“If you wish to seek the Buddha, you ought to see into your own Nature (hsing); for this Nature is the Buddha himself. If you have not seen into your own Nature, what is the use of thinking of the Buddha, reciting the Sutras, observing a fast, or keeping the precepts? …
“Anciently there was a Bhikshu Zensho (Shan-hsing) who was capable of reciting all the twelve divisions of scriptures, yet he could not save himself from transmigration, because he had no insight into his own Nature. If this was the case even with Zensho, how about those moderners who being able to discourse only on a few Sutras and Śastras regard themselves as exponents of Buddhism? They are truly simple-minded ones.
“When Mind is not understood, it is absolutely of no avail to recite and discourse on idle literature. If you want to seek the Buddha, you ought to see into your own Nature, which is the Buddha himself. The Buddha is a free man—a man who neither works nor achieves…
“The highest truth is unfathomably deep, is not an object of talk or discussion, and even the canonical texts have no way to bring it within our reach. Let us once see into our own original Nature and we have the truth even when we are quite illiterate, not knowing a word....
“Ānanda, one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha, was known for his wide information, but did not have any insight into Buddhahood, because he was so bent on gaining information only....”
— Six Essays by Shoshitsu (as quoted by D.T. Suzuki)
May we not be blinded by information,
Simeon
Quote of the Week
“One who looks outside, dreams. One who looks inside, awakens.”
— C.G. Jung
J. Krishnamurti | The End of Seeking
This video invites us into the unflinching clarity of Jiddu Krishnamurti, whose radical insistence on direct insight challenged the entire structure of spiritual seeking. When all borrowed knowledge is set aside, what remains is not a path to follow, but a seeing that transforms.
Suggested Reading
The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma translated by Red Pine
What remains when you drop every practice, every belief, every effort? The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma is a thunderbolt: blunt, fearless, and utterly direct.
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