See for yourself

“In the third watch I took the robe and bowl and said, ‘I am from south China and do not know the mountainous roads around here. How do I get to the mouth of the [Yangzi] River?’ The Fifth Patriarch said, ‘Do not be disheartened, I will see you off.’ The patriarch accompanied me as far as Jiu-jiang station, where he had us get on a boat. The Fifth Patriarch took the oar and rowed [the boat] himself. I said, ‘Your Reverence, please sit. Your disciple should row!’ Hongren said, ‘I should take you over [to the other shore].’ I said, ‘When one is deluded, one thinks teachers take [sentient beings over to the other shore], but when one is enlightened, one realizes one crosses over by oneself. Although “cross over” is only a single term, its uses are var- ied. Since I was born in a border region, my pronunciation is not correct. I have received transmission of the Dharma from you, Master, and I have now become enlightened. Can it be anything other than that the self-natures have crossed themselves over?’

All the buddhas of the three periods of time and the twelve divisions of the canon are fundamentally and naturally immanent within the natures of people, but if you cannot become enlightened yourself, you must seek a spiritual compatriot’s instructions in order to see [the nature]. “If you can become enlightened yourself, don’t rely on external seeking— don’t think I’m saying you can only attain emancipation through [the help of] a spiritual compatriot other than yourself. This is not the case! Why? Within your own minds there is a spiritual compatriot [who will help you] become enlightened by yourself! If you activate the false and deluded, you will become all mixed up with false thoughts. Although some external spiritual compatriots may be teachers, they cannot save you. If you activate the correct and true and contemplate with prajñā, in a single instant [all your] false thoughts will be completely eradicated. If you recognize the self-nature, with a single [experience of] enlightenment you will attain the stage of buddhahood.

-The Platform Sutra

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Submitted December 28, 2019 at 10:04AM by ArgesAwoken https://ift.tt/2SsSUHg