In his book Hwa Yen Buddhism: the Jewel Net of Indra (1977), Francis Cook uses the analogy of nails and rafters to describe the notion of identity in Hwa Yen Buddhism. He describes how, in order to build a house, one has to have things with distinct functions or identities: nails, for instance are what hold the rafters together, but they don't perform the same function as the rafters. On the other hand, the totality of the house is what allows the nails to have a function, and the nails even take on the function of other parts. For instance, nails are able to be in a horizontal position thanks to various foundations or rafters. So there are many things happening all at once: the nail performs an essential function unique to itself, it also draws from and gets strength from other elements of the house. And it's the totality of the house itself and its purpose for being that gives the nails in turn a purpose. And all these things are happening all at once. It is truly amazing to contemplate how things function together but also maintain unique roles within that togetherness.
I think in some sense this analogy doesn't just apply to individuals in a society or parts of a whole. I think in a sense it can be taken to be a metaphor for what the mind experiences during meditation. It isn't that phenomena are being rejected in favor of some higher principle, but that the phenomena are seen as functions of the present, unfolding moment. I think this is what is meant when some teachers describe the 'perfection' of the present moment in meditation. Everything that is happening is happening because it's happening. In other words, the 'perfection' comes from the very fact that cause and conditions never fail, and are always forming just the kinds of conditions that resulted from the previous karma.
What is the practical thing to learn from this? I think there are a lot of implications that I still need to digest. But the most important thing is to not take anything for granted, and to see the present as the result of many contributing factors that took place in the past and continue to unfold. It is to accept the present as the result of many conditions arising, and to appreciate each condition without rejecting anything. This is interesting because we can think of it this way: this moment if perfect because everything that makes this moment is here and now, and there is nothing in this here and now that can be said to be out of place.
Sometimes, one gets these little glimpses that things are unexpectedly perfect as they are, and there is nothing we need to reject or seek. Just today, for instance, my partner and I were walking and it started to rain. I debated as to whether to shell out money to buy an umbrella at a convenience store, only to later discover an umbrella discarded on the ground just outside a house. It was a perfectly functioning umbrella, save for the bottom which was a bit damaged. The point is: if I trust the moment, I will find that everything that is ever needed is there, in that moment. Had I not found the umbrella, some other conditions would have contributed to the moment's perfection. And all I need to do is to choose to see it as perfect. For instance, if the rain had come down and I simply had no free umbrella, I could have said, "this is terrible, I should have stayed indoors" or I could have said, "This is a great chance for the plants to grow; I also have the ability to walk to that corner store and buy the umbrella." Or I could have said, "water is good for my skin".
It doesn't matter what I say, because the conditions are what they are. But to see conditions as perfect amounts to a kind of total and unconditional acceptance. I am no longer imposing my rules onto the universe, but I am seeing the universe as perfectly in line with what it should be in this moment. It doesn't mean that things couldn't change in the future, but in this present moment, this is what has arisen and what one can work with.
Cook, Francis (1977), Hwa Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra: Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University
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