34. “Q: What is meant by relative truth?1

A: What would you do with such a parasitical plant as that? Reality is perfect purity; why base a discussion on false terms? To be absolutely without concepts is called the Wisdom of Dispassion. Every day, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying down, and in all your speech, remain detached from everything within the sphere of phenomena. Whether you speak or merely blink an eye, let it be done with complete dispassion. Now we are getting towards the end of the third period of five hundred years since the time of the Buddha, and most students of Zen cling to all sorts of sounds and forms. Why do they not copy me by letting each thought go as though it were nothing, or as though it were a piece of rotten wood, a stone, or the cold ashes of a dead fire? Or else, by just making whatever slight response is suited to each occasion? If you do not act thus, when you reach the end of your days here, you will be tortured by Yama.2 You must get away from the doctrines of existence and non-existence, for Mind is like the sun, forever in the void, shining spontaneously, shining without intending to shine. This is not something which you can accomplish without effort, but when you reach the point of clinging to nothing whatever, you will be acting as the Buddhas act. This will indeed be acting in accordance with the saying: ‘Develop a mind which rests on no thing whatever.3 For this is your pure Dharmakaya, which is called supreme perfect Enlightenment. If you cannot understand this, though you gain profound knowledge from your studies, though you make the most painful efforts and practice the most stringent austerities, you will still fail to know your own mind. All your effort will have been misdirected and you will certainly join the family of Mara.4 What advantage can you gain from this sort of practice? As Chih Kung5 once said: ‘The Buddha is really the creation of your own Mind. How, then, can he be sought through scriptures?’ Though you study how to attain the Three Grades of Bodhisattvahood, the Four Grades of Sainthood, and the Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva’s Progress to Enlightenment until your mind is full of them, you will merely be balancing yourself between ‘ordinary’ and ‘ Enlightened’. Not to see that all METHODS of following the Way are ephemeral is samsaric Dharma.

Its strength once spent, the arrow falls to earth. You build up lives which won’t fulfill your hopes. How far below the Transcendental Gate From which one leap will gain the Buddha’s realm!6 

It is because you are not that sort of man that you insist on a thorough study of the methods established by people of old for gaining knowledge on the conceptual level. Chih Kung also said: ‘If you do not meet a transcendental teacher, you will have swallowed the Mahayana medicine in vain!’”

1 Literally ‘worldly truth” no doubt used in the sense of ‘truths’ applicable to the apparently objective sphere of daily life.

2 The King of Hell-here used figuratively.

3 A famous quotation from the Diamond Sutra.

4 Prince of Devils-here used figuratively.

5 A famous sixth-century monk.

6This verse is from the ‘Song of Enlightenment’ attributed to Yung Chia, a seven-century monk. This fascinating work has been translated in full by Dr. Walter Liebenthal and published in the Journal of Oriented Studies of the Catholic University of Peiping, Vol. VI, 1941.

By and large what has been expounded by Huang Po throughout these discourses has to do with Truth (Paramartha); his adepts are still clinging to “relative” notions of what this Absolute Truth actually entails and hence they are always “attached” to the phenomenal realm vs. the Real Dharma-Realm, or Dharmadhatu. When the Master insists on being dispassionate towards every-thing apparently experienced in the relative-realm of illusion, he’s not implying that anyone should make some kind of active-reactionary attempt to shut-out the phenomena; as he taught earlier on, this would only incur deeper karmic debt as any attempted-action or non-action could very well cause more harmful circumstances than one is trying to allay. Rather, and he is most precise on this in terms of every “daily-action” possible, one needs to be Mindful that the diurnal-walk through samsara is not representative of the Truly-Real, but rather just shadow-walking through lesser-mind-fields of the karmadhatu. One should not get “passionate” about passing-shadows but rather be-Mindful that they have no Real-Substance apart from the Animating-Principle. The best rule of thumb to keep in mind is that any-thing that changes is impermanent; and attempting to cling to what is impermanent will only weigh one down with needless anxieties that only enhances the karmic-spin as one awaits the inextricable arrival of Yama—the king of Death. I beg to differ with Blofeld’s footnote on this; Yama is not just a figurative-persona, but is truly representative of the inescapable arrival of Death at the end of one’s present samsaric-journey; or as we learned in the “Lankavatarian Book of the Dead” series, the passage from prior-bardo-realms into the Bardo-Realm Proper of Death, before subsequent Bardo-Realms leading to Liberation of Mind or Re-birth into recurring samsaric-realms of further imperfections.  Huang Po says that while this Realization eventually becomes Self-Evident, it is not without effort. One still needs to Mindfully make Right-Effort (through persistent Recollective-Vigilance and time spent in deep-samadhis) lest the heavy-weight of samsara wears-down the spirit before it can properly Ascend through all the Stages of Mind-Development. Upon initiation into the Tathata-Family, all-prior stages can be abandoned (like a raft that helped carry one to the Other-Shore of Deathless Suchness) as One’s True Body of Reality (the Dharmakaya) fully-embodies the Nirvanic-Kingdom of Self.  The Master warns that if this is not Fully-Realized, then all one’s efforts spent through countless hours of studious erudition only guarantees graduation to the top of Mara’s Class, but one still does not escape from his damnable-claw. What a commentary Huang Po shares on the human-condition—one spends their entire lifetime building up merits and hoarding-treasures that will never satisfy their insatiable longing for permanence in an impermanent world. He even goes one step further and asserts that even those who have immersed themselves in the Mahayana does not guarantee successful passage through samsaric-seas; what is needed, above all, is exposure to a Dharma-Teacher who has transcended the ways of all (what he calls) samsaric-dharmas. The Buddhadharma alone is paramount.

35. “If you would spend all your time-walking, standing, sitting or lying down-learning to halt the concept-forming activities of your own mind, you could be sure of ultimately attaining the goal. Since your strength is insufficient, you might not be able to transcend samsara by a single leap; but, after five or ten years, you would surely have made a good beginning and be able to make further progress spontaneously. It is because you are not that sort of man that you feel obliged to employ your mind ‘studying dhyana’ and ‘studying the Way’. What has all that got to do with Buddhism? So it is said that all the Tathagata taught was just to convert people; it was like pretending yellow leaves are real gold just to stop the flow of a child’s tears; it must by no means be regarded as though it were ultimate truth. If you take it for truth, you are no member of our sect; and what bearing can it have on your original substance? So the sutra says: ‘What is called supreme perfect wisdom implies that there is really nothing whatever to be attained.’ If you are also able to understand this, you will realize that the Way of the Buddhas and the Way of devils are equally wide of the mark. The original pure, glistening universe is neither square nor round, big nor small; it is without any such distinctions as long and short, it is beyond attachment and activity, ignorance and Enlightenment. You must see clearly that there is really nothing at all-no humans and no Buddhas. The great chiliocosms, numberless as grains of sand, are mere bubbles. All wisdom and all holiness are but streaks of lightning. None of them have the reality of Mind. The Dharmakaya, from ancient times until today, together with the Buddhas and Patriarchs, is One. How can it lack a single hair of anything? Even if you understand this, you must make the most strenuous efforts. Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath.”1

1 Buddhists believe that it is a rare and difficult thing to be born a human being; and, as Enlightenment can only be attained from the human state, it is a matter of great urgency that we should press forward. Otherwise, the unique opportunity may be lost for many aeons.

