Dropping Ashes On The Buddha Quotes

What is good, what is bad? Who makes good, who makes bad? They cling to their opinions with all their might. But everybody's opinion is different. How can you say that your opinion is correct and somebody else's is wrong? This is delusion.

Once Seung Sahn Soen-sa and a student of his attended a talk at a Zen center in California. The Dharma teacher spoke about Bodhidharma. After the talk, someone asked him "What's the difference between Bodhidharma's sitting in Sorim for nine years and your sitting here now?" The Dharma teacher said, "About five thousand miles." The questioner said, "Is that all?" The Dharma teacher said, "Give or take a few miles." Later on, Soen-sa asked his student, "What do you think of these answers?" "Not bad, not good. But the dog runs after the bone." "How would you answer?" "I'd say, 'Why do you make a difference?' " Soen-sa said, "Not bad. Now you ask me." "What's the difference between Bodhidharma's sitting in Sorim for nine years and your sitting here now?" "Don't you know?" "I'm listening." "Bodhidharma sat in Sorim for nine years. I am sitting here now." The student smiled.

These six are equal to the following statement from the Avatamsaka Sutra: ‘If you wish to thoroughly understand all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, then you should view the nature of the whole universe as being created by the mind alone.

The falling of the leaves is the truth. The sweeping is the truth. The wind's blowing them away is the truth. The people's anger also is the truth. If your mind is moving, you can't understand the truth. You must first understand that form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Next, no form, no emptiness. Then you will understand that form is form, emptiness is emptiness. Then all these actions are the truth. And then you will find your true home.

The Great Way is not difficult if you do not make distinctions. Only throw away likes and dislikes, and everything will be perfectly clear. So

Desire and aspiration are two different things. The idea that you want to achieve something in Zen meditation is basically selfish. ‘I want to get enlightened’ means ‘I want to get enlightened.’ But aspiration is not for myself, it is not a merely individual desire, it transcends the idea of self. It is desire without attachment. If enlightenment comes, good. If enlightenment does not come, good. Actually, this is enlightenment.

Here is a poem for you: The candy peddler is ringing his bell, and the child cries to its mother. Money becomes candy and candy becomes money. Money goes into the peddler's pocket, and candy goes into the child's mouth and is sweet.

When Dae Ju first came to Zen Master Ma-jo, the Master asked him, “What do you want from me?” Dae Ju said, “I want you to teach me the Dharma.” “What a fool you are!” said Ma-jo. “You have the greatest treasure in the world within you, and yet you go around asking other people for help. What good is this? I have nothing to give you.” Dae Ju bowed and said, “Please, Master, tell me what this treasure is.” Ma-jo said, “Where is your question coming from? This is your treasure. It is precisely what is making you ask the question at this very moment. Everything is stored in this precious treasure-house of yours. It is there at your disposal, you can use it as you wish, nothing is lacking. You are the master of everything. Why, then, are you running away from yourself and seeking for things outside?” Upon hearing these words, Dae Ju attained enlightenment.

The student was silent. Soen-sa said, “What color is this?” The student said, “You have eyes.” Soen-sa said, “Eyes? These are not eyes. They are holes in my face.” (Laughter.) “I ask you once again—what color is this door?” The student was silent. Soen-sa said, “It is brown.” “But if I'd said brown, you would've said I'm attached to color!” Soen-sa said, “Brown is only brown.” Then, pointing to a glass of water, “What is this?” “Water.” “Yah. Water is water. This is not thinking. When you said ‘water’—this mind. This mind is very important. It is a clear mirror. Red comes, the mirror is red. Yellow comes, the mirror is yellow. Water comes, there is water. A door comes, there is a door. If you are not thinking, your mind is the same as a mirror. It is only like this. So true emptiness is clear mind. In original clear mind there is no name and no form. Nothing appears or disappears. All things are just as they are. If you are thinking, you are in a dream. You must cut off all your thinking and wake up.

One Thursday evening, after a Dharma talk at the Cambridge Zen Center, a young woman asked Seung Sahn Soen-sa, “What is the true way for women?” Soen-sa said, “I don't know—I'm not a woman.” (Laughter from the audience.) Then, after a few moments, “Okay, I ask you: what is woman?” The student said, “I don't know.” Soen-sa said, “This is the true way. Only don't-know mind. In don't-know mind, there is no woman, no man, no old, no young, no people, no Buddhas, no self, no world, nothing at all. If you understand this don't-know mind, you understand the true way. If you don't understand don't-know mind, you cannot understand the true way. Okay?” “I don't know.” “Then you must keep don't-know mind.

So if you are thinking, words are very bad. But if you are not thinking, all words and all things that you can see or hear or smell or taste or touch will help you. So it is very important for you to cut off your thinking and your attachment to words.

Zen teaching is like a window. At first, we look at it, and see only the dim reflection of our own face. But as we learn, and our vision becomes clear, the teaching becomes clear. Until at last it is perfectly transparent. We see through it. We see all things: our own face.

