Bhavatu Sabbe Mangelum!157. And this bhikkhu is compared to a leopard. For just as a great leopard king lurks in the grass wilderness or a jungle wilderness or a rock wilderness in the forest and seizes wild beasts - the wild buffalo, wild ox, boar, etc.-, so too, the bhikkhu who devotes himself to his meditation subject in the forest, etc., should be understood to seize successively the paths of stream-entry, once-return, and Arahantship; and the noble fruitions as well. Hence the Ancients said:-- Visuddhimagga VIII: 157
- "For as the leopard by his lurking [in the forest] seizes beasts
So also will this Buddhas' son, with insight gifted, strenuous,
By his retreating to the forest seize the highest fruit of all"
(Miln. 369)
The Leopard
The Leopard
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: The Leopard
That really resonates with me. It's such a simple analogy, but it's interesting that even an animal killing another animal contains a lesson, if you look at it from just the right angle.
"To reach beyond fear and danger we must sharpen and widen our vision. We have to pierce through the deceptions that lull us into a comfortable complacency, to take a straight look down into the depths of our existence, without turning away uneasily or running after distractions." -- Bhikkhu Bodhi
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -- Heraclitus
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -- Heraclitus
Re: The Leopard
Yes, it is great inspiration.
I'm glad you resonate with it Tex.
metta
Ben
I'm glad you resonate with it Tex.
metta
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
-
retrofuturist
- Posts: 27858
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Re: The Leopard
Greetings Ben,
Not that it's entirely relevant, but are you in the process of reading the Visudhimagga 'cover-to-cover'? I noticed in the Dhamma Book Reading topic that you mentioned you were reading it. Or were you 'pointed' to this chapter by another book, essay or talk you were reading.
Metta,
Retro.
Not that it's entirely relevant, but are you in the process of reading the Visudhimagga 'cover-to-cover'? I noticed in the Dhamma Book Reading topic that you mentioned you were reading it. Or were you 'pointed' to this chapter by another book, essay or talk you were reading.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: The Leopard
Hi Retro
If only I had the time to read the Visuddhimagga cover-to-cover! The last time I attempted I got through 2/3rds before putting it down. I now use it as a reference. I'm currently reading the section on Mindfulness of Breathing Ch. VIII in preparation for a ten-day vipassana retreat I am attending in a few days. I've also been digging into it recently on 'Repulsivenss of Nutriment' and Ch. XIV: Aggregates. If I get tme before I go, I'll re-read the section on Dependent Origination and Perhaps Ch 20 & 21: What is and what is not the Path, and Knowledge and Vision of the Way.
metta
Ben
If only I had the time to read the Visuddhimagga cover-to-cover! The last time I attempted I got through 2/3rds before putting it down. I now use it as a reference. I'm currently reading the section on Mindfulness of Breathing Ch. VIII in preparation for a ten-day vipassana retreat I am attending in a few days. I've also been digging into it recently on 'Repulsivenss of Nutriment' and Ch. XIV: Aggregates. If I get tme before I go, I'll re-read the section on Dependent Origination and Perhaps Ch 20 & 21: What is and what is not the Path, and Knowledge and Vision of the Way.
metta
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: The Leopard
Hi Ben,Ben wrote:Bhavatu Sabbe Mangelum!157. And this bhikkhu is compared to a leopard. For just as a great leopard king lurks in the grass wilderness or a jungle wilderness or a rock wilderness in the forest and seizes wild beasts - the wild buffalo, wild ox, boar, etc.-, so too, the bhikkhu who devotes himself to his meditation subject in the forest, etc., should be understood to seize successively the paths of stream-entry, once-return, and Arahantship; and the noble fruitions as well. Hence the Ancients said:-- Visuddhimagga VIII: 157
- "For as the leopard by his lurking [in the forest] seizes beasts
So also will this Buddhas' son, with insight gifted, strenuous,
By his retreating to the forest seize the highest fruit of all"
(Miln. 369)
thank you for the quote. Very interesting aspect. The analogy to a leopard seizing it's prey ... it stresses both the "hunger" (for Enlightenment) part as well as the "taking/holding" aspect of the paths. Not something that just happens by itself, out of control, without intention or will, but something one has wanted and waited for, recognises, and seizes intentionally the moment it comes into sight.
Good hunting!