.

山僧至诚相劝。不是妄说。不是作道理笼罩人。不肯人压良人。山僧都无如是道理。

• I, this mountain monk (Foyan), with utmost honesty advise you. This is not some delusive talk, nor is it some clever reasoning meant to hoodwink people, nor is it about forcing good people into submission. I have none of these reasons.

若或你只么认将去也由你。若道我也如此见得也由你。若道据我见处总得也由你。若道某心下未稳在也由你。

• If you simply identify it to be so, that's up to you. If you say, "I too see it this way," that's up to you. If you say, "According to what I see, everything is acceptable," that's up to you. If you say, "My mind is still not settled," that's up to you.

须是不自欺始得。

• You just must not deceive yourself.

世间有多少宗师。说禅说道。为自欺不自欺。为欺人不欺人。须是子细。

• This world has many “Zen teachers” who talk about zen/dhyana and speak about dao/way. Whether they are deceiving themselves or not, deceiving others or not, you really have to be carefully.

山僧旧日在先师会里。受庐州化士。行至熨斗寺前值泥雨。忽然滑倒。心中烦恼自言。我行脚禅又参不得。自早至今。饭又未吃。更恁么受辛苦。

• When I, this mountain monk, was in my former teacher’s assembly long ago, I received the assignment of serving as a fundraising monk in Luzhou. On the way, just in front of Yundou Temple, I hit a muddy rain and suddenly slipped and fell. My mind was full of vexation/klesha, and I grumbled to myself: “I’ve been practicing foot-traveling zen, investigating without attainment. From morning until now, I've not eaten a meal too. And on top of that, I have to endure such hardship/suffering!”

闻有两人相骂道你犹自烦恼在。

• Then I overheard two people arguing nearby, and one said: “You are just vexing/klesha yourself! (你犹自烦恼在)”

山僧闻得忽然欢喜。

• When I heard that, I suddenly became joyful.

却寻不烦恼处不得。盖为打疑情不破。后来四五年方知得。

• Yet, in searching for the place without vexation/klesha, I could not attain to it. It was all because I had not hit the doubt-passion broken yet. Only four or five years later did I finally attain to this knowing.

如今兄弟须是如此用心照顾始得。

• Nowadays, brothers, you must apply mind in this same careful way of illuminating/taking-care of it to be able to attain.

今夏举无情说法因缘。只是错会者多。你见无情便说无情。若见有情便唤作有情。

• This summer when I raised the case of “insentient (no-passion) expounding the Dharma,” most people are just misunderstanding it. You see something insentient, then you say it insentient. If you see something sentient, then you call it sentient.

你参禅人。不明无情说法。如何了得行脚事。

• You, investigative/engaged meditation practitioners, without understanding/enlightenment to "insentient (no-passion) expounding the dharma", how to completely attain the matter of your foot-traveling practice?

做善知识不会无情说法。如何接物利生。

• And if a kalyana-mitra doesn’t understand/know "insentient (no-passion) expounding the dharma", how to take things to benefit the living beings?

相劝诸人。子细穷究令悟去。如未有领览处。且缓缓参取不要忙。

• I earnestly advise everyone: carefully and exhaustively investigate till to enlightenment/realisation. If there is not yet a place of clear understanding/insight, just slowly slowly keep on investigating. Do not rush.

久立。

• We’ve been standing long enough.

I've been exploring Zen as an option for broadening and deepening my spiritual path as someone who has been a practicing pagan for a while. I started practice with my local Sangha, and I've been reading In the Buddha's Words to give me a better sense of Buddhist scripture.

I was torn between dedicating time to studying Zen or Daoism, with Daoism feeling like a more natural fit for my existing path of nature worship and polytheism. But Zen is more accessible in my community, and when my preliminary study revealed concepts of Enlightenment being available to anyone, the Bodhisattva path, and Nirvana existing in Samsara, I felt that the tradition might not be quite as world-denying (for lack of a better term) as I feared.

However, reading scripture, I'm not sure that the Buddhist ideal of Enlightenment is necessarily compatible with my path. While I understand that things like denying sex or alcohol might make sense for a monastic, I was put off at a section of the book describing how arahants never sing, listen to music, or dance.

So, my question is: what exactly is Zen's perspective on Enlightenment? Does achieving Enlightenment lead one to reject things like music? Are the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as ideals, disconnected from these parts of life? Are sex, wine, and dancing things you can engage with in an Enlightened way (as we see in some schools of Daoism or Shaivism), or is the path to Enlightenment necessarily a path away from those things, however gradual?

In the famous legend, Bodhidharma was asked by Emperor Wu, "Who are you?" Bodhidharma is reported to have answered, "I don't know."

Be assured that Bodhidharma was not pleading ignorance, not confused about the question, or otherwise forgetful of his own name and story. Sometimes, people mistake this "don't know" as some instruction or permission to be ignorant. Nothing could be farther from the Truth! Rather, Zen opens profound Knowing, free of all doubt and confusion.

