Interpretation of koan - Essay Example

Interpretation of Koan: Not Far from Buddhahood A asked Gasan, "have you ever read the Christian Bible" "No, read it to me," saidGasan.The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: "And why take ye thought for raiment Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

"Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man."The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given to you, see and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened for you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is There are many lessons to be learned from these few lines, if we ponder deeply on them. We must realize that every being that exists has come to be, because the Universal Power willed it to.

So every living being is unique and important. The power that created it will also provide for it and nurture it. Therefore, there is no need to be overly anxious about the future, and our sustenance. Our Creator will provide for us. There are many among us who are overanxious about unimportant things like how we should clothe ourselves, in order perhaps to create a favorable impression on others. We forget that being natural and simple has a greater appeal to the esthetic sense than being ostentatious.

The flowers in nature in their natural simplicity are as attractive-or even more-than a king decked out in all his finery. If we are mindful of our own true natures, and remain as close to them as our Creator willed us to be, then we need no embellishment. All we need is trust and faith in the Lord that we shall be provided for. If we seek the Lord with sincerity we shall find him. Think of this-if we seek anything in life and seek it with single mindedness and in humility, we shall have what we seek.

And remember the virtue of sharing. What we have is to be shared with others. We need not be greedy and crave more than our due. And if we share, so will others share with us, and our needs will be met. In Buddhism the value of poverty should not be underestimated. The true monk is he who humbly lives on what is given to him by others, and who does not engage in a mad scrambling after wealth, attempting to garner and accumulate more and more. And so the Messiah of Christianity too, like the Buddha, has advocated that he who wishes to be closer to God should not be a seeker of wealth.

The more one reduces ones greed for possession and accumulation, the closer is one to the Lord. We must also remember that there is a limit to what we can possess in our lives. And how much we can eat or drink. For if we are anxious, and hoard and accumulate, we still can eat only as much as any other person does. And if we choose to ignore nature and indulge ourselves, then our bodies protest, and bring on ourselves a plague of illnesses, which will put a stop to our overindulgence.

If we accumulate more wealth than we require, and hoard it, we still cannot escape natural laws. We still must grow old, and one day leave the world. When we leave, we do not take anything with us. Therefore, there is ultimately a limit to what we can possess. And if we ponder deeply on it, we would realize that at the end of our lives, we possess no more than any of our fellow beings-the six feet of ground on which our bodies must finally rest when our life is done. There is therefore, much to be said in living the present moment completely.

A lot of us forget the moment, preferring to spend it either in the past or in the future. Our minds go over the past by rehashing events through the press of regret or nostalgia, or ponder on the future through a haze of anticipation or anxiety. But if we cultivate mindfulness-the ability to be all there, NOW, then we would have lived our life joyfully and completely. We should therefore cultivate faith in our Creator-the faith that he will provide for us, and live a simple and good life.