Chapter 9 Chapter 06 (1) What Zen Enlightenment Seeks

6.1 Hard to say This is a quote from Mencius.Mencius said that he was good at cultivating awe-inspiring aura. His disciple Gongsun Chou asked, "What is awe-inspiring aura?" Mencius said, "It's hard to say. It's a kind of aura. It's big and strong. If it's cultivated directly without harm, it's stuck between heaven and earth." Here What is hard to say is qi, because it is "the filling of body", not body; non-body, invisible, invisible, intangible, and only exists in the subjective, so it can be understood but difficult to express.But this kind of difficulty is second-class compared with Zen enlightenment, because the aura of grandeur is worldly, and the attainment of Zen enlightenment, at least the subjective desire, is beyond the world.

When we read Buddhist classics, we know that the core of teachings, or the pursuit of practice, is the end of suffering. "Mie" is a situation obtained by "Tao". Its nature is easy to say in terms of Buddhism. A real person" and so on.But the name is the object of reality, and those who like to dig into the root will ask, that is, "truth", what kind of thing is it?Does it exist both subjectively and objectively, or only subjectively?If it only exists subjectively, can you describe this mental state in common words?If you can't describe it, then use the name and form. If it is light, it will inevitably make people suspect that it is lazy, and if it is serious, it will inevitably make people suspect that it is evasion.My thinking, at least sometimes, is a combination of laziness and evasion, because it is too vague to be real.When it comes to Southern Zen, it is more difficult because it is more mysterious.For example, Zen Master Qingyuan Weixin has a quotation:

When the old monk did not practice Zen thirty years ago, he saw mountains as mountains and water as water.Later, when I saw the knowledge (virtuous teacher, a person with Taoism), there was a place of entry, seeing that mountains were not mountains, and seeing water was not water.Now I have a resting place. According to the past, mountains are just mountains, and water is just water.Public, are these three views the same or different? (Volume 17 of "Five Lantern Festival") Of the three views, the former is common, and we can use our own experience to confirm it, even if the experiences of two people are similar rather than identical.The middle one, using Buddhist theory to understand, is to eliminate emptiness and see reality.So, what about the latter?Obviously, it is not going back to thirty years ago, but to realize a higher reality, that is, the state obtained by Zen enlightenment.

What kind of (psychological) state is this environment?It's hard to say. The state of sudden enlightenment in the Southern School of Zen is so difficult to understand, so it is also difficult to explain.Just give some examples. (1) Wutai Zen Master Zhitong——At the first meeting of Guizong (Zhichang), he suddenly shouted all night: "I am enlightened." Everyone was shocked.Tomorrow, I will go to the hall and gather together. Zong said: "Last night, the monk with great enlightenment came out." The master came out and said, "Xia." Zong said: "When you see the truth, you say you are greatly enlightened? Try to explain it." The teacher said: "Master Gu Yuan It was made by a woman." Zong Yizhi. (Volume 4 of "Five Lantern Festival")

(2) Chan Master Lingyou of Weishan——The master sits in the Dharma hall, hits the wooden fish with the head of the Kutou, throws the fire head to turn it off, and laughs loudly with palms.The master said: "There are some people in the crowd (meaning people who have enlightenment)." Then he called and asked: "How do you live?" Huotou said: "A certain Jia doesn't eat porridge and is hungry, so he is happy." nod. (Ibid Book 9) (3) Zen master Kai Xianshan, who is also a soldier in Linjiang, has a poor conduct, travels all over the teacher's seat, and takes enlightenment as his ambition.Candeshan (Huiyuan), saw the hall on the mountain looked at the public and said: "Master, groan, and the elephant king looks back." The teacher suddenly had a province.When Chen Suojie entered the room, Shan said: "How can I have a meeting?" The teacher looked back and said: "The donkey eats grass in the back garden." (Ibid Book 15)

