The Normal Mind
The Way does not require cultivation just don't
pollute it.
What is pollution? As long as you have a fluctuating
mind
fabricating artificialities and contrivances, all
of this is pollution.
If you want to understand the Way directly, the
normal mind is
the Way.
What I mean by the normal mind is the mind without
artificial-
ity, without subjective judgments, without grasping
or rejection.
The Root
The founders of Zen said that one's own essence
is inherently
complete. Just don't linger over good or bad things
that is called
practice of the Way. To grasp the good and reject
the bad, to contem-
plate emptiness and enter concentration, is all
in the province of
contrivance and if you go on seeking externals,
you get further and
further estranged.
Just end the mental objectivization of the world.
A single thought
of the wandering mind is the root of birth and death
in the world. Just
don't have a single thought and you'll get rid of
the root of birth and
death.
The Oceanic Reflection
Human delusions of time immemorial, deceit, pride,
deviousness, and
conceit, have conglomerated into one body. That is why
scripture says that this body is just made of elements, and its
appearance
and disappearance is just that of elements, which have no
1
identity. When successive thoughts do not await one another, and each
thought dies peacefully away, this is called absorption
in the oceanic
reflection.
Delusion and Enlightenment
Delusion means you are not aware of your own fundamental
mind; enlightenment means you realize your own fundamental
essence.
Once enlightened, you do not become deluded anymore.
If you understand mind and objects, then false conceptions
do
not arise; when false conceptions do not arise,
this is acceptance of the
beginninglessness of things. You have always had
it, and you have it
now there is no need to cultivate the Way and sit
in meditation.
2
Artificial Zen
You are luckily all right by yourself, yet you struggle
artificially.
Why do you want to put on fetters and go to prison? You are busy
every day claiming to study Zen, learn the Way,
and interpret Bud-
dhism, but this alienates you even further. It is
just chasing sound and
form. When will you ever stop;
Your Treasure
My teacher said to me, "The treasure house within
you contains
everything, and you are free to use it. You don't
need to seek outside."
3
True Perception arid Understanding
People who study Buddhism should seek real, true
perception
and understanding for now. If you attain real, true
perception and
understanding, birth and death don't affect you-you
are free to go or
stay. You needn't seek wonders, for wonders come
of themselves.
Self-confidence
What I point out to you is only that you shouldn't
allow
yourselves to be confused by others. Act when you
need to, without
further hesitation or doubt.
People today can't do this what is their affliction?
Their afflic-
tion is in their lack of self-confidence.
If you do not spontaneously trust yourself sufficiently,
you will
be in a frantic state, pursuing all sorts of objects
and being changed
by those objects, unable to be independent.
Buddha Within
There is no stability in the world; it is like a
house on fire. This
is not a place where you can stay for a long time.
The murderous
demon of impermanence is instantaneous, and it does
not choose
between the upper and lower classes, or between
the old and the
young
If you want to be no different from the Buddhas
and Zen
masters, just don't seek externally.
The pure light in a moment of awareness in
your mind is the buddhas
Essence within you. The nondiscriminating light in a mo-
4
ment of awareness in your mind is the Buddha's wisdom within you.
The undifferentiated light in a moment of awareness
in your mind is
the Buddha's manifestation within you.
No Obsessions
It is most urgent that you seek real, true perception
and under-
standing, so you can be free in the world and not
be confused by
ordinary spiritualists.
It is best to have no obsessions. Just don't be
contrived. Simply
be normal.
You impulsively seek elsewhere, looking to others
for your own
hands and feet. This is already mistaken.
The Mind Ground
The mind ground can go into the ordinary, into the
holy, into
the pure, into the defiled, into the real, into
the conventional; but it is
not your "real" or "conventional," "ordinary" or
"holy." It can put
labels on all the real and conventional, the ordinary
and holy, but the
real and conventional, the ordinary and holy, cannot
put labels on
someone in the mind ground. If you can get it, use
it, without putting
any more labels on it.
Understanding People
When followers of Zen come to see me, I have already
understood
them completely. How can I do this? Simply because
my perception
is independent externally I do not grasp the ordinary
or the holy,
internally I do not dwell on the fundamental. I
see all the way through
and do not doubt or-err anymore.
Autonomy
Just be autonomous wherever you are, and right there
is realiza-
tion. Situations that come up cannot change you.
Even if you have
habits, you will spontaneously be liberated from them.
5
Spiritual Dilettantes
Zen students today are totally unaware of
truth. They are like
foraging goats that pick up whatever they bump into.
They do not
distinguish between the servant and the master,
or between the guest
and the host.
People like this enter Zen with distorted minds,
and are unable
to enter effectively into dynamic situations. They
may be called true
initiates, but actually they are really mundane
people.
Those who really leave attachments must master real,
true per-
ception to distinguish the enlightened from the
obsessed, the genuine
from the artificial, the unregenerate from the sage.
If you can make these discernments, you can be said
to have
really left dependency.
Professional Buddhist.clergv who cannot tell obsession
from
enlightenment have just leaft one social group and
entered another social group.
They cannot really be said to be independent.
Now there is an obsession with Buddhism that is
mixed in with
the real thing. Those with clear eyes cut through
both obsession and
Buddhism. If you love the sacred and despise the
ordinary, you are
still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.
Labels and Objective Truth
Because you grasp labels and slogans, you are hindered
by those
labels and slogans, both those used in ordinary
life and those consid-
ered sacred. Thus they obstruct your perception
of objective truth,
and you cannot understand clearly.
THE FREE SELF
If you want to be free, get to know your real self. It has no
form no appearance, no root, no basis, no abode, but Is lively and buoyant.
It responds with versatile facility, but its function
cannot be located.
Ther`3.;e when you look for it you become further from it, when you
seek it you turn away from it all the more.
6
No Concern
Just put thoughts to rest and don't seek outwardly
anymore.
When things come up, then give them your attention;
just trust what
is functional in you at present, and you have nothing
to be concerned
about.
BLIND BALDIES
There are blind baldies who, after they have eaten their fill, do
zazen and practice meditation, arresting
thoughts leaking out to pram
vent them from arising, shunning clamor and seeking
quiet
deviated form of Zen.
Uncritical Acceptance
You take the words of these ordinary Zen teachers
for the real
Way, supposing that Zen teachers are incomprehensible
and as an
ordinary person you dare not attempt to assess those
old timers. You
are blind if you take this view all your life, contrary
to the evidence of
your own two eyes.
Tourist Traps
At Zen centers they say there is a Way to be practices
And a
Religious truth to be realized. Tell me, what religious
truth is realized
What way is practiced? In your present functioning,
what do you lacking
At would you fix?
Younger newcomers, not understanding this, immediately
believe
these mesmerists and let them talk about things
that tie people up.
supernormal faculties
The six supernormal faculties of the enlightened
are the ability
to enter the realm of form without being confused
by form, to enter
7
the realm of sound without being confused by sound, to enter the
realm of scent without being confused by scent,
to enter the realm of
flavor without being confused by flavor, to enter
the realm of feeling
without being confused by feeling, to enter the
realm of phenomena
without being confused by phenomena.
Objective Perception and understanding
If you want to perceive and understand objectively,
just don't
allow yourself to be confused by people. Detach
from whatever you
find inside or outside yourself detach from religion,
tradition, and
society, and only then will you attain liberation.
When you are not
entangled in things, you pass through freely to
autonomy. ~
Zero Teaching
I have no doctrine to give people-I just cure ailments
and unlock fetters
Adding Mud to Dirt
there are Zen students who are in chains when they
go to a
teacher, and the teacher adds another chain. The
students are de-
lighted, unable to discern one thing from another.
This is called a
guest looking at a guest
_
When I say there is nothing outside. students who do not understand
me interpret this in terms of inwardness, so they sit silent
and still, taking this to be Zen Buddhism.
This is a big mistake. If you take a state
of unmoving clan
be Zen, you are recognizing ignorance as a
slave master.
8
Movement and stillness
If you try to grasp Zen in movement, it goes into stillness.
IF
you to grasp Zen in stillness, it goes into movement.
It is like a fish
hidden in a spring, drumming up waves and dancing
independently.
Movement and stillness are two states. The Zen master,
whom
does not depend on anything, makes deliberate use
of both movement and
stillness
9
Zen Teaching
There is interaction if there is a call for it,
no interaction if there
is no call for it.
DEEP AND SHALLOW
| If I were to explain the source of Zen, there
wouldn't be a simile
Person around, let alone a group of five hundred
or seven hundred. If
i talk about this and that, however, you race forward
to pick it up.
This is like fooling a child with an empty
fist There is no reality in it
The zen Essence
I explain to you matters pertaining to enlightenment,
but don't
try to keep your mind on them. Just turn to the
ocean of your own
essence and develop practical accord with its true
nature.
Supernormal Capacities
You do not need supernormal capacities, because
these are out-
growths of enlightenment. For now you need to know
the mind and
get to its source.
Root and Branches
Just get the root, don't worry about the branches,
for someday
you will come to have them naturally. If you have
not attained the
10
basis, even if you consciously study you cannot attain the outgrowths
either.
The Inner Gaze
You should turn your attention within don't memorize
my
words. You have been turning from light to darkness
since before you
can remember, so the roots of your subjective ideas
are deep and hard
to uproot all at once. This is why I temporarily
use expedients to take
away your coarse perceptions.
11
False Zen Teachers
It is wrong to act as a teacher of others before
your Wind
ground is clearly illumined.
The Basis of Zen
The teaching of the mind ground is the basis
of Zen study. The
mind ground is the great awareness of being as is.
Confusion
Due to confusion, people mistake things for themselves;
covetousness flares up, and they get
into vicious cycles that cloud perceptions and shroud them in ignorance.
The vicious cycles go on and on. And people cannot be free.
THE DETERIORATION OF ZEN
The purpose of Zen is to enable people to immediately
transcend
the ordinary and the holy, just getting people to
awaken on their owing_
Many people in modern times disregard this. They
may join Zen
groups, but they are lazy about Zen study. Even
if they achieved
concentration, they do not choose real teachers.
Through the errors of
false teachers, they likewise lose the way.
Without having understood senses and objects,
as soon as they
12
possess themselves of some false interpretation they become obsessed
by it and lose the correct basis completely.
They are only interested in becoming leaders and
being known
as teachers. While they value an empty reputation
in the world, they
bring ill on themselves. Not only do they make their
successors blind
Deaf, they also cause the influence of Zen to degenerate.
SECTARIANISM
Zen is not founded or sustained on the premise that ~ is a
doctrine to be transmitted. It is just a matter
of direct guidance top
human mind, perception of its essence, and achievement
of awakening.\
How could there be any sectarian styles to be valued?
