Dog's bark and bird's twitter are all one's sound
Originally in harmonious oneness but man distinguishes
Purifying mind through repeating Buddha's name
　　　　 Delusions vanished inconspicuously
At the moment of merging into oneness
　　　　 Only then one realizes the real phenomena
Comments:
Upasaka Zeng who lives on Yang Ming Mountain in Taipei, Taiwan has been practicing repetition of "Amitabha" and meditation for many years. Recently during his meditation sitting he suddenly heard a dog's barking, and simultaneously comprehended intuitively that it was his own sound. He asked me about this, and I replied: "It was a direct comprehension of real phenomena, and it was realized only at the juncture when the man-made concept of 'this is not my sound' or 'this is dog's bark', which was artificially added in subconciousness to the sound heard, vanished. Furthermore, only at the juncture when such subconscious conceptual distinctions vanished can one become aware of the previous existence of such preconceived conceptual frames." Thus, it is clearly seen that it is not an easy endeavor to extinguish self-grasping and self-preconception; only through many years of diligent and continuous Dharma practices could these be gradually eradicated in subconsicousness. Upasaka Zeng, following the comprehension mentioned above, inferred that indeed all sounds are one's own sound. If we generalized further along this line, then all experiences of phenomena are nothing but oneself, nothing but all in oneness, and originally in harmony. When this truth is comprehended, then why would one incur suffering on oneself by grasping to all sorts of distinctions?
Written in Chinese and translated on April 14, 2010
El Cerrito, California
Nice sharing.
“When I heard the sound of
the bell ringing, there was no I,
and no bell, just the ringing.”
- Zen Master
As I was taught by Guru Lin：
Whether we are practicing or doing Dharma services, when there is a feeling of "boring tastelessness" arising in our mind, that would be the best moment to practice selflessness.
No matter when we are practicing Dharma, doing Dharma activities, or engaging in whatever worldly business, our choosing, our preferring, our still being interested in it or having lost interests in it, or feeling disgusted by it, all these are displays of self-grasping. Taking repetition of Buddha's name as an example, just repeating one Buddha name for years, repeating until all feelings about it are lost—having entered a state of tastelessness, then do not stop just there, continue the recitation, and only then can subtle grasping be broken through, and then reach the state when each repetition is lively, at ease and fulfilled with Dharma bliss. When thoughts of preference to objects of interests or circumstances cease to arise, only then is there genuine experience of “selflessness.”
Revised by Guru Lin
Recorded in Chinese on December 18, 2009
And then translated on December 20, 2009, both by disciple Ji Hu
El Cerrito, California