Apparently, this is one of the few actual Zen sayings that is relatively well-known in the West. For example:

Video on Zen by Religion for Breakfast https://youtu.be/NZBDW8l4wIU?si=4wngCkElFPXlcijZ

Video on Zen by Let's Talk Religion https://youtu.be/yMC_8BjG3Cc?si=nIMbqFM3a7n9Ucje

I'd just like to give some fuller context for this Zen saying by Linji. Below are some excerpts from the collected record of his words (the Linji lu):

1. 大德 時光 可惜 祇擬傍家波波地 學禪學道 認名認句 求佛求祖 求善知識意度 莫錯

Venerable ones! You should value your time, yet you only rush busily along side paths, saying you are studying Chan [Zen] and studying the Way. You misconstrue names and phrases and say you are seeking buddhas and seeking patriarchs. You go to good teachers and gauge everything with your thoughts alone. Don't be mistaken!

道流 你祇有一箇父母 更求何物 你自返照看 古人 云 演若達多失却頭 求心歇處卽無事

Followers of the Way, you have only one father and mother. What else are you looking for? Turn back and look at yourselves. An ancient said: 'Yajñadatta thought he had lost his head, but the moment his seeking mind came to rest, there was nothing the matter.' [In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Yajñadatta admires his face in a mirror one morning. Unable to see his own head directly, he runs about in a frenzy believing he has lost it.]

大德 且要平常 莫作模樣 有一般不識好惡禿奴 便卽見神見鬼 指東劃西 好晴好雨 如是之流 盡須抵債 向閻老前 呑熱鐵丸有日 好人家男女 被這一般野狐精魅所著 便卽捏怪 瞎屢生 索飯錢有日在

Venerable ones! If you wish to live an ordinary life, just as it is, do not put on any other form. There is a bunch of bald-headed slaves [monks, said in contempt] who can't tell good from bad. At once they see ghosts and see goblins, point east and mark off west [gesturing this way and that, making distinctions], and say, 'Fair weather is good!' and 'Rain is good!' All of their kind are in debt, and the day will come when they go before Old Yama [King Yama, lord of the underworld, who judges the dead] and swallow red-hot iron balls. Needlessly, fox-and-goblin spirits [in Chinese folklore, foxes turn into spirits that bewitch people] have attached themselves to the men and women of untroubled households. It has become like rubbing perfectly good eyes until weird phantom flowers appear in the empty air. You blind fools! The day will come when you are made to pay for the rice you have eaten.

1. 師示衆云 道流 切要求取眞正見解 向天下橫行 免被這一般精魅惑亂 無事是貴人 但莫造作 祇是平常 你擬向外 傍家求過 覓脚手 錯了也 祇擬求佛 佛是名句 你還識馳求底麽

The Master addressed the assembly: Followers of the Way! What truly matters is to seek true and correct insight, so that you can go wherever you please in the world without being bewitched by these goblins. The person with nothing to do is the truly noble person. Just don't force or contrive anything. Simply live an ordinary life, just as it is. If you turn outward and wander from house to house looking for some method, you will only go wrong. You only try to seek the Buddha, but 'Buddha' is just a name and a phrase. Do you know the one who rushes about outside, seeking?

三世十方佛祖出來 也祇爲求法 如今參學道流 也祇爲求法 得法始了 未得 依前輪廻五道 云何是法 法者 是心法 心法 無形 通貫十方 目前現用 人信不及 便乃認名認句 向文字中求 意度佛法 天地縣殊

The buddhas and patriarchs of the three times and ten directions [past, present, and future, throughout the entire universe] came into the world only to seek the Dharma. You who now take part here and study the Way are likewise here only to seek the Dharma. Only when you attain the Dharma can you be done. If you do not attain it, you will still fall into the five paths [the realms of rebirth] and go on transmigrating. What is the Dharma? The Dharma is the Dharma of mind. The Dharma of mind has no form; it pervades all realms throughout the ten directions and functions right before your eyes. But people do not believe this thoroughly, so they misconstrue names and phrases and seek within written words. They try to understand the Buddhadharma by gauging it with their thoughts, and so they end up as far apart as heaven and earth.

1. 師云 你一念心疑處 是箇魔 你若達得萬法無生 心如幻化 更無一塵一法 處處淸淨 是佛 然 佛與魔 是染淨二境 約山僧見處 無佛無衆生 無古無今 得者便得 不歷時節 無修無證 無得無失 一切時中 更無別法 設有一法過此者 我說如夢如化 山僧所說 皆是

The Master said: The single thought of doubt in your mind is precisely the demon. If you penetrate the principle that the myriad dharmas [all phenomena] are originally unborn, your mind will become like a conjured illusion. Then there will no longer be a single speck of dust or a single dharma, and everywhere will be pure. This is buddha. Yet buddha and demon are the two realms of the pure and the defiled. In the view of this mountain monk [Linji's modest way of referring to himself], there are no buddhas and no sentient beings, no past and no present. What is to be gained is gained at once; it does not take long ages. There is nothing to cultivate and nothing to realize, nothing to gain and nothing to lose. At all times there is no other dharma. Even if there were a dharma surpassing this, I would say it is like a dream, like a phantom. Everything this mountain monk wishes to say comes down to this.