There were differences in the modes of teaching
set up by later
Zen teachers, and there were both tradition and
change. The methods
employed by a number of famous Zen masters came
to be continued
as traditions, to the point where their descendants
became sectarians
and did not get to the original reality. Eventually
they made many
digressions, contradicting and attacking each other.
They do not
distinguish the profound from the superficial, and
do not know that
the Great Way has no sides and the streams of truth
have the same flavor
DISCERNMENT
Zen teachers need first to distinguish false
and true, then they
must clearly understand the time.
DEGENERATE ZEN
Zen teachers in recent times have lost the basis, so students have
no way to learn. There is egotistical contention,
and impermanent
states are taken to be attainments.
13
Zen Buddhism includes both principle and fact. Fact is based on
principle, principle is illustrated by fact. Principle
and fact work
together like eyes and feet.
SUBJECTIVE JUDGEMENTS
If you make subjective, personalistic judgments of past am
present events, not having been through the process
of refining and
purifying your insight, this is like trying to do
a sword dance without
having learned to handle a sword.
Understanding arid Imagination
It is not possible to fathom the intention of the
words or acts of
the enlightened by indulging in fantasy.
Zen Succession
If you memorize slogans, you are unable to make
subtle adapta-
tions according to the situation. It is not that
there is no way to teach
insight to learners, but once you have learned a
way, it is essential that
you get it to work completely. If you just stick
to your teacher's schooling
and memorize slogans, this is not enlightenment,
it is a part of
intellectual knowledge.
This is why it is said, "When your perception only
equals that
of your teacher, you lessen the teacher's virtue
by half. When your
perception goes beyond the teacher, only then can
you express the
teacher's teaching."
The sixth ancestor of Zen said to someone
who had just been
awakened, "What I tell you is not a secret,The secret
is in you."
Another Zen master said to a companion, "Everything
flows
from your own heart."
14
The Work of a teacher
Someone asked Fenyang, "What is the work of a teaching
mas-
ter?" Fenyang replied, "Impersonally guiding those
with affinity."
Moon and Clouds
The original Buddha-nature of all living beings
is like the bright
moon in the sky-it is only because it is covered
by floating clouds
that it cannot appear.
independent knowing
you should know by yourself what is holy and what Wry,
what is wrong and what is right-don't be concerned
with other
judgments. How many people have ever managed to
find out ever
subltety ? People arbitrarily follow material senses,
running like idiots
TIME AND TIME OUT
When will you ever stop competing? Before you realize,
the
scenery of spring has turned to autumn. The leaves
fall, the geese
migrate, the frost gradually grows colder. Clothed
and shod, what
more do you seek?
Devil Buddha and Mind
When you know the mind, mind is Buddha. If
you don't know
It...it is the devil. Devil and Buddha are products
of one mind. Buddha is real, the devil is madness
15
DIRECT POINTING TO BASIC MIND
Few people believe their inherent mind is Buddha . Most will not
take this seriously, and therefore are cramped.
They are wrapped up
in illusions, cravings, resentments, and other afflictions,
all because
they love the cave of ignorance.
SUBTLE AWAKENING
When you suddenly realize the source of mind, you
open a box
of jewels. Honorable on earth and in the heavens,
you are aloof even
from the joy of meditation. The essence containing
all flavors is the
supreme delicacy, worth more than ten thousand ounces
of pure gold.
Communication through the Source
When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand
books
of scripture are still not enough. When you have
realized understand-
ing, even one word is already too much.
Zen is communicated personally, through mental recognition.
It
is not handed on directly by written words.
Summary of Zen Practice
.: When you're settled in Zen, your mind is serene,
unaffected by
worldly distractions. You enter the realm of enlightenment,
and transcend the ordinary world, leaving the world while in the midst
of
society.
Realizing the Way
Once you realize universal emptiness, all situations
are naturally
mastered. You have perfect communion with what is
beyond the
world, while embracing what is within all realms
of being.
If you miss the essence of Zen, after all there's
nothing to it. If
forget its function, it has spiritual effect.
The real way of nonminding is a not
a school for petty people
16
The Living Meaning of Zen
Someone asked Xuedou, "What is the living meaning
of Zen?"
Xuedou said, "The mountains are high, the oceans
are wide."
Where Do You Get It?
Someone asked Xuedou, "As it is said, 'The one road
beyond is
not transmitted by any of the sages.' Where did
you get it?"
Xuedou said, "I thought you were a Zen practitioner."
An Eye-opening Experience
Where the sword wheel flies, sun and moon lose their
shine;
when the jewel staff strikes, heaven and earth lose
their color. Through
this experience, all devils' guts burst; through
this experience, all
sages' eyes open.
illuminating perception
When you illuminate your perception, your eyes are
like a
thousand suns, so that nothing can escape notice.
Ordinarily, people
just have never been so observant, but they should
not give up in
frustration because of underestimating themselves.
Truth and Wisdom
The wise boldly pick up a truth as soon as they hear it. Don't
wait for a moment, or you'll lose your head.
17
Zen Teaching
Someone asked Xuedou, "What is your manner of teaching?"
Xuedou replied, "When guests come, one should see
them."
Spoiling the Broth
Once there was a Zen elder who didn't talk to his
group at all
during a retreat. One of the group said, "This way,
I've wasted the
whole retreat. I don't expect the teacher to explain
Buddhism; it would
be enough to hear the two words 'Absolute Truth.'
"
The elder heard of this and said, "Don't be so quick
to complain.
There's not even a single word to say about 'Absolute
Truth.' " Then
when he had said this, he gnashed his teeth and
said, "It was pointless
to say that."
In the next room was another elder who overheard
this and said,
"A fine pot of soup, befouled by two rat droppings."
Whose pot hasn't one or two droppings in it?
The Zen River
The river of Zen is quiet, even in the waves; the water of stability
is clear, even in the waves.
18
Teacherless Knowledge
The universal body of reality is so subtle that
you do not hear it
when you deliberately listen for it, and you do
not see it when you
look at it. As for the pure knowledge that has no
teacher, how can it
be attained by thought or study?
OPEN Your Eyes
Seekers should open their own eyes don't let yourselves
in
For regret later on. Zen cannot be teached by psychic
powers
Or by cultivation of special experiences. Zen cannot be discussed by
means of the knowledge of intelligence of the mearly learned
Knowledge arid Feelings
The basis of sentient existence is the ocean of
knowledge, which
is its source. The substance of the flow of conscious
existence is the
body of Reality.
But when feelings arise, knowledge is blocked, so
true reality is
unknown irk everyday life. As mental images change,
things diner,
with people tending toward objects of habit and
not returning.
The Zen Way
The Way does not need cultivation-just don't defile
it. Zen does
not need study-the important thing is stopping the
mind.
19
When the mind is stopped, there is no rumination. Because it is
not cultivated, you walk on the Way at every step.
When there is no rumination, there is no world to
transcend.
Because it is not cultivated, there is no Way to
seek.
Seeking
To travel around to various schools looking for
teachers is outward
seeking. To take the inherent nature of awareness
as the ocean and the
silent knowledge of transcendent wisdom as Zen,
is called inward
seeking.
To seek outwardly busies you fatally; to seek inwardly
while
dwelling on mind and body binds you fatally.
Therefore Zen is neither inward nor outward, not
being or
nonbeing, not real or false. As it is said, "Inner
and outer views are
both wrong."
Leavings
"When ordinary and sacred feeling. are forgotten,
Being is
revealed, real and eternal. Just detach from arbitrary
involvements,
and you awaken to Being as it is."
Although these are the leavings of an ancient Zen
master, there
are many people who cannot partake of them. I've
lost considerable
profit just by bringing them up.
Can anyone discern? If you can, you will recognize
the disease
of "Buddhism" and the disease of "Zen."
Living Zen
To drink up the ocean and turn a mountain upside
down is a
ordinary affair for a Zennist. Zen seekers should
sit on the site of
Universal enlightenment right in the midst of all
the thorny situations
in life, and recognize their original face while mixing with the ordinary,
world.
20
Real Detachment
"Where people of today dwell, I do not dwell. What
people of
today do, I do not do." If you clearly understand
what this really
means, you must be able to enter a pit of fire with
your whole body.
Golden Chains
Someone asked Huanglong, "It is said that someone
who is
uncontrived and unconcerned is still hindered by
golden chains what
is wrong?"
Huanglong said, "When a word enters the public domain,
it can't
be withdrawn for nine years."
In and Out
All sages since remote antiquity have entered
the pit of life and
death, gone into the fire of ignorance, to help
people out. What about
you? How do you enter?
If people can enter, this can be called not burning
in fire, not
drowning In water.
If people cannot enter, they not only cannot
help themselves,
they cannot help others.
21
Lost and Found
When body and mind are pure, all things are pure.
When all
things are pure, body and mind are pure.
"The coin lost in the river is to be retrieved from
the river."
Still Worldly
When you detach from the whole universe, everywhere
is dark.
When you let go of the absolute, the rain is seasonal
and the breeze is
moderate. Even so, there is still worldliness there.
The Ancient Teaching
Someone asked Yangqi, "As it is said, 'If you want
to escape
from clamor in the mind, you should read the ancient
teaching.' What
is the ancient teaching?"
Yangqi replied, "The moon is bright in space, the
waves are calm
on the ocean. "
The inquirer asked, "How does one read it?"
Yangqi said, "Watch your step."
The Supreme Vehicle of Zen
I am asked to expound the supreme vehicle of Zen,
but if it is
the supreme vehicle, even the sages stand aside, buddhas and
Zen
masters disappear.
Why? Because you are all the same as the buddhas
of old.
22
But can you really believe and trust this?
If you really can, let us all disband and go our
separate ways.
If you don't leave, I'll go on fooling you.
Mind and Phenomena
Mind is the faculty, phenomena are the data: both
are like
scratches in a mirror.
When there are no scratches or dust, the clarity
of the mirror shows.
When mind and phenomena are both forgotten, then
your nature is real
Silent Zen
Someone asked Yangqi, "When the founder of Zen came from
India to China, he sat facing a wall for nine years
what does this mean?"
Yangqi said, "As an Indian, he couldn't speak Chinese."
23
Zen Teaching
To be a Zen teacher, it is imperative to "drive
away the plow-
man's ox, snatch away the hungry man's food."
When you drive away the
plowman's ox, that makes his crops
abundant; when you snatch away the hungry man's
food, that frees
him from hunger forever.
For most people
that hear this saying, it is like the wind passing
the ears. If you drive away the plowman's ox, how
does that make his
crops abundant? If you snatch away the hungry man's
food, how does
that free him from hunger?
At this point, you must have the ability to drive
away the
plowman's ox and snatch away the hungry man's food,
then give a
pressing thrust, causing people to reach their wit's
end. Then you tell
them, "Blessings are not received twice, calamities
do not occur alone."
Something Indescribable
There is something in the world that is neither
in the sphere of
the ordinary nor in the sphere of the holy. It is
neither in the realm of
the false nor in the realm of the true.
