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Heng Sure
March 15, 1978
BE FILIAL: LEAVE HOME.
The Hyatt family brought Heng Ch'au and me a fresh appreciation of the value of leaving the home life. Papa Joe Hyatt, ailing and infirm, was a happy man. His son, daughter-in-law, and their two children shared a special joy in life. And we in turn, rejoice in their upholding the dharma of filiality. Filiality is a natural blessing. Respect for elders is right in the heart.
If so, why have we chosen to cultivate the way instead of staying at home and honoring our parents? Because ancient wisdom teaches:
"When a child obtains the Tao, Nine generations of ancestors are reborn in the heavens."
Our families gave us solid ground for growing up into world citizens. We feel extremely lucky to have good parents. Only because of their deep kindness were we able to step up to the challenge of life as Buddhist disciples. Cultivators of the way forsake personal security and transfer their filial duties to a bigger responsibility: they devote their lives not to maintaining one family line bit to preserving the supreme path to liberation for all beings.
Heng Ch'au
Wednesday
March 15, 1978
A tour guide from the Hearst castle stopped to wish is luck.
"I work there" he said, pointing up at the castle.
"Hearst Castle?"
"Yes. But we call it cursed hassle. Because even though it is the finest of palaces, it brought nothing bit a curse and hassles to the man who built it. Outside rich, inside poverty stricken.....Do you want a tour?" he asked.
"No thanks, we don't sight -see." I answered.
Why no sightseeing? Because of all the "sights" says the Avatamsaka. Originally we are whole and complete. Any looking outside is like adding water to an already full cup-it spills over. The smallest amount of sightseeing is adding a head on top of a head. Seeking anything is climbing on conditions and arises from greed and ignorance. No joke. We have paid dearly each time we chased outside, even a "small peeks" worth. It is like tying an anchor around your neck and jumping into a sea of suffering. The more you look, the more you lose. You go out in high spirits to "take in the sights," sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles and dharmas. These are the "six places." So the bodhisattva stays at home, seeking nothing, always cool and happy. No "cursed hassles," content with his original share.
"He is happy, blissful, apart from all worry and vexation. His heart and will are soft and Flexible. All his organs are clean and cool." -- Avatamsaka Sutra.
Why? Because he knows everything is made from the mind alone, and all the "sights" we see appear according to our thoughts. Outside of this there's nothing at all. We are simply looking into a mirror that steals our image. The bodhisattva therefore says,
"I do not rely on form. I am not attached to feelings. I am not turned upside-down by Thoughts, I do not do actions. I do not seek consciousness. I forsake the six places. I do not dwell in worldly dharmas. My joy is I n leaving the world; I know all dharmas are like empty Space, They come from nowhere." -- Avatamsaka sutra
While traveling with the abbot in an historic city full of tourist spots, our host asked, "would the Ven. Abott like to go sight-seeing?"
"Why sight-seeing?" replied the abbot. "I've seen it all already."
Today is the celebration of Shakyamuni Buddha's leaving the home-life. Heng Ju and Kuo Kwei (Nickolson) drove us to san Luis Obispo to arrange passports for Asia. We picked and boiled up some fresh roadside "weeds" and ate on car bumpers in a dirt pull-off by the ocean.
Eric, the park ranger, pulls up, "ah, real dharma bums, at last!" he says. "Be prepared for a long rugged camp out if you go through the mountains. Nothing up there. Stock up on everything, especially gas, food, and water," he advises.
"Creeks?" I ask.
"About one every ten miles. I'd drink out of them, but not out of the lakes." He replies.
"Gas?" I ask
"Nothing."
"Vegetation?"
"Uncertain. Big forest fire up there. It could very well be completely burned out." He says. "I'll see I can find out. It's really beautiful, but rough wilderness."
"And this road?" I ask.
"Narrow. One-foot-wide loose shoulder at best. You'd spend all your time watching out for traffic but it's more convenient then the mountain route."
Convenience has never been a consideration, but survival has. We worry more for the other people's safety than out own. We are not equipped for wilderness travel. Out car is a low-to-the ground "deluxe" station wagon designed for shopping trips in suburbia and commuter freeways, not for backcountry trail blazing. But we were told not to get run over or bow where traffic and road conditions are too dangerous. A dilemma.
Eric is scanning the countryside and raises his chest as he takes in a deep breath.
"Boy, I feed off this land! After living in Beverly hills...well, you just can't find this there," he says. "Give me the mountains and green rolling hills any day."
I used to feel just like Eric: the mountains and deep forests soothed and cleaned the mind; the cities drained the spirit and created all our hassles. Now I'm not so sure. There were moments bowing through Beverly Hills, even during rush smog, that I've never felt more peaceful and happy. And there have been times while bowing through breathtaking coastal scenery, renowned for its beauty and stillness, that I've never been more uptight and miserable. Everything is created from creations. In the Avatamsaka it says the mind is just like an artist that can paint the entire world. There is nothing it does not create. And yet,
"Just as the master painter Cannot know his own mind, still his paintings come from the mind; the nature of all dharmas is like this." -- Avatamsaka sutra
It is all in how you look at it. However you see it, that's how it is. A peaceful mid finds peace anywhere; a troubled mind feels trouble everywhere.
The poet john Milton put I this way,
"The mind is its own place, and in itself, Can make a hell of heaven, and a heaven of hell." --From "Paradise Lost"
The McKenzie brought out gas and water and maps. "John works for the forest service. We'll plan out a route and have the problem solved by next week," said Mrs. McKenzie.
A trip to Asia, the wilderness route, a dangerous road closed off ahead, gas and water supplies in doubt. Who knows what will come of it all? We live one day at a time, but living one bow at a time would be even better. With no past, no present, no future, what is there to worry about? We worry for ourselves, but the self does not exist. The circumstances of living on the highway pressure us into walking from our dreams. Basically there is nothing to hold on to and nowhere to dwell.
"If one contemplates it thus, then one will have no desires with regard to the body, no attachments to what is cultivated and will not dwell in any dharma. The past is over, the future Has not come, and the present is Empty and still." -- Avatamsaka sutra "Brahma conduct chapter"
Anything goes. If we let go and release our hold, it is wonderful. It's in hanging on that we suffer.
A young woman in colorful clothes bedecked with fresh flowers quietly offers a handful of bright flowers for the car altar and a smile.
An elderly man in a jeep stops to encourage us and says "bless you, brother."
We are at the edge of Big Sur. Marked change in topography and vibes.