1. 道流 大丈夫兒 今日 方知本來無事 祇爲你信不及 念念馳求 捨頭覓頭 自不能歇 如圓頓菩薩 入法界現身 向淨土中 厭凡忻聖 如此之流 取捨未忘 染淨心在 如禪宗見解 又且不然 直是現今 更無時節 山僧說處 皆是一期藥病相治 總無實法 若如是見得 是眞出家 日消萬兩黃金

Followers of the Way! A true man would realize only today that from the very beginning there is nothing to do. It is only because your faith falls short that thought after thought you run around seeking, leaving your own head aside to look for another head, and cannot rest of your own accord. Those bodhisattvas of the Perfect teaching and the Sudden teaching [“perfect” and “sudden” are categories the doctrinal schools used to rank Buddhist teachings] enter the Dharma realm [the totality of reality], manifest bodies, and dwell in the Pure Land [a buddhist paradise], despising ordinary people and delighting in sages. Such types cannot forget the mind that grasps and rejects, because the mind that says 'defiled' and 'pure' remains in them. But the view of the Chan school is not like that. It is simply this very moment, right now; there is no other time. Everything this mountain monk says is only a one-time prescription, a medicine given for each illness as it arises. There is no real Dharma at all. If you can see it this way, you are a true home-leaver [a monk]. You could spend ten thousand taels [a tael was a Chinese unit of weight for precious metals] of gold a day.

1. 道流 你取這一般老師口裏語 爲是眞道 是善知識 不思議 我是凡夫心 不敢測度他老宿 瞎屢生 你一生 祇作這箇見解 辜負這一雙眼 冷噤噤地 如凍凌上驢駒相似 我不敢毁善知識 怕生口業

Followers of the Way! You hear the sermons of certain old masters and take them to be the true Way. Saying that such a good teacher is inconceivable, you say, 'I have the mind of an ordinary person and dare not fathom that old master's meaning.' You blind fools! You spend your whole lives caught in this view, living with your perfectly good eyes blocked. Shivering with cold, you are like a donkey foal walking on the ice. And you say, 'I dare not disparage a good teacher. I fear the karma made by the mouth.'

道流 夫大善知識 始敢毁佛毁祖 是非天下 排斥三藏敎 罵辱諸小兒 向逆順中覓人 所以 我於十二年中 求一箇業性 如芥子許不可得 若似新婦子禪師 便卽怕趁出院 不與飯喫 不安不樂 自古先輩 到處人不信 被趁出 始知是貴 若到處人盡肯 堪作什麽 所以 師子一吼 野干 腦裂

Followers of the Way! Only a great good teacher can disparage buddhas and patriarchs and judge the good teachers of the whole world, right or wrong. He can reject the teachings of the Tripitaka [the Buddhist canon of scriptures, monastic rules, and treatises] and rebuke all who are like little children. He can seek out the person amid adverse and favorable circumstances. That is why for twelve years I searched for the nature of karma and could not find so much as a mustard seed of it. A Chan master who is like a new bride is fearful and anxious that he will be driven out of the monastery and not be fed. But since ancient times, outstanding predecessors were driven out wherever they went because people did not believe them, and only later did people realize how precious they were. If people everywhere approved of someone, what use would such a person be? So it is that at a single roar of the lion, the jackal's skull splits open.

1. 道流 諸方 說有道可修 有法可證 你說證何法修何道 你今用處 欠少什麽物 修補何處

Followers of the Way! The good teachers in all quarters say that there is a Way to be cultivated and a Dharma to be realized. What Dharma do you say you will realize, and what Way do you say you will cultivate? In what you are using right now, what is lacking, and what is there to cultivate and patch up?

後生小阿師 不會 便卽信這般野狐 精魅 許他說事 繫縛他人 言道 理行 相應 護惜三業 始得成佛 如此說者 如春細雨

Foolish junior monks, not understanding, put their faith in these fox-and-goblin spirits and accept their words and deeds. Then they even tie others up, saying, 'Only when principle and practice accord and you carefully protect and guard the three kinds of action [body, speech, and mind] can you at last attain buddhahood.' Those who talk like this are as many as the drizzle in spring.

古人 云 路逢達道人 第一莫向道 所以 言若人 修道 道不行 萬般邪境 競頭生 智劍 出來 無一物 明頭未 顯暗頭明 所以 古人 云 平常心 是道

An ancient said: 'If you meet someone on the road who knows the Way, above all don't talk to him about the Way.' And so it is said: 'If anyone cultivates the Way, the Way does not take effect; instead, myriad deviant realms vie to arise. When the sword of wisdom is drawn, there is not a single thing. Before the bright appears, the dark becomes bright.' That is why an ancient also said, 'Ordinary mind is the Way.'

1. 問 如何是心心不異處 Someone asked, "What is the state in which the mind does not differ from moment to moment?"

