Bodhidharma, Foyan and Layman Pang: Seen with true vision, form isn't simply form, because form depends on mind. And mind isn't simply mind, because mind depends on form. Mind and form create and negate each other.

Seen with true vision, form isn't simply form, because form depends on mind. And mind isn't simply mind, because mind depends on form. Mind and form create and negate each other. That which exists exists in relation to that which doesn't exist. And that which doesn't exist doesn't exist in relation to that which exists. This is true vision. By means of such vision nothing is seen and nothing is not seen. Such vision reaches throughout the ten directions without seeing: because nothing is seen; because not seeing is seen; because seeing isn't seeing. What mortals see are delusions. True vision is detached from seeing.

Bodhidharma [483-540]: excerpt from The Wake-up Sermon, translated by Red Pine

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There is no particular pathway into it. If your own self is clear and everything is It, when you visit a teacher you do not see that there is a teacher; when you inquire of yourself, you do not see that you have a self... When you see in this way, are you not independent and free?

Foyan Qingyuan [1067-1120]: Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, translated by Thomas Cleary

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Layman Pangyun once asked Master Shitou, “Who is the one who is not attached to the ten thousand things?”
Shitou immediately covered Pang's mouth with his hand. Pang had a deep realization.
The layman stayed on to practice with Master Shitou. One day the master asked him, “Since seeing me what have your daily activities been?”
Pang said, “When you ask about my daily activities I can't open my mouth.”
Shitou said, “Because I know you're like that, I'm asking you.”
Pang said, “How wondrous, how miraculous – chopping wood and carrying water.”

Layman Pang [740-808]: Encounter Dialogues and Verses of Layman Pangyun

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Wandering Ronin commentary: Void is already Void; there is absolutely nothing to build a conceptual foundation upon or to rely on among the myriad things. All studies and practices are far after the fact of the Dharma, and even the Dharma itself remains soundly in the realm of delusion. By the time you understand, even Void is no longer Void.

What is there to be done? Look for mind and there is nothing to find or any evidence to hold on to. Look to form and there is delusion, loss of freedom, suffering, and only reflections of the moon in water that cannot be grasped. Awareness and perception, instantaneous seeing... even those aren't entirely accurate or representative of what can be tacitly understood. No mind without form, and no form without mind.

Submitted October 22, 2019 at 08:53PM by WanderingRoninXIII https://ift.tt/2o7SlWt