To search for enlightenment
or nirvana beyond this mind is impossible.
The reality of your own self-nature, the absence of
cause and effect, is what’s meant by mind. Your mind is nirvana.
You might think you can find a buddha or enlightenment
somewhere beyond the mind, but such
a place doesn’t exist.
Love comes with a knife, not some shy question,
and not with fears for its reputation.
I say these things disinterestedly.
Accept them in kind.
Love is a madman,
working his wild schemes,
tearing off his clothes, running through the mountains,
drinking poison, and now quietly choosing annihilation.
A tiny spider tries to wrap an enormous wasp.
Think of the spiderweb
woven across the cave where Muhammad slept.
There are love stories,
and there is obliteration into love.
You have been walking the ocean’s edge,
holding up your robes to keep them dry.
You must dive naked under and deeper under,
a thousand times deeper. Love flows down.
The ground submits to the sky and suffers what comes.
Tell me, is the earth worse for giving in like that?
Do not put blankets over the drum.
Open completely.
Let your spirit listen
to the green dome’s passionate murmur.
Let the cords of your robe be untied.
Shiver in this new love beyond all above and below.
The sun rises, but which way does the night go?
I have no more words.
Let the soul speak with the silent articulation of a face.
…
Someone who does not run
toward the allure of love walks
a road where nothing lives.
But this dove here senses
the love hawk floating above,
and waits, and will not be driven
or scared to safety.
The
great truth of zen
is possessed by everybody.
Look into your own being and seek
it not through others. Your own mind is
above all forms; it is free and quiet and sufficient;
it eternally stamps itself in your six senses and four elements.
In its light all is absorbed. Hush the dualism of subject and object,
forget both, transcend the intellect, sever yourself from
the understanding, and directly penetrate deep
into the identity of the buddha-mind;
outside of this there are
no realities.
…Put your
simple faith in this,
discipline yourself accordingly;
let your body and mind be turned into
an inanimate object of nature like a stone or
a piece of wood; when a state of perfect motionlessness
and unawareness is obtained all the signs of life will depart and
also every trace of limitation will vanish. Not a single idea will disturb
your consciousness, when lo! All of a sudden you will come to realize
the light abounding in full gladness. It is like coming across the
light in thick darkness; it is like receiving treasure in poverty.
The four elements and the five aggregates are no more
felt as burdens; so light, so easy, so free you are.
Your very existence has been delivered
from all limitations; you have
become open, light, and
transparent.
The ancient Masters slept
without dreams and woke up without worries.
Their breath came from deep inside them. They didn’t cling
to life, weren’t anxious about death. They emerged without desire
and reentered without resistance. They came easily; they went easily.
They didn’t ask where they were from; they didn’t ask where
they were going. They took everything as it came,
gladly, and walked into death without fear.
They accepted life as a gift, and
they handed it back
gratefully.
zen is not something to get excited about
When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. It something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer. In five or at most ten minutes, your mind will be completely serene and calm. At that time your breathing will become quite slow, while your pulse will become a little faster.
It will take quite a long time before you find your calm, serene mind in your practice. Many sensations come, many thoughts or images arise, but they are just waves of your own mind. Nothing comes from outside your mind. Usually we think of our mind as receiving impressions and experiences from outside, but that is not a true understanding of our mind. The true understanding is that the mind includes everything; when you think something comes from outside it means only that something appears in your mind. Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.