| TaoSandwich |
08-01-2015 05:02 PM |
"My teacher said, "Suppose a bit of filth is stuck on the tip of the nose of a sleeping man, totally unknown to him. When he wakes up, he notices a foul smell; sniffing his shirt, he thinks his shirt stinks, and so he takes it off. But then whatever he picks up stinks; he doesn't realize the odor is on his nose. If someone who knows tells him it has nothing to do with the things themselves, he stubbornly refuses to believe it. The knowing one tells him to simply wipe his nose with his hand, but he won't. Were he willing to wipe his nose, only then could he know he was already getting somewhere; finally he would wash it off with water and there would be no foul odor at all. Whatever he smelled, that foul odor wouldn't be there from the start. Studying Zen is also like this; those who will not stop and watch themselves on their own instead pursue intellectual interpretation, but the pursuit of intellectual interpretation, seeking rationales and making comparative judgments, is all completely off. If you would turn your attention around and watch yourself, you would understand everything."
-Zen Master Foyan
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