The substance of the absolute is inwardly like wood or stone

I am curious about this bit in Huangbo. I can get that the mind is boundless (stars etc.) but this wood of stone bit is strange. Motionlessness would imply that time and movement are illusions, and I have never read anything like this in Zen masters dialogues which makes me a bit suspicious to be honest. I greedily ask for hints or Zen masters references that would help understand. I’m fine if you refuse.

Bye.

Making offerings to all the Buddhas of the universe is not equal to making offerings to one follower of the Way who has eliminated conceptual thought. Why? Because such a one forms no concepts whatever. The substance of the Absolute is inwardly like wood or stone, in that it is motionless, and outwardly like the void, in that it is without bounds or obstructions. It is neither subjective nor objective, has no specific location, is formless, and cannot vanish. Those who hasten towards it dare not enter, fearing to hurtle down through the void with nothing to cling to or to stay their fall. So they look to the brink and retreat. This refers to all those who seek such a goal through cognition. Thus, those who seek the goal through cognition are like the fur (many), while those who obtain intuitive knowledge of the Way are like the horns (few).

Submitted January 22, 2020 at 05:17AM by koalazen https://ift.tt/2RdY7le