Question
Kosen, the “super sage,” tells an anecdote in his documentary about the Buddha and his “disciples”:
“The kesa is the robe the Buddha chose.” (Off to a strong start! :) )
To continue:
“One day he was walking through rice fields, and a disciple said to him:
‘Master, we should have some kind of uniform to distinguish us,
the new disciples. What form should our uniform
take?’” (Which clearly shows the disciples’ ignorance, still
rooted in a spirit of comparison, and their subservience to the “Master”…)
The anecdote continues:
“And so the Buddha, who was there, looked at the rice fields and
said: ‘These rice fields are our uniform.’”
(The Buddha who was weary of his disciples? :) )
To continue and finish:
“The disciple then thought: ‘We’ll make a garment that looks like
rice fields.’ That is how the kesa was born.”
And so the sangha was born!? :)))) Clearly, if this story about the
Buddha is accurate, he did not mean to tell his disciples
to invent a garment resembling rice fields to
distinguish themselves from others! It was just an image in the present moment,
as they were walking through rice fields, to indicate that
all of nature is our clothing in a ‘spiritual’ sense, and that the
very field where they stood could be considered clothing
that protected them.
What do you think?
Best wishes,
Aurélien
Answer from Master Kosen
The true kesa has neither corners nor seams.
Kosen