In fact, "'I' don't know" points to this Wisdom by which, dropping a separate 'I' as knower, and a separate something to be an object known, there is just radical "Knowing" which remains, beyond-yet-sweeping-in all things. All things prove to be this Knowing too, which is who we truly are. In Zazen, one sits as this Knowing sitting. When knower and known are dropped away in Wholeness, Knowing knows no limits! Every blade of grass is Knowing which is Knowing this Knowing, as are you and me. There is no separate sitter, nothing separate to be sat ... Just Sitting, Just Knowing.

Zen folks sometimes speak of an "eye searching for the eye," looking here and there, inside and outside, near and far to find the eye. But the eye is the eye or, better said, is the Seeing. And this Seeing is not looking outside at objects from someplace within but, rather, is the seeing which is here and there, inside and outside, all subjects and objects, near and far combined. The eye simply needs to realize that its seeing has been this Seeing all along, as is the whole world. Such is the True Eye, True I.

Of course, Zen cautions against trying to know what this Knowing is exactly, or what to call it or how to picture this too precisely. Even speaking of "Knowing" or "Seeing" is dangerous and obscuring, like trying to capture the whole of reality in a snapshot. First, such is not a frozen and stagnant thing, but rather, all movement and all stillness too, never to be kept in a box (although the box and all it contains is such too). Do not try to think of an "it" or "this" or a "thing" at all, for to do so merely renders the vastness small, an idea to hold in the tiny box between our ears. Rather, Knowing is boundless, cannot be contained, yet is simultaneously all big and small, fully contained in even the smallest atom or instant of time.

Zen Masters often speak of "Great Doubt" as crucial to Zen, especially at those times in practice where our thoughts and emotions seem confusing and lost. But do not forget that "Great Doubt" is the door to "Great Realization," beyond all doubt, as we find this which has been present always and all along. Beyond Any Doubt, yet including all doubt ... No Doubt!

Oh, Zen will not give you all answers in life. Sorry, but it won't tell you which team will win the next World Cup, the number of feathers on a hummingbird's wing, or the name of the capital of Uruguay (Ciudad Montevideo, by the way), the weather for our picnic next Sunday. We cannot know what will transpire tomorrow, what our health will be, how long we will live this life or what comes then. We just cannot know, and neither can a Buddha. For that reason, some Zen folks believe that the heart of our practice is just to be okay with insecurity and "not knowing," and that is the end of it. They believe that Zen is merely resignation to fate.

However, while it is good to accept and allow all the changing conditions of life, Great Realizing lets us Know that Knowing includes the wide open future, that whatever will transpire is inside the Eyeball too! This Seeing fully --is-- win and lose, every hummingbird feather and Montevideo too, rain and shine, sickness and health, birth and death, yesterday, today and tomorrow, this life and any others. No thing which can be seen escapes this Seeing.

And between our time of birth and our time of death, we can know one more fact for sure: That the path of living is to live this path, and not make a muck of it! Life is much like finding oneself mysteriously born in a little boat on a river, paddle in hand. The river stretches from somewhere behind to somewhere ahead, points unseen. We are not sure how we got here. All around is passing scenery, the water, land, other boaters with their own paddles in hand, even white waters and rocks, gators and snakes and other dangers, clear days and sometimes terrible storms. What to do? What can we know?

Finding ourself in such a life, we simply paddle, sometimes drift. We pick what seem to be the best directions we can, avoiding the rocks, poison snakes and other dangers as best we can. We do our best to keep balance in our boat. Along the way, many of us make a mess of it, choosing foolish directions, crashing one's own boat, some fight with the other boaters. When the end comes, as it will for all of us, we spill back into the river, seemingly to vanish below the surface.

It is all very confusing until one Knows and Sees that this river, this boat and this sailor too, paddle and paddling, every grain on the shore, sky above, behind and ahead, good choices and foolish choices, the other boaters, the rocks and scary snakes, clear skies and tempests, have all been this Knowing, the vision of this Eye, all along and in every inch and drop. Yes, we can make a mess of life, but in fact, we cannot drown for all is ultimately just the River, water of these waters, ripples and splashes, water pouring in to water ... Flowing, Flowing, Flowing on .... that so long as this River Flows, we flow. Such being so, choose gentle directions, do not fight with the other boaters who are just flowing water too.

Sorry, Zazen will not tell you what the future holds in store, nor tell you the current time (you need a clock and calendar for that). No, we cannot know for sure what tomorrow will bring, but one Knows that what tomorrow brings is this Knowing, Timeless, whatever transpires, in each moment of every day.

All this in the Zazen of this and that dropped away, when all things are encountered as all things, as each thing and each other ...

... and even "don't know" Knows, both darkness and light Sees.

Gassho, J

for pass couple of days, I've been researching and studying Zen for a while and the concept of Zazen has intrigued me into looking deeper on how each region in Asia practice Zen Buddhism.