The Master says not to get discouraged while transcending lesser-mindfields; Right-Effort is not something sudden and complete in itself; indeed, it may take great gradual and persistent attempts to de-conceptualize all that limits one’s advances in the Buddhadharma, but one should not just give up and back-slide into the mind-games of their own complacency in relying exclusively upon outside agencies that really leads the nowhere but only deeper into philosophical quagmires. He also forewarns that if anyone mistakes any/all expedient means as the Truth in Itself, then they are setting themselves up for a great disappointment. All about-you, whether humans or concepts about Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, indeed all contained within the great chiliocosms are mere “bubbles”—they are all insubstantial phantasms of the Animating Mind. Quite simply, Mind-Only is where it’s at and no-thing else need try to sell false admission-tickets into the Pure Mind of the Dharmakaya. As an additional wake-up call, the Master says this could well-be your last chance of this Noble Self-Realization for untold kalpas to come. Sober-Up, as this kind of missed-opportunity can be lost indefinitely!

36. “Q: The Sixth Patriarch was illiterate. How is it that he was handed the robe which elevated him to that office? Elder Shen Hsiu (a rival candidate) occupied a position above five hundred others and, as a teaching monk, he was able to expound thirty-two volumes of sutras. Why did he not receive the robe?

A: Because he still indulged in conceptual thought-in a dharma of activity. To him ‘as you practise, so shall you attain’ was a reality. So the Fifth Patriarch made the transmission to Hui Neng (Wei Lang). At that very moment, the latter attained a tacit understanding and received in silence the profoundest thought of the Tathagata. That is why the Dharma was transmitted to him. You do not see that THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA IS THAT THERE ARE NO DHARMAS, YET THAT THIS DOCTRINE OF NO-DHARMA IS IN ITSELF A DHARMA; AND NOW THAT THE NO-DHARMA DOCTRINE HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED, HOW CAN THE DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA BE A DHARMA?1 Whoever understands the meaning of this deserves to be called a monk, one skilled at ‘Dharma-practice’. If you do not believe this, you must explain the following story. ‘The Elder Wei Ming climbed to the summit of the Ta Yii Mountain to visit the Sixth Patriarch. The latter asked him why he had come. Was it for the robe or for the Dharma? The Elder Wei Ming answered that he had not come for the robe, but only for the Dharma; whereupon the Sixth Patriarch said: “Perhaps you will concentrate your thoughts for a moment and avoid thinking in terms of good and evil.” Ming did as he was told, and the Sixth Patriarch continued: “While you are not thinking of good and not thinking of evil, just at this very moment, return to what you were before your father and mother were born.” Even as the words were spoken, Ming arrived at a sudden tacit understanding. Accordingly he bowed to the ground and said: “I am like a man drinking water who knows in himself how cool it is. I have lived with the Fifth Patriarch and his disciples for thirty years, but it is only today that I am able to banish the mistakes in my former way of thinking.” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “Just so. Now at last you understand why, when the First Patriarch arrived from India, he just pointed directly at men’s Minds, by which they could perceive their real Nature and become Buddhas, and why he never spoke of anything besides.” ‘Have we not seen how, when Ananda asked Kasyapa what the World Honoured had transmitted to him in addition to the golden robe, the latter exclaimed, ‘Ananda!’ and, upon Ananda’s respectfully answering ‘Yes?’, continued: ‘Throw down the flagpole at the monastery gate.’ Such was the sign which the First (Indian) Patriarch gave him. For thirty years the wise Ananda ministered to the Buddha’s personal needs; but, because he was too fond of acquiring knowledge, the Buddha admonished him, saying: ‘If you pursue knowledge for a thousand days that will avail you less than one day’s proper study of the Way. If you do not study it, you will be unable to digest even a single drop of water!’”

1 This passage has puzzled many a Chinese scholar. I am not sure that this translation conveys the meaning very well, but at least I have simplified the wording by using ‘doctrine’ as well as ‘dharma’. In the original, the same word is used for both. A word-for-word translation would run something like this: ‘Dharma original Dharma not Dharma, not Dharma Dharma also Dharma, now transmit not Dharma Dharma, Dharma Dharma how-can be Dharma.’ I have closely followed a rendering made for me some years ago by Mr. I. T. Pun, a famous Buddhist scholar resident in Hongkong. He admits that this version merely represents his own opinion, but it seems to me the best possible. In my previous published translation I failed lamentably.

Reading the beginning of this particular passage again and again in light of the Buddhadharma, one can begin to fully-discern why Hui-neng was chosen as the Sixth Patriarch. It all goes back to the prior passages in this series dealing with “spontaneity, or Wu-Wei.” Being an exceptional, “Honor-Roll type-Egghead” (akin to Shen Hsiu’s erudition) bearing all sorts of titles and honorary degrees is all a heap-of-crap when it comes to Self-Realization of Pure-Mind. Pure Mind is so named because It’s completely Void of all that Epistemological rubbish that is no better than, what Huang-po’s Dharma-heir Lin Chi would describe as, “all just a dried shit-stick!” Being illiterate—indeed, completely void (empty of words) of all that head-shit, Hui-neng was a pure-vehicle who just spontaneously recognized the Real-face and Mind of Zen, and not just like some poor imitation, verbatim-ridden scoundrel spewing forth dead-words from some long-forgotten master. Only the Pure can recognize the Pure. Light from Light; Pure Mind from Pure Mind. The reference to Ananda’s classic dharma-encounter with Kasyapa rings so true here: there is therefore no longer any need of any form of instruction—so, “throw-down the flagpole!” Ananda’s “yes” is the spontaneity—the Wu Wei of Mind Recollecting Mind AS Mind. (Even though this most likely meant for Ananda that this blessed moment of Mind-Spontaneity took some time to sink-in)

Tags: dharmadhatu, imperfect, Karmadhatu, Mindfulness, Right Effort, shadow-walking

30. “If you now set about using your minds to seek Mind, listening to the teaching of others, and hoping to reach the goal through mere learning, when will you ever succeed? Some of the ancients had sharp minds; they no sooner heard the Doctrine proclaimed than they hastened to discard all learning. So they were called ‘Sages who, abandoning learning, have come to rest in spontaneity’.1 In these days people only seek to stuff themselves with knowledge and deductions, seeking everywhere for book-knowledge and calling this ‘Dharma-practice’.2 They do not know that so much knowledge and deduction have just the contrary effect of piling up obstacles. Merely acquiring a lot of knowledge makes you like a child who gives himself indigestion by gobbling too much curds. Those who study the Way according to the Three Vehicles are all like this. All you can call them is people who suffer from indigestion. When so-called knowledge and deductions are not digested, they become poisons, for they belong only to the plane of samsara. In the Absolute, there is nothing at all of this kind. So it is said: ‘In the armoury of my sovereign, there is no Sword of Thusness’. All the concepts you have formed in the past must be discarded and replaced by void. Where dualism ceases, there is the Void of the Womb of Tathagatas. The term ‘Womb of Tathagatas’ implies that not the smallest hairsbreadth of anything can exist there. That is why the Dharma Raja (the Buddha}, who broke down the notion of objective existence, manifested himself in this world, and that is why he said: ‘When I was with Dipamkara Buddha there was not a particle of anything for me to attain.’ This saying is intended just to void your sense-based knowledge and deductions. Only he who restrains every vestige of empiricism and ceases to rely upon anything can become a perfectly tranquil man. The canonical teachings of the Three Vehicles are just remedies for temporary needs. They were taught to meet such needs and so are of temporary value and differ one from another. If only this could be understood, there would be no more doubts about it. Above all it is essential not to select some particular teaching suited to a certain occasion, and, being impressed by its forming part of the written canon, regard it as an immutable concept. Why so? Because in truth there is no unalterable Dharma which the Tathagata could have preached. People of our sect would never argue that there could be such a thing. We just know how to put all mental activity to rest and thus achieve tranquillity. We certainly do not begin by thinking things out and end up in perplexity.”

