Although Life and all phenomena makes your present Mind believe there
is something that is called life and thus teaches you the actuality of
the four noble truths , the true nature of Mind is not to be found in
phenomena nor in ‘life’ as such but more in that which wondrously
precedes Life and hence external and internal phenomena.
With this in Mind, the wise and sincere Mind, who wishes to escape
suffering and all forms of dissatisfaction in the great sea of
transient phenomena, goes ahead and observes what truly acts before the
skandha induced body-consciousness “reacts”.
Understanding this simple principle of the buddhadharma, the true
‘teacher’ is found thoroughly preceding the next thought, emotion,
memory, heartbeat, external sound or even THAT ACT which precedes the
next breath.
It is as such in life as in that which you perceive as dreams or in death.
He or she who applies and evaluates this is surely bound to liberate oneself from the black abyss of birth and death and thus free to save sentient beings in a myriad skillful ways.
A good dharma teacher, made of apparent flesh and who moves and speaks, is nothing but another aspect of the unmovable and perfectly illuminating Unborn Buddha Mind.
The teacher is just another phenomena in the skandhic perimeter of your Mind, thoroughly preceded by the act of compassionate bodhi.
The student who desires gnosis through Zen should not fixate one’s eye on the Teacher, nor worship this talking and mortal image for what it is, but rather listen to the conveyed content.
Afterwards one needs to apply this content and evaluate the resulting outcomes accordingly in alignment with common sense, of what truly takes place in the act of that which reveals itself as SUCH [tathata].
Remember, that which you, follow, makes you its slave,
But that, which you precede, makes you free.