A. Don’t try to find something to rely on. Thinking that there might be something to depend on and looking for it is being deluded by illusions. The aim of Buddhism is to realise that there is nothing to rely upon and no one who will rely, because not only all discriminations of right and wrong but everything else is also empty.
Even you who are looking for something to rely on are empty as well. Don’t seek something to depend on but try to realise that you are already perfection itself that needs nothing to rely on.
A monk asked Yunju, “What should a monastic ultimately be like?” Yunju replied, “It’s good to dwell in the mountains.” The monk immediately bowed, and Yunju said, “How do you understand this?” The monk answered, “A monastic should be unshaken like a mountain, even amidst the boundaries of good and bad, compliance and opposition, life and death.” The master immediately struck him and said, “You betray the ancient sages and ruin our descendants.”
Student: “Why did Yunju strike and criticise the monk for his answer?”
Master: “He showed compassion to pull the monk into the mountains.”
Commentary:
The best medicine kills people unless it is well used.
The Buddha said to Subhuti, “All forms are illusory; if you see that forms are not characteristics, then you will see the Realised One.”
Commentary:
Here, the Buddha provides a more specific method for recognising the true-Self (Tathagata). The statement “If you see that forms are not characteristics, then you will see the Realised One” means that when you see a flower, for instance, and understand that the flower is not merely a flower, or when you see a person and realise that the person is not merely a person—in other words, when you understand that what you see and hear is not what you have thought or believed it to be—then you can see the true Buddha, the true-Self.
As an ancient great monk said: “When you see form, do not be swayed by form; When you hear sound, it is not sound. In the place where form and sound do not cling, You directly reach the realm of the Buddha’s Kingdom,” when seeing and hearing, if you attach no words or concepts and perceive everything as it is, you can avoid being swayed by the illusion of the historical Buddha’s physical characteristics and see the true Buddha.
Just as the true Buddha is described in the Avatamsaka Sutra: “Before the World-Honoured One left Tusita Heaven, he was already born in the royal palace, and before emerging from his mother’s womb, he had already saved all beings in the world,” the true Buddha has no form, no name, neither is born nor dies. Identifying the Buddha with any form is idolatry, clinging to form and being deluded by illusion.
Let me introduce a story from the Sutra of Mutual Arising about the nun named Yeonhwasaek (Lotus Colour), who, deceived by form (physical body), failed to see the true-Self (Dharma-body, Tathagata) and was reprimanded by the Buddha for clinging to his physical form.
When the World-Honoured One (Buddha) was in Trayastrimsha Heaven for 90 days, preaching the Dharma for his mother, and then descended from the heavens, the fourfold assembly (laymen, laywomen, monks, and nuns) and the eight classes of beings all went into the sky to greet him. At that time, the nun Yeonhwasaek thought to herself, “As a nun, I must stand behind the great monks to see the Buddha. Instead, I will use my supernatural powers to transform into a Wheel-Turning Sage King, surrounded by a thousand princes, and approach to see the Buddha first.” She did as she intended, but the moment the World-Honoured One saw her, he rebuked her, saying, “Yeonhwasaek, how dare you bypass the order of the great monks to see me? Though you have seen my physical form, you have not seen my Dharma-body (true-Self). Subhuti, sitting quietly in a cave, has seen my Dharma-body.”
We, too, should not go to temples to see the Buddha but should strive to see, or at least attempt to see, what Subhuti saw while sitting quietly in a cave, within our own homes. The Buddha taught us not to be swayed even by his living physical form, so how could bowing to and worshipping lifeless Buddha statues not be idolatry? To prevent this, ancient great monks said that if you meet the Buddha, you must kill him.
The crucial point here is that the method of seeing the true Buddha, as explained above, is also the method of seeing ourselves. We must see ourselves in the same way we see the Buddha. The true Buddha (true-Self, Tathagata) is the essence of not only the historical Buddha but all things, including us. Being able to see the true Buddha means seeing everything, including ourselves, as the Buddha. In other words, it means realising the essence of our existence and awakening to the fact that we are eternal and perfect Buddhas. This is why Master Bodhidharma said, “Do not make a living Buddha bow to a dead Buddha.”