Halcyon
When there is not a speck of cloud dotting the great
clarity for
ten thousand miles, sun and moon in the original
sky are of themselves
clear.
It is not permitted for a general to see great peace, but a general
may establish great peace.
24
The Goal of Zero
To study Zen, first you must obtain directions to
the ultimate
goal. Hearing sound and seeing form are inconceivable.
From the
eternal sky every night the moon shines on every
home; its reflection
descends into a quiet pool, but how many know?
Seeking without Finding
Few seekers of Zen attain it. When will judgments
ever cease? If
you talk about high and low based on words, that
is like before
enlightenment.
Everyone Car Arrive
There is a road to emptiness by which everyone can
arrive.
Those who do arrive realize that its rich flavor
is lasting. The ground
of mind doesn't produce useless plants; naturally
the body radiates
light.
Talking about Zen
Talking about Zen all the time is like looking for
fish tracks in a
dry riverbed.
25
The Aim of Zen
When enlightened Zen masters set up teachings for
a spiritual
path, the only concern is to clarify the mind to
arrive at its source. It
is complete in everyone, yet people turn away from
this basic mind
because of their illusions.
Immediate Zen
If you have developed great capacity and cutting
insight, you can
undertake Zen right where you are. Without getting
it from another,
you understand clearly on your own.
The penetrating spiritual light and vast open tranquility
have
never been interrupted since beginningless time.
The pure, uncon-
trived, ineffable, complete true mind does not act
as a partner to
objects of material sense, and is not a companion
of myriad things.
When the mind is always as clear and bright as ten
suns shining
together, detached from views and beyond feelings,
cutting through
the ephemeral illusions of birth and death, this
is what is meant by
the saying, "Mind itself is Buddha."
Intellectual Egotists
Many worldly intellectuals just study Zen for something
to talk
about, something that will enhance their reputation.
They consider
this a lofty interest, and try to use it to assert
superiority over others.
This just increases their egotism.
Motivation
When your original reason for studying Zen is not
right, you
wind up having labored without accomplishment. This is why an-
26
-cients used to urge people to study Zen as if they were on the brink
of
death.
Peace
Human lives go along with circumstances. It is not
necessary to
reject activity and seek quiet; just make yourself
inwardly empty while
outwardly harmonious. Then you will be at peace
in the midst of
frenetic activity in the world.
Instant Zen
In Zen, it is not difficult for those of keen faculties
and higher
insight to attain a thousand understandings at one
hearing.
Firm Footing
It is necessary for your footing to be firm and
solid, accurate and
sure. Taking control and being the master, you become
one with all
different situations, like space without barriers.
When profound, open
clarity has no change, and is consistent at all
times, only then can you
be at peace.
Changing Methods
Zen teachers of true vision and great liberation
have made
changes in method along the way, to prevent people
from sticking to
names and forms and falling into rationalizations.
The Purpose of Zen
Over the course of centuries, Zen has branched out
into different
schools with individual methods, but the purpose
is still the same-to
point directly to the human mind.
27
Once the ground of mind is clarified, there is no obstruction at
All you shed views and interpretations that are
based on concepts
such as victory and defeat, self and others, right
and wrong.
Thus you pass through all that and reach a realm
of great rest
and tranquillity.
Opening the Mind
Zen requires opening the mind and losing all false
cognition and
false views. When nothing hangs on your mind and
you have passed
through cleanly, then you are ready for refinement.
Buddha's Teachings
When a buddha appears in the world and expounds
various
teachings according to people's inclinations, all
of the teachings are
expedients, just for the purpose of breaking through
obsessions,
doubts, intellectual interpretations, and egocentric
ideas.
If there were no such false consciousness and false
views, there
would be no need for buddhas to appear and expound
so many
teachings.
Release
In Zen, sudden release into realization isn't subject
to either ruin
or support by other people. Be totally aloof, and
one day you will
boldly pass through with penetrating senses to experience
Zen di-
rectly.
Then you use it at will, you act at will, without
so many things
going through your mind.
When this is developed to maturity and you let go
all at once,
you immediately attain rest and comfort right where
you are.
Half-Baked Zen
What is most difficult to rectify is half-baked Zen, where you
stick to quiet stillness and consider this the ultimate
treasure, keeping
28
it in your heart, radiantly aware of it all the time, carrying around
a
bunch of mixed-up knowledge and understanding, claiming
to have
vision and to have attained the approval of a Zen
master, just increasing
your egoism.
Zen Mind
In those who attain Zen, mental machinations disappear,
vision
and action are forgotten, and there are no subjective
views.
Zen adepts just remain free, and are imperceptible
to anyone,
either would-be supporters or would-be antagonists.
They walk on the bottom of the deepest ocean, uncontaminated,
with free minds, acting normally, indistinguishable
from the average
person.
Though they liberate their minds directly and develop
to this
state, they still are unwilling to dwell here.
They sense the slightest thing as mountainous; anything
that
seems to cause obstruction they immediately push
away.
Although this is purely the ground of noumenon,
there is still
nothing in it to grasp. If you grasp it, it becomes
a sticky view.
Therefore it is said, "The Tao is mindless of union
with human-
ity; when people are unminding, they unite with
the Tao."
How could anyone show off and claim to have attained
Zen?
Living and Dead Words
Study the living word of Zen, not the dead word.
When you
attain understanding of the living word, you never
forget it. When
you attain understanding of the dead word, you can't
even save
yourself.
The Sword of Death, the Sword of Life
It is said that you need the sword that kills in
order to kill, and
you need the sword that gives life in order to give
life.
29
Once people have been killed, they should be brought to life, and
once they have been brought to life they should
be killed.
If either type of technique is used in isolation,
there is an
imbalance.
Don't Seek Zen
If you want to attain intimate realization of Zen,
first of all don't
seek it. What is attained by seeking has already
fallen into intellection.
The great treasury of Zen has always been open and
clear; it has
always been the source of power for all your actions.
But only when you stop your compulsive mind, to
reach the
point where not a single thing is born, do you pass
through to freedom,
not falling into feelings and not dwelling on concepts,
transcending all
completely.
Then Zen is obvious everywhere in the world, with
the totality
of everything everywhere turning into its great
function.
Everything comes from your own heart. This is what
one ancient
called bringing out the family treasure.
Direct Experience of Zen
Zen originally is not established on slogans, it
just points directly
to the human mind.
Direct pointing is just pointing to that which is
inherent in
everyone, though in a shell of unawareness.
When the whole being appears responsively, it is
no different
from that of the sages since antiquity.
This is what is called the originally pure subtle
luminosity of
naturally real essence, which swallows and spits
out the whole uni-
verse, individually freed from the material senses.
Only by detaching from thoughts and cutting off
feelings, utterly
transcending ordinary parameters, with great perceptivity
and great
insight, using inherent power, can this be directly
experienced in your
present situation.
30
Zen Attainment
An ancient master said, "Those who have attained
Zen just keep
free, desireless and independent all the time."
Zen Practice
Just still the thoughts in your mind. It is good
to do this right in
the midst of disturbance. When you are working on
this, penetrate the
heights and the depths.
Liberation
Let go of all your previous imaginings, opinions,
interpretations,
worldly knowledge, intellectualism, egoism, and
competitiveness; be-
come like a dead tree, like cold ashes. When you
reach the point where
feelings are ended, views are gone, and your mind
is clean and naked,
you open up to Zen realization.
After that it is also necessary to develop consistency,
keeping the
mind pure and free from adulteration at all times.
If there is the
slightest fluctuation, there is no hope of transcending
the world.
Cut through resolutely, and then your state will
be peaceful.
When you cannot be included in any stage, whether
of sages or of
ordinary people, then you are like a bird freed
from its cage.
Resolve
The Way is arrived at by enlightenment. The first
priority is to
establish resolveÄit is no small matter to
step directly from the
bondage of the ordinary person into transcendent
experience of the
realm of sages. It requires that your mind be firm
as steel to cut off
the flow of birth and death, accept your original
real nature, not see
anything at all as existing inside or outside yourself,
and make your
heart perfectly clear, without any obstruction,
so all actions and
endeavors emerge from the fundamental.
31
The Essential Point
The essential point in learning Zen is to make the
roots deep and
the stem firm. Twenty-four hours a day, be aware
of where you are
and what you do.
When no thoughts have arisen and nothing at all
is on your mind,
you merge with the boundless and become wholly empty
and still.
Then your actions are not interrupted by doubt and
hesitation.
This is called the fundamental matter right at hand.
As soon as you produce any opinion or interpretation,
and want
to attain Zen and be a master, you have already
fallen into psycholog-
ical and material realms. You have become trapped
by ordinary senses
and perceptions, by ideas of gain and loss, by ideas
of right and
wrong. Half drunk and half sober, you cannot manage
effectively.
Don't Linger
As soon as you sense any lingering or obstruction,
all of it is false
imagining. Just make your mind clean and free, like
space, like a
mirror, like the sun in the sky.
Autonomy arid Integration
When you are free and independent, you are not bound
by
anything, so you do not seek liberation. Consummating
the process of
Zen, you become unified. Then there are no mundane
things outside
of Buddhism, and there is no Buddhism outside of
mundane things.
Consulting Teachers
Step back on your own to look into reality long
enough to attain
an unequivocally true and real experience of enlightenment.
Then
with every thought you are consulting infinite teachers.
32
Substance and Function
Complete, tranquil, open, still such is the substance
of the
Way. Expanding, contracting, killing, giving life
such is its subtle
function.
Extremes
If you haven't attained clear true vision, this
causes you to lapse
into extremes, so that you lose contact with reality.
Tools
The words of buddhas and Zen masters are just tools,
means of
gaining access to truth. Once you are clearly enlightened
and experi-
ence truth, all the teachings are within you.
Then you look upon the verbal teachings of buddhas
and Zen
masters as something in the realm of reflections
or echoes, and you do
not wear them around on your head.
Misuse of Tools
Nowadays many Zen students do not go to the root
of the design
of Zen, instead they just try to pick out sayings
and discuss them in
terms of familiarity and strangeness, of winning
and losing. They
interpret the ephemeral as being real.
Snowflakes on a Furnace
You should refrain from dependence on anything at
all, pure or
impure. Then mindfulness and mindlessness, views
and no view, will
be like a snowflake on a red-hot furnace.
33
Nonminding
When you are inwardly empty and quiet, while outwardly
detached from perception, you naturally attain penetrating
experience
of nonminding, which means that even if everything
happens at once,
that cannot disturb your spirit, and even though
all kinds of troubles
face you, that does not affect your thoughts.
Serene Response
When you can actively respond to changes in the
midst of the
hurry-burly of life while being inwardly empty and
serene, and can
also avoid infatuation with quietude when in a quiet
environment,
then wherever you are is where you live. Only those
who have attained
the fundamental are capable of being inwardly empty
while outwardly
harmonious.
