Transmission Outside of Scripture

[Mark Foote]

A friend of mine was kind enough as to offer criticism of my latest post (on my own site). She said:
 

I found it very meandering.

 

Cut to the quick, she's good with swords!  

I responded:

 

I view what I’m doing as more like a mathematical proof. My favorite proofs, and I believe those of my instructors, are the ones where the result just falls out from seemingly unrelated or seemingly unimportant related work.

I thought the most interesting part of this post was the characterization of transmission outside of scripture as the transmission through demonstration of activity of the body solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness. That being the characteristic of the fourth concentration, and while it’s true there are a number of sermons where Gautama arrived at “profound knowledge” (enlightenment) while in the fourth concentration, it’s also true (by the “seven persons existing in the world” sermon) that attainment of the fourth concentration alone does not automatically result in the complete destruction of the cankers.

 

Folks wonder why their authentic Zen master has been sleeping around, they think enlightenment should preclude this. From the time of Gautama, the answer has been no, that’s not necessarily the case. What is transmitted in the Zen tradition does not in and of itself mean that sensory desire is cut off at the root.

Something I didn’t delve into in the essay, because I didn’t need to in order to make the points I wanted to make, is the record of how Gautama arrived at “profound knowledge” in the fourth concentration.  He did so by using the pliability of his mind in that state to reflect on “former habitations”, and “the passing and arising of beings”, after which he attained insight into the four truths about suffering and a similar four truths about the cankers.  That’s how the cankers were “cut off at the root” for him. I dare say, if I were witnessing my habitations in past lives, and my own past and future lives as well as those of the people around me, the cankers might come to be completely destroyed in me as well!  But I don’t expect that.

And as I point out in the essay, I can aspire to live the way of life of Gautama that was a thing “perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living besides” without enlightenment. You can too, if you catch a glimpse of the “base of consciousness”, the mind, moving as you’re dropping off to sleep.  It’s nothing to be afraid of, you know.

 

In fact, helps me fall asleep, all the time!

 

 

The post is here, love to have all  the sword-masters here weigh in...
 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 11:13 PM by Mark Foote