Hong’s Stories: Buddha From an Insects Point-of-View

“from Buddhas point of view that particular ocean on earth is the water collected in a cow’s footprint”

Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche

Amituofu friends! The sutras are 2500-year-old texts written by the disciples of Buddha to record his teachings. Chogyam Trungpa devoted his life to bringing those teachings “up-to-date’ in a way that would be able to penetrate the western materialistic mind. In this talk, as is often the case, Chogyam uses the discussion of sutras to purposefully throw us out of our comfort zone, as he says to get us to “give in, give up seeking enlightenment”.

Along with giving background on the sutras, he points out that less than 2% of these records of Buddha’s teachings have been translated into English, and that it would take thousands of yogis to complete the task. In other words, our studies no matter how deep can only touch a tiny corner of a grain of sand of all there is to know.

Chogyam’s talks are dense with insight, and, at least for me, require careful and repeated listening to fully appreciate. Transcribing them forces me to listen carefully, to notice when my mind wanders, and to go back and catch all of the details. It is a meditative practice unto itself.

Listen to the talk, and then again with his words alongside. It will help Buddha penetrate your mind.

More chi! Train harder!

Hong

Transcription: Comparative Studies in the Sutras by Chogyam Trungpa

The question here is attitude and intellect, as well as a sense of commitment, faith, devotion brought together, that the various teachings of the Buddha in written form we can understand as up to date instead of as a historical document.

It is interesting to get into our own everyday life situation at the same time, how we handle ourselves. When we write a letter to our friends, our teacher, our relatives and to our selves, that we are involved in communication at a very solid and definite level. We may be freaked out at the time, or feel depressed, or feel that there is nothing much to say in terms of composing a letter to your to our friend, relative, whatever. Nevertheless, there is some send of continuity that takes place.

When we talk about sutras we are talking about how Buddha communicated,. The sutras can be an up-to-date living situation that everyone can work with. That is an enormous achievement. It’s fantastic, and we might feel intimidated by such an enormous achievement. But at the same time, the sutras situation is also continued in how we relate to the teachings.

Sutra literally means confluence, junction. Usually, it is very descriptive in terms of our own experience, experience of openness, and also experience of concern to life’s situations, sense of salvation, sense of attainment of enlightenment. Whatever we have concerned ourselves with that brought us together into the practice of the teachings, a sense of concern.

So the junction here is that of the openness and the wide vision, aerial pointed vision, seeing things as it is, as it were. And seeing things that meet with your particular demand, in the sense of the particular situation that you have, either that you have a sense of confusion, a sense of need for clarification.

Whatever you are experiencing currently at that particular point, working together from that point of view, a sense of openness from that point of view. We can say that the purpose of the sutra is the meeting point of vision and practicality.

All of the sutras were compiled after the death of Buddha, but come from his disciples, bought together and compiled by them along with certain particular discussions. They are often named after the place, named after the situation and named after the people. For instance, one is named after the situation in which Buddha was in Ceylon. That particular discourse that took place was named after that. It quite different from naming a book for your publisher with a catchy title. It is just simply named.

Sometimes a sutra is named after the people who are involved with the basic conversation, the person involved with the particular practice or study. Such as the Indian warrior who had become suddenly extremely aggressive, and began murdering everybody. The last people he wants to murder are his mother and the Buddha, which makes two thousand people finally. He collected everyone’s thumbs as a “mala” (necklace) which he wears around his neck. He tried to chase his mother and failing that because his mother took refuge with the Buddha, then he chased Buddha. All discussions involved around this aggression with enormous insight that only a mana had, as well as his aggression is problematic, another example of a sutra.

Another type is purely and simply related with the subject matter. That the topic is discussed, and the sutra is named after that, such as the heart sutra.

Another type of sutra is how it should be functioning, what is its purpose. Such as advisory or diamond cutting sutra which is based on the idea of cutting through the dualistic notion of the ego. That is the purpose of that sutra, to cut through.