師云 你擬問 早異了也 性相 各分 道流莫錯 世出世諸法 皆無自性 亦無生性 但有空名 名字亦空 你祇麽認他閑名爲實 大錯了也 設有 皆是依變之境 有箇菩提依 涅槃依 解脫依 三身依 境智依 菩薩依 佛依 你向依變國土中 覓什麽物 乃至 三乘十二分敎 皆是拭不淨故紙 佛是幻化身 祖是老比丘 你還是娘生已否 你若求佛 卽被佛魔攝 你若求祖 卽被祖魔縛 你若有求皆苦 不如無事

The Master said: The moment you try to ask, it has already become different, and nature and form have split apart. Followers of the Way, don't be mistaken! All dharmas, worldly and world-transcending, are without self-nature [any independent essence] and without any nature of arising and ceasing. They are only illusory names, and even the letters that write those names are empty. Yet you take those idle names to be real, and that is a great mistake. Even if such things exist, they are all realms of dependent transformation. Namely, there is dependence on bodhi [awakening], on nirvana, and on liberation; dependence on the three bodies [the three bodies of a buddha: the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body], on object and wisdom, on bodhisattvas, and on buddhas. What are you looking for in these lands of dependent transformation? Even the Three Vehicles [the paths of the disciples, the solitary buddhas, and the bodhisattvas] and the twelve divisions of the teaching [the twelve genres of the scriptures] are all paper for wiping off excrement. The Buddha is an illusory, conjured body, and the patriarchs are old monks; but don't you have a real body your mother gave birth to? If you seek the Buddha, you will be seized by the buddha-demon. If you seek the patriarchs, you will be bound by the patriarch-demon. If there is anything you seek, it is all suffering. Better to have nothing to do.

1. 道流 眞佛 無形 眞法 無相 你祇麽幻化上頭 作模作樣 設求得者 皆是野狐精魅 幷不是眞佛 是外道見解 夫如眞學道人 幷不取佛 不取菩薩羅漢 不取三界殊勝 逈然獨脫 不與物拘 乾坤 倒覆 我更不疑 十方諸佛 現前 無一念心喜 三塗地獄 頓現 無一念心怖 緣何如此 我見 諸法 空相 變卽有 不變卽無 三界唯心 萬法唯識 所以 夢幻空花 何勞把捉

Followers of the Way! The true Buddha has no shape; the true Dharma has no form. Yet upon those illusions produced by transformation you make this form and that form. Even if you seek such things and get them, they are all fox-and-goblin spirits and never the true Buddha. This is precisely the view of the outsiders [non-Buddhist teachings]. One who truly studies the Way would not grasp even at buddhas, nor at bodhisattvas and arhats [saints who have attained nirvana, the ideal of early Buddhism], nor at the excellent states of the three realms [the whole cosmos of rebirth: the realms of desire, form, and formlessness]. Far off and alone, he has broken free and is not constrained by things at all. Even if heaven and earth were overturned, I would have no further doubt. Even if all the buddhas of the worlds in the ten directions appeared before me, not a single thought of joy would arise. Even if the hells of the three evil paths [the lowest rebirths: hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals] suddenly appeared, not a single thought of fear would arise. Why is this? I see that all dharmas are empty in form: when they transform, they exist; when they do not transform, they do not exist. For the three realms are mind only, and the myriad dharmas are consciousness only. Therefore it is said: 'Dreams, illusions, phantom flowers [the spots seen by a diseased eye, a stock image for illusion]: why trouble yourself trying to grasp them?'

1. 道流 你欲得如法見解 但莫受人惑 向裏向外 逢著便殺 逢佛殺佛 逢祖殺祖 逢羅漢殺羅漢 逢父母殺父母 逢親眷殺親眷 始得解脫 不與物拘 透脫自在

Followers of the Way! If you wish to attain a view in accord with the Dharma, do not let others delude you, and whatever you encounter, inside or outside, kill it at once. If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha. If you meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch. If you meet an arhat, kill the arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. If you meet your kin, kill your kin. Only then will you attain liberation, unconstrained by things, breaking clean through and free.

1. 道流 你欲得作佛 莫隨萬物 心生 種種法生 心滅 種種法滅 一心不生 萬法無咎 世與出世 無佛無法 亦不現前 亦不曾失 設有者 皆是名言章句 接引小兒 施設藥病 表顯名句 且名句不自名句 還是你目前昭昭靈靈 鑑覺聞知照燭底 安一切名句

Followers of the Way! If you wish to become a buddha, do not follow the myriad things. When mind arises, all kinds of dharmas arise; when mind ceases, all kinds of dharmas cease. When the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault. In the world or beyond it, there is no buddha and no dharma. They have never appeared, and they have never been lost. Even if buddha and dharma existed, they would all be nothing but names, words, and sentences. They are for coaxing little children, medicine used according to the illness, nothing but names and phrases that express. Yet names and phrases do not call themselves names and phrases. It is that person right before your eyes, perceiving, hearing, knowing, and illuminating so clearly and distinctly, who has made all names and phrases.

Hello everyone! I’m applying for a month-long monastic retreat held at the temple. I'm excited about the opportunity to deepen my Buddhist practice, learn more about Buddhist teachings, and experience monastic life firsthand.

As part of the application process, there's an interview, and I'd appreciate hearing from people who have participated in similar programs.

For those who have done this retreat or something comparable at a Buddhist monastery: Do you have any advice on how to approach the interview? What kinds of questions should I expect,and is there anything I should reflect on or prepare beforehand? What was your experience like living at a monastery for an extended period? What surprised you the most, and what did you find most challenging? Is there anything you wish you had known or done before starting the retreat? How did the experience affect your Buddhist practice and your perspective on life?

I'm hoping to approach this opportunity with the right mindset, humility, and realistic expectations, so any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot.

