Volume 50. April 12, 2024
“It was a scam!” she proclaimed after school.
On April 8, 2024, there was a total eclipse of the sun across North America. In areas of totality, the moon blotted out the sun’s light, plunging the daytime Earth into nighttime darkness.
Reactions across the natural world were mixed. Owls hooted. Bees returned to their hives. Bears were unfazed, shrugging it off like a passing cloud. Giraffes in zoos galloped nervously.
Humans stopped what they were doing and stared skyward. Some lowered their voices. Some shed tears. Others screamed with delight. Most stood in awe of this rare celestial event.
My preteen daughter was disappointed. In our area of 90% totality, it was like wearing sunglasses for a few minutes. She expected tonight at noon. Her laughable review of the cosmic spectacle: “It was a scam!”
Without Buddhist wisdom, we too get scammed.
We humans are led to believe that our ego is who we truly are.
We are conned, hustled by the hype of a fraudulent self-identity.
In the sixth century, Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen school, did not fall for any hype.
The famous Indian monk was summoned by the emperor of China to his imperial court. He wanted to plump the depths of Buddhist wisdom. Face to face with Bodhidharma, the Son of Heaven asked, “Who is this standing before me?”
Bodhidharma answered, “I don’t know.”
That answer could have got him thrown into prison for disrespect, but that’s the correct answer in Zen. You are not your ego.
Fundamentally, you’re true nature is Buddha-nature.
But don’t abandon your ego just yet.
As Bodhidharma taught, “Our mortal nature is our Buddha-nature. Beyond this, there’s no Buddha. The Buddha is our nature. There’s no Buddha besides this mortal nature. Enlightenment is impossible without seeing your nature.”
Zen is the philosophy of no philosophy. There are no Zen philosophers. There are only Zen practitioners.
Bodhidharma is not arguing for or against any position. Rather, he is declaring enlightened wisdom from the world of meditation.
If you wants to squeeze his Zen “reasoning” into a syllogism, you could phrase it thus:
All things are Buddha-nature.
Our ego-nature is a thing.
Therefore, our ego-nature is Buddha-nature.
Once we see through the hoax of our mortal nature, we behold our true nature emerge, like the sun coming out of an eclipse. Then, we won’t get scammed again.
The Buddha Times 