 LOTUS LAKE DRAGON POOL
Extract
A devout pupil attended a spiritual meeting in another part of the country,
at which holy texts were intoned by the leaders, men and women.
On his return, he told his teacher that he had been shocked by the lack
of reverence shown by those reciting the texts. 'I had heard that they were
a very good group, but they did not seem to show respect for what they were
reading. You have told us that we should always read holy texts with great
reverence.'
The teacher, who was well-known for deep insight, asked, 'And did you feel
the truth of the texts when they were being recited as you say?'
'Why, yes. It was very clear and firm. But no reverence - that was what
put me off.'
The teacher said: 'When we recite the holy texts, we must always do it with
great reverence. But if it should come to pass that there is no more 'I'
or 'we', then there is no more reverence either. The holy texts speak out
the truth as it is: they have nothing to do with reverence or no reverence.
That's for human beings who still feel themselves separate individuals apart
from the truth.'
Synopsis
The book consists of some fifty short pieces, some of them in this author's
familiar anecdotal style. The first half, the Lotus Lake, are from the mystical
Indian tradition, which seeks to penetrate the depths of the mind and then
beyond; the second half, Dragon Pool, are from the Zen and associated traditions
of Japan, which likens itself to a ball floating on the surface of a river,
freely turning to meet all changes and never attached to any.
There is a Chinese poem which brings together the two:
In the uttermost depths of the heart,
There is a pivot on which the whole world turns.
The commentator says that 'the uttermost depths of the heart' represent
the Indian tradition of silent meditation; 'the pivot on which the world
turns' represents its application to life in the traditions of the Ways
in the Far East.
Contents
LOTUS LAKE
| The Magistrate |
Do
Good | | Self-examination |
Last
words | | Anger |
Habits | | Honor |
Prayers
Answered | | Proclaimed Wisdom |
The Judge |
| Tail, No tail | Powers | |
Obedience | Holy
Ceremony | | Handshake |
Prescriptions | | Test
not | Giving up Illusion | |
Fire Stages | In
the Courtyard | | Dream Fair |
Fireworks |
| The swimmer | Mistakes
| | Too Good |
Turtle | | One step, Twenty steps
| Warning | |
Hypnosis | The Procession
| | The Well | |
| |
DRAGON POOL
| Remembering |
Reverence | | Humble |
Racing Dive |
| Devil, Devil |
All different |
| Seeds | Emptying
| | Silence |
Mu in prison | |
How Much | The
Mantra-sayer | | Notes |
Faith | | The Part
| Hero |
| Jobs | Good | |
Cat and Dog | Shooting
Arrows | | Trick |
Gardens | | Independence |
Gone
away | | Ghosts |
The pond | | Fallacy
somewhere | Dark Spotlight | |
Cleaning | Spitting |
| Time, Time | The Blue Mountains | |
Paid for | Triumph | |
To the last drop | Wisdom water | |
Channel | Channel | |
Pearls | Interlaced trees |
| The singing eggs | The Pillar
| | Unseen | |
Review
The great strength of Mr. Leggett's writing is that he never loses sight
of the practical implications of what the Masters have written.
'Japan Society of London'
Publisher
Charles E. Tuttle, Suido 1-chome, 1- 2- 6 , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112, Japan.
Date : 1994
LCC Card No : 93 - 61514
ISBN : 0-8048-1932 - 7
168 pages, paperback.
Online Ordering
Tuttle (publ) - ISBN: 0804819327 (paperback)
order from
Amazon -
Price: £7.95 (approx) + postage
|