1 This passage contains another famous Taoist term-wu WEI, sometimes mistranslated ‘non-action’. In fact, it means no calculated action, nothing but spontaneous actions required to meet the demands of the passing moment.

2 Literacy is by no means essential to the mastery of Zen. The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation makes the same point.

Trying to seek for Mind in a cognitive-objective manner and clinging to the words of others, whether in the guise of a teacher or through personal book learning, will assure one nothing but utter failure in the Realization of Mind. The Ancient Sages soon discerned that awakening to the Way is a matter of spontaneity. This translates in the Chinese as “Wu-Wei”. Blofeld in his footnote correctly assesses that all too often this word is misinterpreted to mean exclusively “non-action.” Think of it, non-action is essentially the other side of a dualism: action/non-action. Huang Po goes on to relay the futility of ALL dualistic activities and instructions (using mind to realize Mind) that attempts to comprehend the inner-workings of the Unborn; the Self-Realization of Noble Wisdom alone holds the key to break the code that opens the imageless door into the Inner-Dharma-Chamber of the Tathagata-garbha. The Master states that within this Dharma-womb not “the smallest hairsbreadth of anything can exist there.” Thus no-created thing-ness, neither of form or no-form, has any existence in the Void of Suchness. All epistemological formulations as well fall-flat and cannot even begin to measure-up to the Luminous Void that swallows-up these vain attempts to stack-up knowledge against the ineffable Wisdom of the Unborn. Adherents to the Way of the Unborn know through un-knowing that just plain-sailing via the Imageless-Wind of Tathata (suchness) will swiftly avert any obstacles (mind-creations) that eventually do sink and dissipate within the dark-depths of the Primordial Ocean of Pure-Mind. Thus, not standing in the way of the dark-depths (the dark principle of wu-wei) through either action or non-action constitutes striking a spontaneous chord within the stateless state of ISNESS.  Accomplished musicians know what this is like when the music begins to play through-them—as if imageless hands take-over the playing. The Rhineland Mystic, Meister Eckhart, would refer to this as the moment when God begins to live through-us AS GOD.

31. “Q: From all you have just said, Mind is the Buddha; but it is not clear as to what sort of mind is meant by this ‘Mind which is the Buddha’.

A: How many minds have you got?

Q: But is the Buddha the ordinary mind or the Enlightened mind?

A: Where on earth do you keep your ‘ordinary mind’ and your ‘Enlightened mind’?

Q: In the teaching of the Three Vehicles it is stated that there are both. Why does Your Reverence deny it?

A: In the teaching of the Three Vehicles it is clearly explained that the ordinary and Enlightened minds are illusions. You don’t understand. All this clinging to the idea of things existing is to mistake vacuity for the truth. How can such conceptions not be illusory? Being illusory, they hide Mind from you. If you would only rid yourselves of the concepts of ordinary and Enlightened, you would find that there is no other Buddha than the Buddha in your own Mind. When Bodhidharma came from the West, he just pointed out that the substance of which all men are composed is the Buddha. You people go on misunderstanding; you hold to concepts such as ‘ordinary’ and ‘Enlightened’, directing your thoughts outwards where they gallop about like horses! All this amounts to beclouding your own minds! So I tell you Mind is the Buddha. As soon as thought or sensation arises, you fall into dualism. Beginningless time and the present moment are the same. There is no this and no that. To understand this truth is called compete and unexcelled Enlightenment.

Q: Upon what Doctrine (Dharma-principles) does Your Reverence base these words?

A: Why seek a doctrine? As soon as you have a doctrine, you fall into dualistic thought.

Q: Just now you said that the beginningless past and the present are the same. What do you mean by that?

A: It is just because of your SEEKING that you make a difference between them. If you were to stop seeking, how could there be any difference between them?

Q: If they are not different, why did you employ separate terms for them?

A: If you hadn’t mentioned ordinary and Enlightened, who would have bothered to say such things? Just as those categories have no real existence, so Mind is not really ‘mind’. And, as both Mind and those categories are really illusions, wherever can you hope to find anything?

It’s apparent through these dialog-dharma-sessions that Huang Po has a marvelous sense of humor. Indeed, in response to the question, “Which Mind is the Buddha?”, he aptly replies, “How many minds have you got?” There is also no such thing as an Ordinary mind vs. an Enlightened Mind. The Master says that this is clearly a mis-conception as all conceptions are. There is no-thing other than the Unborn Buddha Mind with no-other attributes of any kind lagging behind; coming to the Self-Realization of this timeless and Ultimate Reality is all that matters. Mind is neti, neti—neither this NOR that. One needs to come to tacitly accept this Truth and no-thing-more need be done. Once again this particular passage emphasizes the fact that Huang-po’s teaching is a doctrine-less doctrine.

32. “Q: Illusion can hide from us our own mind, but up to now you have not taught us how to get rid of illusion.

A: The arising and the elimination of illusion are both illusory. Illusion is not something rooted in Reality; it exists because of your dualistic thinking. If you will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as ‘ordinary’ and ‘Enlightened’, illusion will cease of itself. And then if you still want to destroy it wherever it may be, you will find that there is not a hairsbreadth left of anything on which to lay hold. This is the meaning of: ‘I will let go with both hands, for then I shall certainly discover the Buddha in my Mind.’

Q: If there is nothing on which to lay hold, how is the Dharma to be transmitted?

A: It is a transmission of Mind with Mind.

Q: If Mind is used for transmission, why do you say that Mind too does not exist?

A: Obtaining no Dharma whatever is called Mind transmission. The understanding of this Mind implies no Mind and no Dharma.

Q: If there is no Mind and no Dharma, what is meant by transmission?

A: You hear people speak of Mind transmission and then you talk of something to be received. So Bodhidharma said:

“The nature of the Mind when understood, No human speech can compass or disclose. Enlightenment is naught to be attained, And he that gains it does not say he knows.”

If I were to make this clear to you, I doubt if you could stand up to it.”

The concept of “Illusion” itself is also something not rooted in Absolute Reality. With regard to all these exchanges, the Master says to “let-go of both hands”, meaning letting-go of ALL dualisms. Just turn-about from any-thing that is not Mind and then you will discover (awaken-Bodhi) the Buddha who’s been there all the while in your head! It’s literally Mind-Only and Mind needs no-form of externalized assertion that IT is enlightened. It’s really an oxymoron to assert that Mind the Self-Realized needs to somehow achieve enlightenment. Saying that one is “Enlightened” is the most stupid kind of assertion of all; and truly, as Huang Po states, the un-enlightened mind ( not a child of Bodhi) will never be able to measure-up to this.

