Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 202
86 Going Home
Emptiness, emptiness, existence, existence -- I’ve gone
beyond their boundary over seventy years in this world.
The vow done, I am going home today
and don’t have to scurry about to ask for the patriarchs.
LIỄU QUÁN (? - 1743)
(COMMENT: If someone asks you to show the emptiness in this
mountain, in that river, and in other things around, what can you do?
You can not reply that the emptiness is something outside or inside the
existence; It is nowhere to be found and shown.
If someone asks you to show your true nature, what can you do? You
can not reply that your true nature is in your eyes, ears, nose, tongue,
body or mind; It is nowhere to be found and shown.
Now, look at the mountain there. The mountain is your mind being
manifested; if it is not, then you are a dead body now. Now, listen to
the birdsong echoing from the mountain. The birdsong is your mind
being manifested; if it is not, then you are a dead body now. All things
are your mind being manifested. Thus, what can you say about
emptiness or existence?
Remember, the Shurangama Sutra says that the existence of all
phenomena is the mind nature, and that the mind nature is the
existence of all phenomena.)
