Equality

If you talk about equality, nothing surpasses Buddhism. Buddhism alone is most egalitarian. If one says, "I understand, you do not,"this is not Buddhism. If one says, "You understand, I do not, " This is not Buddhism either. In the Teachings it says, "This truth is universally equal, without high or low—this is called unexcelled enlightenment." My perception is equal to yours, and your perception is equal to mine.

And yet, an ancient also said, "I know everything others know, but others do not know what I know." Why don't they know? Because they harbor "high and low" in their minds, and do not rely on enlightened insight; thus they see this world full of all sorts of crap.

Being able to converse freely about it without sticking in one place is egalitarian. Trying to cut things off by insisting that your own understanding or someone else’s is the final word is not Zen.

Dongshan says that to understand something beyond Buddha you must be capable of a bit of conversation.

How do you do that outside of /r/Zen?

Submitted August 04, 2022 at 09:13PM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/9emjNFJ