The Original Man

You simply are

You simply are. Basui: A child dreaming it's beaten—parents can't help, for no one can enter another's dreaming mind. If the child awakens, suffering vanishes. One who realizes his own mind is Buddha frees himself instantly. In a dream you lose your way—awakening, you're in your own bed. Zazen can give partial awakening, but don't mistake copper for gold. The original man: you simply are—not something to become, just to realize.

Only a remembrance

Only a remembrance. Rinzai: If you meet a Buddha, cut him down; if you meet a patriarch, cut him down; if you meet your parents, cut them down. Only thus will you be liberated. Don't sit against the wall with tongue touching palate—mistaking darkness for your master. The moving and unmoving are two states, but the man of Tao uses both. Life is both rest and movement. Only a remembrance: enlightenment is not stillness but the freedom to move and rest both.

Look in and find it

Look in and find it. Shoitsu: Three levels of dealing with people. Uppermost: no techniques, no meaning of principle, verbal understanding impossible—like 'the cypress in the garden' or 'three pounds of hemp.' Second: bringing out a question, breaking through. Third: entering mud and water, setting down footnotes. A true one must search out the living word, not the dead word. Look in and find it: the first principle is direct transmission beyond words.

The inner innocence

The inner innocence. Dokai: As soon as I get on the seat, I am involved in dusts. True thusness, ordinary and holy, is all dream talk. When you get here, turn the light around to shine back. There is one man who doesn't get anything from others, doesn't accept any teaching, doesn't fall within grade or rank. If you know this man, your life's study is completed. The inner innocence: the original man is beyond all teaching, all rank, all hierarchy.

The sky of realisation

The sky of realisation. Basui: Question yourself intensely—'My body is like a phantom. My mind is formless as empty space. Yet somewhere within, sounds are perceived. Who is hearing?' Your rational mind eventually exhausts itself. Perfect enlightenment follows like flowers blooming on withered trees. Keep your mind as empty as space. Basui is still a teacher, not yet a master—even right words used by the mind become wrong. The sky of realisation: the question 'who is hearing?' leads beyond mind.

Roots in the universe

Roots in the universe. Manzan: The ultimate way is the one real great way. Mind and the way do not decrease in illusion nor increase in enlightenment. Like a jewel hidden in your pocket while suffering for want of food. The mind is an ocean of ultimate peace—still, silent, myriad forms reflect. When the wind of objects arises, it turns into an ocean of birth and death. When you realize the mind-source, the whole universe is a great round ocean. Roots in the universe: the mind is the source of all.

Zen is love

Zen is love. Basui: The direct way to become a Buddha is the realization of your own mind. This mind existed before your parents were born—it is your original face. Intrinsically pure, not newly created, does not perish. No distinction of male or female. Look into the source from which thoughts flow: 'What is my own mind?' Zazen is no more than looking into one's own mind. Basui has finally come home—he is now a master, not a teacher. Zen is love: searching your own mind leads to enlightenment.

From the mortal to the immortal

From the mortal to the immortal. Tozan: Subtly included within the true, inquiry and response come up together. Merging is auspicious. Not within the province of delusion or enlightenment. In its fineness it fits into spacelessness; in its greatness it is beyond location. When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance—beyond feeling or discrimination. Practice secretly, working within, as though a fool. From the mortal to the immortal: the host within the host.

Yaa-hoo! -- a living sound

Yaa-hoo!—a living sound. Rinzai: Sometimes a shout is like a jeweled sword; sometimes like a lion crouching; sometimes like a weed-tipped fishing pole; sometimes a shout is not used as a shout. Four patterns: guest looking at host, host looking at guest, host looking at host, guest looking at guest. Kwatz! is a sound without meaning but immense significance. Yaa-Hoo! is a double sound, stiring the whole body from the center. The living sound comes from your very deepest core.