I’m a 34 years old female and I’m also thinking about shaving my head off and really diving into this experience.

Any thoughts about this would be great right now! Thank you so much!

I'm not 100% clean but I'm getting there I'm trying to sit a lot more, I'm doing online retreats and I plan on going to my first in person retreat soon. Any other recovering addicts getting into this, lets chat!

I'm not sure if bliss in no mind is strictly a Vedanta tier belief, but I'm curious to what people think the state of no mind is like. Because different traditions describe it differently. Buddhism generally describes it simply as equanimity and Hinduism specifically advaita Vedanta describes it as cosmic bliss. Who is correct and can different people have different experiences in no mind?

-Is action itself complete? (that is to see a dirty dish and wash it. vs the striving mind to do what is correct or even what is necessary)

-if action itself complete how then do we act when thoughts and emotions arise? (do we remain silent, do we sit, do we do nothing, do we chant Zhaozhou's "mu" until the emotion goes away, do we simply see it, do we simply feel it?)

-instead, are emotions and thoughts no different than tree's and cats, not always requiring an action?

etc:

- if action itself is complete, is meditation also a complete action in of itself?

-furthermore, does meditation serve another purpose than just being a complete action?

-does just sitting give the space to see the inherent awareness we all have? (conversely, why is it incorrect, to say that meditation teaches a student non-interference?)

-that is, is meditation simply a complete action in of itself as sitting, and secondly gives a student enough space to see their thoughts and emotions (which may be no different than trees or rocks)?

I'm sure it's not meant like this but why does it feel like there's *so much* gatekeeping around making the practice available? Even when you're not trying to assume a position or claim any knowledge, but working within the system? Even if you want to ordain? Are the western zen establishment secretly only looking for rich young people to carry the tradition? Sorry I am venting.

Excerpt from Broad Recordings of Baizhang

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夫語須辨緇素。須識總別語。須識了義不了義教語。

In speaking, one should discern between black and white1 . One should know to speak generally and to speak particularly. One should know to speak the teaching of complete-meaning and to speak the teaching of incomplete-meaning.

1. Black and white here refers to the colour of robes in Buddhism. Black means the black-robed monks, while white means the white-robed lay Buddhists (house-holders).

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了義教辨清。不了義教辨濁。說穢法邊垢揀凡。說清法邊垢揀聖。

The teaching of complete-meaning discerns purity. The teaching of incomplete-meaning discerns impurity. The tainted side of the impure dharma is spoken to cull the mundane. The tainted side of the pure dharma is spoken to cull the holy.

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從九部教說向前。眾生無眼。須人雕琢。若於聾俗人前說。直須教渠出家持戒。修禪學惠。若是過量俗人。亦不得向佗恁麼說。如維摩詰傅大士等類。

Before they are exposed to the sayings of the nine divisions1 of [Buddhist] teaching, sentient beings have no eyes2 , thus they require someone to sculpt/educate them. Should one speak to worldly people who are deaf3 , they should directly be taught to renunciate [leave the household to become a monk], to observe precepts, to practise meditation and to learn wisdom. If it is to worldly people who are beyond measure, like that of Vimalakirti or Mahasattva Fu, such things should not be spoken to them.

1. A common and popular way of categorizing Buddhist teaching is to divide it into three, which is what's known as the tri-pitaka (three baskets) - the vinaya pitaka (rules and regulations), the sutta pitaka (discourses of the Buddha), the abhidhamma pitaka (scholastic analysis and summary of buddha's teaching). But the tri-pitaka is not the only way of dividing and categorizing buddhist teachings. The teachings have also been categorized into nine divisions or twelve divisions. For those who are interested, https://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/62.htm provides more info on the nine divisions.

2. According to Buddhism, sentient beings who have no eyes do not have the Right View.

3. Worldly people who are deaf refers to those who are ignorant of Buddha’s teaching.

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若於沙門前說。佗沙門已受白四羯磨訖。具足全是戒定慧力。更向佗恁麼說。名非時語。說不應時。亦名綺語。若是沙門。須說淨法邊垢。須說離有無等法。離一切修證。亦離於離。

If it is to sramanas1 who have already gone through the jnapticaturtha-karman2 and are thus filled full with the power of precepts, meditative-concentration and wisdom, to speak to them of such things is also called inappropriate speech. Speaking inappropriately is idle speech. One should instead speak to them the tainted side of the pure dharma. One should tell them to detach from the various dharmas of existence and non-existence, to detach from all practice-verification, and to also detach from detachment itself.

1. In Chinese, sramana typically refers to Buddhist monk or renunciant.

2. Jnapticaturtha-karman refers to the procedure used to receive the Sangha’s consent at its meeting. This is the monastic practice of requesting the whole community’s agreement on certain issues, such as confession or ordination, by first making an announcement and then passing a motion three times. In the text here, it means the sramanas have obtained the Sangha’s consent for ordination.

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若於沙門中。剝除習染沙門。除貪瞋病不去。亦名聾俗。亦須教渠修禪學惠。

While in sramana-hood, trying to strip away his habitual stains, should the sramana be unable to rid himself of the disease of greed and aversion1 , he is also to be called a deaf worldly person. He is also to be instructed in meditation practice and wisdom study.

1. Greed and aversion are typically known as two of the three poisons in Buddhism. The third poison is delusion/confusion.

