Not Preaching a Doctrine (Hui-neng's commentary on the diamond sutra)

Talking about emptiness all day does not say a single word. If you say he has a doctrine, you are slandering the Realized One. Therefore the sutra follows up with a section on not preaching a doctrine.

"Subhuti, do not say that the Realized One entertains this thought: 'I should preach some doctrine.' Do not entertain this thought. Why? If any say the Realized One preaches any doctrine, they are slandering the Buddha, because they cannot understand what I say. Subhuti, the explanation of the teaching is that there is no doctrine to preach---that is called teaching."

When ordinary people preach, they have a sense of accomplishment. Therefore the Buddha tells Subhuti that when the Realized One teaches, he has no sense of accomplishment. Ordinary people preach with a sense of being able to understand. The Realized One's speech and silence are both spontaneous; the words he utters are like echoes responding to sounds, occurring naturally without deliberate intent, not the same as the ordinary man preaching with a fluctuating mind. If any say that the Realized One preaches with fluctuating in his mind, they are slandering Buddha. The Sutra of Vimalakirti says, "Real teaching involves no preaching, no giving orders; you realized that myriad things are empty, and all names and words are temporary setups; constructed within inherent emptiness, all the verbal expositions explain that all realities are signless and unfabricated, thus guiding deluded people in such a way as to get them to see their original nature and cultivate and realized unsurpassed enlightenment.

The dharma of no-dharma

"all names and words are temporary setups"

I often see many get hung up on exact definitions or meanings of particular phrases etc. seeking to understand through an intellectual pursuit of the dharma. They may be confusing the finger pointing at the moon with the actual moon. There are many modern teachers who have made it their business to convince others to be hung up on mantras or one idea/concept but when we can look at these zen texts and remember that real teaching involves no preaching and no giving orders!

Submitted December 27, 2019 at 03:11AM by royalsaltmerchant https://ift.tt/2EWLbcw