Nature's Beauty

[negra orquida]

Another rather ambiguous (at least to me) story to ponder about :p

A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master.

One day, the priest was expecting some special guests, so he took extra care in tending the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves in a neat pile. As he worked, the old Zen master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.

When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful??" he called out to the old Zen master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you."

After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and ferociously shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "There," said the old Zen master, "you can help me go back now."

What is the old Zen master trying to tell the priest?

[Klein]

Interesting story.  I think the old Zen master may be telling the priest the following:
1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: What I think is beautiful will defer from person to person, culture to culture, period of time. So we shouldn't be fixated.
2. Law of impermanence:  Beauty will fade.
3. Letting go:  No matter how hard we work on creating something external, it can be destroyed in seconds. Better not to hold on.

[dondrup]

In this story, the Zen Master is teaching the priest dependent related phenomena.  There are three ways to perceive the beauty of the work done by the priest – gross, subtle and very subtle. 

The priest had admired his own work on the garden.  And he thought it was beautiful and it would impress the temple’s special guests and the Zen Master.  The priest’s self-grasping mind had ignorantly mistaken the beauty to last which is not the case when the Zen Master messed up the garden with the fallen leaves! The priest perceived the beauty to exist inherently.  But in reality, the beauty is lost when the causes and conditions for its existence no longer exist – this is gross level dependent related phenomenon. 

The beauty of the garden is dependent upon it parts i.e. it arose as a result of all the work that was done to beautify the garden e.g. to pull the weeds, to trim the shrubs, to comb the moss, and etc. The garden is not beautiful after it is messed up.  It is no longer supported by the earlier work done on the garden.  This is subtle dependent-related phenomenon.

Finally, the priest no longer perceived the garden as beautiful after it was messed up.  Beauty is a mere name given to describe the garden.  This is very subtle dependent-related phenomenon.

[hope rainbow]

Negra Orquida, you do have stories, i say...

When I read this story, my first reaction was: next time I won't call the Zen Master after I have finished making my garden neat and good-looking...

Then my thought went on to "the suffering of change", the Zen Master giving there a magistral teaching about that. Magistral!

[vajratruth]

Wonderful story, the significance of which did not strike me fully until Dondup and Hope Rainbow's comments. First there is that attachment to wanting to impress or wanting praise. Then there is that thought that a perfect garden will stay perfect and beautiful forever...and in that instant we forget how transient everything is.

The few moments before the Zen Master shook the leaves off the tree is very much like our fleeting lives that we try so hard to get to a state of perfection we conjured up in our minds and then spend all our energies preserving that which cannot be preserved permanently.

And of course, just like you cannot stop the leaves from falling and the garden from changing, neither can we hang on to conditions that come together momentarily to make our life seem "perfect". If ever we get to a point where we feel our life is perfect as it is, then we should immediately expect change to happen to unravel the "perfection".

[Jessie Fong]

What a nice story to ponder on impermanence. 

I am sure many people who were to be in the monk's shoes would have taken a step back to take in the result of the hard work.  It would not be wrong for them to actually give themselves a pat on the back, if only to remind them that they put in some hard work to tend to the garden.

Then if they ponder longer, they will realise that it will not last forever - that more dead leaves will drop soon to change the situation.

[negra orquida]

I must say the Zen master has a quirky sense of humour :p

I'm not sure if we can conclude from the story that the priest was upset after the Zen master got the garden covered with leaves...

Maybe what the Zen master did was to fast forward what would the garden look like in a week without tending, and was trying to tell the priest, "Why spend so much time and effort fussing over a garden to match your perception of beauty and perfection?"

Is this is about maintaining equanimity in the face of "good" (no leaves in garden) and "bad" (leaves all over the garden)?

Or, since the priest was so happy with his work in the garden, the Zen master is on about not getting attached to the things you have done in the past, which could be wiped away in a blink of an eye?

Actually Klein has summed up my points above already :p

[pgdharma]

Thank you for another of your interesting story.

The priest tried to impress his guests so he took great care to tend and maintain it well. He was proud of his work and was hoping to get praise. However, that perfect garden did not stay perfect forever as can be seen when the Zen Master shook the tree trunk and more leaves fell down. It just shows that nothing last forever and no matter how much hard work we put in onto something it can be destroyed any time.