Zen Life and Death
The capacity of speech is not only in the tongue,
the ability to
talk is not just a matter of words.
The enlightened know that spoken words are not to
be relied on,
so the sayings of the ancient Zen masters are only
intended to induce
people to directly witness the nexus of causes and
conditions that
constitute what has always been of greatest concern.
Therefore the teachings of the Buddhist scriptures
are like fingers
pointing to the moon. When you know this matter
of greatest concern,
then you stop formal study and apply this knowledge
thoroughly,
using it with comprehensive penetration.
Eventually you will reach the point of immovability,
where you
can pick up Zen and use it, putting it away and
letting it out expertly.
Then you can see through ordinary situations and
detach from
them without leaving a trace.
And when you come to the border of life and death,
when they
interlock but do not mix, you depart serenely, unperturbed.
This is
the Zen of facing death.
34
Zen Teachers
Zen teachers should be compassionate, gentle, and
skilled at
adaptation, dealing with people impartially, minding
their own busi-
ness and not contending with anyone.
Dealing with Opposition
If people find fault with you and try to put you
in a bad light,
wrongly slandering and vilifying you, just step
back and observe
yourself. Don't harbor any dislike, don't enter
into any contests, and
don't get upset, angry, or resentful.
Just cut right through it and be as if you never
heard or saw it.
Eventually malevolent pests will disappear of themselves.
If you contend with them, then a bad name will bounce
back
and forth with never an end in sight.
Zen Enlightenment and Zen Work
An ancient Zen master said that Zen is like learning
archery;
only after long practice do you hit the bullseye.
Enlightenment is experienced instantaneously, but
Zen work
must be done over a long time, like a bird that
when first hatched is
naked and scrawny, but then grows feathers as it
is nourished, until it
can fly high and far.
Therefore those who have attained clear penetrating
enlighten-
ment then need fine tuning.
When it comes to worldly situations, by which ordinary
people
get suffocated, those who have attained Zen get
through them all by
being empty. Thus everything is their own gateway
to liberation.
False Zen Teachers
Zen teachers without the methodology
of real experts unavoid-
ably cheat and deceive those whom they try to teach,
leading them
into confusion, fooling around with a bunch of curios.
35
Zen Devices
The intention of all Zen devices, states, sayings,
and expressions
is in their ability to hook the seeker. The only
important thing is
liberationÄpeople should not be attached to
the means.
Cliche
Although the great Zen teachers did not establish
cliches and
slogans, eventually seekers misapprehended this
and turned this itself
into a cliche and a slogan-they made a cliche of
no cliche, and a
slogan of no slogan. They should not cling to the
means as an end.
Perception and Response
Unless your heart is open and serene, with nothing
touching
your feelings, how can you respond completely without
error and
perceive things before they begin to act?
Essential Nature and Ultimate Truth
Zen study requires you to see your essential nature
and under-
stand ultimate truth.
Immediately forget feelings and detach from perceptions,
so your
heart is clear and your mind is simple, not comparing
gain and loss,
not making a contest of better and worse.
Unconcern
Cut through all situations and don't allow yourself
to continue
with thoughts of whether these situations are favorable
or adverse.
Eventually you will naturally reach the realm of
nondoing and uncon-
cern. But if you have the slightest desire for unconcern,
this has
already become a concern.
36
Pride
If you have the idea of superiority and are proud
of your ability,
this is a disaster.
Concepts arid Training
To study Zen conceptually is like drilling in ice
for fire, like
digging a hole to look for the sky. It just increases
mental fatigue. To
study Zen by training is adding mud to dirt, scattering
sand in the
eyes, impeding you more and more.
Penetrating Zen
People who are sharp should have their feet on the
ground, and
need an iron spine, traveling through the world
looking on everything
as illusory, holding still and being the master,
not following human
sentiments, cutting through discrimination between
others and self,
and getting rid of intellectual interpretations
of Zen.
Then, when it comes to practical function, responding
to condi-
tions, they don't fall into cliches. Developing
single-minded persist-
ence, keeping profound calm, lightening body and
mind, while in the
midst of the toil of the world they penetrate through
to freedom.
Trust and Insight
If you can give up your former knowledge and understanding,
thus making your heart open, not keeping anything
at all on your
mind, so you experience a clear empty solidity where
speech and
thought do not apply, you will directly merge with
the fundamental
source, sinking into the infinite, spontaneously
attaining inherent
wisdom that has no attainment.
This is called thorough trust and penetrating insight.
There is,
moreover, still boundless, fathomless, measureless
great potential and
great function yet to be realized.
37
Stumbled Past
As soon as you try to chase and grab Zen, you've
already
stumbled past it.
Zen Experience
Set aside all the slogans you have learned and all
the intellectual
views that stick to your skin and cling to your
flesh. Make your mind
empty, not manifesting any thoughts on your own,
not doing anything
at all. Then you can attain thoroughgoing Zen experience.
But even when you reach this point, you should still
realize that
there is progressive action that transcends a teacher.
Direct Zen
If you have great perceptions and capacities, you
need not
necessarily contemplate the sayings and stories
of ancient Zen masters.
Just correct your attention and quiet your mind
from the time you
arise in the morning, and whatever you say or do,
review it carefully
and see where it comes from and what makes all this
happen.
Once you can pass through right in the midst of
present worldly
conditions, the same applies to all conditions what
need is there to
remove them?
Then you can go beyond "Zen," transcend all parameters,
and
magically produce a sanctuary of purity, effortlessness,
and coolness,
right in the midst of the turmoil of the world.
Nondualism
You do not have to abandon worldly activities in
order to attain
effortless unconcern. You should know that worldly
activities and
effortless unconcern are not two different things but if you
keep
thinking about rejection and grasping, you make
them into two.
38
Nonabiding
A scripture says, "All things are established on
a nonabiding
Another scripture says, "Activate the mind without
dwelling on
anything."
An ancient Zen master said, "Don't mind anything
or dwell on
anything, whether of the world or beyond the world."
If you dwell on anything, you get stuck, and cannot
change
effectively.
Subjective Zen
Many intelligent people understand Zen subjectively,
and are
unable to let go of their subjectivity. They still
their minds without
experiencing their real nature, and think this is
emptiness. They try
to abandon existence to cling to emptiness. This
is a serious malady.
Dissolving Illusions
It is necessary to detach from both rejection and
clinging, from
both being and nonbeing, so that you are unburdened,
completely
tranquil, empty and still, calm and peaceful.
Then you can trust this true pure ineffable mind,
and when
mundane conditions beckon involvement, you notice
it doesn't go
along with them.
You can only do this by long-term work on your own,
empty and
free, to dissolve away illusions and bring about
your own insight.
Basic Mind
When you are aware of the completeness, fluidity, and bound-
lessness of the basic mind, how can sense objects
be partners to it?
Basic mind is utterly free, open and pure, clear
and ethereal; keep
39
thoroughly aware of it, and do not allow superficiality. Then it is
so
high there is nothing above it, so broad it is boundless;
clean and bare,
perfectly round, this basic mind is without contamination
or contri-
vance.
40
Saving Energy
Zen practice requires detachment from thought. This
is the best
way to save energy. Just detach from emotional thought
and under-
stand that there is no objective world. Then you
will know how to
practice Zen.
Mind and World
Once there was a monk who specialized in the Buddhist
precepts,
and had kept to them all his life. Once when he
was walking at night,
he stepped on something. It made a squishing sound,
and he imagined
he had stepped on an egg-bearing frog. This caused
him no end of
alarm and regret, in view of the Buddhist precept
against taking life,
and when he finally went to sleep that night he
dreamed that hundreds
of frogs came to him demanding his life.
The monk was terribly upset, but when morning came
he looked
and found that what he had stepped on was an overripe
eggplant. At
that moment his feeling of uncertainty suddenly
stopped, and for the
first time he realized the meaning of the saying
that there is no objective
world. Then he finally knew how to practice Zen.
Inherent Zen
Why do you not understand your nature, when it is
inherently
there? There is not much to Buddhismit just requires
getting to the
essential.
We do not teach you to annihilate random thoughts,
suppress
41
body and mind, shut your eyes, and say this is Zen.
Zen is not like
this.
You should observe your present state-what is the
reason for it?
Why do you become confused?
Discrimination and Nondiscrimination
You should become aware of the nondiscriminating
mind without
leaving the discriminating mind; become aware of
that which has no
perception without leaving perception.
Independence
What do you go to a "Zen center" for? You should
make a living
on your own, and not listen to what others say.
Who Is It?
Search back into your own vision think back to the
mind that
thinks. Who is it?
Mind's Eye
It is as though you have an eye that sees all forms
but does not
see itself this is how your mind is. Its light penetrates
everywhere
and engulfs everything, so why does it not know
itself?
Rationalizations
As soon as you rationalize, it is hard to understand
Zen. You will
have to stop rationalizing before you will get it.
Some people hear this kind of talk and say there is nothing to say
and no reason they do not realize they are already rationalizing when
they do this.
42
Going in Circles
Why do you not understand your mind? First you make
"your
own mind" into a cliche, then you use your mind
to seek its realization.
This is called driving a spike into a stump and
then running in circles
around the stump.
Recognition
Zen enlightenment is as if you have been away from
home for
many years, when you suddenly see your father in
town. You know
him right away, without a doubt. There is no need
to ask anyone else
whether he is your father or not.
Zen Perception
You can be called a Zen student only when you perceive
before
signs appear, before falling into thought, before
ideas sprout.
Stepping Back
You should step back and investigate. How do you
step back? It
is not a matter of sitting there ignoring everything,
stiffly repressing
body and mind so that they are like earth or wood-that
will never do
any good.
When you want to step back, if there are any sayings
you do not
understand, or any stories you do not comprehend,
they are then right
before you. Step back and see for yourself why you
do not understand.
Doubt and Understanding
If you want to understand Zen, you must question
inwardly to
study it deeply. If you question deeply, transcendental
knowledge
appears.
43
Just You
An ancient Zen master, seeing a monk go down a staircase,
called
to him, "Reverend!" The monk turned around, whereat
the Zen
master said, "From birth to old age, it's just you
why turn your head
and revolve your brains?"
The monk understood Zen at this remark.
What is this principle? "From birth to old age,
it's just you." Tell
me, who is this? As soon as you arouse the intention
of seeing who
you are, you don't see yourself. It is hard to see
yourself very
difficult.
People today say, "I am myself who else?" Ninety-nine
out of
a hundred understand in this way. What kind of grasp
is this on the
matter? If you understand in this way, how do you
understand the
matter of "from birth to old age"? How can you see
it's just you?
Personalistic Zen
People these days are just the same as they have
been all along,
and their capabilities are the same as they have
been all along:
continuously fluctuating. The reason they are uncertain
is because
they make up intellectual understandings of the
words of ancient Zen
teachers, using personalistic approaches.
