Sanjushichi-Bon-Bodai-Bunpo Thirty-seven Items of
Bodhi
The Four Abodes of Mindfulness By Kando Inoue rohsi
ⅠThe Four
Abodes of Mindfulness
There is the reality of old buddhas, it is,
namely, the teaching, practice, and realization of the thirty -seven items of
bodhi. The entanglement of ascending and descending classes, is still more the
entanglement in reality. We call it the buddhas and we call it the patriarchs.
It is also called the four abodes of mindfulness.
The first is the observation that the body is not pure.
The second is the observation that feeling is suffering.
The third is the observation that mind is without constancy.
The fourth is the observation that Dharma is without self.
It' s still going on. There is “the reality of old buddhas, ” and the reality ; koan is the thing
that everyone is dealing with now, in front of their eyes, publicly, and the
character for "公；kou"
is publicly. Rather than saying that we have to protect them, it would be
easier to say that we cannot live without them. That is what a koan is.
There
are 37 items listed in the list. We are going to go through them from now on.
It's the teaching, practice, and realization, so there is a teaching, and then
you actually experience it, and when you experience it, you can clearly see
what the content of that experience is. That's a proof. It's a testimony of
enlightenment.
The first thing that will come out is that it's impossible to just read and
understand what's written. Teachings. If you hear it, if the teaching is there, you will receive it, and then
you will say, "Oh, so that's what it is," and then you will wonder
how it is or what it means, and then you will try it or say it, that’ how
it works. Whenever something is done, the result
of the work is always there, and based on that, you will say, "I see, I
see, it is just as I was taught at first,” something like that comes out. This is teaching, practice, and the
proof of enlightenment.There is the phrase, “The entanglement
of ascending and descending classes, is still more the entanglement in reality.”
I could say rise and fall. Ups and downs, ascending and descending. There will
be things you understand well or you don’t understand. In this way we become
one with things, go on living, and get at the truth of the things. That's how we
go on and on, isn't it? The representatives of those who have lived in this way
are called buddhas or Zen adepts.