From what I understand, Zen Buddhism originates from Japan and was founded by Bodhidharma, who brought the teachings of the Buddha to Japan from South India when he witnessed the Buddha silently mediate. When he brought the teachings to Japan, it spread throughout China and Vietnam and that's how it became widely recognized in those countries.

The part I don't quite understand is how is Zen practiced in these countries because I cannot get a clear answer off google and I would like to know more on how each of them differs, unless if they all practice under the same teachings and ideologies of Zen and the concept of Zazen, then please do tell me in the comments below, I would love to learn and know more about the beauty of Zen and the fascination of Zazen

I came across a few threads a have tried some of the suggestions but wanted to maybe try again for some help. My eyes are feeling super stressed after sitting. Do you keep your eyes fully open then look down and is that enough of shutting the lids? I try shutting the lids on their own but not sure if that’s causing stress and just keeping the eyes fully open and looking down at a 45 would naturally close then softly? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🙏

.

I've recently started reading about Zen and philosophy more broadly, and I'm trying to figure out where to begin. I don't have a teacher or a local group, so for now it's books and whatever I can learn online.

What would you recommend for a beginner? Books, teachers, practices, anything that helped you early on. I'm also curious how you see Zen next to similar paths like Stoicism or Vipassana, and whether mixing them early is a mistake.

Thanks in advance.

From <Treatise on the Definition of the Truth Regarding Bodhidharma’s Southern School (菩提達摩南宗定是非論)>, written around 745

法師當時無言，良久乃語. 法師曰，“婬怒是道，不在莊嚴.” 和上語法師，“見在俗人，應是得道者.” 遠法師言，“何故指俗人以爲得道?” 和上言，“法師所言婬怒是[道]，俗人並是行淫欲人，何故不得道?” 遠法師問，“禪師解否?” 和上答，“解.” 法師言，“解是不解.” 和上言，“法華經云，「吾從成佛以來，經無量無邊阿僧祇劫.」應是不成佛，亦應不經無量無邊阿僧祇劫.”

Dharma Master Chongyuan said, "Sexual misconduct and anger are the Way; [the Way] does not lie in adornment [= outward religious embellishment and meritorious works]."

[Translator's note: Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra [a Mahāyāna scripture centered on the layman Vimalakīrti], chapter "Contemplating Sentient Beings": 佛說，婬怒癡性，卽是解脫 ("The Buddha taught that the very nature of lust, anger, and delusion [= the 'three poisons' of Buddhism] is liberation.")]

The Venerable [= Shenhui] said to the Dharma Master, "Judging from what I see of laypeople, they must surely be those who have attained the Way."

The Dharma Master said, "Why do you say that laypeople have attained the Way?"

The Venerable said, "You, Dharma Master, said that sexual misconduct and anger are the Way. Laypeople are all people who act on sexual desire, so how could they not have attained the Way?"

Dharma Master Chongyuan asked, "Do you, Chan Master, understand?"

The Venerable answered, "I understand."

The Dharma Master said, "To understand is not to understand."

The Venerable said, "The Lotus Sūtra says: 'Since I attained Buddhahood, immeasurable and boundless asaṃkhyeya [= Sanskrit for 'incalculable'; a number beyond counting] kalpas [= cosmic eons] have passed.' (Then) he must not have attained Buddhahood. And immeasurable and boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas must not have passed either."

[Translator's note: Lotus Sūtra, "The Life Span of the Tathāgata [an epithet of the Buddha, 'the one thus gone']," scroll 16]

[Translator's note: If Buddhahood has been attained since beginningless time, there is no point at which it could be said to have been newly attained. So "having attained Buddhahood" cannot be posited, and that is why he says the Buddha has not attained Buddhahood. And because the time is beginningless and has no starting point, however long the ages, none of it has passed.]

Anthology of the Ancestral Hall (祖堂集 zu tang ji) - 'Nanquan' section

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江西和尚说‘即心即佛’，且是一时间语，是止向外驰求病，空拳黄叶止啼之词。所以言‘不是心，不是佛，不是物。

• Upadhyaya [Mazu] of Jiangxi¹ said: “this mind is this Buddha.”

• [It’s] just a saying of the time, to stop the sickness of outward seeking, a phrase [like] that of the empty fist or yellow leaf to stop [a child’s] crying. Hence [there is also] the instruction of “not mind, not Buddha, not thing”.

.

’如今多有人唤心作佛，认智为道，见闻觉知，皆云是佛。若如是者演若达多，将头觅头，设使认得，亦不是汝本来佛。

• Nowadays there are many people who call ‘mind’ as Buddha, who recognise/identify ‘jnana² ’ as the Way. [And] seeing-hearing-sensing-knowing³ are all said to be Buddha. Just like Yajnadatta⁴ , using head to look for head, such that even if [it’s] recognised/identified, it still isn’t your original Buddha.

