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Autumn Retreat - The Recorded Sayings of Linji

Thich Nhat Hanh · November 30, 2003 · New Hamlet, Plum Village, France

Apart from sitting motionless facing the wall, Chinese Zen also has two opposing tendencies:

Koan Zen, advocated by Great Master Dahui Zonggao, seeks to “break through the koan” to achieve a breakthrough in insight.
Silent illumination Zen—sitting quietly, illuminating the inner mind—was criticized by Linji as a “dark, gloomy pit,” only stillness without movement, easily falling into delusion.

To avoid falling into “profound words and phrases,” Great Master Dahui Zonggao burned all printed copies of the Blue Cliff Record for nearly two centuries, even though this work, compiled by Yuanwu, was considered “a marvelous literary masterpiece.” Master Linji reminded us that the words of the ancients are only “dry bones,” meant to break attachments and bring liberation, not for us to “cling to profound ideas.”

Regarding methods of application when receiving those who come for consultation, there are three types of psychological dispositions, each requiring a different way of “seizing the situation” and/or “seizing the Dharma”:

For those of below-average capacity: seize the situation, but not the Dharma.
For those of above-average capacity: seize both the situation and the Dharma.
For those of the sharpest capacity: do not seize the situation, but seize the Dharma or the person.

We often suffer because of four things: gain or loss, right or wrong, injustice or justice, being misunderstood or not. When we penetrate reality, we see that these are only “empty names,” and those afflictions dissolve, leading to freedom and happiness.

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1h 16m

Acting Like a Free Person

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1h 19m