Episode
Give gifts with no notion of reward or praise. Like moving something from one hand to the other. Mar 9, 1986
- Published
- Feb 6, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3110
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- https://rss.com/podcasts/ing-publishing/2482947
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Summary
Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, discusses the Diamond Sutra , known as the "Cutter of All Doubts." She story of the Buddha and his disciple, Subhuti, a Bodhisattva. It’s a paradoxical teaching: A Bodhisattva should give gifts without being "supported" by anything—not by a notion of a sign, a gift, or a recipient. If a gift is given with the thought "I am giving this to you," it is limited. However, if a gift is given without support—without the self-identification of a giver—the merit is immeasurable. Lola draws a parallel here to the Jesus’ words that "the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay his head." She interprets this as a spiritual state of having "no support" in the ego or the material world. True giving happens when the "me" is removed entirely, making the giver and the receiver one and the same, much like the right hand transferring an object to the left hand without needing praise. Lola tells the story of Master Obaku, who bows to his teacher. But why? a skeptic asks. If there is not to be praise. Lola focuses on the limitations of human thinking. Lola argues that true listening is impossible when the mind is cluttered with past conditioning and constant chatter if thinking. She tells the myth of the Egyptian god Thoth, who tries to gift "thinking" to humanity. A colleague rejects the gift, warning that thinking is what drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden by introducing discrimination—the ability to judge good from bad, hot from cold, and self from other. This discriminatory mind creates a dualistic prison where we constantly judge our position and fail to see the underlying Unity of reality. She contrasts this with the noumenal world of non-discrimination where, like the bamboo trees in a Zen story, the tall and the short exist perfectly without comparison.…