Koans, Capping Phrases, and other Zennisms
Buddhism 101
nothing here yet
Confucius says ….
nothing here yet
Author: daosheng
About “mindisbuddha.org”: Buddhism, Chanting, Chinese, etc …..
This is my personal blog, but it also links to a Zen meditation group that meets at my house and also online. If you are looking for the Dae Do Sah Zen Group – that web page is here.
This blog consists mostly of stuff that I find here and there, and that I don’t want to forget. The two most common themes for posts are Buddhist Chanting and Chinese – and these very often overlap.
“For receiving and mirroring the feelings of intimacy, there is nothing that surpasses the ceremonial image.”
冥祥記
Record of Mysterious Wonders, aka, Signs from the Unseen Realm
冥 míng dark, the underworld (not in hsk)
祥 xiáng auspicious, propitious (hsk6)
記 jì record (hsk3)
Swim and play in the Dharma King’s Palace (遊戱法王宮)
遊戱法王宮
swim play dharma king palace
遊 yóu, to swim; 戱 xì to play; 法 fǎ Dharma; 王 wáng king; 宮 gōng palace
“Zen is Buddhism and not a special teaching distinct from the other schools of Buddhism”
if you ask me to talk about our teaching, I will talk mostly about the teaching of Buddhism
The Great Dragon Samadhi (那伽大定)
那 伽 nà-gā
大 dà great
定 dìng samadhi
Go out through the gate, and you meet Shakyamuni. Come in through the gate, and you meet Maitreya.
出 = come out, leave
門 = gate
逢 = meet
釋迦 = Shakya, the historical Buddha
No words are needed between these two friends (aka: Riding the Ox Home)
知音何必鼓唇牙
知音 lit: know sound; meaning: one who listens attentively, bosom friend, a friend who understands you
何必 lit: why certainly; meaning: why?
鼓唇牙 lit: drum, lip, teeth; meaning: nonsense sounds
my “translation”: No words are needed between these two friends
The Ten Merits of Yeom Bul Chanting (高聲念佛十種功德)
First, the merit of waking us from sleep.
Second, the merit of surprising and repelling malicious spirits.
Third, the merit of the sound reaching to the ten directions.
Fourth, the merit of resting the suffering of the three lower paths.
Fifth, the merit of keeping out exterior sounds.
Sixth, the merit of keeping the mind which is chanting from scattering.
Seventh, the merit of (helping us) to make ferocious effort.
Eighth, the merit of making all the buddhas happy.
Ninth, the merit of bringing the experience of samādhi directly to us.
Tenth, the merit of bringing about rebirth in the Pure Land.
“Light and dark oppose one another, like the front and back foot in walking.”
明暗各相對 比如前後歩
Light and dark oppose one another like the front and back foot in walking. (English translation)
Most of the characters in this line from the Sandokai are very common Chinese words. Six out of the ten characters are part of the most basic level of Chinese proficiency for those learning it as a foreign level (HSK level 1). Only two of the characters are relatively “advanced”, one is HSK level 4 (各), and other is level 5 (暗). But in fact both of these characters are easy to recognize and have fairly simple meanings.