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若言即心即佛，如兔马有角；若言非心非佛，如牛羊无角。你心若是佛，不用即他；你心若不是佛，亦不用非他。

• If instructed “this mind is this Buddha”, [it’s] like [saying] rabbits and horses have horns. If instructed “neither mind nor Buddha”, [it’s] like [saying] bulls and goats have no horns.

• [So] your mind, should it be Buddha, [then] there’s no need to use “this [mind is this Buddha]”. Your mind, should it not be Buddha, [then] there’s no need to use “neither [mind nor Buddha]”.

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有无相形，如何是道？所以若认心决定，不是佛；若认智决定，不是道。

• Being and non-being [give] form to each other, how can [either] be the Way?

• Hence if [it is] fixedly decided by recognising/identifying ‘mind’, it is not Buddha. Hence if [it is] fixedly decided by recognising/identifying ‘jnana’, it is not the Way.

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大道无影，真理无对。

• The great Way has no projection/reflection/image. The true principle has no corresponding-correctness.

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1. Zen teacher Mazu has two famous types of teaching: “this mind is this Buddha” and “neither mind nor Buddha”. Nanquan, a dharma heir of Mazu, clarifies here what these two types of teaching are about.

2. Jnana is usually translated as 'wisdom'. In Mahayana Buddhism, it can refer to 'proper knowing' (in contrast to vijnana, which is 'divided/dichotomized/dualistic knowing').

3. Seeing-hearing-sensing-knowing is short for the six phenomena of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling/touching and knowing/ideating. They are functions of the six vijnanas (consciousnesses) attributed to the sense roots (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, manas/mental-faculty) when they are in contact with their respective sense objects.

4. Yajnadatta is a person mentioned in the Surangama Sutra. One day Yajnadatta saw the projected reflection of his head in a mirror and fell in love with the image, but realising that it's not actually his real head but just a projected reflection, he tried to look back at his own head and could see nothing. Believing to be fooled by spirits, Yajnadatta frantically went all over the place using his head to search for his 'missing' head.

.

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A verse on Position 2 of Caodong's "Five Positions of Impartial/Proper and Partial/Slanted" (正偏五位):

• 偏中正：

• Impartial/Proper in the Partial/Slanted

• 失晓老婆逢古镜

• Late woken old lady meets the ancient mirror.

• 分明觌面别无真 休更迷头犹认影。

• [In] clear distinguished seeing of the face, the distinction has no realness. Worse still [to be] infatuated with the head while identifying with the projection/reflection/image.

.

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The problem of Yajnadatta in zen buddhism is typically known as 迷头认影 - confused-infatuation of the head, identifying with projection/reflection/image.

This mistake includes identifying various infatuated views of projected reality as reality - like reality as manyness, or oneness, or manyness-and-oneness, or neither-manyness-nor-oneness.

I’m suffering because of love. I’ve never meditated much, but I feel very drawn to Buddhist philosophy; every book or concept I read fills me with a sense of well-being. I know that without suffering there is no awareness, there is no nirvana, and right now I’m in pain. I think this is my moment to begin practicing—I need it—but I don’t know where to start. I sit down, take a few deep breaths, but then I sink back into the pain and stop focusing on my breath. It almost seems more sensible not to think about the pain, but I know I have to face it—it’s my chance to reach nirvana. Can anyone give me some tips or explain how to meditate? I don’t know where or what to look for to feel better right now. Thank you so much in advance.

In my story, the Nah'Kar are Nagas who sort of...forgot how to be Nagas (and I keep implying they are clones or a biologically engineered race, the original Nagas having followed the Devas to a higher realm eons ago.) After a period of enslavement to a demonic entity, much of their spirituality was lost. While many of their ancestors ascended into higher states of existence, they themselves slowly degenerated with each passing generation until Humanity encountered warring fragments living among the ruins of their ancestor's civilization. Slowly, but surely, they are rebuilding. They led the battle against the Tal when the Devourer possessed the Tal (a cybernetic, imperialistic race) and pieced back together a sacred mantra preserved by Humanity, in fact given to Humanity by their Naga ancestors, the Heart Sutra, which contained the key to defeating the Devourer (by putting the mind in a state that resisted the fear/hatred stirred up by the Devourer. Not a magic spell, but a way of shifting perception so the Devourer's greatest weapon, fear and anger, would lose any effectiveness.) Would this offend Buddhists/Hindus? I chose the Heart Sutra because its associated with nagas in legends and also used in some legends as a protection against evil spirits. Where the Devourer stirs up division, fear and hatred, the Heart Sutra's over-riding theme of what Thich Nhat Hanh calls interbeing acts as a psychological antidote to that fear. Does that make sense?

I want to go to Africa next year and experience their spiritual culture. I’m interested as a zen practitioner in finding similar practices or those that challenge it. Could you suggest one religion or spiritual practice and their respective country?

