In 1965, when I first began to study Buddhism I read several important books on Zen and Buddhism in general. I even tried to read D.T. Suzuki’s translation of the Lankavatara Sutra. Reflecting back on this time in my life it was all like listening to a song a hundred times over the radio but somehow the meaning of it eluded me.
I have met Buddhists who claim to have read John Blofeld’s translation of Huang-po’s sermons published as The Zen Teaching of Huang Po. To be frank, these people don’t get the meaning of One Mind. And I have to admit, neither did I when I first read Huang Po. Yes, it was exactly like listening to a song a hundred times or more being clueless as to what the artist was driving at.
Nothing I read during that period of my life was sinking in. No matter how profound the work, it just wasn’t getting through to me. By going through a tremendous spiritual crisis then, as a result, having a glimpse of pure Mind for the first time, I was able to begin to see what Buddhism was really all about. You could say, suddenly the lyrics of the song made sense! I came to realize there wasn’t anything hidden about Buddhism or Zen. However, if a person doesn’t catch a glimpse of pure Mind, which could take a spiritual crisis to do so, they will never understand where Zen is really coming from.
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