Dazhu Huihai 2

A Dharma Master once asked: "What do you think about the idea that, in Mahayana, reciting the name of the Buddha is Ch'an with form?"

The Master replied: "Since even Ch'an without form is still not true Mahayana, how much less so is that with form. A sutra says, 'Since ordinary people are always attached to form, when spreading Dharma to them you should use an appropriate method'!"

Again the Dharma Master asked: "People commonly wish to be reborn in the Pure Land. Is there really a Pure Land?"

The Master replied: "A sutra says, 'If one wants to attain the Pure Land, then he should purify his own mind. If his mind is pure, then that very mind of purity is the Buddha's Pure Land.' If his mind is pure, then the Pure Land exists everywhere. Just as a prince who is born into the emperor's family must continue the authority of that family's imperial powers, so one who makes up his mind to become a Buddha creates causes for rebirth in the Buddha's Pure Land. On the other hand, if one's mind is impure, then impurity is everywhere; and, consequently, the Pure Land is unattainable. Just understand that purity and impurity proceed wholly from the mind and do not depend on any 'land' whatsoever."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "I have often heard the Master speak of the Tao, but I know of no one who can perceive the Tao. Are you able to explain this?"

The Master responded: "If one possesses the Wisdom-Eye, he can perceive the Tao."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "I like the Mahayana very much, but how can I attain it successfully?"

The Master responded: "Only by becoming enlightened. If you are not enlightened, you cannot attain the Mahayana."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "How then can Enlightenment be achieved?"

The Master responded: "Through attentive intuition."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "Just what is this attentive intuition?"

The Master responded: "It is like nothing else whatever."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "Then is it absolute voidness?"

The Master responded: "It is void without being absolute."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "Then does it exist?"

The Master responded: "It exists without form."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "And if I cannot comprehend it, what then?"

The Master responded: "If you cannot comprehend it, that is your own choice. No one has set any obstacles before you."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "Does the Buddhadharma pertain to the three time periods?"

The Master responded: "Perceived as formless, it is thus not external. Responding inexhaustibly to all things, it is thus not internal. Also, since there is no middle ground where it abides, it therefore cannot be attained in the three time periods."

The Dharma Master declared: "Your answers are very perplexing. "

The Master asked: "When you just said the word 'perplexing', was there anything internal or external about it?"

The Dharma Master answered: "After considering it, I find that there is no trace of it within or without."

The Master responded: "If there is no trace, then it is clear that all I have just said was neither perplexing, confusing, nor disordered."

Continuing, the Dharma Master asked: "How can one achieve Buddhahood?"

The Master responded: "Since one's mind is fundamentally the Buddha, it can in actuality achieve Buddhahood."

Again the Dharma Master asked: "When sentient beings enter hell, does their Buddha-Nature go with them?"

The Master in turn asked: "In just that moment when one is performing an evil act, is there any good in it?"

The Dharma Master answered: "No, there is no good accompanying the evil."

The Master observed: "Likewise, when sentient beings enter hell, their Buddha-Nature does not accompany them."

Finally the Dharma Master asked: "Of what use is the Buddha-Nature, which all sentient beings possess?"

The Master responded: "To engage in activity of the Buddha is to employ the Buddha-Nature. However, if you steal, you are using the nature of a thief. Also, if you act like a worldly sentient being, then you are using the nature of a sentient being. This Nature, which is formless and without distinguishing features, is differentiated and named according to form and function. One sutra says, 'All Buddhas and Aryas are discerned by their accordance with the Eternal Dharma'."

Source in previous post.

Submitted May 08, 2019 at 07:07PM by UhExistence http://bit.ly/2VM2l6I