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若是二乘僧。佗歇貪瞋病去盡。依在無貪將為是。今無色界。是障佛光明。是出佛身血。亦須教渠修禪學惠。

[Then] there are monks of the two vehicles who rest in the end of the disease/poison of greed and aversion, dependently dwelling on this no-greed by regarding it as correct. This now is the formless realm which obstructs the illumination of Buddha’s light and which sheds the blood of Buddha’s body. Such monks are also to be instructed in meditation practice and wisdom study.

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須辨清濁語。濁法語。貪瞋愛取等多名。清法語。菩提.涅槃.解脱等多名也。但於清濁兩流凡聖等法。色聲香味觸法。世間出世間法。都不得有纖毫愛取。

One should discern between sayings of purity and impurity. In speaking the dharma of impurity, names like greed, aversion, craving and grasping are used. In speaking the dharma of purity, names like bodhi, nirvana, liberation are used. But with regards to both the classes of purity and impurity, and the various dharmas of mundaneness and holiness, and sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, idea and other worldly and non-worldly dharmas – there must not be the slightest bit of craving and grasping1 .

1. Craving and grasping are the 8th and 9th link in the twelve links of dependent origination. Craving refers to tanha and grasping refers to upadana. As an aside, it is also taught in one of Buddha's early discourses that the origination of suffering is dependent on craving (tanha).

.

歸不愛取。依住不愛取將為是。今初善是住調伏心。是聲聞人。是戀筏不捨人。是二乘道。是禪那果。

Reverting to non-craving and non-grasping, dependently abiding in non-craving and non-grasping and regarding it as correct, this now is the initial good which abides in the pacified mind. [But] these are sravaka1 people. These are people infatuated with and can’t bear to abandon the raft2 . It is [only] the two vehicles’ way3 . It is [only] a dhyana-fruit4 .

1. Sravaka refers to a disciple who, through the Buddha's oral teachings on the four noble truths, attains awakening. Hence sravaka is also known as sound-hearer.

2. The raft is a simile Buddha used in the Alagaddupama Sutta whereby one is taught to abandon the raft upon reaching the other shore and not to cling on to it.

3. Regarding the two vehicle’s way, the first is the sravaka-vehicle way (sound-hearer way), through which the Buddha's oral teachings on the four noble truths lead one to awakening, and the second is the pratyekabuddha-vehicle way (solitary-buddha or condition-awakener way), through which the contemplation of the conditions of dependent-origination lead one to awakening.

4. Dhyana-fruit should be referring to meditative absorption here.

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歸不愛取。亦莫依住不愛取。是中善是半字教。猶是無色界。免墮二乘道。免墮魔民道。猶是禪那病。是菩薩縛。

Reverting to non-craving and non-grasping, yet not dependent also [on any form] to abide in non-craving and non-grasping, this is the middle good. This is the teaching of the half-word. But this is still in the formless realm. Although falling into the two vehicles’ way is avoided, and falling into the demons’ way is avoided, it is still a dhyana-disease. A bodhisattva-fetter.

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歸不依住不愛取。亦不作不依住知解。是後善。是滿字教。免墮無色界。免墮禪那執。免墮菩薩乘。免墮魔王位。

Reverting to the dependent-less abiding of non-craving and non-grasping, yet also not making any interpretive knowing of this dependent-less abiding, this is the final good. This is the teaching of the full-word. Falling into formless realm is avoided. Falling into dhyana-attachment is avoided. Falling into bodhisattva’s vehicle is avoided. Falling into the Mara/demon-king’s seat is avoided.

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為智障地障行障故。見自已佛性。如夜見色。如云佛地斷二愚。一微細所知愚。二極微細所知愚。故云有大智人。破塵出經卷。

It is because of jneya-hindrance or bhumi-hindrance or practice-hindrance that seeing one’s own Buddha-nature becomes like seeing thing/form/colour in the night . As said, the Buddha-bhumi can sever these two foolishness – that of fine subtle known and that of extremely fine subtle known. There is therefore the saying that a person of great jnana/wisdom, penetrating dust to reveal scrolls of sutra1 .

1. This is a quote from Huayan Sutra where it’s mentioned that, within each speck of dust, is contained a fabled collection of sutras whose size equals that of three thousand world-systems (universes). As such, once a person sees through any single speck of dust, he also realises the teaching of all that is within this huge fabled collection. There is thus no need to rely anymore on the extant scrolls of sutra and text available in this world.

Generally speaking, when you go journeying to learn the path to enlightenment, you seek. Do not sit ignorantly, but go to someone to find out the truth with certainty. When this truth is hard to realize, that is called unfinished business.

Xuefeng hesitated, searching for something to say; Touzi pushed him out. Xuefeng could only cry. Later, when he went to Dongshan, he was still unable to understand. Then, when he 50 went to Deshan, he asked, “ Has the student a part in the enlightenment of the sages of time immemorial?” Deshan hit him and exclaimed, “ What are you saying!” At that, Xuefeng’s mind opened up, like a bucket with the bottom fallen out. When he got to Tortoise Mountain, however, he said he still had some doubt. See how that man of old would not rest until his mass of doubt had been broken up.

breaking up that mass of doubt seems like it was a bit gradual, took some work

“ ‘If you kill your parents, you repent before Buddha; if you kill Buddha, where do you repent?’ Yunmen said, ‘Exposed.’” This case study is like a hot iron ball in the mind, and I suffered all kinds of trouble for seven years. Those of you who have studied Zen for a long time will know what I mean.

how is it instant if it took 7 years?

