This was our sixth week of this semester, an important milestone for ABS and for you! Like a lot of you, I was also dealing with midterms and papers in the past two weeks. Like a lot of you who have full-time or part-time jobs, I was also feeling the pressure of balancing school work and other responsibilities. Again, like a lot of you, sometimes I wish I were “free” from all the responsibilities.
How can we be “free”? Is it the responsibilities that hold us prisoner or is it that we all are simply the prisoners of our own mind?
Once upon a time, there was a Zen master Gaofeng Miao (高峰妙). He was traveling and visiting other Zen masters. One day he was staying at a motel and got thirsty in the middle of the night. In the pitch dark, he found his way to the kitchen and a large container full of water. Immediately he drank the water, which had a sweet taste to it. The next morning, he woke up and wanted to drink that sweet water again. He went to the kitchen and was ready to drink the water from the container. In the daylight, however, he saw something floating on the surface. In addition, there was this filthy smell to it. It turned out that the water was waste from people washing their feet. Upon realizing that he drank some very dirty water the night before, Zen master Gaofeng Miao was shocked at first. Immediately then he reached enlightment.
Last night when the Zen master drank the water, he thought it had a sweet taste to it. This morning when he realized this was feet-wash waste, he did not have the desire to drink it anymore. Why? It was clearly the same water! Therefore the difference must not be the water. The difference lies in our mind. Our mind distinguishes clean from dirty, pretty from ugly, big from small, like from dislike. It is this duality of our mind that separates all phenomena. When realizing how dirty the water really is, the duality in our mind tells us not to like it and not to drink it. The duality of our mind creates all external phenomena; all external phenomena are the reflection of our mind. Zen master Gaofeng Miao reached enlightment by realizing this.
To further illustrate the point of duality, I shared with you another story about two mother-in-laws.
Mother-in-law A was complaining to mother-in-law B of how her son is married to this lazy wife. The wife does nothing around the house. Mother-in-law A’s son has to do everything, from preparing breakfast to doing laundry. “The wife is so lazy and my son is so unfortunate to have married her,” mother-in-law A grumbled.
“My daughter is very fortunate to have married to my son-in-law,” mother-in-law B shared. “How so?” Mother-in-law A asked. “Because my son-in-law does everything around the house. My daughter has to do nothing.” Mother-in-law B explained.
Clearly both in-laws are in the same situation. However, they both speak from a different perspective. The phenomenon remains the same; our mind distinguishes it. We all like to use our own standards to measure everything. As a result, we often make mistakes. Meditation helps us clear our mind so we can see things as is, not as how we want it to be.
Jerry asked an interesting question today, which related to the topic of duality. Jerry asked what is suffering. There is an English expression: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What is considered suffering differs from person to person. Many people consider meditation suffering. When you value a certain thing, it becomes pleasant for you. When you don’t see the value of a certain thing, it might be the suffering for you. Suffering is the gap between reality and expectation. Again, it is the duality of our mind that creates all phenomena. Meditation helps us find the reality within and free us from all sufferings. Remember, we are always the prisoners of our own minds!
There are only six more classes to go. Continue the practice, patiently and persistently. Practice makes perfect!
How can we be “free”? Is it the responsibilities that hold us prisoner or is it that we all are simply the prisoners of our own mind?
Once upon a time, there was a Zen master Gaofeng Miao (高峰妙). He was traveling and visiting other Zen masters. One day he was staying at a motel and got thirsty in the middle of the night. In the pitch dark, he found his way to the kitchen and a large container full of water. Immediately he drank the water, which had a sweet taste to it. The next morning, he woke up and wanted to drink that sweet water again. He went to the kitchen and was ready to drink the water from the container. In the daylight, however, he saw something floating on the surface. In addition, there was this filthy smell to it. It turned out that the water was waste from people washing their feet. Upon realizing that he drank some very dirty water the night before, Zen master Gaofeng Miao was shocked at first. Immediately then he reached enlightment.
Last night when the Zen master drank the water, he thought it had a sweet taste to it. This morning when he realized this was feet-wash waste, he did not have the desire to drink it anymore. Why? It was clearly the same water! Therefore the difference must not be the water. The difference lies in our mind. Our mind distinguishes clean from dirty, pretty from ugly, big from small, like from dislike. It is this duality of our mind that separates all phenomena. When realizing how dirty the water really is, the duality in our mind tells us not to like it and not to drink it. The duality of our mind creates all external phenomena; all external phenomena are the reflection of our mind. Zen master Gaofeng Miao reached enlightment by realizing this.
To further illustrate the point of duality, I shared with you another story about two mother-in-laws.
Mother-in-law A was complaining to mother-in-law B of how her son is married to this lazy wife. The wife does nothing around the house. Mother-in-law A’s son has to do everything, from preparing breakfast to doing laundry. “The wife is so lazy and my son is so unfortunate to have married her,” mother-in-law A grumbled.
“My daughter is very fortunate to have married to my son-in-law,” mother-in-law B shared. “How so?” Mother-in-law A asked. “Because my son-in-law does everything around the house. My daughter has to do nothing.” Mother-in-law B explained.
Clearly both in-laws are in the same situation. However, they both speak from a different perspective. The phenomenon remains the same; our mind distinguishes it. We all like to use our own standards to measure everything. As a result, we often make mistakes. Meditation helps us clear our mind so we can see things as is, not as how we want it to be.
Jerry asked an interesting question today, which related to the topic of duality. Jerry asked what is suffering. There is an English expression: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What is considered suffering differs from person to person. Many people consider meditation suffering. When you value a certain thing, it becomes pleasant for you. When you don’t see the value of a certain thing, it might be the suffering for you. Suffering is the gap between reality and expectation. Again, it is the duality of our mind that creates all phenomena. Meditation helps us find the reality within and free us from all sufferings. Remember, we are always the prisoners of our own minds!
There are only six more classes to go. Continue the practice, patiently and persistently. Practice makes perfect!
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