A Sick Person, a Physician-King, Good Medicine
A new teaching begins: three-part reflections pairing oneself, the good friend, and their teaching. Regard oneself as a sick person, the good friend as a physician-king, their teaching as good medicine; oneself as a distant traveler, the good friend as a guide, their teaching as the right road; oneself as one seeking the far shore, the good friend as one who knows the ford, their teaching as a cool pool.
Sickness and Medicine, the Road, the Ford
「又，善男子！應於自身，生病苦想；於善知識，生醫王想；於所說教，生良藥想。又於自身，生遠行想；於善知識，生導師想；於所說教，生正路想。又於自身，生趣彼岸想；於善知識，生知濟想；於所說法，生涼池想。……」
"Further, good man, you should regard your own self as one afflicted with sickness; regard the good friend as a physician-king; regard their teaching as good medicine. Further, regard your own self as a traveler on a distant journey; regard the good friend as a guide; regard their teaching as the right road. Further, regard your own self as one seeking to reach the far shore; regard the good friend as one who knows the ford; regard their teaching as a cool pool … [the reflections continue]"
This new set of reflections restructures the same relationship the ten similes and the twenty-two minds have already explored, now as a three-term structure applied consistently across ten pairings: one's own condition, the good friend's own role, and their teaching's own function. Fazang reads the progression from sickness to travel to crossing water as moving from an inward condition needing remedy, to an outward journey needing guidance, to a specific obstacle needing passage — three distinct kinds of need, each met by its own appropriate figure.
Part 265 In Progress
Three of ten paired reflections are now given. Part 266 continues with the farmer awaiting timely rain, the impoverished one meeting Vaiśravaṇa, and the disciple before a great teacher.
Continue to Part 266 →