Q: [I]t is recorded that ‘Whosoever possesses the thirty-two characteristic signs of a Buddha is able to deliver sentient beings’. How can you deny it?
A: Anything possessing any signs is illusory. It is by perceiving that all signs are no signs that you perceive the Tathāgata. ‘Buddha’ and ‘sentient beings’ are both your own false conceptions. It is because you do not know real Mind that you delude yourselves with such objective concepts. If you will conceive of a Buddha, you will be obstructed by that Buddha! And when you conceive of sentient beings, you will be obstructed by those beings. All such dualistic concepts as ‘ignorant’ and ‘Enlightened’, ‘pure’ and ‘impure’, are obstructions.
[…]
Q: Even though Mind be formless, how can you deny the existence of the Thirty-Two Characteristic Signs of a Buddha, or of the Eighty Excellencies whereby people have been ferried over?
A: The Thirty-Two Signs are signs, and whatever has form is illusory. The Eighty Excellencies belong to the sphere of matter; but whoever perceives a self in matter is traveling the wrong path; he cannot comprehend the Tathāgata thus.
From the Wan Ling Record of Huangbo
My thoughts:
I’ve been mulling this over after conversations recently about sort-of “patterns” that zen masters fall into in terms of their behaviors and tendencies. The thirty-two signs are a formalized list of physical features that buddhas have (like long fingers, gold skin, and a spoked wheel symbol on the soles of their feet), but the conversation here extends beyond that to “anything possessing any signs.” which I think justifiably includes things like the aforementioned behaviors or tendencies, which I do see zen masters, ostensibly enlightened buddhas, often sharing. Having difficulties reconciling the two, what do you all think?
Submitted March 14, 2022 at 01:27PM by UExis https://ift.tt/cjyEVi1
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