Buddha

Comments

Dinesh ^club

The Teaching of Master Yunmen

Tradition has it that Buddha, faced with questions of a metaphysical nature, once used a parable to explain his view: such questions, he said, were like thos of a person wounded by an arrow who would like to know what the arrow consisted of, where it came from etc., rather than seek to have it removed and the wound healed. His teaching, he said, was designed to heal, not to answer such questions. This illness, one might add, is a universal one, affecting all persons alike.

Buddhism is thus an art of healing rather than a philosophy, and aid to help one towards salvation rather than a philosophical edifice. The Zen teacher tries to get his students to take care of their problem, and he steers them towards that goal by whatever means he sees fit, just like that father in the Lotus Sutra who had to resort to various tricks in order to save his children who were obviously playing in a burning house. This is the kind of teaching that we encounter in the present translation. ~ Page 36

10 months ago. Edited 10 months ago.

Sign-in to write a comment.

		Page color
		Comments Panel
		Screen Margins
▼▲
		Widescreen

← Among Dinesh's photos

See also...

Keywords

Authorizations, license

Buddha

Ξ	Frame Options
3 - +