Weaponry for the Timid
Three more paired reflections: oneself as timid and weak, the good friend as valiant and strong, their teaching as weaponry; oneself as a merchant, the good friend as a guide, their teaching as treasure and, followed through, as supreme treasure; oneself as a child, the good friend as a loving father, their teaching as the establishing of a household.
Weaponry, Treasure, and Establishing a Household
「……又於自身，生怯劣想；於善知識，生勇健想；於所說法，生器仗想。又於自身，生商人想；於善知識，生導師想；於所說法，生珍寶想，隨聞說行，生勝寶想。又於自身，生子息想；於善知識，生慈父想；於所說法，生立家想。……」
"… Further, regard your own self as timid and weak; regard the good friend as valiant and strong; regard their teaching as weaponry. Further, regard your own self as a merchant; regard the good friend as a guide; regard their teaching as a precious treasure, and, following through on what is heard and taught in actual practice, regard it as a supreme treasure. Further, regard your own self as a child; regard the good friend as a loving father; regard their teaching as the establishing of a household … [the reflections continue]"
The merchant's own pairing, like the farmer's earlier, carries an extra clause distinguishing teaching merely heard from teaching actually practiced — "treasure" upon hearing becomes "supreme treasure" only once put into action, a distinction Fazang reads as this whole series' own quiet corrective against treating any of these reflections as satisfied by contemplation alone. The child and loving father closes this triad on the most intimate register yet, preparing the shift toward political imagery — prince and minister — that follows next.
Part 267 In Progress
Nine of ten paired reflections are now given. Part 268 completes the tenth — prince and minister — and closes this whole teaching with its own final instruction.
Continue to Part 268 →