Biblical Buddhism: Tales and Sermons of Saint Iodasaph. Robert M. Price

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СКАЧАТЬ arose and spoke thus to his disciples, "Hear, O monks: Isvara our God, Isvara is one; and you shall love Isvara your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."

      Here is the great statement of Truth which towers like Everest. It has many heights, many slopes, and each is full of beauty to whomever should view it from whatever height. If one can see but the lower slopes of the mountain, one has still seen beauty. But there are higher slopes, and let the arhat not rest till he has scaled the heights and assumed the vantage point from which the crest may be apprehended.

      What if one should see the pronouncement of the Lord Moses from the foothills of Truth? It is to such a perspective that he refers when he warns the unworthy, "Take heed that you go not up into the mountain, or touch even the border of it." But if one is worthy, yet only such that one may stand upon the bottom-most slopes, this is what one will see:

      Moses will be understood to command that one should devote one self to Isvara, the Lord with qualities, with all of one's strength and resources. On this level of perception, which none ought to despise, one sees the Truth under the form of the Sambogkya; one beholds Isvara as a celestial deity. As he appears to his devotees, Isvara is the creator of this world, which does not yet appear to be such as it is, the realm of Maya. But if he has created the whole of this world, then the homage of all his world is most surely due him.

      And if the worship of a world be due him, as it somewhere says, "Let all that hath breath praise Isvara," how much more the whole of the self, which is but the microcosm of the creation? Manifestly no less can be due Isvara than this, and manifestly no less can be expected of his devotees than to love him with all the heart, soul, and mind.

      But if through Karma or the mediation of some bodhisattva one should ascend to a higher slope of the Mountain of Truth, whether this be called Sinai or Meru or some other mountain, how would one then come to understand the commandment of the Dharma-giver Moses? One's understanding would be enlightened, and one would come to see new meaning in his words.

      As one approached the heights of the Dharmakya, the Truth might be apprehended according to its Suchness, whence it is said that Moses, atop the summit, besought Isvara that he might see his face, and Isvara said to him, "You shall not see my face, for flesh shall not see me and live, but I will cause my back to be seen." So Isvara said to Moses, for with the eye of flesh, only the back of the Truth may be seen. But with the third eye open one sees that there is no frontward visage of Truth to look upon, for it is without qualities; it is Void.

      If, then, one should thus view matters, with the eye of Dharma, how should Moses' commandment appear? One should then see, as the Lord Gautama saw, that heart, soul, and might alike vanish away as mist, even with Isvara himself. As one leaves behind the foothills of the Sambogkya and ascends to the crest of the Dharmakya, one sees plainly that all duality is overcome, that there is only the Truth-body, naught but the Buddha-nature.

      One rejoices to see that heart, soul, might are but the conditioned aggregates on the plane of Samsara; that they are no true self. One rejoices to see that Isvara, too, is but the reflection, the projection of the aggregates, a mirror reflection of a dream, for which cause it is written, "Now we see in a looking glass darkly, but then face to face."

      O monks, once the arhat passes over the illusion of a self compounded of fleeting fragments of heart, soul, might, one will surely have passed beyond the illusion, benign though it be in its season, that Isvara is aught but one's own original face. One will then have come to see that the Great Commandment of the Lord Moses is best obeyed by those who meditate on the mantra "I Am That I Am," before whom there is neither God nor devotee, between whom there is no difference.

      And such was the effect of the homily that, once given, none of those present could be sure that it was not he himself who had delivered it.

      2. The Koan of the Sheep and the Goats

      A day came when Saint Iodasaph made ready to set out on a journey, from which he knew not whether he should be long or short in returning. So he summoned three of the brethren of the monastery to come before him. All were officious, thinking that the Saint had chosen them for some special task of stewardship in his absence.

      He bade them be seated, and proceeded to teach them. "It would ill-befit me, O monks, to leave you in my absence with nothing to occupy you." He noted slyly how each countenance of those before him subtly began to assume a haughty cast. "So while others are busy with the provision of the sangha, I have chosen for you a koan; I wish you to labor over it till I return."

      At this, each face showed puzzlement, not knowing whether to deem this choice of duties a sign of greater or lesser distinction. But all made ready to give full attention to the words which Saint Iodasaph now began to utter.

      "Hear then the koan of the Sheep and the Goats. When Maitreya shall come and shall sit in state on his throne of light, he will divide the peoples before him as the shepherd divides his sheep from his goats. The sheep he will cause to be placed on his right, the goats likewise to his left. Then he will say to those at his left, 'Out of my sight, you reprobates! For in the day that I appeared in your villages, you set the dogs upon me with much mocking laughter and gave me nothing for my begging bowl. No time had you to give ear to the words of Dharma.' Great will be their anguish when they hear these words! When they overcome a measure of their dismay they will say, 'Great Lord, when did we ever see thee, much less treat thee, in so disgraceful a fashion?'

      Then will Maitreya say to them, 'As you treated any humble monk in your streets, so you treated me, for there is no difference.'

      "Then he will turn to those on his right, and his scowl will give place to a smile brighter than the sun, and he will say to them, 'Nirvana awaiteth you, O nobly born! For you were quick both to provide my needs and to give heed to the words of Dharma! There will be no more births for you!' Though overcome with joy, these will find words to say, 'Surely we never did the deeds you ascribe to us! When did we do them?' Then the Lord Maitreya will reply, 'Do you truly not remember? When you gave shelter to my mendicants, you gave shelter even to me, for there is no difference.'

      "Then will the righteous depart into the Clear Light, but the wicked will be distributed among the Nine Hells of Yama. Now, monks, I go. Think on these things till I return to you, for there will be an accounting."

      And so the Saint departed, and in his travels he visited many lands both of the East and of the West, whence it is said Maitreya will one day come. Not a day went by during all that time that the three monks did not spend many hours pondering the koan. At length their master returned, after how long a time I cannot say, for I have the story from one of the monks, for whom the time of Iodasaph's journey seemed but a matter of short days, so absorbed was he in contemplation. But the day came when, other matters of the monastery being set in order, the Saint again summoned his three.

      "I have by no means forgotten the task I assigned you, and now I will hear your answers. What means the koan?"

      The youngest of the monks was the first to speak. "Master, the koan tells us that only those who provide for the poor brethren will be saved, and that we, too, ought to provide for those poor within the brotherhood, since in that manner we serve the unknown Maitreya. Only so may we expect salvation." He fell silent, confident of praise in that he had so succinctly distilled so great a truth.

      But the Saint replied, "Are you so sure you have found the way of salvation, my son? I think instead it is the road to Hell you have marked out in these few words."

      Astonished beyond measure, the novice stammered, "But, Lord, it СКАЧАТЬ