20.9.07

Song Of Freedom Breakdown, line 5



and the illusion of one’s own body
is the Realm of Reality.


When I first started reading the Song of Freedom I accepted this line intuitively. I think...

The who is not separate from the body. The body is not separate from the whole universe.

The what is illusion and reality, yes another coin here, never separate.

The where and when is just right here and now.

The why is because of causation.

The how is through practice.

I think this is all starting to sound redundant, I may start to take bigger bites.

I made the mistake of trying to apply some intellectual reasoning for these lines the other day. Below are my unedited ramblings, chock full of delusion and reality.


I am beginning to feel as if I am beating a dead horse. Or maybe I have over eaten (taste testing for the Marine Corps Ball meal) and I am a dead horse. So for the moment I am going to cease the Who, what, when, where, why, and how format.

The Illusion of ones own body is the realm of reality seems like a matter of fact type statement to me.

We should add One sees to the line the illusion of one’s own body is the Realm of Reality.

Our bodies are quite naturally not an illusion. If I get hit I feel pain. When we over indulge in idealistic thinking we might think there is nothing but the mind.

I flatly reject this view.

The mind is not separate from the body.

This may be a rough subject. I am sure someone can pull out countless testimony to say "this very mind is Buddha!"

Can I physically grasp the mind? Maybe intellectually I can give it a little nudge.

Maybe the line should read the illusion of ones own mind is the realm of reality.
But the mind is just another thing that makes up the body so that can't work either!

The illusion of the body? Is my body an illusion?
Yes and no! The body is very real. The My part is an illusion.




I know that you know all of this already.

I welcome comments, but I may integrate them into the commentary.

I hope that my efforts are helpful in clearing my own delusion as well as that of others,
Jordan





Acknowledgments

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"When I first started reading the Song of Freedom I accepted this line intuitively. I think... "


Sound like it. Intuitive acceptance still carries with it a sense of doubt of not understanding. It's like half of you feels sure and half of you doubts.

oxeye said...

this verse works for me. one's own body is one's own mind. each and both are different than they were yesterday or will be tomorrow. each are an illusion. what we think about them is what we mistake them for. some folks see a beautiful dog in your picture. some folks see an ugly pug. different views, same dog.

Unknown said...

Jordan: Thank you so much for looking at this Song of Freedom. Again I hope you don't think me so forward to participate. I have read the Song of Freedom through 4 or 5 times and it continues to get richer and richer. I recently heard Steve Hagen say the he read the Diamond Sutra everyday for a year while on his bus commute to work. Quite a commitment to practice. I can sense the value in repetition. This line at a time feels nice. This is not my usual way to digest a teaching like this but it is good to be pushed outside of one's comfort zone.

oxeye: Thank you. The body and mind are an illusion. "what we think about them is what we mistake them for." Yes! Yet how is this illusion the "Realm of Reality"?

This is quite a puzzling line. Part of the puzzle is this "Realm of Reality". What is this? Is it ordinary reality or some kind of super reality or is it just good old fashioned Zen Absolute Reality. (When I see uppercased words like this I get that the author's meaning is special in some way and not always apparent.)

If we take "the Realm of Reality" to be Absolute Reality then by the mere fact of having a body and my experience in it is the expression of the Absolute. This points to not having to give up the body or its workings, in fact it points to diving right into what is going on with my body. All the aches, pains, desires and base functions. The Realm of Reality is right here!??

SlowZen said...

Mike doe,

Yeah, sometimes.

Thanks

Jeff,

Yes!

Thank you

Mom,

Grrr,

Will,

Not forward at all. I write for everyone. especially me!

I am so unsure about absolutes.

Thank you for your comments!

To all,
In gratitude,
Jordan

Thanks for looking!