When Sukdu visited Master Hangsa, Hangsa asked him, “Where are you from?” Sukdu said, “I am from Jogae.” Hangsa, raising a cup, said, “Is there a thing like this in Jogae?” Sukdu answered, “Not only does it not exist in Jogae, but it doesn’t exist in India.” Hangsa said, “Have you been to India?” Sukdu responded, “If I had been there, it would exist.” Hangsa said, “That is not yet it. Speak again.” Sukdu said, “You must not leave it all to me. You, too, should say half a word.” Hangsa said, “I don’t mind speaking to you, but I fear that in the future there will be no one who understands.”
Student: “Why did Sukdu say that it didn’t exist not only in Jogae but also in India although there were a lot of cups not merely in Jogae but also in India?”
Master: “Because he saw what you can’t see and didn’t see what you see.”
Commentary:
All suffering of sentient beings is from mistaking what doesn’t exist for what exists.
“World Honoured One, if I were to entertain the thought that I have attained sainthood, then the World Honoured One would not say Subhuti enjoys the state of sainthood. It is because Subhuti really does nothing that you say Subhuti likes to enjoy the state of sainthood.”
Commentary:
An Arhat is one who has realised Emptiness. If they think, “I have abandoned desire,” they are already trapped in the images of ‘I’, ‘desire’, and ‘abandoning’. A true Arhat acts without acting—this is called ‘Action without abiding’. It does not mean doing nothing, but seeing all actions, including one’s own just like stamping on water, or like a bird flying without leaving a trace.
This is what the Buddha meant by seeing everything as empty.
First, see all movements as the function of Buddha-nature. Second, see all forms as mental images, like a movie. For example, a flower is not essentially a flower but Buddha-nature; it is a flower only because I assume it to be so. Seeing the form and the essence (Emptiness) simultaneously is called ‘Simultaneous form and Emptiness’, or ‘Subtle form amid true Emptiness’. Seeing the form only is to be deluded by illusions.
If you see this way, being wronged will not lead to resentment because it is like a mark on water. Doing good will not lead to pride because it is like a bird’s flight. If you help a friend and later feel betrayed when they don’t help you back when you ask him for help, your past ‘good deed’ has become a weapon for self-harm. This is why ancient masters said, “Doing a good thing is not as good as doing nothing.” This doesn’t mean that we should not do good, but we ought to do it without leaving a trace, that is, without the idea that you did good.
In the Bible, it says, “Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” but Buddha’s teaching is to let not even your right hand know what your right hand does.
Disciple: “If I must do nothing, how should I read this Sutra?”
Master: “If you read it correctly, reading it will become doing nothing.”
Disciple: “What is the correct way to read it?”
Master: “Meet the Buddha within the letters.”
In the Buddha-land, there are no sentient beings.
When there are no sentient beings, there is no Buddha.
Thus, in the Buddha-land, there is no Buddha.
Koan:
A monk asked Master Daidong Guangcheng: “What is the Original Person (the Buddha)?”
The Master replied, “Sitting together, yet you do not recognise him.”
The monk said, “Then, I shall prostrate to you.”
The Master said, “A sorrowful heart, secretly written—to whom should it be sent?”
Question 1: What did the Master mean by “Sitting together, yet you do not recognise him”?
Question 2: What did the Master mean by “A sorrowful heart, secretly written—to whom should it be sent?”
It is true that discrimination is impossible without memory. However, non-discrimination in Buddhism doesn’t mean to remove all memory. Our lives depend on memory, and we can’t maintain our lives without memory. It is not an exaggeration to say that all the civilizations we human beings have achieved are the fruit of accumulated memory for a long time.
Enlightenment, that is, non-discrimination doesn’t mean to remove all memory and enter the state that is free from memory. It means to realise that all memories are empty and not to be deluded by them. Sentient being’s suffering is being tied and entangled in invisible ropes called memory. This is why the Buddha said that we sentient beings should escape from the invisible ropes by Realising that they are empty.
Venerable Manora said, “Mind flows along with all things, and the place where it flows is truly still and calm. If you realise the true-Self by following the flow, there is neither joy nor sorrow.”
Student: “How is it when we realise the true-Self by following the flow?”
Master: “Father and son meet after a long separation.”
“Subhuti, what do you think—can a saint entertain the thought, ‘I have attained sainthood’?”
