June 2019
Dear Friends,
All of us, now and then, find ourselves fishing for something…for love, for recognition, for enlightenment, for a better job, a better [you fill in the blank!]. In the teachings of Buddhism, this can be readily classified as one of the three poisons – desire. And yet, desire is not necessarily good or bad. Depending on how wide our minds are, the effect of our desire can either be an ongoing perpetuation of suffering, or, it can be liberation for all beings. How is that difference manifested? A clue might be found by asking how wide our net is that we have cast.
In other words, if I, for example, have my eye on getting a particular award for work that I’ve done, this is like putting out one small hook to catch one particular fish. With this fixation, the view, the world, the “I, My, Me, Mind” is tight and narrow and the object of my desire will easily slip away. Suffering will undoubtedly ensue. Opportunities will evade me. It will be like sitting at a banquet and starving from hunger. As it says in our Temple Rules, “If in this lifetime you do not open your mind, you cannot digest even one drop of water.”
On the other hand, if I practice the meditation of opening my heart/body/mind, and if I put out the great, wide net of “What am I?” and “What is this?”, my view becomes wide, the possibilities become endless, and the whole universe is attained.
We have, in our Kong-an collection, a brief story that came down to us through Zen Master Seung Sahn that explores this territory:
While studying at Dae Sung Sah Temple, Zen Master Kum Bong sent a letter to Zen Master Man Gong which said, “I want to fish for a golden fish’s tail. Do you approve?”
Man Gong sent a letter back saying, “It is okay if you catch the tail of a golden fish, but can you eat it?”
So I encourage you to go after your heart’s desire! But I have a guiding question to offer along with that encouragement – how big is your heart?
Yours, at the great banquet,
Jeong Ji
