Saturday 28 May 2016

31. ZEN REMARKS

31. The monk Mumon Ekai writes of 'the family treasure' that doesn't 'come through the gate'. What doesn't 'come through the gate' is the family inheritance, that which has been handed down from generation to generation, that which belongs by right to the children of the house. Zen, however, is said to have three great treasures, namely, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. But these treasures ought not to be thought of as three distinct entities. Rather they are three aspects of the one treasure, the family treasure that doesn't 'come through the gate'. As it says in the 'Enj-mei Jikku Kan-non Gyo':
          With the Awaken'd One I'm one in origin.
          In the Awaken'd One I'm one with all.
          With the Awaken'd One, Dharma and Sangha I'm bound.
Taking refuge in the Sangha, immersed in the Sangha, caught up in the practice of Sangha, one is bound to, bonded with, the Buddha and the Dharma. A genuine encounter with the Sangha is at the same time an encounter with the Buddha and the Dharma. The Sangha, with its lineage of enlightened masters and its storehouse of compassionate wisdom, is the great treasure trove of Zen.

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