Disciple: “How can I see the Buddha?”
Master: “How can you not see the Buddha?”
Disciple: “What is the difference between the true Buddha and a Buddha idol?”
Master: “The Buddha you chase after is an idol; the Buddha that chases you is the true Buddha.”
Disciple: “What did Subhuti see?”
Master: “The Buddha showed it to the nun Yeonhwasaek.”
A. In Buddhism the mundane world is called the realm of form and the original home implies the realm of emptiness that is also referred to as the Pure Land, the Buddha Land, the true-Self. The former and the latter are not separate but identical just like winds and air.
The former is the function of the latter and is the way the latter is. However, we are unaware of this truth because we are deluded by illusions that are various images and words. In other words, we are not aware that we are in the original home whilst being actually there. So, returning to the original home means realising that we are already there.
A monk asked Yunju, “What should a monastic ultimately be like?” Yunju replied, “It’s good to dwell in the mountains.” The monk immediately bowed, and Yunju said, “How do you understand this?” The monk answered, “A monastic should be unshaken like a mountain, even amidst the boundaries of good and bad, compliance and opposition, life and death.” The master immediately struck him and said, “You betray the ancient sages and ruin our descendants.”
Student: “What is wrong with the monk’s answer?”
Master: “The monk is littering up the mountains with rubbish.”
Commentary:
Life in the mountains is so simple that it is free from mundane things such as good and bad, life and death.
“Subhuti, what do you think—is it possible to see me, the Realised One in terms of physical characteristics?” “No, World Honoured One; it is not possible to see you, the Realised One in terms of physical characteristics.”
“Why? Because physical characteristics explained by you, the Realised One are not physical characteristics.”
Commentary:
This passage explains how we can see our true Buddha-nature.
As mentioned earlier, Shakyamuni Buddha taught that those who regard the 32 physical marks and 80 minor characteristics of the Buddha as his true form cannot truly see the Buddha. This is because those physical attributes are not the reality but merely a form of illusion.
Regarding these physical characteristics as the true Buddha is to be deluded by form, images, which goes against the core of the Buddha’s teaching: “If you know that form is not form, you will see the true-Self (Tathagata).” This means that one must not dwell on any form to see the Tathagata(true-Self).
However, not clinging to the form of things does not mean ignoring it.
As taught in the phrase “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form”—meaning that form (material reality) is emptiness (the true-Self, Buddha-nature) and emptiness is form—we should understand that, just as the wind and air are one, where wind is air and air is wind, the physical form of the Buddha is one with the infinite true-Self (Emptiness). Through the Buddha’s physical form, we should be able to see the true-Self.
Just as the wind, regardless of its form, is a function of air and cannot be separated from it, and just as the cessation of wind does not mean the air disappears, our bodies, as forms, arise and cease due to causes and effects as part of Emptiness (the true-Self). Even if the wind stops, its essence, the air, remains; in the same way, though our bodies may disappear, our essence, the true-Self (Emptiness), never vanishes.
When we are deluded by forms and names, we see only the small—the form—and fail to see the great—the true-Self (Emptiness). Seeing only the historical, physical Buddha and not the original Buddha that He spoke of is called an “open secret” or “the true-Self hidden within form,” because we can’t see Him although He is revealing himself before us all the time. The Avatamsaka Sutra admonishes such sentient beings, saying: “Even if one gazes upon the Buddha for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, if they do not rely on the true principle and see the one who saves the world as the Buddha, one clings only to form, adding to the net of foolish doubts, bound by the prison of birth and death, blind and unable to see the Buddha.”
The true form of the Buddha, as taught by the Buddha, is emptiness. This is not only the original form of the Buddha but of all of us. Realising this original form is the enlightenment that is the goal of Buddhism. When we see our existence as a physical body, birth and death are evident. However, when we see our existence as Emptiness (the true-Self), the essence of all things, there is no birth and death. Realising Emptiness is called “liberation from birth and death.”
Disciple: “Why did the historical Buddha say that the Buddha has 32 marks and 80 minor characteristics?”
Master: “One person spoke falsely, but ten thousand people heard it as truth.”