"Master Guyuan is made by a woman", "Don't eat porridge belly", "Donkey eats grass in the backyard" are obviously argots that express the state of enlightenment; the teacher also observes the state of enlightenment of the students through the argot, so he gives it Printable.But what is the (mental) state of this state (the student's and the teacher's cannot be the same)?Because it is elusive, it is also unspeakable. What's more troublesome is that we can hardly seek any help from the identification and analysis of Buddhist names and appearances.One reason is that many names are difficult to verify.There is another reason, that is, if you go there to ask for help, you will be caught in a sea of ​​names and names, and it is difficult to escape.For example, the requirements of Zen enlightenment, or more broadly speaking, the requirements of meditation, there are different levels.There are many ways to say this.For example, there are four meditations and eight samadhis in "Ju She Lun".The four jhanas are the four kinds of jhana in the world of form: the first jhana, the second jhana, the third jhana, and the fourth jhana, each of which has complex content, including the state of attainment.The eight samadhis are the four samadhis of the colored world plus the four empty samadhis of the formless world: the samadhi of boundless emptiness, the samadhi of boundless consciousness, the samadhi of nothingness, the samadhi of neither perception nor non-perception, each of which has complex content, including income.Another example is Sui Zhike's "Miaofa Lotus Sutra Xuanyi" and other books, which first divide Chan into three types: Secular Chan, Sutra-World Chan, and Sutra-World Chan.Each includes complex content.Taking worldly Zen as an example, it is first divided into two types: the fundamental taste Zen and the fundamental pure Zen; then the fundamental taste Zen is further divided into four Zens, four immeasurables, and four emptinesses, with three grades and twelve gates in total, and the root pure Chan is further divided into six wonderful gates. , Sixteen Special Victory, and Tongming, a total of three grades and twenty-three gates.Of course, the Zen of the world and the Zen of the world will not be simpler.

In addition to levels, there are also types of meditation.There are many ways to say this too.Just take Zong Mi's "Preface to the Anthology of the Origin of Zen" as an example: There are shallow and deep Zen, and there are different classes.It is said that those who practice with different methods, who appreciate the ups and downs and dislike the downs, are heretical Zen.Those who believe in cause and effect and cultivate with joy and dislike are ordinary Zen.Those who realize the truth of my emptiness and practice it are Hinayana Zen.Those who realize the truth revealed by the two emptiness of my method and practice are Mahayana Zen.If one suddenly realizes that one's mind is originally pure, has no worries, and has no outflows, wisdom is self-sufficient, and this mind is a Buddha. The name is really like Samadhi.

Later, the highest vehicle Zen gave way to Patriarch Zen. Volume 9 of "Five Lanterns Huiyuan" records: (Xiang Yan Zhixian Zen) Master Cheng Cheng said: "Last year, I was poor, but I was not poor; this year, I was poor, but I started to be poor. Last year, I was poor, and there was still a lot of land; this year, I was poor, and there was nothing." Yang (Shan Huiji) ) said: "The Tathagata Chan promised the younger brother meeting, the patriarch Zen never dreamed of being there." The master replied, "I have a chance, and I will look at you in a blink of an eye. If people don't know how, don't call a novice." Yang Nai reported to Weishan and said He said: "Let's be happy that the younger brother will learn the Zen of the Patriarch." The former state is obtained through years, and the latter state is obtained in a blink of an eye. There is a difference between gradual and sudden.But speculation is the result of enlightenment, and there should be no essential difference.But what kind of (psychological) state is this same state?We still can only say that it is unspeakable.

In fact, this hard-to-explain situation was felt by masters with Zen enlightenment experience as far back as the Sixth Patriarch Huineng. Volume 4 of "Jingde Biography of Lantern Records" records: Zen master Mengshan Daoming of Yuanzhou ("Six Patriarch Altar Sutra" written as Huiming)... Hearing the fifth patriarch's secret Fuyi method and Lu Xingzhe, he led dozens of people to chase after him.As far as Dayuling, the teacher was the first to see it, and the rest of the generation did not.When Lu Xingzhe saw his teacher rushing to him, he threw his mantle and bowl at the rock, saying: "This garment is a sign of trust, can we fight against evil? Let the king go." The teacher then held it up, like a mountain.Hesitant and trembling, he said: "I have come to seek the Dharma, not just for clothing. I hope the practitioner will show it to me." The original face?" The master suddenly realized...

