The 10th Ox-Herding Picture

[Greg O]

I'm struggling to grasp what it really means to "Enter the Marketplace with Extended Hands" and how living this way is considered to be the highest awakened state.

To illustrate, below are a few quotes from the last chapter of Lectures on the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures.

1st Quote: "When you have reached this highest awakened state where the world, just as it is, is the Pure Land, where you yourself, just as you are, are the Buddha, then you must throw away this satori and for the sake of those in suffering and distress descend to the bottom of society, to the farthest corner of society, and awaken everyone else to this Pure Land as well."

2nd Quote: "Without preaching, without offering his opinion, without giving a lecture, this monk gets in among the people and just by his laughing and smiling, all who meet him come to feel the point and purpose of life, like flowers blooming on a withered tree."

3rd Quote: "No matter what your field, even if you are a scholar who has read all the books in the world, you must not give any air of being a scholar but instead recite the Buddha's name like an illiterate nun who cannot read one letter. The way of a Buddhist cannot be anything other than this."

To me, this would imply that simply by being with the people in society who are suffering most, your consciousness sort of rubs off on them like osmosis. And awakening people through this "osmosis" effect is a better/higher way to help them than to actually lecture and teach them directly from the position of a mentor.

I thought this was interesting since I personally feel like I would not have made near the spiritual progress I have without teachings that slap you around a bit with a more direct, no-bullshit approach.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

[Salvijus]

Stage 10

he talks about beings involved in the world after enlightenment and what it takes to do that.

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Salvijus

[purerogue]

All emotions are like disease that spread, some work better then others as there can be conflict, anyway positivity and negativity  effect everyone around us, like vibration that hit others out of their vibration, but that is just one of effects, it also increase people consciousness, they can start having experiences. 

[Aaron p]

@Greg O i don't know about you, but when enlightenment takes place within me I'm Gona be using my spiritual wisdom as much as possible to help people. However this is not my goal, enlightenment is my goal. Nothing else.

I think it would be better to see this story for its principles, as opposed to its literal content (like you would do with the Bible as a spiritual seeker). Don't worry about what happens after enlightenment, I have no doubt both of our expectations for enlightenment will be CATASTROPHICALLY underestimated. From my glimpses, it's not just good....it's not just bliss, it's like...the concept of "bliss" shits itself at the raw presence of god...to literally BE God with a capital G. I've said it before, what we are doing here is rather literally, creating prophets of God. You will know what you need to do when you are enlightened.

[kieranperez]

It's the same as "Return With Elixir" in Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. It's not a fixed thing for everybody that goes full circle with enlightenment.

1 hour ago, Greg O said:

To me, this would imply that simply by being with the people in society who are suffering most, your consciousness sort of rubs off on them like osmosis. And awakening people through this "osmosis" effect is a better/higher way to help them than to actually lecture and teach them directly from the position of a mentor.

This is the goal but understand that what you're describing here is very rare. The return to the marketplace is Christ after he returns from his 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the desert post-enlightenment and now comes back to the world (how did that whole enlightenment thing work out?). All because they're now of service to those suffering doesn't mean it pans out that way nor does it mean he/she is accepted either. 

It can also be very small scale like it's often beautifully portrayed in Zen but also be very big and mass scale (Sadhguru is a perfect - yet extremely rare - example of this today). 

I personally love the example @Leo Gura has given in the past which is the theme of the hero returning back to the village with gold and it's turned to ashes because the people don't get it, don't want it, etc. which is why you have the theme like say in Star Wars of Yoda living on that swamp planet.

I'm personally very moved by the 10th Ox Herding Picture in the more simple low key sort of way. 

One of the things that I think most people miss is if you look at any (legend of) enlightened person. There's always a character there and they're different in a sense one from another. Buddha goes about his enlightenment VERY different than that of Christ. Heraclitus has a very different character than Ramana Maharshi. This is why enlightened people express their enlightenment very differently. What's the component for why that is? I would deem it to be authenticity. 

[Greg O]

@Aaron p Yes, I always imagined the sage path as one involving getting enlightened and then using that insight to spread wisdom and help as many people as possible. That's what threw me off when the book said "Without preaching, without offering his opinion, without giving a lecture this monk gets in among the people and just by his laughing and smiling, all who meet him come to feel the point and purpose of life."

But that is good advice. I assume I will understand after enlightenment. I guess it's impossible to really predict what the recontextualization from enlightenment will be like.

However, I am still grappling with how to live my life now in order to best position myself to make the greatest impact in the future after enlightenment... So far, it seems to be a never ending inquiry. Such is life!

[Greg O]

@kieranperez So essentially what you're saying is there can be many manifestations of "Return to the Market with Extended Hands" and it depends on what is most authentic to you as a unique human character? And the smaller scale impact is just how Zen typically portrays it? 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Greg O

[kieranperez]

@Greg O don't take the thing I say about Zen too literally. I'm saying that's one way Zen portrays it. It has nothing to do with Zen p/say. 

And in a sense yes. Have you noticed that all because you're enlightened that doesn't mean you behave and act like every other enlightened person? Of course they don't. Shinzen Young doesn't behave as let's say Christ. One of the powerful things that's powerful and really helpful with enlightenment experiences and this entire spiritual work in general is that you start to discover what you truly want, what are your true genuine authentic motives and passions, etc. Not what you were programmed with when you were young with movies, TV, video games, fiction books, parental and societal programming and values and so on. This stuff manifests in different ways for different people. Which is why enlightenment work is so important because it's how you start living an authentic genuine life. I remember in Leo's interview with Ralston Leo brought up the common concern people have of if someone get's enlightened then they'll have to change their life and Ralston said, 'this is not true. You wouldn't have to change your life. You'd want to change your life. That's very different."

This theme of the 10th Ox Herding picture is also a good example of why a lot of Zen holds the Bodhisattva higher than the Arhat who just abides in some nondual bliss.

[purerogue]

He also said that Enlightenment is nothing special