Misunderstanding
Ancient Zen teachers were so compassionate that
they said,
"Activity is Buddha activity, sitting is Buddha
sitting, all things
are Buddha teachings, all sounds are Buddha voices."
It is, how-
ever, a misunderstanding to think this means all
sounds are actually
the voice of enlightenment, or that all forms are
actually forms of
enlightenment.
Fixation
The minute you fixate on the recognition that "This
is 'it,' " you
are immediately bound hand and foot and cannot move around anymore.
44
So as soon as it is given this recognition, nothing
is right,
whatever it may be. If you don't fixate on recognition,
you can still be
saved.
It's like making a boat and outfitting it for a
thousand mile
journey to a treasure trove; if you drive a stake
and tie the boat to it
before you jump in and start rowing, you can row
till kingdom come
and still be on the beach. You see the boat waving
this way and that,
and you think you are on the move, but you've never
gone a single
step.
Know Yourself
I tell people to get to know themselves. Some people
think this
means what beginners observe, and consider it easy
to understand.
Reflect more carefully, in a more leisurely manner
what do you call
your self?
Misapplication
Buddhism is an easily understood teaching that saves
energy, but
people cause themselves pains. The ancients saw
people helpless, and
told them to try meditating quietly. This was good
advice, but later
people didn't understand what the ancients meant,
and closed their
eyes, suppressed body and mind, and sat like lumps
waiting for
enlightenment. How foolish!
Subjective Objects
Objects are defined subjectively. Since objects
are defined arbi-
trarily, this gives rise to your arbitrary subjectivity.
Nonsubjectivity
When you see, let there be no seer or seen; when
you hear, let
there be no hearer or heard; when you think, let
there be no thinker
or thought.
45
Buddhism is extremely easy and saves the most energy. It's just
that you yourself waste energy and cause yourself
trouble.
The Veil of Light
Some senior Zen students say they don't rationalize
at all, don't
calculate and compare at all, don't cling to sound
and form, don't rest
on defilement and purity. They say the sacred and
the profane,
delusion and enlightenment, are a single clear emptiness.
They say
there are no such things in the midst of great light.
They are veiled by
the light of wisdom, fixated on wisdom. They are
incurable.
Distorted by a Teacher
The second ancestor of Zen used to give talks wherever
he
happened to be, and all who heard him attained true
awareness. He
didn't establish any slogans or talk about causes
and effects of practice
and realization.
In his time there was a certain meditation teacher
who sent a top
disciple to listen in on the Zen ancestor. The disciple
never came back.
The meditation teacher was furious, and took the
occasion of a
congress to upbraid his former disciple for disloyalty.
The former disciple said, "My perception was originally
true,
but it was distorted by a teacher."
Later someone asked a Zen master, "Where is my power
of
perception?" The Zen master said, "It is not obtained
from a teacher."
This is the way to attain Zen. An ancient said,
"The Way is
always with people, but people themselves chase
after things."
Turning Things Around
In the scriptures it says, "If you can turn things
around, this is
the same as enlightenment." How can things be turned
around?
Scripture also says, "All appearances are illusory. If you see
appearances are not the same as true characteristics,
you see where
enlightenment comes from."
46
An ancient Zen master said, "If you deny appearances as you
see them, you do not see where enlightenment comes
from."
Just step back, stop mental machinations, and try
to become
aware of all the implications of these sayings.
If you suddenly see
through, how can you be affected by anything?
What Deludes You?
Only when you actually get to the state where there
is neither
delusion nor enlightenment are you finally comfortable
and conserving
the most energy.
But for this you have to be someone who has neither
delusion
nor enlightenment.
During the twenty-four hours of the day, what is
there deluding
you? You should make a truthful assessment of yourself.
Where You Cannot Fool Yourself
When you sit meditating and enter into absorption,
you should
have no concerns or problems in yourself. Try to
think independently,
all by yourself. Other people don't know what you're
doing all the
time. You reflect on yourself and see whether what
you are doing
accords with truth or not. Here you cannot fool
yourself.
A Method of Sudden Enlightenment
Just don't arouse the mind or stir thoughts twenty-four
hours a
day. Then you will understand comprehensive realization
all at once.
Seek without Seeking
If you seek, how is that different from pursuing
sound and form?
If you don't seek, how are you different from earth, wood, or stone?
You must seek without seeking.
47
Misperception
Suppose a bit of filth gets stuck to a man's nose
while he is
sleeping. When he awakens, unaware of what has happened,
he may
notice an odor and start smelling his shirt. Thinking
his shirt stinks,
he takes it off. But then whatever he picks up smells
bad to him. He
doesn't realize the smell is on his nose.
Someone tells him, but he doesn't believe it. Told
to wipe his
nose, he refuses.
He'll realize sooner if he wipes off his nose, but
when he
eventually washes his face he'll find there is no
odor. Then he'll find,
when he smells things, that they do not stink after
all.
Zen study is like this. Those who will not stop
and look into
themselves go on looking for intellectual understanding.
That pursuit
of intellectual understanding, seeking rationalizations
and making
comparisons, is all wrong.
If people would turn their attention back to the
self, they would
understand everything.
Rationalizations
At other places they either put you to work or sit
you still. Here
I neither put you to work nor sit you still. This
is easy to understand,
with a minimum of effort, so why don't you understand?
Simply
because of your countless clever rationalizations.
This is what makes
it hard for you to understand.
Ordinary Perceptions and Enlightenment
How can you equate ordinary perceptions with actual
sudden
enlightenment?
Sudden enlightenment is like when a farmer plowing
the fields
finds one of the pills of immortality and goes to
heaven with his whole
family after taking it.
It is also like an ordinary person being made a prime minister.
In Buddhist teachings it says that ordinary perceptions
are like a
clay pot that has not been fired and therefore cannot
be used. You have
48
to bake it in a fire before you can use it. That is like attaining
sudden
enlightenment.
Zen and Enlightenment
I once asked my teacher, "Is there effective enlightenment in
He replied, "How could it be attained without enlightenment?
But seek without haste or excitement."
What's Wrong?
For your part, obviously something is wrong with
you that's
why you go to others for certainty. If you were
all right, why would
you go ask others?
What's Right?
I just point out where you're right. If you're wrong,
I'll never say
you're right. I'll wait until you are right. I'll
only agree with you when
you're right.
I can see everything. When I see people come to
me, I know
whether they have enlightenment or not, and whether
they have
understanding or not, like a physician who recognizes
an ailment at
first sight and knows its nature and whether or
not it can be cured.
Someone who has to ask about each symptom to find
out what's
wrong is a mediocre doctor.
A Doze of Zen
Nowadays there are people who just sit there as they are. At
first
they are alert, but after a while they get sleepy.
Nine out of ten sit
there dozing. If you don't know how to work, how
can you sit there
stubbornly expecting to understand?
49
Sleeping and Eating Zen
My teacher said, "When you are asleep, study Zen
as you sleep.
When you are eating, study Zen as you eat."
True, Imitation, and Remnant Zen
Usually it is said that there is true Buddhism,
and then there are
imitations and remnants. I say that Buddhism does
not have true,
imitation, and remnant versions. Buddhism is always
in the world: if
you get the point, it is true; if you miss the point,
it is an imitation or
a remnant.
Boundaries and Traps
You shouldn't set up limits in boundless openness,
but if you set
up limitlessness as boundless openness, you've trapped
yourself.
This is why those who understand emptiness have
no mental
image of emptiness.
If people use words to label and describe the mind,
they never
apprehend the mind, but if they don't use words
to label and describe
the mind, they still don't apprehend the mind.
Transcending Subject arid Object
Those who realize Zen enlightenment transcend subject
and
object. There is no other mysterious principle besides
this.
In the course of ordinary daily activities, when
you see colors it
is a time of realization, and when you hear sounds
it is a time of
realization. When you eat and drink, this too is
a time of realization.
This means all these are times of realization when
you transcend
subject and object in everything.
This is not a matter of long practice, and doesn't
need cultivation.
It is right here, yet worldly people don't recognize it.
So it is said, "Only with experiential realization
do you know the
unfathomable. "
50
Natural Revelation
The Way is not only evident after, explanation and
demonstration,
because it is always being revealed naturally.
Explanation and demonstration are expedients used
to enable
you to realize intuitive understanding; they are
only temporary by-
ways.
Whether you attain realization through explanation,
or enter in
through demonstration, or reach the goal by spontaneous
sensing
through individual awareness, ultimately there is
no different thing or
separate attainment.It is just a matter of reaching
the source of mind.
A Sacred Cow
People studying Zen today think dialogue is essential
to the Zen
school. They do not realize this is grasping and
rejecting, producing imagination.
Check Yourself
You must know how to check yourself before you can
attain Zen.
It is because of confused minds that people strive
on the Way; they go
to mountains and forests to see teachers, on the
false assumption that
there is a particular path that can give people
peace and comfort. They
do not know it is best to work on finding out where
they got confused.
Oversimplified Zen
Many people today consider the immediate mirrorlike awareness
to be the ultimate rule. This is why an ancient
master said, "Does it
exist where there are no people?"
51
The Power of the Way
For those who arrive on the Way, everything is "it."
This power
is very great.
It is only the infection
of endless false consciousness that makes
the function of the power defective.
52
The Realm of the Enlightened
The Flower Ornament Scripture says, "If you want
to know the
realm of the enlightened, you should make your mind
as clear as
space; detach from subjective imaginings and from
all grasping, mak-
ing your mind unimpeded wherever it turns."
The realm of the enlightened is not an external
realm with
manifest characteristics; buddhahood is the realm
of the sacred knowl-
edge found in oneself.
You do not need paraphernalia, practices, or realizations
to attain
It what you need to do is to clean out the influences
of the psycholog-
ical afflictions connected with the external world
that have been
accumulating in your psyche since beginningless
time.
Make your mind as wide open as cosmic space; detach
from
graspings in the conceptual consciousness, and false
ideas and imagin-
ings will also be like empty space. Then this effortless
subtle mind
will naturally be unimpeded wherever it turns.
See Buddha Everywhere
The Flower Ornament Scripture says, "Do not see
Buddha in one
phenomenon, one event, one body, one land, one being
see Buddha
everywhere."
Buddha means awake, being aware everywhere and always.
See-
ing Buddha everywhere means seeing your own inherent
natural
Buddha in the fundamental wellspring of your self.
There is not a single time, a single place, a single
phenomenon,
a single event, a single body, a single land, a single realm
of being,
where this is not present.
53
Disconcerting Thoughts
When you are studying Zen, as you meet with people
and deal
with situations, never let bad thoughts continue.
If you come up with
a bad thought unawares, immediately focus your attention
and root
the thought out. If you just follow that thought
and continue such
thinking uninterrupted, this will not only hinder
Zen realization, it
will make you a fool.
