無作妙用 9. Past Mind, Present Mind, Future Mind Cannot Get Enlightenment

[선혜]

無作妙用

9. Past Mind, Present Mind, Future Mind Cannot Get Enlightenment

The great Sutra Master Dok Sahn was very famous throughout China for his Knowledge of the Diamond Sutra. For years he always carried it wherever he went, stopping at temples and lecture halls throughout the country. One day, he learned that there was a temple in the South where the monks did nothing all day but sit facing the wall and sleep, and they still got enlightenment. "That's crazy," Dok Sahn thought. "They don't understand Buddha's teaching, Buddha's actions, or Buddha's mind. How can they get enlightenment? I'll go hit them, wake them up, and teach them the way of sutras."

So he walked south several hundred miles. One afternoon, he decided to rest for a little while at a small tea house. It was past lunch time, and he was very hungry. The owner, an old women, was honored to have such a great monk stop at her tea house. She bowed to him and said, "Good afternoon, great monk! Where are you coming from?"

"From the North."

"Where are you going?"

"South."

"Why are you going south?"

"I am a Diamond Sutra Master," Dok Sahn replied. "At a temple in the South, the monks only sit facing the wall, sleep, and still get enlightenment. That's crazy! So I will go hit them, wake them up and teach them the Diamond Sutra."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" the women said. "You are a Diamond Sutra Master! Well, I have a question for you. If you answer correctly, your lunch is free. But if you are wrong, I cannot serve you any lunch."

Dok Sahn grew very angry at this. "Shut up! You are speaking to a Diamond Sutra Master! My knowledge of it is unparalleled throughout the land! Ask me anything!"

"Good," the women said. "Now, the Diamond Sutra says, 'Past mind cannot get enlightenment, present mind cannot get enlightenment, and future mind cannot get enlightenment.' So I ask you, with what kind of mind will you eat lunch?"

Dok Sahn jaw dropped. He stammered but could not answer and his face turned red. He was completely stuck. The old women said, "You've studied the great Diamond Sutra for ten years! If you cannot answer this question, how will you teach the sleeping monks of the South?"

1. This world is complete stillness. Where do north and south come from?

2. What is mind?

3. The women asked, "Past mind cannot get enlightenment, present mind cannot get enlightenment, and future mind cannot get enlightenment. What kind of mind will you eat lunch?" If you were Dok Sahn, what could you do?

COMMENTARY: Silence is better than holiness, so one action is better than all sutras. If you are attached to words and speech, you won't understand a melon's taste; you will only understand its outside form. If you want to understand a melon's taste, then cut a piece and put it in your mouth. A melon grows and ripens by itself; it never explains to human beings its situation and condition.

If you are attached to the sutras, you only understand Buddha's speech. If you want to attain Buddha's mind, then from moment to moment put down your opinion, condition and situation. Only help all beings. Then Buddha appears in front of you. This is enlightenment and freedom from life and death.