Subhuti said, “No, World Honoured One. Why? There is no state called sainthood. World Honoured One, if saints were to entertain the notion, ‘I have attained sainthood,’ that would be fixation on the image of self, the image of person, the image of sentient being, and the image of spirit.”
“World Honoured One, you say I have attained absorption in non-contention better than anyone else, and I am the saint most detached from desire. However, I do not entertain the thought that I am a saint detached from desire.”
Commentary:
There is a saying: Before practice, it is like a monkey looking into a mirror; after practice, it is like a mirror looking at a monkey. Before practice, we are deceived by words and images, failing to see the truth. We treat illusions as real, trying to gain or discard, approach or avoid them. This is like a monkey mistaking its own reflection for another real monkey.
After practice, one reaches a state where they are no longer swayed by forms. Whether a beautiful or ugly person appears, one does not discriminate. Whether it is a shining gold nugget or a lump of filth, one reflects them equally without attachment or aversion. This is called ‘The Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom’—the mirror simply sees the monkey as it is.
An ‘Arhat’ is one who has transcended forms. A true Arhat does not cling to the label of ‘Arhat’. If one thinks, “I am an Arhat,” he is still trapped in the image of that word. Thus, in the Land of Buddha, there is no ‘Buddha’ who perceives himself as such. Terms like the Buddha, the true-Self. Buddha-nature, Pure Land, or Emptiness are merely ‘names used for expedient means.
If you see this way, then sentient beings, demons, hell, and defilements are also just names. Essentially, there is no difference between the Buddha and a sentient being. Clinging to the word ‘Enlightenment’ or fleeing from ‘illusions’ is an illusion itself. Realising that these are just functions of the true-Self is enlightenment. Therefore, we say, “An illusion is Enlightenment.” Seeing everything as empty leads to the state where all things are one, and no conflict can arise. This is called the ‘Samadhi of Non-conflict’.
Disciple: “What happens if I see the Buddha but do not follow him?”
Master: “The Buddha will follow you.”
Disciple: “Why is that?”
Master: “Buddha is originally one with you. He does not move away when pushed, nor closer when pulled. You can neither follow nor avoid him.”
Disciple: “What if I do not avoid illusions?”
Master: “Then defilement is the Buddha.”
Disciple: “What is the logic behind this?”
Master: “You are originally Buddha, but being deceived by names and forms, your act of following or avoiding is what creates illusions.”
Disciple: “Then, what is Buddha?”
Master: “You are riding the ox while searching for the ox.”
Do not follow the Buddha.
That is the very illusion you seek to avoid.
Do not avoid illusions.
They are the very Buddha you seek to find.
Koan:
Master Yaoshan saw Zun Bunap washing a Buddha statue and asked, “You may wash this one as you wish, but can you wash that one as well?”
Zun Bunap replied, “Please, bring that one to me.”
Yaoshan let the matter rest.
Question 1: What did Yaoshan mean by ‘Can you wash that one?’
Question 2: What did Zun Bunap mean by ‘Please, bring that one to me’?
Birth and death are like right and left. Although the right and left is so necessary and common a notion in our lives that even five-year-old children can distinguish between them easily. However, there is no absolute and concrete fixed right, or left in the world because they are not real but illusionary.
Birth and death are just like right and left. If you are sure that birth and death are just imaginary like right and left, you will realise that there is nothing that will come to an end, because everything you see and hear is also not real but illusionary.
Try to see things as they are without being swayed by images and words.
Venerable Manora said, “Mind flows along with all things, and the place where it flows is truly still and calm. If you realise the true-Self by following the flow, there is neither joy nor sorrow.”
Student: “How is it when the place where mind flows is truly still and calm?”
Master: “The broken treasure is spontaneously pieced together to perfection.”
Commentary:
One should be free to disassemble and reassemble the treasure perfectly.
“Subhuti, what do you think—can a stream-enterer think, ‘I have attained the fruition of stream-entering’?”
Subhuti said, “No, World Honoured One. Why? A stream-enterer is called one who enters the stream, yet does not enter anything. One does not enter form, sound, scent, flavour, feeling, or phenomena—this is called a stream- enterer.”
“Subhuti, what do you think—can a once-returner entertain the thought, ‘I have attained the fruition of once-returning’?”
