If we talk about the ‘heart of the Buddha’s teaching” we are talking about the central or innermost part of Buddhism which is where Zen tries to go. If someone had asked Zhàozhōu (J., Joshu), “What is the heart of the teaching?” he might have said, “I hear you question,” or again, he might have said, “Here, have a cup of tea.” Zhàozhōu’s replies to many questions were even strange to monks of his time because few if any went far enough to be interested in the heart of the Buddha’s teaching, which, incidentally, drew me to Zen.
In my 72nd year on this planet I know the heart of the Buddha’s teaching. I discovered it in 1969 which for me was like finding a bar of gold. And wisely, I invested it and got even more dharma wealth in return.
How amazing when I look around me and see insects, birds, hawks, squirrels, a possum or two, and humans. All are moved by what the Buddha discovered under the Bodhi-tree. Humans, the pitiable creatures that they are, have no idea what gives them life, activates their vocal cords, or causes their bodies to move to and fro. Nor do they know whence comes their thoughts and to where they, by necessity, must return. How strange.
If you ask someone, “What animates you?” this is asking them, from the fact that they are obviously animated, to intuit, directly, the animative principle. Judging by the responses I have received from asking this question, nobody is able to intuit this principle. Once, I even asked a four year old. She answered, “My bones.” Not bad but not close.
So maybe the next question is, “Why can’t we intuit that which causes our bodies to move to and fro?” That is an excellent question. The answer is because our thoughts are in the way and no matter what we try, we can’t seem to get past them; even when the teacher smacks us with a bamboo flute. Sadly, people can’t see how they are deluding themselves by chasing after this principle, trying to think it into being or worse, trying to think of not-thinking it into being. Sorry, it can’t be done that way.
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