So the basic point of sutra from that way is experiencing a sense of true perception within oneself, how you are relating with the teaching and how you are relating with your teacher at the same time.

The question here is how we could assimilate 108 volumes of sutras, the discourse and descriptions of the Buddhas teachings presently (1974) available in three languages, maybe four. And all of those languages are written in oriental language: sanskrit, pali, japanese, whatever.

That the only sutras translated into English language so far is maybe 2% of the basic sutras, maybe less. And so far as the understanding of the sutras is concerned, that we have made a relationship with that very precisely and very definitely — ones that have been translated with commentary into English.

We in the west feel extremely stupid, to say the least, not having enough open understanding of Buddhism. That we have just a fragment of 108 volumes, just a few chapters of one big volume have been translated. How on earth are we going to learn the rest of it? how are we going to translate them, learn the languages?

It feels very bad. It feels bad, not hopeful, that we cannot do the whole thing. At least one person cannot do that. We need 100 great masters for each volume — maybe we need 1000 great gurus who are specialized in one particular volume can show us the way and tell us what Buddha said. That we have no idea about it in the western language. That trying to collect and learn Sutras without being a linguistic scholar seems absolutely hopeless. Ironically its terrible.

In fact, it is impossible to understand what Buddha said. We don’t even have the notion of nirvana. One simple word which has been over and overused by all kinds of people, but who don’t even know what nirvana is all about, what nirvana means. Tell us.

Freedom, salvation!

Sure but what does that mean? What is freedom? What is salvation?

Everything is going to be ok! We don’t have to go through the hassle of life anymore!

We begin to feel that we are just barely touching on just one tiny corner, one little corner, just a fragment of a piece of sand which created part the entire stupa which is beyond our understanding. We are approaching the whole thing from a miniature insects point of view, not having any comprehension of anything at all of what the Buddha said, what he taught.

Not that we are stupidly paralyzed, but we don’t have the sources, the materials. A lot of books got lost, and a lot has not been translated, and so we have no help from that point of view.

What we have been discussing in this class is trying to study one corner of that particular statue or stupa. Maybe we have bee studying foundations, maybe we have been mowing the lawn of that particular ground where the statue has been built. Maybe we haven’t even touched the actual statue at all. Yet we feel we are doing something here. We feel pretty good. We are learning, things being meaningful and inspiring, and so forth.

So how are we going end on that situation? If we want, we can understand the real meaning of comparative sutra, that we ate diving into an enormous ocean that is much bigger than any ocean on earth, which we cannot even imagine what it is like. Because we have only seen the ocean on the earth we think it is fantastically, big, gigantic, enormous, that we can sail across, that we can throw nuclear tests in all kinds of places, and we begin to feel the ocean that we have is gigantic.

But from Buddha's point of view that particular ocean on earth is the water collected in a cow’s footprint.

As far as the basic sutra is concerned, that is, trying to bring together the junction of intellect, experience, and skillful actions together, that the teachings of Buddha are not particularly sensational, for that matter not particularly uplifting.

But it is so frightening at the same time because it doesn’t give us any room to operate our on little tricks that we have. Once you begin to hear the teachings of Buddha you feel belittled. His point of view is so enormous, gigantic, that the things we are trying to operate in our own little humble spiritual scenes, what we do in our little style, that we feel bewildered. That our little projects automatically collapse.

And so finally we can see that teachings of Buddha is the sky falling on our head, that an enormous mind is operating in a greater style with a greater understanding. That we do our little trip here, our little trip there, becomes somewhat meaningless, trivial, an adolescent situation. That the point of enlightenment and the teachings of Buddha at this point is to inspire us to grow up in that level of greater thinking, enlightened situation.

At the same time, if you are trying to design that great whatever-it-is, that we are are back to square one, we are back to our little world.

So I hope tonight I’ve been able to put you off enough so that you do not seek for enlightenment, give in, give up, whatever.