Giving Up the Body — Giving Up the Mind
If instructions are given to anyone in the community which seem too burdensome, or even impossible, then the right thing is to accept the order in the spirit of uncomplaining obedience.
The woman I visit in the Care Center is tethered to the small oxygen tank strapped to the back of her wheelchair. Her voice is weak, her eyes are bright. There is a peaceful energy about her. We talk about the fading of the body. She says it is her poverty, this breaking down of her physical being, this inability to do for herself what was once so easy to do. She is vowed to live into poverty, obedience and chastity but I am sure that she never dreamed of this kind of poverty when she first made those vows as a young woman. But now here it is. I do not see her diminishing self as something that is being taken away from her so much as something that she is giving. I believe it is her obedience to prayer that has brought her to this point. She reflects SHANTIDEVA’S PRAYER where one prays,
With no sense of loss, may I give up possessions, even my body”.
After being with this friend I think about obedience. What about obedience, I wonder. Does not the body ask our obedience to whatever stage it is going through? Is not the body our last earthly authority we are asked to obey? As whatever dormant diseases of my body make themselves known and as my mind slows, can I say yes to what is being asked? Is not the diminishment of the body and mind the Divine declaring that nothing shall stand between you and Me? Is this our greatest act of obedience; to let go of this wonderful wondrous body/mind so we can be absorbed into the Infinite? Right here. Right now.
Once in awhile there is a flutter in my stomach with the awareness of dying and death. It seems so real, so close. And of course it is. Old age, illness, death, and the loss of everything near and dear; there’s no escaping them. Dark Angels, I’ve heard them called by one Buddhist teacher, Messengers that remind us of what is important. Perhaps that spark of fear is also a dark angel that wakes me up and pulls me into prayer and beyond to the Eternal Reality. The momentary fear melts.
I am aware of the last week in Lent as I write this. I recall the last words of Jesus as he died,
Into your hands I commend my spirit,” he prays to his God.
Does he not give us that same prayer. Into your hands I commend my body. Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Author: Ho Getsu Sen Gen
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