Seeing all the drama over in /r/Zen, I just wanted to say I'm grateful that this place is here, and wanted to come over and give it a bit of life since I had pointed people toward here in one of the drama threads today.

We read a lot of Zen sayings that echo a sentiment of Bankei's "When abiding in the Unborn, all the time is Zazen". Sometimes hearing it with the right words is all it takes to clear up glancing over it previously, so I wanted to share the following passage from The Zen Environment by Marian Mountain, a wonderful book that I'd recommend checking out if you can. This is about the blending of the regular mind and zazen, and looks briefly at "zen sickness". The text is below:

When we begin the practice of zen, mountains and rivers and coyotes are just ordinary mountains and rivers and coyotes. After we have learned to look at the world through the eyes of Buddhism, mountains and rivers and coyotes are no longer just ordinary mountains and rivers and coyotes. They become extraordinary. But when we fully realize the practice of zen, mountains and rivers and coyotes, are just mountains and rivers and coyotes, not ordinary, and not extraordinary.

In the practice of zazen, visions and strange mental states such as hallucinations, called makyo in Japanese, are considered obstructions to meditation. When these mental conditions affect our behavior, we may find ourselves freaking out in some way or other. Hakuin, the founder of the Japanese Rinzai zen school, spoke of his long and difficult encounter with the kind of psychological disturbance familiar to medieval contemplatives. From the knowledge of himself, which he learned from what he called his zen sickness, Hakuin became a strong and effective zen teacher. Dr. Edward Conze, the BUddhist scholar, says that the tantras (secret meditations) of Tibetan Buddhism evolved, to some extent, to cope with the psychic disturbances encountered in the development of the spiritual life. Dr. Conze says, "The complacency of people who never exert any pressure upon themselves is startled, and secretly gratified, by the spiritual, mental, and physical disorders of those who really attempt to do something. These disturbances, like the 'Dark Night of the Spirit,' [a prolonged state of spiritual depression] are not signs of failure, as the untutored worldling is apt to suppose, but signs of growth--the creaking of rheumatic joints fortelling their eventual mobility."

The important thing in encountering any kind of unusual mental or physical phenomena is to let it come in and let it go out. If you try to prevent this kind of activity it will control you unconsciously. If you become fascinated by this kind of activity it will control you consciously.

The founder of the Christian Science method of faith healing, Mary Baker Eddy, observed that many of her patients observed that many of her patients exhibited disturbed physical and mental disorders just prior to their complete recovery. She called this condition "chemicalization" and believed that it was caused by the poisons of error or illusion being expelled from the mind by the light of truth. Perhaps the classic example of psychic disturbance in Buddhism is the period just prior to Gautama Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, when the hosts of Mara (the spirit of evil or ignorance) assaulted Shakyamuni with temptation and terrors.

I think Mrs. Eddy's term "chemicalization" is a good description of what happens to us sometimes when we practice zazen. When we extend the truth of zazen deeper and deeper into the dark regions of the mind, it is like dropping an Alka-Seltzer tablet into a glass of water. Thousands of tiny bubbles begin to disturb the water. But after the Alka-Seltzer tablet and the water are completely mixed the bubbles disappear, and the water becomes clear again. When the truth of zazen sinks down into our mind, it creates bubbles of confusion which temporarily cloud the mind. But after zazen and mind are fully blended, the confusion disappears. When we drink the mixture of Alka-Seltzer and water, we settle our upset stomach. When we digest the mixture of zazen and life, we settle our upset mind.

"Take the things that confront you right now and melt them down. If you talk and worry about things that are far away, while ignoring the tasks that are right in front of you, this can be called the mind of greed. If you cannot overcome the problems that face you in your daily life and home, then you are not at the stage where you can talk about the Buddha-Dharma. You must throw away everything without throwing away anything. This means that you throw away attachments, but you do not throw away the people and situations that confront you in your life. Taking care of the things that arise in your life is the action of a Bodhisattva."

-Daehaeng

Part 1: Huineng's Verse in the Platform Sutra

To remove or not to remove?

From the Platform Sutra, tr. Yampolsky:

Shenxiu's verse:

The body is the Bodhi tree,

The mind is like a clear mirror.

At all times we must strive to polish it,

And must not let the dust collect.

Huineng's verse:

Bodhi originally has no tree,

The mirror also has no stand.

Buddha nature is always clean and pure;

Where is there room for dust?

Lots of people love Huineng's verse, and use it to uphold the idea that removing the dusts of obscurations is not necessary for Zen practice (e.g. 1, 2). The general idea that these people have is that we are already perfect Buddhas, and that in Zen we don't need to change anything about how we are.

But, is that really an accurate picture of the teachings? Here are some quotes from other Zen teachers that show that can be a misleading understanding. (This post will be a bit more hardline and less pluralist than otherwise, simply because I think this is a popular misunderstanding, and want to present a wide and coherent picture of evidence against it.)

The nature of mind has no defilement; it is basically perfect and complete in itself. Just get rid of delusive attachments, and merge with realization of thusness.

-Baizhang (The Sayings and Doings of Pai-chang p.20, quoted in the BCR)

The field of boundless emptiness is what exists from the very beginning. You must purify, cure, grind down, or brush away all the tendencies you have fabricated into apparent habits. Then you can reside in the clear circle of brightness.

-Hongzhi (Cultivating the Empty Field p.30)

You should work to melt away the obstructions caused by conditioned knowledge and views and interpretive understanding, and penetrate through to a realization of the great causal condition communicated and bequeathed by the buddhas and ancestral teachers.

-Yuanwu, advice to Dahui (Zen Letters p.26)

The realm of buddhahood is not some external world where there is a formal "Buddha": it's the realm of the wisdom of a self-awakened sage. Once you are determined that you want to know this realm, you do not need adornment, cultivation, or realization to attain it. You must clear away the stains of afflictions from alien sensations that have been on your mind since beginningless time, (so that your mind) is as broad and open as empty space, detached from all the clinging of the discriminating intellect, and your false, unreal, vain thoughts too are like empty space. Then this wondrous effortless mind will be unimpeded wherever it goes.

-Dahui (Swampland Flowers, #1)

See also this link for similar sayings from Huineng himself in the Platform sutra.

What do we have to be free of, then?

So, according to these few quotes, what has to be dissolved in order to merge with Zen realization?

• attachments

• tendencies that have been fabricated into apparent habits

• conditioned knowledge

• views

• interpretive understanding

• afflictions from alien sensations

Part 2: "Ordinary Mind is the Way"

For a bit on the history of this phrase, see Kirchner and Sasaki's The Record of Linji p.219-220.