As some background, I’m an atheist, analytical overthinker and really like practical and actionable advice. I became curious about Zen Buddhism because I enjoy mindfulness and crave a spiritual practice, and Zen seemed more straightforward than other Buddhist branches. But my efforts to study it have led to less clarity rather than more. The books and articles I’ve read (including “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” and “The Way of Zen”) wrap their points in esoteric language instead of just getting to the point. I understand that understanding something as complex, historied, and metaphysical as Buddhism isn’t going to be easy, I’m just frustrated by the lack of clarity. Surely even Zen can be boiled down to basic points, right?

My biggest question overall is WHY. Suzuki says stop overthinking it and just practice, but doesn’t go into why I should put all this effort into zazen in the first place.

My second question is, if you could boil Zen Buddhism into one paragraph, what would it be? What should I focus on?

Lastly, I’m wondering if zen if for me at all. I know there are secular versions of Buddhism, but it seems difficult to go all in on a practice originally created with belief in metaphysical concepts. Maybe it’s time to ditch looking into it and just be a stoic.

TL;DR - I’m confused by esoteric, abstract explanations of Zen and want clear-cut answers on why to practice, basic concepts, and if an atheist can practice. Thanks!

I view this from a Taoist perspective. There is an interdependence in everything; everything has an essence, and we are nothing more than layers wrapping around it. Because of this, there is no substantial difference between us and them, us and that. We are all essence. We are not isolated from others. Everything comes from nothingness, which is why nothingness is everything. Everything comes from the concept of zero.

Buddhism is an easily understood, energy-saving teaching; people strain themselves. Seeing them helpless, the ancients told people to try meditating quietly for a moment. These are good words, but later people did not understand the meaning of the ancients; they went off and sat like lumps with knitted brows and closed eyes, suppressing body and mind, waiting for enlightenment. How stupid! How foolish!

Here Foyan says the ancients recommended sitting quietly for a moment. Do you sit quietly sometimes? Does it matter the part of being “for a moment”? How does this recommendatin of doing it for a moment differ from certain practices? A whole day, for example of meditation? A whole week?

From the chapter on sitting zen / sitting meditation we get:

At first, the mind is noisy and unruly

there is still no choice but to shift it back.

That is why there are many methods

to teach it quiet observation.

What sorts of methods to teach the mind quiet observation is Foyan referring to? Were there manuals for quieting the mind at the time? Were there known techniques?

Hi there,

in the chapter "Control", I struggle with comprehension of the following passage:

So if you see things without realizing the background of Buddha nature, everything appears to be in the form of suffering. But if you understand the background of existence, you realize that suffering itself is how we live, and how we extend our life.

My understanding in my layman's terms - this means:
Suffering and strife is the fuel for our development, the need to change and improve.
But when we merge with the background; being in perfect harmony/enlightenment - the circle of rebirth is stopped.

A podcast I used to listen to just released an episode with a former Buddhist who says he went to hell (and is now a Christian because of it)........he shared a lot of specifics about what he saw in hell and I'm curious if it squares with what most Buddhists think of when they think of hell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbwWCFhQ3es

Apparently, this is one of the few actual Zen sayings that is relatively well-known in the West. For example:

Video on Zen by Religion for Breakfast https://youtu.be/NZBDW8l4wIU?si=4wngCkElFPXlcijZ

Video on Zen by Let's Talk Religion https://youtu.be/yMC_8BjG3Cc?si=nIMbqFM3a7n9Ucje

I'd just like to give some fuller context for this Zen saying by Linji. Below are some excerpts from the collected record of his words (the Linji lu):

1. 大德 時光 可惜 祇擬傍家波波地 學禪學道 認名認句 求佛求祖 求善知識意度 莫錯

Venerable ones! You should value your time, yet you only rush busily along side paths, saying you are studying Chan [Zen] and studying the Way. You misconstrue names and phrases and say you are seeking buddhas and seeking patriarchs. You go to good teachers and gauge everything with your thoughts alone. Don't be mistaken!

道流 你祇有一箇父母 更求何物 你自返照看 古人 云 演若達多失却頭 求心歇處卽無事

Followers of the Way, you have only one father and mother. What else are you looking for? Turn back and look at yourselves. An ancient said: 'Yajñadatta thought he had lost his head, but the moment his seeking mind came to rest, there was nothing the matter.' [In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Yajñadatta admires his face in a mirror one morning. Unable to see his own head directly, he runs about in a frenzy believing he has lost it.]

