Reflections on Bankei's 'Song of the Mind' Verses 19-21
Having createdThe devil thoughts yourselfWhen it torments you mercilesslyYou're to censure as well as no a single else
When you do wrongYour mind's a demonThere's no hellTo be found outside
Abominating hellLonging for heavenYou have yourself sufferIn a joyous world
The summary of a seventeenth century Zen master Bankei Yotaku can be both direct as well as complicated in language. In a on top of three verses, you have ample evidence of both qualities, giving a difference an immediacy which grabs a hearts attention, pulling us behind into a benefaction moment, which is right where you need to be if you instruct to experience a Unborn Buddha Mind, a Wonder which Bankeis teachings consistently point to. Here, a master uses a age-old concepts of demons as well as ruin to illustrate a nature of a selfish mind, which is a true origin as well as location of a suffering. He pulls no punches laying a censure where it lies right from a outset:
Having combined The devil thoughts yourself
There have been dual critical points to attend to in these dual lines; firstly, which there is something Bankei calls a devil mind, as well as secondly, which you emanate it for ourselves. A devil is a tormented, evil being which cannot desist from you do wrong as well as greedy things. It is used here to characterize self-centred thoughts, hence, a devil mind. Another critical aspect of this thoughts impending to this reflection is which it is additionally a contraction of what Bankei describes as a Unborn Buddha Mind, mentioned above. This is a natural state, unmoved as well as unmoving, since a delusion-based devil thoughts is a transformation of mentality away from a Unborn. Furthermore, this transformation is combined by a mi! nd; it d oes not come from without. True, it is influenced by outward forces, yet it is mental processes themselves which forge a clarity of being a apart being which necessarily suffers.
When it torments you mercilesslyYou're to censure as well as no a single else
All kinds of negative thoughts as well as feelings go around as well as around these ego-minds of ours. In fact, you cannot have a single yet a other, for a tormented essence of a devil thoughts have been a very parts; it grows out of, as well as is constructed of, thoughts as well as feelings of I, me, as well as mine. Every time you identify with a emotions as well as notions you build up a clarity of being a me with all a torments which attend with such an idea. Here have been a few examples of a kinds of harmful mental states which a devil thoughts is involved with: anger, frustration, agony, regret, torment, hatred, sadness, jealousy, greed, superiority, inferiority, as well as misinterpretation (including a misinterpretation of being an ego-self). Being a cause of, as well as subsequently a product of, such negative mindscapes as these, a devil thoughts is caught in a incessant double back of self-made misery. We cannot censure a Devil, Mara (the Buddhist reflection of Satan), nor any one or anything else for a anguish. It is always a case of mental D.I.Y.
When you do wrongYour mind's a demon
At initial glance, these lines might seem to be merely a repetition of a initial verse, yet if you look closely, you can collect out a word do, which adds a new dimension to these musings of Bankei. Previously, he associated a pang (torments) to a thoughts (demon mind), since right away he turns his cordial courtesy to a actions. Everything you do comes from a mind, for as it says in a initial difference of a Dhammapada, Mind is a forerunner of all things. Some might object which nonetheless it is obvious which premeditated actions follow a mind, spontaneous deeds have no pr! ior thou gh. This is not so, however, for as complicated neurological research is confirming, a subliminal thoughts precedes any act which you do consciously or unconsciously infrequently by multiform seconds. And, a subliminal tools of a thoughts have been conditioned only as a conscious tools are; so, whenever you do wrong or greedy things, you do so from a devil mind.
There's no hellTo be found outside
Bankei right away turns his courtesy to a place which many of a worlds religions as well as mythologies demonstrate to a hold up of hell. He boldly declares which ruin is not to be found outside, a pretty darting statement for a Buddhist monk of a seventeenth century to make. This is since many Japanese Buddhists during which time as well as probably during this time, as well hold in a tangible hold up of an external place called jigoku (hell in Japanese). Not wishing to attest nor repudiate such claims, here you can during least recognise, only similar to Bankei, which right right away it is a middle ruin which is of some-more immediate concern to us. This mental Hades is part as well as parcel of a pang existence, rising out of a unwholesome thoughts, speech, as well as actions, caricature everything you experience with a taint of Mara.
Abominating hellLonging for heaven
We know, either by tuition or intuition, what is basically right or wrong, many of us putting kindness, politeness, generosity, compassion, altruism, peacefulness, as well as honesty underneath a heading right, as well as hostility, rudeness, miserliness, cruelty, selfishness, violence, as well as duplicity underneath a heading wrong. Bankei is not promoting an depraved perspective to hold up here, yet pointing out which attaching to what you similar to (longing for heaven) as well as fighting what you be vexed (abominating hell) is not enlightenment. This does not meant which you abandon a dignified precepts, yet which you do not psychologically cling to! them, t hereby reinforcing a clarity of ego which covers over a tangible Unborn Buddha Mind. For, whilst it is improved to be dignified than immoral or amoral, a didactic in front of to take is to do great yet anticipating celestial rewards. This avoids a outset of shame from greedy deeds, whilst during a same time transcending any clarity of a me you do any great deeds.
