Teaching You Zazen 23: The Disease of "Letting Be" Is Most Clinging
2008/2/3 10:03:47
In truth, the disease of "letting be" ultimately stems from the illusion of "your" self-designed identity. All modes of the "letting be" disease cannot escape the scope of consciousness — to put it bluntly, it's self-gratification.
Chinese-style thinking is especially prone to the disease of "letting be." For example, the reason Laozi and Zhuangzi are so popular in China traces back to this very disease. When Zhuangzi indulged in his carefree wandering, it was merely an elaboration of this "letting be" disease.
Later, all of this evolved into countless forms. For instance, the idea of "going with conditions" — pray tell, if you don't go with conditions, would conditions not follow you? Karmic force shadows you like your own silhouette — your consciousness indulging in "going with conditions" or "not going with conditions" changes nothing. For instance, "adapting to whatever comes" — same principle, nothing but the self-consolation of consciousness. For instance, "not choosing what kind of person you are, not placing yourself among any category" — pray tell, what kind of person you are is an objective reality. Just as putting your hand into fire will certainly burn it to a crisp, this is determined by your karma. It's not that your consciousness indulges in a little "I choose not to choose" and suddenly you're no longer chosen.
Whether it's roaming freely between heaven and earth, going with all conditions, letting things take their course, or adapting to whatever comes — all of these are nothing more than tedious self-gratification and self-moaning under the web of karma. If you truly want to do zazen, you must first face this karmic web directly — stop deceiving yourself. If you are in a state of scattered mind, no matter how you indulge, you are in that state. Unless you can truly break free of the karma of scattered mind — and that has nothing to do with your self-indulgence.
The disease of "letting be" is the most clinging — why? Because it is the most artistically rendered and aesthetically appealing thing that humans paint in self-evasion. And people always love to gaze lovingly at their own shadows, always cherish their own worn-out brooms. One of the greatest characteristics of human consciousness is its ability to create an illusory world to satisfy all of one's self-gratification.
And this "letting be" can never escape "you" and "yours." No matter how you "let be," it is merely your "letting be."
Before the face of death, all fancy moves are useless. Tao Yuanming said "entrust this body to rest among the hills," and then the most self-indulgent Chinese literati felt the sentiment was so sublime, the state of mind so elevated. In reality, it was merely a cooked duck with its beak still stiff. Not only is your so-called body nothing whatsoever, but even your hills will eventually crumble and perish. What are you "entrusting"? Even in death, you still drag out the illusion of hills to entrust yourself to — a classic case of the scheming mind refusing to die.
Zazen offers no place for your scheming mind. No matter what tricks your consciousness plays, they are useless. And without penetrating through all the tricks of consciousness, you cannot directly face birth and death itself.
And if you don't directly face birth and death, what bloody use is your zazen? To not be deceived by birth and death, you must first not be deceived by yourself. Birth and death is nothing but a con — and this con encompasses all of you. Everything of yours is within this con. Without first seeing through yourself, you will forever be deceived by birth and death.
The deceived is always the one who can be deceived. And who is this one who can be deceived?
Investigate!
Replies
缠中说禅 2008/2/3 10:12:06
Heading off now, goodbye.
缠中说禅 2008/2/3 10:11:44
[Anonymous] 缠中解禅 Delete all comments by this person
2008-02-03 10:09:31
Please, teacher, when you have time, talk about the Diamond Sutra. Thank you, teacher.
--
Do you want to hear the textual Diamond Sutra or the real Diamond Sutra? If the latter, this ID lectures on it every day.