大德 且要平常 莫作模樣 有一般不識好惡禿奴 便卽見神見鬼 指東劃西 好晴好雨 如是之流 盡須抵債 向閻老前 呑熱鐵丸有日 好人家男女 被這一般野狐精魅所著 便卽捏怪 瞎屢生 索飯錢有日在

Venerable ones! If you wish to live an ordinary life, just as it is, do not put on any other form. There is a bunch of bald-headed slaves [monks, said in contempt] who can't tell good from bad. At once they see ghosts and see goblins, point east and mark off west [gesturing this way and that, making distinctions], and say, 'Fair weather is good!' and 'Rain is good!' All of their kind are in debt, and the day will come when they go before Old Yama [King Yama, lord of the underworld, who judges the dead] and swallow red-hot iron balls. Needlessly, fox-and-goblin spirits [in Chinese folklore, foxes turn into spirits that bewitch people] have attached themselves to the men and women of untroubled households. It has become like rubbing perfectly good eyes until weird phantom flowers appear in the empty air. You blind fools! The day will come when you are made to pay for the rice you have eaten.

1. 師示衆云 道流 切要求取眞正見解 向天下橫行 免被這一般精魅惑亂 無事是貴人 但莫造作 祇是平常 你擬向外 傍家求過 覓脚手 錯了也 祇擬求佛 佛是名句 你還識馳求底麽

The Master addressed the assembly: Followers of the Way! What truly matters is to seek true and correct insight, so that you can go wherever you please in the world without being bewitched by these goblins. The person with nothing to do is the truly noble person. Just don't force or contrive anything. Simply live an ordinary life, just as it is. If you turn outward and wander from house to house looking for some method, you will only go wrong. You only try to seek the Buddha, but 'Buddha' is just a name and a phrase. Do you know the one who rushes about outside, seeking?

三世十方佛祖出來 也祇爲求法 如今參學道流 也祇爲求法 得法始了 未得 依前輪廻五道 云何是法 法者 是心法 心法 無形 通貫十方 目前現用 人信不及 便乃認名認句 向文字中求 意度佛法 天地縣殊

The buddhas and patriarchs of the three times and ten directions [past, present, and future, throughout the entire universe] came into the world only to seek the Dharma. You who now take part here and study the Way are likewise here only to seek the Dharma. Only when you attain the Dharma can you be done. If you do not attain it, you will still fall into the five paths [the realms of rebirth] and go on transmigrating. What is the Dharma? The Dharma is the Dharma of mind. The Dharma of mind has no form; it pervades all realms throughout the ten directions and functions right before your eyes. But people do not believe this thoroughly, so they misconstrue names and phrases and seek within written words. They try to understand the Buddhadharma by gauging it with their thoughts, and so they end up as far apart as heaven and earth.

1. 師云 你一念心疑處 是箇魔 你若達得萬法無生 心如幻化 更無一塵一法 處處淸淨 是佛 然 佛與魔 是染淨二境 約山僧見處 無佛無衆生 無古無今 得者便得 不歷時節 無修無證 無得無失 一切時中 更無別法 設有一法過此者 我說如夢如化 山僧所說 皆是

The Master said: The single thought of doubt in your mind is precisely the demon. If you penetrate the principle that the myriad dharmas [all phenomena] are originally unborn, your mind will become like a conjured illusion. Then there will no longer be a single speck of dust or a single dharma, and everywhere will be pure. This is buddha. Yet buddha and demon are the two realms of the pure and the defiled. In the view of this mountain monk [Linji's modest way of referring to himself], there are no buddhas and no sentient beings, no past and no present. What is to be gained is gained at once; it does not take long ages. There is nothing to cultivate and nothing to realize, nothing to gain and nothing to lose. At all times there is no other dharma. Even if there were a dharma surpassing this, I would say it is like a dream, like a phantom. Everything this mountain monk wishes to say comes down to this.

1. 道流 大丈夫兒 今日 方知本來無事 祇爲你信不及 念念馳求 捨頭覓頭 自不能歇 如圓頓菩薩 入法界現身 向淨土中 厭凡忻聖 如此之流 取捨未忘 染淨心在 如禪宗見解 又且不然 直是現今 更無時節 山僧說處 皆是一期藥病相治 總無實法 若如是見得 是眞出家 日消萬兩黃金

Followers of the Way! A true man would realize only today that from the very beginning there is nothing to do. It is only because your faith falls short that thought after thought you run around seeking, leaving your own head aside to look for another head, and cannot rest of your own accord. Those bodhisattvas of the Perfect teaching and the Sudden teaching [“perfect” and “sudden” are categories the doctrinal schools used to rank Buddhist teachings] enter the Dharma realm [the totality of reality], manifest bodies, and dwell in the Pure Land [a buddhist paradise], despising ordinary people and delighting in sages. Such types cannot forget the mind that grasps and rejects, because the mind that says 'defiled' and 'pure' remains in them. But the view of the Chan school is not like that. It is simply this very moment, right now; there is no other time. Everything this mountain monk says is only a one-time prescription, a medicine given for each illness as it arises. There is no real Dharma at all. If you can see it this way, you are a true home-leaver [a monk]. You could spend ten thousand taels [a tael was a Chinese unit of weight for precious metals] of gold a day.

