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Mike 03

(16,616 posts)
Tue Jan 14, 2020, 08:55 AM Jan 2020

"I saw daddy fall down"

In “The Recorded Sayings of Layman Pang” there’s this story:

One day Layman Pang and his daughter Ling Zhao were selling bamboo baskets. Coming down off a bridge Mr. Pang stumbled and fell.

When Ling Zhao saw this she ran to her father’s side and threw herself onto the ground.

“What are you doing?” cried the Layman.

“I saw Daddy fall down, so I’m helping,” replied Ling Zhao.

“Luckily no one was looking,” remarked the Layman.


This story always touched me greatly, but I could never understand why Mr. Pang disapproves his daughter.

Then one day I heard a teacher reflect on this story and as he came to this exact point his voice grew soft. I thought he was slightly choked up. He said, “Mr. Pang is not disapproving Ling Zhao. That’s not what’s happening here. He's not embarrassed by what Ling Zhao has done."

That teacher’s teacher used to say, “If the left hand catches fire, the right hand doesn’t have to think about swatting out the flames.”

And the incomparable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche always said, “You sneeze first and wipe your nose afterwards.”

Still, I don’t understand why Mr. Pang said what he said to his daughter. But they are great adepts, so surely they understand. Yet, I cannot penetrate it.

Being stuck in the relative, if I had been Mr. Pang I would probably have burst into sloppy tears of gratitude and hugged my daughter.

They say the student should exceed the teacher by half. That being the case, Mr. and Mrs. Pang were extraordinary masters.

Nine bows to Ling Zhao!

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"I saw daddy fall down" (Original Post) Mike 03 Jan 2020 OP
I don't understand either. Can anyone help? 🙂 MLAA Jan 2020 #1
Maybe so... Newest Reality Jan 2020 #2
I love this story. To begin with WhiteTara Jan 2020 #3
I love "the chicken could see me" story. JudyM Jan 2020 #4
I'm reading a book WhiteTara Jan 2020 #5
That book looks interesting. JudyM Jan 2020 #6
It's so great to see women throughout who are enlightened WhiteTara Jan 2020 #7

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
2. Maybe so...
Tue Jan 14, 2020, 12:49 PM
Jan 2020

That is from Zen. P'ang Yun was a Zen adapt. That's the real key.

If you know what a Koan is then who is going to interpret for you what is meant for you to ponder and obsess about in order to penetrate? The answer is beyond the intellect, right there. Any help would be useless in regards to the intent. I could say blah and blah and blah. Profound?

Little girl's basket.
My hand is on fire!
I wipe my nose to put it out.
No one falls down!
Who could see that?

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
3. I love this story. To begin with
Tue Jan 14, 2020, 12:54 PM
Jan 2020

it's funny. There is no helping in falling down; but her empathy is very clear. Also, there is always a watcher - you

Another story story I love is the Master tells 3 students to each take a chicken and go to a place where no one sees you and kill the chicken. The first one runs out beyond the barn and quickly dispatches the chicken, the second takes it to the forest and chops off its head. The 3rd one brings the chicken back and tells the teacher: I was unable to kill the chicken because no matter where I went, the chicken could still see me.

We are the watchers and when Mr Pang says he's happy no one could see, he meant the moment was so genuine that they were in the moment, not watching.

Okay, that is my personal take on the story. What do you think of this?

JudyM

(29,122 posts)
4. I love "the chicken could see me" story.
Tue Jan 14, 2020, 01:07 PM
Jan 2020

Thanks for sharing it.

I also interpreted the story in the OP as you did. The genuineness of the moment standing clear in its pure compassion and devotion/love.

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
5. I'm reading a book
Tue Jan 14, 2020, 01:43 PM
Jan 2020

called The Hidden Lamp which are stories about women and their journey to enlightenment. The stories are very empowering and filled with great insight. You might enjoy it too.

Simplicity and ordinariness are the heart of compassion as far as I can tell. I told my teacher one day that I wanted extraordinary and he chided me saying, no ordinary is best. It took some time for that to really sink in and I recognize the truth of it. Enlightenment is ordinary living without the covering of "our story."

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
7. It's so great to see women throughout who are enlightened
Wed Jan 15, 2020, 06:42 PM
Jan 2020

and living in a way that is so instructive for even "masters"

I feel inspired by these stories. I especially like the commentaries.

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