Wake Up Now by Stephan Bodian

Author:Stephan Bodian
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Published: 2008-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

Formal Self-Inquiry: Unfindability

The approach to self-inquiry known as “unfindability” is exemplified in the famous exchange between the founder of Chinese Zen, Bodhidharma, and the Confucian scholar Hui-k’o. While sitting quietly gazing at the wall of the cave where he spent nine years in meditation, Bodhidharma was approached by Hui-k’o, who earnestly sought his instruction. “I have not yet found peace of mind,” Hui-k’o said. “Please pacify my mind for me.”

“Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it for you,” Bodhidharma replied.

Hui-k’o spent weeks in fervent self-inquiry, attempting to find his mind so he could take it to his teacher, but to no avail. At last, he went to Bodhidharma and said, “I have looked for my mind everywhere, but I’ve been unable to find it.”

“Ah,” said Bodhidharma. “Then I’ve succeeded in pacifying your mind for you.”

At this, Hui-k’o was enlightened. In other words, no matter how carefully he searched, Hui-k’o could not grasp the entity called mind, because such a substantial, separate mind (or self) simply doesn’t exist. Recognizing the essential emptiness and nonlocatability of mind, Hui-k’o finally awakened to the truth of his being.

The Tibetan Buddhist tradition known as Mahamudra (“great seal”), which I had the good fortune to practice under the guidance of several teachers, goes one step further by recommending that students ask a series of specific questions about mind and self that reveal their inherent unfindability. For example, I might ask you to examine the objects you call “mine” and find the so-called me to whom they belong. But no matter how hard you look, you won’t be able find it, because the body and mind are also “mine” and therefore can’t be the me to which “mine” refers. Or I might ask you to sit quietly in meditation and then attempt to locate the mind and determine its density, shape, color, and form. But no matter how earnestly you try, you won’t be able to answer these questions.

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