The Mirror of Zen: The Classic Guide to Buddhist Practice by Zen Master So Sahn

The Mirror of Zen: The Classic Guide to Buddhist Practice by Zen Master So Sahn

Author:Zen Master So Sahn
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 1590303849
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Published: 2012-09-04T00:00:00+00:00


54

When studying Buddhist sutras, if you do not reflect deeply on your own mind at the same time, you could study the entire 84,000-volume canon of the Buddha’s words and still it would not do you any good whatsoever.

Commentary

The previous chapter described the inner nature of wise study of the sutras; this teaching tells how one may do the same study unwisely. Just mouthing or reading words without interior reflection on mind makes your actions no different from those of a bird chirping on a spring day, or an insect buzzing through an autumn night. Kuei-feng taught, “Just reading the sutras and chasing after the literal meaning of the words themselves, from its very origin, is study that cannot lead you to an awakening. Interpreting texts and analyzing the meaning of words merely produces heaps of desire, anger, and ignorant, mistaken views.”1



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