Roshi Rafe Martin reads and comments on Chapter 3 of "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas."
“Manjushri’s Threes by Threes” — Case # 35 of the Blue Cliff Record —
Manjusri asked Wu Cho, “Where have you just come from?” Wu Cho replied, “The south.” Manjusri said, “ How is southern Buddhism faring?” Wu Cho answered, “The monks of the latter days of the Law have little regard for the precepts.” Manjusri said, “Are there many or few?” Wu Cho said, “Here about 300, there around 500.” Wu Cho then asked Manjusri, “How does Buddhism fare in this part of the world?” Manjusri said, “The worldly and the holy dwell together; dragons and snakes intermingle.” Wu Cho asked, “Are there few or many?” Manjusri said, “In front, three by three; in back, three by three.”
What’s going on? Does Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, deliver — or obfuscate? What kind of wisdom is this? Wise folks may speak in riddles but can hide behind gibberish. Con-men have played that field. Have we been taken in? What is Manjusri’s profound wisdom and how will it help us live lives of actual meaning here and now? Let’s take a look!
Books
A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas — Rafe Martin
Haiku, Vol. 1: Eastern Culture — R.H. Blyth
Moby Dick — Herman Melville
The Adolescent — Fyodor Dostoevsky
Photo of Manjusri and Buddha at Endless Path Zendo by Rafe Martin
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