The Master Said to Me

The Master said to me: All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn and indestructible.

"Whoa! Stop right there! Are you saying the universe of particular sensed details & conditioned phenomena is just like a mirage or an illusion, & only this unborn & indestructible One Mind actually exists?"

"That's exactly right. That's exactly what Master Huang-Po said."

"So I should believe it just because an old Chinese monk said it? Because it sounds religious quackery, mystical mumbo jumbo, cargo cult casuistry!"

"It isn't a question of belief. Just look into your own experience realistically & see if it is or is not like that. If there's anywhere you can find the mysterious nature of Mind, it's in the depths of yourself, not in a second-hand teaching or the details of some fictitious Zen lineage. To really access this mysterious dark principle of Zen you've got to temporarily withdraw from your outward fixations & put your conceptual thinking to rest. That is, you've got to do some real contemplation. That's what Zen really is -- waking up to the mysterious, bright, vivifying nature of your unborn Mind."

Here's what Sixth Zen Patriarch Hui-Neng had to say about getting Sudden Enlightenment:

Empty your mind. Now, without thinking of good or bad, what was your original face before your parents ever met? . . . If you want to know the essence of mind, just do not think about good or bad at all. Then you will spontaneously gain access to the pure substance of mind, calm and always tranquil, with subtle functions beyond number.