Question
Hyakujo: “The mind must reside in nonabiding, and there abide”
echoes Konin and Eno: “When the mind abides nowhere, the true
mind appears,” which echoes Kosen: “This does not mean that when
the mind abides, it loses its true nature,” which echoes the Diamond
Sutra, the mondo between Shakyamuni and Subhuti: if the bodhisattva abides
in the aspect of ego, in the aspect of sentient beings, he is not a
bodhisattva; which echoes Kanjizai Bosatsu, who does not separate freedom from
compassion and can take every form, every
appearance, use every means to strike the spark in
each person’s mind; which echoes Yasuo and his last teaching: fu
zenna, no separation, no separation between Kanjizai Bosatsu and all
beings; which echoes U MU, neither remaining in U nor in MU, but with a single
glance embracing both aspects and going beyond them, and together, gyatei, going,
going beyond… This echo I send back to you is
a humble fuse; do not scorn it. The point you touched with “Even
if the mind abides, it does not mean it loses its true nature”
is the point that needed touching in me, and you did it in three
answers! It is the point that unties (the bonds), connects all points,
the point that heals, the point of union, the assemblage point, the point without
beginning or end that contains beginning and end, the meeting
point with the bodhisattva of true freedom, who is also the
bodhisattva of true compassion.
Question: do you understand when I tell you that you touched THE point
that turns the wheel of all the Buddhas’ teachings? Can
you see my mind as clearly as I see yours?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
OK, you have finished your meal, so go wash your bowl…
That is true compassionate teaching.
Do not speak with your mouth full; do not think with your head full.
Do not add illusion to illusion. Even awakening is an illusion, Zen is blah blah blah. Open new, unknown, silent spaces in your vast, limitless brain. Invent a new language no one else has ever spoken and keep it secret until you forget it. Become amnesiac and rejoice in ordinary life… Only zazen is Zen, nothing more, or else absolutely everything. I do not know your mind, I do not know my mind, I know only mind.
Kosen