You have yourself sufferIn a joyous world
According to a Buddha Dharma, you do bad has worse repercussions than you do good, yet clinging to either type of actions creates a screen in between what you unequivocally have been as well as what you think you are. What you think you have been includes notions of a great person, a bad person, an animal, a soul, a body, a mind, or any other apart entity or thing. What you truly have been is none of these, yet an inexpressible No-thing which lies behind all a notions of good, bad, heaven, hell, deity as well as demon. If you can see by these assorted delusions, you will break by to a joyous universe which Bankei writes of. This joyous universe is conjunction some sky on top of us nor ruin below us, yet is here where you have been in a benefaction moment, watchful for us to see it. To do so, all you need do is look during a universe with a pristine eye, a Buddha Eye, as well as it will be revealed to us; please control a following practice as well as see if a joyous universe springs up before you.
Close your eyes as well as suppose you do something good, observant all a feelings as well as thoughts which a thoughts produces in propinquity to it. Next, do a same whilst imagining you do something bad. (These can be tangible events which took place or quite imaginary ones. The former might give some-more concrete responses, however, some-more straightforwardly reflected upon.) Re-examine both illusory acts as well as a minds reactions to them, yet this time saying them as what they unequivocally are; fleeting thoughts in awareness. Ultimately, is a great deed ! any oppo site to a bad deed in a propinquity to naked awareness? Ditto, both sets of mental responses. Open your eyes as well as look around you. Do solid objects have any some-more or reduction being to them than thoughts? Right now, have been you a apart pang being or a Buddha Eye saying all things as so much Mind-stuff occurring in a Unborn Buddha Mind?
According to Bankei, a devil thoughts is a unenlightened mind, as well as a Unborn Buddha Mind is a cordial Mind. He additionally encouraged his followers by emphasizing which to comprehend a latter is as easy as listening or looking yet attachment. This is exactly what a practice on top of is directed at. This universe is conjunction sky nor hell. But it is what it is, as well as is seen as such if you look with a transparent Buddha Eye as well as not a devil mind. And, what it is in truth is a joyous universe full of smashing as well as terrible things, all outset in a No-thing of a Unborn Buddha Mind. Not joyous in a worldly, selfish clarity accepted in ordinary mental terms, yet from a viewpoint of a Awakened One. Why dont you arise up from a dreams of sky as well as hell, as well as live from this Vision?
When you do wrongYour mind's a demonThere's no hellTo be found outside
Abominating hellLonging for heavenYou have yourself sufferIn a joyous world
The summary of a seventeenth century Zen master Bankei Yotaku can be both direct as well as complicated in language. In a on top of three verses, you have ample evidence of both qualities, giving a difference an immediacy which grabs a hearts attention, pulling us behind into a benefaction moment, which is right where you need to be if you instruct to experience a Unborn Buddha Mind, a Wonder which Bankeis teachings consistently point to. Here, a master uses a age-old concepts of demons as well as ruin to illustrate a nature of a selfish mind, which is a true origin as well as location of a suffering. He pulls no punches laying a censure where it lies right from a outset:
Having combined The devil thoughts yourself
There have been dual critical points to attend to in these dual lines; firstly, which there is something Bankei calls a devil mind, as well as secondly, which you emanate it for ourselves. A devil is a tormented, evil being which cannot desist from you do wrong as well as greedy things. It is used here to characterize self-centred thoughts, hence, a devil mind. Another critical aspect of this thoughts impending to this reflection is which it is additionally a contraction of what Bankei describes as a Unborn Buddha Mind, mentioned above. This is a natural state, unmoved as well as unmoving, since a delusion-based devil thoughts is a transformation of mentality away from a Unborn. Furthermore, this transformation is combined by a mi! nd; it d oes not come from without. True, it is influenced by outward forces, yet it is mental processes themselves which forge a clarity of being a apart being which necessarily suffers.
When it torments you mercilesslyYou're to censure as well as no a single else
All kinds of negative thoughts as well as feelings go around as well as around these ego-minds of ours. In fact, you cannot have a single yet a other, for a tormented essence of a devil thoughts have been a very parts; it grows out of, as well as is constructed of, thoughts as well as feelings of I, me, as well as mine. Every time you identify with a emotions as well as notions you build up a clarity of being a me with all a torments which attend with such an idea. Here have been a few examples of a kinds of harmful mental states which a devil thoughts is involved with: anger, frustration, agony, regret, torment, hatred, sadness, jealousy, greed, superiority, inferiority, as well as misinterpretation (including a misinterpretation of being an ego-self). Being a cause of, as well as subsequently a product of, such negative mindscapes as these, a devil thoughts is caught in a incessant double back of self-made misery. We cannot censure a Devil, Mara (the Buddhist reflection of Satan), nor any one or anything else for a anguish. It is always a case of mental D.I.Y.
