The Zen of Zen master Linji (J., Rinzai) has only one interpretation which is spiritual, not several, at least this is the case for anyone who is attuned to pure Mind; who has witnessed, directly, its luminous, animative nature, including it universality, and its mysterious positive absence where only its phenomena appear.
When Linji said:
“One man is endlessly on the way, yet has never left home. Another has left home, yet is not on the way. Which one deserves the offerings of humans and gods?” (viii)
We need to believe that there is no confusion here. It is a straightforward fact for anyone who has personally witnessed pure Mind. When it is seen that phenomena or appearances are Mind-only (composed of pure Mind) so that duality is but an illusion, their home is boundless and transcendent. They actually never left it although it seemed otherwise. No matter where they go home is present.
As for the other person who wants to become a monk or wants to someday become a Zen master they can't remember their true home so that their path always runs counter to it. Such a person might believe that pure Mind or the unborn Mind is their awareness, or there is no such thing as kensho (seeing one's true nature)—it’s all a big joke in other words. Such a person is incapable of overcoming their ignorance which they believe to be knowledge!
Ironically, this person is always animated by the power of pure Mind but he or she refuses to turn to it—turned, instead, to the the body of birth and death. Such people would rather indulge in what is animated. They are like an idiot who believes that fallen leaves are self-moving because he can't see the wind that moves them! Such people don't deserve any offerings!
And sometimes this person might be still buried under a mountain of ignorance due to concupiscence and a desire to scold heretics. This is a case very familiar to me.
Posted by: n. yeti | April 29, 2015 at 10:48 PM