The Sixth Ancestor, Hui Neng, defined Zen as bringing forth no added thoughts about what we perceive externally while also not being moved by internal feelings and emotions. Having thoughts is normal and is a natural function of our evolution as human beings.
Trying to stop our thoughts in order to achieve some conceptualized peaceful state will only exhaust us.
There is a distinct difference between thoughts appearing and disappearing on their own without our emotional investment in them, and not being moved around and manipulated by continually changing mind moments. The latter will always leave us confused and unsettled.
Hui Neng said he was liberated after hearing the following brief quote from the Diamond Sutra: “Abiding nowhere, wisdom mind arises.” This mind of abiding nowhere is always and in every instant being born anew.
All phenomena, circumstances, and yes, even long held cherished beliefs are at their core empty and impermanent of lasting value. As you read these words, thousands of cells in your body are dying and thousands are being born. Fundamental to Zen and to life in general, is the profound realization that our bodies are a microcosm of the entire universe, no two moments are the same. Simply put, our life is process, not entity. When we weigh thoughts, follow thoughts, or suppress thoughts, we are off somewhere in a mental movie. We are sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but there is no permanent identity that is always happy or always sad.
Here and now is where the truth lies, the rest is fabrication and delusion. When we are awake, each moment blooms with it’s own precision and intelligence.
This truth pierces a conceptual past, conceptual present, and conceptual future. Equanimity and wisdom cannot appear if we are continually commenting both internally and externally on people, events, situations, and conditions. Commenting causes all sorts of emotional responses. This is the crux of the human dilemma. We lock ourselves in a prison of self definition wasting precious life energy there engaged in countless cycles of reinforcing and protecting a false tapestry of ideas. Our state of mind is always changing as our emotions change. Lacking a true center we may think we are working for our career, our family and society but in fact we are only being prodded by circumstances. Spending the majority of a lifetime trying to perfect our mental movie is truly pathetic.
However there exists an unmovable place where we are not pushed around or confused by life’s external events.
Being silently aware in the present moment allows prajna wisdom to manifest. Achieving tranquility in any and all situations requires practice, discipline, and attention. In order to tame our “monkey mind,” one that jumps from thought limb to thought limb, we must be diligent. Zen Master Seung Sahn referenced this by saying that “all human beings have different outside jobs – teacher, office professional, construction worker, doctor, lawyer etc., but everyone without exception has the same inside job, and that is finding our before thinking universal substance mind and entrusting it to serve as the foundation and fulcrum for all our actions.
These words may resonate intellectually, but practically speaking explanations fall short, so let’s explore this a bit further.
Ji Haeng Zen Master – Desert Dragon