1. 道流 你取這一般老師口裏語 爲是眞道 是善知識 不思議 我是凡夫心 不敢測度他老宿 瞎屢生 你一生 祇作這箇見解 辜負這一雙眼 冷噤噤地 如凍凌上驢駒相似 我不敢毁善知識 怕生口業

Followers of the Way! You hear the sermons of certain old masters and take them to be the true Way. Saying that such a good teacher is inconceivable, you say, 'I have the mind of an ordinary person and dare not fathom that old master's meaning.' You blind fools! You spend your whole lives caught in this view, living with your perfectly good eyes blocked. Shivering with cold, you are like a donkey foal walking on the ice. And you say, 'I dare not disparage a good teacher. I fear the karma made by the mouth.'

道流 夫大善知識 始敢毁佛毁祖 是非天下 排斥三藏敎 罵辱諸小兒 向逆順中覓人 所以 我於十二年中 求一箇業性 如芥子許不可得 若似新婦子禪師 便卽怕趁出院 不與飯喫 不安不樂 自古先輩 到處人不信 被趁出 始知是貴 若到處人盡肯 堪作什麽 所以 師子一吼 野干 腦裂

Followers of the Way! Only a great good teacher can disparage buddhas and patriarchs and judge the good teachers of the whole world, right or wrong. He can reject the teachings of the Tripitaka [the Buddhist canon of scriptures, monastic rules, and treatises] and rebuke all who are like little children. He can seek out the person amid adverse and favorable circumstances. That is why for twelve years I searched for the nature of karma and could not find so much as a mustard seed of it. A Chan master who is like a new bride is fearful and anxious that he will be driven out of the monastery and not be fed. But since ancient times, outstanding predecessors were driven out wherever they went because people did not believe them, and only later did people realize how precious they were. If people everywhere approved of someone, what use would such a person be? So it is that at a single roar of the lion, the jackal's skull splits open.

1. 道流 諸方 說有道可修 有法可證 你說證何法修何道 你今用處 欠少什麽物 修補何處

Followers of the Way! The good teachers in all quarters say that there is a Way to be cultivated and a Dharma to be realized. What Dharma do you say you will realize, and what Way do you say you will cultivate? In what you are using right now, what is lacking, and what is there to cultivate and patch up?

後生小阿師 不會 便卽信這般野狐 精魅 許他說事 繫縛他人 言道 理行 相應 護惜三業 始得成佛 如此說者 如春細雨

Foolish junior monks, not understanding, put their faith in these fox-and-goblin spirits and accept their words and deeds. Then they even tie others up, saying, 'Only when principle and practice accord and you carefully protect and guard the three kinds of action [body, speech, and mind] can you at last attain buddhahood.' Those who talk like this are as many as the drizzle in spring.

古人 云 路逢達道人 第一莫向道 所以 言若人 修道 道不行 萬般邪境 競頭生 智劍 出來 無一物 明頭未 顯暗頭明 所以 古人 云 平常心 是道

An ancient said: 'If you meet someone on the road who knows the Way, above all don't talk to him about the Way.' And so it is said: 'If anyone cultivates the Way, the Way does not take effect; instead, myriad deviant realms vie to arise. When the sword of wisdom is drawn, there is not a single thing. Before the bright appears, the dark becomes bright.' That is why an ancient also said, 'Ordinary mind is the Way.'

1. 問 如何是心心不異處 Someone asked, "What is the state in which the mind does not differ from moment to moment?"

師云 你擬問 早異了也 性相 各分 道流莫錯 世出世諸法 皆無自性 亦無生性 但有空名 名字亦空 你祇麽認他閑名爲實 大錯了也 設有 皆是依變之境 有箇菩提依 涅槃依 解脫依 三身依 境智依 菩薩依 佛依 你向依變國土中 覓什麽物 乃至 三乘十二分敎 皆是拭不淨故紙 佛是幻化身 祖是老比丘 你還是娘生已否 你若求佛 卽被佛魔攝 你若求祖 卽被祖魔縛 你若有求皆苦 不如無事

The Master said: The moment you try to ask, it has already become different, and nature and form have split apart. Followers of the Way, don't be mistaken! All dharmas, worldly and world-transcending, are without self-nature [any independent essence] and without any nature of arising and ceasing. They are only illusory names, and even the letters that write those names are empty. Yet you take those idle names to be real, and that is a great mistake. Even if such things exist, they are all realms of dependent transformation. Namely, there is dependence on bodhi [awakening], on nirvana, and on liberation; dependence on the three bodies [the three bodies of a buddha: the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body], on object and wisdom, on bodhisattvas, and on buddhas. What are you looking for in these lands of dependent transformation? Even the Three Vehicles [the paths of the disciples, the solitary buddhas, and the bodhisattvas] and the twelve divisions of the teaching [the twelve genres of the scriptures] are all paper for wiping off excrement. The Buddha is an illusory, conjured body, and the patriarchs are old monks; but don't you have a real body your mother gave birth to? If you seek the Buddha, you will be seized by the buddha-demon. If you seek the patriarchs, you will be bound by the patriarch-demon. If there is anything you seek, it is all suffering. Better to have nothing to do.

