by ~ Ric Streatfield
Academic Note: No-one is/was quite sure/un-sure whether Bu Yi actually existed/didn’t exist, or whether he/she was male/female, or something else. Otherwise, the reader can be certain of everything else.
The Buddha’s Last Sermon
One of the monks asked Bu Yi – “What was the meaning of the Buddha’s last sermon?”
Bu Yi gave an almighty SNEEZE….. “Ahhhh…That flower gets up my nose every time!” ‘
Comment: Still so real after all those years.
The Way Through the Temple Wall
Bu Yi was wandering alone through the forests and mountains of the Gongga Shan, in present day Sichuan. S/He visited, and stayed short periods at several of the local temples, and h-is/er fame began to spread.
One day a small delegation of monks arrived from a distant temple, high up in the Gongga Shan. Their Master had died some years before, and they asked Bu Yi if s/he would visit their temple and give them some guidance. Bu Yi agreed, and accompanied the monks on the trip back up to their mountain temple.
The temple’s Main Hall had been severely damaged in an earthquake twelve months before, and the monks had worked hard to restore it to its original glory. The central feature inside the Main Hall, towards the back wall, was a larger than life bronze statue of the Buddha. The monks had arranged all their ceremonies and meditation sessions in a semi-circle around, with the Buddha statue at the centre.
Most of the repairs of the Main Hall had been completed, but the statue was still slightly damaged. It could not be fully repaired because it was of cast bronze. Apparently, during the earthquake, a large ceiling beam had fallen down striking the Buddha’s right hand and arm. So, instead of the right hand being vertical in the typical pose of the Buddha’s blessing, the hand, and especially the raised finger, were bent ever so slightly towards the eastern wall of the Main Hall.
Bu Yi requested that a large hole be knocked through the eastern wall. He then sat in zazen with his back to the statue, and facing out through the hole in the wall. Thenceforth this arrangement was practiced by the monks of this temple.
Comment: Don’t miss the moon by obsessing over the pointing finger.
General Jiao Jin
At one time General Jiao Jin was heading north-west towards the Great Wall with his army. He was Governor of Sichuan, a Confucian Scholar of some repute, and the Emperor’s top military strategist. Jiao Jin had heard of the growing reputation of Layperson Bu Yi and, as he was passing near a temple where Bu Yi was staying, asked if he could have a personal audience with Layperson Bu Yi.
Bu Yi agreed.
On entering the Main Hall Jiao Jin announced himself – “I am Jiao Jin, Governor of Sichuan Province, Confucian Scholar of renown, and Supreme Commander of the Emperor’s armies”.
Bu Yi retorted – “…..and WHAT is this Jiao Jin who says he is all these things?”
Jiao Jin slowly and silently bowed, turned, and walked out.
Comment: Understanding the ‘WHAT’ of the ‘I’ is the greatest social leveller.
The Colour Orange
A monk asked Bu Yi: “I read somewhere that the colour orange did not exist in Mediaeval England up until they began importing oranges, the fruit, from Spain in the late Middle Ages. My question is, does the colour orange exist, or not exist?”
Bu Yi points to a diagram of the spectrum of electro-magnetic wavelength –
– and says – “You tell me”.
Comment: With ‘Name-and-Form’ we divide the universe.
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Ric