"Good friends, this dharma teaching of mine is based on meditation and wisdom. But don't make the mistake of thinking that meditation and wisdom are separate. Meditation and wisdom are of one essence and not two. Meditation is the body of wisdom, and wisdom is the function of meditation. Wherever you find wisdom, you find meditation, and wherever you find meditation, you find wisdom. Good friends, what this means is that mediation and wisdom are the same."Fellow students of the Way, be careful. Don't think that meditation comes first and then gives rise to wisdom or that wisdom comes first and gives rise to meditation or that meditation and wisdom are separate. For those who hold such views, the Dharma is dualistic: If the mouth speaks of goodness, but the mind doesn't think of goodness, meditation and wisdom aren't the same. But if goodness pervades both the mouth and the mind, if what is external and internal are alike, then mediation and wisdom are the same.
"The cultivation of self-awareness does not involve argument. People who argue about which comes first and which comes second only confuse themselves. Unless you put an end to right and wrong, you will give rise to self-existent dharmas, and you will never be free of the Four States."
- Hui Neng (638-713), from The Platform Sutra,
translated by the redoubtable Red Pine
1 comment:
yesterday, while I was rebuilding a bicyle, I thought of "scholars" like Dinesh D'Souza who know a million books and can turn out thick treatises with ample bibliographies and still manage to publish heartless twaddle. And at that point, it seemed clear that reason serves emotion. But as I noticed how pleased I was to come to such a tidy conclusion, I had to ammend the conclusion. Reason serves emotion in the mind that will not question or even observe its own workings.
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