(Record of HuangBo; J. Blofeld translation)
[Q] How, then, does a person accomplish this comprehension of their own Mind?
[A] That which asked the question is your own Mind; but if you were to remain quiescent and to refrain from the smallest mental activity, its substance would be seen as a void—you would find it formless, occupying no point in space and falling neither into the category of existence nor into that of non-existence.
Because it is imperceptible, Bodhidharma said: "Mind, which is our real nature, is the unbegotten and indestructible Womb"; in response to circumstances, it transforms itself into phenomena.
For the sake of convenience, we speak of Mind as the intelligence; but when it does not respond to circumstances, it cannot be spoken of in such dualistic terms as existence or nonexistence. Besides, even when engaged in creating objects in response to causality, it is still imperceptible.
If you know this and rest tranquilly in nothingness—then you are indeed following the Way of the Buddhas.
Therefore does the Sūtra say: "Develop a mind which rests on no thing whatever."
Every one of the sentient beings bound to the wheel of alternating life and death is re-created from the karma of his own desires. Endlessly their hearts remain bound to the six states of existence, thereby involving them in all sorts of sorrow and pain.
Ch‘ing Ming says: "There are people with minds like those of apes who are very hard to teach; people who need all sorts of precepts and doctrines with which to force their hearts into submission." And so when thoughts arise, all sorts of dharmas follow, but they vanish with thought's cessation.
We can see from this that every sort of dharma is but a creation of Mind. And all kinds of beings—humans, devas, sufferers in hell, asuras and all comprised within the six forms of life—each one of them is Mind-created.
If only you would learn how to achieve a state of non-intellection, immediately the chain of causation would snap.
Give up those erroneous thoughts leading to false distinctions!
There is no "self" and no "other". There is no "wrong desire", no "anger", no "hatred", no "love", no "victory", no "failure".
Only renounce the error of intellectual or conceptual thought-processes and your nature will exhibit its pristine purity—for this alone is the way to attain Enlightenment, to observe the Dharma, to become a Buddha and all the rest.
Unless you understand this, the whole of your great learning, your painful efforts to advance, your austerities of diet and clothing, will not help you to a knowledge of your own Mind.
All such practices must be termed fallacious, for any of them will lead to your rebirth among "demons"—enemies of the truth—or among the crude nature spirits.
What end is served by pursuits like those?
Chih Kung says: "Our bodies are the creations of our own minds."
But how can one expect to gain such knowledge from books?
If only you could comprehend the nature of your own Mind and put an end to discriminatory thought, there would naturally be no room for even a grain of error to arise.
Above, below and around you, all is spontaneously existing, for there is nowhere which is outside the Buddha-Mind.
Submitted May 20, 2020 at 09:15AM by xXx_GreenSage_xXx https://ift.tt/36dx0fO
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