Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán: Entanglement Is Not Entanglement, Zen Is Not Zen — A Dead Tree's Dragon Song Illuminates the Great Thousand Worlds (XI)

2006/2/3 20:11:20

The conventional scholarship of this world loves to seek so-called origins and essences, or else single-mindedly denies origins and essences while having nothing else to rely on, clinging only to empty words. Empty words are still words; stubborn emptiness — how is it emptiness? All of it is karma born of greed, anger, delusion, doubt, and arrogance. All learning that departs from direct present-moment perception is speculative theology. Western science, by abandoning speculative constructs such as the ether and directly facing observable present-moment perception, gave rise to the great developments of relativity and quantum mechanics. Present-moment perception does not depart from what our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind can reach. The development of modern scientific instruments is really just the improvement of observational capacity — it still does not depart from direct present-moment perception.

Karma — direct present-moment perception — is ultimately empty. Mind, as the aggregate of karma, is ultimately empty. Empty yet not empty: through the collective karma of mind, this world exists. The world in which we find ourselves is the manifestation of our collective karma. The flowing and turning of karma, the changes and transformations of the world, are not truly turning, not truly changing — they are merely the manifesting and concealing of karma. Manifesting that is not manifesting, not-manifesting yet manifesting; concealing that is not concealing, not-concealing yet concealing. Yin-yang and yang-yin, yang-yin and yin-yang — this is the heaven and earth, past and present.

The "mind" as spoken of by fools — whether a lump of flesh, consciousness within the brain, or a mental construct — is not mind. Mind is solely the aggregate of karma. The lump of flesh, consciousness within the brain, and mental constructs are phenomena manifested by karma — they are not mind. Existing yet not existing, aggregated yet not aggregated — a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow. Dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows are neither false nor true, both false and true. Those who cling to dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows as a reason to flee the world are fools. There is nowhere to flee — it is all dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows.

A verse:

Wind rolls heavy clouds — clouds tease forth the rain,
A whale overturns fierce waves — waves surge against the sky.
Penglai at last turns into three cups of earth,
Avici still loses to nine strings of coins.
Idle discussions without urgency — not a few kalpas,
Sentimental reckoning — always excess of conditions.
A vast, boundless ocean of desire, a boat drifts tethered,
A single reed — when has it ever reached the edge of the sun?