Huineng, Platform Sutra.Learned Audience, those who recite the word 'Prajna' the whole day long do not seem to know that Prajna is inherent in their own nature.
But mere talking on food will not appease hunger, and this is exactly the case with these people.
We might talk on Sunyata (the Void, Emptiness) for myriads of kalpas, but talking alone will not enable us to realize the Essence of Mind, and it serves no purpose in the end.
On Practice
On Practice
Re: On Practice
From Platform SutraBut all those explanations may be traced back to one principle.
To illumine our gloomy tabernacle, which is stained by defilement,
We should constantly set up the Light of Wisdom.
Erroneous views keep us in defilement
While right views remove us from it,
But when we are in a position to discard both of them
We are then absolutely pure.
Bodhi is immanent in our Essence of Mind,
An attempt to look for it elsewhere is erroneous.
Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found,
And once our mind is set right, we are free from the three kinds of beclouding (defilement, evil karma, and expiation in evil realms of existence).
If we are treading the Path of Enlightenment
We need not be worried by stumbling-blocks.
Provided we keep a constant eye on our own faults
We cannot go astray from the right path.
Since every species of life has its own way of salvation
They will not interfere with or be antagonistic to one another.
But if we leave our own path and seek some other way of salvation
We shall not find it,
And though we plod on till death overtakes us
We shall find only penitence in the end.
If you wish to find the true way
Right action will lead you to it directly;
But if you do not strive for Buddhahood
You will grope in the dark and never find it.
He who treads the Path in earnest
Sees not the mistakes of the world;
If we find fault with others
We ourselves are also in the wrong.
When other people are in the wrong, we should ignore it,
For it is wrong for us to find fault.
By getting rid of the habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilement.
When neither hatred nor love disturb our mind
Serenely we sleep.
Those who intend to be the teachers of others
Should themselves be skilled in the various expedients which lead others to enlightenment.
When the disciple is free from all doubts
It indicates that his Essence of Mind has been found.
The Kingdom of Buddha is in this world,
Within which enlightenment is to be sought.
To seek enlightenment by separating from this world
Is as absurd as to search for a rabbit's horn.
Right views are called 'transcendental';
Erroneous views are called 'worldly'.
When all views, right or erroneous, are discarded
Then the essence of Bodhi appears.
This stanza is for the 'Sudden' School.
It is also called the 'Big Ship of Dharma' (for sailing across the ocean of existence).
Kalpa after Kalpa a man may be under delusion,
But once enlightened it takes him only a moment to attain Buddhahood.
Here's a mummified Huineng!!! AWESOME!!
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddh ... urn false;
Re: On Practice
I love Huineng and this was surpassingly beautiful.
Thank you for posting this sraddha
May you always be well and safe
Happiness, good health, peace, and light to all beings
Thank you for posting this sraddha
May you always be well and safe
Happiness, good health, peace, and light to all beings
Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate bodhi svaha