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towards Enlightenment, i.e. the practice of turning the mind towards and striving to pierce the veils of sensory perception and conceptual thought in order to arrive at an intuitive perception of reality.

The single aim of the true Zen follower is so to train his mind that all thought-processes based on the dualism inseparable from ‘ordinary’ life are transcended, their place being taken by that Intuitive Knowledge which, for the first time, reveals to a man what he really is. If All is One, then knowledge of a being’s true self-nature—his original Self—is equally a knowledge of all-nature, the nature of everything in the universe.

To affirm or deny is to limit; to limit is to shut out the light of truth; but, as words of some sort must be used in order to set disciples on to the right path, there naturally arises a series of paradoxes—sometimes of paradox within paradox within paradox.

the Enlightened man is capable of perceiving both unity and multiplicity without the least contradiction between them!

To those who have realized the nature of Reality, there is nothing old or new, and conceptions of shallowness and depth are meaningless. Those who speak of it do not attempt to explain it, establish no sects and open no doors or windows.

PART ONE—THE CHÜN CHOU RECORD OF THE ZEN MASTER HUANG PO (TUAN CHI) A collection of sermons and dialogues recorded: by P’ei Hsiu while in the city of Chün Chou

1. The Master said to me: All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn{5} and indestructible. It is not green nor yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the categories of things which exist or do not exist, nor can it be thought of in terms of new or old.

They do not know that, if they put a stop to conceptual thought and forget their anxiety, the Buddha will appear before them, for this Mind is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings.

3. Mind is like the void in which there is no confusion or evil, as when the sun wheels through it shining upon the four corners of the world. For, when the sun rises and illuminates the whole earth, the void gains not in brilliance; and, when the sun sets, the void does not darken. The phenomena of light and dark alternate with each other, but the nature of the void remains unchanged.

AI Summary

The Zen Teachings of Huang Po by Huang Po His Yun presents key insights from the Zen tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.

Core Themes:

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Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.

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