While working on a sermon the pastor heard a knock at his office door. "Come in," he invited. A sad-looking man in threadbare clothes came in, pulling a large pig on a rope. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" asked the... Read more of Valentine's Day Story at Free Jokes.ca

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Buddhism

The Irrationality Of The Belief Of Immortality
Occidental minds believe in a mysterious entity under the nam...

Zen After The Downfall Of The Ho-jo Regency
Towards the end of the Ho-Jo period, and after the downfall o...

The Fourth Patriarch And The Emperor Tai Tsung Tai-so
The Third Patriarch was succeeded by Tao Sin (Do-shin), who ...

The Ten Pictures Of The Cowherd
The pictures were drawn by Kwoh Ngan (Kaku-an), a Chinese...

Life In The Concrete
Life in the concrete, which we are living, greatly differs fr...

The Usual Explanation Of The Canon
An eminent Chinese Buddhist scholar, well known as Ten Dai Da...

Enlightened Consciousness
In addition to these considerations, which mainly depend on i...

Where Then Does The Error Lie?
Where, then, does the error lie in the four possible proposit...

Buddha-nature Is The Common Source Of Morals
Furthermore, Buddha-nature or real self, being the seat of lo...

The Betterment Of Life
Again, people nowadays seem to feel keenly the wound of the ...

Difficulties Are No Match For The Optimist
How can we suppose that we, the children of Buddha, are put a...

Poetical Intuition And Zen
Since Universal Life or Spirit permeates the universe, the po...

Buddha Dwelling In The Individual Mind
Enlightened Consciousness in the individual mind acquires for...

Change As Seen By Zen
Zen, like Hinayanism, does not deny the doctrine of Transienc...

Zen And Idealism
Next Zen makes use of Idealism as explained by the Dharmalaks...

Buddha The Universal Life
Zen conceives Buddha as a Being, who moves, stirs, inspires, ...

Introduction Of Zen Into China By Bodhidharma
An epoch-making event took place in the Buddhist history of C...

Universal Life Is Universal Spirit
These considerations naturally lead us to see that Universal ...

The Sermon Of The Inanimate
The Scripture of Zen is written with facts simple and familia...

The Honest Poverty Of The Zen Monk And The Samurai
Secondly, the so-called honest poverty is a characteristic of...

The Second And The Third Patriarchs

After the death of the First Patriarch, in A.D. 528, Hwui Ko did his
best to propagate the new faith over sixty years. On one occasion a
man suffering from some chronic disease called on him, and requested
him in earnest: "Pray, Reverend Sir, be my confessor and grant me
absolution, for I suffer long from an incurable disease." "Bring out
your sin (if there be such a thing as sin)," replied the Second
Patriarch, "here before me. I shall grant you absolution." "It is
impossible," said the man after a short consideration, "to seek out
my sin." "Then," exclaimed the master, "I have absolved you.
Henceforth live up to Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha." "I know,
your reverence," said the man, "that you belong to Samgha; but what
are Buddha and Dharma?" "Buddha is Mind itself. Mind itself is
Dharma. Buddha is identical with Dharma. So is Samgha." "Then I
understand," replied the man, "there is no such thing as sin within
my body nor without it, nor anywhere else. Mind is beyond and above
sin. It is no other than Buddha and Dharma." Thereupon the Second
Patriarch saw the man was well qualified to be taught in the new
faith, and converted him, giving him the name of Sang Tsung (So-san).
After two years' instruction and discipline, he bestowed on
Sang Tsung the Kachaya handed down from Bodhidharma, and authorized
him as the Third Patriarch. It is by Sang Tsung that the doctrine of
Zen was first reduced to writing by his composition of Sin Sin
Ming (Sin zin-mei, On Faith and Mind), a metrical exposition of the
faith.

The so-called Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Law, and
the Order.

The Second Patriarch died in A.D. 593--that is, sixty-five
years after the departure of the First Patriarch.

A good many commentaries were written on the book, and it is
considered as one of the best books on Zen.

Next: The Fourth Patriarch And The Emperor Tai Tsung Tai-so
Previous: Bodhidharma's Disciples And The Transmission Of The Law

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