What Does "Value Insight, Not Behavior" Mean?

Awakening to True Nature and Liberation

In Zen Buddhism, there is a saying: “Value insight, not behavior.” “Insight” refers to the understanding of the true nature of things, similar to the Buddha’s knowledge. “Behavior” involves actions of the body and speech. What one did before practicing is not important; the key is to focus on purifying the mind during the practice. If one attains awakening and perceives one’s true nature, then, as the verse says, “The nature of sin is inherently empty, arising from the mind; when the mind ceases, the sin disappears.” Once the mind is no longer tainted by afflictions, the karmic retribution naturally dissolves. As long as the mind is unattached, one can transcend the suffering of birth and death.

Thus, the Zen practice, which emphasizes the cultivation of wisdom, is a remedy for escaping the sea of birth and death. After attaining a liberated state of wisdom, one naturally adheres to moral principles. No Zen master would use “not valuing behavior” as an excuse to become a rogue. Instead, because of a clear mind, compassion flows naturally, leading to selfless actions that benefit and teach others. “Not valuing behavior” emphasizes “awakening”; after awakening, action naturally follows. It does not mean one does not need to practice; rather, it stresses the importance of direct experience. Trivial behaviors are secondary, while awakening is fundamental. When the fundamental problem is resolved, the secondary issues are naturally resolved as well.

Zen Practice and the Cultivation of Wisdom

To reach the level where one’s thoughts are not entangled with afflictions, one must go through arduous practice. During this challenging process, practitioners often develop a mindset of “preferring the new and disliking the old” or “favoring the old and disliking the new.” “Preferring the new and disliking the old” refers to the expectation of enlightenment or the hope for a significant breakthrough, or even a desire to experience the “great death.” In Zen practice, this is considered a hindrance because any expectation, desire, aversion, or fatigue obstructs the mind.

Some people exhibit the opposite attitude, “favoring the old and disliking the new,” where they cling to a past positive experience and wish to recreate it, such as trying to repeat a good meditation session. This attachment is problematic. True Zen practice involves neither dwelling on the actions of body and speech nor deliberately correcting the mind’s behavior. One should single-mindedly hold on to the method without distinguishing between good or bad, new or old. The method serves to temper the mind by using the surroundings to challenge one’s mental state. The alternation of thoughts arises from external circumstances; if there is still an alternation of thoughts, there remains a distinction between new and old. In practice, one should focus the mind on a single state; when previous thoughts do not fade and subsequent thoughts do not arise for a prolonged period, a meditative state is achieved. This state represents the absence of alternating thoughts. The goal of Zen is not just to remain focused on a single state but to be unbound by any state while being vividly aware, which is the Zen state of simultaneous concentration and insight.

Overcoming Mental Hindrances through Zen Practice

The methods of spiritual cultivation in various Buddhist schools all involve training the mind, but some rely on external forces to strengthen one’s confidence, while Zen uses direct experiences to temper the mind. There are inner and outer realms for tempering the mind; in the initial stages of observation, external circumstances are often used, while Zen practice begins by blocking internal distractions, as taught by Bodhidharma: “The mind should be like a wall.” There is also the saying, “A mosquito biting an iron bull finds no place to pierce.” Techniques like contemplating koans or generating doubt to break through preconceived notions aim to directly capture the restless mind, dissolve attachments, and reveal the Buddha-nature.

When one has trained the mind to the point of “seeing one’s true nature,” the state is one of “no mind”—the mind is unmoved, thus revealing the original Buddha-nature. At this point, afflictions dissolve, and wisdom manifests. For someone who has attained great enlightenment, this state does not waver and remains unaffected by external circumstances, with a steady mind. In such a state, space is boundless, and time has no sequence. After awakening, space and time continue to exist, but they no longer hold relevance. From the enlightened person’s perspective, the distinctions of new and old, coming and going, are irrelevant, even though they still engage with these changes by dressing, eating, and helping others