Can a Sage be rich?
#After ten years of apprenticeship, Tenno achieved the rank of Zen teacher. One rainy day, he went to visit the famous master Nan-in. When he walked in, the master greeted him with a question, "Did you leave your wooden clogs and umbrella on the porch?" "Yes," Tenno replied. "Tell me," the master continued, "did you place your umbrella to the left of your shoes, or to the right?"Tenno did not know the answer, and realized that he had not yet attained full awareness. So he became Nan-in's apprentice and studied under him for ten more years.#
After reading the above, i accidentially kicked the leg of my desk. Painful leh. Upon cursing the table, i came to the realisation that i am still far from the Way. One of my main obstacle is still my Ego.
Searched the WWW for a solution to eliminating my ego. and came upon this story of 8 Winds. (Coutesy of Derek Lin at the webpage http://www.taoism.net/enter.htm )
#Su Dongpo was an avid student of Buddhist teachings, and often discussed them with his good friend, the Zen master Foyin. The two lived across the river from one another - Su Dongpo's residence on the north side and Foyin's Gold Mountain Temple on the south side.
One day, Su Dongpo felt inspired and wrote the following poem:
"I bow my head to the heaven within heaven
Hairline rays illuminating the universe
The eight winds cannot move me
Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus"
Impressed by himself, Su Dongpo dispatched a servant to hand-carry this poem to Foyin. He felt certain that his friend would be just as impressed.
When Foyin read the poem, he immediately saw that it was both a tribute to the Buddha and a declaration of spiritual refinement. The "eight winds" in the poem referred to praise, ridicule, honor, disgrace, gain, loss, pleasure and misery - interpersonal forces of the material world that drove and influenced the hearts of men. Su Dongpo was saying that he had attained a higher level of spirituality, where these forces no longer affected him.
Smiling, the Zen master wrote "fart" on the manuscript and had it returned to Su Dongpo.
Su Dongpo had been expecting compliments and a seal of approval, so he was shocked when he saw what the Zen master had written. He hit the roof: "How dare he insult me like this? Why that lousy old monk! He's got a lot of explaining to do!"
Full of indignation, Su Dongpo ordered a boat to ferry him to the other shore as quickly as possible. Once there, he jumped off and charged into the temple. He wanted to find Foyin and demand an apology. He found Foyin's door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, with the following two lines:
"The eight winds cannot move me,
One fart blows me across the river"
This stopped Su Dongpo cold. Foyin had anticipated this hotheaded visit. Su Dongpo's anger suddenly drained away as he understood his friend's meaning. If he really was a man of spiritual refinement, completely unaffected by the eight winds, then how could he be so easily provoked?
With a few strokes of the pen and minimal effort, Foyin showed that Su Dongpo was in fact not as spiritually advanced as he claimed to be. Ashamed but wiser, Su Dongpo departed quietly.
This event proved to be a turning point in Su Dongpo's spiritual development. From that point on, he became a man of humility, and not merely someone who boasted of possessing the virtue.#
The Ego and our Desire are just some of the manifestation of our lost and confused self, especially so in this materialistic world. Neither suppression nor elimination of our desires and ego is the way of the Tao. Trying to earn materialistic gains is a tremendous waste of energy that achieves nothing useful. Noone can gain validity by becoming rich nor do they lose any validity when they are poor.
So should one just be hermit in some mountain contemplating the Way or can a Sage be rich wihout losing his way? IMHO, yes, a sage can be rich just as a real robber who can follow the way of the Tao (which is another story involving Confucius).
While i'm still accidentially hurt myself now and then, guess i'm can't tell if i'm right.
After reading the above, i accidentially kicked the leg of my desk. Painful leh. Upon cursing the table, i came to the realisation that i am still far from the Way. One of my main obstacle is still my Ego.
Searched the WWW for a solution to eliminating my ego. and came upon this story of 8 Winds. (Coutesy of Derek Lin at the webpage http://www.taoism.net/enter.htm )
#Su Dongpo was an avid student of Buddhist teachings, and often discussed them with his good friend, the Zen master Foyin. The two lived across the river from one another - Su Dongpo's residence on the north side and Foyin's Gold Mountain Temple on the south side.
One day, Su Dongpo felt inspired and wrote the following poem:
"I bow my head to the heaven within heaven
Hairline rays illuminating the universe
The eight winds cannot move me
Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus"
Impressed by himself, Su Dongpo dispatched a servant to hand-carry this poem to Foyin. He felt certain that his friend would be just as impressed.
When Foyin read the poem, he immediately saw that it was both a tribute to the Buddha and a declaration of spiritual refinement. The "eight winds" in the poem referred to praise, ridicule, honor, disgrace, gain, loss, pleasure and misery - interpersonal forces of the material world that drove and influenced the hearts of men. Su Dongpo was saying that he had attained a higher level of spirituality, where these forces no longer affected him.
Smiling, the Zen master wrote "fart" on the manuscript and had it returned to Su Dongpo.
Su Dongpo had been expecting compliments and a seal of approval, so he was shocked when he saw what the Zen master had written. He hit the roof: "How dare he insult me like this? Why that lousy old monk! He's got a lot of explaining to do!"
Full of indignation, Su Dongpo ordered a boat to ferry him to the other shore as quickly as possible. Once there, he jumped off and charged into the temple. He wanted to find Foyin and demand an apology. He found Foyin's door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, with the following two lines:
"The eight winds cannot move me,
One fart blows me across the river"
This stopped Su Dongpo cold. Foyin had anticipated this hotheaded visit. Su Dongpo's anger suddenly drained away as he understood his friend's meaning. If he really was a man of spiritual refinement, completely unaffected by the eight winds, then how could he be so easily provoked?
With a few strokes of the pen and minimal effort, Foyin showed that Su Dongpo was in fact not as spiritually advanced as he claimed to be. Ashamed but wiser, Su Dongpo departed quietly.
This event proved to be a turning point in Su Dongpo's spiritual development. From that point on, he became a man of humility, and not merely someone who boasted of possessing the virtue.#
The Ego and our Desire are just some of the manifestation of our lost and confused self, especially so in this materialistic world. Neither suppression nor elimination of our desires and ego is the way of the Tao. Trying to earn materialistic gains is a tremendous waste of energy that achieves nothing useful. Noone can gain validity by becoming rich nor do they lose any validity when they are poor.
So should one just be hermit in some mountain contemplating the Way or can a Sage be rich wihout losing his way? IMHO, yes, a sage can be rich just as a real robber who can follow the way of the Tao (which is another story involving Confucius).
While i'm still accidentially hurt myself now and then, guess i'm can't tell if i'm right.
posted by 逍遥老头 at 4:33 AM
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