Among the enlightened
adepts, being able to speak the
Truth has nothing to do with the
tongue, and being able to talk
about the Dharma is not a
matter of words.
Posts Tagged → dharma
as a boy I was too lazy
As a boy I studied
literature, but was too lazy to
become a Confucian; in my younger days
I worked at Zen, but got no Dharma worth handing
down. Now I’ve built a grass hut, act as
custodian of a Shinto shrine,
half a shrine, half
a monk.
how can it be taken by force?
Having left the Fifth Ancestral Teacher’s place, Hui Neng traveled south for two months, and had reached the Ta Yu Range. He was pursued by the monk Hui Ming, who was originally a general, accompanied by several hundred men, who wanted to seize the robe and bowl (emblematic of succession to the ancestral teachers).
Ming was the first to overtake him. The Sixth Ancestral Teacher threw down the robe and bowl on a rock and said, “This robe signifies faith: how can it be taken by force?” Ming tried to pick up the robe and bowl, but was unable to move them. At that point he said, “I have come for the Dharma, not for the robe.”
The Ancestral Teacher said, “Since you’ve come for the Dharma, you should put to rest all your motivations, and don’t give rise to a single thought, and I will explain for you.” After a silence, he said, “Without thinking of good, and without thinking of evil, at just such a time, which is your original face?”
At these words, Hui Ming was greatly enlightened. He also asked, “Besides the intimate words and meaning that struck home a moment ago, is there any further intimate message?”
The ancestral teacher said, “If it were said to you, it wouldn’t be intimate. If you turn around and reflect, what’s intimate is in you.”
for what reason do you pass this way?
Humans born into
this floating world quickly become
like the roadside dust: at dawn small children,
by sunset already grown white-haired, without inner
understanding, they struggle without cease.
I ask the children of the universe:
for what reason do you
pass this way?
you are no different from buddha
be free of all worldly affairs
You are no different from buddha.
There is no other dharma. Simply let your mind
be carefree. You do not need to contemplate your action
and to purify your mind. Let your mind be boundless and without
any obstruction. Be free from going and coming. Whether you
walk or stay, sit or lie down, and whatever you see or
meet, all are the subtle functions of buddha.
It is joy without sorrow. This is
called buddha.