[ratanasutra]

Thanks for a very interesting story.

In my opinion, the Zen master want to pass the massage to the priest that
1) impermanent, nothing last forever
2) we can rejoice with what we have done then we should move on, do not attach with it
3) don't do work because you want to impress someone and get praise in return, but should do it because you love it and want it to be the best for all the time. Do it without 8 worldly concerns.
 

[Q]

This reminds me of a story I once read, about a monk, knowing that he will be meeting a very influencial visitor, the monk cleaned up his altar, made extensive offerings and all that is good for the eye to see... after he has done that, he sat back admiring the offerings and beauty of the altar when finally he realised... the offerings he made on the altar was not made for the Buddhas but for the visitor... upon realizing that, he overturned everything as his initial motivation to the Buddhas was not pure at all.

The zen master in this story is so kind... showing the priest his actual state of mind as he cleaned up the place not for the Buddhas and sangha but for a special guest

[jessicajameson]

Thanks for sharing the story

I was about to post my opinion, only to realise that ratanasutra wrote exactly what I wanted to write!

With the priest standing there beaming about the newly manicured garden showed that he is felt proud of himself through what he had achieved. That sense of happiness would only last for as long as nothing changes.

If he feels proud of the clean garden, he would feel the opposite when the garden is untidy.

That change of feeling shows that he is attached to the garden. As the garden is subject to change, his feelings will be subjected to change.

He may feel that he is in control of his garden when in actual fact, because he is affected by the cleanliness of the garden, the garden is in control of him.

By detaching himself from any sense of self-satisfaction would only serve to release him from one less attachment that affects his mind.

So what ratanasutra says is very much to the point:

1) Impermanence, nothing lasts forever.
2) We can rejoice with what we have done then we should move on, do not attach ourselves to it.
3) Don't do work because you want to impress someone and get praise in return, but we should do it because you love it and want it to be the best for all the time. Do it without 8 worldly concerns.

[vajraD]

Well this is a funny story. Thank you for sharing.

It reminds me that everything is impermanent and if you want to do good you need not need to tell others. It has to come form your heart.

The Zen Master may also be checking how much he has learn on impermanence.

Everyone likes to be praised on one hand or another but being to attach to praised is not a good sign.

The Zen Master also teaches that the place should be kept as neat and beautiful daily not only when there is visitor/guests.

[jeremyg]

A nice story, thanks. I feel that the Zen Master is trying to teach that there is no set view on beauty. Beauty is only a perception, and beauty is also only an attachment. There are countless lessons that can be learned here. We can say that everything can be destroyed, changed in a matter of seconds. All the hard work, all the effort, gone just like that. We can also say that maybe there is no reason in trying to impress the guests, if they are not the right ones, and we can't change ourselves just for one day to impress someone. We must be the same all the time, otherwise that is where the disappointments arise, when we think someone is actually different to who they actually are inside.

[sonamdhargey]

Thanks for the story. I felt that the Zen Master is trying say that beauty  is in the eye of the beholder. What we may perceive as beautiful may not be beautiful in others's eyes. Maybe to the Zen Master the leaves on the ground would look more beautiful naturally.

There is another way of looking at this situation as well. Impermanence, maybe the Zen master is trying to tell the priest that nothing last forever. Today the priest may sweep the garden clean but tomorrow it will be all leavex again. Or maybe the Zen master is trying to tell the priest that the garden should be kept beautiful at all times not just for special occasions like this to train the mind to be more mindful. Keeping the garden clean and beautiful everyday. That will reflect the mind of the priest.

[RedLantern]

 The Zen master is trying to tell the monk that the beauty of nature is the source of great joy and aesthetic satisfaction but is impermenant.Thereis nothing that is fixed or permanent.Changeability is one of the perennial principals of nature and nothing remains static.The concept of impermanence and continuous becoming is central to early Buddhist teachings.What is real is the existing moment,the present that is a product of the past,or result of the previous causes and actions.By observing it and understanding it,one can find suitable remedy for the sorrow of human life and achieve liberation from the process of impermanence.A nice story to share.