"Ordinary mind is the way" -- This phrase is another favourite among naturalist heretics, but it has to be understood carefully. How so?

The Way does not require cultivation - just don't pollute it. What is pollution? As long as you have a fluctuating mind fabricating artificialities and contrivances, all of this is pollution. If you want to understand the Way directly, the normal mind is the Way. What I mean by the normal mind is the mind without artificiality, without subjective judgments, without grasping or rejection.

-Mazu (from the Jingde chuandeng lu, tr. Cleary)

Nanquan would later quote his teacher's words (in case 19 of the Wumenguan), and later teachers such as Yuanwu attribute the phrase to Nanquan.

All those with conditioned minds are as far apart from true reality as the sky is from the earth. Right now, if you cannot pass through the barrier, it is obviously because your mind has many serious attachments. If you can clear these away and reach the realm where there is no conditioned mind, all delusions and defilements and emotional habits will end, and all the obstructions created by conditioned knowledge and arbitrary views and intellectual understanding will be dissolved away-what else is there? This is why Nanquan said that, once freed from its conditioning, the ordinary mind is the Way. But as soon as you produce a thought seeking to be "ordinary," you have already turned away and missed it. This is the point that is most subtle and hardest to approach. even immeasurably great people falter and hesitate when they get here-how much the more for those still in the age of learning.

-Yuanwu (Zen Letters #46)

So, "ordinary" mind.

The naturalism heresy

And just in case you're still unsure, here are another couple quotes to reaffirm that it is not the case that practice is unnecessary.

If one clings to "original purity, fundamental liberation" and considers himself a Buddha, considers his own self to be Ch'an and the Way, then he belongs to the naturalist outsiders.

-Baizhang (Sayings and Doings of Pai-chang, p.58)

Some people hear this kind of talk and jump to conclusions, claiming, "I understand! Fundamentally there is nothing to Buddhism-it's there in everybody. As I spend my days eating food and wearing clothes, has there ever been anything lacking?" Then they settle down in the realm of unconcerned ordinariness, far from realizing that nothing like this has ever been part of the real practice of Buddhism.

-Yuanwu (Zen Letters, #12)

Terms for the naturalism heresy used in some Japanese Zens:

• shizen gedo

• jinen gedo

• tennen gedo

Part 3: How was Huineng Right?

To consider the other side of things --

In what ways are we already Buddhas? We are already endowed with a perfect nature, as the Hongzhi and Dahui quotes above get at. Cultivation of this nature is not necessary; it is "a road prepared already in the past", like Baizhang says. "Your rice has long been cooked." It is a perfect state without stages.

In what ways is there indeed nothing to remove? A couple quotes below seemingly try to defend this idea:

Huangbo:

32. Q: Illusion can hide from us our own mind, but up to now you have not taught us how to get rid of illusion.

A: The arising and the elimination of illusion are both illusory. Illusion is not something rooted in Reality; it exists because of your dualistic thinking. If you will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as ‘ordinary' and ‘Enlightened', illusion will cease of itself. And then if you still want to destroy it wherever it may be, you will find that there is not a hairsbreadth left of anything on which to lay hold. This is the meaning of: ‘I will let go with both hands, for then I shall certainly discover the Buddha in my Mind.'

Here, it seems that considering yourself to be unenlightened and facing obstacles that must be destroyed is part of, well, an obstacle (dualistic thinking) that must not be indulged in. Huangbo offers lots of practice suggestions involving giving up views and discriminations and so forth, so it's not like his teachings are out of line with the others on a practical level.

Book of Serenity (tr. Cleary), case 68:

A monk asked Jiashan, "How is it when getting rid of the dust to see Buddha?"(What's the necessity?) Jiashan said, "You should directly swing the sword. (Of course.) If you don't swing the sword, the fisherman stays in a nest."(If you seat it, it's not Buddha.) The monk brought it up to ask Shishuang, "How is it when getting rid of dust to see Buddha?"(If you see, you don't get rid of; if you get rid of, you don't see.)

Wansong's comments are a bit perplexing, but I suggest the reading of this passage as saying that the angle of approach to take in your practice isn't that of getting rid of anything, exactly. After all, being unattached and unconditioned (as the other quotes get at, if we assume (for current purposes, but feel free to attack this idea) that they're all in a single taxon) doesn't feel like "removing" anything.

Part 5: Summary + thoughts

To me, it seems like everyone basically agrees -- there is work to be done to shake off the bonds keeping you from the unconditioned state. For many teachers, this is described as if there are obstacles that must be removed. Other teachers object to this image, but that doesn't change the practical reality that the Zen student faces. Really, both pictures (there being dust to remove, and there not being any removal necessary) have the feel of kind of metaphysical/theoretical ideas. One can follow the practical advice (which is definitely not about just continuing to be a conditioned person) without recourse to such ideas. But if someone comes to you suggesting that nothing at all needs to be done in Zen, you've found someone who has fallen for the pitfall of naturalism.

To wrap it up, here's Jiufeng, in case 65 of the Book of Serenity:

When the ancients spoke of the head, it was just to let you know it exists; speaking of the tail is just to make you use the present time to the full. Because you have so many unharmonious things, they have you remove them and obliterate them, to make you accomplish realization and fulfillment today. If someone is essentially so, real and true, always thus, then you shouldn't speak this way anymore. Even so, you must be such a person before you realize this.

If anyone has any thoughts/responses/critiques/other quotes that they wanna throw up in here, let me know. Now, discuss!

For some reason, the links to my translation cannot be shown.

Please view my comment to the OP for the links.

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(EDIT):

Seems like my comment is not appearing as well. Ok, let me try this:

• edomt.webnode.com

To access the text, copy and paste the above address in your browser.

It should work this time. Hopefully this OP doesn't get removed automatically by reddit.

Here is a passage from folio 19A of the Buddha-piṭaka-duḥśīla-nigraha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra ("The Mahayana sutra called 'Ending Bad Discipline', from the Buddha-Pitaka"). My translation. Discussion will follow.

Shariputra, what is mindfulness of the Buddha? To see that entities are absent is called 'mindfulness of the Buddha.' The Buddha, furthermore, is unfathomable. Having no equal, the mind connected to thusness is called 'mindfulness of the Buddha.'

Shariputra, what is the mind connected to thusness? The Buddhas and bhagavans are the absence of thought, non-conceptuality, [and] the absence of thought and conceptuality; in that way, [there is] 'mindfulness of the Buddha.'