A. No one knows it. Maybe tomorrow, or this evening. What is certain is that it is not because enlightenment is sufficiently far away to be out of your reach that you cannot attain it easily. You have it in your hands all the time and are facing it at every moment.
Trying to attain enlightenment is like seeking to reach Britain while staying in London and like thinking over how to return to your home whilst sitting in your living room. If you recognise it any moment, that is the enlightenment.
When Linji was about to pass away, Sansheng was the head of the monastery. Linji addressed him, saying, “After I depart from this world, you must not let my True Dharma Eye be extinguished.” Sansheng replied, “How could I ever let the Master’s True Dharma Eye be extinguished?” Linji asked, “If someone suddenly asks you about it, what will you say?” Sansheng gave a shout. Linji said, “Who would have thought that my true Dharma Eye would vanish with this blind donkey?”
Student: “What did Linji mean by saying that his True Dharma Eye would vanish with this blind donkey?”
Master: “Why do you still have his True Dharma Eye that vanished then?”
“Subhuti, what do you think — is the space to the east measurable in thought?” “No, World Honoured One.”
“Subhuti, is the space to the south, or the west, or the north, or the four intermediate directions, or the zenith, or the nadir, measurable in thought?” “No, World Honoured One.”
“Subhuti, the merit of the Bodhisattvas’ practice of charity without dwelling on forms is also like this—it cannot be measured in thought.”
“Subhuti, the Bodhisattvas should live just as they are taught.”
Commentary:
What must be kept in mind is that the core of Buddhism is non-duality (Buddha-nature), meaning that everything is one. This oneness is referred to as Emptiness, Buddha, Tathagata, or Buddha-nature. Experiencing this state directly is called enlightenment, also described as “seeing the Buddha” or “reaching the Pure Land,” and it is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.
The belief that everything is separate and distinct from each other, swayed by forms and names—in other words, seeing everything only in terms of forms (images, sounds and words) and not in terms of Emptiness—is what defines the world of sentient beings, or the world of suffering. Ancient masters would say, “Calamity does not come alone.” This means that seeing everything solely as forms and not as Emptiness is the root of all suffering. Therefore, we must avoid the error of regarding giver, alms, the act of giving in charity, or merit as separate from Buddha-nature.
When practising giving in charity, one should not cling to the concepts or names of “giving” or “merit.” Only then can we realise non-duality, the Buddha-nature or Tathagata, which we seek. This is true giving in charity, leading to immeasurable merits. Giving that is bound by the names and forms of “giving” or “merit” merely constitutes good karma and differs from the true giving or merit as taught by the Buddha, which aims for enlightenment without attachment to anything. The ancient masters’ sayings, such as “Let not even the right hand know what the right hand does” or “Even good deeds are not as good as doing nothing,” all urge us to avoid clinging to anything.
Thus, the phrase “Bodhisattvas should abide as taught” means that we, as Buddhists, should not cling to images or words. We should see everything, including ourselves, as non-duality, the Buddha—and regard the place where we are as the Pure Land.
If we strive to apply this teaching to everything we see and hear in daily life, that itself is true practice. Just as true giving becomes possible when giving and Buddha-nature become one, true practice is possible when daily life and practice are not separate but one as the function of the true-Self. If you apply the Buddha’s teaching to yourself at this very moment while reading this text, you should not merely linger on the words. Instead, try to see this text and yourself as one, that is, not as a person and text, but as the functioning of the true-Self. This effort is true practice and the proper attitude for reading scriptures. When reading scriptures and practising become one as the functioning of the true-Self, that is the true practice of abiding nowhere, as taught by the Buddha.
Disciple: “What is merit?”
Master: “As long as you seek it, you cannot attain it.”
A. You seem to misinterpret ‘Doing something is wrong’. How could we sustain our lives without doing anything? This is why ancient masters would say that if we understood the Sutras, or Dharma talks just through literally following words, we would become the Buddha’s enemy.
‘Doing something is wrong’ doesn’t mean that you should not do anything but that you should be aware that both you and all your deeds are empty, no matter what things you may do. In other words, you are wrong if you are entrenched in the idea that all you do, whether good, or bad, is real and not empty.
Zen Fools 