KOAN: Nanyo's Wash Basin (Vairocana)

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 

Vairocana (users.skynet.be)

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?

Buddha and Bodhisattva Directory (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

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.

  

(A possible explanation)

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. More

Vairocana in Brief
Wikipedia entry edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Tibetan Vairocana (Dharmaflower.net)

Vairocana 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

• How and why to recite the Vairocana Mantra

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.

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Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve.

They say that the body is a temple and I agree, which might seem odd to some spiritualists because in several religious traditions to mark the skin is considered desecration. I feel that the body is one of the most beautiful works of art known to the human eye and that it only seems natural to honor it by adorning it with meaningful and inspirational designs. Just like monks might adorn a temple with mantras, spires, statues, sculpted trim and other accents that express the sacredness of the Dharma practice unfolding within its walls.

And, so it is that I received my latest mark (seen above) to remind me of letting go of feeling separate from others and all forms of life expressing itself in this time and place that I find myself. It is the Heart Sutra mantra that speaks to that oneness. I'm not going to get into the specifics of the sutra and mantra in this post, but if you want to dig deeper then click on that link above "Heart Sutra mantra." Anyway, the tattoo is a constant, visual reminder to help me transcend the compartmentalization of life, which prevents us from being present and one with the inspiring potential of each moment. If seen with a mind anchored in pure, direct awareness there is no event incapable of being seen as beneficial to our practice.

I am mostly a visual learner and my Dharma tattoos serve (in part) as visual, symbolic teachers constantly reminding me of how to live with less suffering--Regardless of wherever the winds might carry me. It is like having my teacher with me on my arm at all times. It's very powerful as a reminder. However, more importantly they help remind me how to bring less suffering into the lives of those I know, love and meet. The tattoos allow me to bring the temple and the Dharma with me where ever I go. The fact that they are so visual and prominent makes them hard to ignore and forget their lessons like can happen to me with memorized lines that can easily drift off into the gray areas of my memory while caught up and absorbed in life's daily chaos.

Tattoos aren't for everyone and I would never hastily recommend marking your body with permanent ink. If you think you would like a tattoo, it's important to research ahead of time, understand the implications and make sure you get a design that you can live with for the rest of your life. As with any big decision it should be made with full awareness (mindfulness) of the process. Remember, these are the symbols and messages that will represent YOU as a person.

The script used for the tattoo is Siddham--a form of Sanskrit, which is an Indian language used heavily in Hindu and Buddhist literature. The design is by my Dharma brother, Jayavara. Thanks Brother Jayavara!!

ADDENDUM: The title of this post, "Wearing your heart on your sleeve" is a play on words. It is an American idiom that means someone who freely and openly express their feelings. In America at least the heart has been traditionally seen as the center of feelings, and being that it's located where my "sleeve" would be I thought it would be an witty title for this post.

~Peace to all beings~

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Adapting to Rising Heat.

This post started as a comment in regards to Genkaku's post about the current heat wave on the East coast of America. Thanks Genkaku for the inspiration:

The Earth is our only home but for too long humans have forgotten our close interdependent relationship with her, which has led us to neglect the relationship and abuse her. Yet as we know well from studying the Dharma, we can not hurt the environment without hurting ourselves. We can ignore science all we want but the reality is that it's been getting warmer and warmer at a faster pace than prior warming periods. Direct observations have linked it to fossil fuel use. Seeing how corrosive factory and car pollution is to the human body I will trust science when they conclude that it's changing our climate adversely. Schooling has a funny way of doing that. Science has been right in countless ways because it is based on direct observations and experiments, which incidentally is not entirely unlike the Dharma's teachings of awareness and mindfulness.

This isn't a political issue because we all physically and emotionally suffer when our environment is degraded but besides that it affects the only home we are lucky to enjoy. Regardless of how we got to this point of a warming climate, I think our society needs to adapt to nature better and follow the rest of the world that take siestas (afternoon naps) during the hottest parts of the day. Let nature do it's thing and not fight it. We should take the opportunity to rest and take a nap. What a novel idea!! When I lived in West Africa the whole place would nearly completely shut down between the hours of noon and 2pm. It's only two hours but many Americans would see that as lost productivity, and that unwillingness to accept limitations causes a lot of suffering. Both physically and mentally. It's not being lazy as the American, Puritan work ethic would suggest. It's being aware of our limitations and being fully accepting of the present moment.

I think we push the human body in our modern society too much. We have delusions about what the human body can take and how far we can push it but the human body is perfectly aware of the moment and it's capacities. Whether we accept those limitations or not the body will shut down when the present moment finds it unable to function. Our mind might ignore the present moment but our bodies are finely tuned to it.

Perhaps we can learn from that and accept our limitations instead of forcing and pushing everything. In today's western world (I can't speak for elsewhere) we're over-worked, get less sleep and eat bad food in an impossible chase to "save time" and stay one step ahead in this fast paced world. And I can't help but wonder if that's partly why there's been such an increase in anger, hatred and selfishness. So I say we slow down a bit and bring about noon siesta time here to America.

PHOTO CREDIT: Napping monk by Brian Keathley on Flickr.

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