asked,
the Hare threw herself
into the smoke, and gave
herself to the old stranger.
The old man, upon seeing this,
cried bitterly looking up
the high heaven, and
fell down to the ground.
In a while, beating his bosom,
he said, “You three friends
are inferior to none of you,
but the Hare is specially
kind-hearted,” and
resuming the heavenly body,
picked up the dead body, and
sent it to the moon palace.
The “Hare in the moon”
is because of this –
thus up until the present time
it has been told, and
hearing this I also
drenched thoroughly
the sleeves of my robe.
The above pictures of flowers he grew are recently taken by Mr. Noriyuki Otsuka in his garden in Shimoda, Izu Peninsla, Japan