Day 9 The Elusiveness of Buddha-nature | The Sword of Wisdom

One nature perfectly pervades all natures: One Dharma includes all dharmas. One moon appears in all waters; The moons reflected in all waters are one.Long ago my mother told me, “You are the youngest of my seven children, but from first to last, you were all equally painful. There was no difference in my suffering, yet you are all different. Some of you are clever, some thickheaded, some of you misbehave, some behave. This is all your own doing. It was not something I could predict. I never had anything to say about whether I would have a boy or girl. Each child took completely different things from me. Some of you are growing up better looking than others. Your sister complained to me, ‘Ma, how come you made me so ugly?’ I told her, ‘That’s your business. You’re the one who’s growing up ugly. I don’t have anything to do with it.'”

A great Ch’an master saves all beings equally by giving each one an equal gift of Buddhadharma. He regards all sentient beings as the same. All beings are perfectly equal. All are unified in Buddha-nature, because Buddha-nature is universal. But what each person does with this gift of Buddhadharma is different.

Water is water, no matter where it is. Whether a dew drop or an ocean, it is still water. Buddha-nature is in your body and in mine, in a dog, a pig, the grass. Buddha-nature is everywhere the same. Dog shit has the same Buddha-nature as did Sakyamuni Buddha. There is no difference. If you look closely enough, you will see in all things the same thing, and everything. There is no difference between a grain of sand and King Solomon’s treasures.

Of course, if you preached this idea on the street, people would think you were crazy. These verses explain an ultimate principle, not everyday phenomena. If you think it is okay to go to the bathroom and bow to the toilet instead of to the Buddha, think again.

A disciple of Master Hsuan-hua in California heard the master make a similar statement, so at dinnertime he put a piece of shit on the dinner table. Master Hsuan-hua asked, “What are you doing?”

The disciple then reprimanded him: “See, that’s discrimination! You have a discriminating mind!” After that incident, Master Hsuan-hua told him to leave. This particular monk thought highly of himself, and instead of listening to his master’s instructions, he insisted on doing things his own way. He was not interested in learning; he only wanted to challenge the master. In the case of this story, he failed to understand that the principle, or noumenal realm, is different from the phenomenal realm. Master Hsuan-hua explained, “You don’t put shit on the dinner table. Sakyamuni never ate shit. When I say shit and Sakyamuni are the same, I am talking about a realization that comes through practice. I am not talking about the concrete world. In the phenomenal world, phenomena are still phenomena. Sakyamuni is still Sakyamuni, shit is still shit.” An enlightened person understands and acknowledges that the world of phenomena is not the same as the principle.

The Dharma body of all Buddhas enters my nature,
Which is the same as the Tathagata’s.
One stage encompasses all stages,
Not form nor mind nor karmic act. Eighty thousand doors are completed in the snap of the fingers,
In a flash three kalpas are extinguished.
What do numbers, expressions, and their negations
Have to do with my spiritual awakening?

Seeing dog shit as Sakyamuni, or treating Sakyamuni like dog shit, is wrong. You cannot express the Dharma body or Buddhadharma in any form, shape, or matter, nor can you express it in any kind of behavior. This does not mean that Dharma nature is separate or different from these things. You cannot view Dharma nature apart from matter and behavior, but you also cannot say that form, matter, mind, or behavior is the Dharma body. All of these things are illusory and impermanent. Every internal and external dharma perfectly accords with the Dharma body, but no single, isolated phenomenon can account for the totality of the Dharma body.

When Yung-chia says that the Dharma body of all Buddhas enters his nature, he is correct, because his nature is in no way different from the nature of all Buddhas. But if you were to say, “I am identical with the Dharma body of all Buddhas, ” or, “All the Dharma bodies of all Buddhas are within me, ” then you are mistaken. To say that you are never apart from the Dharma body of all the Buddhas is correct, but you cannot claim that you are the Dharma body of all the Buddhas.

Your nature, my nature, and the nature of the Buddhas are one ─ combined and never apart ─ so it is impossible to point to something in yourself and say, “This is my own nature, ” and point elsewhere and say, “That is the nature of the Buddhas.” You cannot separate them.

Mist and ice may be in different physical states, but they are still water. The water in milk is the same as the water in tea, and it is the same as the water in my body and in the ground outside. It can manifest in infinite ways, amounts, and places, but its basic nature is water. In the same way, the Tathagata’s nature is the same as your nature.

Even though we speak of unlimited Dharma gates, innumerable Buddhas, and infinite manifestations of Buddha-nature, if in a single moment you realize your true nature, then you come face to face with all the Tathagatas and Buddhas. It means that you are not separate from them.

The realization of Buddha-nature is the same no matter what stage of practice you are at. The essence of Buddha-nature is always the same. You might drink coffee, but you would not drink someone else’s spit; however, the water in them is the same. What you attain at one stage of realization is the same as what you attain at any other stage. At the first stage, perhaps you attain a cup of spit. Be happy, it’s a start. At least at base it is water. At the next stage you might get a glass of plain water, and at a later stage, perhaps a pot of freshly brewed coffee. One person might use a little cup, and receive only a few drops of water. Another person might use a barrel. The water is the same but the vessel is different. What each person obtains is the same, yet different.

Remember, true nature is the essence, not the amount. You may experience true nature without a long period of practice; it is possible to acquire everything in a single instant of your life. It is the same as equating all of King Solomon’s treasures with a single grain of sand. The nature or essence of a grain of sand is inherent in everything else. It would be wrong to say that a grain of sand has a small Buddha-nature whereas a mountain has a large Buddha-nature. If I yank your finger, I can say it is only your finger, but I am pulling all of you. Your hair is still you. If I were to pull only a few strands, I bet you would agree with me.

My explanations, as well as this poem, are unsatisfactory. It may help you to understand Buddhadharma a little, but once you experience the principle, you will realize how inadequate words are. The last lines in the stanzas above remind us of this. Debates, disputes and discourses have nothing to do with the genuine experience. The most eloquent speech comes from a moving mind. Only when your mind is unmoving does wisdom manifest.

It is not perishable and cannot be praised,
Its substance is like limitless space.
Without leaving where it is, it is constantly clear.
When seeking, you know it cannot be found.
It cannot be grasped, nor can it be discarded;
It is obtained only in the unobtainable.

It is impossible to attain Buddha-nature by grasping for it. Buddha-nature is not something that can be explained or praised. It is as big as empty space and as small as empty space. It contains everything. In the quickest snap of one’s fingers every moment of time is present within it. How can one possibly praise something that is beyond comprehension?

No matter where you are, it is possible to perceive Buddha-nature. But the instant you chase after it, it is gone; you will not be able to find it.

Buddha-nature can neither be grasped nor discarded. Only when it is unobtainable can it be obtained. As you can imagine, there is not much one can say about this. So if you cannot attain it, how do you attain it? How can you attain something by not attaining it? In truth, there is no attainment. Buddha-nature is here right from the start.

My question is, “Where is your mind?”

I will tell you something about Buddha-nature: When there is no mind, that is it. But when you put your mind on Buddha-nature, it’s gone.

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