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However there are those who hear the Chan saying,
‘everyone possesses the Buddha nature’ and consider themselves equivalent to the Buddha with complete wisdom. They are, in fact, worthless and arrogant beings. They then, upon seeing the image of a Buddha, not only refuse to prostrate, but exclaim in mockery that present Buddhas do not prostrate to clay, coloured and carved images of Buddha!
Such people only believe that their own mind is Buddha and that there is no Buddha outside of themselves. When they see other people prostrate, they call it attachment.
When they see people prostrate to Venerable Masters, these so-called ‘Chan practitioners’ shake their heads and sigh: “There is no need to prostrate to the Buddha let alone the Sangha.”
Once a person, while prostrating to me, was pulled up by a layman who said to that person, “Don’t prostrate! Don’t harm the master!”
I, being prostrated to, was being harmed? I was puzzled. I asked, “What do you mean? How can he harm me?”
He said, “If you are really an accomplished and great monk, why do you still need people to prostrate to you? If you do, that means in your mind there is attachment.
The more he prostrates the more you feel like a great monk. You’ll never attain liberation and enlightenment in this life.”
Oh! I thought he has a point.
He continued, “If you really have attained liberation then when he prostrates to you, you should reproach him: don’t be attached to form, no form of self, no form of others, no form of sentient beings and no form of longevity, obviously no form of Master and disciples. Why are you prostrating then?”
Oh! This layman really has sharp tongue. I asked him, “Do you prostrate to the Buddha?”
He said, “I prostrate to the Buddha in my mind.”
I asked, “How do you do that?”
He replied, “I don’t use my body to do it, I use my mind.”
I asked, “How do you use your mind to do it?”
He said, “Having my mind liberated is prostration. Having no hindrance in the mind is prostration.” He implied that there was no need to prostrate to Buddha and Bodhisattvas and he believed in nothing other than himself.
Actually, this is neither Buddhism nor Chan but a type of arrogance, an erroneous view that lacks faith. This type of person may have had some experiences in meditation and developed a kind of pride and overconfidence. After having read some so-called Chan text, they become ‘bound’ and they think that they have attained liberation.