Deep in the Night




Q. Roshi, how do I attain the sudden awakening of the Buddha?

A. First, "Realize that sudden awakening occurs when the mind has been cleared of conceptual and thought processes.” -Master Huang-Po.

It could hardly be made clearer than that. Clear your mind of conceptual and thought processes.

How will you attain this? "Thus Bodhidharma sat rapt in meditation before a wall." Sit rapt in meditation before a wall, or before anything else. Maybe a bare blue sky. Maybe a yellow banner. Maybe a shimmering steep green mountain.

"Outside your mind there are no dharmas to fill the eyes with green mountains." Not even an atom's worth.

Where is your mind? Can you find it now in space? Can you even find your nostrils in space?

When you see the moon gliding amid clouds, don't say to yourself, "The moon." Just see it in a fresh, direct way beyond any words or ideas. There it is! Can you add anything to it with thinking about the past, present, or future? Not!

Huang-Po is knocking on the gate with a broken tile, to show it to your blindness.

Will you complain about the harsh, grating sound of the tile, or just walk through the gate?

"Deep in the night, intoxicated by moonlight. Seeing the temple flag across the river, enlightened in an instant."

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