Minds free of Reason
When the Master had taken his place in the assembly hall, he began,
"You people are just like drunkards. I don't know how you manage to keep on your feet in such a sodden condition. Why everyone will die laughing at you. It all seems so easy, so why do we have to live to see a day like this? Can't you understand that in the whole empire of T'ang there are no teachers skilled in Zen?"
At this point, one of the monks present asked, "How can you say that? At this very moment, as all can see, we are sitting face to face with one who has appeared in the world to be a teacher of monks and a leader of men!"
"Please note that I did not say there is no Zen," answered our Master. "I merely pointed out that there are no teachers!"
Later, Wei Shan reported this conversation to Yang Shan and asked what it implied.
Said Yang Shan, "That swan is able to extract the pure milk from the adulterated mixture. It is every clear that he is not just an ordinary duck!"
"Ah," responded the other. "Yes, the point he made was very subtle."
The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind, Translated by John Blofeld, First Shambhala Edition, 1994
The nature of the one Reality must be known by one's own clear spiritual perception; it cannot be known through a pandit (learned man). Similarly the form of the moon can only be know through one's own eyes. How can it be known through others?
When a man follows the way of the world, or the way of the flesh, or the way of tradition (ie. when he believes in religious rites and the letter of the scriptures, as though they were intrinsically sacred), Knowledge of Reality cannot arise in him.
Shankara, Viveka-Chudamani, The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom
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 shamana is so called because he has penetrated to the original source of all things. The fruit of attaining the shramana stage is gained by putting an end to all anxiety; it does not come from book-learning...You have always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend you can attain to this oneness by various practices...Bodhi is no state. The Buddha did not attain to it. Sentient beings do not lack it. It cannot be reached with the body nor sought with the mind. All sentient beings are already of one form with Bodhi...Therefore it is written: "Seeking outside for a Buddha possessed of form has nothing to do with you."
The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, On the Transmission of Mind, Translated by John Blofeld, Shambhala, Boston, 1994.
Experience is the essence of all things.
-Kabir
Shimon ben Gamliel said:
I grew up among the Sages.
All my life I listened to their words.
Yet I have found nothing better than silence.
Study is not the goal, doing is.
Do not mistake "talk" for "action."
Pity fills no stomach.
Compassion builds no house.
Understanding is not yet justice.
Whoever multiplies words causes confusion.
The truth that can be spoken
is not the Ultimate Truth.
Ultimate Truth is wordless,
the silence within the silence.
More than the absence of speech,
More than the absence of words,
Ultimate Truth is the seamless being-in place
that comes with attending to Reality.
- Pirke Avot 1:17
The Essential Mystics: The Soul's Journey into Truth, by Andrew Harvey. HarperCollins, 1996
ascend
April 21st, 1996
Shankara added May 22nd, Huang Po and Kabir May 24th, Gamliel May 30th