Sokushin Zebutsu

Buddhas and ancestors, without ever having been released, have maintained and upheld only "this very mind is Buddha." Yet in India there was no "this very mind is Buddha"; it was first heard in China. Because many learners err, they do not "take the wrong and go along with the wrong." Because they do not take the wrong and go along with the wrong, many fall away into non-Buddhist paths. Hearing the talk of "this very mind," foolish people think it means that the ordinary thoughts, perceptions, and consciousness of sentient beings, which have not yet given rise to the mind of enlightenment, are themselves Buddha. This is because they have never met a true teacher.

What is meant by falling into the category of non-Buddhists is this: In the country of India there was a non-Buddhist named Senika. His view was as follows: The great Way exists within our present body; its condition can easily be known. That is to say, it distinguishes pleasure and pain, knows for itself heat and cold, and fully perceives aches and itches. It is not constrained by the myriad things and is not involved with the various objects.

Things come and go, objects arise and perish, but the knowing spirit is always present and unchanging. This knowing spirit is vast and pervasive. There is no distinction between ordinary beings, sages, and sentient beings. Within it, there may temporarily be the empty flowers of deluded dharmas, but when the wisdom corresponding to a single thought appears, things vanish and objects perish; then the knowing spirit, the original nature, alone is clear and eternally serene. Even if the bodily form is destroyed, the knowing spirit is not destroyed and departs. It is like the owner of a house leaving when the house is consumed by fire.

That which is clear and knowing is called the nature of the awakened one, the knower. This is called Buddha and also termed enlightenment. Self and other equally possess it; it is fully penetrated in both delusion and enlightenment. However the myriad dharmas and various objects may be, the knowing spirit is not identical with the objects and is not the same as things; it abides eternally through the ages. Even the various objects present now, from the standpoint of the knowing spirit's abiding place, can be said to be real.

Because they arise from the original nature, they are real dharmas. Even so, they are not eternal like the knowing spirit, because they exist and perish. They are not involved with light and dark, because they are what the knowing spirit knows. This is called the knowing spirit. It is also called the true self, the source of awakening, and the original nature. Realizing such an original nature is called returning to the eternal, and one is called a great being who returns to the true. Thereafter, one no longer flows in birth and death but enters and realizes the ocean of the nature of non-arising and non-perishing. Apart from this, there is nothing real. It is said that as long as this nature is not revealed, the three realms and six paths vie and arise. This is precisely the view of the non-Buddhist Senika.

In the Great Tang country, National Teacher Daishō asked a monk, "Where have you come from?" The monk said, "I have come from the south." The Teacher said, "What teachers are there in the south?" The monk said, "There are quite a number of teachers." The Teacher said, "How do they instruct people?" The monk said, "Those southern teachers directly point out to learners 'this very mind is Buddha.' Buddha means awakening. You now fully possess the nature of seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing. This nature is adept at raising the eyebrows and blinking, going and coming, functioning and moving.

It pervades the entire body: touch the head and the head knows, touch the foot and the foot knows. Therefore it is called the truly all-pervading knower. Apart from this, there is no other Buddha. This body indeed has birth and death, but the mind-nature, from the beginningless past, has never known birth and death. The body undergoing birth and death is like a dragon changing its bones, a snake shedding its skin, or a person leaving an old house. That is, the body is impermanent, but its nature is permanent.

What is taught in the south is generally like this." The Teacher said, "If so, there is no difference from that non-Buddhist Senika. He says, 'Within this body of mine there is a spiritual nature. This nature can know pain and itch. When the body perishes, the spirit goes out. It is like when a house is burned, the owner leaves. The house is impermanent; the owner is permanent.' If we examine it like this, we cannot distinguish the wrong from the right; which shall we take as correct? In my travels around the country, I have often seen this type. Recently it is especially rampant.

Gathering three or five hundred people, they gaze at the clouds and say, 'This is the teaching of the south.' Taking up the *Platform Sutra*, they alter it, adding vulgar talk and deleting the sage's intent, confusing later followers. How can this be considered a teaching? Alas, our school is lost! If seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing are taken as Buddha-nature, then Vimalakīrti should not have said, 'The Dharma is apart from seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing.

If you practice seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, this is seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing; it is not seeking the Dharma.'" National Teacher Daishō was a foremost disciple of the ancient Buddha of Caoxi, a great good teacher in heaven and among humans. You should clarify the teaching the National Teacher revealed and take it as a standard for study. Do not follow the view of the non-Buddhist Senika. Among the masters of the various mountains in the Great Song country in recent times, there cannot be one like the National Teacher. Since ancient times, no teacher equal to the National Teacher has ever appeared. Yet people mistakenly think that masters like Linji and Deshan must be equal to the National Teacher. There are many such types. It is pitiable that there are no clear-eyed teachers.