What's the difference between Bodhidharma's sitting in Sorim for nine years and your sitting here now?” “Don't you know?” “I'm listening.” “Bodhidharma sat in Sorim for nine years. I am sitting here now.” The student smiled.

difficulty understanding this. An eminent teacher said, “To cure the sickness of deluded views, we must give people mirage medicine. When the sickness is cured, then we must take away the mirage medicine.” How do we take away this mirage medicine? This is very important. If we don't take away the medicine, then the patient will fall down into the mirage. In your teaching, you are trying to cure the sickness of attachment to opposites, and you use nonsense medicine. But how do you take away this nonsense medicine? Where does this nonsense go? So the area from nonsense to “like this” is not clear.

The man who has come to this is the man who was here from the beginning. He does what he always did. Nothing has changed.

Soen-sa said, “In the past, you have sown certain seeds that now result in your encountering Buddhism. Not only that—some people come here only once, while others stay and practice very earnestly. When you practice Zen earnestly, you are burning up the karma that binds you to ignorance. In Japanese the word for ‘earnest’ means ‘to heat up the heart.’ If you heat up your heart, this karma, which is like a block of ice, melts and becomes liquid. And if you keep on heating it, it becomes steam and evaporates into space. Those people who practice come to melt their hindrances and attachments. Why do they practice? Because it is their karma to practice, just as it is other people's karma not to practice. Man's discriminating thoughts build up a great thought-mass in his mind, and this is what he mistakenly regards as his real self. In fact, it is a mental construction based on ignorance. The purpose of Zen meditation is to dissolve this thought-mass. What is finally left is the real self. You enter into the world of the selfless. And if you don't stop there, if you don't think about this realm or cling to it, you will continue in your practice until you become one with the Absolute.” The first student said, “What do you mean by the Absolute?” Soen-sa said, “Where does that question come from?” The student was silent. Soen-sa said, “That is the Absolute.” “I don't understand.” “No matter how much I talk about it, you won't understand. The Absolute is precisely something you can't understand.

May 22, 1975 No wall, no plant, no air, no sky Clinging to form Clinging to emptiness Stops the love We create this earth To teach us the love We are here on this earth To practice the love. Hae Mi

Soen-sa said, “Do you understand?” The first student shouted “KATZ!!!” Soen-sa said, “Very good. But your understanding is still only conceptual. Sometimes your answers are ‘like this,’ sometimes they show an attachment to emptiness. I will explain the Zen circle once more. At 90° the book is the pencil, the pencil is the book. At 180° you can only answer with a hit or a shout. At 270° the pencil is angry, the book laughs. At 360° the book is blue, the pencil is yellow. Now which one of these four answers is the best?” The student said, “They're all good.” Soen-sa hit him and said, “Today is Saturday.

One evening, after a Dharma talk at the Boston Dharma-dhatu, a student asked Seung Sahn Soen-sa, “Is the Bodhisattva attached to compassion?” Soen-sa said, “The universe is infinite; all people are infinite. So the Bodhisattva's attachment is infinite. A Bodhisattva attachment is no attachment. No attachment is a Bodhisattva attachment.” The student said, “Does he have it in mind to save all people or does this just happen wherever he is?” Soen-sa said, “Do you understand what the Bodhisattva is?” “No.” “First, understand what the Bodhisattva is. Then you will understand the Bodhisattva's attachment. The Bodhisattva is your true self. Your true self is Big I. Big I is all people. All people and I become one mind. So Bodhisattva action is always for all people. When people are happy, the Bodhisattva is happy. When people are sad, the Bodhisattva is sad. He always acts together with all people.” The student bowed and said, “Thank you.

You know the story about Zen Master Huang Po. He was traveling with another monk, and they came to a river. Without breaking stride, the monk walked across the water, then beckoned to Huang Po to do the same. Huang Po said, “If I'd known he was that kind of fellow, I'd have broken his legs before he reached the water.” A keen-eyed Zen Master understands people's karma. The Buddha said, “Karma that you have made for yourself can only disappear if you want it to. No one can make you want it to disappear.” He also said, “I have many kinds of good medicine, but I can't take it for you.” The Buddha has already given instructions for someone who is blind or disabled. But most people want easy solutions. They want someone else to do their work for them.

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra says, “All things are impermanent. This is the law of appearing and disappearing. When appearing and disappearing disappear, then this stillness is bliss.

Soen-sa said, “If you understand emptiness, this is not emptiness. It is only a word. You understand the word ‘emptiness.’ Have you ever tasted kim-chee, Korean pickled cabbage? It is very hot. When guests come to dinner here, I tell them that kim-chee is very hot. But they don't really know what this ‘hot’ means until they experience it for themselves. So I give them a piece of kim-chee. Ow!! Hot!!!” (Laughter.) “Other people understand that kim-chee is hot, but they haven't tasted it. Once they taste it, then they really understand what hot means. They have attained ‘hot.’ So understanding ‘hot’ is not the same as attaining ‘hot.’ Many young Americans understand one mind. But this is not true understanding; it is only thinking. So understanding emptiness and attaining emptiness are different. If you attain emptiness one time, you have attained it forever. You don't forget. You say you understand emptiness. Then what is emptiness?

