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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

http://www.sulekha.com/chpost.asp...ilosophy&show=0&cid=92579

A curious but little known fact is that the VERY FIRST book in the
world ever to be printed (reproduced) by mechanical means (rather
than hand written by a scribe) was the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, in
China, in the ninth century C.E., printed using wood-block techniques.

=============================

SITARAM: I am trying to find a Zen story that I read some years ago,
regarding a monk who was master of the Diamon Sutra, and travelled
about, lecturing, and he meets an old woman who works in a tea house
and she stumps him with a difficult question... ever read it?

Mojo: One of my favorites

SITARAM: Where can I find it on the Internet.... or in print, in a
book... any ideas?

SITARAM: I just now was inspired to google search on: diamond sutra
woman cakes

SITARAM: I had been searcing before with google, but did not hit
upon it

======================

http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/Lighter/cakes.html

Once there was a monk who was an expert on the Diamond Sutra, and as
books were very valuable in his day, he carried the only copy in his
part of the world on his back. He was widely sought after for his
readings and insight into the Diamond Sutra, and very successful at
propounding its profundities to not only monks and masters but to the
lay people as well.

Thus the people of that region came to know of the Diamond Sutra, and
as the monk was traveling on a mountain road, he came upon an old
woman selling tea and cakes. The hungry monk would have loved to
refresh himself, but alas, he had no money. He told the old woman, "I
have upon my back a treasure beyond knowing -- the Diamond Sutra. If
you will give me some tea and cakes, I will tell you of this great
treasure of knowledge."

The old woman knew something of the Diamond Sutra herself, and
proposed her own bargain. She said, "Oh learned monk, if you will
answer a simple question, I will give you tea and cakes." To this the
monk readily agreed. The woman then said, "When you eat these cakes,
are you eating with the mind of the past, the mind of the present or
the mind of the future?"

No answer occurred to the monk, so he took the pack from his back and
got out the text of the Diamond Sutra, hoping he could find the
answer. As he studied and pondered, the day grew late and the old
woman packed up her things to go home for the day.

"You are a foolish monk indeed," said the old woman as she left the
hungry monk in his quandary. "You eat the tea and cakes with your
mouth."

http://www.kwanumzen.com/primarypoint/v07n1-1990-winter-jbzm-
thetenoxherdingpictures.html

VIII. No ox, no man

The eighth picture is just an empty circle, the circle that has been
the frame for the first seven pictures. Pictures three through seven
are all concerned with the realm between "thinking I" and the
attainment of the essence of this picture, which is sunyata or
emptiness. In this picture there is no subject and no object; the man
and the ox have both disappeared. But there is also no idea of
negating the existence of the man or the ox. All opposites dissolve
into the ground of being. In our school we call this the attainment
of first enlightenment. But as long as we have any conceptualizations
about what enlightenment might be like, or notions about ourselves as
unusual men or women, its attainment remains a thousand miles away.

This is the mind that Te Shan found when he traveled to south China
to check out the Ch'an teachers. On the road he met an old woman
selling rice cakes and she said to him, "I see that you are a student
of the Diamond Sutra. If you can answer one question for me I'll give
you free all of the rice cakes that you want, but if you cannot
answer me then you are a fraud and must go away." He said to her, "I
am the master of the Diamond Sutra. Ask me anything that you like."

She asked him, "The Diamond Sutra says that past mind is not
attainable, future mind is not attainable, and present mind is not
attainable. If this is true then what kind of mind will you use to
eat your rice cakes?" He was stuck and had no idea how to reply. Te
Shan was a great scholar and thought that he was going to come south
and expose the Ch'an masters as fakers. But instead some old woman
had "hit" him. And he had no idea how to answer or what to do. We are
told that he wandered aimlessly until he found the residence of Ch'an
Master Lung Tan. They talked long into the night and we might imagine
how Te Shan was trying to justify himself to the Master who listened
patiently. Finally when Te Shan's mind was completely stuck and he
was totally frustrated, Lung Tan said to him, "Why don't you take the
hut at the end of the path and get some rest."

Te Shan went out into the night and discovered that it was pitch
black. He went back into the Master's hut and said, "I can't see
anything outside."

The Master said, "No problem. Wait here."