The "mind itself is Buddha" that the buddhas and ancestors maintain and bear is not something seen even in the dreams of non-Buddhists or the two vehicles. Only buddhas and ancestors alone have the established tradition, the exhaustive investigation, the hearing and grasping, the practice and attainment, the realization and grasping of "mind itself is Buddha." The buddhas have the established tradition of picking up a blade of grass, and the established tradition of letting it drop and losing it. Nevertheless, they do not expound it to the golden body sixteen feet tall. There is the *kōan* itself; it does not await something ready-made, nor does it avoid decay and ruin. There is this triple world; it is not a matter of withdrawing from it, nor is it "mind-only." There is the mind of walls and fences; it is not yet plastered with mud, not yet constructed.

Some investigate "mind itself is Buddha," investigate "mind is Buddha itself," investigate "Buddha is mind itself," investigate "itself mind Buddha is," investigate "this Buddha mind itself." Such investigation is precisely "mind itself is Buddha"; raising this up and transmitting it correctly to "mind itself is Buddha" is the true transmission. Thus transmitted, it has reached the present day.

What is called the mind that has been truly transmitted is "one mind is all dharmas, all dharmas are one mind." Therefore an ancient said, "If a person fully understands the mind, the great earth has not an inch of soil." Know that when one fully understands the mind, the heavens are knocked down and the earth splits apart. Or, when one fully understands the mind, the great earth further increases by three inches in thickness. An ancient worthy said, "What is the wondrous, pure, bright mind? Mountains, rivers, the great earth; the sun, the moon, the stars." Clearly know: the mind is mountains, rivers, the great earth; it is the sun, the moon, the stars. Nevertheless, where this saying points, to advance is insufficient, to retreat is excessive.

The mind of mountains, rivers, and the great earth is just mountains, rivers, and the great earth. There are no further waves, no wind or mist. The mind of the sun, moon, and stars is just the sun, moon, and stars. There is no further fog, no haze. The mind of birth, death, coming, and going is just birth, death, coming, and going. There is no further delusion, no enlightenment. The mind of walls, fences, tiles, and pebbles is just walls, fences, tiles, and pebbles. There is no further mud, no water. The mind of the four great elements and the five aggregates is just the four great elements and the five aggregates. There is no further horse, no monkey. The mind of the chair and the whisk is just the chair and the whisk. There is no further bamboo, no wood. Because it is thus, "mind itself is Buddha" is the unstained "mind itself is Buddha." The buddhas are the unstained buddhas. Therefore, "mind itself is Buddha" is the buddhas of arousing the mind, practice, *bodhi*, and *nirvāṇa*.

That which has not aroused the mind, practiced, attained *bodhi*, or entered *nirvāṇa* is not "mind itself is Buddha." Even arousing the mind and practicing realization in a single instant is "mind itself is Buddha"; even arousing the mind and practicing realization within a single atom is "mind itself is Buddha"; even arousing the mind and practicing realization over immeasurable kalpas is "mind itself is Buddha"; even arousing the mind and practicing realization within a single thought is "mind itself is Buddha"; even arousing the mind and practicing realization within half a fist is "mind itself is Buddha." Yet, to say that practicing and becoming a buddha over long kalpas is not "mind itself is Buddha" is to not yet have seen "mind itself is Buddha," not yet to know it, not yet to have studied it.

It is to not have seen a true teacher who expounds "mind itself is Buddha." What are called the buddhas is Śākyamuni Buddha. Śākyamuni Buddha is this "mind itself is Buddha." When all buddhas of past, present, and future become buddhas, they invariably become Śākyamuni Buddha. This is "mind itself is Buddha.

The True Dharma-Eye Treasury: "The Mind Itself Is Buddha," Fifth The World-Honored One addressed the assembly, saying: "The mind itself is Buddha. If you wish to know the Way, there is no mind and there is no Buddha." This is the World-Honored One's great discourse. "The mind itself is Buddha" is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the buddhas and ancestors. "The mind itself is Buddha" is the nostrils of the buddhas and ancestors.

Therefore, the World-Honored One says, "The mind itself is Buddha." Do not vainly doubt that the World-Honored One says, "The mind itself is Buddha." "If you wish to know the Way, there is no mind and there is no Buddha" is also the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the buddhas and ancestors. "If you wish to know the Way, there is no mind and there is no Buddha" is the nostrils of the buddhas and ancestors.

Therefore, the World-Honored One says, "If you wish to know the Way, there is no mind and there is no Buddha." Do not vainly doubt that the World-Honored One says, "If you wish to know the Way, there is no mind and there is no Buddha." The World-Honored One's "mind itself is Buddha" and "no mind and no Buddha" are not two different phrases.

They are one phrase. They are not one phrase. They are two phrases. You must study this thoroughly.