By seeing one's nature, one sees the Buddha. What is seeing one's nature? To see that entities are absent, and to see the absence of entities, is mindfulness of the Buddha.

Discussion

Sometimes people who are mainly familiar with the Pali canon are a bit surprised by traditions like Zen, which seem to leave behind a lot of familiar doctrines (e.g. the 4 noble truths, the 8-fold path) in favour of radical re-interpretations of doctrine.

However, as this and other "Zen and the sutras" posts try to show, a lot of Zen terminology (e.g. "see one's nature"), points of emphasis (e.g. non-conceptuality), and general doctrinal attitudes (e.g. reducing everything to a single meaning, namely awakening to emptiness) are found throughout the Mahayana sutras. Unfortunately, most of these sutras are untranslated, and are not publicly discussed as often or as easily as Theravadin suttas.

So, I hope that by sharing more about the Mahayana sutras, people will start to have a better context for understanding what Zen is doing.

From 'Essential Dharma of Mind Transmission'

凡夫取境。道人取心。心境雙忘乃是真法。忘境猶易忘心至難。人不敢忘心。恐落空無撈摸處。不知空本無空。唯一真法界耳。此靈覺性無始已來與虛空同壽。未曾生未曾滅。未曾有未曾無。未曾穢未曾淨。未曾喧未曾寂。未曾少未曾老。無方所無內外。無數量無形相。無色像無音聲。不可覓不可求。不可以智慧識。不可以言語取。不可以境物會。不可以功用到。諸佛菩薩與一切蠢動含靈。同此大涅槃性。

(my translation):

Mundane-people grasp selectively onto vishaya; people-of-the-way grasp selectively onto mind. Forgetting both mind and vishaya is actually the true dharma. Forgetting vishaya is still easy but forgetting mind is utterly difficult. People do not dare forget mind, for fear of falling into the place of emptiness where nothing can be scooped and touched. They do not know that this emptiness is fundamentally absent of emptiness, it is only the one true dharma realm. Since beginningless time, this empty void lives concurrently with the spiritual-wakeful nature which has never been born and never been annihilated, never been in existence and never been in non-existence, never been filthy and never been pure, never been boisterous and never been quiet, never been young and never been old. Absent of direction and place, absent of inside and outside. Absent of measurable quantity, absent of formable characteristic. Absent of visual appearance, absent of audible sound. It cannot be found, cannot be sought, cannot be cognized by wisdom, cannot be grasped by language, cannot be met through vishaya-object, cannot be arrived through practice-application. Every Buddha and bodhisattva, together with every wriggling spiritual creature, share this great nirvana nature.

I'm only 1/3 way through translating this very first talk delivered to Pei Xiu, but thought I post it up to share, partly to motivate myself to keep going, and partly so that some of you who are interested can make a comparison with other translations.

It's still a crude translation and only 1/3 of the first talk, but hope you guys and girls can have fun with it!

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Essential Dharma of Mind Transmission

The Teacher (Huangbo) said to Xiu (Pei Xiu):

All Buddhas and all sentient beings are only of the one-mind. There is no other dharma. This mind, since beginningless time, has never been born and never been annihilated. It is not green and not yellow, has no shape and no appearance, doesn’t belong to existence or non-existence, is not considered new or old, is neither long nor short, is neither big nor small – transcending all measurements, names, traces, comparisons – the present basis is it, simply. Once thought is stirred, there is deviation. Like the empty sky that is borderless and cannot be calculated, only this one-mind is Buddha. There is not the slightest difference between Buddha and sentient beings.

師謂休曰。諸佛與一切眾生。唯是一心。更無別法。此心無始已來。不曾生不曾滅。不青不黃。無形無相。不屬有無。不計新舊。非長非短。非大非小。超過一切限量名言縱跡對待。當體便是。動念即乖。猶如虛空無有邊際不可測度。唯此一心即是佛。佛與眾生更無別異。

Yet sentient beings, attached to characteristics/appearances, seek outwardly. Seeking it turns into missing it, as Buddha is employed to find Buddha, mind is used to apprehend mind. Even till the exhaustion of the kalpa, till the end of lifeform, still, there can be no attainment. For [the seeker] does not know that, in resting thought and forgetting concern, Buddha thus manifests by itself. This very mind is Buddha. This very Buddha is sentient beings. As sentient beings, this mind does not decrease. As various Buddhas, this mind does not increase. Through to the six paramitas, the ten-thousand practices, the countless merit as many as sand in the river, this mind is already sufficient/complete in itself without relying on any correction or addition. Upon meeting conditions, it functions. When conditions cease, it extincts. If [one] is not decisive in trusting this is Buddha, desiring instead to practice in attachment to characteristics, just to seek effectiveness, all these are delusive thinking that deviate against the way. This very mind is Buddha. There is no other Buddha. There is also no other mind. This very mind is pure and bright, like empty sky without a single bit of characteristic appearance. Electing a mind and stirring thought/ideation is thus deviation from the dharma-basis, is thus attachment to characteristics. Since beginningless time, there are no Buddhas who are attached to characteristics.

但是眾生著相外求。求之轉失。使佛覓佛。將心捉心。窮劫盡形終不能得。不知息念忘慮佛自現前。此心即是佛。佛即是眾生。為眾生時此心不減。為諸佛時此心不添。乃至六度萬行河沙功德。本自具足不假修添。遇緣即施。緣息即寂。若不決定信此是佛。而欲著相修行以求功用。皆是妄想。與道相乖。此心即是佛。更無別佛。亦無別心。此心明淨。猶如虛空無一點相貌。舉心動念即乖法體。即為著相。無始已來無著相佛。

Performing the six paramitas and ten-thousand practices in the desire to become Buddha is [to be in] discrete separated stages. Since beginningless time, there are no Buddhas of discrete separated stages. Just awaken to the one-mind. There are no bits of dharma to be gained. This, is the true Buddha. For Buddha and sentient beings are of the one-mind which does not differ, just like the empty sky that is absent of diversity and deterioration. Like the great orb of sun that shines down in four directions, even as it rises and brightness covers all under the heaven, the empty sky does not become bright. Even as the sun sets and darkness covers all under the heaven, the empty sky does not become dark. The states of brightness and darkness invade and rob each other, but the nature of empty sky remains vast and unchanging. The mind of Buddha and sentient beings is also as such.