Zen is not always univocal, right? There's contradictions. On one hand "it is an energy saving teaching" and on the other, "you should make your utmost to understand" -> make effort and seek, therefore.

It's fine if you don't recognize the contradictions or excuse them away: you are free to be blind or stupid, if you want to be or can't manage to be otherwise. But for me, From the moment of realizing doubt, to seeking, to finding parts of the truth, to finally doing away with all the mass of doubt: these four stages I stated just now, to me that counts as a somewhat gradual path, to me these count as stages.

You are free to think otherwise, in fact, I welcome it. You are free to think I am stupid or blind to see it differently. However, I hope I have shown to a reasonable degree my reasoning for thinking the way I do. I think a reasonable spectator would understand why I think the way I do. You yourself don't have to be reasonable, you can be anyway you choose to or manage to.

I saw this quote posted by a famous Rinzai practitioner on social media:

“Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.” ― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

Besides the quote, I've seen a lot of anti-intellectual and anti-traditional attitude in Zen centers where I live. There is a lot of emphasis on "just sitting", whether it's in Rinzai or Soto centers. I've been to a Soto temple where the teacher said "Buddha didn't discuss philosophy before his awakening; he just sat". Likewise, in a local Rochester (Kapleau lineage) center, the abbot is a very nice person, but he disparages any kind of reading or studying of the suttras or listening to podcasts or Dharma talks. His emphasis is on just sitting and doing work on the cushion (a lot of it is koan-centered, so it's not Soto-style just sitting, but it's not sitting on a cushion combined with thinking or studying ideas off the cushion). In the Rinzai place I attended they do suttra reading on a zoom call once a week, but it's just superficial reading and barely any in-depth discussion.

Zen is supposedly a Buddhist practice. Despite objections from the people like Critical Buddhists, that's how Zen presents itself. Part of Buddhism is the Eightfold Path, one aspect of which is the Right View. How is it possible to practice the Right View without contemplation on its aspects and ideas?

Also, in the story of the Buddha himself, he had already achieved and practiced very advanced yogic meditations with his teachers and still wasn't satisfied. So it's not like meditation or "just sitting" alone was enough for him (presumably he was sitting in a Buddha pose while meditating, so it's not like his enlightenment was all about getting in the right position and holding hands in the right mudra).

His instructions don't say "just sit and stare at a wall" or "just sit and say some mantra over and over again". There are many elements, part of which is the Right View. There were hundreds of sermons discussing the View. They weren't yoga sessions or instructions on hara breathing. In fact, I don't know if any of Buddha's sermons include specific instructions on how to sit (neither do early Zen teachings as far as I know).

I know Zen is supposed to be this secret teaching passed without words, but first, that's a very late anachronistic legend. The legendary founder of Zen never said those words.

Second, I don't understand how that "fits" in the rest of Buddhism.

Third, the whole concept of the One Vehicle is that Buddha taught secret teachings to the special few to whom it was accessible. The flower made sense to one guy. Do we really believe that random people coming off the street into a Zen center in an American city are the "special few" who only need to sit on a cushion (an average experience of the first and tenth of one hundredth visit to a Zen center)?

Let's say you sit and say mu. Or just sit. And then you supposedly experience awakening. How do you know that's a real awakening and not one of those false awakenings that Buddha, presumably a much stronger meditator than you, experienced during his early meditation career and rejected?

Current Understanding Last Trimester 2026

How are you all doing? I am posting a somewhat edited and redacted version of a post from a few months ago, with some additions.

1) Where have I come from? (Life Timeline / autobiography / profile)

1) Maybe not everything in my biography is relevant to zen or zen subreddits. 🙏🏽 I mod a couple of zen adjacent subreddits. I've referenced zen in poetry, memes, AI prompts.

I recently went back to meditating at a Soto Zen place every so often.

2) What is my text?

2) I'm not sure what I'd consider my central text in my cosmovision. I like quite a bit The Tao Te Ching - a Taoist text. I think I've read it quite a few times. There's a phrase I've liked "The great way is open, but people love the twisted mountain paths", something like that. Maybe I too like the "twisted mountain paths".

I think I spoke elsewhere about a joke that I've loved. "Does a cow have Buddha nature? Moo / Mu". I wonder if maybe in China if Wu was maybe the sound of a dog barking. It sounds reasonable close to "woof" in my head at least, to "Au, Au"... Maybe I could say that this joke that I commented on is my text. A derivation from a koan, something in relation to a koan. I guess I've found the idea in Gateless Gate that it should be a red hot ball in the throat and that we should focus our utmost on the "mu" / "wu" to be quite strange. But it seems, in the joke-form, to fit the understanding of "when you drink water you automatically know if it's cold or warm". The omnipresence of it, the immediacy of it, the transparentness of it.

3) What are my current dissatisfactions and priorities in life: life wheel

3) I guess I wish I had more friends. Maybe I already have quite a bit and I don't notice it too much?

