From Cleary's favorite book of quotes: T'ou-tzu, who is from Danxia's line:
You come here looking for sayings and talks, novel expressions and elegant lines, uselessly taking to verbalization. I am old and my energy is not up to par; I'm a dull speaker and I have no idle talk for you. If you ask me questions, I answer in accord with your questions, but I have no mysterious marvel that can be conveyed to you, and I won't have you get fixated.
I never assert the existence of Buddha and Dharma, of ordinary person and sage, either in the beyond or the here and now; I have no intention of sitting here tying you people down. You got through a thousand changes, but all of it is you people conceiving interpretations, carrying them with you, experiencing the results of your own doings. I have nothing here for you, and nothing exoteric or esoteric to explain to you, no appearance or intention to represent to you.
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ewk book note index - This passage sums up much of the debate in /r/Zen. It doesn't include any exhortation to practice let alone insist that there is a religious practice particular to Zen. There is no evidence of secret knowledge in this passage, nor any claims about there being any secrets to have secret knowledge about.
Those who object to such teachings can't claim to study Zen. Those who insist on adding some doctrine to these teachings can't use the name "Zen".
Nevertheless, it's this sort of talk that makes the family the envy of people everywhere. Why is that?
Submitted July 07, 2017 at 04:52PM by ewk http://ift.tt/2tZ6LcT
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