The Perfect Mind

28 August 2001, 01:26am IST
Kailash Vajpeyi.

Zen is japanese for the sanskrit dhyana, the inner art and design of self-searching through meditation. in modern times it has become so popular that it is slowly becoming a cliche.

nowhere is the paradox in zen better illustrated than in the teachings of chinese monk huang po, who provided an entire new meaning to the word zen. he lived below the vulture peak and delivered lectures to a handful of people in such a fashion that most of his students thought of him as not a very kind hearted man. in the history of buddhism, huang po is remembered for his non-zen buddhism. according to him `meditation' is a misleading word.


if `objectlessness' is the goal of meditation then it may well be taken to lead to a sleepless trance, which is not the aim of zen. if we shut out the phenomenal world by closing our eyes, we only indulge in self-delusion. in non-zen buddhism we try to reach the point where all variations and distinctions are seen to be void and where everything looks to be either desirable or undesirable.


``enlightenment'', says huang po, ``comes in a flash''. there is no such thing as gradual or partial enlightenment. when the water is boiling, we do not say it is partially boiling and also no qualitative change occurs during the period when it gets hotter and hotter.


a number of buddhists have labelled the doctrine of huang po as an anti-thesis of buddhism. in fact, it is believed that more people achieve a sudden flash of enlightenment, than zen adepts. for example in india, lord chaitanya, ramakrishna paramhansa and guru nanak, achieved enlightenment in a fraction of a second.


in vulture valley, huang po often told his students that the mind is like the void in which there is no confusion or evil. this mind is not a mind of conceptual thought and it is completely detached from form. the mind is like the sun. it emits its glorious light totally uncontaminated by the finest particles of dust. the phenomena of light and dark alternate with each other, but the nature of the void remains the same. similarly, for people who have realised the nature of reality, there is nothing new or old. `depth' and `shallowness' are meaningless words.


the cosmos can reveal its mystery to any sentient being. so buddhas and sentient beings are not different from each other. if you can only rid yourself of conceptual thought, you will have accomplished everything. what invariably happens to most of us is that we indulge in conceptual thought based on text or environmental phenomenon, hence we are either obsessed with the idea of achieving an extraordinary state of mind or we are busy condemning ourselves.


what huang po suggests is to eliminate environmental phenomena and put an end to our conceptual thinking. when this ceases the void emerges. as a matter of fact the void already exists. it is only clouded by our aspirations and anxiety. thus all things are naught, but the intangible mind.


``the way the world is,'' says a follower of huang po, ``it couldn't be any other way. it is neither well nor not well it simply is.'' so stop trying to change others, first of all clean your own muck. the pure mind shines forever and on with the brilliance of its own perfection. but the people of the world are not awake to it, regarding only that which ``sees, hears, feels and knows'' as the mind. blinded by their own sight, hearing and touch they do not perceive the spiritual brilliance of the source substance. if they would eliminate all conceptual thought in a flash, that source substance would manifest itself like the sun ascending through the void, illuminating all objects without hindrance.


normally, people think that the buddhas transmit the doctrine of the mind, and that there is something to be attained, apart from the mind; and thereupon they use the mind to seek dharma, not knowing that the mind cannot be used to seek something, which is already there behind the mind -- the void.


many people are afraid to empty their own minds lest they plunge into the void. they do not know that their own mind is the void. the void is eternal. it existed when there was no ``before''. it will survive even after, when survival ceases to exist. ``if you try to define void,'' says huang po, ``you are contaminating it.'' therefore, refrain from giving it any terms of reference. you will find there is no difference between sentient beings and buddhas, between samsara and nirvana, between delusion and bodhi.'' when all such forms are abandoned there is the buddha or enlightenment.