Here's Nan-chuan talking more than he usually does:
The monk asked, "Since 'mind is Buddha' is not correct, is it that mind becomes Buddha?
The Master said, "'Mind is Buddha' and 'mind becomes Buddha' are just ideas created by your thinking. The Buddha is a person who has wisdom; the mind is the host who collects things. When confronted with things, they perform subtle functions. Do not conceive of mind and do not conceive of Buddha: whatever you conceive of, it becomes an object. This is the so-called 'delusion of knowing.' It is because of this that the Great Master from Kiangsi said, 'It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing.' He wanted to teach you, people of later generations, how to act. Nowadays students put on their robes and walk around doubting things that are of no concern to themselves. Have you attained anything that way?"
The monk asked, "Since 'it is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing' is not correct, what does the Venerable mean when he says 'mind is not Buddha, wisdom is not the Way?'"
The Master said, "Don't consider that mind is not Buddha and that wisdom is not the Way. I have no mind to bring up; what are you going to attach to?"
The monk asked, "If there is nothing at all, then in which way is it different from empty space?"
The Master said, "Since it is not a thing, how can you compare it to empty space? Also, who spoke of sameness and difference?"
The monk said, "It cannot be that now 'it is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing' is not right!"
The Master said, "If you understand it that way, it just becomes 'mind is Buddha' again."
u/Nimtrix1849: When there is negation, there is affirmation. When there's a question, there's an answer. When the monk says that 'it is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing' is not correct, then it just becomes 'mind is the Buddha' again! But, what was Nan-chuan getting at here? That old Master was slow in this one.
Submitted September 01, 2020 at 09:03PM by Nimtrix1849 https://ift.tt/2YU5Acm
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