Mind Your Own Business
"Don't draw another's bow, don't ride another's
horse, don't
mind another's business."
Although this is a common saying, it can also help
you penetrate zen
Just examine yourself constantly from morning to
night, what
have you done that is beneficial to others and to
yourself?
If you notice any partiality, you should alert yourself
and not
overlook it.
NO MIND
"When you have no mind, Zen is easy to find."
In Zen terminology, "mindlessness" does not mean
insensitivity
or ignorance. It means that the mind is stable and
does not get stirred
up by the situations and circumstances one encounters;
it means the
mind does not grasp anything, it is clear Is, unimpeded
and undefiled, nondefilement.
The Purpose of Stillness
Those who study Zen should be mentally quiet twenty-four
hours a day. When you have nothing to do, you should
also sit quietly
making the mind alert and the body tranquil.
Eventually, when you are thoroughly practiced in
this, body and
54
mind become spontaneously peaceful and calm, and you have some
direction m Zen.
I The perfection of mental silence is only to settle
scattered and
confused awareness. If you cling to stillness as
ultimate, you will be
taken in by the false Zen of silent illumination.
The Source of Mind
Good and bad come from your own mind. But what do
you call
your own mind, apart from your actions and thoughts?
Where does
your own mind come from?
If you really know where your own mind comes from,
boundless
obstacles caused by your own actions will be cleared
all at once.
After that, all sorts of extraordinary possibilities
will come to
you without your seeking them.
The Natural State
If you want to empty all things, first clean your
own mind.
When your mind is clear and clean, all entanglements
cease.
Once entanglements cease, both substance and function
are in
their natural state. "Substance" means the clear,
pure, original source
of your own mind; the "function" is your own mind's
marvelous
function of change and creation, which enters into
both purity and
defilement without being affected by or attached
to either purity or
defilement.
Adaptation
In ancient times, Zen teaching was sometimes abstract,
some-
times concrete, sometimes based on a particular
time, sometimes
transcendental. There was no fixed standard at all.
Real Zen
If you think there are any verbal formulations that are
special
Mysterious secrets to be transmitted, this is not real Zen.
55
Real Zen has no transmission. It is just a matter of people
experiencing it, resulting in their ability to see
each other's vision and
communicate tacitly.
Your Own Business
Zen is not in quietude, nor is it in clamor. It
is not in thought
and discrimination, nor is it in dealing with daily
affairs. But even so,
it is most important that you not abandon quiet
and clamor, dealing
with daily affairs, or thought and discrimination,
in order to study
Zen. When your eyes open, you will find all these
are your own
business.
Foul Weather Zen
Many people who study Zen are in a burning rush
to learn Zen
when their worldly affairs are not to their satisfaction,
but then give
up Zen when they become successful in the world.
Peace and Quiet
When you have attained mental and physical peace
and quiet,
don't get stuck in peace and quiet. Be independent
and free, like a
gourd rolling and bobbing on a river.
Living zen
To attain Zen enlightenment, it is not necessary
to give up family
life, quit your job, become a vegetarian, practice
asceticism, and flee
to a quiet place, then go into a ghost cave of dead
Zen to entertain
subjective imaginings.
DEGENERATE ZENNISM
In modern times, zen and buddhism have become extremely degenerate.
There are incompetent teachers
Who basically lack enlightenment themselves and have chaotic unreliable
conciousnesss. Lacking true skills , they take in students and teach everyone
to be like themselves.
56
Quiet Meditation
If you have been practicing quiet meditation but
your mind is
still not calm and free when in the midst of activity,
this means you
haven't been empowered by your quiet meditation.
If you have been practicing quietude just to get
rid of agitation,
then when you are in the midst of agitation, the
agitation will disturb
your mind just as if you had never done any quiet
meditation.
Saving Energy
People are backwards, ignorant of the true self,
they pursue
things, willingly suffering immeasurable pains in
their greed for a
little bit of pleasure. In the mornings, before
they've opened their eyes
and gotten out of bed, when they're still only half
awake, their minds
are already flying about in confusion, flowing along
with random
thoughts. Although good and bad deeds have not yet
appeared, heaven
and hell are already formed in their hearts before
they even get out of
bed. By the time they go into action, the seeds
of heaven and hell are
already implanted in their minds.
Did not the Buddha say, "All faculties of sense
are receptacles
manifested by your own mind. Physical bodies are
manifestations of
your own minds' representations of forms as subjectively
imagined.
These manifestations are like the flow of a river,
like seeds, like a
lamp, like wind, passing away from instant to instant.
Frenetic activity,
attraction to impure things, and voracity are the
causes of the useless,
deceptive habits that seem to have always existed,
like a waterwheel
always turning."
If you really see through this, you understand the
meaning of
impersonality. You know that heaven and hell are
nowhere else but in
the heart of the half awake individual about to
get out of bed, they do
not come from outside.
While in the process of
waking up, you should really pay
57
attention. While you are paying attention, you should not make any
effort to struggle with whatever is going on in
your mind. While
struggling you waste energy. As the third ancestor
of Zen said, "If
you try to stop movement and return to stillness,
the attempt to be
still will increase movement."
When you notice
that you are saving energy in the midst of the
mundane stress of daily affairs, this is where you
gain energy, this is
where you attain buddhahood, this is where you turn
hell into heaven.
Zen Hobbyists
There are intellectual professionals who think they
know every-
thing but Zen, so they call over a few incompetent
old monks, give
them a meal, and have them say whatever comes into
their minds. The
intellectuals then write this babble down and use
it to judge everyone
else. They trade sayings and call this Zen encounter,
imagining they
have gotten the advantage if they get in the last
word.
They don't even know it if they happen to run into
real percep-
tives. Even if they do notice the real ones, these
intellectuals are not
really sure, and will not sincerely seek understanding
from the teach-
ers. They just seek approval as before. Then when
the teachers
demonstrate the real developmental impact of Zen
in the midst of all
sorts of situations, the intellectuals are afraid
to approach.
Looking for the Shortcut
When you have even a single thought of looking for
a shortcut in
Zen, you have already stuck your head in a bowl
of glue.
Attunement
Many people today study Zen acquisitively, this
is truly a false
idea about what has no false ideas.
Just make your mind free. But don't be too tense,
and don't be
too loose, working this way will save you unlimited mental energy.
58
Liberation
People have been used by the mind's conceptual consciousness
since before they can remember, flowing in the waves
of birth and
death, unable to be independent. If they want to
leave birth and death
to be joyfully alive, they must cut through decisively,
stopping the
course of mind's conceptual consciousness.
Zen Sects
In Zen, there are no sectarian differences, but
when students
lack a broad, stable will, and teachers lack a broad,
comprehensive
teaching, then what they enter into differs. The
ultimate point of Zen,
however, has no such differences.
Past, Present, and Future
Buddha said that when the mind does not grasp things
of the
past, does not long for things of the future, and
does not dwell on
things of the present, then one realizes that past,
present, and future
are empty.
Don't think about past events, whether good or bad,
for if you
think about them, this impedes the Way. Don't calculate
future
matters, for if you calculate, you go mad. Don't
fix your attention on
present affairs, whether unpleasant or pleasant,
for if you fix your
attention on them, they will disturb your mind.
Just deal with situations as they happen, and you
will spontane-
ously accord with these principles.
59
The Subtlety of Zen
To learn the subtlety of Zen, you must clarify your
mind and
immerse your spirit in silent exercise of inner
gazing. When you see
into the source of reality, with no obstruction
whatsoever, it is open
and formless, like water in autumn, clear and bright,
like the moon
taking away the darkness of night.
Finding Out for Oneself
The mind originally is detached from objects, reality
basically
has no explanation. This is why a classical Zen
master said, "Our
school has no slogans, and no doctrine to give people."
Fundamentally
it is a matter of people arriving on their own and
finding out for
themselves; only then can they talk about it.
Zen Mind
Just wash away the dust and dirt of subjective thoughts
immedi-
ately. When the dust and dirt are washed away, your
mind is open,
shining brightly, without boundaries, without center
or extremes.
Completely whole, radiant with light, it shines
through the universe,
cutting through past, present, and future.
This is inherent in you, and does not come from
outside. This is
called the state of true reality. One who has experienced
this can enter
into all sorts of situations in response to all
sorts of possibilities, with
subtle function that is marvelously effective and
naturally uninhibited.
60
Everyone's Zen
Ever since the time of the Buddha and the founders
of Zen, there
has never been any distinction between ordained
and lay people, in
the sense that everyone who has accurate personal
experience of true
realization is said to have entered the school of
the enlightened mind
and penetrated the source of religion.
zen experience
When you are empty and spontaneously aware, clean
and spon-
taneously clear, you are capable of panoramic consciousness
without
making an effort to grasp perception, and you are
capable of discerning
understanding without the burden of conditioned
thought. You go
beyond being and nothingness, and transcend conceivable
feelings.
This is only experienced by union with itÄit
is not gotten from
another.
Zen Life, Zen Action
The wordly life of people who have mastered Zen
is buoyant and
unbridled, like clouds making rain, like the moon
in a stream, like an
orchid in a recondite spot, like spring in living
beings. Their action is
not self-conscious, yet their responses have order.
This is what those
who have mastered Zen do.
It is also necessary to turn back to the source,
to set foot on the
realm of peace, plunge into the realm of purity,
and stand alone,
without companions, going all the way through the
road beyond the
buddhas. Only then can you fully comprehend the
center and the
extremes, penetrate the very top and the very bottom,
and freely kill
and enliven, roll up and roll out.
Autumn and Spring
When Zen practice is completely developed, there
is no center,
no extremes; there are no edges or corners. It is
perfectly round and
frictionless.
61
It is also necessary to be empty, open, and unpolluted, so "the
clear autumn moon cold, its shining light washes
the night. Brocade
clouds flower prettily, the atmosphere turns into
spring."
The Light of Mind
When material sense doesn't blind you, all things
are seen to be
the light of mind. You transcend with every step,
on the path of the
bird, no tarrying anywhere. You respond to the world
with clarity,
open awareness unstrained.
Spontaneous Knowledge
All realms of phenomena arise from one mind. When
the one
mind is quiescent, all appearances end. Then which
is other, which is
self?
Because there are no differentiated appearances
at such a time,
nothing at all is defined, not a single thought
is produced-you pass
beyond before birth and after death; the mind becomes
a point of
subtle light, round and frictionless, without location,
without traces.
Then your mind cannot be obscured.
This point where there can be no obscuration is
called spontane-
ous knowledge. Just this realm of spontaneous knowledge
is called the
original attainment. Nothing whatsoever is attained
from outside.
