Koan Study Group, Roshi Albrizze, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Book of Equanimity (BN) |
A wash basin is a base thing. Today, it would be as if a master asked one to fetch a roll of toilet paper in answer to a question about the nature of the Great Illuminator. |
Case 42: Nanyo’s Wash Basin
PREFACE TO THE ASSEMBLY
Washing bowls and filling the wash basin are both Dharma gates and Buddha's affair.
Carrying firewood and drawing water are nothing but marvelous activity and supernatural power.
Why can't one obtain liberating radiant splendor [releasing effulgence like splitting the atom] in shaking the earth?
MAIN CASE
Attention!
A monk asked Zen Master [Chu of] Nanyo, "What is the original body of the Cosmic Buddha Vairocana?"
Master Nanyo replied, "Go and fetch me the wash basin."
The monk brought the wash basin to him.
Master Nanyo said, "Now, go put it back."
The monk asked again, "What is the original body of the Cosmic Buddha Vairocana?"
Master Nanyo remarked, "The old Buddha is long gone."
APPRECIATORY VERSE
A bird soaring in air. A fish dwelling in water.
Rivers and lakes both forgotten, one aspires to clouds and heaven.
A thread of doubting mind, and they're facing ten-thousand miles apart.
How many people understand and repay such unselfish kindness?
Who is Vairocana?
Vii-ro-cha-na means "one who is like the sun" or "the radiating one." In Chinese Vairocana is called Pe-Ru-Gher-Na or Da-Ze-Zu-Lai ("Great Sun Buddha"), in Japanese, Dainichi Nyorai or Roshana, in Tibetan, Rnam-par-snang-mdzad or Rnam-snang ("Maker of Brilliant Light").
Maha Vairocana ("Great Illuminator") in Hinduism-influenced Mahayana Buddhism is conceived of as the "Supreme Buddha." This is how this deified figure is regarded by many Mahayana Buddhists in Far East Asia, Tibet, Nepal, and Java.
In the devotional Mi-tsung sect of China and the Shingon sect of Japan, Vairocana is the chief object of reverence and is regarded as the source of the entire universe -- a
Maha Brahma ("Great Supremo" or powerful creator) figure made completely Buddhist.
|
Tibetan (manjushri.com) |
The characteristic hand gesture displayed throughout these two regions is the
mudra of the six elements, with the index finger of the left hand clasped by the five fingers of the right. This pose symbolizes the uniting of the five elements of the material world (earth, water, fire, air, and
ether or separating space) with the spiritual (
consciousness,
prana,
ch'i).
The other gesture popular in Vairocana statues is in the Dharma-chakra-mudra ("teaching gesture").
As the supreme Buddha, Vairocana is usually located in the center of
mandalas of the five tantric
Dhyani Buddhas.
In paintings, Vairocana is colored white to symbolize a pure consciousness.
Vairocana represents either the integration or origin of the
Dhyani Buddhas. His wisdom is the Wisdom of the
Dharmadhatu ("realm of phenomena"). The Dharmadhatu is the Realm of Truth, in which all things exist as they really are.
Vairocana's wisdom is also referred to as the All-Pervading Wisdom of the
Dharmakaya ("Body of the Dharma"), the absolute Buddha nature. Therefore, Vairocana's symbol is the
dharmachakra, the "Wheel of the Buddha's Teaching." It denotes the teaching of the Buddha. Its eight spokes represent the Noble Eightfold Path.
MoreVairocana in Brief Wikipedia entry edited by Wisdom QuarterlyVairocana is a celestial
buddha often interpreted, in Mahayana texts like the
Flower Garland Sutra, as the
Bliss Body of the historical Buddha (
Siddhartha Gautama). In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, Vairocana is also seen as the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of
emptiness. In the conception of the
Five Wisdom Buddhas of
Vajrayana Buddhism, Vairocana is at the center. His "consort" (a popular Hindu concept about gods) in
Tibetan Buddhism is
White Tara. (In the Tibetan tradition, there is an affiliated female figure
for every one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas.)
This glorious figure is not to be confused with
Virocana, who appears in the eighth chapter of Hinduism's
Chandogya Upanishad as the king of the Titans (
asuras).
More PHOTOS: ANGKOR WAT (Cambodia) in its state of preservation is unrivaled. Its mightiness and magnificence bespeak a pomp and luxury surpassing that of a Pharaoh or a Shah Jahan, an impressiveness greater than that of the pyramids, an artistic distinctiveness as fine as that of the Taj Mahal.