5) Am I a difficult person, what sorts of challenges have I faced? (My hate / aversions, my loves / attachments)

5) I guess I was a bit of a difficult person in some ways. I was pessimistic, cynical, anti-everything. I guess the tone was vaguely leftist but I guess not in a responsible way, not in a productive way. Maybe not everything needs to be productive too 🙏🏽

I love coffee. I've been avoiding cooking a fair bit. I've been avoiding learning how to stitch. I've been avoiding some online courses. I've been avoiding a bit of writing. I love colored pens. I love candles. I love reading. (If the way avoids love and hate, what does that mean for me?)

In the last trimester I’ve taken on new projects. I’ve been taking them seriously. Still haven’t gotten to stitching much or around to studying the online courses too much. Took care of some cats for a while. Cats are cute. I started dating someone and then I broke up with them. I’m teaching some things to some students. Maybe different from in zen, I don’t feel a teacher has to have some very special discerning eye, the only thing a teacher needs imo is to know a tiny bit more than the student. hahaha

6) What is Zen?

6) The way I understand it, Zen has to do with this idea of finding "God" / something universal, "dharma" / the buddha dharma: a sort of global truth. Finding it, partly or in full, is called "enlightenment". I quite like how Foyan describes it: he had unfinished business, he had a mass of doubt that was slowly worked away. Doing that work, that business, that is zen.

A fellow said it’s not a truth. Maybe that makes sense to some extent. “It’s a truth that there is no truth to be found” - something like that. A non-knowing knowledge.

Hi everyone, I am being required to do an interview of someone that belongs to a community that I am interested in. It is for a college class, will not be published, and will be turned into an essay which will then be shared with my professor. It is a very simple interview just regarding the language, texts, and goals of the community. It does have to be over a voice call. Looking for a confident and knowledgeable individual to speak to in order to learn more about this community. Let me know if interested.

Hello everyone !

I have been attending a Zen dojo in Europe for less than a year. Before that, I attended a Tibetan Buddhist temple, and I really loved the chanting, the colors, and the very sacred atmosphere of that tradition. However, I found it difficult to follow a particular teacher or commit myself to one specific teacher.

At the Zen dojo, the monk gives teachings and we are able to ask questions. This practice has changed my everyday life enormously. I am trying to let go, and I am becoming more aware of the importance of simply being where I am in the present moment. I try to do things as they need to be done, and even when I set myself a goal, I try not to become attached to that goal.

It has also changed my relationship with art. I am a musician, and I realized that I often used to compose with a very specific goal in mind: getting concert opportunities, receiving recognition from other people, etc., rather than simply composing for the sake of composing. In short, Zen has been extremely beneficial to me, and I am considering taking the precepts very soon.

However, part of me is still very attracted to certain aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. I think they feed a certain aspect of my ego, or perhaps a certain idea of spirituality that I simply enjoy. I find Zen very interesting, and I think this simplicity is actually the point: it is very direct and gets to the essence of things. I also think this is exactly what my restless mind needs.

There is one thing I have noticed, though. Repeating a mantra — for example, Om Mani Padme Hum — continuously throughout the day really helps me quiet the inner voice that is constantly talking. It prevents me from getting caught up in a long chain of inner dialogue and thoughts.

Instead of:

thought → scenario → another thought → another scenario → etc.

it becomes more like:

mantra → thought → mantra → thought → etc.

However, I sometimes feel that this practice may not really be in accordance with the Soto Zen tradition. My understanding is that the practice is more about seeing and observing thoughts and inner dialogue, then letting them pass without considering them fundamentally good or bad. When I use a mantra, I sometimes feel that I am doing the opposite, because I am using it to avoid or interrupt the inner monologue.

I’ve always had the feeling that I’m somewhere between the two: Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. I’m fascinated by India and I dream of going there one day, etc. On the other hand, I’m not particularly drawn to Japan, its culture, its atmosphere, etc. It may sound silly to say, but I do think that a country’s culture has an important influence on the way a tradition is lived and experienced.

What do you think about this? In your opinion, is it compatible with Zen practice to use a mantra to occupy the space normally taken up by inner monologue, even when practicing within the Soto Zen tradition?

Thank you in advance for your answers, and take care of yourselves and each other !

So, my experience with Buddhism as such began a year ago. It happened sort of out of nowhere—I sat down in a meadow and meditated. I guess I liked that state of mind, so from then on, I started constantly watching my breath. Then university started, and I kept watching my breath continuously; I was like disconnected from my classmates and from socialization as a whole. I began analyzing my practice using AI. Gradually, I started realizing that what I was doing was just attachment, and I discovered and learned that formal meditation exists, so I started practicing that.

Formal meditation helped me a lot; I felt as if I had discovered something amazing. However, my formal meditation practice was more about constantly focusing on a specific point; I kept holding my attention on that point. This went on for quite a long time, probably the entire school year, and even though I was completely antisocial, it helped me with my exams and things like that.

Then I started discovering Zen, and a moment came when I realized that even that point is just attachment. Everything fell apart? I didn't know what to do, so I consulted with AI. I told myself that I probably shouldn't use any technique, that maybe that was the way. But in the end, even that became an attachment. When I started doing the non-technique, suddenly things appeared that hadn't been there all year: sexual energy, insomnia, and also choices that were rather impulsive. I didn't know what any of this meant. So, I chose a strategy: when everything is fine, I use the non-technique; when a storm comes, I use the point.

