seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

Again, as there is no willful, exterior great god, there is no willful, interior petty god,
i.e., no individual ego that directs its own precious destiny. Dispelling the notion that in
reality each human being is a separate, autonomous self is perhaps the single most important
aim of Buddhist discipline.
Basically, the Buddha propounded Four Noble Truths:
1. Life in Samsara is bitter and painful.
2. Egoistical cravings cause this bitterness and pain.
3. These cravings can be overcome.
4. The way to overcome craving is to follow the Eightfold Path's ethical and commonsense
approach to life and to practice such spiritual exercises as meditation.
It would seem at first glance that there is not much here to argue about; yet, areas of
disagreement became vast.
Consider dietary laws. Generally speaking, the priests of Sri Lanka, an island, may
eat seafood. Japanese priests may eat seafood and filet mignon, too, providing somebody
donates it to them. Chinese Buddhists are vegetarians no matter where they live or what they
are given. What about sexual conduct? Japanese priests may marry. Chinese priests are
celibate. Thai priests may not so much as touch the flesh of a female human being or even sit
at a dining table with a female priest or even sit at a dining table with any male who is not a
priest. At the other extreme, priests of any `left-hand' yoga or tantric order receive instruction
in ritual sexual intercourse. What about reincarnation? Most Chinese and Japanese
Buddhists virtually ignore the subject while the lives of Tibetan Buddhists are so shot
through with transmigrations that there is no room left to house the creation of a single,
unique, wholly-new individual. Everybody is, or was, somebody else.
Disagreement among the various factions - Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western -
became outraged criticism. Enough mud was slung to transpose two continents.
Nothing limited scriptural extravagance. With fanatical zeal authors deified
Siddhartha Gautama and provided him with the obligatory miraculous birth. (Gods cannot be
brought by the stork like the rest of us.) Queen Maya was said to have conceived him in the
course of dreaming about a six-tusked elephant which modestly penetrated her side. She
delivered the agile baby while the usually indifferent flora and fauna took enthusiastic note.
Each time a literate priest had a spiritual brainstorm, he satisfied the demands of
publication by resurrecting the Buddha's cousin, Ananda, who supplied a convincing blurb or
personal testimonial. "Thus have I heard the Blessed One say..." the sutras begin. In such a
way were thousands of pages of direct quotations of the Buddha written hundreds of years
after his death.
CHAPTER 3 CHAN SCRIPTURES
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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