If we make or purchase a statue of the Buddha or one of the Bodhisattvas, this leads to visual worship. If we engage in chanting a particular Sutra or a part of a Sutra, this is auditory worship. Engaging our senses in the practice of Buddhism can hardly be helped. But this doesn’t make us good practitioners. We are still caught up in the senses and their objects. Our Buddha-nature is not to be found there.
The most difficult sense to overcome is the sixth sense this being the manas. Manas in the widest sense is all mental powers or mentation. This includes the intellect, intelligence, understanding, will, imagination, and consciousness.
To Zen’s credit, it is mainly concerned with overcoming the sixth sense this being our tendency to speculate about what the Buddha taught in regard to his awakening as if to imply his realization can be known through the manas. But it cannot be known this way, anymore than reading about climbing Qomolangma (Mount Everst) is the same as actually reaching its summit.
Our sixth sense is capable of being the chief instrument and architect of our delusions, and often is.
Switching gears, dhyāna or intuition serves a special purpose in Zen. It is the only means we have for overcoming the tremendous enchanting power of the sixth sense which makes victims of us all.
The stages of dhyāna prepare the adept for the sudden vault over the sixth sense which is Zen’s satori or kenshō. The koans are meant to call forth intuition. They are constructed in such a way that when the adept’s manas comes to a sudden and unexpected halt, there is satori.
At this point, consciousness (vijñāna, subject-object knowing) is transcended. This is also the state of Buddhahood. Seeing true reality for the first time, there is not the slightest difference between the subject and object. Both sides return to pure Mind or the same, the One Mind.
The turtle (gui 龜) is an auspicious animal in ancient China. It is said in the book Zhongxuanji 中玄記 that a thousand years of turtle is able to communicate with humans. In the age of one thousand years a turtle grows Hair, as the Shuyiji 述異記 says. A five thousand years old turtle is called shengui 神龜 "divine turtle", an animal older than ten thousand years is called linggui 靈龜 "Spiritual turtle".
Posted by: n. yeti | December 17, 2019 at 03:38 PM
I bet n. yeti was a turtle in his past life. Maybe in this life even 😁
Posted by: אריה | December 17, 2019 at 10:44 AM
This is for you, n. yeti:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_V3Q7P8h5V4
Posted by: Buddha | December 16, 2019 at 11:23 PM
This has nothing to do with the OP and very little to do with Zen, but it is still worth pointing out for the few who may be interested:
https://www.studyfinds.org/turtle-power-study-finds-giant-tortoises-have-strong-memories-high-intelligence/
Posted by: n. yeti | December 16, 2019 at 07:46 PM