LL-L "Folklore" 2006.04.29 (15) [E]

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   L O W L A N D S - L * 29 April 2006 * Volume 15
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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Proverbs" 2006.04.29 (14) [E]

Ron , Thanks for the elaboration on the "Monkey Theme"
It also made me think of the three monkeys than "Hear no evil, See no evil 
and Speak no evil. Are you intimating that maybe looooooooooong ago. The 
attitude of mankind was that one could not have any criticism on the status 
quo and only the innocent, like children, were not aware of that taboo and 
could hear, see or speak the truth. You say:

<Thanks to their seemingly naive nature, they get to question and say what 
no one else dares to question and say.>

Which reminds me of the "Emperors New Clothes"

The jester, Tijl Uilenspiegel , evades punishment because he acts like a 
simpleton, a child.

Puzzled, Jacqueline

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Folklore

Hello, neighbor Jacqueline!

I see your point.  Well, maybe not so looooong ago, huh?

Till and his likes may be said to have put on innocent, naive acts in order 
to evade punishment, and the Hoja Karagöz used such an act to teach others 
philosophical depth in simplicity, especially theoreticians that think they 
are so very learned.  However, the child in Hans Christian Andersen's "The 
Emperors New Clothes" (_Keiserens nye Klæder_, 1837) does not put on an act. 
He or she just sees and says whatever (most) adults consciously or 
subconsciously see and wish they could say.

As I see him, the _vanara_ Sūn Wùkōng is more like the child in the story. 
His seeming naïveté does not seem to be an act.  His questions and 
observations come from his nature and attitudes that seem childlike to us 
because they are the nature and attitudes we have as children before they 
are "beaten" out of us, or, better to say, before they come to be buried 
under layers of fear-derived conformity and delusion.  His name indicates 
that he is (naturally) aware of all beings and things being sentient and of 
all beings' sensual perceptions being "empty," being mere illusions or 
delusions.  He points out what ought to be obvious to everyone, but he does 
not do so by "cutting through all the crap" but simply because it's what he 
sees and knows.  He goes on the journey far away with no fear because he 
does not cling to anything, thereby evading suffereing, and he takes all 
challenges as they come, outwitting opponents in like manner: going for the 
target without pomp, circumstances and artful combat techniques.  I see him 
as an alter-ego of the monk, as an aspect of his gradually resurfacing 
innate Buddha nature (बुद्धधात _buddha-dhātu_).  The less this little 
monkey's antics bother him the more he gets in touch with this aspect of his 
innate nature.  In other words, this journey to India represents a person's 
first step toward enlightenment, be it Buddhist or otherwise.  The basic 
message is "truth is simple."

In Zen Buddhism (which originated in India and was further developed in 
Eastern Asia), it is customary for a mentor not to answer a student's 
questions in what we might consider conventional ways.  He or she will often 
respond with what at first seems like an absurd riddle-like statement or 
question dealing with mundane- and irrelevant-sounding matters.  These tend 
to sound like children's naive observations or questions, being aimed at 
helping the seeker find the truth in the "obscurely obvious," getting the 
student to abandon learned intellectual skills that lie in the way of seeing 
the obvious.  This is why Buddhism is said to be the fastest growing 
philophy/religion among Western and East European intellectuals, especially 
the branches Mahāyāna (महायान, particularly Japanese 禅 _zen_, Sanskrit ध्यान 
_dhjāna_, Pali झान/เซน _jhāna_, Chinese 禪 chán, Korean 선 _seon_, Vietnamese 
_thiền_) and "Tibetan", "Lamaist" or "Tantric" Vajrayāna (वज्रयान, Tibetan 
_dorje thepa_), is currently very fast-growing among Western and East 
European intellectuals, people who came to realize that personal 
enlightenment and peace are achieved less by book learning than by finding 
ready but buried answers within, by daring to be one's own child or monkey, 
or even Till or Karagöz.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron 

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