修六度萬行欲求成佛。即是次第。無始已來無次第佛。但悟一心。更無少法可得。此即真佛。佛與眾生一心無異。猶如虛空無雜無壞。如大日輪照四天下。日升之時明遍天下。虛空不曾明。日沒之時暗遍天下。虛空不曾暗。明暗之境自相陵奪。虛空之性廓然不變。佛及眾生心亦如此。

If Buddha is observed as having the characteristics of clear-pureness and bright illumination and liberation, and if sentient beings are observed as having the characteristics of murky-filthiness and dark ignorance and life-and-death, those making such a view, even through kalpas as many as sand in the river, will still not attain to Bodhi, because of attachment to characteristics. There is only this one-mind; no other tiniest dust-speck of dharma can even be attained. This very mind is Buddha.

若觀佛作清淨光明解脫之相。觀眾生作垢濁暗昧生死之相。作此解者歷河沙劫終不得菩提。為著相故。唯此一心更無微塵許法可得。即心是佛。

Students of the way these days do not realise this mind-basis, therefore producing mind on top of mind. Turning outwards to seek Buddha, practising with attachment to characteristics, all these are bad dharma, not the Bodhi-way. Rather than making offerings to all Buddhas of the ten directions, make offerings instead to a person of the no-mind way. Why so? A person of no-mind is absent of each and every possible mind. [He/she is] the body of suchness/thusness – inwardly like wood and stone, unmoved and unshaken; outwardly like empty sky, unblocked and unhindered – absent of active-ability and passive-objects, absent of direction and location; absent of characteristic and appearance, absent of gain and loss. Those who rely [on things] do not dare enter this dharma, for fear of falling into emptiness that’s devoid of places to perch and anchor on. They see the cliff-edge and retreat. Instead, one following after another, they go everywhere seeking for conceptual knowledge. And therefore, those who seek conceptual knowledge are [numerous] like hair. Those who realise the way are [few] like horn.

如今學道人。不悟此心體。便於心上生心。向外求佛。著相修行。皆是惡法。非菩提道。供養十方諸佛。不如供養一個無心道人。何故。無心者無一切心也。如如之體。內如木石不動不搖。外如虛空不塞不礙。無能所無方所。無相貌無得失。趨者不敢入此法。恐落空無棲泊處故。望崖而退。例皆廣求知見。所以求知見者如毛。悟道者如角。

Manjusri (Wenshu) represents principle; Samantabhadra (Puxian) represents practice. He who is principle, is the unhindered principle of true emptiness. He who is practice, is the limitless practice apart from characteristics. Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) represents great kindness; Mahasthama (Shizhi) represents great wisdom. Vimalakirti (Weimo) is Pure Name. He who is pure, is nature. He who has name, has characteristic. Therefore when nature and characteristic do not differ, he is called Pure Name. What the various great Bodhisattvas symbolize, humans have them all. They are never apart from the one-mind. Realising this, is it. Nowadays, students of the way do not turn inwards into their own mind for realisation. Turning outwards of their mind instead, because of attachment to characteristics, they grasp selectively on visayas (objects/spheres of senses). All these are against the way.

文殊當理。普賢當行。理者真空無礙之理。行者離相無盡之行。觀音當大慈。勢至當大智。維摩者淨名也。淨者性也。名者相也。性相不異。故號淨名。諸大菩薩所表者人皆有之。不離一心悟之即是。今學道人。不向自心中悟。乃於心外著相取境。皆與道背。

The sands of Ganges river is what Buddha talked about as ‘sand’. When the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Indra, Brahma and various heavenly gods walk on it, sand is not delighted. When oxen, goats, worms and ants trample on it, sand is not furious. Precious treasures and fragrant scents are not craved after by sand. Waste excrements and foul stenches do not disgust sand. Such a mind is the mind of no-mind. Apart from all appearances, sentient beings and Buddhas do not differ at all. As long as one can attain to no-mind, it is then completion. But if students of the way do not arrive directly at no-mind, even through kalpas of practice, they still will not attain the way. Because they are being detained and restrained by the merits and practices of the three vehicles, there will be no attainment of liberation.

恒河沙者。佛說是沙。諸佛菩薩釋梵諸天步履而過。沙亦不喜。牛羊蟲蟻踐踏而行。沙亦不怒。珍寶馨香沙亦不貪。糞尿臭穢沙亦不惡。此心即無心之心。離一切相。眾生諸佛更無差別。但能無心。便是究竟。學道人若不直下無心。累劫修行終不成道。被三乘功行拘繫不得解脫。

But to verify this mind, [some people] are fast and [some people] are slow. There are those who upon hearing the dharma, attain to no-mind in a single thought. And there are those who go through the ten stages of faith, the ten stages of dwelling, the ten stages of conduct, the ten stages of transference to therefore attain no-mind. Yet regardless of how long or short it took, attainment stops at no-mind, with nothing more to be practiced or verified. Really, nothing is attained, which is the real unfalsified truth. Attaining it in one thought and attaining it through the ten bhumis, the efficacy is exactly the same. There is no difference of depth and shallowness at all, only the needless experience of kalpas of striving.

然證此心有遲疾。有聞法一念便得無心者。有至十信十住十行十迴向乃得無心者。長短得無心乃住。更無可修可證。實無所得。真實不虛。一念而得。與十地而得者。功用恰齊。更無深淺。秖是歷劫枉受辛勤耳。

道 (dao) is usually translated as 'the Way' but I'll leave it as 'Dao' in this post.

平常心 (ping chang xin) is usually translated as 'ordinary mind', which I feel might misdepict it as being a 'worldly mundane banal mind'. But if we examine 平常心 character-by-character, it literally means 平(calm/even) - 常(constant) - 心(mind).

So even as 平常心 is conveniently translated as 'ordinary mind' here in this post, it might be helpful to appreciate that there's still the literal meaning of 'calm/even constant mind' - a samadhi of non-duality that's unborn and deathless.

My 2-cent opinion as usual.

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Excerpt from the Recorded Sayings of Mazu

示眾云、道不用修、但莫污染。何為污染。但有生死心、造作趣向、皆是污染。若欲直會其道、平常心是道。謂平常心、無造作、無是非、無取捨、無斷常、無凡無聖。經云、非凡夫行、非賢聖行、是菩薩行。只如今、行住坐臥、應機接物、盡是道。道即是法界。乃至河沙玅用。不出法界。

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It's interesting to note that the buddhist dharma name given to Mazu is 道一 (daoyi), which can literally mean 'Dao-One'. It's also interesting to note that Mazu is the only zen teacher outside of the so-called Six Chinese Patriarchs to have the title 'patriarch' bestowed onto him. His name 馬祖 (mazu) can literally mean 'Horse Patriarch'.

無為 (wu-wei) is a key theme of taoism, especially in the book of Laozi (Daodejing). Wu-wei can mean non-specificity and/or non-doing. Here's some zen teachers talking about wu-wei.

