On practice

1. If you are going to use your mind to go in search of the mind, or you just plan to learn about it at a neighbor's house, when will you ever succeed? People's minds were sharp in ancient times. As soon as they heard a single teaching, they stopped studying. That is why they were referred to 'as idle followers of the Way, not studying, not busy.' People nowadays just want to acquire more conceptual knowledge. They search everywhere for the meaning of words and call this practice. They don't realize that more conceptual knowledge just builds bigger walls. They know only to keep giving a child more milk to drink. Whether the child can digest it or not is something they know nothing about. Students of the Three Vehicles are all like this. They suffer from indigestion - the indigestible part being their 'conceptual knowledge.' It's all poison, and they are all bound for another birth and death. In the realm of reality there is no such thing. Thus it was said, 'There is no such sword in my imperial treasury." You have to put aside all the conceptual knowledge you have previously acquired until you are empty and free of discriminations. This is the empty tathagata-garbha. In the tathagata-garbha not even a speck of dust can exist. It was to break through existence that the King of the Dharma appeared in the world and said, 'When I was with Dipamkara Buddha, I didn't attain anything at all." These words are meant for getting rid of your labels and conceptual knowledge. Only someone who dissolves all traces of anything inside and outside and who has nothing left to hold on to is someone who has nothing to do. All the teachings of the Three Vehicles are merely medicines meant for certain conditions. They were prescribed when appropriate and intended to be temporary. Thus, they varied. If you can just understand this, you won't be confused. The main thing is not to hold on to the words of a certain teaching spoken for a certain situation and turn them into conceptions. And why is this so? The truth is that there was no fixed teaching the Tathagata could teach. And so, this school of ours doesn't discuss such matters. Just learn how to still your mind and stop. There is no need to think about what comes before or after.

From Huangbo's "Transmission of the Mind", translated by Red Pine.

Would very much like to know this communities' views on this quote.

Submitted February 16, 2022 at 04:09PM by Wu_Um https://ift.tt/6DatRxO