Subhuti said, “No, World Honoured One. Why? A once-returner is called one who goes and comes back once, but really has no going or coming—this is called once-returning.”
“Subhuti, what do you think—can a non-returner entertain the thought, ‘I have attained the fruition of non-return’?”
Subhuti said, “No, World Honoured One. A non-returner is called one who does not come back, yet in reality there is no return, and that is the reason for the name non-returner.”
Commentary:
This section provides practical examples of the teaching from section 8-3: “Subhuti, what is called the Buddha Dharma is not, in fact, the Buddha Dharma.” This logic applies to the stages of enlightenment: what is called a Sotapanna (Stream-enterer) is not a Sotapanna; a Sakadagami (Once-returner) is not a Sakadagami; and an Anagami (Non-returner) is not an Anagami. These are merely names used for the sake of convenience.
If a Sotapanna is not a Sotapanna, then a ‘saint’ is not a saint, and the objects of perception—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects—are not truly those things. We say one ‘enters the stream’, but in truth, there is no ‘stream’ to enter. To believe you have attained such a ‘fruit’ or stage by clinging to words is like staring at the finger pointing at the moon instead of seeing the moon itself.
The Buddha used these words as expedient means to lead sentient beings to see their original nature, the true-Self (Emptiness). However, many fall into the trap of obsessing over the words (the finger) while ignoring the essence (the moon). Attempting to attain enlightenment solely through literal adherence to words is described as ‘trying to bind a wild tiger with wet paper tape’.
Yet, the true-Self does not exist somewhere else, outside of language. It is said that there is nothing that is not Buddha, and no place where Buddha is not present. First and foremost, we ourselves, reading these words right now, are the true-Self (Buddha-nature). Every single letter is a manifestation and a functioning of the true-Self. We must see them as letters and, simultaneously, as the true-Self. This is the meaning of ‘Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form’. To know that the word is Buddha and Buddha is the word is to truly know how to read the Sutras.
For example, when reading the phrase ‘Meet the Buddha’, you should see those very words and sounds as the Buddha. If you imagine meeting a physical being that looks like a temple statue, you are being ‘deceived by words’ or following the words’. Seeking the Buddha in this way is like ‘losing the goose in the coop while trying to see the wild crane in the clouds’.
Disciple: “If enlightenment is not enlightenment, why must I attain it?”
Master: “Because you do not truly know that enlightenment is not enlightenment.”
Disciple: “I do know. The Buddha said so.”
Master: “Then, what is your existence?”
Disciple: “I am a human being.”
Master: “According to the Buddha’s words, a human is not a human. If you are not a human, what on earth are you?”
Clinging to what does not exist,
And avoiding what does not exist,
One falls into a non-existent hell,
To receive a non-existent punishment.
Koan:
A monk asked Master Daguang Juhui of Danzhou: “Was Bodhidharma also a Patriarch?”
Master: “He was not a Patriarch.”
Monk: “If he was not a Patriarch, why did he come from the West?”
Master: “Because you do not recognise the Patriarch.”
Monk: “What happens after one recognises him?”
Master: “Then you finally realise he is not a Patriarch.”
Question 1: Why did Master Daguang reply, “He was not a Patriarch”?
Question 2: What is the meaning of ‘Because you do not recognise the Patriarch’?
Question 3: What is the meaning of ‘Then you finally realise he is not a Patriarch’?
What is your take if I ask you, “Why do you think we are separate and different from each other although we are all one as the earth?”? It is true that everyone has his or her own mind, but at the same time it is also an undeniable fact that we are one as the earth, or the universe.
Whether we are one, or separate, depends on our perspective. The problem is that we can see everything only in one direction; all things are separate and different from each other, but not in the other direction; all things are the same and one. Buddhism is a religion that helps people to see all things in both directions.
A monk asked Master Suksang, “Why can’t I see your face although we are this close to each other?” Suksang answered, “I’ve never hidden myself, which is all around the world.” The monk, failing to grasp this answer, asked Master Sulbong about Suksang’s answer. Sulbong answered, “What is not Suksang?”
Student: “If Suksang is everywhere just as Sulbong said, what is he like?”
Master: “Like a monkey.”
Commentary:
When seeing all figures of birds and flowers being embroidered, you should be able to see the needle.
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