Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Chanting the Wind, True Renunciation

This morning around 6.30 to 7.15 am, in between sleep and wake state, I had the most auspicious realisation of what it means to be truly reciting the Great Compassion Mantra. I also discovered what really is Kuan Yin Bodhisattva's "Left Home Day" is. You see, today is the 9th month and 19th day according to the Chinese calendar. I realised that to be truly chanting the great compassion mantra is to have bodhicitta in our heart. And if you read the founder of the Drikung Kagyu, Jigten Sumgon's Gong Chik text, bodhicitta is much more than merely having compassion. If you have true bodhicitta in your heart, then your are truly reciting the mantra, and not like the parrot that merely repeats the mantra. So, that is probably what is meant by "chanting the wind", a phrase used by a Korean Zen Master in a poem I read somewhere. When a person with bodhicitta recites a mantra, it becomes so embued with skillful power that it can bless sentient beings. It's power not in the sense of strength power or destructive power, rather it is development power or soothing power. It builds our inner strength, rather than overt physical strength. "Left Home Day" of Kuan Yin Pu Sa is not about her leaving the palace to be a nun. It is about us putting our bodhicitta aspiration into action for all sentient beings around us. We are leaving the comfort of ego feeding and ego ambitions. Forsaking these and embracing the greater need of doing something for others, I believe this is the actual renunciation. Donning a robe and shaving the hair are mere external appearances. Not to say that the robes and shaving the hair are not important, but the heart essense of renunciation does not lie in external appearances. I leave this notes for your thoughts. Good day! Namo Kuan Yin Pu Sa!