Look up the persons, places, objects, and institutions mentioned in the passage.
– O. C. Edwards
Setting the scene is important for the high-sensing members of the sangha, and the people, places and things that appear in the text also provide important additional layers of meaning. We don’t need to go through all of these details in the dharma talk itself, but we do need to sift through them to discover what they add to our interpretation.
Who is specifically mentioned in the text as speaking, listening, or acting? What else can we find out the lives of historical figures? What qualities or characteristics are represented by deities, bodhisattvas, demons or non-human entities?
Where does the passage take place? How do the characters move through the space? What structures are present? What’s going on in historical places at the time of the narrative? If the location is not an earthly place, where is it and what does it represent?
What things appear prominently in the passage, and how are they used? What do they look like? How and from what are they made? Who owns them, and what do they say about their owners? What can we learn about objects that are unfamiliar to us in this time and culture?
Finally, what institutions are in place with which the characters of the passage interact, or within which they function? What school, sect or branch are the Buddhist institutions? What other religions appear? What secular instutions affect or are affected by the events of the passage?
We can take this passage from the Platform Sutra as an example.
One day the Patriarch wanted to wash the robe which he had inherited, but could find no good stream for the purpose. Thereupon he walked to a place about five miles from the rear of the monastery, where he noticed that plants and trees grew profusely and the environment gave an air of good omen. He shook his staff (which makes a tinkling noise, as rings are attached to the top of it) and stuck it in the ground. Immediately water spurted out and before long a pool was formed. While he was kneeling down on a rock to wash the robe, a bhikkhu suddenly appeared before him and tendered him homage. “My name is Fang Pien,” said he, “and I am a native of Szechuan. When I was in South India I met Patriarch Bodhidharma, who instructed me to return to China.
‘The Womb of the Orthodox Dharma,’ said he, ‘together with the robe which I inherited from Mahakasyapa have now been transmitted to the Sixth Patriarch, who is now in Ts’ao Ch’i of Shao Chou. Go there to have a look at them and to pay your respect to the Patriarch.’ After a long voyage, I have arrived. May I see the robe and begging bowl you inherited?” Having shown him the two relics, the Patriarch asked him what line of work he was taking up. “I am pretty good at sculptural work,” replied he. “Let me see some of your work then,” demanded the Patriarch. Fang Pien was confounded at the time, but after a few days he was able to complete a life-like statue of the Patriarch, about seven inches high, a masterpiece of sculpture. (Upon seeing the statue), the Patriarch laughed and said to Fang Pien, “You know something about the nature of sculptural work, but you do not seem to know the nature of Buddha.” He then put his hand on Fang Pien’s head (the Buddhist way of blessing) and declared, “You shall forever be a ‘field of merit’ for human and celestial beings.” In addition, the Patriarch rewarded his service with a robe, which Fang Pien divided into three parts, one for dressing the statue, one for himself, and one for burying in the ground after covering it up with palm leaves. (When the burial took place) he took a vow to the effect that by the time the robe was exhumed he would be reincarnated as the abbot of the monastery, and also that he would undertake to renovate the shrine and the building.
- Who are all the people mentioned in this passage: the Sixth Patriarch, Fang Pien, Bodhidharma?
- Where in China is Ts’ao Ch’i of Shao Chou? What is it like? Do the lush surroundings of the area five miles behind the monastery mean anything in the narrative? What could the trip from China to south India and back to China have been like for Fang Pien? How about the Sixth Patriarch’s walk?
- What do the robes, bowl, staff and sculpture say about their owners? How are they used? Why did Fang Pien use palm leaves to cover the robe?
- What Buddhist institutions existed at the time this passage was written? What was Bodhidharma teaching, and why would he recommend that Fang Pien come to visit the Sixth Patriarch? What was the role of the abbot with regard to monks and the monastery buildings?
Yes, this is a lot of work to undertake to complete a close reading of this passage. But as dharma speakers, we have agreed to take on a leadership responsibility. We’re undertaking this study so that we can return to our sanghas and share what we’ve learned. Over time, as we become familiar with the characters, locations, artifacts and institions that populate our texts, the surroundings of the narratives will come to life for us more and more easily.
