Zen has had its share of iconoclastic teachers through the ages. Among the earlier ones from the Tang Dynasty in China was Mazu Daoyi (709–788). His direct teacher was Nanyue Huairang, Dharma heir of Huineng. (Note—Let’s assume that years, lineages, quotations, etc. may all be apocryphal, but we’ll go with whatever history is says is true, because we have no reason to doubt or swear to the accuracy of any of it). When Mazu Wass a young monk, he was feverishly sitting in meditation. You can almost imagine the sweat on his brow, he’s sitting with such fervor.
Nanyue Huairang comes up to him and says, “Whatcha up to, young monk?” (We can apply the doubt/no doubt model to quotes I’m obviously paraphrasing…or am I?). Mazu says, “I’m meditating to become a buddha.” Upon hearing this, Nanyue picks up a brick, and starts rubbing it. “What are you doing there, Master?” asks a quizzical Mazu. “I’m polishing this brick to make it a mirror,” says Nanyue. “But trying to polish a brick won’t make it a mirror!” exclaims Mazu, even more confused. Nanyue then gives him the teaching—“So why do you think sitting in meditation will make you a Buddha?”
On the surface, it might appear that Nanyue is saying not to bother meditating, it won’t turn you into a Buddha. It might appear that he is being dismissive of Mazu, that he shouldn’t bother practicing. Both of these ideas would be incorrect, however. Nanyue, Mazu, all the Chan monks before and after meditated in one form or another, at one time or another. It might have been daily, it might have been for three month extended retreats. It was part of their job description as Chan (meditation) monks. But that’s not all they did in order to awaken. Bodhidharma said all that was required was for someone to to see their own True Nature.
The idea is that we all have this True Buddha Nature, we just haven’t realized it or cultivated it. No need to go looking for it outside oneself, it’s already there. It may however be covered over by the Three Poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, conceptual thinking, or any number of hindrances. But it’s there, just as the sun is there even if it’s a cloudy day.
One of these hindrances can be to think the world exists only in reference to us. A flock of ducks flies overhead, and Mazu asks his student, “What’s happened with the ducks?” His student replies, “They have flown away.” The ever-iconoclastic Mazu gives his nose a serious tweaking. “Why’d you do that, Master Ma?” Mazu points out that “away” only exists in reference to the student, not the ducks. The ducks are right where they are, the student is grasping at the location of the ducks in reference to himself, not the nature of reality. Ducks fly, ducks float. Ducks do duck things, without the need for my validation. They’re doing duck things even when I don’t notice them. Our Buddha Nature is there, being the nature of a Buddha. We may not notice it, we may assume it’s flown away when we do something less-than-wholesome. It doesn’t need my validation to be right there, never coming, never going. No matter how much I sit, no matter how many kongans I work on with my teacher, how much I chant or bow, it’s not more or less there. All these things can be helpful tools in sweeping away the delusions, but as Bodhidharma said, and Mazu and his Dharma heirs have taught even since, all that is required is to see your True Nature. And that nature is to help all sentient beings realize their True Nature also. Can’t do it for them, but you can teach them how to use a broom.
Min’Ui Maitri gave the Dharma talk July 31, 2024
