paragraph from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
When we express our true nature, we are human beings.
When we do not, we do not know what we are. We are not
an animal, because we walk on two legs. We are something
different from an animal, but what are we? We may be a
ghost; we do not know what to call ourselves. Such a creature
does not actually exist. It is a delusion. We are not a human
being anymore, but we do exist. When Zen is not Zen,
nothing exists. Intellectually my talk makes no sense, but if
you have experienced true practice, you will understand what
I mean. If something exists, it has its own true nature, its
Buddha nature. In the Pari-nirvana Sutra, Buddha says, "Everything
has Buddha nature," but Dogen reads it in this way:
"Everything is Buddha nature." There is a difference. If you
say, "Everything has Buddha nature," it means Buddha nature
is in each existence, so Buddha nature and each existence
are different. But when you say, "Everything is Buddha nature,"
it means everything is Buddha nature itself. When
there is no Buddha nature, there is nothing at all. Something
apart from Buddha nature is just a delusion. It may exist in
your mind, but such things actually do not exist.
Originally posted by geis:paragraph from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
When we express our true nature, we are human beings.
When we do not, we do not know what we are. We are not
an animal, because we walk on two legs. We are something
different from an animal, but what are we? We may be a
ghost; we do not know what to call ourselves. Such a creature
does not actually exist. It is a delusion. We are not a human
being anymore, but we do exist. When Zen is not Zen,
nothing exists. Intellectually my talk makes no sense, but if
you have experienced true practice, you will understand what
I mean. If something exists, it has its own true nature, its
Buddha nature. In the Pari-nirvana Sutra, Buddha says, "Everything
has Buddha nature," but Dogen reads it in this way:
"Everything is Buddha nature." There is a difference. If you
say, "Everything has Buddha nature," it means Buddha nature
is in each existence, so Buddha nature and each existence
are different. But when you say, "Everything is Buddha nature,"
it means everything is Buddha nature itself. When
there is no Buddha nature, there is nothing at all. Something
apart from Buddha nature is just a delusion. It may exist in
your mind, but such things actually do not exist.
Buddha Nature = Awareness/Consciousness
Everything is Buddha Nature = Every experiensable/sensations cannot be (said to be)
separated frm awareness