Zen Mastery
The action and repose of those who have mastered
Zen are like
flowing clouds, without self-consciousness, like
the full moon, re-
flected everywhere. People who have mastered Zen
are not stopped by
anything: though clearly in the midst of all things,
still they are highly
aloof; though they encounter experiences according
to circumstances,
they are not tainted or mixed up by them.
Aloof of the Tumult
When you understand and arrive at the emptiness
of all things,
then you are independent of every state of mind, and transcend
every
62
situation. T he original light is everywhere, and you then adapt to
the
potential at hand; everything you meet is Zen.
While subtly aware of all circumstances, you are
empty and have
no subjective stance towards them. Like the breeze
in the pines, the
moon in the water, there is a clear and light harmony.
You have no
coming and going mind, and you do not linger over
appearances.
The essence is in being inwardly open and accommodating
while
outwardly responsive without unrest. Be like spring
causing the flow-
ers to bloom, like a mirror reflecting images, and
you will naturally
emerge aloof of all tumult.
Normalcy
The time when you "see the sun in daytime and see
the moon at
night," when you are not deceived, is the normal
behavior of a Zen
practitioner, naturally without edges or seams.
If you want to attain
this kind of normalcy, you have to put an end to
the subtle pounding
and weaving that goes on in your mind.
Enlightened Awareness
Buddhas and Zen masters do not have different realizations;
they
all reach the point of cessation, where past, present,
and future are cut
off and all impulses stop, where there is not the
slightest object.
Enlightened awareness shines spontaneously, subtly
penetrating the
root source.
Shedding Your Skin
The experience described as shedding your skin,
transcending
reflections of subjective awareness, where no mental
machinations can
reach, is not transmitted by sages. It can only
be attained inwardly,
by profound experience of spontaneous illumination.
The original
light destroys the darkness, real illumination mirrors
the infinite.
Subjective assessments of what is or is not are all transcended.
63
Zen Mind
The mind of Zen adepts is straight as a bowstring,
like a long
sword against the sky cutting through confusion
wherever they may
be. Wordly wealth and status, hauteur and extravagance,
mundane
desires, and all the ups and downs of life, cannot
affect them. Fame
and profit, judgments of right and wrong, and all
the possible states of
being, cannot trap them.
Freedom
When you pass through, no one can pin you down,
no one can
call you back.
Destroying Zen
Some people gain an insight and then sit fast on
this insight, so
their perception is not free. They talk about mystery
and marvel,
setting forth byways and thinking they are thus
helping people. They
are destroying Zen.
There is another type of person who cultivates a
state of quie-
tude, so their bodies and minds feel somewhat light
and calm, and
then sit fanatically in the realm where there are
no people. When they
see others telling of good things, they get irritated
and upset, and
counter that there is basically nothing in the way
of Zen to explain.
This is what an ancient master called a sickness
characterized by
lack of clarity in all places, in which there appears
to be something
present. This malady is most miserable.
64
There are those who get this point of view and then deny
Everything there are no buddhas, no Zen masters,
no sages. They go
on denying, doing whatever they want and calling
that "unobstructed
Zen. "
This is what another ancient master called "Having
a vast reali-
zation of emptiness, then trying to deny the effects
of causes, becom-
ing wild and unrestrained, bringing on disaster."
There is also a type whose point of view is oblivious
silence, not
hearing anything. After they have eaten of the community's
food, they
just sit there as if dead, waiting for enlightenment.
People like this are clumps of clay in ramshackle
huts in the deep
mountains and broad wastelands. They might think
they are Buddhist
masters with unchanging wisdom, but they are just
using up the alms
of the faithful.
Real Zen students never have any such resorts; they
have in
themselves a life transcending religious or sectarian
"Zen," with
independent perception.
The First Step
The beginning of cultivating yourself is right in
yourself; on a
thousand mile journey, the first step is the most
important. If you can
do both of these well, the infinite sublime meanings
of hundreds of
thousands of teachings will be fulfilled.
The Subtlety of Zen
In Zen, your eyes are looking southeast while your
attention is
in the northwest. It cannot be sought by mindlessness,
it cannot be
understood by mindfulness. It cannot be reached
by talking, it cannot
be understood by silence.
Nothing to Grab
Zen has nothing to grab onto. When people who study
Zen don't
see it, that is because they approach too eagerly.
65
If you want to understand Zen easily, just be mindless, wherever
you are, twenty-four hours a day, until you spontaneously
merge with
the Way.
Once you merge with the Way, inside, outside, or
in-between
cannot be found at all you experience a frozen emptiness,
totally
independent.
This is what an ancient worthy called "The mind
not touching
things, the steps not placed anywhere."
Original Zen
Early on, Zen was mastered and borne by exceptional
people,
because unperceptive and impulsive people cannot
work it or hold it.
All the original adepts were unique in their speech
and activity, never
willing to sink into stagnancy, as if there were
a final form of Zen.
Zen Understanding
First of all, don't establish a preconceived understanding
of Zen,
yet don't rationalize Zen as "not understanding"
either.
It's just like learning archery: eventually you
reach a point where
ideas are ended and feelings forgotten, and then
you suddenly hit the
target.
You should also know, furthermore, that there is
a subtlety
breaking through the target, which is attained spontaneously.
Zen Practice
Zen cannot be attained by lectures, discussions,
and debates.
Only those of great perceptive capacity can clearly
understand it.
For this reason the ancient adepts did not waste
a moment. Even
when they weren't calling on teachers to ascertain
specific truths, they
were involved in real Zen practice, so they eventually
attained mature
serenity in a natural way. They were not wrapped up in the illusions
of the world.
If you can do this, at some
point you will suddenly turn the light
66
of your mind around and see through illusions to the real self. Then
you will understand where everything comes from
mundane pas-
sions and illusions, the material world, form and
emptiness, light and
darkness, principle and essence, mystery and marvel.
Once you understand this clearly, then you will
not be caged or
trapped by anything at all, mundane or transmundane.
False Zen, True Zen
There are two kinds of Zen students who won't let
go. One kind
consists of those who did not meet real teachers
at the outset of their
quest, plunged into the fires of false teachers,
and having been
poisoned by their venom, they think their Zen study
is done.
Another kind consists of those who join Zen groups
and call
themselves Zen students but really lack the correct
basis. They just
usurp what they hear, eager to be known for it,
trying to prove
themselves, only saying that Zen is just this.
These two kinds of people are fatally ill, unless
they recognize
their error someday and let go of it sometime.
But what are people in these conditions to let go
of, after all?
Just let go of the burden of "others" and "self,"
of ideas of gain and
loss, right and wrong, Buddha and Buddhism, mystery
and marvel.
As soon as you let go this way, you feel body and
mind light and
easy, thoroughly pure inside and out. Then your
heart is clear all the
time. In a cool flash of insight, you go free.
Now you are ready for refinement. If you just keep
to the insight
you've attained and consider it ultimate, you are
still clinging to
something. Zen people free from convention are very
different from
this.
Chills and Fever
If mature people want to cut off the road of birth
and death, they
should relinquish what they have been holding dear,
so that their
senses become clean and naked. One day they will
gain insight, and
the road of birth and death is sure to end.
If you don't practice this
in reality, but desire a lot of intellectual
67
knowledge, thinking this is the wonder of self-realization, your chills
and fever will be increased by the wind of intellectual
knowledge; your
nose will always be stuffy and your head will always
be foggy.
Lone Lamp Zen
If people want to learn Zen, let them learn the
Zen of a lone
lamp shining in a death ward.
Do not set up any limit, with the idea that you
want to realize
Zen for sure by such and such a time.
Imitation Zen
There are people who go wrong because they do not
comprehend
Zen methodology. Some think stonewalling is great,
some think utter
silence is the ultimate rule, some think literary
activity is versatility.
Zen Living
Zen living is a most direct shortcut, not requiring
the exertion of
the slightest bit of strength to attain enlightenment
and master Zen
right where you are.
But because Zen seekers are searching too eagerly,
they think
there must be a special principle, so they try to
describe it to
themselves mentally, in a subjective way.
Thus they are swept by the machinations of emotive
and intellec-
tual consciousness into something that is created
and will perish.
They cling to this created, perishable law, rule,
principle, or way
of life, as something ultimate. This is a serious
misstep.
This is why it is said, "Do not talk about ultimate
reality with
your mind on what is created and destructible."
Personalistic Zen
Many Zennists cling to personalistic views as ultimate realities
or
final truths, and do not believe there can be anything
better. As soon
as they are put to a real Zen test, they are lost.
68
This happens when they finally never meet a real Zen master, so
their realization is crude. They sit in a nest of
"win or lose," fearing
to be disturbed by anyone, afraid they'll lose Zen.
Some Zennists say their viewpoints are all correct,
and when
experienced masters tell them it is not so, they
say this is just a
deliberate ploy to entrap them and pull them around.
These paranoid Zennists stop after they have merely
managed to
hold still. This is a fatal disease, which is of
its own nature incurable.
Therefore all Zen seekers can do is to be careful
to avoid it.
The Zen of Essence
When the essence of seeing is everywhere, so is
the essence of
hearing. When you clearly penetrate the ten directions,
there is no
inside or outside. This is why it is said, "Effortless
in all circum-
stances, always real in action and stillness." Action
like this is the
function of complete real wisdom.
Greatness
The ancient Zen masters did not have a single thought
of trying
to become great people. Only thus did they attain
mastery of life and
death, and after that greatness came of itself.
If you have a single thought of eagerness to attain
Zen mastery,
this burns out your potential, so you cannot grow
anymore.
Looking for Approval
Nowadays when Zennists see respected masters, they
don't ask
what to do all they want is to be told they have
some insight. It
delights them to hear themselves recognized, unaware
that by indulg-
ing in this delight they are asking for trouble.
Ancient Zen Practice
.The classical masters of Zen were people who had above
all let go.
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As soon as they showed up, they overturned the sky and wrapped
up the earth.
How was it that they were like this?
Simply because their final thought was correct and
they couldn't
be trapped by false teachers or mountebanks and
mesmerists, so their
mentalities were beyond clannishness and transcended
conventional
parameters.
They did not associate with people at random, and
they did not
dwell on anything ephemeral.
They only kept life and death uppermost in their
minds, and yet
as they did so they did not suppose there is anything
that dies or does
not die.
This is how the ancients worked. In this it is essential
to
penetrate clearly and extend it to full application.
After that, one can undergo radical Zen treatment,
lest one still
be at a loss in the midst of complex changes and
developments.
Needless to say, when one is still at a stage where
the mind is
"half dark and half light, half clear and half raining,"
one cannot "walk
alone in the vastness" even if one wants to.
Graduate Zen
"Enlightenment is beyond words, and no person has
ever attained it."
A classical Zen master said, "Zen has no sayings,
nothing at all
to give people."