Said: "Although a certain A is following the crowd in Huangmei, he really hasn't seen his own face. Now he has been instructed to enter the place, like a person drinking water, knowing whether he is warm or not." Realistically speaking, the state obtained by Zen enlightenment can only be "knowledge of the cold and warm"; or to borrow a famous saying from Yunmen Wenyan: "The Buddhadharma is too powerful, but the tongue is short." I would like to make a side note here. It is hard to describe the realm of Zen enlightenment, and it is within the scope of scientific common sense.Some people may think that this is fundamentally wrong, because Zen is anti-scientific, and it cannot be grasped or explained by scientific methods.Zen masters since the Tang and Song Dynasties probably all viewed it this way, so it doesn’t matter.Some people see it this way in modern times, and the representative figure is Daizhuo Suzuki of Japan.He has practiced Zen, and he may have different psychological feelings from ordinary people.But he is a member of the ordinary people, he also marries a wife, also takes the doctorate exam, and also writes books, inferring that the scientific laws that apply to ordinary people should also apply to him.But when he talked about Zen, many things he said were extraordinary.He made it clear that he is willing to accept miracles, so he believes that there is a so-called "intellectual connection" (using the sixth sense); a Zen master's smile can be heard ten miles away, and can shake the universe.According to his experience, Zen is a method of approaching, directly entering the object itself.This is a further statement of "heaven and earth are born together, and all things are one with me". It sounds interesting and even worth thinking about; the question is, can we be one with objects when we move from words to reality?In the book "Zen and Psychoanalysis", he said many more bizarre things than this, such as: "Everyone's Buddha nature exists in an eternal entity." "When he is himself and not himself, he is free." "A square is a circle, and a circle is a square." "The self moves from zero to infinity, and from infinity to zero." "When participating in a koan, eating or drinking is not eating or drinking by oneself, but the koan is eating and drinking." Like these, From the perspective of ordinary people, if there is a reason, it is mysticism; if there is no reason at all, it is a conceptual game.Even if it's not so serious that it's just a conceptual game, normal people can't understand it, so they have no choice but to abandon it.

6.2.1 Searching for sources outside the door The realm of Zen enlightenment is hard to describe, but finally I have to speak (including the silent form), unless I don’t want to communicate with people other than myself.Here, the Zen masters of the Southern Sect have their usual method, which is to use the sharp edge and stick to drink.But we can't use it, because our requirement is that "ordinary people" can understand it.Zen enlightenment, seen from the door of the Zen forest, is supernormal; talking about Zen enlightenment outside the door is to always deal with the supernormal.This is difficult, some may think impossible.To deal with such difficulties, there are obviously only two ways to go: one is that the way is different and not conspiring with each other, and the other is reluctance, even if you stand outside the door, you still have to keep your eyes open.Of course, we can only go the latter way, because talking is about understanding.The question here is whether the door can be seen from the outside.Saying you can is close to boasting is not good; then there is no harm in saying that you can give it a try.There are reasons for doing so. First, you can ask for help. The end of "Autumn Water" says: Zhuangzi and Huizi swim on Haoliang.Zhuangzi said: "The minnows travel leisurely, which is the joy of fish." Huizi said: "You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?" Zhuangzi said: "You are not me, so how do you know that I don't know the joy of fish?" Huizi said, "I am not a son, so I don't know about it; I am definitely not a fish, and I don't know the joy of fish." Zhuangzi said: "Please follow the book. The master said that if you know the fish and the clouds, you know what I know and ask me. I know the Haoshang." Both Guo Xiangzhu and Cheng Xuanyingshu believed that Zhuangzi won this debate because when Huizi refuted Zhuangzi, he had already admitted that one can know the other from one thing, and that one can know the other based on one’s own self, and that one can know the other from one’s refutation. Hold your feet.This is amplified or deepened, which is what the theory of knowledge shows: no matter how skeptical you are, you must always admit that you "know".Second, narrowed down to this topic, Zen enlightenment is mysterious, and it is even more mysterious when it is wrapped in cumbersome names (including modern ones).The spirit of scientific common sense is to decipher the mystery. If this kind of effort is often fruitful, it may be beneficial to stand outside the door and watch Zen enlightenment.Third, there is right and wrong, and right and wrong. This is not unavoidable in the Zen forest, because what we get from seeing peach blossoms and what we get from listening to donkey braying, although they are all self-knowledge, we can always infer that That is two, and it can never be one.In the Zen forest, we have to allow for differences. Of course, we can also use this spirit of tolerance