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From: dogen@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Chq)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Gurus
Message-ID: <1991Jun1.003730.18858@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 1 Jun 91 00:37:30 GMT
References: <1991May22.193018.17384@nas.nasa.gov> <1991May31.195225.15107@nas.nasa.gov> <1991May31.220051.16886@nas.nasa.gov>
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In article <1991May31.220051.16886@nas.nasa.gov> sanjay@eng.umd.edu (Kumarasamy Sanjay) writes:
>In article <1991May31.195225.15107@nas.nasa.gov> walsha@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com writes:
>>> 
>>> "If you meet the Buddha, kill him."  (from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones)
>>> "There aint no guru who can see through your eyes."  (John Lennon)
>>
>>all very nice and rational. but if they day ever comes when you meet
>>such a person, all these well-thought-out words and reasons might 
>>drip away like ice cream melting off your stick. don't step in it.
>>
>>  ando.
>
> Would somebody explain me the statement
>  If you meet the Buddha, kill him
>thanx
>regards
>sanjay
>
>

The main point of this saying is, I think, threefold.  First, the buddha,
though enlightened, should not be the object of veneration, worship, etc.
If he has any purpose it is to point to 'truth'.  Secondly, he is not in a
position of spiritual authority; from its inception, buddhism has
emphasized that we be a light unto ourselves.  Wise people are considered
"friends" not "gurus", i.e., it might be be beneficial for one to be in
contact with awakened ones, but in the end as one zen teacher told me,
"ultimately you learn by doing."  And, following all this, the buddha
cannot give you 'truth', you must realize the buddha already in you. (see
ZEN MIND< BEGINNER'S MIND by S. Suzuki.) (My divisions are arbitrary, and they
overlap) 
Obviously this statement is not to be taken literally.  Also, it should not
be considered a 'maxim' for all schools of buddhism, only zen(?).
-- 
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-- John Cha
"The present is always more interesting than the future or the past"
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