When you do wrongYour mind's a demon
At initial glance, these lines might seem to be merely a repetition of a initial verse, yet if you look closely, you can collect out a word do, which adds a new dimension to these musings of Bankei. Previously, he associated a pang (torments) to a thoughts (demon mind), since right away he turns his cordial courtesy to a actions. Everything you do comes from a mind, for as it says in a initial difference of a Dhammapada, Mind is a forerunner of all things. Some might object which nonetheless it is obvious which premeditated actions follow a mind, spontaneous deeds have no pr! ior thou gh. This is not so, however, for as complicated neurological research is confirming, a subliminal thoughts precedes any act which you do consciously or unconsciously infrequently by multiform seconds. And, a subliminal tools of a thoughts have been conditioned only as a conscious tools are; so, whenever you do wrong or greedy things, you do so from a devil mind.
There's no hellTo be found outside
Bankei right away turns his courtesy to a place which many of a worlds religions as well as mythologies demonstrate to a hold up of hell. He boldly declares which ruin is not to be found outside, a pretty darting statement for a Buddhist monk of a seventeenth century to make. This is since many Japanese Buddhists during which time as well as probably during this time, as well hold in a tangible hold up of an external place called jigoku (hell in Japanese). Not wishing to attest nor repudiate such claims, here you can during least recognise, only similar to Bankei, which right right away it is a middle ruin which is of some-more immediate concern to us. This mental Hades is part as well as parcel of a pang existence, rising out of a unwholesome thoughts, speech, as well as actions, caricature everything you experience with a taint of Mara.
Abominating hellLonging for heaven
We know, either by tuition or intuition, what is basically right or wrong, many of us putting kindness, politeness, generosity, compassion, altruism, peacefulness, as well as honesty underneath a heading right, as well as hostility, rudeness, miserliness, cruelty, selfishness, violence, as well as duplicity underneath a heading wrong. Bankei is not promoting an depraved perspective to hold up here, yet pointing out which attaching to what you similar to (longing for heaven) as well as fighting what you be vexed (abominating hell) is not enlightenment. This does not meant which you abandon a dignified precepts, yet which you do not psychologically cling to! them, t hereby reinforcing a clarity of ego which covers over a tangible Unborn Buddha Mind. For, whilst it is improved to be dignified than immoral or amoral, a didactic in front of to take is to do great yet anticipating celestial rewards. This avoids a outset of shame from greedy deeds, whilst during a same time transcending any clarity of a me you do any great deeds.
You have yourself sufferIn a joyous world
According to a Buddha Dharma, you do bad has worse repercussions than you do good, yet clinging to either type of actions creates a screen in between what you unequivocally have been as well as what you think you are. What you think you have been includes notions of a great person, a bad person, an animal, a soul, a body, a mind, or any other apart entity or thing. What you truly have been is none of these, yet an inexpressible No-thing which lies behind all a notions of good, bad, heaven, hell, deity as well as demon. If you can see by these assorted delusions, you will break by to a joyous universe which Bankei writes of. This joyous universe is conjunction some sky on top of us nor ruin below us, yet is here where you have been in a benefaction moment, watchful for us to see it. To do so, all you need do is look during a universe with a pristine eye, a Buddha Eye, as well as it will be revealed to us; please control a following practice as well as see if a joyous universe springs up before you.
Close your eyes as well as suppose you do something good, observant all a feelings as well as thoughts which a thoughts produces in propinquity to it. Next, do a same whilst imagining you do something bad. (These can be tangible events which took place or quite imaginary ones. The former might give some-more concrete responses, however, some-more straightforwardly reflected upon.) Re-examine both illusory acts as well as a minds reactions to them, yet this time saying them as what they unequivocally are; fleeting thoughts in awareness. Ultimately, is a great deed ! any oppo site to a bad deed in a propinquity to naked awareness? Ditto, both sets of mental responses. Open your eyes as well as look around you. Do solid objects have any some-more or reduction being to them than thoughts? Right now, have been you a apart pang being or a Buddha Eye saying all things as so much Mind-stuff occurring in a Unborn Buddha Mind?
According to Bankei, a devil thoughts is a unenlightened mind, as well as a Unborn Buddha Mind is a cordial Mind. He additionally encouraged his followers by emphasizing which to comprehend a latter is as easy as listening or looking yet attachment. This is exactly what a practice on top of is directed at. This universe is conjunction sky nor hell. But it is what it is, as well as is seen as such if you look with a transparent Buddha Eye as well as not a devil mind. And, what it is in truth is a joyous universe full of smashing as well as terrible things, all outset in a No-thing of a Unborn Buddha Mind. Not joyous in a worldly, selfish clarity accepted in ordinary mental terms, yet from a viewpoint of a Awakened One. Why dont you arise up from a dreams of sky as well as hell, as well as live from this Vision?