to talk about what we have seen. Yes, even if it is not easy, it is good to talk about it as a preparation.It's a long story, let me talk about why you want to ask for it. The source of this, as mentioned earlier, is that Buddhists feel that there are problems in life and want to solve them.On this point, there is no difference between a sage and an ordinary person; at most, it is only quantitative, the sage drills deeply, and the ordinary person is just a few bits and pieces.The difference lies in what is regarded as a problem and what method is used to solve it.In the eyes of Buddhism, life is suffering; moreover, the soul is immortal and will be reincarnated after death, so it is endless suffering.Ordinary people will not agree with this kind of view; or they are empty-minded and honest, and don't bother with this aspect at all. Ordinary people feel happy in life and try their best to pursue it.But this alone cannot refute Buddhism, because everyone has the right to put forward and stick to a certain opinion about life, not to mention that there are indeed sufferings in the process of life.This suffering comes from thinking about what you can't have, such as wealth, love, etc.; what is even more unbearable is not wanting to have something but having something, such as hunger and cold, punishment, illness and death.This is what ordinary people say; Buddhism is even more serious, because they still believe in the six realms of reincarnation.To deal with suffering, different people, and more obviously different schools of thought, have different attitudes and methods.What is positive is reform, and what is negative is tolerance.In reality, the vast majority of people use both reform and tolerance: change if they can, and endure if they can't (including passive).This way of dealing with it, no matter how effective it is, cannot completely break away from suffering.The Buddhists have the highest hope and are determined to use the power of "Daxiong" to break away from suffering.what to do?Suffering comes from things, and I cannot coordinate.The delicacies of mountains and seas are delicious, you have to buy them, and you have to have money to buy them; the beauties and emerald sleeves are cute, and if you want them, you need to ask for their consent; what's more difficult is that the world of flowers and flowers is complicated, no matter how careful you are, you can't absolutely avoid flying from the sky In the end, even if they are as powerful as the sky like Qin Huang and Han Wu, immortality is still elusive.Can't live without death.Coordination, the middle way, is difficult; in theory, there are two ways to avoid suffering.One end is to bend things and stretch me, which is to change "you can't have what you think" and "you have something if you don't want it" into "you get what you want" and "you don't have anything if you don't want it".This is to force the outside world to do what they want, but the outside world will not be so obedient, not to mention that the so-called outside world also includes thousands of people who are similar to themselves, and they will conflict.Bending things and stretching me is external work, and the road is difficult; I have to try the other end, internal work, bend me and stretch things.This is no matter how desirable and disobedient the outside world is, I just don't ask for it; if I don't ask for it, naturally I won't worry about gains and losses.But not asking, seems easy to say, but hard to do, because "human beings are born with desires", "willfulness" means going downstream, not being willful is sailing against the current.Buddhists, even if they wear colored glasses, what they see when they open their eyes is suffering, and what they think of when they close their eyes is the end of suffering; in order to completely eliminate suffering, everything is considered.In other words, they have made calculations, and the result of their calculations is that to eliminate suffering, external skills must not work, but internal skills can, or even must.This inner strength is to eliminate desires (except for liberating and saving people's great desires).And when it comes to desire, it is substantial, active, and difficult to deal with.But because it has an indissoluble bond with suffering, in order to eliminate suffering, everything is irrelevant, so we have to establish an unnatural view of desire, of the outside world, of life, and of everything.It is obviously not easy to establish this view. On the one hand, it is necessary to be able to know and confirm that all common sense so-called desires are not desirable, and the so-called reality is not true;This inner change is the most important thing in Buddhism, so those who have not changed are called delusions, and those who have changed are enlightened, or Zen enlightenment. 