Yuanyu is best known as the author of the single most famous Zen book, The Blue Cliff Record.
Even though this compilation of zen kong ans was assembled centuries ago, people were as
they are now, subject to hopes and fears, caught up in their everyday affairs, and distracted by
opposites such as gain and loss, desire and aversion.
Yuanyu shared the following wisdom that is applicable at any time and in any century.
The methods taught by the ancients were not complicated. Whether or not you are practicing
correctly is revealed in how you do things. The ancients simply cut off words and imagery and
separated themselves from the confusion of opinions and judgements. For them, the constant
struggle between grasping and rejecting was non existent.
As Bodhidharma taught, one does not keep to any established views or mental states but flows
like a river, never stagnating. Doing so, day by day your illusions and delusions are shattered. A
profound silence enters. You eat when hungry and drink when thirsty.
When the roads of thoughts and non stop words are cut off, the mind then becomes quiescent.
Freedom is yours. Even these dead words that you are reading right now become unnecessary.
Zen Master Joju likened these individualized ideas and perceptions as a disease. Just detach
yourself and stop relying on other opinions as well as your own anymore.
You will eventually arrive at the point where all the myriad changes that occur daily no longer
disturb you. You will go through your day empty and quiet, yet brimming with life energy (chi).
I would like to close this week with some practical suggestions.
Whenever possible, do one thing at a time. When your day is proceeding slowly, don’t give in to
the impulse of crowding unnecessary things into your agenda just to fill space. It keeps you from
the realization that human beings are in essence only process and not entity like we have been
conditioned to believe.
Do less. Take your time doing it. Be grateful for this time and appreciate your life. Take a walk.
Listen intently to the wind sound in the trees and the variety of bird song. Buddha would agree
with me. Doing that is better than any sutra study.