The secret to my constant flow of quotes from books I read is an app on my phone called Office Lens. This is a Microsoft product that integrates with One Drive. Using Office Lens I can take a picture of a block of text and have the app save an editable version of the text in a Word file. Best of all, the image is included so that occasional OCR failures can be fixed.

Not every book I read merits extensive quotes. My Office Lens folder is cluttered with quotes I’ve set aside but never uploaded here. Since they don’t do me any good there, I’m working my way through the odds and ends.

Today’s example is The Awakening of Faith, which is attributed to Aśvaghoṣa. The Awakening of Faith is described as a “comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahāyāna Buddhism.” While there is a great deal of substance here, I only set aside two things I felt merited saving for use later.

First is the full title of the work, The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna.

It should be noted that the term “Mahāyāna” here is not used in the usual sense of the word, that is, Mahāyāna versus Hinayāna. According to the definition given in the discussion immediately following, Mahāyāna designates Suchness or the Absolute. The title of the text, the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna, should therefore be understood as the “Awakening of Faith in the Absolute,” not in Mahāyāna Buddhism as distinguished from Hinayāna Buddhism.

I wonder whether this applies in more instances where the Great Vehicle is discussed.

The second concerns how one is to look at the Reality of Dependent Origination.

“Because these two aspects are mutually inclusive”: Reality is conceived as the intersection of the Absolute order and the phenomenal order; therefore, it contains in itself both the Absolute and the phenomenal order at once. The Absolute order is thought to be transcendental and yet is conceived as not being outside of the phenomenal order. Again the phenomenal order is thought to be temporal and yet is conceived as not being outside of the Absolute order. In other words, they are ontologically identical; they are two aspects of one and the same Reality. Perhaps the most famous and simplest statement of the relationship between the Absolute and the phenomenal order can be found in the sayings of Nāgārjuna (second century A.D.), e.g., “There is no difference whatsoever between nirvāṇa (Absolute) and saṃsāra (phenomena); there is no difference whatsoever between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.”

This is a recurring discussion. I recently finished T’ien-t’ai Buddhism and Early Mādhyamika, which is almost entirely devoted where Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai intersect and diverge. I’ve lots of quotes that I’ll need to eventually add here.

Finally, I have this excellent summary of what it means to be a Buddhist.

On Mount Chunwang in Henan province there was a monk [Chan Master Daolin] who practiced meditation sitting in a tall pine tree day after day. His practice was so effortless and spontaneous that birds formed their nests next to his meditation Site. People gave him the nickname “Bird Nest Master” and frequented his treehouse to seek his guidance. …

One day the great Tang poet Bo Juyi (772-846), who was then a regional magistrate, visited Daolin at his treehouse. Bo Juyi asked Daolin, “Master, your residence looks so high on the tree. Isn’t it dangerous?”

The master said, “Magistrate, yours is far more dangerous than mine.”

Bo continued, “But, Master, I, your humble disciple, rule over all the rivers, mountains, and lands in this region. Why am I in a danger?

“Fire and firewood destroying each other,” replied the Master, “that’s how your mind ‘s thoughts operate, and you cannot quiet them. Is that not truly dangerous?”

Bo paused and then asked again, “Master, please instruct me in the cardinal teaching of Buddhism.”

Daolin said, “Abstain from all bad deeds, and practice all good deeds.”

“Even a three-year-old child knows that,” said Bo with dissatisfaction.

Daolin told Bo, “A three-year-old child may know it, but even an eighty-year-old man cannot put it into practice.”

Bo Juyi bowed low at the master’s feet.