Chih-I reminds us that when the lord of the castle is determined and hard as a rock, the guards are also strong. When the lord is timid, then the guards will be busy, distracted, and possibly hasten to run away. You are the lord and the castle is your body. The guards are the two the gods of the same name and same birth as yourself. When you are born it is said that there are two protective guardians who appear at the moment of birth with your same birth time and your same name. They reside with you your entire life and watch over you your entire life. Their strength is given to them by your actions and beliefs. These are the guards who protect your castle according to their lord. “If your mind is firm, then you are strong; the same is true for the body and its guardian deities.”
The teaching of Clarification of Cessation-and-Contemplation is broken down into ten sections. As I did on the Ten Characteristics I’ll present the ten sections with some further explanation. For this section there is actually in some cases not a clear distinction from one to the next, the transition is subtle. I will rely upon the general division presented by the translator Paul Swanson, though these divisions do not necessarily occur in Chih-I’s writing.
The main emphasis of these ten sections is on contemplating objects as inconceivable, it is by far the longest entry in this section and a few are only a sentence or several words long. Let us begin.
Slightly out of sequence I will offer a story hopefully one to encourage you in your effort of developing a resolute mind and attitude to your Buddhist practice and faith as you live through disease. It is a story which some folks in the US, perhaps especially from the Southern States may recognize though there is no proof the US version arose from the Buddhist version.
This is the story of Stuck to a Demon in Five Places. In a former lifetime of the Buddha he was once a chief merchant at the head of a group of merchants. One day he and his party were traveling through a difficult mountainous regions and came across a demon who obstructed his passage. The demon shouted “Stop! Do not move! I will not allow you passage!” Something like “you shall not pass!” from Lord of the Rings except in this case it is the bad guy saying it.
Scoffing at the demon the chief merchant saunters up and strikes him with his right fist, unfortunately for the merchant his fist stuck to the demon. So the merchant rears back and with his left fist he strikes the demon and the left fist remains glued to the demon. Next he kicks with his right foot, and it too remained stuck. Following the right foot the merchant kicks out with is left foot, which also remains glued to the demon. The demon laughs at him and merchant gives him a head butt, and now his head is glued to the demon. Continuing his demonic laugh the demon taunts him further and says, “Now what are you going to do? Do you give up?”
The merchant replies that even though five parts of his body remain immobile due to adhering to the demon his mind remains unfettered, his mind remains resolute in not giving up and not giving in to the demon. The merchant says that he will continue to fight the demon with all of his mind. The demon is impressed with the determination and strength of mind the chief merchant has and so agrees that his mind is very strong and he deserves to be able to pass.
While various parts of our body may become ‘glued’ to the demon of our illness it is crucial that our mind remains determined and focused on not giving up. Our body may be defeated but our mind is stronger than any of our organs or limbs. It is important to treasure this and nourish our mind with our determined Buddhist practice. The best time to begin doing this is before we become ill so that we have developed the path to follow when we may be weakest.
1. Objects as Conceivable and Inconceivable
Conceivable objects are those which can be conceptually understood. The causes and conditions of disease [dis-ease] precipitate the rise of the ten dharma realms or as we frequently refer to them, the Ten Worlds. The Ten Worlds encompass the realms from Hell to Buddha. Because of dis-ease you may tend to retreat from Buddha and loose your pure mind to aspire to enlightenment. There is a serious concern that because of the effects of dis-ease it may affect your willingness to engage in meditation, chanting the Odaimoku, or reciting the sutra. It may even come about that your dis-ease causes you to slander the Three Jewels of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Especially the mind becomes susceptible to thoughts such as looking and dwelling on past offenses or behaviors. You may begin to blame your past for your present circumstances. Further it may be tempting to say that all of your good and sincere efforts have failed to protect you and that your practice has not benefited you. You may be tempted to say Buddhism has been of not value because now you are dis-eased.
On the reverse side of this is the actions when recovery is accomplished. You may say that you did it on your own and ignore the times in your past before your illness of your practices. You may even say that your faith allowed you to recover and so now you can do anything you wish as if you were immortal.
Disease, Illness are not as simple as these thoughts and the temptation to dwell in such simplistic and unhealthy religious ideations is great, a trap waiting for our weakness or our disregard for the truths of the Dharma.
Cultivating a strong mind focused on proper meditation and mindfulness is fundamental and should be a constant endeavor whether in good or poor health.
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