Unornamented Liberation is the Way You Naturally Are

I came across the following while I was reading Mingben:

"Just being the way you naturally are – whether you’re talking or keeping quiet, moving around or sitting still – and not ornamenting it with lots of branches and leaves: this is the great gate to freedom."

An alternative translation of this section by ChatGPT is:

"Natural language moves silently without bringing any superfluous branches and leaves. This is the gate to great liberation."

I think the human takes the cake. There's just so much more to work with.

If you consider the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West, the meaning of the Cypress Tree in the Yard to be irrevocably resolved by any singular answer you are stuck trying to tie yourself to an imaginary stake in the ground.

What are these "branches and leaves" that ornament your original natural state? They are but doctrine created by mind and attatched to by mind, with no reality whatsoever. Mingben elsewhere states "Any suggestion that the Way has some essential quality – I call that ‘foul language.’ I call it ‘suturing the dharma in place.’"

Buddhist suture their doctrines in place by appealing to the authority of the sutras. In contrast with Zen where Zhuangyan said, "The Buddha’s words are my words. My words are the Buddha’s words." the authority of Buddha is equally yours and mine, it isn't a special privilege for Buddha to speak. Foyan says, "If you talk about equality, nothing surpasses [Zen]. [Zen] alone is most egalitarian." Priests, New Age Gurus, and LSD psychonauts all rely on their claim that their spiritual authority surpassess other people's; when spiritual authority is left void there is nothing stopping anyone from

The Book of Serenity citing the Flower Ornament Scripture says, "I now see all sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones, but because of false conceptions and attachments they do not realize it."

A list of 'false conceptions and attachments' would be innumerable and in no way beneficial to gaining entry into Zen enlightenment. Still, Wumen provided the following warning:

• "Opinions on the Buddha and the Dharma are twin iron mountains encircling you"

Watch out!

A reference to Yongjia's Song that Attests to the Path follows from the reading of Mingben,

"For walking is Zen, sitting is Zen, Whether talking or remaining silent, whether moving or standing quiet, the Essence itself is ever at ease; Even when greeted with swords and spears it never loses its quiet way, So with poisonous drugs, they fail to perturb its serenity."

With an alternate ChatGPT translation, reading:

"Moving is also Zen, sitting is also Zen; in speech and silence, in movement and stillness, the body is at ease. Even when facing sharp swords, one remains calm and composed; even if given poison, one remains carefree."

Zen/Dhyana is not a state of mind or a particular type of conciousness that is subject to the chain of causality. When Dogenists come in saying that zazen is important they are trying to sell you on a particular, ritualized, form of behavior that has certain outcomes on the nervous system.

Submitted April 16, 2023 at 03:25AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/yD4XQPS