Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 182
76 Encouraging
Some people bury their heads in the joy of eating and drinking, and
waste their life away. Some people practice the Way incorrectly, and
can not get enlightenment. They don’t know that in everyone the Bodhi
Mind is already perfect, and the virtuous Prajna is already complete.
Despite being a hermit, completely or partly, despite being a monk or a
layperson, you will get enlightenment if you realize the original mind.
That is originally not male or female, so you don’t have to cling to the
appearance. Those who don’t understand turn into three teachings
tentatively; those who already understand know that they have realized
the same one mind. Those who constantly reflect inwardly will all see
the self-nature and become buddhas.
TRẦN THÁI TÔNG (1218 - 1277)
(COMMENT: Human life is precious. Practice the Way correctly and
constantly. Don’t waste even a day in your life. The death may come
tonight or tomorrow. Actually, the death is chewing you in every
moment; it is present in your every breath, and is not apart from life.
Reflect inwardly, watch your every breath constantly, and see what is
beyond the birth and death.
Is there the self-nature? When you say you are seeing something you
call the self-nature, that thing’s gone instantly. When you say you are
feeling the cold wind of the impermanence, and you say that nothing
should be called as the self-nature, just observe who is feeling and who
is saying there. Is there any difference between the one ‘who is feeling’
and the one ‘who is saying’? Don’t think. Just observe.)
