Besides a meandering and religious history presented in the introduction given by Mr. Green, there is also very little discussion regarding the background of the source text besides it being Japanese rather than Chinese.
The master asked Nan-chuan, "What is the Way?"
Nan-chuan said, "Ordinary mind is the Way."
The master said, "Then may I direct myself towards it or not?"
Nan-chuan said, "To seek from it is to deviate from it."
The master said, "If I do not seek, how can I know about the Way?"
Nan-chuan said, "The Way does not belong to knowing or not knowing. To know is to have a concept; to not know is to be ignorant. If you truly realize the Way of no doubt, it is just like the sky: wide open vast emptiness. How can you say 'yes' or 'no' to it?"
At these words the master had sudden enlightenment. His mind became like the clear moon.
The master asked Nan-chuan, "Mind is not Buddha, Wisdom is not the Way. Then is there any mistake or not?"
Nan-chuan said, "Yes, there is."
The master said, "Please tell me where the mistake is."
Nan-chuan said, "Mind is not Buddha, Wisdom is not the Way."
The master left the room.
A monk asked, "What is a dharma that is not a dharma?"
The master said, "South, north, east, west."
The monk said, "How is this to be understood?"
The master said, "Up, down, and the four directions."
At these words, Zhaozhou's mind became like the clear moon; how can any of this be contained by words? Someone try and tell me what the clear moon is like.
After all this "clear moon" business, Zhaozhou returns to point out people's mistakes and preach the dharma that is not a dharma.
Submitted December 26, 2019 at 02:59AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/34Y9lh8
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