Why Masters Sit With Their Eyes Closed
A Short Story by Anupama Deanne Kallman
5/1/07
music playing is "One More Night"
Have you ever wondered why Masters sit with their eyes closed? Why some sit with a mean or dreamy look in their eyes?
I figured it out the other day!
My theory is that they sit that way because their arms and legs are sore and tired. There is a very good reason they are sore and tired. It is because they spend their whole day chasing their disciples down The Path to Nirvana. Not only do they chase them, but they carry a very long stick with a carrot dangling from it, in front of the disciple's face. For each disciple, the Master must find exactly the right carrot to dangle. It needs to be custom made. This motivates the disciple to move forward on The Path. But the carrot is not enough. The Master must also kick the disciple in the rear end all day long, to make sure the disciple runs after the carrot. Many disciples are lazy, and Nirvana seems a long way away. In the Zen tradition, the Master may need to hit the disciple with the stick (called a Zen stick). This is to get their attention and help them be alert, in which case the Master's arms will become especially tired.
By the end of the day, the Master is simply too tired and sore to do anything other than sit. Depending on what kind of a day the Master has had with his disciples, his face will change. On better days, his eyes will be closed or show a dreamy bliss. On more difficult days, he may have a very mean look in his eyes. He must sit with his legs crossed, because they are too sore for him to stand up, after all the running and kicking. His hands and arms will also be sore and tired from holding the stick, so he will need to place them into some kind of mudra.
By nightfall, all that the Master has to eat are the carrots he has dangled in front of the disciple's faces. Meanwhile, the disciples are dreaming of how to outsmart and outrun the Master on the following day. Because although they think they want to reach the end of The Path and experience Nirvana, they would rather dream of ice cream, a new car, or something else. For the Master, it is a thankless job.
copyright Anupama Deanne Kallman
Buddha Little Thinker, from
The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild
(Marpa the Translator)
Why did the Master Marpa make his disciple Milarepa build so many towers and tear them down before they were finished?
You can read all about it here: Trial By Tower-Building: Milarepa's Encounter with Marpa
Mudras: Buddhist Hand Gestures
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