The dharma master lives
Here at Mt. Chiao,
And yet, in fact,
Has never lived here at all.
I’ve come here to
Ask about the dharma,
But the dharma master
Sees through me and
Says nothing.
It isn’t that the
Dharma master lacks the words,
But that I do not
Understand the nature
Of his reply.
- Su Shih (1073)
The clouds emerge
From the Mountain of Chung
And then return
To the Mountain of Chung.
I would like to ask
The dweller in this mountain,
“Where are the clouds now?”
Clouds emerge from No-mind
And then return to No-mind.
No-mind is nowhere to be found.
We need not seek the home of No-mind.
- Wang An-shih (1068–1076)
Luminous is this mind,
Brightly shining,
But it is colored by the
Attachments that visit it.
This unlearned people
Do not really understand,
And so do not cultivate the mind.
Luminous is this mind,
Brightly shining,
And it is free of the
Attachments that visit it.
This the noble follower
Of the way really understands;
So for them there is
Cultivation of the mind.
- Buddha from the Anguttara Nikaya
Mind, mind, mind—
Above the Path.
Here on my mountain,
Gray hair down,
I cherish bamboo sprouts,
Brush carefully
By pine twigs.
Burning incense,
I open a book:
Mist over flagstones.
Rolling the blind,
I contemplate:
Moon in the pond.
Of my old friends,
How many know the Way?
- Zengetsu
(833–912)
It is important to understand
that buddha nature is not
something we imagine or
create from nothing.
It is something that exists
already, and the gradual method
the Buddha taught is designed
to awaken the ever-present
buddha nature by instructing
individuals at different
levels of development
exactly how to do this.
- The Twelfth Tai Situpa