posted April 02, 2008 10:10 AM         

"Body is the Bodhi tree,
Mind, the mirror bright;
Ceaselessly, we keep them clean,
And let no dust alight."

"There is no Bodhi-tree,
Nor stand of mirror bright.
Since everything is Void
Where can dust alight?"

The first, written by his most accomplished disciple, and the favorite to win the master's robe and begging bowl, evoked admiration in the other monks, who unanimously refused to compete. The second was spoken by a humble, illiterate rice-pounder, who, as it turned out, was awarded the prize and later came to be known as the sixth patriarch, Huineng.

This illicited the envy of the other monks, and Huineng was forced to flee, with the bowl and robe, for his very life. To this day, the traditional, exoteric body of Buddhism is ruled according to the first stanza, and, like all institutions and systems, continues to feel itself threatened by the spirit of the second stanza.

When Huineng fled, he was pursued by the monks, who were determined to bring him back to the fold. But the monk who found Huineng, upon discovering him, was overcome by his presence, and, instead of dragging him back to the monastery, requested instruction. Huineng is believed to have uttered the following words in response:

Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, tell me:
What was your original face before your mother and father were born.

posted April 02, 2008 10:17 AM         

"No instrument is necessary for us to create the realization that there is nothing to understand."

"I am not trying to convince you or win you over to anything. Thought is violence because it is trying to protect itself. There is a basic contradiction in what the body demands and the movement of the thought which is interested in self-perpetuation. There is no such thing as you and me. The totality has created you and me. You have no isolated existence. The demand of being an individual is the real cause of suffering. The "how" is absent for me. The "hows" dished out in the market-place are not for me. The one who is living doesn't ask how to live."

"My interest is to emphasize that mind is not the instrument, and there is no other instrument. And when once this hits you, dawns upon you that thought is not the instrument, and that there is no other instrument, then there is no need for you to find out if any other instrument is necessary. No need for any other instrument. This very same structure that we are using, the instrument which we are using, has in a very ingenious way invented all kinds of things like intuition, right insight, right this, that, and the other. And to say that through this very insight we have come to understand something is the stumbling block. All insights, however extraordinary they may be, are worthless, because it is thought that has created what we call insight, and through that it is maintaining its continuity and status quo."

"The old traditional approach to the whole question of enlightenment was thrown out of my system, although I continued to read books on religion, studied philosophy, psychology, and science. I tried to find out answers from those people who have not been contaminated by the traditional teachings. I got interested in Western philosophy and science, and tried to find the answer to my basic question. My basic question was one question: "Where is this mind that we are so concerned about, that we are trying to understand, study, and change? Why do we talk of a total change in the makeup of the mind? I don't see any such thing as mind there at all, let alone a transformation or mutation of the mind." This question always intrigued me and I questioned everybody about the mind. I tried to get answers from every area of human thought, but nothing helped me to find out the answers to those questions. At that time I didn't have the certainty that I have today. The certainty I have today that there is no mind is something which I cannot transmit to anybody, however hard I may try, because the very thing which we are using to communicate is in jeopardy, and you are not ready to accept that possibility."

posted April 05, 2008 03:10 AM         

I am not at all sure that this was an invitation, but, as I said before, I am always up for a comment on the Teachings of the Patriarchs.

Three points (here summarized) in these posts so three considerations/comments:

1
"Body is the Bodhi tree,
Mind, the mirror bright;
Ceaselessly, we keep them clean,
And let no dust alight."

From the second stage of the Nafs until the 7th stage of the nafs, there is a single process of "cleaning and clearing" all accretions to the spirit.

Thus, these few lines represent that entire process, beginning to tip of the end. (fana)

"There is no Bodhi-tree,
Nor stand of mirror bright.
Since everything is Void
Where can dust alight?"

After the nafs (soul) has been purified (7th stage), one has arrived at the state of the spirit which has an additional 9 stages. However, these nine stages are experienced in the "void". The "void" is not a good english word since it has connnotations of "empty", which is not really correct. This is a realm of undifferentiated Reality.

Thus, these lines represent that entire "higher" process from the end to a higher end. (bagha/baqa)

This is why the rice pounder was given the mantle on the passing of the Teacher.

2.
"I became enlightened, not because of my spiritual practice, but, in spite of it."

That does not mean that there "should" be no spiritual practice/discipline.

"No instrument is necessary for us to create the realization that there is nothing to understand."

There is no instrument that will bring you to that realization. However, if you do not utilize the instruments, you will not be able to eliminate them...by act of eliminating them, a transmutation becomes available to you that you cannot arrive at prior to eliminating all other possiblities.

3.
Precisely. One cannot sell that which one does not own. Thus, any practical spiritual discipline will not involve "transactional" relations of any kind. The Teaching is free in every sense of the word. There is no condition and no monetary exchange in the transmission of the "basics". After the "basics", each person must apply, practice, discover and experience the transmutation for themselves.

posted April 05, 2008 10:09 AM         

I know where you're coming from.