6.2.2 Transcendence Fear of suffering and seeking extinction are more negative. At least for the sake of sounding good, Buddhism likes to think more positively, saying that what one gains from enlightenment is of supreme value.Zen enlightenment is a big event, and the results can be described from different aspects.For the sake of simplicity and clarity, the following are the four kinds of transcendent world and verification of equality.Borrowing the way of thinking of Buddhism, the four kinds are both four and one.One was divided into four, in order to take more photos, and the imaging may be clearer. Buddhists like to talk about their true colors when they were not born, but what is sad is that they have already been born before they were born, living in the world, and possessing all the welcome and unwelcome qualities of people in the world.From the point of view of Buddhism, he has already fallen into the sea of ​​suffering.How to jump out?Obviously, using the Confucian gentleman's way, that is, "spontaneity" plus "cultivation" (recognition of the status of desire and reasonable restraint), will not work, because if desire is allowed to exist, there will always be situations where desire cannot be obtained, that is, it cannot End suffering; what's more, there is reincarnation in the end?Using the Taoist method will not work, because even if you can walk against the wind like Liezi, or even go a step further without waiting for anything, you will still live in the world after all, and you will not be able to clean up the many problems you will encounter when you live in the world.In a word, the world is connected with the sea of ​​suffering, and if you want to get out of the sea of ​​suffering (liberation), you must go outside the world to find a way.Is there beyond this world?Buddhists say yes.How can I get there?The way is supramundane (the "way" of the Four Noble Truths); the result is also supramundane (the "extinction" of the Four Noble Truths).In common language, this transcendental environment can only be dealt with negatively, so that all suffering in the world (including the cycle of life and death) will no longer exist. It is difficult to say the positive aspects, but we always want to know what kind of state the so-called transcendence is.As usual, one should seek answers in Buddhist scriptures.But this is also very difficult, because Buddhism only talks about ideals, not logic.Ideally, this person can think this way, that person can think that way; the same person can think this way at this time, and think that way at that time; what is especially difficult is that what is thought is expressed in abstract terms, and what the terms refer to , it is often difficult for us to be sure, and even the person who said it may not be able to be sure.That is to say, "the other shore", which is the fruit obtained by Prajna, has the characteristic of no longer having the troubles of life and death. Is it just a metaphor, or is it a (objective) reality?If it is impossible to be objective, then what about the Pure Land, Buddha Land, etc., are they just metaphors?Both interpretations can be based on classics (for example, the "Amitabha Sutra" says that there is a Western Pure Land, and the Southern School of Zen mostly says that a pure heart is a pure land). The road of name and form is difficult to pass, so we have no choice but to be humble, to see what we can see, and to hear what we can hear.This is the real life of monks or Zen masters, or the ideal life, which is manifested as transcending the world, and there are two important aspects.One aspect is leaning towards the body, which is to keep as far as possible from the world within the possible range, go to the mountains and forests, live in thatched huts, eat rough tea and light food, wear dirty clothes, do not marry wives, do not accumulate wealth, and so on.One aspect is partial to the heart, which is to concentrate on the Buddhist principles, seek liberation, and avoid distracting thoughts.This is a downgraded transcendental world: as far away as possible, but retain those worldly elements related to sustaining life (in fact, there are often much more than these), such as simple food, clothing and housing. But it is not easy to be able to do it even if you are downgraded in this way, because if you can’t truly become desireless, seek clarity of mind and body, avoid distracting thoughts and thoughts, and live a life of hardship that ordinary people think is unbearable and calmly, it is not always what people in the world want. can do it.Only because of this is why Buddhism emphasizes the supramundane law.Only by going out can we end suffering and gain liberation. Getting out depends on enlightenment, or Zen enlightenment; in other words, what Zen enlightenment seeks is beyond the world. 6.2.3 Confirmation In the world, the motivation seems to come from emotion, because of suffering, so let go.This is not good, or not enough, because if the rational aspect cannot form a system that can resist or even overwhelm the force, the persuasive power will not be strong, and the attraction will not be strong. Danger of collapse.In order for the wall not to fall and the dike not to collapse, it must be proved theoretically that what common sense considers desirable is "really" not desirable.To establish such a theory, Buddhists generally start from two aspects.One is metaphysics, saying that the phenomenal world we perceive is empty and unreal, so it is not worthy of nostalgia. The other is value, saying that the phenomenal world we perceive is polluted and impure, so it is not worthy of nostalgia.What deserves nostalgia is the real body behind the illusion (?), the pure body without pollution.This noumenon is one, both real and pure, the so-called reality. This reality occupies an extremely important position in Buddhism, and the reason is obvious. For example, there are two paths in life, the mundane and the supramundane, which are determined by weight. One end of the scale is placed on "food, drink, men and women" and the like, and the other end is "truth". The road is good and desirable.Here are the issues that the wise enjoy the water and the benevolent enjoy the mountains, which can be