Once our Master took his place in the assembly hall and said, “It is far better for all of you to be unconcerned people. Why all this craze for karmic activities…toiling and moiling the whole day through, telling people you are practicing Ch’an and studying the Way, holding forth about your understanding of the Buddha-dharma? This sort of thing is no use at all.

“It simply amounts to rushing about in pursuit of sounds and forms. Ah, when will you desist from it all? Once this poor monk heard Ma Tsu say, ‘Your own treasure house contains absolutely everything you need. Use it freely instead of searching vainly for something outside yourself.’

“From that day forward, I desisted. Making use of your own treasure house according to your needs—that can be called happiness! There is no single thing (dharma) which can be grasped or rejected. When you cease looking on things in their temporal aspect, and as having come or gone, then in the whole universe—above, below, and round about—there will be no grain of anything which is not your own treasure house.

“All you have to do is carefully contemplate your own minds; then the marvelous trinity of the Three Jewels in One Substance will constantly manifest itself; of this there is no shadow of doubt. Do not search for the truth with your intellects. Do not search at all.”

“The nature of mind is intrinsically pure. Therefore it is written in the Avatamsaka Sutra:

“‘All things have no beginning; and all things have no end.’

“Before those who are able to interpret these words correctly the Buddhas are ever present. Moreover, in the Vimalakirti Sutra it is written:

“‘It is through your own bodies that reality is perceived; the Buddha is perceived in the same manner.’

“If you do not follow sounds and sights so that they stir your minds, and if you do not pursue appearances so that they give rise to discriminations, you will then be unconcerned people.”

Upon the same day, as the monks did not break up at the usual time, the Master said, “Why do you not disperse? What doubts do you still entertain? Do not misuse your minds and waste your energy. If something is still bothering you, ask whatever you wish.”

Then Fa Yuan asked, “What are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; what are the Three Jewels in One Substance? We beg you, Master, to explain.”

Hui Hai: “Mind is the Buddha, and it is needless to use this Buddha to seek the Buddha. Mind is the Dharma, and it is needless to use this Dharma to seek the Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are not separate entities, and their togetherness forms the Sangha. Such is the meaning of Three Jewels in One Substance. A sutra says:

“‘Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—there is no difference between any of them. When your body, speech, and mind are purified, we say a Buddha has appeared in the world. When these three become impure, we say a Buddha has been extinguished.’

“Instead of recognizing the Buddha right in front of you, you spend eon after eon searching for him.

“His whole substance pervades all phenomena, but you are deluded and look for him elsewhere! Consequently, anyone who understands the Way is never off it, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying. Anyone who awakens to the Dharma is sovereign and at ease in all situations, since none of them are outside Dharma.”

Hui Hai (720-814)

excerpted from Ch’an Master Hui Hai – Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening translated by John Blofeld 1962

“All you have to do is carefully contemplate your own minds; then the marvelous trinity of the Three Jewels in One Substance will constantly manifest itself; of this there is no shadow of doubt. Do not search for the truth with your intellects. Do not search at all.”

This bears repeating because this is what meditation helps us experience–that space between the thoughts, the intellect, emotions, and the sense of “self.” We turn the attention onto our breath if we are beginners, or just sit in the lap of the Universe if we’ve been at this a while. It always feels like putting our toes into a vast lake to test the water, though it is just a tongue-tip taste of what Is.

No matter how we approach meditation on the cushion or in life, there is this lingering sense of so much “self” still coloring so much of our realities.

There is no time to judge where we are in all this, although we are pulled by the comparing mind at times to do so. We just pause, return, and continue in our explorations of the now.

“Those who practice the Buddha way should first of all trust in the Buddha way. Those who trust in the Buddha way should trust that they are in essence within the Buddha way, where there is no delusion, no false thinking, no increase or decrease, and no mistake. To arouse such trust and illuminate the Way in this manner, and to practice accordingly, are fundamental to studying the Way.”

Dogen 1200-1253

Exploring the present unfolding,

Elana, Scribe for Daily Zen