A monk asked, ‘Master, why do you say that mind is Buddha?’
Mazu said, ‘To stop babies from crying.’
The monk said, ‘What do you say when they stop crying?’
Mazu said, ‘No mind, no Buddha.’
The monk asked, ‘Without using either of these teachings, how would you instruct someone?’
Mazu said, ‘I would say to him that it’s not a thing.’
The monk asked, ‘If suddenly someone who was in the midst of it came to you, then what would you do?’
Mazu said, ‘I would teach him to experience the great way.’
Master Ma.
(Chan Master Mazu Daoyi 709–788)
From: Zen’s Chinese Heritage:
The Masters and Their Teachings,
By Andy Ferguson, Wisdom Publications.
Image: Bodhidharma,
China, 17th century
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Categories: Buddhism, Chan / Seon / Zen
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