In our Dec. 6, 2022 session, we read the first half of the Tan Butsu Ge (aka San Butsu Ge) in Section 5 of the Larger Sutra along with “Re-Enter the Lion” (Shout of Buddha pp. 193-195).
I chose the lion piece to reinforce our reading of the earlier lion piece – to show that the awakened person is dynamic, not mostly passive as the stereotype “sage” is depicted. It’s been a couple weeks since that session and after watching Rod Serling’s 1964 television special “Carol for Another Christmas,” I’m reminded that we need to emphasize community more in our study of Buddhist texts. The symbol of the ferocious lion may appeal to rugged individuals, but Akegarasu portrays his lion character as interacting with others and in the last paragraph says, “His eyes shine in all directions, and include all beings, and all are in him.” For Akegarasu encountering Kiyozawa, for Shinran encountering Honen, for Ananda seeing the shining majestic face ko gen gi gi of Shakyamuni, the awakened person is one who respects all beings and is friendly to all. The sage isolated on the mountaintop is not the true lion actively concerned with the liberation of all.
[Lion by Chicago needle felting artist Kiyoshi Mino]
I’m noticing in the Shin Buddhism Translation Series a trend to use English words that denote “the great man” – the alpha male who is way ahead of the pack, separated far from the rubble of us ordinary folks. At the last session I complained about the use of “superior” and “surpassed” in describing Dharmakara’s character. I would rather use terms that denote someone who has transcended the usual mundane concerns – that they have widened their focus from self-centeredness to acknowledging the lives around them, not that they possess some special god-given talent denied to almost everyone else (who is not male, rich, able-bodied etc.).
In this session I pointed out the phrase that I feel Rev. Gyomay Kubose properly translated in his book on Tan Butsu Ge: Mu myō yoku nu, se son yō mu “Stupidity, greed, anger, in the Honored One is eternal – NOT.” Maybe the proper Chinese reading of “eternally not” means “never,” but our temple uses the translation of “Ignorance, greed and anger do not linger in your mind.” This is not only what Rev. Kubose learned from Akegarasu – it’s what he witnessed continuously when he spent time with his teacher who made mistakes like the rest of us out of stupidity, greediness and fury. Rev. Gyoko Saito said one time a man accidentally knocked over an antique vase at Akegarasu’s residence and Akegarasu screamed bloody murder at him. But then in the next moment his rage dissipated and he apologized to the man, realizing a broken vase was trivial compared to being with a fellow seeker on the path. The Larger Sutra would really be a fairy tale if Dharmakara encountered a human being who never made any selfish, short-sighted moves. But just as Rev. Saito described his teacher, the truly awakened one quickly sees his own stupidity, greed and anger and doesn’t hang on to them with justifications.
