Receiving Dharma Milk

Yutang Lin

A utensil for receiving Dharma nectar
Had better be not dirty, not leaking, and not upside down
This is the traditional teaching
Nevertheless, it covered only conditions for static state

While Dharma milk kept pouring
A receiving utensil moves around and sways incessantly
While Dharma milk pouring hither and thither
And yet a receptacle cannot follow accordingly
　　　 Either seeing the pouring hither, staying hither without change
　　　 Or seeing the pouring thither, moving thither overboard
That would not be easy to receive Dharma milk fully

Even though tables and chairs on a ship are fixed to the floor
And hence swaying along the waves
But soup bowls on the dinning table
Stay even despite the swaying beneath
And hence can contain fully without spilling
A Dharma receptacle should also learn to become able to
Not to sway with changes in circumstances
But still practice Dharma with a calm mind

The best way to receive Dharma milk
Would be like a baby
Without any thought
Just keep sucking in mother's milk

Written in Chinese and translated on December 15, 2009
El Cerrito, California

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