Another classical master said, "I don't like to
hear the word
'Buddha. "'
See how they sprayed sand and hurled stones this
way. This can
already blind people. If you still look for a living
road on a staff or
search for a representative expression in a shout,
this is no different
from catching a rat and looking in its mouth for
elephant tusks.
This is why the classical Zen masters preserved a certain state,
in which no time whatsoever is wasted twenty-four
hours a day.
This state is to be maintained until you reach the
point where
there is nowhere to grasp and nowhere to anchor.
Then you should let go and make yourself empty and
quiet,
clear and calm, to the point where former intellectual
interpretation,
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rationalization, misknowledge, and misperception, cannot get into
your mind or act on it at all.
This is the essential shortcut to the Way. Do this,
and one day
you will clearly understand what's going on where
you are.
Empowering Will
Generally speaking, Zen requires a decisive, powerful
will, be-
cause you are going to be cleaning your six senses
all the time, so that
even if you are in the midst of all the stresses
and pleasures of the
world, it is like being in a pure, uncontrived realm
of great liberation.
Profoundly stable and calm, like a gigantic mountain,
you cannot
be disturbed by cravings or external conditions,
you cannot be held
back by interference and difficulty.
This is a shortcut to the Way by empowered work.
The Subtle Mind of Zen
If you want to see the subtle mind of Zen, that
is very easy. Just
step back and pick it up with intense strength during
all of your
activities, whatever you are doing, even as you eat, drink, and talk,
even as you experience the stress of attending to
the world.
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The Living Road
All people have their own living road to heaven.
Until they walk
on this road, they are like drunkards who cannot
tell which way is
which.
Then when they set foot on this road and lose their
confusion, it
is up to them which way they shall goÄthey
are no longer subject to
the arbitrary directions of others.
Totally Alive
When you are totally alive and cannot be trapped
or caged, only
then do you have some independence. Then you can
be in the ordinary
world all day long without it affecting you.
Deluded Zen
Many people study Zen, but encounter Zen teachers
without
clear perception of truth. They make arbitrary explanations
and take
their subjective interpretations of Zen sayings
for final truths. Their
aim is to be recognized as understanding Zen. This
is a most serious
malady.
Zen Malfunctions
When people study Zen diligently but do not attain
enlighten-
meet, their problem may be in a number of places.
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It may be in getting bogged down in Zen sayings.
It may be in sitting transfixed in a realm of surpassing
wonder.
It may be in empty formlessness.
It may be in keeping Zen or Buddhism on one's mind.
It may be in trying to reject illusion for enlightenment.
It may be in not having met a real enlightened teacher
at theoutset and thus having been drawn into nest of complications.
These problems are not experienced only by beginners.
Even
ancient Zen masters who had thoroughly understood
the basic mind
and seen into its fundamental nature realized the
original state but still
did not understand the whole truth.
The Zen Shortcut
The shortcut of Zen is to leave the present and
directly experi-
ence the state before birth, before the division
of wholeness.
When you accomplish this, you are like a dragon
in the water,
like a tiger in the mountains. You are very clear
and calm everywhere,
free to enliven or kill everywhere, spontaneously
able to "rouse the
wind and stir the grasses" everywhere. You do not
cling to any activity,
you do not sit inactive.
This is like cutting a skein of thread, and dyeing a skein of
Thread when one is cut all are cut, when one is
dyed all are dyed.
From top to bottom, the whole thing is a huge door
of liberation. Now
Buddhist truths and things of the world have become
one where is
there any external thing at all to constitute an
impediment?
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The Perception of Sages
The Scripture on Infinite Light says, "Rivers, lakes,
birds, trees,
and forests all invoke Buddha, Truth, and Communion."
In a moment of awareness without discrimination,
great wisdom
appears. This is like pouring water into the ocean,
like working a
bellows in the wind.
Furthermore, how do you discriminate? 'Buddha' is
a temporary
name for what cannot be seen when you look, what
cannot be heard
when you listen, whose place of origin and passing
away cannot be
found when you search.
It covers form and sound, pervades sky and earth,
penetrates
above and below. There is no second view, no second
person, no
second thought. It is everywhere, in everything,
not something exter-
nal.
This is why the single source of all awareness is
called 'Buddha.'
It doesn't change when the body deteriorates, it
is always there.
But you still cannot use what is always there. Why?
Because, as the
saying goes, "Although gold dust is precious, when
it gets in your
eyes it obstructs vision." Although buddhahood is
wonderful, if you
are obsessed with it it becomes a sickness.
An early Zen master said, "It is not mind, not Buddha,
not a
Thing what is it?" This says it all. It has brought
us the diamond
sword that cuts through all obsessions.
Another classical Zen master said, "The slightest
entangling
thought can cause hellish actions; a flash of feeling
can chain you
indefinitely. Just end ordinary feelings, and there is no special percep-
tion of sages to seek the perception of sages appears
where ordinary
feelings end."
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Breaking Habits
To learn to be a Buddha, first you should break
through the
seeds of habit with great determination, and then
be aware of cause
and effect so that you fear to do wrong. Transcend
all mental objects,
stop all rumination. Don't let either good or bad
thoughts enter into
your thinking, forget about both Buddhism and things
of the world.
Let go of body and mind, like letting go over a
cliff. Be like space, not
producing subjective thoughts of life and death,
or any signs of
discrimination. If you have any views at all, cut
them right off and
don't let them continue.
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The Crowning Meditation
If you do not listen truly, you will call the bell
a pitcher, and
inevitably wind up adding error to error, talking
about "Buddha,"
"Zen masters," "mind," and "essence." How is this
different from
gouging a wound in healthy flesh?
Real Zennists set a single eye on the state before
the embryo is
formed, before any signs become distinct. This opens
up and clears
the mind, so that it penetrates the whole universe.
Then they are no
different from the Buddha and the founder of Zen.
This is called the crowning meditation, the jewel
that reflects all
colors, the inexhaustible treasury, the gateway
to spiritual powers, the
diamond sword, the crouching lion, the blaze there
are various names
for it.
Now there is nothing in the universe, nothing mundane
or
transmundane, to be an object, an opposite, a barrier,
or a hindrance
to you.
Expedients arid Reality
The mountains, rivers, earth, grasses, trees, and
forests, are
always emanating a subtle, precious light, day and
night, always
emanating a subtle, precious sound, demonstrating
and expounding to
all people the unsurpassed ultimate truth.
It is just because you miss it right where you are,
or avoid it even
as you face it, that you are unable to attain actual
use of it.
This is why Buddhism came into being, with its many expe-
dients and clever explanations, with temporary and
true, immediate
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and gradual, half and full, partial and complete teachings. These are
all simply means of stopping children from whining.
It
Those who meditate in silent stillness regard silent
stillness as
final, but it is not something to finalize in stillness.
Those who assert
mastery in the midst of busyness are satisfied with
busyness, but it is
not something to be satisfied with in the midst
of busyness. Those
who learn from the scriptures consider the scriptures
basic, but it is
not learned from the scriptures. Those who work
with teachers and
colleagues regard this as a profound source, but
it is not attained from
working with teachers and colleagues.
It is a formless, indestructible being that has
always been like a
fish hidden in a spring, that drums up waves and
dances by itself.
When you look for it in the east, it goes west;
when you look for it in
the south, it goes north. It can give names to everyone,
but no one can
give it a name. In all places and all times it is
the master of myriad
forms, the teacher of myriad phenomena.
Distortion by teachers
The "one road beyond" is vast as cosmic space times
ten; it
cannot be sought with mind, it cannot be attained
by mindlessness. It
cannot be reached by words, it cannot be understood
by silence. The
essential point is for the individual to be firm
in faith and see right
through the state before the embryo is formed, before
any signs
become distinct.
Passing through the heights and the depths, escaping
all traps,
ranging over all time, totally without attachment
and repulsion, free
in all ways, when you attain great independence
you have some
measure of accord with the one road beyond.
If you rely on the differences in teachers and see
the differences
in persons, you are misled by blind teachers into
reifying Buddha,
Dharma, Zen, Tao, mysteries, marvels, functions,
and states. One
way and another this glues your tongue down, nails
your eyes shut,
and constricts your heart.
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Like oil getting into flour, this becomes deeply ingrained, until
you eventually become a sprite or a ghoul, emanating
countless
"lights" and manifesting countless "psychic powers,"
thinking you are
peerless in all the world. This is what is meant
by the saying, "Our
perception is originally correct, but it is distorted
by teachers."
Liberation
This inconceivable door of great liberation is in
everyone. It has
never been blocked, it has never been defective.
Buddhas and Zen
masters have appeared in the world and provided
expedient methods,
with many different devices, using illusory medicines
to cure illusory
illnesses, just because your faculties are unequal,
your knowledge is
unclear, you do not transcend what you see and hear
as you see and
hear it, and you are tumbled about endlessly in
an ocean of misery by
afflictions due to ignorance, by emotional views
and habitual concep-
tions of others and self, right and wrong.
The various teachings and techniques of buddhas
and Zen
masters are only set forth so that you will individually
step back into
yourself, understand your own original mind and
see your own
original nature, so that you reach a state of great
rest, peace, and
happiness.
Bad Habits
In the root and stem of your own psyche there is
an accumulation
of bad habits. If you cannot see through them and
act independently
of them, you will unavoidably get bogged down along
the way.
Spontaneous Zen
In Buddhism there is no place to apply effort. Everything
in it is
Normal you put on clothes to keep warm and eat food
to stop
Hunger that's all. If you consciously try to think
about it, it is not
what you think of. If you consciously try to arrange
it, it is not what
you arrange.
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Expedients
Buddhist teachings are prescriptions given according
to specific
ailments, to clear away the roots of your compulsive
habits and clean
out your emotional views, just so you can be free
and clear, naked and
clean, without problems.
There is no real doctrine at all for you to chew
on or squat over.
If you will not believe in yourself, you pick up
your baggage and go
around to other people's houses looking for Zen,
looking for Tao,
looking for mysteries, looking for marvels, looking
for buddhas,
looking for Zen masters, looking for teachers.
You think this is searching for the ultimate, and
you make it into
your religion, but this is like running blindly
to the east to get
something that is in the west. The more you run,
the further away
you are, and the more you hurry the later you become.
You just tire
yourself, to what benefit in the end;
Zen Mind
The mind of people of the Way is straight as a bowstring.
Simply
because they are not burdened by ideas of others
and themselves, of
right and wrong, of sacred and profane, of better
and worse, or by
deception, falsehood, flattery, or deviousness,
they spontaneously gain
access to the substance of mind that dwells on nothing.
Fundamentally this is not another, not oneself,
not ordinary, not
holy, not mind, not Buddha, not a thing, not Zen,
not Tao, not a
mystery, not a marvel.
It is only because of a moment of subjectivity in
discrimination,
grasping and rejecting, that so many horns are suddenly
produced on
your head and you are turned about by those
myriad objects all the
time, unable to be free and independent.
THE END