Epilogue
The Venerable Ones told us only one thing: head cannot be seen, tail is not here at all. It thinks. Not only this; it moves. Yet nowhere can the traces be seen.
We have loved to conceptualize about this thing. Besides the One, Soul, Truth, Life, or Holiness, sometimes it is called God, sometimes world-savior, sometimes even devil.
But why and where are they only with us? The name now becomes our God, and whether you like it or not, it is also called Buddha!
Different people carried different names for them. Then what does this mean?
No need to conclude understanding here; it is all up to you. I don't care what you think. This is a privilege of your life. We have the right and responsibility to choose and to argue this matter.
We have the choice to select the word Buddha. I have to emphasize the meaning of Buddha; it simply means the enlightened one. We have to particularly emphasize this meaning so much because all religion can be observed as easily clinging to authority and absolute power over the human-world. We seem to naturally establish God-worshiping to control the inherent liberal nature of the human-being instead of seeing the utmost perfection of the mind.
We have been struggling for so long trying to understand the past, the present and the future. Our past is untraceable. Our present, that we call the here-and-now, is already gone. Our future is uncertain. We have created the idea of time but we cannot explain with good reasoning what time is.
Identical and different are the same in content. We have no idea and yet we guess at distinguishing between good and bad and right and wrong.
Son, Zen, Ch'an; they are beyond those concepts because they go beyond time and space. Time and space are inside of our mind and are not the outer perspectives.
Gathas are the traditional way that the Patriarchs have conveyed the mind to mind transmission. The Patriarchs point the way using few words to the right person who is able to hold the Dharma in good hands. They can never say, “You are my only son”, or “This is Buddha’s word”, or "This is really the Truth”.
Understanding Buddhism is a very different matter and cannot be conveyed with words. But words can sometimes be a point of departure for the student to individually accomplish his own understanding of his own Mind and not a result of what the Patriarch has said.
Here then is a good look at some mind to mind transmission Gathas [Four Verse Lines]. There is no time and space in this world; nothing but your vast yet pervasive mind. There is no difference and identity; in your brightened mind darkness is already diminished, do not carry the idea of discrimination that it is true. This is four lines of the world; as also distinguished four faithful words; suffering, totality of causation, complete vanishment, and the utmost realization without movements.
1. Korean Master Kyung-Ho, the 75th Patriarch from Buddha, to Mann-gong.
Cloud and Mountain; no longer one or the same.
Not even a mention of either tradition or lineage.
I now transmit this formless and wordless seal
Into thy good hands, Moon Face.
2. From Mann-gong, the 76th Patriarch from Buddha, to Hye-am.
Cloud and Mountain; never identical nor different.
Our family does not keep tradition or lineage at all.
I now give this seal that cannot be given, onto thee Hye-am,
The Wisdom Hut, without in and out door.
3. From Hye-am, the 77th Patriarch from Buddha, to Myo-vong.
Neither Cloud nor Mountain; not identical nor different.
Neither tradition nor lineage can be seen here.
I now hand this seal of no seal onto thee,
Myo Vong; the utmost summit that can be tread!
(Update time : 2008-08-29 오전 5:37:20, view : 1039)
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