Volume 1, Track 4
Overjoyed at his experience, which he later classified as a great Satori, or enlightenment experience, Hakuin turned and ran back up the hill to tell his master. But as he did so, Shōju, his teacher, came running out of the gate of the small temple. And before Hakuin said anything, shouted, “You have broken through.” Later, Hakuin painted and wrote fine poetry, expressing in these ways the inexpressible he had seen. His Song of Enlightenment, one of the great statements of Buddhism, knocks me out every time I hear it. And here it is:
All things are primarily Buddhas. It is like water and ice. There is no ice apart from water. There are no Buddhas, apart from beings. Not knowing how close the truth is to them, beings seek for it afar. What a pity. They are like those who, being in the midst of water, cry out for water, feeling thirst.
Those who, for once listening to the Dharma in all humility, praise it and faithfully follow it, will be endowed with innumerable merits. But how much more so when you turn your eyes within yourselves and have a glimpse into yourself nature. You will find that the self-nature is no nature, the truth permitting no idle sophistry. For you, then, opens the gate leading to the oneness of cause and effect. Before you then lie a straight road of non-duality and non-Trinity.
When you come to understand that form is the form of the formless, ah, your coming and going takes place nowhere else but where you are. When you understand that thought is the thought of the thoughtless, your singing and dancing is no other than the voice of the Dharma.
How boundless is the sky of Samadhi. How refreshingly bright is the moon of the fourfold wisdom. Being so is there anything you lack? As the absolute presents itself before you, the place where you stand is the land of the lotus and your person, the body of the Buddha.
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In India, it is felt that the last thought you have before dying will determine your next life. Obviously, the sum total of what you have stood for in this life will condition your final thought. The theory of Karma, which means action, is that as you make your bed, so shall ye lie in it. The fruits of your actions will be felt for better or worse in your next life.
There was a rather greedy merchant in India who thought he had a scheme to cheat this just reward. Knowing he would spend his life thinking of money, he still wanted to die with holy thoughts in his mind so his next incarnation would be a happy one.
As his three sons were born, he gave each one a name of God. He knew his last thoughts would be of his sons who worked in the business with him. And as he was dying, he would be repeating their names – Gopala, Krishna, Ram. It was a clever scheme to cheat providence.
When he reached a ripe old age and was declining in health, he took to bed. After a lingering illness, the doctor told him his life was about finished. He could go at any time. With that, he sent for his beloved sons. One by one, the three entered his room, and he looked proudly at them. Ah, Gopala, he said in a faint voice. Ah, Krishna. Ah, Ram.
Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed in a loud voice, “Who’s watching the store?” And with that, he collapsed in death. It is not easy to cheat providence.
To listen to Justin reading Spiritual Stories of the East, click here.