All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn and indestructible. It is not green nor yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the categories of things which exist or do not exist, nor can it be thought of in terms of new or old. It is neither long nor short, big nor small, for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces and comparisons. It is that which you see before you—begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error.
It is like the boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured. The One Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient things, but that sentient beings are attached to forms and so seek externally for Buddhahood. By their very seeking they lose it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the Buddha and using mind to grasp Mind. Even though they do their utmost for a full aeon, they will not be able to attain to it. They do not know that, if they put a stop to conceptual thought and forget their anxiety, the Buddha will appear before them, for this Mind is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings. It is not the less for being manifested in ordinary beings, nor is it greater for being manifested in the Buddhas.
Huangbo Xiyun, On the Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld
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Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: I thought I would create this post as a test of sorts, both for myself and for others. It seems that I'm getting more and more accusations of attempting to 'teach' in the forum, which I've thought about and reflected on for a while. Am I attempting to teach? Why would I be trying to teach? Who would listen if I were to do such a thing as try to teach? Why is it a problem for some if I were to attempt to teach, and why would some people actually welcome my teachings? There's a lot for me to try to understand in that direction, so it will take time. One thing I know right now for sure: if someone really gets upset by any perceived attempt of mine to teach, then they must not know the first true lesson Zen. Hence, let's start with the basics of what I'll call Zen101.
If I were to teach, where would I begin? Huangbo's teachings are a great area to start from: It is that which you see before you—begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error. What does that mean? The common thread through many of Huangbo's teachings is to put a stop to all conceptual thought. Now here is where the problems can begin and things can get difficult. Putting a stop to all conceptual thought seems to mean to not form opinions or add emotion to things, or just letting things remain conceptually exactly as they are without getting tangled up in them. What does that lead to? Freedom from being bound by the phenomena and actions that are constantly arising and in flow right in front of us. To have a binding thought about a thing is to create an attachment or aversion about a thing, and attachments and aversions reduce potential freedom.
Now that we know the basics, we can move to a more advanced application of that teaching. No conceptual thought means no conceptual thought, and we can't just pick and choose where we want to apply that teaching. For it to have any effect, it must be universal. Every time we apply conceptual thought, we are bound by whatever that thought is about for its duration. This is why awareness of the mind is of critical importance; conceptual thoughts and emotions are so habitual that it can require a sustained practice in order to be diligent enough to overcome them. In conclusion, this 'teaching' of mine is obviously going to cause great trouble for some, who then reveal that they don't know the very basics of Zen through their attachments, aversions and foundations based on conceptual thinking. Since they are bound by concepts of self and other, even uncontrolled emotions, they will potentially see me as nefarious or attempting to do something that I shouldn't. Let them present their arguments, and let's see if we can learn from them.
Submitted June 08, 2019 at 07:21PM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/2Itv87l
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