Dharma eye.

The master said, A zen teacher cannot help others unless he himself possess the discerning dharma eye. If he has fully perfected his dharma eye, he is able to know someone to the very marrow merely by observing his face as he approaches. He can know all about him, merely by hearing his voice outside the temple walls. It is like a bright mirror, which reflects fully and distinctly whatever faces it, revealing both the beautiful and the ugly.

Each word he speaks, everything he does in dealing with students, strikes right to the place of their affliction like a sharp gimlet, dissolving their attachments, breaking off their shackles. Ushering them into a realm of wonderful freedom and blissful joy. Unless he can do that, what help is he to others?

But zen teachers of today erroneously regard a students conversance with words and letters as the criteria by which to determine whether he has grasped the essence of zen. They certify someone because he is quick and clever at the give and take of zen dialogue. This burdens the student with a heavy yoke. Not only are such teachers mistaken themselves, they misguide others as well. What a terrible pity.

Bankei. The Unborn. The life and teachings of zen master Bankei.

Submitted May 16, 2020 at 11:48AM by jasonsmudge https://ift.tt/2T94JSz