"More Cowbell (Ming)"

Have you ever noticed that all the Sutras start with, “Thus have I heard?” Or maybe what you’ve read started something phrased differently. All the written Suttas & Sutras are based upon Ananda’s prodigious memory. It was’t until hundreds of years after Ananda’s death that any of the Buddha’s sermons were written down. Then these were translated into Pali, then Sanskrit, then probably a few more local dialects and languages, then Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, English, German, French, and all the rest. 

All the Buddhist scripture we have, all the writings of Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosa, Wonhyo, Jinul, Bodhidharma, and the rest are one big game of telephone. From translation to translation, even in just one level there can be variations. Go from Sanskrit to all the others mentioned above, there are bound to be differences; different translators will translate the same writing from Chinese into English and come up with different words. 

Going from some languages like Chinese to English are never one-for-one. The Chinese character is a representation, not spelling. It’s not like “chat” in French = “cat” in English. The best we can hope for is that the translator captures the spirit of the teaching, and that we don’t get hung up on one version of something. 

In his talk of November 20, 2024, Min’Ui Maitri points out that he found 23 translations of the Xinxin Ming, without even trying. They’re all relatively close to one another, some possibly embellished more than others, some more literal. We can have favorite translations that work for us, even in the case of a teaching whose opening line is “The Great Way is easy for those not attached to preferences.” 

How many versions of the Heart Sutra have you heard? How about the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows? Does one translation render all others incorrect because the words differ? Sanghas can prefer one version of a chant or a teaching, and Sangha members will get used to them, and may be taken aback when they hear to a different way. But that doesn’t make the other versions used in other Sanghas heretical.

The Dharma is the Dharma. And there’s a reason that we’ve been told that the Great Way is beyond words. At least, thus have I heard…

"Now What?"

(This talk was given November 6, 2024, one day after the election in the US).

The “elephant in the room” is that today, slightly more than half of the populace is gleeful, slightly less than half is sad. Taking either glee or sadness to the extreme is obviously missing the Middle Path, that sense of equanimity, one of the virtues that’s part of our practice. Dae Soensanim Seung Sahn called the balance the Primary Point. The Third Patriarch termed the “Great Way easy for those not attached to preferences.”

Granted, today might be difficult to manifest equanimity. And it might be even more difficult to manifest sympathetic joy (Skt. Mudita) toward that slightly more than half the population. And that portion of the population may not be inclined toward lovingkindness (Skt. Maitri) or compassion (Skt. Karuna). These and wisdom are the Four Perfections, how we avoid picking and choosing. Not exhibiting them certainly makes the Great Way difficult.a way to make it beyond difficult would be to show schadenfreude, taking pleasure to the bad fortune of another, 180 degrees away from Mudita. Wisdom (Skt. Prajna)  from either side might be a stretch.

But, as elections, political parties, voting, and so on are subject to causes and conditions, are therefore empty. Fair enough and, gloating and moping are both impermanent, so they’ll pass. But empty or not, there are consequences to these causes and conditions, and that is reality. Our practice is to experience reality directly. Whining or whooping aren’t acknowledging reality. There’s way too much “I, I, I” involved in them. So we have to accept reality, including the outcome of the election, as well as whining and whooping because they’re part of it also. But acceptance doesn’t mean passive acceptance. Zen practice is active. We don’t have to settle. 

We acknowledge reality being the result of causes and conditions. And if it happens that there is some harm being done as part of this karmic outcome, passivity is not doing our duty as bodhisattvas. We save all beings, not just the slightly more than half, not just the slightly less than half, or the indifferent; we are part of “all” too. So we need to act wisely, show the wisdom to practice the other three Immeasurables, and take actions that will indeed save ALL beings, including ourselves. 

Myeong Jin Eunsahn gave the talk November 6, 2024