May I get a Buddhist view on the following quote? Thank you. Peace and Love.?

Question

Do you want to understand? The whole world is one of your eyes, the body produced by your parents is a cataract. All ordinary people ignore the indestructible, marvelously clear, unfailingly mirroring eye, and cling fast to the dust cataract produced by the relationship of their father and mother. Therefore they take illusions for realities, and grasp at reflections as the physical forms themselves.

-P'u-an

Answer 1

I am a novice Buddhist, but I will try:

"Do you want to understand?"

Do you really want to know the truth?


"The whole world is one of your eyes, the body produced by your parents is a cataract."

You perceive the entire world from your own senses, this gives you an illusion of a self. Because of the attachment you have to your physical form, you do not clearly see reality. Your perception is clouded.


"All ordinary people ignore the indestructible, marvelously clear, unfailingly mirroring eye, and cling fast to the dust cataract produced by the relationship of their father and mother."

The mind of the Buddhas is vast and indestructible. The physical body will definitely die. Most people cling to their physical body as their true self.


"Therefore they take illusions for realities, and grasp at reflections as the physical forms themselves."

The physical body is not permanent, it is created by karma. People grasp at these temporary things as if they are real.

"-P'u-an"

Sorry I hope I was helpful. I am just learning Buddhism.

Answer 2

I'm not a Buddhist (anymore), but I'll try to answer your question in the best way I can.

Asking for a "Buddhist view" is a bit misleading, since P'u-an was a successor of Bodhidharma and therefore Buddhist himself. In any case, P'u-an's emphasis on the themes of "clear sight" and "dust" (i.e., the physical body) is characteristic of his location in the Chan tradition, known in Japan, Korea, and the West as Zen Buddhism.

Zen contains in itself the philosophical exaltation of the Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra, also known as the "Heart Sutra." This Buddhist scripture emphasizes understanding of the true nature of physical reality: "That which is form is emptiness, and that which is emptiness, form. Form does not differ from emptiness ... the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness." Over-simply, the sensual and mental reactions we have to this world point not to their self-existence but to a rarely perceived Truth. Nevertheless, grasping, or attachment to physical reality, is inimical to our understanding of this Truth. Attainment of this point is the breakthrough that "saves from all suffering and distress." It is to this concept that P'u-an points.

In counterpoint to P'u-an's statement is the Filial Piety Sutra, which emphasizes the latent karmic debts we owe to our parents -- and others -- for our existence in this world.

Later, Korean Zen practitioners would point to the idea that this body, of itself, and our actions in it, can constitute a complete fulfillment of Buddhist dharma and can contain the entire fullness of Enlightenment.

This may _begin_ to answer your question. For clarity on these issues, try reading the Heart Sutra, or try _The Compass of Zen_ by Seung Sahn Sunim. Best of luck to you --

Answer 3

But what if the illusions are themselves one fact of reality? Perhaps this world is simultaneously the saha-world of suffering and the Pure Buddha Land of the West.