Zen Master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157) wrote the following in his Inscription on Silent Illumination:
In silence and serenity, words are forgotten;
In clarity and luminosity, all things manifest,
This silence is supreme speech, This illumination is the universal response,
If in illumination silence is lost, then distinctions will be perceived,
If in silence illumination is lost, then mind murkiness will
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The Sixth Ancestor, Hui Neng, in his Platform Sutra said that silence and serenity together equals prajna (tr: wisdom) Simple right? What he is saying here is that they are not two separate things. Practically speaking, in our every day lives we can accomplish tasks in a calm, peaceful way.
Hui Neng’s silence pointed to not being caught up in endless, delusive, wandering mind states.
Hui Neng’s serenity is being aware of (without discrimination) an ever shifting mind content taking place moment to moment. The secret is we are not investing in any of it.
Remember Zen Master Wu Kwang’s advice from a previous blog, “It’s enough to see it, you don’t have to deal with it.”
One more quote: Dogen Zenji, the Japanese founder of the Soto school (Caodong – China) is famous for saying “Think of non thinking.”
When thoughts no longer stir the heart into an emotional / intellectual response we are brought back to where we already are – here and now.
The last word goes to Huang Po who penned the following:
Here it is – right now.
Start thinking about it and you miss it.
Ji Haeng Zen Master – The Desert Dragon