Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 30
9 The Treasure
Living in the world, happy with the Way,
you should let all things take their course.
When hungry, just eat; when tired, just sleep.
The treasure is in your house; don’t search any more.
Face the scenes, and have no thoughts;
then you don’t need to ask for Zen.
TRAN NHAN TONG (1258-1308)
(COMMENT: Live with the water, not with the waves rising and falling;
live with the nature of mirror to reflect, not with the images appearing
and disappearing; and live with the essence of the mind, not with the
thoughts arising and vanishing. When you see the essence of the mind,
then you catch a glimpse of Nirvana – the state of unborn, uncreated,
unconditioned peace. After that moment, you know how to live with the
mind unmoved while walking, standing, lying and sitting. How can you
see the essence of the mind? Please, remember: You are never away
from it, just like the water holds all the waves and is never away from
the waves, just like the emptiness of the mirror hold all the images and
is never away from the images. The essence of the mind is non-self, so
it manifest as a great magician: your mind has no form, so it takes all
forms you see as its forms; your mind has no color, so it takes all colors
you see as its colors… Now look out the window. When you see a bird,
your mind now has the form of a bird; and when the bird flies, your
mind flies too. Your mind is all things you see, all things you hear, all
things you feel; the observer is all things observed. The Sixth Patriarch
Hu Neng told two monks arguing over the banner flying that that was
not the banner moving, and also not the wind moving, but just their
minds moving.)