33. “Q: Surely the void stretching out in front of our eyes is objective. Then aren’t you pointing to something objective and seeing Mind in it?

A: What sort of mind could I tell you to see in an objective environment? Even if you could see it, it would only be Mind reflected in an objective sphere. You would be like a man looking at his face in a mirror; though you could distinguish your features in it clearly, you would still be looking at a mere reflection. What bearing has this on the affair that brought you to me?

Q: If we do not see by means of reflections, when shall we see at all?

A: So long as you are concerned with ‘by means of, you will always be depending on something false. When will you ever succeed in understanding? Instead of observing those who tell you to open wide both your hands like one who has nothing to lose, you waste your strength bragging about all sorts of things.

Q: To those who understand, even reflections are nothing?

A: If solid things do not exist, how much the less can we make use of reflections. Don’t go about babbling like a dreamer with his eyes open (like a sleepwalker).

Stepping into the public hall, His Reverence said: Having many sorts of knowledge cannot compare with giving up SEEKING for anything, which is the best of all things. Mind is not of several kinds and there is no Doctrine which can be put into words. As there is no more to be said, the assembly is dismissed!”

This passage sums-up this particular Dharma-session with Huang-po concluding by expounding on the need to just stop the incessant-seeking that haunts and possesses the minds of the lesser-able who will never be able to measure-up to Mind As It Is In Itself. One who is in constant need of seeking for the truth only ends up time and time again just vainly looking at their own stupid image in a mirror. Mind is Void of all images. It’s unequivocally an imageless affair with no-thing arising nor cessating. Hence, incessant seeking is an affair of the dim-witted and is a useless activity that will never even reach the bottom slope of the Noble Ascent to the Unborn Mind.

Tags: Enlightenment, Meister Eckhart, neti-neti, seeking, Wu-Wei

In the 1950’s there was a catchphrase for a group of young English writers, primarily existentialists, who wrote against the grain of the status quo—“The Angry Young Men”; one of my favorite writers, Colin Wilson, was among them and his ground-breaking work in what has come to be known as the New Existentialism, as well as breakthroughs in the area of consciousness-expansion is well known. At the time, these youthful expressionists harbored their dissatisfaction with normative society with a pen; today’s “Angry Young Men” express their built-up angst with guns.

Yesterday’s horrific mass-shooting at Sandy Hook School in Newton, Connecticut, murdering literally “younglings” was really too much to even try to absorb; the utter impact of the shock and disbelief could be likened, to those who are old enough, to the assassination of JFK in 1963. Folk here in the USA will be reeling from this unspeakable action at the hands of a young, disturbed individual for some time to come. This marks one of many such gun-atrocities in as many months—the toll just keeps on climbing. To be sure, what young people are up against in today’s culture far exceeds what those young men faced in the 1950’s. The deep-psychological wounds that are amassed in trying to cope with a savage culture bent on worshiping violence are legion. Whatever their source of brokenness is, for young men the toll especially makes its mark. Forces like Feminism have essentially eroded-away the notion of masculinity—so much so that the only way it’s expressed nowadays is through excessive-need for control of the situation and that translates as turning to inappropriate measures to do so, like the acquisition and use of firearms. To be sure most of these guys are quite mentally imbalanced, but the source of their neuroses do relate to the culture—in particular here in the USA where young men are driven to do the unspeakable in order to regain some measure of control—to make that “dominate-mark” since it’s still expected of them to do so despite the undercurrent of the psychological milieu that undercuts, excessively medicates, and blurs their sense of self-identity. Of course, the whole notion of what constitutes “Self” is really the whole crux of the problem, but for now the immediate focus needs to be on stepping up to the plate and taking responsible action that can reverse these horrendous events.

Taking strict-measures for gun-control have been long overdue. Standardized and mandatory background checks are a good beginning; but this warrants going even further, like outlawing the sale and use of semi-automatic assault-style weapons altogether. What the hell is this kind of extreme and monstrous weaponry being sold for in the first place?  Another crucial factor that needs to be addressed real-soon is the long overdue focus on Mental-Health; and I’m not just talking about taking across the board state-wide-measures to better care for and monitor the mentally-ill, but also reassessing what it means to be mentally-fit in the first place. The excessive material-culture itself IS SICK; and until this situation is realized and action is taken to turn around this downward-spiraling trend, then all efforts to cessate this systemic-violence will be in vain.

Tags: feminism, gun-control, Gun-laws, mass-killing, material culture, Mental Health

27. “Q: What is the Way and how must it be followed?

A: What sort of THING do you suppose the Way to be, that you should wish to FOLLOW it?

Q: What instructions have the Masters everywhere given for dhyana-practice and the study of the Dharma?

A: Words used to attract the dull of wit are not to be relied on.

Q: If those teachings were meant for the dull-witted, I have yet to hear what Dharma has been taught to those of really high capacity.

A: If they are really men of high capacity, where could they find people to follow? If they seek from within themselves, they will find nothing tangible; how much less can they find a Dharma worthy of their attention elsewhere! Do not look to what is called the Dharma by preachers, for what sort of Dharma could that be?

Q: If that is so, should we not seek for anything at all?

A: By conceding this, you would save yourself a lot of mental effort.

Q: But in this way everything would be eliminated. There cannot just be nothing.

A: Who called it nothing? Who was this fellow? But you wanted to SEEK for something.

Q: Since there is no need to seek, why do you also say that not everything is eliminated?

A: Not to seek is to rest tranquil. Who told you to eliminate anything? Look at the void in front of your eyes. How can you produce it or eliminate it?

Q: If I could reach this Dharma, would it be like the void?

A: Morning and night I have explained to you that the Void is both One and Manifold. I said this as a temporary expedient, but you are building up concepts from it.

Q: Do you mean that we should not form concepts as human beings normally do?

A: I have not prevented you; but concepts are related to the senses; and, when feeling takes place, wisdom is shut out.

Q: Then should we avoid any feeling in relation to the Dharma?

A: Where no feeling arises, who can say that you are right?

Q: Why do you speak as though I was mistaken in all the questions I have asked Your Reverence?

A: You are a man who doesn’t understand what is said to him. What is all this about being mistaken?”1 

1 Huang Po is obviously trying to help his questioner break away from the habit of thinking in terms of concepts and logical categories. To do this, he is obliged to make his questioner seem wrong, whatever he asks. We are reminded of the Buddha who, when questioned about such things as existence and non-existence, would reply: ‘Not this, not this.’

