It happened one time in the age of the World Honored One that Manjusri went to the assembly of Buddhas gathered and found that each one had already returned to his original abode. The only one remaining there was a woman, sitting in a state of total absorption (samadhi) near the Buddha's throne.
Manjusri asked Sakyamuni Buddha, "Why can a woman sit near the Buddha when I cannot get such a seat?" Sakyamuni responded, "Why don't you wake her up, arouse her from her state of absorpton, and ask her yourself?"
Manjusri circled the woman three times, lifted her up, and transported her to Brahma heaven, where he summoned all his spiritual powers in order to arouse her.
Sakyamuni said, "Even a hundred thousand Manjusris would not be able to awaken the woman from the state of absorption. But down below, past twelve hundred million lands as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges River, there is a bodhisattva called Dim Light who will be able to arouse her."
In a flash, Dim Light rose up from the earth and made prostrations before the World Honored One, who gave him instructions. Dim Light walked over to the woman and snapped his fingers one time.
The woman was aroused from her state of absorption.
Source: Opening A Mountain by Steven Heine
Commentary
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, "Head cannot hold a pen, eyes cannot hear a sound, mouth cannot see a sky. Man cannot have a baby. Hands have hand's job, legs have leg's job. Understand your correct job. When the rooster crows in the morning the body wakes up."
Why did the woman wake up for Dim Light Bodhisattva when the great Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, was unable to awaken her?
"Manjusri (On a Bicycle) by Mayumi Oda
Comments