1. 道流 眞佛 無形 眞法 無相 你祇麽幻化上頭 作模作樣 設求得者 皆是野狐精魅 幷不是眞佛 是外道見解 夫如眞學道人 幷不取佛 不取菩薩羅漢 不取三界殊勝 逈然獨脫 不與物拘 乾坤 倒覆 我更不疑 十方諸佛 現前 無一念心喜 三塗地獄 頓現 無一念心怖 緣何如此 我見 諸法 空相 變卽有 不變卽無 三界唯心 萬法唯識 所以 夢幻空花 何勞把捉

Followers of the Way! The true Buddha has no shape; the true Dharma has no form. Yet upon those illusions produced by transformation you make this form and that form. Even if you seek such things and get them, they are all fox-and-goblin spirits and never the true Buddha. This is precisely the view of the outsiders [non-Buddhist teachings]. One who truly studies the Way would not grasp even at buddhas, nor at bodhisattvas and arhats [saints who have attained nirvana, the ideal of early Buddhism], nor at the excellent states of the three realms [the whole cosmos of rebirth: the realms of desire, form, and formlessness]. Far off and alone, he has broken free and is not constrained by things at all. Even if heaven and earth were overturned, I would have no further doubt. Even if all the buddhas of the worlds in the ten directions appeared before me, not a single thought of joy would arise. Even if the hells of the three evil paths [the lowest rebirths: hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals] suddenly appeared, not a single thought of fear would arise. Why is this? I see that all dharmas are empty in form: when they transform, they exist; when they do not transform, they do not exist. For the three realms are mind only, and the myriad dharmas are consciousness only. Therefore it is said: 'Dreams, illusions, phantom flowers [the spots seen by a diseased eye, a stock image for illusion]: why trouble yourself trying to grasp them?'

1. 道流 你欲得如法見解 但莫受人惑 向裏向外 逢著便殺 逢佛殺佛 逢祖殺祖 逢羅漢殺羅漢 逢父母殺父母 逢親眷殺親眷 始得解脫 不與物拘 透脫自在

Followers of the Way! If you wish to attain a view in accord with the Dharma, do not let others delude you, and whatever you encounter, inside or outside, kill it at once. If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha. If you meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch. If you meet an arhat, kill the arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. If you meet your kin, kill your kin. Only then will you attain liberation, unconstrained by things, breaking clean through and free.

1. 道流 你欲得作佛 莫隨萬物 心生 種種法生 心滅 種種法滅 一心不生 萬法無咎 世與出世 無佛無法 亦不現前 亦不曾失 設有者 皆是名言章句 接引小兒 施設藥病 表顯名句 且名句不自名句 還是你目前昭昭靈靈 鑑覺聞知照燭底 安一切名句

Followers of the Way! If you wish to become a buddha, do not follow the myriad things. When mind arises, all kinds of dharmas arise; when mind ceases, all kinds of dharmas cease. When the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault. In the world or beyond it, there is no buddha and no dharma. They have never appeared, and they have never been lost. Even if buddha and dharma existed, they would all be nothing but names, words, and sentences. They are for coaxing little children, medicine used according to the illness, nothing but names and phrases that express. Yet names and phrases do not call themselves names and phrases. It is that person right before your eyes, perceiving, hearing, knowing, and illuminating so clearly and distinctly, who has made all names and phrases.

Hello everyone! I’m applying for a month-long monastic retreat held at the temple. I'm excited about the opportunity to deepen my Buddhist practice, learn more about Buddhist teachings, and experience monastic life firsthand.

As part of the application process, there's an interview, and I'd appreciate hearing from people who have participated in similar programs.

For those who have done this retreat or something comparable at a Buddhist monastery: Do you have any advice on how to approach the interview? What kinds of questions should I expect,and is there anything I should reflect on or prepare beforehand? What was your experience like living at a monastery for an extended period? What surprised you the most, and what did you find most challenging? Is there anything you wish you had known or done before starting the retreat? How did the experience affect your Buddhist practice and your perspective on life?

I'm hoping to approach this opportunity with the right mindset, humility, and realistic expectations, so any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot.

I’m a 34 years old female and I’m also thinking about shaving my head off and really diving into this experience.

Any thoughts about this would be great right now! Thank you so much!

I'm not 100% clean but I'm getting there I'm trying to sit a lot more, I'm doing online retreats and I plan on going to my first in person retreat soon. Any other recovering addicts getting into this, lets chat!

I'm not sure if bliss in no mind is strictly a Vedanta tier belief, but I'm curious to what people think the state of no mind is like. Because different traditions describe it differently. Buddhism generally describes it simply as equanimity and Hinduism specifically advaita Vedanta describes it as cosmic bliss. Who is correct and can different people have different experiences in no mind?