To practice is hard

[ BANKEI ZEN Translations from the Record ofBankei by PETER HASKEL ]

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To practice is hard

"Even among those in the assembly now who acknowledge what I say, there are some who merely teach the Unborn with

their mouths and don't continually abide in the Unborn, people who only know about the Unborn, people of merely

intellectual understanding. From the standpoint of the Unborn, intellectual understanding too is empty speculation, so

you can't say such a person has conclusively realized the Unborn. When you come right down to it, this kind of approach

is worthless. Even if you teach others about the Unborn, they won't realize it. And Sermons • 67 the reason they won't is

that, to start with, you yourself haven't left everything to the Buddha Mind's unborn and marvelously illuminating

[activity]; you don't live by the teaching or function with the Unborn at all times and in all things—you fail to practice it

yourself and only teach what you know intellectually, so there's no way others are going to acknowledge it. If you don't

truly acknowledge my sermon, truly practice it, truly manifest it, but just teach others what you've grasped intellectually,

they can't possibly realize it themselves. In the end, this only leads to blaspheming the Dharma. So, although people

who've experienced some 'realization' will turn up from time to time, there hasn't yet been one who acts according to his

realization in all his affairs right here and now. To understand is easy; to practice is hard."

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Windrakes study questions:

Do you feel like you teach from a purely intellectual place?

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Do you continually abide in the unborn?

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What do you all think of the comment " you yourself haven't left everything to the Buddha Mind's unborn and marvelously illuminating

[activity]; you don't live by the teaching or function with the Unborn at all times and in all things—you fail to practice i" ?

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Sounds like Bankei is saying you cannot transmit what you do not posses. What do you guys think?

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Bonus: What are you practicing right now?

Submitted November 14, 2018 at 12:08PM by windDrakeHex https://ift.tt/2FlivwG