If you rush off frantically on side roads, studying in hopes of gaining something, then for three asamkhya kalpas you will remain in the realm of birth and death. Better to do nothing, just sit in your seat here in the monastery with your legs crossed.
-Linji
The question of whether meditation applies to Zen comes up in this forum often, but it seems pretty self-evident; if you are not a part of this, sitting, doing "nothing" is a logical realization of the Dharma. There's quite a lot of desirable things, but which ones can be attained without incurring more suffering?
Which one is a manifestation of self-sufficiency?These are the questions I ask myself. Linji said:
Followers of the Way, those who have left household life need to study the Way. I myself in past years turned my attention to the vinaya, and I also delved into the sutras and treatises. But later I realized that these are just medicines to cure the sickness of the world, expositions of surface matters. So finally I tossed them aside and sought the Way through Ch'an practice. Later I encountered an excellent friend and teacher, and then my Dharma eye at last became keen and bright and for the first time I could judge the old reverends of the world and tell who was crooked and who was straight. But this understanding was not with me when my mother gave birth to me—I had to probe and polish and undergo experiences until one morning I could see clearly for myself.
This is something Linji attained with practice. Whether these words mean the same to you as they did to Linji is something you have to know for yourself.
Submitted March 20, 2022 at 09:12AM by surupamaerl2 https://ift.tt/4BgPMtz
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