Day 4 Letting Go | The Sword of Wisdom

Who has no thoughts? Who has no births?
If the unborn is real, there is nothing not born.

Ask the mechanical wooden puppet When it will attain Buddhahood through practice.Buddhahood is not something that is accomplished through practice. Buddhahood is not a creation or an attainment. We are Buddhas in the first place, so the idea of attaining Buddhahood through practice is meaningless.

One of my students told me that when she was in the hospital having a baby, she noticed that the other mothers felt they had created life. She, however, felt that her baby had come into the world by itself, and that she had just helped the baby along the way. She did not feel as though she had created her child. In the same sense, no matter how hard or how long you practice, you cannot give birth to a Buddha, or bring a new Buddha into the world. Buddhahood is not born through practice. Buddha is unborn.

Buddhahood means being enlightened to the truth of the non-arising of wisdom and vexation. People think that when one attains enlightenment, vexation is eliminated and wisdom gained. In fact, after thorough enlightenment, neither wisdom nor vexation remains. When there is no vexation, there is no wisdom; it is when one still has vexations that wisdom exists.

“Non-arising” does not mean that sentient beings, the environment and Buddhas do not exist. Everything exists and is in motion, but there is no true self evident in such things. If there was no self, then how could one become a Buddha? If wisdom and Buddhahood really exist and can be attained, then must not there be a self involved? The truth is, the self is illusory, and wisdom and Buddhahood exist only as long as one clings to an idea of self. Once the self disappears, there is no wisdom or any attainment. However, for sentient beings who are not yet enlightened, wisdom does exist and Buddhas do help save sentient beings.

Are you practicing to attain enlightenment or to achieve Buddhahood? Do you wonder when you will get enlightened? If you want answers to these questions, you may as well ask a wooden puppet. Why ask a puppet when you can ask a master, a Bodhisattva or a Buddha? The reason is simple. You will not get an answer no matter whom you ask. The sutras say it takes three great kalpas to attain Buddhahood. Yung-chia does not mention any time limit. In fact, whether you ask a wooden puppet or wait three great kalpas does not matter. A kalpa is an unimaginably long time. A person who is satisfied with the answer from the sutras and decides to wait three great kalpas in hopes of turning into a Buddha would probably be foolish enough to seek the advice of a wooden puppet.

For unenlightened people, Buddhahood and wisdom still exist, and vexation is still something to be eliminated. For enlightened people, there are no such things. However, that does not mean that practice is unnecessary. Practice diligently, but do not seek Buddhahood. While you practice, drop all notions of vexation and wisdom, enlightenment and Buddhahood. Do not be concerned with progressing or regressing. Simply practice for the sake of practice. Practicing with such an attitude is itself progress. And the next time you have the urge to ask when you will be enlightened, you don’t have to ask me. Any block of wood will do.

Put down the four elements, do not cling to anything;
In this Nirvanic nature, feel free to eat and drink.
All phenomena are impermanent; all are empty.
This is the complete enlightenment of the Tathagata.

In your practice, you must put down the four elements: earth, fire, wind and water. People do not realize that all of their thoughts are associated with and dependent on the material phenomena of the external environment. All thoughts, dreams, concepts, symbols, images and language are associated directly or indirectly with the environment. Even if you sit in an empty room with your eyes closed, ears stuffed, nostrils plugged and lips shut, your mind will be active with thoughts and images of the external world. If you can let go of associations with material things, the thoughts in your mind will reduce drastically.

Some students are overcome with fear and apprehension when they try to “let go.” They are dependent on ideas and attitudes they have accumulated. Attachment to ideas and attitudes is a huge obstruction. Dropping everything, or letting go, is a useful method of practice to overcome such obstacles. During retreat you should try to drop everything in order to reduce the number of obstructions in your mind.

When you return to daily life, you can, if you wish, reclaim your ideas and preconceptions. Unless you are thoroughly enlightened, it is impossible to live without them. All of your memories, experiences, ideas and attitudes combine to form your karma, and karma is a force that follows you everywhere. Some activities you cannot drop. You must eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, sleep when tired; otherwise you will not survive. As long as you are not enlightened, a self exists. You should realize, however, that it is illusory and impermanent. The best you can do is stick to your method and keep practicing.

Enlightened beings, such as Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, may take human form, but they have no selves. They have chosen to live in this world in order to help sentient beings. The self arises out of attachment to craving, anger and ignorance, but enlightened beings are not touched by the three poisons. Buddhahood is emptiness, yet emptiness does not mean non-existence. Emptiness means that all things lack permanence. There is objective existence, but nothing is unchanging and eternal; everything that exists changes constantly. This ever-changing nature is Buddha-nature.

Enlightenment is realizing the empty and impermanent nature of ourselves and the world. If you can live in emptiness without attaching to it, it is called “neither abiding in existence nor emptiness.” Although everything continues to exist, there is no self that attaches to anything. Not abiding in existence and not abiding in emptiness is enlightenment.

When this stage of practice is perfected, it is called Complete Enlightenment, or Buddhahood.

On the path to enlightenment, you begin by letting go of the past and future. You reside in the present, working on your method. This is the path. Eventually, even the method and the present must be dropped, for they are attachments as well.

Ch’an Master Lin-chi told his disciples to kill any Buddha or Bodhisattva that they met on the path. He also told them to kill their parents if they met them on the path. Of course he did not mean it literally. He meant you must kill your illusions while you practice. Drop everything. Kill everything in your mind of attachment. This is the correct attitude for practitioners involved in intense practice.

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