Then I ask you: Once, during Buddha's lifetime, a woman was sitting in samadhi—very deeply into samadhi. She didn't wake up, only samadhi, as if she were dead. The Bodhisattva Manjushri, who is a tenth-class Bodhisattva, the highest class, tried to wake her, but couldn't. Finally a first-class Bodhisattva appeared, walked around her three times, and hit her on the back. She woke up immediately. Why couldn't this great Bodhisattva bring her out of samadhi, while the low-class Bodhisattva could? If you understand this, you will have a true understanding of samadhi and enlightenment. Do you understand?” The student was silent. Soen-sa said, “You must understand this. There is another kong-an with the same meaning. An eminent teacher said, ‘If I kill my parents, I can repent to Buddha. But if I kill all Buddhas and eminent teachers, to whom can I repent?’” The student said, “Myself?” Another student called out from the back of the room, “Go drink tea!” Soen-sa said, “Who said that?” The student raised her hand. Soen-sa said, “Oh, very good! Wonderful! These two kong-ans are the same kong-an. If you understand this, you understand samadhi and enlightenment.

If you think the tea is dirty, it is dirty. If you think it is clean, it is clean.’ He said, ‘You're right. I will drink the tea.’” (Laughter.)

The student said, “Sometimes you hear of people struggling with kong-ans for years. That bothers me. The implication is that either they're on the wrong path or it takes all that time to realize you shouldn't struggle at all. Are you saying there shouldn't be a struggle?” Soen-sa said, “Keeping the mind that desires enlightenment is the wrong way to use the kong-an. Only keep the great question. The great question means cutting off all thinking, becoming empty mind. So the mind that keeps the great question is enlightenment! You are already enlightened, but you don't know it. So after much hard training: ah, this is enlightenment! It is very easy. Can you see your eyes?” “No.” “You have no eyes? You have eyes. Can you grasp your mind?” “No.” “You have no mind? It is the same. Can you see this cup? Can you hear my voice?” “Yes.” “This is your mind. My eyes can't see my eyes. To try to see my eyes is the wrong way. My mind can't understand my mind. So to try to understand my mind is the wrong way. If you cut off this mind, you will soon attain enlightenment. I can see this cup; so I have eyes. I can hear this sound; so I have mind. What am I? I am asking I. So there are no opposites. Having no opposites is the Absolute. So all thinking is cut off. Only don't know, only empty mind. This is my true self. It is very easy.

It is better to keep your mouth shut as spring passes. Here is a kong-an: “When the bell is rung, you put on your kesha.” What does this mean? Your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind all deceive you. The true you is without the six senses. But the six senses use you, so you ask ten thousand questions. You must return to your true self. Then you will understand. The butterfly alights on the flower and drinks its nectar. Here is a poem for you: What is Buddha? “Three pounds of flax.” “Dry shit on a stick.” I don't understand these words. The infant is sucking on his toes.

Once Zen Master To An was visiting another temple. He wasn't wearing his Zen Master clothes, only the clothes of a wandering monk. He began a conversation with one of the monks at the temple, who did not recognize that he was a Zen Master. Soon the monk began to talk about his Master. “Every day he does one thousand prostrations. He eats only once a day. He hasn't left the temple for thirty years. He is always sitting Zen. He is the greatest Zen Master in all of China.” To An said, “Well well, he sounds like an extraordinary man. I can't do any of these things. I can't bow a thousand times a day; but my mind is never lazy. I can't eat only once a day; but I never desire food. I can't stay in a temple for more than a short time; but wherever I go I have no hindrance. I can't sit Zen for very long; but I never give rise to thinking.” The monk said, “I don't understand.” To An said, “Go ask your Master to explain.” The monk bowed and went into the temple. Soon the Zen Master came running out to To An and prostrated himself three times in front of him. “You are a great Zen Master,” he said. “Please let me become your disciple. I have been very attached to hard training. But now that I have heard your kind words, my mind is clear.” To An laughed and said, “No no, I can't be your teacher. You are already a great Zen Master. All you need to do is to keep the mind you had when you were bowing to me. Already you are a free man. Before, you were bowing, sitting, and eating only for yourself. Now it is for all people.” At these words, the Zen Master began to weep with joy. He bowed again to To An and said, simply, “Thank you.

One evening, after a Dharma talk at the Cambridge Zen Center, a student asked Seung Sahn Soen-sa, “What is love?” Soen-sa said, “I ask you: what is love?” The student was silent. Soen-sa said, “This is love.” The student was still silent. Soen-sa said, “You ask me: I ask you. This is love.

be very careful about wanting enlightenment. This is a bad Zen sickness. When you keep a clear mind, the whole universe is you, you are the universe. So you have already attained enlightenment. Wanting enlightenment is only thinking. It is something extra, like painting legs on the picture of a snake. Already the snake is complete as it is. Already the truth is right before your eyes.

Soen-sa said, "The universe is infinite; all people are infinite. So the Bodhisattva's attachment is infinite. A Bodhisattva attachment is no attachment. No attachment is a Bodhisattva attachment.

You must understand what is in pain. Then you will understand Utmost Vehicle Zen, and see that everything in the universe is the truth.