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Heng Sure
March 30,1978
"... changes and transformations ..."
Caterpillars turn into butterflies; tadpoles become frogs. Darwin suggested that apes evolve into men. We accept these changes without blinking. The mind contains all-knowledge. It's sad Kuan Shih Yin bodhisattva manifests thirty-two different response bodies and appears before living beings to speak dharma and teach and transform them. Who believes it?
Who do we believe? We were trained to be skeptical scientific doubters. But science's pioneers are now discovering the universe looks very much the way ancient sages described it in sutras so old they cannot be dated.
I walked under the stars to stretch my legs after meditation. Looking up I saw a fiery streak of light and heard a faint whistling roar. Vandenberg Air base had released another pebble from dr. Strangelove's slingshot in a futile effort to conquer space.
We work so hard and run so far away from the home, seeking what is originally perfect and complete within. There is more magic and unexpected wonder in an hour of meditation than in any space program. From "star trek" to sputnik, from tom Swift Jr. to NASA, the inner journey into the mind tops them all. Besides, full lotus is peaceful, rockets are not, they scream "Kill, Kill!"
Heng Ch'au
Thursday
March 30, 1978
Big Sur Rain
Rain and stiff winds continue. Big cliff ahead and a small road.
What's it like inside the car on a cold, rainy day? We wash up in a small plastic basin while kneeling and bent over in the back of the car. Hands are too stiff an d cold to pump the stove. We light kerosene lamp to thaw out frigid fingers. Whoever gets circulation back first pumps the stove. Heng Sure meditates while I cook. The stove is propped up on stuffed sacks and clothes bags. We have a space about the size of a school desk top to prepare lunch, eat on, and do dishes. Rinse dishes with rainwater by setting them on the roof. A stick of incense burns on the altar in an old wheel wells and in our laps. Before we got a bell and beat a kettle top with a chopstick for the meal ceremony gong.
The wet clothes get thrown in the front under the dashboard until the sun comes out again. Wet shoes are stacked against the door, standing on their toes to dry, as a puddle forms inside the car and spiders turn into winter living quarters. We brush our teeth and put on rain clothes while kneeling: often banging our heads on the roof and poking each other in the eyes or ribs.
Heng Sure goes back to bow. I drive ahead ½ mile, sometimes further on mountain roads, before finding a pull-off. I make a thermos of hot water and wrap it in our winter coats so we'll have something hot to chase the chill after bowing, and the next A.M.
I'm surprised how well we get along, considering the cramped living conditions. We usually just shrug and laugh, which defuses any tension that gathers after a week of solid rain. Pressure builds patience, and patience is what cultivators need most.
"A bodhisattva is able to bear all
manner of evil,
and in his mind he is totally level and
equal to all beings without any agitation.
Just as the earth is able to support
All things,
So he able to purify the perfection
Of patience."
-- Avatamsaka Sutra