Later, a moment came when I thought I'd buy a book by Shunryu Suzuki, hoping it might give me something. I think I started taking it too analytically. I read a passage about the waves of the mind and I watched them, which created even greater chaos. So I consulted with AI and found out that this is probably Zen sickness, and that I should just feel my feet on the ground and everything would be okay. And now I am at a point where I just threw everything out the window, and I don't know.

Hello,

I will be visiting Japan and Tokyo for the first time and wondered if there were any Soto temples that welcome foreigner and lay persons for Zazen?

Thank you

We will not know non-being until we're dead, and even then, there will be no being to reflect on non-being. Being, and 'being striving for non-being', are both rooted in suffering. Non-being cannot be attained by being: It can only be recognized as underlying all being.

I kind of settled on a teacher and feel calm and joyful because of it. I had a teacher before who didn't entirely feel right, so I left them, which was a hard thing to do.

During a sesshin last week, I finally asked this other Sensei (after meeting them at a sesshin three months earlier) if I could do koans with them and study with them. I started with Mu all over again, and it feels great and 'nothing special' at the same time. It's as if something in my zazen is shifting.

Some internal conflict might have ended, as I feel I trust this teacher. I might even do jukai during the Rohatsu sesshin.

Hello everyone! I am a beginner who has only recently started studying Zen Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition in general, and I am particularly interested in Zen culture. I would like to visit a Soto Zen Buddhist center in order to gain more experience, speak with people who live by the practice, and learn from those who preserve and transmit the tradition. However, the center’s visitor policy states that people with mental illnesses are not allowed to enter the dōjō.

The problem is that I am a person with a mental illness, and I will remain one for the rest of my life because I have organic brain damage. I am completely safe to be around; I simply struggle with intrusive delusional and depressive thoughts. Moreover, my interest in Zen began in a psychiatric hospital, where I read both authors far removed from Zen Buddhism, such as Chekhov and Fichte, and authors who were inspired by Zen, such as Pelevin.

I know that, in Buddhism, lying is considered sinful. If I went to this dōjō, it would be a lie and a sign of disrespect toward these people’s rules. But how typical is such a requirement in Zen in general? Can I practice Zen at all and look for other Zen centers? My identity and self-reflection as a mentally ill person are not particularly important to me, but this is who I am, and if the subject comes up, I do not want to lie to the people around me.

Wer hat Erfahrung mit dem Zen Tempel Wolkentor in Halle und dem leitenden Lehrer Dirk Ryu Künne?

Can you show some texts that to inspire strength? I am struggling following teacher betrayal and seek inspiration. With metta

A friend wrote to say that, recently, work worries and other worries come rushing into his head during Zazen and are an obstacle to Zazen. For others, it might be health worries, family worries, things in the news, or just a barking dog or noisy neighbor, spinning one around emotionally. Each seem to interfere with calm and quiet Zazen.

However, I would insist, there are no obstacles to Zazen. None. Impossible. Period.

Better said, the only obstructions to Zazen exist between the ears.

Only when we think that there are obstacles to Zazen, or judge something an obstruction to Zazen, are there then obstacles to Zazen.

When we drop all thought that anything is an obstacle to Zazen, then there are no obstacles to Zazen at all.

Suppose one is sitting in a hurricane with a crying hungry baby, in the middle of a war zone with financial worries and the house on fire. The storm has our heart a flutter, the war might take our life any minute, bankruptcy looms, the fire needs quenching and the baby needs feeding ... all while there is Zazen to sit.

While the order of priority and concern is to be determined (probably best to deal with the fire first), and some things are truly more pressing than others or even life threatening ... remember that ALL are Zazen! Zazen is not solely the sitting.

So, though the war may take your life, and it is best to seek shelter, by knowing the peace beyond life and death, one "just sits" even on a battlefield! Such is the ultimate shelter.

The storm may blow, so board up the windows ... then sit, with the wind passing through one as thoughts pass through one, like storms that come and go.

Flee the burning house, grab a bucket ... then bow to the ashes and sit. Your house may be cinders, but there is this which is always cool when the heart is cool.

Bankruptcy may loom ... so scramble for your next meal ... yet know this treasure which cannot be lost nor ever gained.

Oh, and don't forget to feed the baby ... for holding her in your intwined arms is just the same as intwined Lotus legs.

Situations and conditions exist in the world, but our reaction to those situations and conditions is up to us, a matter between the ears. Even when our heart is aflutter with worry and fear, grief or longing ... bow to the worry, fear, grief and longing ... and sit.

When the heart drops resistance, preference for "something better," the wish that things were any way other than just as they are ... there are no obstacles to Zazen, never were and never could be.

Whenever I have to speak or respond to someone, I have this voice in my head that tells me "I don't know what to say (even if I am actively speaking or do know what to say)" or "don't blank out" (which I inevitably do after I tell myself that). I want to be at peace whenever I am having a conversation. I have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder so I don't know how much I can control this. But I would really appreciate some feedback about how to not let those thoughts bother me so much while speaking. Once I do hear some of those thoughts, my mind immediately tries to hide and shuts down and just agrees with the person or becomes people pleasing. I really hope I can get some help with this brcause it really distracts me and hinders my ability to stay in the present moment and to build rapport with the other person. Thank you so much for any help in advance!