Part II. The Method of Zen

1. The Road to Buddha

The attitude of mind is important. The truth of this great way is very wide and deep. There is no controversy. There is no conflict. This is ultimate truth. How difficult it will be for every one of you to grasp the endless, formless thing.

Is it possible for every one of you to achieve this? It is easy to touch one's nose while washing one's face at the some time, if only one is devout and courageous enough. But to one who is not devout or willing, or has no inyŏn, it is as difficult as plucking the stars form the sky. If one who is armed with devotion and courage can accept and follow the steps of those who preceded him and realized the truth, then he can enter the door of truth with no difficulty. However, if one is led astray into illusion, and makes an independent exploration of the road, that is, with no proper guide, one will not be able to achieve anything. The truth of the great way is where there is no apprehension and no sense of distinction. You must come a step forward from misconceptions; then you will be able to proceed to the land of mindless mind. How are we able to reach this state of mind?

When Bodhi-Dharma crossed the subcontinent to China for the purpose of propounding Zen meditation, there was  no one there to accept his teachings. So he had to resign himself to enter the Cave of Shaolin and face the wall for 9 years, until he was able to meet a recipient for his teachings. This was Sŏnim Shen-kuang (神光). Shen-kuang, determined on traveling to the mountains, had not been able to find anyone versed in the Buddhist truth. Then, while visiting a certain place, he met a man who said, "There is a brahmana, a Brahman priest, who has lived in Shaolin-chi Cave and faced the wall for the past 9 years." He led Shen-kuang to Shao-lin Cave, where Bodhi-dharma was sitting in meditation.

Offering a bow, Shen-kuang said, "I'm here to know the way of Buddhist truth."

Dharma didn't move an inch. It was the eighth of December in the Lunar Calendar. It was penetratingly cold and snowstorms were blowing. In the midst of the harsh weather, Shen-kuang stood in the snow with joined palms. The snow which had been falling all though the night piled up to his waist, but Shen-kuang, stood with unflinching determination throughout the night.

After a day and a night's passage, Bodhi-dharma turned and noticed him. He saw that Shen-kuang stood upright, with his hands joined in spite of the wind and snow. Then Shen-kuang sat down facing him and Bodh-dharma said, "What are you here for?"

"I'm here to know the great truth of Buddha."

"The truth of Buddha? People like you can't attain such a truth; it is so broad and deep that only industrious and devout believers can attain it." He meant that the fortitude that he had displayed during one harsh night in the midst of a snowstorm, with heavy snowfall piled to his waist, wasn't enough. But as soon as he finished speaking, Shen-kuang pulled out his sword and cut off his left arm as an expression of his desire to seek the truth with earnestness and wholeheartedness.

Dharma then said, " Ask any question of me."

Shen-kuang replied, "I am always anxious. Help me let go of this anxious mind."

Then Dharma said, "Bring me your anxious mind."

Shen-kuang looked for his anxious mind but couldn't find it. "I can't find my anxious mind."

Hearing this, Dharma responded, "I have put your mind at rest." At this, Shen-kuang's mind opened. Dharma accepted him as his disciple and ordained him as Hui-k'o (慧可), which means that Shen-kuang was approved as an eye of wisdom. As everyone of you well knows, Master Hui-k'o became the second patriarch and transferred the lantern of dharma in the Eastern Land, succeeding Dharma.

If you seek the truth intensely and wholeheartedly, as in the case of Zen Master Hyega, you will be able to enter its gate. The reason why you can't succeed in spite of the long duration of your meditation practice is because you are not seeking the dharma with your whole heart. The cursory search for the hwadu inevitably ends up wasting your time, as you are thinking useless thoughts. If you seek the hwadu with earnest determination you will never notice the passage of time nor hear noises nearby. Finally, you will forget the fact that you are sitting. You'll set your heart on the answer you are seeking.

If their one thought is continuous, like running water, tens of thousands of people will open to the eye of wisdom. You must make your attitude of approach firm and resolute, cutting off all worldly connections, forgetting your everyday routines, and concentrating your mind on the hwadu through and through. Therefore, if you want to realize this great truth, you must, first of all, have an immovable mind.  You should give undivided attention to the hwadu throughout your entire life, decisively breaking off all  relations to the outside world and ignoring all trivial affairs, whether or not you have a disease, or you have good food. If you do so, then no form of delusion will ever occur; the concentration of your meditation will become more intense and the others will think you are absent-minded. If this state of absent-mindedness continues for days, months and years, and if you have the necessary momentum, then you will see the light; you will see the shape of the hwadu.

