Flowers Fade, Weeds Flourish

It was particularly hot in China one day around, say, 800 AD, and Zen Master Hotetsu, a former student of Baso, was using a fan to cool himself, lightly sweeping the air over his face.

Many monks passed the old master by as they scurried about their duties, but seeing him relaxed in the shade with his fan, they thought it would be rude to interrupt him. However, one particular monk was sincere about his quest and noticed an opportunity to resolve a question that had been bothering him for years: if buddha-nature is already present - is everywhere and in everything, including us - why then, he wondered, was it necessary to engage in spiritual practice? So the monk approached Master Hotetsu and said, “The nature of air is to be ever-present, and there is no place that air cannot reach. Why then does the master use a fan?”

The wise old master immediately saw his student's dilemma and said, “You have only understood that the nature of air is to be ever-present, but you do not yet know the truth that there is no place air cannot reach." Hotetsu was saying that the monk’s understanding that buddha-nature is ever-present was correct, but he did not yet realize the way its ever-present nature manifests itself everywhere. The monk only understood mere philosophical theory, but the master was challenging him to notice concrete facts.

The monk followed the master’s line of reasoning, and accepted the challenge to take the next step. so he asked, "What is the truth of there being no place air cannot reach?” In other words, how does buddha-nature manifest everywhere?

At this, the master just continued to use the fan, the experience of the cool air simultaneous with the fanning. Fanning and the experience of air always go together. The realization of the state of buddhahood and the practice of a buddha always go together. Practice and enlightenment are one.

The monk, having cleared up his confusion, performed prostrations. He used the fan of practice to actualize buddha-nature. Authentic spiritual practice, such as the monk’s prostrations, and buddhahood were manifested simultaneously.

“Knowing” or “understanding” that buddha-nature is ever-present is not the same as experiencing its ever-present nature. To conclude that spiritual practice is not necessary is merely to demonstrate delusion about buddha-nature. Since buddha-nature is everywhere, authentic practice can always manifests its realization and can cause the whole universe to manifest as the way of complete, unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment.