-1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Precepts-Not-Politics: Aid, Life and Death
Dogen also said that Nanssen cutting the cat in half is according to the Buddha-truth now how does that align with your interpretation. Dogen warned people to have a wordly understanding of the precepts and also he told that in the just sit the 8fouldpath meaning the 3fould practice of virtue ( containing sila/precepts) meditation and wisdom is realized.
The question in buddhism is, how do you cut the cat in one? How do you safe all sentinent beings in this moment?
Comment by JundoCohen at 05/02/2025 at 12:05 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
No cat was actually hurt. (I think it just a story. Given the vows of a monk not to kill, and the Karma which would be involved, no real puss was put to death. No animal was actually harmed in the making of this Koan.) Even so, it might be said that the fighting monks are the ones who had already divided the cat by their dispute, by their ideas of "my" and "mine," "me vs. you vs. cat" long before Nansen even raised his knife. Nansen, by silencing the monks and stilling the selfish clutching and divided thinking, wielded the *Bodhisattva Wisdom Sword of Manjushri*, which "uncut" the cat and all separate things, beings and times into wholeness ... free of all frictions, divided fractions, fractures and fighting factions.
But I will trade all the cats in the world for human babies, sorry. I am fond of cats, but species biased for human babies.