1.) The Master instructed the group, saying: *”Followers of the Way, what is important is to approach things with a true and proper understanding.** Walk wherever you please in the world but don’t let yourselves be muddled or misled by that bunch of goblin spirits. The man of value is the one who has nothing to do. Don’t try to do something special, just act ordinary. You look outside yourselves, going off on side roads hunting for something, trying to get your hands on something. That’s a mistake. You keep trying to look for the Buddha, but Buddha is just a name, a word.*
2.) **”Do you know what it is that everyone is rushing around looking for?* All the buddhas and patriarchs of the three existences of past, present, and future and in all the ten directions make their appearance in this world just so they can seek the Dharma. And you followers of the Way who have come to study, you are here now just so you can seek the Dharma. Once you get the Dharma, that will settle things, but until you do, you will go on as before being reborn again and again in the five paths.*
3.) ”What is this thing called Dharma? Dharma is the Dharma, or Truth, of the mind.* The Dharma of the mind has no fixed form; it penetrates all the ten directions. It is in operation right before our eyes. But because people don’t have enough faith, they cling to words, cling to phrases. They try to find the Dharma of the buddhas by looking in written words, but they’re as far away from it as heaven is from earth.*
4.) ”Followers of the Way, when I preach the Dharma, what Dharma do I preach? I preach the Dharma of the mind.* So it can enter into the common mortal or the sage, the pure or the filthy, the sacred or the secular. But you who are sacred or secular, common mortals or sages, can’t start fixing names or labels to all the others who are sacred or secular, common mortals or sages. And those sacred or secular, common mortals or sages can’t fix a name or label to a person like this. Followers of the Way, get hold of this thing and use it, but don’t fix a label to it. This is what I call the Dark Meaning.*
5.) **“My preaching of the Dharma is different from that of other people in the world.* Even if Manjushri and Samantabhadra were to appear here before my eyes, each manifesting his bodily form and asking about the Dharma, they would no sooner have said, ‘We wish to question the Master,’ than I’d have seen right through them.*
6.) ”I sit calmly in my seat, and when followers of the Way come for an interview, I see through them all. How do I do this? Because my way of looking at them is different. *I don’t worry whether on the outside they are common mortals or sages, or get bogged down in the kind of basic nature they have inside*. I just see all the way through them and never make an error.”
Followers of the way, how does Lin-Chi’s understanding match your own? I’ve pulled certain quotes for us to analyze. Gather round Fools and Sages, and listen to a nobody expound upon Lin-Chi!
section 1.
1.a) Followers of the Way, what is important is to approach things with a true and proper understanding.
From the first sentence Lin-Chi places himself and his listeners in a quagmire. Talk of importance and talk of understanding seems to go against the Dharma he is preaching. Is Lin-Chi discussing the finer points of Zen? Or is he trying to teach want to be patch robed monks, how to patch robes?
Perhaps this is a commentary on the basic nature necessary to play your role. If one wishes to be a banker, a greedy personality is an asset, and if one wishes to be a Zennist, understanding is the trait we pursue.
1.b) The man of value is the one who has nothing to do. Don’t try to do something special, just act ordinary.
Another mark of distinction, to hoodwink the seekers of truth. If one wishes to be of value, simply do nothing. Be careful of the implications. Does the one who has something to do lack value? Or is he saying that existence needs no actions to justify it’s value? What does one realize when they have nothing to do?
Statements of distinction instantly upend heaven and earth, and put the speaker and listener in quicksand. Now everyone seeks after the meaning of Lin-Chi’s words. Whether to understand it, deny it or embody it, they’ll starve themselves trying to eat words.
The second part is the hand that smooths the waves. Don’t be a try hard and don’t overthink it. Just act ordinary.
1.c) You keep trying to look for the Buddha, but Buddha is just a name, a word.*
Lin-Chi is gentle with his students. Using words, he points to words. If Buddha is just a word, what are you looking for?
Section 2.
2.a) ”Do you know what it is that everyone is rushing around looking for?
What do we want? The Dharma! When do we want it? Now!
2.b) Once you get the Dharma, that will settle things, but until you do, you will go on as before being reborn again and again in the five paths.*
And to the crux of the matter.
What is the distinction between having and not having the Dharma?
Knowing the Dharma, all things settle into place, not a hair removed. Without understanding, one is still moved from place to place and thought to thought, lost forever in delusion.
Section 3
3.a) What is this thing called Dharma? Dharma is the Dharma, or Truth, of the mind.
What is the Dharma everyone seeks? Only the truth.
3.b) It is in operation right before our eyes.
Where is this Dharma everyone seeks? In front of your eyes.
3.c) They try to find the Dharma of the buddhas by looking in written words, but they’re as far away from it as heaven is from earth.
More of a statement than a teaching really. If you are still mistaking written words for the truth, you are as far away as heaven from earth.
Section 4
4.a) Followers of the Way, when I preach the Dharma, what Dharma do I preach? I preach the Dharma of the mind.
Did this bear repeating? Who is Lin-chi trying to convince? The Dharma he preaches is one of the mind, which shouldn’t be mistaken for the Dharma-in-front-of-the-eyes.
4.b) But you who are sacred or secular, common mortals or sages, can’t start fixing names or labels to all the others who are sacred or secular, common mortals or sages.
Well you can, but you can’t. To label things is not the path of the patch-robed monks.
4.c) Followers of the Way, get hold of this thing and use it, but don’t fix a label to it. This is what I call the Dark Meaning.
Lin-chi has a flair for the dramatic. What is this thing we are to use? Name it and you’ve lost it.
Section 5
5.a) My preaching of the Dharma is different from that of other people in the world.
A million people, a million interpretations. Embracing any one man’s expounded Dharma and thinking you’ve caught the truth, is akin to grasping a strand of hair on the ass of an ox, and thinking you’ve seen the beast entire.
Section 6
6.a) I sit calmly in my seat, and when followers of the Way come for an interview, I see through them all.
A bit of a braggart. However Lin-chi reveals the subtle truth. What makes a man a master, one worthy of preaching the Dharma? A student is a student through words and action. A master is a master through words and action. Lin-chi is the master because he acts like one.
6.b) I don’t worry whether on the outside they are common mortals or sages, or get bogged down in the kind of basic nature they have inside.
What is the methodology of a Zen master? How does one act? Ignoring external appearance and internal contrivance, one sees straight through to the true nature.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Submitted October 20, 2020 at 12:40AM by Owlsdoom https://ift.tt/2T5h0XI
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