Although it is a severely cold and windy season now, if a warm wind arrives after this, the severe wind will disappear without a trace and all creatures will grow.  The practice of the hwadu is like this.  If you practice it with a sincere mind, you will meet the moment. However, if the participants are not so sincere and do not practice with wholeheartedness, and they will not be enlightened despite ten or thirty years' practice.

As I have stated before, participants should not be aware of the passage of time, and they must forget their surroundings.  If their will for the hwadu were strong enough, they would spend three months in retreat, recognizing neither the passing of time nor tediousness.  

However, I find that some practitioners of meditation, impatient with the three-month duration, are going crazy. This is not the attitude of a true seeker of truth. With that kind of approach, one will never succeed, even after he has reached old age. He will probably be debt-ridden, and, nearing death, will feel regret. You must check up on whether you are leading a sincere enough life to be enlightened, or whether you are eating bowls and bowls of rice and wasting your time goofing off. The reason you are here is not for your parents, nor for others, but for yourselves. So I advise you to get rid of all ill-conceived notions, all connections and conflicts. Otherwise you will never make any progress.

You must become fools in all aspects of life, forsaking roles that were formerly possible. In other words, you must spend all of your time and energy on the search for the hwadu, or koan. Then, you will be oblivious of the passage of time and all the actions of life, as well as to the presence of your body. Only when you live in this way will you be able to approach the gate of the great truth and open it wide.  Therefore, participants must have a resolute mind. Otherwise, there will be no progress even after ten or thirty years' experience in the monastery.

Lay believers are no exception. Making a complete circuit of the Buddhist temples doesn't guarantee happiness nor smooth progress in the study of the hwadu. All you have to maintain in your everyday routine is the unflinching determination that will enable you to achieve the supreme state of enlightenment, thereby cutting off the alambana, the desire for outside satisfaction. You must pursue the hwadu, or koan, with all of your effort. Everyone of you, as members of a family, must attend to family affairs, financing the schooling of your children and performing the role of a spouse; but in the midst of this the vasana, the evil habits will disappear. In summary, you must search intensely for the hwadu; in this way, your study will improve, your illusions will disappear, and the true picture of your hwadu will emerge before your eyes.

"What is this going, coming, and talking?" There is a true lord governing this body, and it is going, coming, calling, answering and attending this dharma lecture today.  How regrettable and stupid you are.  You do not realize it although you use it all the time.  

If you have an ardent passion for truth, a piercing doubt about it, and an unscattered mind in pursuit of the hwadu, your study will progress naturally up to the final state.  All worldly thoughts will disappear, and only the hwadu will emerge clearly. In other words, all actions and thoughts--goings and comings, cooking meals and cleaning rooms, doing  office work--should be centered around the exploration of the hwadu. If you can make the concentration of your mind more intense and more clear, the evil chi, which has accumulated for generations of takŏp tasaeng  (多劫多生) or kalpa, the unfathomable lapse of time, will dissipate. At that stage, not only Buddhist monks  but also lay believers will become enlightened, without exception.

The law of Buddha does not come from heaven nor from the  moon but from the profound seat of mind. The seats of mind are the same, not different from each other. In brief, the minds of the preceding Buddhas and Zen masters are not one iota different from those of ordinary people. How foolish of you not to make the proper use of this seat of mind!

If you have made an intense search, you will discover the true picture of your mind in a similar seat to that occupied by Buddha. When you reach the supreme state of mind, you will be able to answer all the koans which have been established throughout the ages. Therefore, if an applicant wants to be approved by a sŏnjisik (善知識) (a man of good knowledge), his or her enlightenment must be verified,  through tests using established precepts. If he or she is really enlightened, he or she will pass the test, providing the right responses are given. However, if the applicant, when asked, gives the wrong answer, or if the applicant's response is incoherent or inconsistent, we can surmise that he or she has not yet opened to the eye of wisdom.

Preoccupation with ill-conceived notions is not beneficial in the approach to the road of Buddha. If one is plagued by misconceptions, he or she has not only wasted his/her life, but will find it very hard to escape the wheels of illusion. Those who try to gain Buddhist wisdom should learn from and be guided by their predecessors. If the applicant has not had his or her enlightenment endorsed, then he/she needs to show enough discipline and self-control to disown his or her prior method and start again from scratch. Therefore, you practitioners, as we greet the Buddha's birthday, please check your mind to see whether it has a blind spot, and make an intense search for the hwadu so that it will pierce your heart.

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