We suddenly come to a dialog-format that will constitute the bulk of the forthcoming Wan Ling Record. These are mini dharma-sessions between the Master and his pupils. This opener appears to be coming fresh off the heels of what we’ve been covering thus far…it’s as if the pupil-questioner had been listening to a huge seminar hosted by Huang Po. This gives us a taste of whether or not what the Master had been teaching has taken root or not in the thick-heads of his disciples. “What is the Way and how can it be followed?” Well, right off the bat it seems that it’s going to take a while before it all sinks in. The Master replies by assuring his questioner that the Way is certainly no form of “objective thing” to be followed; also, the “teachings” that hopefully will shed some light of the Way are also not formalized “words” bearing any merit to awaken any dim-witted or even erudite adepts; the Buddhadharma is a wordless affair and is not conveyed simply through the articulate-eloquence of the best of preachers. The disciple responds to all this thinking, “Well, what’s the use of seeking—should we just cease doing it???” Huang Po’s answer is classic in its simplicity, “Right, if you just cease from conceptualizations altogether, it will save you from a lot of trouble and mental anguish.” The adept, though, still gets himself into deeper conceptual waters, “You’re trying to eliminate everything! There just can’t be nothingness!” “Who called it that?”, responds Huang Po; notice the profound depth of his response: “who” implies some form of sentient existence; “seeking” implies some form of ACTION by this apparent sentient-person. In Huang Po’s Dharma-Realm, never the twain shall meet, since as the Diamond Sutra would convey, both are sunya of Self-Essence—and THIS ESSENCE is all that should concern the pupils. The “void”, too, is also misconstrued by this dharma-student. All that had been aforementioned concerning the void was not meant to communicate something-other, some form of objective construct.  All “words” are temporary expedients, like a finger pointing to the moon…pointing to the far Greater and Wordless Self-Realization of Mind in-Itself. When the adept just shakes his head in defeat and whines that he was “mistaken” to even begin questioning the Master, Huang Po once again pounds it into his thick-head, “Who is mistaken; what does this “mistaken” thing have to do with the Dharma-matter at hand?” Huang Po warns that all “feelings” of sensate inadequacy, indeed all skandhic vexations need to be allayed before Noble Wisdom can reveal Itself.

28. “Q: Up to now, you have refuted everything which has been said. You have done nothing to point out the true Dharma to us.

A: In the true Dharma there is no confusion, but you produce confusion by such questions. What sort of ‘true Dharma’ can you go seeking for?

Q: Since the confusion arises from my questions, what will Your Reverence’s answer be?

A: Observe things as they are and don’t pay attention to other people. There are some people just like mad dogs barking at everything that moves, even barking when the wind stirs among the grass and leaves.”1 

1 Such people mistake motions taking place within their minds for external independently moving objects.

Apparently the adept has in his head another conceptual-construct of something that bears the title, “True Dharma”; he has envisioned some formalized sense of what the True Dharma should consist of. The Master says to forget all this nonsense of what someone has apparently taught you about what this “True Dharma-thing” should be; don’t pay any attention to what your “thoughts” may have remembered about these apparent “teachings”…your thoughts about these teachers and their inadequate knowledge are just like dogs barking in the wind at everything that moves. Indeed, just allay those thought-patterns that have been drilled into your head and are constantly roaming around within just to devour-you whole. They are all just ghostly shadows that have no substance and should not prevent you to ‘turn-about’ from them and focus instead upon Recollecting Mind.

29. “Regarding this Zen Doctrine of ours, since it was first transmitted, it has never taught that men should seek for learning or form concepts. ‘Studying the Way’ is just a figure of speech. It is a method of arousing people’s interest in the early stages of their development. In fact, the Way is not something which can be studied. Study leads to the retention of concepts and so the Way is entirely misunderstood. Moreover, the Way is not something specially existing; it is called the Mahayana Mind-Mind which is not to be found inside, outside or in the middle. Truly it is not located anywhere. The first step is to refrain from knowledge-based concepts. This implies that if you were to follow the empirical method to the utmost limit, on reaching that limit you would still be unable to locate Mind. The way is spiritual Truth and was originally without name or title. It was only because people ignorantly sought for it empirically that the Buddhas appeared and taught them to eradicate this method of approach. Fearing that nobody would understand, they selected the name ‘Way’. You must not allow this name to lead you into forming a mental concept of a road. So it is said ‘When the fish is caught we pay no more attention to the trap.’ When body and mind achieve spontaneity, the Way is reached and Mind is understood. A Sramana1 is so called because he has penetrated to the original source of all things. The fruit of attaining the sramana stage is gained by putting an end to all anxiety; it does not come from booklearning”.2 

1 Commonly, the word for ‘monk’.

2 This passage has a strong Taoist flavour. The quotation is from Chuang Tzu, and the word Tao (Way) is used throughout. Zen and Taoism have so much in common that some have been led to believe that the former is a sort of Taoism in Buddhist disguise; but, as both sects employ much the same theory and practice, it may be that the similarity is because the teachers of both sects are speaking from the same transcendental experience of Reality. The present text is written in a highly condensed form and includes sermons delivered on many different occasions. It is not improbable that paragraphs 29 and 30 are a summary of a sermon delivered to an audience including one or more distinguished Taoist scholars, especially as the opening sentence gives the impression that the Master was addressing newcomers to Zen.

This section appears to be like Huang Po is saying, “OK, let’s all just take a deep breath from this exchange between myself and this pupil.” He then proceeds to once again reinforce that “all conceptualizations” are just like chaff that are blown away in the wind. It is best to do without them. Also, to get out of your heads the notion that the Way in Itself is some-thing to be studied; you cannot study the Way, It is meant to be lived and revealed of Its own accord. Don’t place such a high premium on academia; it can only go so far and falls completely flat vs what can only be Self-Realized in It’s own time and fashion. Book-learning in itself can never lead you to become enlightened; one has to experience IT (like in deep-samadhis) before one can begin to penetrate all the way to the Original-Mind-Source. Simply forget about all mind-constructs and the Way will generate an authentic Pure-Mind Realization.

Tags: Dharma, mind vexations, mind-constructs

24. “A Buddha has three bodies. By the Dharmakaya is meant the Dharma of the omnipresent voidness of the real self-existent Nature of everything. By the Sambhogakaya is meant the Dharma of the underlying universal purity of things. By the Nirmanakaya is meant the Dharmas of the six practices leading to Nirvana and all other such devices. The Dharma of the Dharmakaya cannot be sought through speech or hearing or the written word. There is nothing which can be said or made evident. There is just the omnipresent voidness of the real self-existent Nature of everything, and no more. Therefore, saying that there is no Dharma to be explained in words is called preaching the Dharma. The Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya both respond with appearances suited to particular circumstances. Spoken Dharmas which respond to events through the senses and in all sorts of guises are none of them the real Dharma. So it is said that the Sambhogakaya or the Nirmanakaya is not a real Buddha or preacher of the Dharma.”1  

1 As usual, Huang Po is using familiar Sanskrit terms in a way peculiar to himself. Usually, the Dharmakaya means the highest aspect of a Buddha, i.e. as one with the Absolute; the Sambhogakaya is the glorified Body of a Buddha in his supramundane existence; and the Nirmanakaya may be any of the various transformations in which a Buddha appears in the world. In Zen, the first is absolute truth in unimaginable and perfect form, the second is the highest concept of absolute truth of which unenlightened human beings are capable—an underlying purity and unity; the third represents the various methods by which we hope to obtain perception of absolute truth.

Huang Po has remarkable insight into the Trikaya. The Dharmakaya is likened unto an “omnipresent voidness” that is the Real Nature of Mind as Self-Present everywhere—one could say that the universe itself is in actuality an Omniverse whose essential Core-Reality is an Undifferentiated Voidness—vacuous of thing-ness yet by the same token the One Totality of all. He envisions the Sambhogakaya as breathing primordial purity into all things as a subtle body of limitless enjoyment-potential, while the Nirmanakaya is the body that manifests in expedient fashion devised to meet any present state of affairs in the created order. The Master also states, though, that while both the Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya make sundry appearances in order to quench the satisfaction of any given samsaric circumstance, it is the Dharma-Kaya Alone that is reflective of the Real-Buddha that speaks-unspoken (within the omnipresent voidness) the Nirvanic Word that is hidden within all Dharmas.

