Some Buddhists, as well as people in other spiritual traditions, teach that when vexations arise we should terminate them and cut them off. Chan does not do this, because we know that even before we practice, our intrinsic original nature is pure, and that it is from this state of intrinsic awakening or purity that all kinds of defilements arise. Vexations are indicators to our enlightenment. They show us what practice is about.
Vexations come from our intrinsic awakened mind. They arise because we do not see our true nature. It is not that enlightenment will happen out of the blue once we have gotten rid of all our afflictions or vexations. Practice is not suppression; also, it does not produce enlightenment. Our intrinsic awakened mind is already here. We can compare this to a cup of water filled with all kinds of dirt and gunk. Does the water ever lose its nature of wetness? No. Although it is muddy, does the water ever lose its essence of clarity? It does not. The nature of clarity is not lost; the water may be muddy and thick, but its intrinsic nature is pure. Likewise, all of us are intrinsically awakened buddhas, but we do not know it.
We have been carrying around our karmic baggage all our life; no one else can carry it for us. Yet even though no one is forcing this baggage on us, we are unwilling to let go of it! If we would only open our grasping hands, we would realize that we don’t need to carry this baggage around. The carrier is our sense of self, which is made up of values, judgments, experiences, and preconceived ideas. These in turn give rise to vexations.
It is easy to understand the need to let go of self-reference, but it is very hard to do because it involves what is most important to us—our vested interest in permanence. Deep down, we don’t want to change our views, opinions, experiences, values, and feelings. They are familiar to us; they define us. They are what it feels like to be us. This attachment is the perpetual self-reference that causes our suffering. But all these things that we attach to are actually our opportunity to recognize our true nature. The way to let go of this baggage is not to cut off or ignore vexations, but rather, to recognize that the self is only a construct, a simulation of our brain based on fragmented memories and misconstrued ideas.
Guo Gu, The Essence of Chan
Submitted October 11, 2017 at 11:23PM by KeyserSozen http://ift.tt/2ycNcNu
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