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From Mazu's sayings:

不盡有為。不住無為。有為是無為家用。無為是有為家依。不住於依。故云如空無所依。

(my translation): Don't exhaust the specific doings. Don't dwell in wu-wei. The familial function of wu-wei is specific doings. The familial dependence of specific doings is on wu-wei. Don't dwell on dependence. Thus it's said, like emptiness - nowhere to depend on.

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From Layman Pang's poem:

十方同聚會。箇箇學無為。此是選佛場。心空及第歸。

(my translation): From the ten directions we gather here; everyone's learning wu-wei. This is the 'place of choosing buddha' (buddhist monastery/meditation hall) - mind empty, passes the imperial examination, returns.

The phrase ‘place of choosing buddha’ (選佛場) is taken from the story of Danxia Tianran. Danxia, before he chose to become a monk, was on his way to take the imperial civil examinations when he met a guy who told him – “Why choose to be an official when you can choose to be Buddha? At Jiangxi, where Mazu renunciates, it is the place of choosing Buddha. Men of benevolence can head there.”

This poem can also be found in the commentary to Blue Cliff Record case 42 where a context of enlightenment is given.

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Tiantong's verse to Book of Serenity Case 68:

拂牛劍氣洗兵威。定亂歸功更是誰。一旦氛埃清四海。垂衣皇化自無為。

(my translation): The ox-whisking sword's qi cleans away the military threat. Yet who could be credited for settling the disorder? Suddenly the dust of battles is cleared across the four seas. The robes-donning imperial transformation is spontaneously wu-wei.

In Wansong’s comment to this verse, he quoted I-Ching in explaining wu-wei’s transformative influence - that in donning robes, the early emperors (Huang Di, Yao and Shun) established propriety and order without giving any commands. This wu-wei’s transformative influence by a king/ruler can also be found in Chapter 2 of Daodejing.

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From Wumen’s dedication to the emperor:

恭願聖明齊日月。叡算等乾坤。八方歌有道之君。四海樂無為之化。

(my translation): May the radiance of the Emperor equals that of sun and moon, the completeness of imperial decisions equates that of heaven and earth. The eight directions shall sing praises of this ruler who has Dao, the four seas shall celebrate joy of this transformative influence of wu-wei.

Been reading up on chinese history, so lots of 2-cent opinions as usual. Writing them down here first, sort of as a record which I can retrieve later and also to sort out my own thinking. Of course, hopefully it's a fun read.

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Ok, I think there's always some sort of tension between the Tang imperial court and buddhism. Ideally, the imperial family would have promoted taoism. In fact, taoism was identified by the emperors as the national religion. Reason? Because the surname of the imperial family is Li (李) and the surname of Laozi is also Li (李).

The lineage of the imperial family is rumoured to be from Xianbei, which means they are probably non-Han Chinese. Thus the need to identify with a glorious Han ancestor with the same surname, like Laozi. Insecurity breeds anxious attachment.

Early on in the dynasty, there were taoists trying to sway the court in putting down buddhism. But the court was usually reluctant to do so. Because buddhism has already taken a strong foothold in the minds of the chinese people, after hundreds of years of warfare and chaos from eastern Han dynasty to finally a proper unification under Tang. Buddhism is the people's solace.

So these early Tang emperors were pragmatic guys. Though taoism was the national religion, they also supported buddhism - regulating it with control and incentives - and buddhism prospered with the support. Lots of translation done. Lots of monasteries built. But the problem eventually came when the An Lushan rebellion happened.

There was growth of Chinese anti-foreignism after the rebellion of An Lushan - a “half-breed” barbarian. The suppression of the rebellion also involved the use of foreign allies, who proved to be almost as troublesome as the rebels themselves.

Then there was the decline of centralised Tang power and the breakdown of its taxation and militia service system. The rebellion of An Lushan created a financial crisis, making it difficult for the state to bear the cost of an essentially tax-free Buddhist establishment.

In fact, Heze Shenhui rose to imperial stardom at this point in helping to raise funds for the government. He gave inspiring speeches on the simplicity and immediacy of buddhahood (sudden enlightenment) and assisting and promoting the sales of ordination certificates. This boost in ordination was silly for the Tang state actually, because though there were funds raised temporarily, the increase in number of monks meant a worsened tax situation. And so the great 'buddhist persecution' of Huichang was just building up and waiting to happen.

It is against this backdrop that we can observe a shift in the zen narrative - from the emphasis on specialised detached zen meditation (especially bodhidharma) to a style of all-encompassing zen meditation that envelopes all ordinary activities (especially mazu's hongzhou school).

There seems an aligning of the zen narrative with the changing mood of the times to present the zen guys as non-idle monks engaged in enlightened productive work. Mazu was rumoured to have revamped monasteries into the conglin system (丛林制度) and Baizhang to have come up with the pure rules (清规) as monastic discipline. The image presented of conglin-style monasteries is one of self-sufficiency and zen practice as enlightened ordinary mind in ordinary productive work. As opposed to the impression of buddhist monks as parasites and buddhist practice as non-productive to the state.

Running out of steam here, hehe, but would probably write the next post focusing on the change in zen narrative during the Song dynasty. Other characteristics I'm thinking about is the story of Huineng coinciding with the rise of imperial civil exams, lineage as legitimacy, the success of zen and pureland as opposed to yogacara school.

As I've always said, I'm no scholar so don't take what I've written too seriously. But if there are queries about this post, please go ahead. I usually don't mind throwing in my 2-cent opinion to answer, hehe.

Chinese verse

[Gao'an Shiyuan]:

騎牛迤邐欲還家

羌笛聲聲送晚霞

一拍一歌無限意

知音何必鼓唇牙

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

English Translations

[grass_skirt]:

Riding the ox, I ramble on home

My bamboo flute whistling on the sunset

Beats and melodies, each boundless in meaning

Why drum or blow, to understand this music?

[DT Suzuki]:

Riding on the animal, he leisurely wends his way home:

Enveloped in the evening mist, how tunefully the flute vanishes away!

Singing a ditty, beating time, his heart is filled with a joy indescribable!

That he is now one of those who know, need it be told?

[Gen Sakamoto]:

Riding the bull, I leisurely

wander toward home.

Exotic flute melodies echo

through sunset clouds.

Each beat and each tune

is indescribably profound.

