The term unity refers to a homogeneous spiritual brilliance which separates into six harmoniously blended "elements." The homogeneous spiritual brilliance is the One Mind, while the six harmoniously blended "elements" are the six sense organs. These six sense organs become severally united with objects that defile them—the eyes with form, the ear with sound, the nose with smell, the tongue with taste, the body with touch, and the thinking mind with entities. Between these organs and their objects arise the six sensory perceptions, making eighteen sense realms in all. If you understand that these eighteen realms have no objective existence, you will bind the six harmoniously blended "elements" into a single spiritual brilliance—a single spiritual brilliance which is the One Mind. All students of the Way know this, but cannot avoid forming concepts of "a single spiritual brilliance" and the "six harmoniously blended elements." Accordingly they are chained to entities and fail to achieve a tacit understanding of original Mind.
from 'The Zen Teachings of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind' translated by John Blofeld
Jungle_Toad's question:
In Blofeld's commentary on this passage, he notes that it points to people who are capable of understanding the doctrine intellectually, but have, for whatever reason, failed to cast off the burden of concepts. How does one cross from intellectual understanding to tacit understanding? How do you know when you have?
Submitted January 03, 2020 at 03:33AM by jungle_toad https://ift.tt/2rL2RES
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