If you arouse practice as if climbing the steps of enlightenment, not even a speck of dust will support your feet; you will be as far from true practice as heaven is from earth.
Quite striking to the Tibetan Tsong Khapa's Ten Stage Bodhisattva Path to Enlightenment
"There Is No Such Thing As Setting Forth on the Bodhisattva Path"nullonehalfJune 15 2008, 19:54:05 UTC
Again the venerable Subhuti asked the Buddha, "Blessed One, if someone sets forth on the bodhisattva path, how should they stand? How should they walk? And how should they control their thoughts?"
The Buddha said, "Subhuti, someone who sets forth on the bodhisattva path should give birth to the thought: 'In the realm of complete nirvana, I shall liberate all beings. And while I thus liberate beings, not a single being is liberated.' And why not? Subhuti, a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a being canot be called a 'bodhisattva.' Neither can someone who creates the perception of a life or even the perception of a soul be called a 'bodhisattva.' And why not? Subhuti, there is no such dharma as setting forth on the bodhisattva path."
We All Get Where We're GoingnullonehalfJune 16 2008, 01:10:55 UTC
I think Dogen's remark and the sutra passage frame it beautifully. There is no such thing as setting out because practice is ceaseless and originally complete.
Whether we run or walk, the same solid ground is our foundation.
But I'll never understand why you treat me the way you do. I don't understand why we couldn't come together in this, or why we couldn't just resolve something; anything other than constant misunderstanding.
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Quite striking to the Tibetan Tsong Khapa's Ten Stage Bodhisattva Path to Enlightenment
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The Buddha said, "Subhuti, someone who sets forth on the bodhisattva path should give birth to the thought: 'In the realm of complete nirvana, I shall liberate all beings. And while I thus liberate beings, not a single being is liberated.' And why not? Subhuti, a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a being canot be called a 'bodhisattva.' Neither can someone who creates the perception of a life or even the perception of a soul be called a 'bodhisattva.' And why not? Subhuti, there is no such dharma as setting forth on the bodhisattva path."
(from The Diamond Sutra, translated by Red Pine)
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Us humble beings trapped in samsara are not always so readily able to realize and live such truth.
It'd be like trying to run before you learn to walk.
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Whether we run or walk, the same solid ground is our foundation.
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But I'll never understand why you treat me the way you do.
I don't understand why we couldn't come together in this, or why we couldn't just resolve something; anything other than constant misunderstanding.
Sometimes, there is just no understanding.
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