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Worldly Dust, Lost to the Path (Session 10)
In the ninth assembly of “Cư Trần Lạc Đạo,” the Teacher reviews a series of koans from the Chinese Zen Patriarchs – from the story of Old Wang cutting the cat illustrating the state of delusion and discrimination, to the images of Zhaozhou putting his sandals on his head, Li Tong driving away the dog, Xing Si at the Luling rice market, Breaking the stove and smashing the shrine, Linji’s sword blade, Bi Ma with the cane, Shitou’s slippery rock, Gouzi raising a finger, and so on – to point out how the Zen masters evoked insight through lively language, stimulating a “gut breakthrough” in the practitioner’s mind, transcending all binding theories.
From these examples, three core principles of Zen are affirmed:
- relying on self-power rather than other-power
- emphasizing practice over knowledge
- leaning towards engagement in the world rather than withdrawal from the world
and two main methods:
• using lively language rather than conceptual doctrine
• prioritizing the breakthrough method over the supplementary method
Entering the phase of the “modernization of Buddhism,” the Teacher proposes three aspects of ethics that should be present in daily life:
– ethics of non-action (realization brings solidity, freedom, and peace right in the silence)
– ethical speech (words arising from insight, inspiring instead of dry doctrine)
– ethics of action (actions arising from love and understanding to serve society)