I will settle something for you right now: the ultimate rule is to see your own mind clearly. An ancient said, "The mind does not know itself, the mind does not see itself." So how can you see it clearly? Mind does not see mind; to get it, you must not see it as mind.
Foyan Qingyuan [1067-1120]: Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, translated by Thomas Cleary, 1994
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Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: As Foyan teaches here, the ultimate rule is to see your own mind clearly. What this reveals is the heart of Zen practice, which can be seen as focusing on the mind and observing it diligently, but why? What exactly does it lead to for one to see mind clearly? First of all, mind itself cannot be directly found or substantiated. There is no ability to present it in an objective way, so mind is something that remains entirely in the ethereal subjective.
Then Foyan shares, Mind does not see mind; to get it, you must not see it as mind. If mind is not an objective entity that can be quantified, then how do we know that mind is there? At this point, it can start to become apparent that the only way to reveal mind is through its reflection upon the myriad forms and thought. The mind is the source-essence that actualizes all things. So where is the potential problem?
Through Zen study, it is apparent that if the subject of mind is believed as somehow distinct from the objective forms, then all manner of ills can arise. The dissonant distinction of self and other potentially leads to all sorts of turmoil and trouble like envy, despair, hate and much, much more. Since mind in fact actualizes all things to begin with, a veritable Pandora's box of evils can arise universally from this delusion-based split between subject and object, which in turn creates a feedback loop where the mind unknowingly generates all of its own chaos and suffering through thought. To see mind clearly is to observe all things before thought arises, and putting a stop to conceptual thinking cuts the self-generated feedback loop of suffering at once.
Submitted September 30, 2019 at 07:37PM by WanderingRoninXIII https://ift.tt/2mpudOo
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