You must find the nondiscriminatory mind without departing from the discriminating mind; find that which has no seeing or hearing without departing from seeing and hearing.
This does not mean that "no seeing" is a matter of sitting on a bench with your eyes close. You must have non-seeing right in seeing.
What is Shakyamuni the Buddha? Who is Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen? Was there any Buddhism before the founder came here? How can you say there was none? If you say there was none, that is just self-deception. When Bodhidharma was facing a wall for nine years, were there so many verbal teachings and public cases? To see through in this way is a very economical shortcut.
How about when they say the sound of the rain has given you a sermon? Is that correct? I do not agree; the sound of rain is you giving a sermon. But do you understand? Clarify it directly; then what else is there?
People who go journeying to study zen today should bring a statement to harmonize with the teacher. Why do you pain yourself and cramp yourself as you do?
Nowadays most Zen students create interpretations based on words, arbitrarily assuming mastery, or else they take stories of the ancients' awakenings and look at them, calling this "gazing at sayings." What relevance is there? When Xuefeng went to Touzi three ties and Dongshan nine times, do you suppose he did it for the sake of the words.
I am not telling you to sit on a bench with your eyes closed, rigidly suppressing body and mind, like earth or wood. That will never have any usefulness, even in a million years.
Dogen Buddhists, Hakuin Buddhists, and New Age "just listen to the rain give us a sermon" folks are all struck with the single arrow Foyan shoots forth. This is evident to anyone who studies zen for an afternoon at the library. Now come the questions for the sangha:
What was the Buddha Dharma before Bodhidharma?
What is Foyan's "economical shortcut"?
Submitted January 05, 2020 at 11:40AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/2MYcMye
No comments:
Post a Comment