26. “When the Tathagata manifested himself in this world, he wished to preach a single Vehicle of Truth. But people would not have believed him and, by scoffing at him, would have become immersed in the sea of sorrow (samsara). On the other hand, if he had said nothing at all, that would have been selfishness, and he would not have been able to diffuse knowledge of the mysterious Way for the benefit of sentient beings. So he adopted the expedient of preaching that there are Three Vehicles. As, however, these Vehicles are relatively greater and lesser, unavoidably there are shallow teachings and profound teachings-none of them being the original Dharma. So it is said that there is only a One-Vehicle Way; if there were more, they could not be real. Besides there is absolutely no way of describing the Dharma of the One Mind. Therefore the Tathagata called Kasyapa to come and sit with him on the Seat of Proclaiming the Law, separately entrusting to him the Wordless Dharma of the One Mind. This branchless Dharma was to be separately practised; and those who should be tacitly Enlightened would arrive at the state of Buddhahood.”1  

1 This passage demonstrates that Huang Po himself accepted the traditional origin of the Zen Sect; but, as I have pointed out in the introduction, the truth of this tradition does not affect the validity of the teaching one way or the other, since Huang Po is surely speaking from a direct experience of the One Mind.

Huang Po strongly advocates the One Vehicle of Truth (Unborn Buddha-Mind) but makes reference to the fact that the Tathagata expediently preached the Three-Vehicles that are best suited for each individual’s capacity to fathom the Buddhadharma. On the other hand, himself being a Child of the One-Mind has to point out that these vehicles in a certain sense are all limited in coming to the Noble Self-Realization that Alone reveals and constitutes the original Dharma; thus there can only Really be One-Vehicle of Truth and That is Mind-Only. Kasyapa was the one disciple who alone discerned and was entrusted with the significance, or better yet, with the Mind-Revelation that can only be a wordless-affair as signified by the silent-twirling of that flower between the blessed-fingers of the Sugata. That immaculate-moment was the birth of Zen itself, but the Master goes one step further by stating that this was meant to be a “branchless Dharma”—meaning that there can be no actual lineage within the Unborn; it’s all a tacitly-minded affair that can only be practiced in great Solitude of Mind within the Dharma-womb Itself.

Tags: Kasyapa, Mind-Revelation, One-Vehicle

22. “The Bodhisattva’s mind is like the void, for he relinquishes everything and does not even desire to accumulate merits. There are three kinds of relinquishment. When everything inside and outside, bodily and mental, has been relinquished; when, as in the Void, no attachments are left; when all action is dictated purely by place and circumstance; when subjectivity and objectivity are forgotten–that is the highest form of relinquishment. When, on the one hand, the Way is followed by the performance of virtuous acts; while, on the other, relinquishment of merit takes place and no hope of reward is entertained–that is the medium form of relinquishment. When all sorts of virtuous actions are performed in the hope of reward by those who, nevertheless, know of the Void by hearing the Dharma and who are therefore unattached-that is the lowest form of relinquishment. The first is like a blazing torch held to the front which makes it impossible to mistake the path; the second is like a blazing torch held to one side, so that it is sometimes light and sometimes dark; the third is like a blazing torch held behind, so that pitfalls in front are not seen.1”  

1 These three types of relinquishment probably refer obliquely to Zen, Mahayana and Hinayana respectively

23. “Thus, the mind of the Bodhisattva is like the Void and everything is relinquished by it. When thoughts of the past cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the past. When thoughts of the present cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the present. When thoughts of the future cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the future. This is called utter relinquishment of Triple Time. Since the Tathagata entrusted Kasyapa with the Dharma until now, Mind has been transmitted with Mind, and these Minds have been identical. A transmission of Void cannot be made through words. A transmission in concrete terms cannot be the Dharma. Thus Mind is transmitted with Mind and these Minds do not differ. Transmitting and receiving transmission are both a most difficult kind of mysterious understanding, so that few indeed have been able to receive it. In fact, however, Mind is not Mind and transmission is not really transmission.1”  

1 This is a reminder that ALL terms used in Zen are mere makeshifts.

Numerologists and New Agers are having a field-day with today’s calendar falling as 12-12-12. Sources indicate that today is “the last major numerical date using the Gregorian or Christian calendar for almost another century. The next time three numbers will align as they did on 9-9-09, 10-10-10 and 11-11-11 will be on Jan. 1, 3001, or 1-1-1.” Due to this numerological wonder, many assert that today is a most auspicious occasion—something quite extraordinary should sprout-afoot! New Agers go even one step further and predict that today some form of “energy-portals” will miraculously appear from somewhere “other” to further the evolution of man’s consciousness, something they refer to as the Ascension. They may have had a point, but for one thing…whatever kind of new-energy-associations that manifest in the created order have very little to do with the far greater inner-transformation on the spiritual plane that needs to occur for true transformational stuff to occur. The two above “twin” sections of Huang Po can help to steer us in an authentic spiritual-direction. The Bodhisattva’s mind is One with Mind and is therefore void of any kind of phenomenal manifestations, along with any “accumulated merit” that is somehow associated with furthering the evolution of the quest for spiritual emancipation. This serves as a striking reminder that any mark of merited advancement alone does not serve the true path to awakening in the One Mind—a Self-Realization that is in fact hindered if any form of meritorization is instituted in place of THAT Self-Alone relinquishment of “any-thing inside and outside” that attempts to usurp Its rightful Mind-Inheritance in the Unborn. All other forms of relinquishment, says Huang Po, are just wishy-washy attempts that hinder one’s advancement along the path to this True Self-Mind Recollection. In this sense, the Mind of the Maha-Bodhisattva is the Void that relinquishes any “other” attempts of luke-warm emancipation. This includes, says the Master, the Three-Times (past, present, future)—in fact ALL time representations (12-12-12 as well). He sums up these twin-sections by indicating once again that this is no form of mind-thing transmission; thus any-thing that apparently is “transmitted” (this would include those new age revelations of some kind of Super-Energy-Transmission) cannot be called the Buddhadharma—THAT is, indeed, a Wordless (which includes any form of thingness in the created order) Transmission bearing no karmic-seed associations of any form and non-form. He even goes so far as to throw a monkey-wrench into the minds of the lesser-able who attempt to perceive some kind of Mind-thing that gets transmitted.  Hence, there is no-form of transmission that transmits any-thing, including Mind as representative of an objective-subjective thing. All is Mind AS IT IS and No-thing else need apply that attempts to claim any resume of emancipatory know-how.

Tags: 12-12-12, ascension, energy portals, Mind transmission, New Age, numerology

19. “On the eighth day of the tenth moon, the Master said to me: That which is called the City of Illusion contains the Two Vehicles, the Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva’s Progress, and the two forms of Full Enlightenment.1 All of them are powerful teachings for arousing people’s interest, but they still belong to the City of Illusion.2 That which is called the Place of Precious Things is the real Mind, the original Buddha-Essence, the treasure of our own real Nature. These jewels cannot be measured or accumulated. Yet since there are neither Buddha nor sentient beings, neither subject nor object, where can there be a City of Precious Things? If you ask, ‘Well, so much for the City of Illusion, but where is the Place of Precious Things?’, it is a place to which no directions can be given. For, if it could be pointed out, it would be a place existing in space; hence, it could not be the real Place of Precious Things. All we can say is that it is close by. It cannot be exactly described, but when you have a tacit understanding of its substance, it is there.”

