Huangbo Xiyun: That which asked the question is your own Mind.

Question: How, then, does a man accomplish this comprehension of his own Mind?

Huangbo: That which asked the question is your own Mind; but if you were to remain quiescent and to refrain from the smallest mental activity, its substance would be seen as a void—you would find it formless, occupying no point in space and falling neither into the category of existence nor into that of non-existence. Because it is imperceptible, Bodhidharma said: 'Mind, which is our real nature, is the unbegotten and indestructible Womb; in response to circumstances, it transforms itself into phenomena.

For the sake of convenience, we speak of Mind as the intelligence; but when it does not respond to circumstances, it cannot be spoken of in such dualistic terms as existence or nonexistence. Besides, even when engaged in creating objects in response to causality, it is still imperceptible. If you know this and rest tranquilly in nothingness—then you are indeed following the Way of the Buddhas. Therefore does the Sūtra say: 'Develop a mind which rests on no thing whatever.'

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Huangbo Xiyun, On the Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, 1958

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Wandering Ronin commentary: Here, Huanbgo opens with that which asked the question is your own Mind, revealing a grand truth all at once. We actualize every single entity and form among the myriad things, and cannot even ask a single question that is somehow apart from us. Every question raised has already been answered before it leaves your mouth.

And then, what power to be able to allow and disallow the very meaning of all things! What are your preferences, aversions and attachments, and why do you still get in your own Way? What complications will you allow for yourself today, when Huangbo tells you to not respond to circumstances and that you can rest in tranquility and nothingness? It would seem that the continual habits of the past determine the fate and future.

Submitted June 19, 2019 at 06:50PM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/31Eppo9