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

2006/2/2 20:25:56

The Dao exists because the world exists; to speak of the Dao apart from the world is mere speculation. Opportunity arises because the moment is right; to speak of opportunity apart from the moment is mere speculation. The world persists and the Dao exists; the moment manifests and opportunity arises. Those who use the Dao as a pretext to flee the world, or who miss the moment while chasing opportunity, are fools. The world cannot be fled; the Dao cannot be borrowed. Opportunity entails gain and loss; the moment, once gone, once come. The world and the moment are the collective karma of the mind. The Dao and opportunity are the mind of collective karma.

Mind is the aggregate of karma. The phenomenal world is the manifestation of karma. The so-called yin and yang — to discuss yin and yang apart from mind is mere verbal convention. Apart from mind, there is no such thing as yin and yang. Yang is the manifesting of karma; yin is the concealing of karma. One yin, one yang — these constitute the mind of collective karma, which is the Dao. The Dao must depend on the world and rely on the moment — the Dao is originally no Dao, it is Dao only by depending upon the collective karma of the mind. Those in the world who love to discourse on yin and yang have the words but not the meaning — it is mere speculation.

The moment is not the moment; it is called the moment. The moment is not past, present, and future. Past, present, and future are verbal conventions — ultimately unattainable. Opportunity is the transformation of yin and yang. Changing yet not changing, not changing yet changing — this is change. Opportunity does not leave the mind; opportunity apart from the mind cannot be attained. The mind does not leave opportunity; mind apart from opportunity also cannot be attained.

Mind is ultimately empty; karma is ultimately empty. Empty yet not empty, not-empty yet empty — this is emptiness. Those who seek emptiness and cling to emptiness are fools. What can be emptied is not emptiness; what is emptied by a subject is not emptiness. Not-empty yet empty; neither subject nor object. Those who take Zen as "all is emptiness" commit a great error!

A verse:

Autumn, deeper than water — evening wind rises at dusk,
Faint blue, gossamer and elusive, purple in a haze.
A thousand layers of shadows vanish — heaven and earth in illusion,
From all sides, sounds float — past and present, emptiness.
In a trance one feels the Lamp-Bearer scouring away solitude,
Still bewildered, a raised finger taps upon perfect penetration.
The mind of heaven, everywhere bright as broad daylight,
A single crystal of ice-flower splashes into fiery red.