This essay is meant to be taken as a whole, but it is comprised of 14 sections, and is rather long. Though the reader can return to the hub at any time to gain access to all other sections of the essay, each and every section is also written to be a standalone essay, should the reader choose to read only that.
Section 6: Pre-Zen Non-Conceptualization
Having previously looked at the nature of gradual practices, this section lays the groundwork for the upcoming discussions by extrapolating Huangbo's philosophy of non-conceptualization. First, it will consider how individuals fail to see Mind, and so, seek out practices. With an understanding of what it means to awaken to Mind, Huangbo will give us the Way, which is the elimination of conceptual thought, and which lays a foundation for Zen.
Huangbo explains to us, fairly early on, why it is that some people fail to settle the matter "in a flash", and instead attempt to go on discovering Mind with their intellect:
1.04.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.
Huangbo is warning us; those who fail to settle the matter, when they are right at the edge, will retreat because they seek a place to stabilize their reason and cognition before believing in their true nature. They go on to give us a little push, saying that "Having many sorts of knowledge cannot compare with giving up seeking for anything, which is the best of all things."(1.33) This giving up seeking is the same in nature as the void from which all phenomena manifest, and the same in nature as Mind.
As discussed previously, Huangbo tells us that all the various practices one could take up to attain enlightenment will eventually get us there. An overarching theme in this book is, that rather than taking the slow way, we can give up all conceptual thought, and be done with seeking immediately. This is what they have to say on the matter:
1.06.But if you students of the Way do not rid yourselves of conceptual thought in a flash, even though you strive for aeon after aeon, you will never accomplish it. Enmeshed in the meritorious practices of the Three Vehicles, you will be unable to attain Enlightenment...There are those who, upon hearing this teaching, rid themselves of conceptual thought in a flash. There are others who do this after following through the Ten Beliefs, the Ten Stages, the Ten Activities and the Ten Bestowals of Merit. Yet others accomplish it after passing through the Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva's Progress. But whether they transcend conceptual thought by a longer or a shorter way, the result is a state of being: there is no pious practising and no action of realizing.
Here we see "in a flash" again. Yet, what occurred must be difficult to categorize, and understand. Huangbo only mentions vaguely what occurs at the gate, the first being discussed in part 2, where one begins to see the nature of all thoughts as in a dream.(2.37) Huangbo also tells us that "The fruit of attaining the Śramana stage is gained by putting an end to all anxiety; it does not come from book-learning."(1.29) Remember, this is a book on transmission of Mind, not how to achieve enlightenment. As we continue, the reason why will become more and more clear.
Huangbo advises that rather than take up various practices, the nature of enlightenment is as such:
1.05.All the qualities typified by the great Bodhi-sattvas are inherent in men and are not to be separated from the One Mind. Awake to it, and it is there. You students of the Way who do not awake to this in your own minds, and who are attached to appearances or who seek for something objective outside your own minds, have all turned your backs on the Way.
Seeking outside, or appearances, or practices, we become unsettled. Try to remember that this is only "pre-Zen" practice for those who do not settle the matter instantly. Once understood, the qualities of the Buddha manifests of themselves, because this Mind is already enlightened. Awake to the one Mind, and all the qualities can manifest, since they are always present:
1.13.But to awaken suddenly to the fact that your own Mind is the Buddha, that there is nothing to be attained or a single action to be performed—this is the Supreme Way; this is really to be as a Buddha. It is only to be feared that you students of the Way, by the coming into existence of a single thought, may raise a barrier between yourselves and the Way. From thought-instant to thought-instant, no form; from thought-instant to thought-instant, no activity— that is to be a Buddha!
Huangbo is telling us that to set aside concepts is to be a Buddha. No extra, nothing lacking. No seeking. If well understood, not even any effort.
2.26.Ch‘ing Ming expressed this in a verse:
Just spread out a mat/For reclining quite flat—/When thought's tied to a bed/Like a sick man growing worse./All karma will cease/And all fancies disperse./That's what is meant by Bodhi!
Before any talk of effort in the form of non-conceptualization can occur, these points must be understood; supreme, unexcelled enlightenment is the state where Mind is understood, and the state of the Buddha manifests of itself. This is the state of non-conceptualization. Huangbo repeats:
2.52.The Master said: Only when your minds cease dwelling upon anything whatsoever will you come to an understanding of the true way of Zen. I may express it thus—the way of the Buddhas flourishes in a mind utterly freed from conceptual thought processes, while discrimination between this and that gives birth to a legion of demons!
The Way is the elimination of conceptual thinking. Progress and destination must not be confused as two; the path is the supreme state. Huangbo explains:
1.10.When the people of the world hear it said that the Buddhas transmit the Doctrine of the Mind, they suppose that there is something to be attained or realized apart from Mind, and thereupon they use Mind to seek the Dharma, not knowing that Mind and the object of their search are one... Such a method is not to be compared with suddenly eliminating conceptual thought, which is the fundamental Dharma.
"Suddenly eliminating"; this is not staring at the wall, allowing thoughts to come and go with right effort. Huangbo is not being unclear or mysterious; conceptual thought is eliminated in a flash, and the state of Bodhi is manifest. Not achieved, because nothing is sought. This point has been repeated over and over again. Just know that the Mind is void.(1.21) The philosophy behind this is as follows:
2.06.Every phenomenon that exists is a creation of thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void. It is the same with all sense-objects, to whichever of the myriads of categories they belong. The entire void stretching out in all directions is of one substance with Mind; and, since Mind is fundamentally undifferentiated, so must it be with everything else.
Our minds pull meaning/form from the emptiness which serves as the background for all phenomena; merely turn your attention towards it to see you are already there. Those thoughts can be unravelled; they can hardly find a place to rest in an eternally changing world, and are, in nature, a mediation between reality and cognition. See this dream, then the nature of Mind becomes clear:
1.06.This Mind is no mind of conceptual thought and it is completely detached from form. So Buddhas and sentient beings do not differ at all. If you can only rid yourselves of conceptual thought, you will have accomplished everything.
"You will have accomplished everything." Don't be confused when people tell you you are already enlightened; Huangbo says the same thing! In the next section we will see that Huangbo understands Bodhidharma as holding the same view.
Submitted October 17, 2020 at 06:40PM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/31gC4ix
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