"If you die tomorrow, what kind of body will you get?"

This is a talk I gave during online morning practice on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. For more information about online (and in person!) practice with the Furnace Mountain Sangha, please visit our website:
www.furnacemou...
The talk is inspired by a passage from an essay written by Chunul (1158-1210). Here is a page with some very helpful background information on Chinul:
terebess.hu/ze...
And here is the passage in question:
“You must be conscientious about your practice in the morning and the evening and view your own laziness with disdain. You should know the proper forms to follow so that you do not create a disturbance. When chanting you should recite the text while considering the meaning, do not simply follow the pronunciation, and do not sing out of key. When gazing reverently at sacred images, do not let your mind wander. You must understand that your karmic obstructions are as vast as mountains and oceans, but they can all be dissolved if you practice with the correct understanding and following the correct forms. Deeply contemplate the fact that both you and the Buddha have the same true nature, and that you are both in accord with dependent arising. You should have deep faith that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas always respond to your practice, just as shadows follow form and echoes follows sound.”
(From Chinul’s “Admonitions to Beginners”)
The above is my own paraphrase based on the original text with reference to other translations.
Original text and Robert Buswell’s translation can be found in “Chinul: Selected Works”:
mvseon.com/wp-c...
Charles Muller’s translation is here:
www.acmuller.ne...
An excellent source for anyone interested in the Buddha’s past life stories is Sarah Shaw’s “Jatakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta”:
www.amazon.com...
“What the Buddha Thought” by Richard Gombrich:
www.equinoxpub...
Zen Master Seung Sahn’s poem, “The Great Work of Life and Death”:
In the great work of life and death, time will not wait for you.
If you die tomorrow, what kind of body will you get?
Is not all of this of great importance?
Hurry up! Hurry!
Blue sky and green sea
Are the Buddha’s original face.
The sound of the waterfall and the bird’s song
Are the great sutras.
Where are you going?
Watch your step!
Water flows down to the sea.
Clouds float up to the heavens.