Theos-Talk Archives (June 2003 Message tt00022)

Re recent comments from Reed, Daniel and ... would the 
following throw any light on ... whatever ... if 
somewhat indirectly, maybe ... (it's by OCR from 
"Manual of Zen Buddhism" by D.T. Suzuki, page 
73 +)

<<FROM THE CHINESE ZEN MASTERS
BODHIDHARMA ON THE TWOFOLD 
ENTRANCE TO THE TAO1 

There are many ways to enter the Path, but briefly 
speaking they are of two sorts only. The one is 
"Entrance by Reason" and the other "Entrance by 
Conduct".2 By "Entrance by Reason" [1 From The 
Transmission of the Lamp, XXX. 2 "Entrance by 
Reason" may also be rendered "Entrance by Higher 
Intuition", and "Entrance by Conduct", "Entrance 
by Practical Living".] we mean the realization of the 
spirit of Buddhism by the aid of the scriptural 
teaching. We then come to have a deep faith in the 
True Nature which is the same in all sentient beings. 
The reason why it does not manifest itself is due to 
the overwrapping of external objects and false 
thoughts. When a man, abandoning the false and 
embracing the true, in singleness of thought 
practises the Pi-kuanl [1"Wall-gazing"] 
he finds that there is neither self nor other, that the 
masses and the worthies are of one essence, and he 
firmly holds on to this belief and never moves away 
therefrom. He will not then be a slave to words, for 
he is in silent communion with the Reason itself, 
free from conceptual discrimination; he is serene 
and not-acting. This is called "Entrance by Reason".

By "Entrance by Conduct" is meant the four acts in 
which all other acts are included. What are the 
four? i. To know how to requite hatred; 2. To be 
obedient to karma; 3. Not to crave anything; and 4. 
To be in accord with the Dharma.

1. What is meant by "How to requite hatred"? He 
who disciplines himself in the Path should think 
thus when he has to struggle with adverse 
conditions: "During the innumerable past ages I 
have wandered through a multiplicity of existences, 
all the while giving myself to unimportant details of 
life at the expense of essentials, and thus creating 
infinite occasions for hate, ill-will, and wrongdoing. 
While no violations have been committed in this 
life, the fruits of evil deeds in the past are to be 
gathered now. Neither gods nor men can foretell 
what is coming upon me. I will submit myself 
willingly and patiently to all the ills that befall me, 
and I will never bemoan or complain. The Sutra 
teaches me not to worry over ills that may happen to 
me. Why? Because when things are surveyed by a 
higher intelligence, the foundation of causation is 
reached." When this thought is awakened in a man, 
he will be in accord with the Reason because he 
makes the best use of hatred and turns it into the 
service in his advance towards the Path. This is 
called the "way to requite hatred".

2. By "being obedient to karma" is meant this: There 
is no self (atman) in whatever beings are produced 
by the interplay of karmaic conditions; the pleasure 
and pain I suffer are also the results of my previous 
action. If I am rewarded with fortune, honour, etc., 
this is the outcome of my past deeds which by 
reason of causation affect my present life. When the 
force of karma is exhausted, the result I am enjoying 
now will disappear; what is then the use of being 
joyful over it? Gain or loss, let me accept the karma 
as it brings to me the one or the other; the Mind 
itself knows neither increase nor decrease. The wind 
of pleasure [and pain] will not stir me, for I am 
silently in harmony with the Path. Therefore this is 
called "being obedient to karma".

3. By "not craving (ch'iu) anything" is meant this: 
Men of the world, in eternal confusion, are attached 
everywhere to one thing or another, which is called 
craving. The wise however understand the truth and 
are not like the ignorant. Their minds abide serenely 
in the uncreated while the body moves about in 
accordance with the laws of causation. All things 
are empty and there is nothing desirable to seek 
after. Where there is the merit of brightness there 
surely lurks the demerit of darkness. This triple 
world where we stay altogether too long is like a 
house on fire; all that has a body suffers, and 
nobody really knows what peace is. Because the 
wise are thoroughly acquainted with this truth, they 
are never attached to things that change; their 
thoughts are quieted, they never crave anything. 
Says the Sutra: "Wherever there is a craving, there is 
pain; cease from craving and you are blessed." Thus 
we know that not to crave anything is indeed the 
way to the Truth. Therefore, it is taught not "to 
crave anything".

4. By "being in accord with the Dharma" is meant 
that the Reason which we call the Dharma in its 
essence is pure, and that this Reason is the principle 
of emptiness (sunyata) in all that is manifested; it is 
above defilements and attachments, and there is no 
"self", no "other" in it. Says the Sutra: "In the 
Dharma there are no sentient beings, because it is 
free from the stain of being; in the Dharma there is 
no 'self because it is free from the stain of selfhood." 
When the wise understand this truth and believe in 
it, their lives will be "in accordance with the 
Dharma".

As there is in the essence of the Dharma no desire to 
possess, the wise are ever ready to practise charity 
with their body, life, and property, and they never 
begrudge, they never know what an ill grace means. 
As they have a perfect understanding of the 
threefold nature of emptiness, they are above 
partiality and attachment. Only because of their will 
to cleanse all beings of their stains, they come 
among them as of them, but they are not attached to 
form. This is the self-benefiting phase of their lives. 
They, however, know also how to benefit others, 
and again how to glorify the truth of enlightenment. 
As with the virtue of charity, so with the other five 
virtues [of the Prajnaparamita], The wise practise 
the six virtues of perfection to get rid of confused 
thoughts, and yet there is no specific consciousness 
on their part that they are engaged in any 
meritorious deeds. This is called "being in accord 
with the Dharma".1 

1 Since this translation from the Transmission of the 
Lamp, two Tun-huang MSS. containing the text 
have come to light. The one is in the Masters and 
Disciples of the Lanka (Leng-chia Shihtzu Chi), 
already published, and the other still in MS., which 
however the present author intends to have 
reproduced in facsimile before long. They differ in 
minor points with the translation here given.
2 By Seng-t'san (Sosan in Japanese). Died 606 C.E. 
Mind=/mn. Hsin is one of those Chinese words 
which defy translation. When the Indian scholars 
were trying to translate the Buddhist Sanskrit works 
into Chinese, they discovered that there were five 
classes of Sanskrit terms which could not be 
satisfactorily rendered into Chinese. We thus find in 
the Chinese Tripitaka such words as prajna, bodhi, 
buddha, nirvana, dhyana, bodhisattia, etc., almost 
always untranslated; and they now appear in their 
original Sanskrit form among the technical Buddhist 
terminology. If we could leave hsin with all its 
nuance of meaning in this translation, it would save 
us from the many difficulties that face us in its 
English rendering. For hsin means "mind", "heart", 
"soul", "spirit"—each singly as well as all inclusively. 
In the present composition by the third patriarch of 
Zen, it has sometimes an intellectual connotation 
but at other times it can properly be given as 
"heart". But as the predominant note of Zen 
Buddhism is more intellectual than anything else, 
though not in the sense of being logical or 
philosophical, I decided here to translate hsin by 
"mind" rather than by "heart", and by this mind I do 
not mean our psychological mind, but what may be 
called absolute mind, or Mind.>>

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