Huángbò Xīyùn: 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.

Anything possessing ANY signs is illusory. It is by perceiving that all signs are no signs that you perceive the Tathāgata. 'Buddha' and 'sentient beings' are both your own false conceptions. It is because you do not know real Mind that you delude yourselves with such objective concepts. If you WILL conceive of a Buddha, YOU WILL BE OBSTRUCTED BY THAT BUDDHA!!! And when you conceive of sentient beings, you will be obstructed by those beings. All such dualistic concepts as 'ignorant' and 'Enlightened', 'pure' and 'impure', are obstructions. It is because your minds are hindered by them that the Wheel of the Law must be turned. Just as apes spend their time throwing things away and picking them up again unceasingly, so it is with you and your learning. All you need is to give up your 'learning', your 'ignorant' and 'Enlightened', 'pure' and 'impure', 'great' and 'little', your 'attachment' and 'activity'. Such things are mere conveniences, mere ornaments within the One Mind. I hear you have studied the Sūtras of the twelve divisions of the Three Vehicles. They are all mere empirical concepts. Really you must give them up!

So just discard all you have acquired as being no better than a bed spread for you when you were sick. 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—just as the colours of the precious delicacies eaten by the Devas are said to differ in accordance with the individual merits of the Devas eating them!

Huángbò Xīyùn: On Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, 1958 [Source: Terebess]

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Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: Huángbò's teachings cut quite deep if you'll allow them. Exactly what is the old mountain tiger up to with this passage? Watch this masterful stroke: All such dualistic concepts as 'ignorant' and 'Enlightened', 'pure' and 'impure', are obstructions. It is because your minds are hindered by them that the Wheel of the Law must be turned. What that means to me at this point is this: if there is any thought in the mind of seeing something as somehow beyond you like 'enlightenment', then you lose awareness of One Mind. Therefore, the concept of 'enlightenment' is a ridiculous thing in which to attempt for or try to reach in some way; where is it that it could be beyond you at this moment?

Submitted December 31, 2018 at 10:25AM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/2CGm1hT