This pure Mind, the source of everything, shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection. But the people of the world do not awake to it, regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind. Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling and knowing, they do not perceive the spiritual brilliance of the source-substance. If they would only eliminate all conceptual thought in a flash, that source-substance would manifest itself like the sun ascending through the void and illuminating the whole universe without hindrance or bounds.
Therefore, if you students of the Way seek to progress through seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing, when you are deprived of your perceptions, your way to Mind will be cut off and you will find nowhere to enter. Only realize that, though real Mind is expressed in these perceptions, it neither forms part of them nor is separate from them. You should not start reasoning from these perceptions, nor allow them to give rise to conceptual thought; yet nor should you seek the One Mind apart from them or abandon them in your pursuit of the Dharma. Do not keep them nor abandon them nor dwell in them nor cleave to them. Above, below and around you, all is spontaneously existing, for there is nowhere which is outside the Buddha-Mind.
Huangbo Xiyun: On the Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, 1958 [source: Terebess]
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Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: Being a lifelong student of patterns, I'd like to share a few things I've learned on my path that others may not readily see. Something that seems to rarely come up in the Zen forum is the subject of ego, generally meaning the 'bad' or negative side of the personality, or more hilariously referred to as the monkey mind. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the mind itself is the world's greatest trickster, magician and illusionist. That being said, how do we know that in our study and practice of the Zen teachings that we haven't completely fooled ourselves into thinking that we've "attained" something?
Zen being what it is, we are up against everything that we've brought along with us, monkey mind included. The monkey mind wants what it wants, logic or reality often be damned. The monkey mind is not something to be underestimated, as it is sometimes not so obvious to spot when it is at its most powerful. To continue, how many here are courageous enough to say that they are flawed, and don't have the understanding of a master as of yet? It seems to me that a few too many people here are trying to posture themselves as knowing, when the teachings of Huangbo as shown above expound that it is not in reasoning from your perceptions. The Way lies not in building mental foundations or conceptual structures; we must let go of what we think we have gained in order to move forward.
As the old saying goes, don't settle for copper when you are looking for gold.
The Black Keys: Gold On The Ceiling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yCIDkFI7ew
Submitted February 12, 2019 at 08:08PM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/2ByQc9N
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