Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 36
12 Not Two Things
All Buddhist gates are from your essence,
and the essence of all things are from your mind.
Your mind and all things are one, not two things.
The fetters of samsara are all void.
Blessedness and sinfulness, right and wrong – all are illusions.
CUU CHI (circa 11th century)
(COMMENT: Nonduality. Not two things. Don’t think, don’t reason. Feel
it, live it. Try to feel it even just half an hour, then you will believe in
Zen.
First, with eyes half open, be quiet, say nothing in your mind; feel the
breath in and out, gently feel every breath. Later, see that your whole
body is breathing – just gently watch your whole body feel the breath,
every breath. Later, see that your whole body and mind become one
with the breath. Then let your whole body gently feel the world around.
Because you are non-self, you feel that you become one with the wind
around, with the sounds from the beach, with the trees along the
street, with the birds flying, and with all things you see, your hear. In
your mirror mind, all things appear equally, all things are illusions; only
the reflecting mind is shining.)