Lung Tan lit a candle and handed it to Te Shan. Just as Te Shan was
about to take his first step into the darkness, Lung Tan blew out the
candle.

PA! Everything became completely open and Te Shan attained this mind
without subject, without object, not empty, not full - an experience
of unbounded openness. In our school we call this "without like
this." Please note that pictures three through eight all are
illustrative of the attainment of this first enlightenment
experience, which the Heart Sutra calls nirvana. For most of us,
connecting in this way with the ground of our being requires a long
seasoning process involving years of diligent practice.

http://www.windbell.com/intros1.html

Shin means "mind," fu expresses negation, ka expresses possibility,
and toku means "to grasp." Shin-fukatoku, or "mind cannot be
grasped," is a quotation from the Diamond Sutra. On the basis of our
common sense, we usually think that our mind can be grasped by our
intellect, and we are prone to think that our mind must exist
somewhere substantially. This belief also extends into the sphere of
philosophy; Rene Descartes, for example, started his philosophical
thinking with the premise "Cogito ergo sum" or "I think therefore I
am." The German idealists, for example, Kant, Fichte, von Schnelling,
and Hegel, also based their philosophies on the existence of mind.
But in Buddhism we do not have confidence in the existence of mind.
Buddhism is a philosophy of action, or a philosophy of the here and
now; in that philosophy, mind cannot exist independently of the
external world. In other words, Buddhism says that all existence is
the instantaneous contact between mind and the external world.
Therefore it is difficult for us to grasp our mind independently of
the external world. In short, Buddhist theory cannot support belief
in the independent existence of mind. In this chapter, Master Dogen
preached that mind cannot be grasped, explaining a famous Buddhist
story about a conversation between Master Tokuzan Senkan and an old
woman selling rice cakes.

Morality or ethics is, by its nature, a very practical problem. But
most people are prone to forget the practical character of morality,
and usually only discuss it with words or as an abstract theory.
However, talking about morality is not the same as being moral.
Morality is just doing right or not doing wrong.

Time is always related with existence and existence is always related
with momentary time. So in reality, the past and the future are not
existent time; the present moment is the only existent time - the
point at which existence and time come together. Also, time is always
related with action here and now. Action can only be realized in
time, and time can only be realized in action. Thus, the view of time
in Buddhism reminds us of existentialism in modern philosophy. It is
very important to understand the Buddhist view of time in order to
grasp the true meaning of Buddhism.

The Eternal Mirror

Ko means "ancient" or "eternal" and kyo means "mirror," so kokyo
means "the eternal mirror." And what "the eternal mirror" means is
the question. In this chapter Master Dogen quoted Master Seppo
Gison's words "When a foreigner comes in front of the mirror, the
mirror reflects the foreigner." From these words we can understand
the eternal mirror as a symbol of some human mental faculty. The
eternal mirror suggests the importance of reflection, so we can
suppose that the eternal mirror is a symbol of the intuitional
faculty. In Buddhist philosophy, the intuition is called prajna, or
real wisdom. Real wisdom in Buddhism means our human intuitional
faculty on which all our decisions are based. Buddhism esteems this
real wisdom more than reason or sense-perception. Our real wisdom is
the basis for our decisions, and our decisions decide our life, so we
can say that our real wisdom decides the course of our life. For this
reason, it is very natural for Master Dogen to explain the eternal
mirror. At the same time, we must find another meaning of the eternal
mirror, because Master Dogen also quoted other words of Master Seppo
Gison, "Every monkey has the eternal mirror on its back." Therefore
we can think that the eternal mirror means not only human real
wisdom, but also some intuitional faculty of animals. So we must
widen the meaning of the eternal mirror, and understand it as a
symbol of the intuitional faculty which both human beings and animals
have. Furthermore Master Seppo Gison said, "When the world is ten
feet wide, the eternal mirror is ten feet wide. When the world is one
foot wide, the eternal mirror is one foot wide." These words suggest
the eternal mirror is the world itself. So we can say that the
eternal mirror is not only a symbol of an individual faculty but is
also something universal. From ancient times Buddhists have discussed
the eternal mirror. In this chapter Master Dogen explains the meaning
of the eternal mirror in Buddhism, quoting the words of ancient
Buddhist masters.

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