Zhaozhou said, “Just sit looking into the principle; if you do not understand in twenty or thirty years, cut off my head.”
This too was to get you to become single-minded.
Have you not read how the Second Patriarch of Zen used to expound the teaching wherever he was, and everyone who heard him attained true mindfulness?
He did not set up written formulations and did not discuss practice and realization or cause and effect.
At the time, a certain meditation teacher heard about the Zen patriarch and sent a senior disciple to spy on his lectures. When the disciple didn’t come back, the meditation teacher was enraged. When they met at a major convocation, the teacher personally said to his former disciple, “I expended so much effort to plant you; how could you turn your back on me this way?” The former disciple replied, “My vision was originally right, but was distorted by teachers.”
This is what Zen study is like.
Later, someone asked Xuefeng, “How is it when one’s vision is originally correct but distorted by teachers?”
Xuefeng said, “Confused encounter with the founder of Zen.”
The seeker asked, “Where is one’s own vision?”
Xuefeng said, “It is not gotten from a teacher.”
This is the way you have to be before you attain realization.
Of old it was said, “Enlightenment is always with people, but people subjectively pursue things.”
In scripture it says, “If you can turn things around, they are the same as realization of suchness.”
But how can things be turned around?
It is also said, “All appearances are unreal; if you see appearances are not inherent characteristics, then you see realization of suchness.”
Just step back, stop mental machinations, and look closely.
When suddenly you see, nothing can stop you.
“How is it when one’s vision is originally correct but distorted by teachers?”
I saw [this video] today and it reminded me of people who come here extolling all the "virtues" of their favorite guru du-jour, who then get mad when told by members of the community that their fave guru is duping them, and then refuse to continue reading Zen texts when they see that the Zen Masters are telling them the same thing.
Then we get an OP of the sort: "This sub is so closed-minded! I thought Zen was an inclusive, all-encompassing religion? All you people care about is dusty old books! This is not what Zen study is like!"
Then a bunch of green-shirted dudes run in to the comments of that OP saying "there, there mate ... come check out this alternative sub / discord server / website / YouTube channel I made to discuss the real Zen Buddhism meditation church! We'll get your quantum flux capacitor up and running in no time! :D"
Submitted July 13, 2020 at 08:36PM by GuruHunter https://ift.tt/2OkCLjJ
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