August 30, 2007
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And he said,
“The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish.
He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty.
Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Take a second from time and reflect on this sutra
from the perspective that views jesus as a master teacher of present moment consciousness
What a wonderfully dynamic model this timeless analogy….becomes….
are we not all fisherman ..as we cast out our intention into the field of infinite possibilities
and as the power of our attention
summons the vast wealth of data from the field.
how easily our mind becomes distracted….by small fish
yet the wise fisherman stays focused in the here and now
and recognizes easily
the significant quality of emerging novelty
and snap ……
the large fish becomes apparent…
The choice to hold that one dear
and let the others go…
free
I leave to you
Comments (21)
i never understand what you’re tring to tell us. i mean on rare occations i think i understand and then you throw out something like this and i have no idea what youre talking about. but everyone will put up smilies and sunny smiles and i will often think i’m the only one that doesn’t understand. and i’ve heard this “story book” lesson before during church or reading and to me it does not reflect my present moment at all.
i don’t think i explained my comment correctly… what’s a big fish intention and a small fish intention? then i might understand. i need examples…. maybe i’m not the only one either???
then that is the teaching
indeed
for there is only one moment of your life
and that moment is now….
the quality of the mannor in which you choose to experience your existance
is dependent on the degree of presence you bring to the moment of your life
the wonder of it needs little understanding
you either live it ….or not …
you are always free to decide
Send out the intention presently …. free from the mind attachment of future expectation…
and the big fish will appear…
There are three important symbols in this sutra: The fisherman, sea, net, small fishes, and big fish. Let’s say that the fisherman is the Seeker, the sea is the world of experience, the net is the act of gathering, the small fishes and the big fish are the things gathered.
The fisherman is called wise because as he gathers his experiences in the world he sorts them out. He can easily distinguish the small fishes and the big fish. Therefore, being wise, he can easily see what is MOST important and of Great Value (the big fish).
In this particular case, the Big Fish is the Kingdom of God and whoever has ears to hear let him hear (or to add, eyes to see let him see). The wise man will hold on to the Kingdom of God once it is found and will let go of the less important things in the world without difficulty.
You speak of the fishes as intentions. In the net there are so many intentions and the real question is: which one is most valuable and important? The fishes can also represent Desires. We want so many things, there are so many desires in our net. The wise fisherman takes the big fish and not the smaller ones. He finds what he really wants, the thing of most importance to him and disregards the rest.
Nice post. It made me reflect.
Sorry, not three symbols but FIVE. sorry
Thanks dear master…:sunny::sunny::sunny:
have a nice day:love:
thank you sannya for explaining.
to dosmangoes for being a showoff.
:goodjob:…processed…
clean mind… clear intellect…
just as “the little foxes” spoil the vine he (his teachings) was the big fish & also the “pearl of great price “ :sunny: yet even living in the moment the future appears to some as it did him in knowing his destiny :spinning: beck
exactly what i needed to read. i’ve been having trouble lately being focused…extremely scattered lately…
btw, i forgot until just now that message you sent me with that incredible ping-pong story! i laffed out loud
oh, i forgot to leave this quote that was in my ebox this morning:
With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Of all things I thought about television after I read this I admit it is in poor taste to leave the realm of wide oceans and glistening fish ,but something in this made me focus mainly on the idea of being fully present, or as you put it seeing the big fish.Television seems to make it easier not to be present. I have family members who spend large amounts of time in front of one and not there at all.TV viewing encourages us to just passively receive ,and it does this because our culture in general does this. Kids sit and listen in school , people study the backs of other peoples heads and sort of listen in churches , at the movies we get some more noise and are asked to respond viscerally ,but still we are mostly expected to take the story in, and it seems all of this discourages us from the realization that we are not just passive receptacles.I love creating art because part of that involves training my eye to see things not just as presented , but in ways that transcend their mere physicality.So anyway I get it and it is useful to me as it has some cool applications. I can be deliberate about how I interact with the world ,and if a given activity suggests I become passive and cease to be a participant I can change the rules and make it work for me.It reminds me of being a kid and captive in a car on a long road trip.. I found things to focus in on and I was no longer captive..same difference.
:sunny:
I can never be reminded too often to stay in the present.
When the Great Dragon was asked about the fundamental Dharmakaya, he said: The mountain flowers bloom like brocade; The river between the hills is as blue as indigo
Blessings~
Postscript: What a beautiful painting of the seashell and all the images contained within~
But is the mind not a net that we try and grasp reality in? Humans label everything in the mind, and place things on a grid, but is not the present moment like water, allways slipping through the rational minds grasp, correct?
How very curious life becomes as one travels between the narrow of shadows and Light, agenda and Intention. One finds a meadow wherein all appears abandoned, yet there is but one wildflower left at it’s center. Upon closer inspection, this too becomes but a mirage. Is it then the question of the quest or the finding that is ultimately the subconscious of the roads less travelled?
I do not know the answer to such a riddle.
May the Peace of the Season be with you.