ignored; just talking about Buddhism, it is convinced that reality is more important than Mount Tai, and eating and drinking are less important than men and women.Because conviction is more important than Mount Tai, and knowing that it is the key to the success or failure of practice, countless classics of the Tripitaka have repeatedly explained the nature of reality, the method of obtaining it, the peace and happiness after attaining it, and so on.In many ways, from various angles, so there are many different names for reality, such as reality, truth, dharma, dharmakaya, dharmakaya, Buddha nature, Nirvana, vacuum, truth, oneness, suchness, non-phase, inaction , Tathagata Tibet, etc. Reality is a state, the unchanging and indestructible noumenon behind (?) phenomena.Because it is indestructible and untainted, it has supreme value and is worth looking forward to.If you seek it, of course there will be no more suffering; not only will there be no suffering, but you will also have great happiness. In the words of the Buddhist school, it is always happy and self-purified. Reality also has issues of objective existence versus subjective imagination.Buddhism calls it "truth", and of course it must admit that there is objective truth.But unfortunately, this objective truth is not like those things in the phenomenal world, which can be seen or heard, but only exist in the theories of Buddhist classics and in the ideals of believers and disciples.In this kind of place, the Buddhist school can indeed be called a great hero. They insist that what is invisible and intangible is the real thing, and furthermore, the invisible is because they have not used the wisdom eye of Prajna.Using the wisdom eye of Prajna, one can see the truth, which is enlightenment; or one can see the truth for a moment, which is sudden enlightenment. What you see after enlightenment, is the mountain not a mountain, the water not water, or the mountain is still a mountain, and the water is still water?Hard to say.It is difficult to say that if it is really the so-called Zen enlightenment, the awareness after enlightenment should be different from that of ordinary people, or different.If it is different, can it be called reality?We have no way of knowing.But it can be called "different phase", because it should include the variation of evaluation or choice of emotion, that is, not seeking what is desired, or even seeing what is desired without being disturbed, or to put it more subtly, no longer have the self-attachment of ordinary people. .But is this knowing reality or further merging with reality?These are things that can be conceived but are hard to prove. Standing outside our Zen position, believing in others, and doubting ourselves, there will be a danger of distortion. 6.2.4 Self-clarity The truth is outside, mysterious and far away, difficult to know, and perhaps still difficult to prove. In the Southern School of Zen, especially after the early days, when it comes to Zen enlightenment, what you seek is from far to near, from outside to inside (not giving up the distance and outside), using The ready-made saying is that the heart is the Buddha, and seeing the nature becomes the Buddha. There is a passage in the "Six Patriarchs Altar Sutra" that best illustrates this spirit: The next day, (5) Patriarch (Hongren) sneaked into Duifang, saw (Hui) Neng pounding rice with a stone at his waist, and said: "A person who seeks the Tao forgets his body for the Dharma, should this be the case!" Then he asked: "Isn't the rice ripe yet?" Huineng said, "The rice has been ripe for a long time, and it still needs to be sieved." The ancestor struck the pestle three times with his stick and left.Huineng knew the meaning of his ancestors and entered the room with three drums.The ancestors covered themselves with cassocks so that no one could see them, in order to expound the "Diamond Sutra".When it comes to "there should be no place to live, but the heart should be born", Huineng said that all dharmas are inseparable from the self-nature, and then enlightened the ancestors: "When is the self-nature originally pure, when is the self-nature not born and died, when is the self-nature The self-nature is self-sufficient, when the self-nature is unshakable, and when the self-nature produces all dharmas." The ancestor knew the original nature, and said Huineng said: "If you don't know the original mind, learning the law is useless; if you know the original mind, you can see it. Self-nature, that is, the name of the husband, the teacher of heaven and man, and the Buddha." At this point, the pursuit of Zen enlightenment has become very simple, just to know the original mind and self-nature. This original mind, or self-nature, in the minds of Buddhists, is pure, that is, there is no pollution; it is permanent, that is, it is beyond birth and death;Among them, cleanliness is the most important, because afflictions, life and death, and other sufferings all come from pollution. If one can recognize the pure nature and get rid of pollution, one will naturally be free from the sea of ​​suffering, or the great matter of life and death.It seems that the key is only the difference between the awareness and the inability to understand. The situation is obviously not that simple, because, from the perspective of ordinary people, there are two problems that are not so easy to solve: one is whether there is a pure self-nature; the other is whether there is a way to know it.Let me talk about the previous one first.Original