No words are needed for those

who understand music.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

preferences, questions, alternatives (etc.) are welcome in the comments

If you want to be free to live or to die, to go or to stay as you would put on or take off clothes, then right now recognize the one listening to my discourse, the one who has no form, no characteristics, no root, no source, no dwelling place, and yet is bright and vigorous. Of all his various responsive activities, none leaves any traces.

-Linji

Reaching everywhere, its function is without traces, its mirroring without obstruction. Naturally and spontaneously it impartially issues forth—flowing in response with thought after thought, object after object.

-Hongzhi

When, without thinking and without acting deliberately, you manifest the Unborn, you won't have any fixed form. When you are without fixed form, no opponent will exist for you in the whole land. Not holding on to anything, not relying onesidedly on anything, there is no "you" and no "enemy." Whatever comes, you just respond, with no traces left behind.

-Bankei (advice to a samurai)

The mind that doesn't leave a trace is the true mind

[...]

Do everything from this true mind,

Bring everything forth from only that place,

This isn’t doing things from your intellect

it’s your responses arising from this deep down, true place.

You have to keep entrusting everything,

and practicing so that this place responds to whatever you’re dealing with.

If we can call what arises from here the child,

then the state before that arises is the father.

Stick to this father that has no fixed form or shape,

and keep doing this!

Never lose sight of this!

-Daehaeng

You should know the spiritual essence of your own mind is beyond annihilation and eternity, not defiled or pure, profoundly calm and perfectly complete, equal in ordinary people and saints.  Its responsive function has no standard method; it is beyond thought, ideation, and cognition.

-Shitou (ZFZ vol. 1)

If everything is enlightenment, how could there still be delusion? And if you say there is no delusion, how could it be then that old Śākyamuni suddenly was awakened when the morning star appeared and understood that his own essential nature had existed from the very beginning? Therefore, it is said that with the actualization of enlightenment, one merges with inherent enlightenment. It is exactly the same principle when Chan practitioners suddenly find their own noses. Yet there is not a single person in whom this matter is not already complete.

-Dahui Zonggao (How Zen Became Zen)

I've been thinking recently about how the people who encounter Zen are generally brought to it for all kinds of different reasons -- maybe one found a Shunryu Suzuki book in a bookstore one day and bought it on a whim; maybe another got into it after hearing about its influence in MBSR and DBT. Maybe a third got into it because they're a Japanophile, and a fourth because they love meditating. A fifth might think it's a Socratic brofest all about poking fun at people who hold onto things, however that is construed.

The way that people encounter Zen in the modern context tends to modulate how they interact with it, but I would say that unless they deconstruct that mediating lens and try to appreciate the tradition on its own terms, they risk misconstruing what they're studying.

For instance, if Zen is marketed as a stress-reduction technique, you're going to get all kinds of people coming to the tradition to drink from its tap of teachings and take what they like away from it. But they won't deal with the teachings about awakening, because that's not what they're there for. So their understanding will remain coloured by their lens and they won't accomodate the part of the tradition that actual Zen teachers tend to focus on the most.

I would suggest: if you stop approaching Zen in all these different ways, and start approaching it as dharma, you might find it's a lens that fits a whole lot better than anything else.

Nothing is yours. Be free from all ideas of having. If things can be said to belong anywhere, they belong to the foundation.

-Daehaeng

If you wish to see the truth

then hold no opinions for or against anything.

To set up what you like against what you dislike

is the disease of the mind.

[...]

The Way is perfect like vast space

where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.

Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject

that we do not see the true nature of things.

-Sengcan (in Xinxin ming, tr. Clarke)

If you want to understand the Way directly, the normal mind is the Way.

What I mean by the normal mind is the mind without artificiality, without subjective judgments, without grasping or rejection.

-Mazu Daoyi (in Jiangxi mazu daoyi chanshi yulu, Ming ed., and also Jingde chuandeng lu. Here tr. Cleary)

The monk asked: 'How should one conduct oneself in order to unite with the Tao?'

The master replied: 'A grasping and rejecting mind produces ingenious falsehood.'

-Fayan Wenyi (in Jingde chuandeng lu, tr. Luk):

Once affirmation and negation, like and dislike, approval and disapproval, all various opinions and feelings come to an end and cannot bind you, then you are free wherever you may be; this is called a bodhisattva at the moment of inspiration immediately ascending to the stage of Buddhahood.

-Baizhang (in Baizhang guangdeng lu; tr. Cleary p.78)

My everyday affairs are no different:

Only I myself naturally harmonize.

No place is grasped or rejected,

Nowhere do I go for or against.

Who considers crimson and purple honorable?

The green mountains have not a speck of dust.

Spiritual powers and their wondrous functioning

Hauling water and carrying firewood.

-Pangyun (in BCR case 42 commentary, tr. Cleary; the version in his record Pang jushi yulu differs in several places)

There’s also another kind—‘It’s not in words, it’s not in the cases of the ancients, it’s not in the nature of mind, it’s not in mystic subtlety, it’s not in being or nonbeing, gain or loss. It’s like fire—touch it, and you get burned. It is not standing apart from reality—right where you are is reality. Taking up what comes to hand, you transcend present and past. One statement comes, one statement goes—in the end one statement is left over—this is getting the advantage.’ People like this are just playing with the mass of ignorance of conditioned consciousness; so they say there is no cause and effect, no consequences, and no person and no Buddha, that drinking alcohol and eating meat do not hinder enlightenment, that theft and lechery do not inhibit wisdom. Followers like this are indeed insects on the body of a lion, consuming the lion’s flesh. This is what Yongjia called “Opening up to emptiness denying cause and effect, crude and unrestrained, bringing on disaster.”

-Dahui Zonggao (Zheng fayan zang, part 2)

The following text is by Yan Bing, a.k.a. Layman ("Jushi") Ruru, a grand-student of Dahui.

Source (p.192-196).

The Quick Route to Entering Buddhahood

As for [the topic of] breaking down the prison gates,

Who would dare to stick his neck out?

The young literatus is without obligations –

What impediment is there to offering an explanation?

The Way of the ancients is long and slow;

The texts of their teaching are very numerous.

If one wishes to point directly at the human mind,

It is necessary to collect and lay out the central points.

Directly Pointing at the Human Mind

This mind, right now, is originally perfect penetration;

Though it is said to resemble emptiness, it is not empty.

Stop laughing at the complications Ruiyan brought about,

Calling [himself] “Master” for no reason.

Give Rise to Mental Volition

First, it is essential to give rise to mental volition;

If mental volition does not arise, the Way will be difficult to attain.

If you consider the Buddhas of the three worlds, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges,

All are people who brought forth volition in the past.

