We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
Useless
At the end of the three-month Winter Retreat on February 14, 2008, after the Closing Ceremony, the Dharma teachers confirmed and presented certificates to those who had completed the retreat. During this time, we studied the “Lion’s Roar Chapter” from the Avatamsaka Sutra, as taught by Zen Master Phap Tang (the author who opened the Sutra of Supreme, Profound, and Wonderful Dharma), and also revisited the tradition of the Avatamsaka Master Kanh Hy of the 12th century, who was honored by King Ly Nhan Tong as the National Patriarch.
Zen Master Phap Dung condensed his teachings on the relationship between form and emptiness, the ordinary and the sage, into an eight-line gatha that has been handed down to this day:
- In the weary life, do not only ask about form and emptiness,
- To study the Way, one must inquire of the ancestral teachers.
- Seeking the mind outside the sky, it is hard to determine its nature,
- Picking cinnamon in the human world, how can it become a pine tree?
- Heaven and earth are all on the tip of a hair,
- Sun and moon are contained within a mustard seed.
- Great function manifests right before us, its power is in our hands,
- Who knows the difference between ordinary and sage is like West and East?
The gatha reminds us: “Weary life” refers to the toilsome life—do not tire your mind by only asking about form and emptiness; to study the Way, one must seek out the ancestral teachers, the masters; form and emptiness are not separate; “seeking the mind outside the sky”—the mind cannot be found outside in the heavens; “sun and moon contained”—the vast is found within the small; and “great function manifests”—body, form, and function are expressed in each breath, the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind) operate freely, ordinary and sage are both ourselves, and West and East harmonize in a single reality.
