Yesterday was "The Day From Hell", too much happened to recount. It began at 6.45am and (apart from an all too brief interlude in McDonalds....😀) ended at 11.45pm. But now all is well - or as well as it can be in this sahaloka (Endurance) world.
I have downloaded another of those Kindle bargains, a print replica edition of "Universal Enlightenment: An Introduction to the teachings and practices of Huayen Buddhism." Huayen is the name given to the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra. The book was a bargain at £2.48 - being a cheapskate at heart I love a bargain.
One thing that keeps coming through for me no matter what text I read, of east or west, is a simple yet very profound message:- What you see is what you get. We are what we understand".
Yet nothing that we see or understand is set in stone. All is becoming. The present moment is the only moment and yet there is a movement toward Buddha.
Here are a few images found by googling "The Eternal Present" (the last speaks of the eternal present in indigenous art):-
Looking at the images, it seems that google relates the "eternal present" more to the female of our species.....😀. Is it a gender thing?! ? !
Wonderful. Enlightenment never ends,Practice never ends. All seemingly separate things are in reality one. It's only conceptual mind that creates the illusion of separateness. Mountains and the mind that see them are in fact not two..mountains are mind,houses,cats,shoes etc...all things are mind..and not separate from mind.
On the great road of Buddha ancestors there is always unsurpassable practice, continuous, and sustained. It forms the circle of the Way, and is never cut off. Between aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana, there is not a moment's gap. Continuous practice is the circle of the Way. This being so, continuous practice is unstained, not forced by you or others. The power of this continuous practice confirms you as well as others. It means your practice affects the entire earth, the entire sky, in ten directions. Although not noticed by others, or by you, it is so.
Very interesting read... but then it made me question myself on Suzuki's depth of knowledge on the knowledge available in other scriptures 🤨🤔
SW-User
@Amor69Fati How so? Suzuki seems to be saying that whatever can be found in any other text can be found in the Avatamsaka Sutra.
One of the main "teachings" found in the Scripture is that in every particular can be found the Universal. In that sense Suzuki would be correct - possibly depends upon the depth of insight? What you see is what you get - "we are what we understand".
