Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 134
54 Nothing Attainable
All things are formless,
unborn, undying.
Thus there is nothing attainable.
Thus truly the Buddha spoke.
HAI QUYNH (1728 – 1811)
(COMMENT: Watch your mind. Is the mind formless? The image comes
and goes; the mind sees the image coming and going. The sound
comes and goes; the mind hears the sound coming and going. Because
the mind is formless, it can reflect all things coming and going in
countless forms. Also because it is formless, the mind could manifest as
the image you see, and as the sound you hear. The image is a state of
the mind. Similarly, the sound is a state of the mind. See that.
A student once asked Zen Master Tich Chieu about Zen. This old monk,
also my root teacher, pointed to the front yard of the temple, and said,
“The puddle is the Buddha.”)