1 Including the form which leads to the awakening of others.

2 The City of Illusion is a term taken from the Lotus Sutra and here implies temporary or incomplete Nirvana. From the point of view of Zen, all the teachings of the many sects based on a belief in gradual Enlightenment are likely to lead their followers to the City of Illusion, because all of them apparently subscribe to some form or other of dualism.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic, The Hobbit, will be released in theaters soon. It is a prequel to his epic The Lord of the Ring trilogy and actually plants the seeds of what is the main focal point of his fantastic tales: the mystical ring that has the power to corrupt all those who use it, or “the one ring to enslave them all.” Actually its own literary genre owes its roots to Wagner’s Ring Cycle—wherein the main motif is the same, an enchanting ring’s power to corrupt even the best of sentient beings—the gods themselves included. In The Hobbit, the ring is first discovered in the subterranean lair of the impish creature, Gollum, by the main protagonist of the story, Bilbo Baggins. But it is Gollum who intrigues me more, with his incessant refrain of, “my precious, my precious!”—in reference of course to the ring that has actually drained him of his life-force energy, as his every moment is spent pining away in his self-made tomb since his spirit has totally succumbed to the evil power of this great symbol of materialism itself. In contrast to this nefarious ring stands Huang Po’s reference to “the Place of Precious Things”, which of course is a rich metaphor for the One-Mind that houses the very vivifying Self-Nature of our True Beingness in the Unborn; indeed, the Unborn Buddha Mind is the great mani-pearl that does not enslave, but rather luminously eradicates the dark evil one, Mara, whose own dictatorial and materialistic hold can render impotent one’s spirit that has forgotten its True Primordial Source. The Place of this Precious Mani-Pearl of Noble Wisdom is location-less, It is not determined in terms of any measurable quotient within the creative sphere; It is spacelessness and timelessness Itself. Yet, as the Master points out, It is always close by. The Place of Precious Things therefore is the exact antithesis to what he describes as “the City of Illusion”, which as Blofeld indicates in his footnote is a reference found in the Lotus Sutra that implies “temporary or incomplete nirvana.” Once again the Master speaks about the tomfoolery of those who are beholden to exoteric teaching-forms that only keep one entrapped between the Iron Mountains of dualism. What one need do, of course, is to inwardly turn-about from any discursive thought process and discover the True and Undivided Nirvanic Kingdom of Selfhood in the Unborn.

20. “Icchantikas are those with beliefs which are incomplete. All beings within the six realms of existence, including those who follow Mahayana and Hinayana, if they do not believe in their potential Buddhahood, are accordingly called Icchantikas with cut-off roots of goodness. Bodhisattvas1 who believe deeply in the Buddha-Dharma, without accepting the division into Mahayana and Hinayana, but who do not realize the one Nature of Buddhas and sentient beings, are accordingly called Icchantikas with roots of goodness. Those who are Enlightened largely through hearing the spoken doctrine are termed Sravakas (hearers]. Those Enlightened through perception of the law of karma are called Pratyeka-Buddhas.2 Those who become Buddhas, but not from Enlightenment occurring in their own minds, are called Hearer-Buddhas. Most students of the Way are Enlightened through the Dharma which is taught in words and not through the Dharma of Mind. Even after successive aeons of effort, they will not become attuned to the original Buddha-Essence. For those who are not Enlightened from within their own Mind, but from hearing the Dharma which is taught in words, make light of Mind and attach importance to doctrine, so they advance only step by step, neglecting their original Mind. Thus, if only you have a tacit understanding of Mind, you will not need to search for any Dharma, for then Mind is the Dharma.”3  

1 Here meaning Buddhists

2 Commonly meaning those Buddhas who do not interest themselves in the Enlightenment of others.

3 Most of this paragraph is intended to make it clear that, though Buddhism of the gradual school does produce results, they take long to attain and are at least incomplete compared with results obtained through Zen.

Huang Po makes a pivotal point concerning the Icchantikas, or those who’s Buddha-nature does not come to fruition. As he indicates, he’s just not referring to the common lot (puthujjanas) but even all those who are well versed in the Mahayana, but have not yet consummated their quest for the Unborn. One also needs to discover their own Buddha-nature that lies dormant within the gotra, or bodhichild with mystical affiliation with the Tathagatas. Huang Po warns here that merely memorizing scripture or invoking mantras and engaging in soteriological practices will be a totally useless endeavor. Even if one find’s an erudite teacher, if he or she has not discovered their own hidden Buddha-nature, then their teaching is done in vain. The Mind-Dharma is knowing Mind As It Is In Itself.

21. “People are often hindered by environmental phenomena from perceiving Mind, and by individual events from perceiving underlying principles; so they often try to escape from environmental phenomena in order to still their minds, or to obscure events in order to retain their grasp of principles. They do not realize that this is merely to obscure phenomena with Mind, events with principles. Just let your minds become void and environmental phenomena will void themselves; let principles cease to stir and events will cease stirring of themselves.1 Do not employ Mind in this perverted way. Many people are afraid to empty their minds lest they may plunge into the Void. They do not know that their own Mind is the void. The ignorant eschew phenomena but not thought; the wise eschew thought but not phenomena.2”  

1 To FORCE the mind to blot out phenomena shows ignorance of the identity of the one with the other.

2 This profound teaching is aimed partly at those Buddhists who practice a form of meditation which aims at temporarily blotting out the material world.

Once again Huang Po masterfully teaches to avoid trying to eradicate outside phenomena; if one tries in vain to FORCE the issue, then one will become all the more entangled in phenomena’s unwholesome grip. Just Recollect Mind’s Voidness, then all phenomenalizations will begin to dissipate on their own, like the passing clouds against the backdrop of the boundless sky. One must not try to cut-off passing phenomena, this would be like trying to cut off one of the many heads of the Hydra; instead eschew the heart of the Demon (discursive thoughts) altogether.

Tags: Gollum, Icchantikas, Mani-Pearl, The Hobbit

Last month I wrote a blog about the upcoming series on the Zen Teaching of Huang Po, lamenting the fact that my favorite edition of Blofeld’s translation, the Shambahla Pocket Book Edition, is now extinct. So, then, what kind of selections does Shambahla market these days in pocket-size? The Pocket Pema Chodron and The Pocket Thich Nhat Hanh, of course! Why of course these two contemporary cultural icons have replaced perhaps the greatest Zen Master of all time! This is the kind of stuff that people interested in Buddhist spirituality just have to read! Move over, Huang Po! Move over Sutras! Make-way for the new kids on the block; after all, this is the kind of stuff that sells; that appeals to people’s baser knowledge base. Oh, let’s forget about the Buddhadharma and just satisfy our psycho-emotional and physical needs—that’s what really matters after all! Listen to the stuff that litters my mailbox:

Pema Chodron: Here is a treasury of 108 short selections from the best-selling books of Pema Chödrön, the beloved Buddhist nun. Designed for on-the-go inspiration, this collection offers teachings on: becoming fearless; breaking free of destructive patterns; developing patience, kindness, and joy amid our everyday struggles; unlocking our natural warmth, intelligence, and goodness—ouuu, can’t ya just feel the warm fuzzies? Or, how bout:

Thich Nhat Hanh: This is a collection of powerful and inspiring teachings in an appealing, convenient pocket-size book from one of today’s most important and beloved spiritual teachers, the Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Next to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh is the best-known Buddhist teacher in the world, and his teachings have touched millions. Thich Nhat Hanh is known for his warm, generous, and joyful teaching style…this reader covers main themes like, mindfulness in our daily lives; working with emotions and relationships, and also doing “engaged Buddhism”:–transforming society…

Yeah right! This stuff is transforming society alright, transforming it for the worst!

