Nothing exists
June 27th 2007 13:52
Category: Oriental Thoughts
Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.
Desiring to know his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentinent beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing be received."
Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"
Source: ZenFlesh, Zen Bones
Desiring to know his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentinent beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing be received."
Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"
Source: ZenFlesh, Zen Bones
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Like a beautiful flower, full of color, but without perfume, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly; but like a beautiful flower, full of color and full of perfume, are the fruitful words of him who acts accordingly.
Buddha
Buddha
Both medicine and advice are easy to prescribe but hard to take
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Comment by Anonymous
I guess that's why I don't like to get too far into buddhism, because reading about it is just not enough, you actually have to go and do it. I read this allegory where buddhism was likened to a bottle of medicine. If you just read the instructions on the label you can't expect anything to happen, you actually have to take the medicine.
Comment by WeR1Family
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