mind, or self-nature, is owned by "I". "What am I?It may take a lot of trouble to explain it to a psychologist.Let’s start with common sense. I have a physical body and mental activities. This integrated body can perceive, have joys and sorrows, and is separated from the outside world. It is intimate and inseparable, continuous and inseparable. God, a true reality.Nor is it concise, or straightforward, to say that "I" is my living self.From a biologist's point of view, this living self, although called "human", is also one of the creatures.Creatures, or high-level animals, can perceive, and this power is usually said to come from the inner "heart"; when engaged in various activities (including psychological activities), the activities have certain tendencies, which are usually said to originate from the "nature" of nature. ". Sexuality, inborn, manifests itself in persistent desires and actions.What do you want?In detail, there are many problems; it is better to speak roughly, it is to "survive". "Diet" is to seek "self" life; Unfortunately, there are old age and death. In order to remedy it, "male and female" are added, and the method of passing on seeds is used to achieve eternal life.This brings us to a very serious question for Buddhists: Is there a pure sex of men and women without eating and drinking?The local schools of thought in China, whether it is Gao Zi or Mencius, say that there is no such thing.Men and women will cause trouble when eating and drinking, and Confucianism advocates etiquette.Propriety is therefore reasonable, and it is good; but this goodness comes from the modification of the biological nature, not apart from the biological nature, but also the pure nature.The Buddhist school is different. It believes that many disgusting activities that are manifested on the outside are the result of pollution, and the nature is not like this.If this is the case, inferred according to the laws of logic, the supreme way of life (Zen enlightenment) is of course: knowing the original mind, knowing the self-nature; and then knowing the difficulty and doing it easily, removing pollution and revealing the self-nature, and all problems are easily solved .This is how Mazu Daoyi taught his disciples: (Dazhu Huihai) When I first joined Mazu, Mazu asked, "Where did you come from?" He said: "Come to Dayun Temple in Yuezhou." The ancestor said: "What do you plan to do here?" Said: "Come to seek Buddhism." The ancestor said: "I don't have anything here. Why do you seek Buddhism? I don't care about my treasures, and I leave my family scattered. How about going?" Said: "Ah, that is the treasure of Huihai?" The ancestor said: "The one who asks me now is your treasure. Everything is sufficient, and there is nothing lacking. It is easy to use. Why do you pretend to ask for it?" (Volume 3 of "Five Lanterns Huiyuan") However, according to our analysis of mind nature above, this pure self-nature is conceived, and it is not so simple.So, are the assumptions of Zen all illusory?It's not easy to say that, because the problem involves psychology, and psychology is often quite subtle.Buddhism often says that the environment is created by the heart, which seems too idealistic; in fact, even ordinary people do not absolutely deny it. As the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is a proof.When it comes to the environment, the situation is very complicated.What is more substantive is the perceived environment. For example, when A and B both look at a peach blossom, they both feel that it is a peach blossom, not a willow tree, and this is Datong; but the image they get is two, not one, and there may be some emotional choices, more It cannot be one, this is a small difference.The difference comes from subjective elements.The power of the subjective component can be increased, such as the common saying that there are ghosts and ghosts, it can already be said that the environment is created by the mind.Recognizing a pure mind is also a kind of state, imagining it, and then being convinced that it is, and then related, as speculated in the previous section, the mind appears in a state of abnormal emotion. Desirable but not disturbed, in other words, no longer have the self-attachment of ordinary people.In the words of Buddhists, obtaining this state is enlightenment, which is the realization of truth through illusions. Let’s talk about the latter question again, is there any way to know (this conceived) original mind or self-nature.This, regardless of standing inside or outside the Zen gate, has to be admitted, but it is not easy.The degree of difficulty is relatively shallow inside the Zen gate, and relatively deep outside the Zen gate.The reason is that for the pure original mind or self-nature, Zen believers believe it exists, and understanding is just a matter of clearing the clouds and mist to see the blue sky; Without the strength of long-term and perseverance, without special endowment and opportunity, it is too difficult to succeed.Because it is too difficult, as recorded in many classics of Zen Buddhism, there are as many references as a cow's hair, and as few enlightenments.But even if it is rare, we must admit that there are a considerable number of Zen masters who say that enlightenment does have a reference. sex.In this way, we admit that the environment can be created by the mind, even though we cannot know the specific conditions of the created environment.However, the generalized situation can be generally deduced, which will be discussed later.