Tags: Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh

16. “On the first day of the ninth moon, the Master said to me: From the time when the Great Master Bodhidharma arrived in China, he spoke only of the One Mind and transmitted only the one Dharma. He used the Buddha to transmit the Buddha, never speaking of any other Buddha. He used the Dharma to transmit the Dharma, never speaking of any other Dharma. That Dharma was the wordless Dharma, and that Buddha was the intangible Buddha, since they were in fact that Pure Mind which is the source of all things. This is the only truth; all else is false. Prajna is wisdom; wisdom is the formless original Mind-Source. Ordinary people do not seek the Way, but merely indulge their six senses which lead them back into the six realms of existence. A student of the Way, by allowing himself a single samsaric thought, falls among devils. If he permits himself a single thought leading to differential perception, he falls into heresy. To hold that there is something born and to try to eliminate it, that is to fall among the Sravakas.1 To hold that things are not born but capable of destruction is to fall among the Pratyekas.2 Nothing is born, nothing is destroyed. Away with your dualism, your likes and dislikes. Every single thing is just the One Mind. When you have perceived this, you will have mounted the Chariot of the Buddhas.”

1 Huang Po, according to his usual custom, is using the word Sravaka to mean Hinayanist. Hinayanists are dualists in that they seek to overcome their samsaric life in order to enter Nirvana; while Zen perceives that Samsara is no other than Nirvana.

2 Huang Po customarily uses or misuses this word to mean the Madhyamikists or followers of the Middle Vehicle.

Reference is made yet again to the great Bodhidharma and his sole and resolute mission to teach the Buddhadharma—that great “wordless” transmission that reveals the Absolute Pure Mind of all Buddhas. Huang Po continues his own mission to proclaim that this Noble Mind Realization is the truth whereas all conceptualizations of the clouded-skandhic mind are false. Prajna itself unfolds the imagelessness of the Unborn Buddha Mind; and is hence a mystical-unspoken Dhyana that is all one needs when entering into deep samadhis in order to awaken (bodhi) within the sacred womb of Bhutatathata (Absolute Suchness). The puthujjanas are forever blinded by incessantly seeking Mind through the skandhic-riddled mind, that leads them into the perpetual regenesis of re-becoming in the darkened womb of the six samsaric realms of existence. The Master makes it emphatically and unequivocally known that any adept of the True-Mind-Path, through just one SINGLE SAMSARIC THOUGHT, FALLS AMONG DEVILS. He is not pulling any punches here; all obtuse-thoughts that emanate from the clouded-skandhic mind forever keeps one in the diurnal spin of differentiation—the hallmark of heresy in all Authentic Mind Schools of the unoriginated wordless, and image-less, Buddhadharma. Huang Po also makes a dire warning of becoming trapped between the two iron mountains of delusion—one that believes that something is born and hence can be destroyed; the other which states that no-thing is born, yet this no-thing-ness is still objectifiable and can be destroyed. Hence, there is no birth…there is no death…there is only THAT Deathless-Unborn. Once this is Self-Realized, one mounts the Chariot of all Buddhas and soars like Pegasus with Unborn wings over the abyss of time and space and dreams.

17. “Ordinary people all indulge in conceptual thought based on environmental phenomena, hence they feel desire and hatred. To eliminate environmental phenomena, just put an end to your conceptual thinking. When this ceases, environmental phenomena are void; and when these are void, thought ceases. But if you try to eliminate environment without first putting a stop to conceptual thought, you will not succeed, but merely increase its power to disturb you. Thus all things are naught but Mind–intangible Mind; so what can you hope to attain? Those who are students of Prajna1 hold that there is nothing tangible whatever, so they cease thinking of the Three Vehicles.2 There is only the one reality, neither to be realized nor attained. To say ‘I am able to realize something ‘ or ‘I am able to attain something” is to place yourself among the arrogant. The men who flapped their garments and left the meeting as mentioned in the Lotus Sutra were just such people.3 Therefore the Buddha said: ‘I truly obtained nothing from Enlightenment.’ There is just a mysterious tacit understanding and no more.”

1 Here used to mean Wisdom in the sense of Zen.

2 I.e. theThree Great Schools teaching gradual Enlightenment.

3 These people THOUGHT they had understood and were smugly self-satisfied.

Putting an end to conceptual-thinking allays the onslaught of all environmental-phenomena. The Master warns that if one tries to eliminate phenomenal outflows without first quelling the rabid dog of conceptualizations, one will only feed the beast all the more. Prajna teaches that there is truly no-thing attainable, there is only the One Mind that cannot be grasped by conceptualizations. Being unable to lay-down the untrustworthy and rusted sword of one’s own feeble mind realizations, one succumbs to arrogance and thus cuts one’s own throat. Once again, Huang Po makes use of the Buddha’s own admonition that NO THING is ever attainable, not even after Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.

18. “If an ordinary man, when he is about to die, could only see the five elements of consciousness as void; the four physical elements as not constituting an ‘I’; the real Mind as formless and neither coming nor going; his nature as something neither commencing at his birth nor perishing at his death, but as whole and motionless in its very depths; his Mind and environmental objects as one–if he could really accomplish this, he would receive Enlightenment in a flash. He would no longer be entangled by the Triple World; he would be a World-Transcendor. He would be without even the faintest tendency towards rebirth. If he should behold the glorious sight of all the Buddhas coming to welcome him, surrounded by every kind of gorgeous manifestation, he would feel no desire to approach them. If he should behold all sorts of horrific forms surrounding him, he would experience no terror. He would just be himself, oblivious of conceptual thought and one with the Absolute. He would have attained the state of unconditioned being. This, then, is the fundamental principle.”1  

1 This paragraph is, perhaps, one of the finest expositions of Zen teaching, for it encompasses in a few words almost the entire scope of that vast and penetrating wisdom.

I concur wholeheartedly with Blofeld’s footnote. This passage is the final summation of the Whole Noble-Teaching of the Tathagatas—one that hopefully prepares the weary samsaric sojourner for that great and FINAL BARDO MOMENT when death comes knocking at the door. Mind is totally Void of ANY phenomenal outflows—from every dark fear even to the apparent shape of Shining Buddha’s arrayed in the finest regalia. This passage bespeaks the great overcoming of BOTH the peaceful and wrathful imagery that confronts one in the final bardo stages before rebirth. If one simply remains quiescent in the Imageless Unborn Buddha Mind, then one can Un-conditionally embrace the Fundamental-Principle of the Dharmadhatu—fully awakening with the unclouded Bodhi-Mind to the Real looking at the Real, and thus returning to One’s True Nirvanic-Primordial Home.

Tags: Fundamental Principle, imagelessness, no-thing attainable