Part 14-8
“Subhuti, the practice of patience, the Realised One says, is not practice of patience but it is just called the practice of patience.”
“Why? Subhuti, it is like when I was dismembered by King Kali long ago. At that time I had no image of self, no image of person, no image of sentient being, and no image of a liver of life. Why? When I was being dismembered in the past, if I had had an image of self, an image of person, an image of sentient being, and an image of a liver of life, I would have become angry and spiteful.”
Commentary:
As the Buddha said in the previous part 14-7, if the uppermost practice the Realised One expounds is not the uppermost practice; this is called the uppermost practice, it is natural that the practice of patience is not practice of patience; it is just called the practice of patience. Seen from this perspective, self, a person, sentient being and a liver of life are not self, a person, sentient being and a liver of life; these are just called self, a person, sentient being and a liver of life. Seeing and hearing everything in this way is referred to as seeing everything as it is, seeing everything as empty, or seeing the true-Self.
The Buddha could rise above becoming angry and spiteful because he was aware that King Kali was not King Kali; it was just called King Kali and that ‘dismember’ is not dismember but just called dismember, and because he had no image of self. From the Buddha’s perspective, there was no King Kali to dismember the Buddha and no Buddha for King Kali to dismember.
Furthermore, there is no difference between King Kali and the Buddha since they are oneness as emptiness when they are seen as empty. In other words, King Kali is the true-Self when we see him as he is whilst he is a kind of Mara cruel enough to dismember the Buddha when we don’t see him as he is.
This is why an ancient master said that good news is hidden in King Kali.
Student: “Who is King Kali?”
Master: “It is he who breaks Oneness into many.”
Student: “Who suffers the pain when King Kali dismembers the Buddha?”
Master: “It is King Kali because he makes the error of cutting himself.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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