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How Is Your True Face
If next week I were to die, what needs to be done is not to build a grand temple or establish a center, but to deeply contemplate the meaning of life through small yet continuous actions from my youth until now. A leaf does not need to accomplish great things; it simply lives each day fully, absorbing sunlight, air, water, and minerals, then transforms raw sap into refined sap to nourish the tree; the leaf nourishes the tree, the tree nourishes the leaf, just as a practitioner nourishes themselves and the Buddha each moment with mindful in-breaths and out-breaths. Through the practice of walking meditation, sitting meditation, smiling, transforming body and mind, and serving the world, the practitioner has nothing special to do before dying, because all the work of the Buddha has long been accomplished and will continue for countless lifetimes.
The ultimate purpose of practice is to discover our original face—the true face, the real person without a fixed position, transcending all forms, age, and old beliefs. The question “Who am I?” is a koan inviting contemplation of non-self and impermanence, letting go of all attachments to self, to person, to sentient beings, and to lifespan, in order to realize the indestructible ontological ground of the Dharma body, manifesting in our body, speech, and mind, as well as in our teachers and ancestors. When we touch this profound nature, the practitioner attains true freedom, transcending the fear of birth and death, and continues the stream of nourishment for ancestors, descendants, Buddhas, and patriarchs.
- The four notions to transcend according to the Diamond Sutra: self, person, sentient being, lifespan
- The three bodies of the Buddha: Dharma body (indestructible ontological ground), Reward body (perfect retribution), Transformation body (manifesting in countless forms)
- The great vow koan: “Who am I?”—an arrow piercing through discrimination, leading us back to our unborn, undying nature
- Means of practice: sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindfulness of the Buddha—each mindful breath nourishes the Buddha and nourishes ourselves
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No birth, no death in the stream of continuation