...The Master said, "Everyone come closer. In the eighth month, I expect to leave this world. If any of you have questions, ask them now, and I will answer them for you. Let me put an end to your delusions so that you can know joy. After I leave, there will be no one to teach you."
When Fa-Hai and the other monks heard this, they wept and cried. Only Shen-hi was unmoved and shed no tears. The Sixth Patriarch said, "Shen-hui is a young monk, but he understands that the good and the bad are the same, and he isn't moved by praise or blame. The rest of you don't understand. What exactly have you been practicing all these years in the mountains? And who exactly are you crying for? Are you worried that I don't know where I'm going? If I didn't know where I was going, I would never leave you. You're crying because you don't know where I'm going. If you knew, you wouldn't be crying.
Our nature isn't subject to birth and death or coming and going. All of you sit down. I have a gatha for you: 'The Gatha of Truth and Falsehood and Movement and Stillness.' If all of you recite this gatha, your thoughts will be the same as mine. Put this into practice and don't lose sight of the basic principle."
The monks all bowed and asked the Master to leave them with this gatha, which they received with reverence. The gatha went:
"Nothing that exists is true don't think what you see is true if you think you see the true what you see is surely false if you want to find the true the mind free of the false is true unless your mind forsakes the false nothing is true where true can't be.
Living things know how to move lifeless things stay still those who practice staying still resemble motionless lifeless things to see what truly doesn't move in movement find what doesn't move what doesn't move is what doesn't move lifeless things have no buddha seeds.
If you can perceive its attributes the ultimate truth doesn't move if you can realize this you will see how reality works all you students of the Way be relentless and concentrate don't stand at the entrance of the Mahayana clinging to views about birth and death
If those before you are ready tell them the Buddha's teaching and if they aren't truly ready bow and tell them to be good there's nothing to argue about in this teaching those who argue lose sight of the Way clinging to blindess arguing about teachings they lead their nature into birth and death."
my grandfather is dying and it reminded me of this passage in the platform sutra. I was trying to remember what huineng said about crying over death. nothing new really, I still don't understand shit about zen
Submitted November 12, 2018 at 08:57AM by Malabhed https://ift.tt/2JUkPtf
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