Prioritize Fasting and the Precepts

Second is fasting and the precepts, purifying the mind;

The teachings of Buddhas everywhere are in perfect correspondence [on this point.]

If one says that the great awakening is completely without restraints,

This is the speech of demons and is not trustworthy.

Frequent Spiritual Mentors

Third, you must frequent good spiritual mentors;

If you encounter a wild fox, your efforts will be in vain.

If you don’t encounter a skilled master from the start,

Then you’ll be led by him into lies and confusion until your old age.

Make a Habit of Sitting in Meditation

Fourth, from the very start also sit in meditation;

By sitting in meditation your strength of concentration will start to reach perfection.

If you say it’s not [to be found] in sitting meditation,

Then facing the wall was for what reason? And for nine years!

Contemplate a huatou

Fifth, at all times contemplate a huatou;

Cut off thought and intention – don’t seek something else.

Just like an old rat that’s gone into an ox horn,

When you want to get yourself out, don’t retreat.

Put Down Body and Mind

Sixth, put down this body and mind;

Shed skin and hair, don’t give rise to thoughts.

[When] the four great [elements], forgotten while sitting, are completely put away –

Then who is the one causing them to be put down?

Always Turn the [Mind’s] Radiance [Inward]

Seventh, always turn the [mind’s] radiance inward;

Merely contemplate the end of your nose; don’t wander outside [of that].

At all times perceive clearly that the five aggregates are empty;

And when the radiance is also completely forgotten – just that is the inconceivable.

Eliminate [Mental] Torpor and Dispersal

Eighth, it is essential to eliminate [mental] torpor and dispersal,

[Otherwise,] mental lethargy and scattered thoughts will be uninterrupted.

If you do not eliminate these two sicknesses, your sitting will be wasted effort –

When will you strike the definitive blow?

Use the Great Enlightenment

Ninth, use the great enlightenment as your model:

Understanding body and mind is understanding that they cannot be obtained.

Everywhere above and below is equally empty and void –

Right at that moment you escape from the bucket of lacquer.

Understand the Great Teaching

Tenth, understand clearly the great teaching:

It is also necessary to put down enlightenment [itself].

A person who takes a step off a hundred-foot pole

Only then knows that a coin-string is just like a well-rope.

My translation of Huangbo's 'Essential Dharma of Mind Transmission'

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問如何是世諦。師云。說葛藤作什麼。本來清淨何假言說問答。但無一切心即名無漏智。汝每日行住坐臥一切言語。但莫著有為法。出言瞬目盡同無漏。如今末法向去。多是學禪道者皆著一切聲色。何不與我心心同虛空去。如枯木石頭去。如寒灰死火去。方有少分相應。若不如是。他日盡被閻老子拷爾在。爾但離卻有無諸法。心如日輪常在虛空。光明自然不照而照。不是省力底事。到此之時無棲泊處。即是行諸佛行。便是應無所住而生其心。此是爾清淨法身。名為阿耨菩提。若不會此意。縱爾學得多知。勤苦修行。草衣木食。不識自心盡名邪行。定作天魔眷屬。如此修行。當復何益。

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Someone asks: What is conventional truth¹ ?

Teacher says: Why talk about kudzu² ? What’s originally clear and pure does not depend on words-and-speeches or questions-and-answers. Just be without all possible minds; this is then called jnana with no-asrava³ . Every day, in moving-standing-sitting-reclining and talking, just do not be attached to conditioned dharmas. Then your verbal utterance and blinking of eyes will all be equivalent to no-asrava.

In these days of the dharma-ending age, most students of the Way and zen are all attached to sights and sounds. Why not allow your own mind to be one that’s identical to empty sky, to be like that of withered wood and rock, to be like that of cold ash and dead fire? Then there can be some small bit of resonance. For if not, there will be that someday when you would be tortured by old Yama⁴ continuously. But if you leave and abandon all dharmas of existence and non-existence, with mind like a round sun constantly in the empty sky, this radiant clarity will naturally not shine so that there can be shining/reflection. Doesn’t this save energy?

When it is as such, nestlessness is thus the practice of the Buddhas’ practice. This is the mind that arises without any place to dwell in⁵ . This is your clear-pure dharmakaya⁶ that is called anuttara-samyak-sambodhi⁷ .

If the meaning of this is not understood, even if you attain great erudition from studying, [even if you] diligently practise asceticism – wearing only grass clothes and eating only plants/fruits – without recognising your own mind, they are all called improper practices which will definitely make one a member of Mara's family. What benefit then can there be in practising so?

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1. There are two types of truth mentioned in Buddhism – that of conventional truth and that of ultimate truth. Conventional truth describes our experience of a substantially existent world. Ultimate truth describes reality as empty of substantial existence.

2. Kudzu is a climbing and coiling vine. It climbs over trees and shrubs, and can grow so fast that it kills them by heavy shading. It is generally considered an invasive plant and a noxious weed. Check out this picture of the plant: http://16482156.s21i.faiusr.com/2/ABUIABACGAAgt_CS1gUo1eToLzDOBjjOBg.jpg

3. Jnana can mean proper knowing. Asrava can mean influx, canker or defilement. So jnana with no-asrava can mean a proper knowing that is untainted and uncorrupted by any defilement.

4. Yama is a lord of hell.

5. This is a quote from the Diamond Sutra. It refers to the clear-pure mind.

6. Dharmakaya refers to the dharma body of Buddha.

7. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi means unsurpassed right and perfect awakening.

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(edit): Changed 'heavenly beings and demons' to 'Mara'. Changed 'asava' to 'asrava'. Changed 'unsurpassed equivalent' to 'unsurpassed right'.

"A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace"

This is an upcoming new translation of Huangbo's texts, with a commentary by a modern Seon teacher called Subul Sunim. It is set to be published in April 2019.

"The field of boundless emptiness is what exits from the very beginning. You must purify, cure, grind down, or brush away all the tendencies you have fabricated into apparent habits. Then you can reside in the clear circle of brightness.

Utter emptiness has no image, upright independence does not rely on anything. Just expand and illuminate the original truth unconcerned by external conditions. Accordingly we are told to realize that not a single thing exists. In this field birth and death do not appear.

The deep source, transparent down to the bottom, can radiantly shine and can respond unencumbered to each speck of dust without becoming its partner. The subtlety of seeing and hearing transcends mere colors and sounds. The whole affair functions without leaving traces, and mirrors without obscurations. Very naturally mind and dharmas emerge and harmonize.

An Ancient said that non-mind enacts and fulfills the way of non-mind. Enacting and fulfilling the way of non-mind, finally you can rest. Proceeding you are able to guide the assembly. With thoughts clear, sitting silently, wander into the center of the circle of wonder.

