7. Q: When a sound is made, there is said to be the sense of hearing. When no sound is present, does one still have this sense of hearing?
A: The sense of hearing is limited to those worldlings who have no avenue to the Unborn. For those who are Bodhiminded, there is more than just the sense of hearing, there is true inner-listening.
Q: How can one have this inner-listening if there is nothing present to listen to?
A: In procuring the inner-Dharma ear, one must first put on the Unborn Buddha Mind, thus one is Bodhiminded. In being Bodhiminded one exceeds mere surface reality and develops the fine Dharma-faculty of inner-listening to the Deathless Sound of Suchness; no-thing being present is irrelevant to this transcendent enterprise.
A: Well, then, who or what does the listening?
Q: The function of this listening is bestowed upon those who are attuned with the Bodhimind. Thus “the listener” is one who comes to know what it means to be Bodhiminded.
8. Q: As to the Gateless Gate of Spontaneous Illumination, what is its doctrine and what is its primary function?
A: Refraining from conceptual-thought is its Doctrine, and Right-gnosis is its function.
Q: Is it wrong to have conceptual-thoughts?
A: To unconceptualize oneself means refraining from erroneous-thought-patterns; in league with the Bodhimind one must develop Right Cogitation, meaning being rightfully Bodhiminded.
Q: What are some examples of erroneous-thought-patterns and Right Cognitation?
A: Incessantly being preoccupied with conceptions of existence or non-existence, with being or non-being, represent erroneous thought patterns; whereas refraining from engaging in oppositional constructs represents Right Cogitation, or Right Mentation.
Q: Please expound further on what is meant by Right Mentation.
A: It means being exclusively Bodhiminded.
Q: Is this Bodhimindfulness something one can attain?
A: It is not something attainable.
Q: Well, if that’s the case, how can one become solely Bodhiminded?
A: The Bodhimind is not something possessable. IT is not tangible or in any way, shape, or manner demonstrable in an ordinary sense. Simply be aware that IT rests on no-thing whatsoever and then you will be Bodhiminded, resting neither here nor there, but beyond the confines of particular locations and conventionality, time and space itself.
9. Q: How can one best be attuned to the actions of the Buddhas?
A: A Buddha’s actions are action-less, not being linked with mundane activities. This is referenced as Right Action or detached action-less action (Wu-hsin)—being instilled with Mind’s Deathless Luminosity that protects against all evil. As it is stated in a Great Canon of Monastic Rules: The Shining Ones do not act like other sentient beings, nor is the ordinary mind a Luminous One.
10. Q: What is Right-Mindfulness?
A: It means being mindful in keeping a wide berth away from bad habits of perception.
Q: What does all that entail?
A: It means being aware of formal activities but not grasping or making a value claim or judgment on any of them, i.e., being non-conjoined with love or hate and aversion, or reacting to any given issue at hand. Rather, Right Mindfulness is keeping still and firm as a Mountain Peak where everything is clear and well-balanced with no-thing ever obstructing the supernal-position of Right Recollection. This is known as seeing with the Buddha-eye of no ordinary perception, devoid of all discriminatory associations.
Ordinary perception pales when contrasted by being instilled with the Mind of Bodhi that soars like an eagle above the landscape of the composed. The composed is littered with those “habits of perception” that overwhelm the non-recollected mind and spirit. Whereas being Mindfully-Recollected affords one the advantage of steering well-clear from all those adventitious defilements that keep one chained to what one falsely perceives and prefers to be normality. These old Ch’an Masters, like Huihai, point to a higher horizon. The Bodhimind is vast, boundless, and well beyond ordinary comprehension. Being imbued with IT one awakens to the Vivifying Source of their being, never descending again into those dark valleys of woefully wrong perceptions that only lead to further distress and dukkha. As Bankei once instructed, “Put on the Unborn Buddha Mind and come to know ITS marvelously Illuminating quality;” once faithfully done, one will never identify with the illusion of passing phenomena and its [mindless] perceptions ever again.