Only when you have abandoned all perceptions, there being nothing objective to perceive; only when phenomena obstruct you no longer; only when you have rid yourself of the whole gamut of dualistic concepts of the 'ignorant' and 'Enlightened' category, will you at last earn the title of Transcendental Buddha. Therefore is it written: 'Your prostrations are in vain. Put no faith in such ceremonies. Hide from such false beliefs.' Since Mind knows no divisions into separate entities, phenomena must be equally undifferentiated. Since Mind is above all activities, so must it be with phenomena.
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. Different entities appear to you only because your perceptions differ.
Huángbò Xīyùn [died 850?]: On Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, 1958 [source: Terebess]
Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: As Huángbò teaches here, every phenomenon that exists is a creation of thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void. What does this mean? In part, Zen is the awareness that the world of form has no real or inherent meaning, and these myriad forms are simply just that, forms. Forms only have the meaning that we consciously or even unknowingly apply to them, which is exactly why we should be diligent and aware of our perceptions and thoughts regarding them.
Why should we so easily allow the world of form to ensnare us when we have the ability to see beyond mere form? To see beyond a thing is to be conceptually freed from it, which in turn gives the ability to move freely among the myriad things. This world of form includes everything within the physical realm of the senses and the conceptual realm of the mind that deals with them. We don't have to react emotionally to things or become conceptually tangled up by anything in the world of form if we choose not to be.
Submitted November 12, 2018 at 08:16PM by WanderingRonin77 https://ift.tt/2z8MeDD
No comments:
Post a Comment