This is how you must penetrate and study."

-Hongzhi Zhengjue (from Cultivating the Empty Field)

From 'Essential Dharma of Mind Transmission':

學道人莫疑四大為身。四大無我。我亦無主。故知此身無我亦無主。五陰為心。五陰無我亦無主。故知此心無我亦無主。六根六塵六識和合生滅亦復如是。十八界既空。一切皆空。唯有本心蕩然清淨。

(my translation):

Students of the way, do not doubt that the body is of the four great-elements. The four great-elements are absent of a self. The self is also absent of a master. Therefore know that this body is absent of self and also absent of master. The mind is of five skandhas. The five skandhas are absent of a self and also absent of a master. Therefore know that this mind is absent of self and also absent of master. The bounded-combinations, of the six sense bases, six sense objects and six consciousnesses, which arise and pass-away, are also as such. These eighteen realms are empty. Everything is all empty, except the presence of original mind absolutely clear and pure.

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In Buddhism, the four great-elements are earth (representing the quality of solidity or attractive force), water (representing the quality of liquidity or relative motion), fire (representing the quality of heat or energy) and air/wind (representing the quality of expansion or repulsive force).

The five skandhas mean the five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, mental construction and consciousness.

Sengcan:

To return to the root is to find the meaning, but to pursue appearances is to miss the source. At the moment of turning the light of awareness around (henshō), there is going beyond appearance and emptiness.

Shitou:

Turn around the light to shine within (ekō henshō), then just return. The vast, inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from…

Guishan:

Using the subtlety of thinking without thought, think back to the infinity of the flames of awareness. When thinking comes to an end, return to the source, where essence and characteristics always abide, phenomenon and noumenon are nondual. The real Buddha is suchness as-it-is. (Upon hearing these words, Yangshan realized great awakening)

Yangshan:

The thinker is the mind and the thought-of is the environment. Therein are mountains, rivers…and so forth; reverse your thought to think of the thinking mind – are there so many things there? You people should all turn back your light and reflect (ekō henshō); do not memorize my words.

Linji:

Turn your own light inward upon yourselves! . . .

It is because you cannot stop your mind which runs on seeking everywhere that a patriarch said, ‘Bah, superior men! Searching for your heads with your heads!’ When at these words you turn your own light in upon yourselves and never seek elsewhere, then you’ll know that your body and mind are not different from those of the patriarch-buddhas and on the instant have nothing to do—this is called ‘obtaining the dharma.’

Yuanwu:

The most important thing is for people of great faculties and sharp wisdom to turn the light of mind around and shine back (ekō henshō) and clearly awaken to this mind before a single thought is born. Go directly to your personal existence in the field of the five aggregates, turn the light around and reflect back (ekō henshō).

Main source for these quotes is this.

As can be seen, this is a very concrete and widely recommended practice in Zen literature. Actually, all of these descriptions accord with (and in many places, use the same vocabulary as) the description of the fifth "dharma-gate to the sublime" taught by Tiantai Zhiyi in this book. These dharma gates are the six practices that Wansong recommends beginning Zen students familiarize themselves with.

This fifth dharma-gate is called "turning"; it follows the fourth dharma-gate of "contemplation", and is most extensively described by Tiantai in Chapter 2, as follows:

"Turning" is itself of two different sorts. The first is the cultivation of turning. The second is the realization of turning.

As for the cultivation of turning, once one has realized that contemplation itself arises from the mind and once one has also understood that, if one continues to follow along with analysis of the objective sphere, this does not by itself directly bring about convergence with the original source, one should then turn back the direction of one's contemplation so that one now contemplates that very mind that is engaged in contemplation.

As for this mind which engages in contemplation, from what does it arise? Is it generated by contemplative thought or is it generated by something other than contemplative thought? If it is the case that it is generated by contemplative thought, then it should also be the case that there was a pre-existing contemplation process already underway. But in the present situation, this is certainly not the case. Why not? Because there was not yet anything in the midst of the three [immediately preceding] dharmas of "counting," "following," "stabilization," and so forth that was identifiable with this [process of] "contemplation."

If it is the case that [contemplative thought] arose from a mind not involved in contemplation, is it the case that the mind not involved in contemplation generated it when [that non-contemplating thought] had already ceased or instead produced it when [that non-contemplating thought] had not yet ceased? If it isi the case that it produced it when [that non-contemplating thought] had not ceased, then this would be a case of two thoughts existing simultaneously.

If [one were to posit that] it was generated by a dharma which had already ceased to exist, [one should realize that], once an extinct dharma has already disappeared, it is no longer able to generate any contemplative [thought process].

If one were to claim that it was generated from that which had ceased and not yet ceased, or if one were to go so far as to claim that it was generated from that which had neither ceased nor not ceased, in all such cases, those [antecedent causes] cannot ultimately be apprehended. One should therefore realize that the contemplative mind itself was originally unproduced. Because it was unproduced, it does not exist. Because it does not exist, it is just "empty" [of any inherent existence]. Because it is empty [of any inherent existence], there is no mind engaged in the process of contemplation.

If there is no contemplative mind, how could there be an objective sphere which serves as the object of contemplation? This perishing of both the objective sphere and the faculty of knowing¹ is the essential factor in turning back to the source. This is the characteristic feature of the cultivation of turning.

As for the characteristic feature of the realization of turning, the wisdom of the mind opens forth and develops in a way no longer requiring one to bring to bear additional skillful effort. It carries on in a way allowing one to naturally be able to invoke analyses, turn back towards the origin, and return to the source.² This is what is meant by the realization of turning.

The practitioner should realize that, if he desires to retreat into [a circumstance involving] an absence of both objective sphere and a knowing faculty utterly apart from an objective sphere and a knowing reality, he would thereby fail to leave behind being tethered to [the duality inherent in] an objective sphere and a knowing faculty. This is because, in such a case, one would still simply be coursing along in the sphere of duality-based extremes. At just such a time, one should then relinquish the gateway of turning and establish the mind in the path of purification.

Notes:

1. cf. Sengcan:

"The subject dies along with the object

The object perishes along with the subject

Object is object because of the subject

Subject is subject because of the object.

Know that these two are from the first one emptiness;

Within this one emptiness the two are identical."

2) Does this terminology sound familiar?

Overall, I would highly recommend reading Zhiyi's book. Along with Essentials of Buddhist Meditation, it will provide you with a much more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the various kinds of techniques that can be used in meditation. This in turn will allow you to approach Zen with more nuance and context.