It doesn’t matter if you are not a big fan of meditation, or if you don’t prefer to mediate on sacred words, or what I personally call, the “sacredness of semantics”. Why can words have special meaning or be empowering or devastating? Because they convey meaning of some sort. The more cosmic the meaning, the more powerful a word is. The Word means Everything.
Therefore read this passage and reflect for a few minutes on it. For me it brings a sense of urgent yet patient joy. Some might feel fulfilled, some might feel their lethargy lifted. But Sacred Words always mark a new beginning. Every sentence, every exhortation, taken within oneself, becomes a renewal, a baptism, or a Refuge, a Dharma.
“Put me on that vehicle which cuts through all obstructions,
Steady and firm as the finest steel, adorned with garlands of knowledge.
It is spacious, clean, impartial toward people, a refuge for all beings, bringing happiness:
Put me on that vehicle of enlightenment, which sheds light throughout the cosmos.
Its advance cuts through the mass of suffering, clears the sphere of dust of afflictions of action,
And subdues all demons and challengers – put me on that vehicle of truth.
Its scope is universal knowledge, it arrays the sky of the reality realm;
Bring me to that vehicle of truth, which fulfills the aspiration of all beings.
Put me on that spiritual vehicle, pure and infinite as space,
Unstained by ignorance and obscurity of views, serving all sentient beings.”
- The Flower Ornament Scripture, Book 39
Hello Raymond! I hope you’ve been doing well. Somehow, I lost your link on my list…found you again tho.*smiles* I enjoyed today’s reading. Blessings!!
Great reading! Thanks for sharing.
Hi greenwoman! It’s been a while. Hope you’ve been well.
To be honest this kind of writing doesn’t do anything for me. It’s too illogical. Steady and firm as the finest steel? I agree that steel is firm, i.e. it has a very small compressibility. But I’m unconvinced that the “finest” steel has a larger compressibility (I would have to look it up); and even less convinced that it would be “steadier.” Steady under what conditions? Wouldn’t any element which is heaver produce a steadier vehicle? Say lead? And wouldn’t the steadiness depend also on how big the vehicle was in the first place, and how it was designed? Garlands of knowledge? Apparently not garlands of knowledge of basic physics. So what kind of knowledge are we talking about here?
The rest of the passage is the same. Sheds light throughout the cosmos? There is light throughout the cosmos, mainly the cosmic microwave background radiation — but that radiation corresponds to a fairly low temperature and is not in the visible range of the spectrum. It’s also doubtful that you could produce a source here on earth which could produce anything like that amount of radiation; and even if you could it would take billions of light years to propagate. And given the accelerating expansion of the universe, if present trends continue there would always be regions of space beyond reach of any light source here on earth. So you couldn’t possibly make a light source which sheds light on all of the cosmos.
What is knowledge anyway? I think that is a much deeper question and a more rewarding topic of investigation than these kinds of (silly) things. And very capable minds have tried to address the question in a logical way.
Small correction: I wrote “larger” when I meant “smaller” compressibility.
Posco, if you come to this blog with a scientist’s mind, or a mind centered solely on analytical logic, I don’t think you will like half of what I write, especially when I have stated quite clearly my position is that of a philosophical/mystical Buddhist. You’d probably be better off sticking to Richard Dawkins or Saul Kripke. And if you read my entry “My Journey so Far”, I do not dislike anything about science – I have always loved dinosaurs and I am an evolutionist. Scientists work within a box with fixed boundaries and limits. They do this because it works, and because these empirical and healthily skeptical methods have been successful in discovering how the world works and how to repair broken things and living beings.
You seem to think that is the only legitimate way of knowledge. If you do – that’s fine, no problem at all. But to me, that means you are missing out a whole spectrum of mystic literature and I think you summarized your position quite well when you said, “It’s too illogical” – and that’s fine; your domain is that of scientists. And I don’t even have a problem with you believing that science IS our salvation, our liberation. That’s cool too; one thing about the passage I quoted is that it means one thing to a Buddhist, someone else can “fill in” the gap with his own brand of knowledge he deems to be legitimate. But many philosophers, even mystic ones, seem to be able to appreciate science, whilst I haven’t met many “logical” scientists who can reciprocate that appreciation for other disciplines (sometimes not even for philosophy). This is a bit perplexing and to me, this is not because science is the most enlightened position, but because that there is something lacking in science.
In philosophical mysticism, operating within these scientific boundaries is not a good idea, not because it doesn’t work, but because it is restrictive. Why do I want to restrict light to photons? What’s the point? Why do mystics care if the metal is lead? Even philosophy – the oldest discipline – depends on powerful imagination and ambition to take off. For the writers of the Flower Ornament Scripture, philosophy was intimately intertwined with mysticism. In fact, the parts of the passage I wanted to highlight most are the lines on the “serving all sentient beings” and “cosmos”. Is it illogical that a sage wants to bring all sentients under his wing towards liberation? Is a sacred text illogical for using truly cosmic language to illustrate the grandeur of its mission?
Someone once said to me on a high mountain that the sun shines on all living beings in one beautiful moment; light and goodwill should be extended to all that are alive; exclusivism can never work in the long run. Now I knew that the sun doesn’t actually shine on all living beings at the same time; it shines on one half of the globe every time the Earth rotates. But this is not the main point. To intentionally deconstruct it is at best pointless and and worst silly. I think you are, in a similar way, missing the message of the passage – which is fine I guess, if you are an anti-mystic. Personally I’m never anti-anything, only anti-fundamentalist/close-minded. So as long as you are not commenting with a closed mind that sits well with me.
Ray,
A very beautiful and thought provoking passage.
It seems the Flower Ornament Scripture has quite a lot going for it both a profound message and a pleasing aesthetic.
I could not think of a better prayer or sacred wish than was expressed on the passage you just shared.
I believe I will be adding Flower Ornament, to my library very soon if for no other reason than the beauty of it. Although I am sure it will contain much wisdom.
However, we can only hope to water the ground for such wisdom through consistent practice.
gashho,
Gregor
Posco,
I think you are mistaking the trees for the forest. knowledge,logic, and intellect are only one part of being human
Furthermore they are useless to us if not tempered with compassion.
It would be best not to try to view poetry and art through such a limited and cynical view.
I’m not sure if your comment was serious; it seemed like a very strange comparison; using modern scientific jargon to criticize what is essentially mystical poetry.
There is a bigger message here if you let go of the judging mind and allow yourself to see it.
Gregor, recently I have been considering writing my Honours paper on the mystic elements of interconnectedness in the Flower Ornament Scripture. Given that Honours is still a whole year away I have plenty of time to consider but this link might be a nice starting point for having a critical look at this sutra.
http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2006/fall/phenomenal.html
Thanks for the link. I’ll add it to my list of things I will be reading this weekend.
Right now I’m trying to reduce my time spent online in order to pursue my zazen practice.
However, I am very excited to check this out soon.