The resistance towards or a disregard for introspection that leads to intuition of spirit requires not a weak will but a strong, inflexible will. Those who are fixated on the habit of forming thoughts, like the intellectual, will resist the authentic practice of Zen.
If a Zen master is awakened, having directly intuited pure spirit or pure Mind, they can’t help but being identified (samādhi) with this spirit before it is congealed into a thought (this spirit you could even call the Buddha-nature). In that regard, their mind operates differently than the mind of a non-awakened individual. This we see in the Zen literature of koans.
A small dog, for example, is only an ensemble or composition of Buddha-nature—but not the nature or spirit itself which is uncomposed. The Japanese word Mu (無) is only a formation of spirit not the spirit itself. When we read the koan about the small dog of Jōshū (趙州狗子) and his reply Mu, our mind automatically looks for a Mu-thought. We not only fail to intuit this unformed spirit or Buddha-nature, we remain stuck on the dog/狗 and Mu/無.
Getting the Zen student to give up their unconscious habit of forming spirit into various thoughts thereby missing direct intuition of spirit, is the central feature of Zen training. Short of this, Zen is taken over by rituals and seated meditation which only act as a diversion. Zen has essentially had intuition removed and re-interpreted.
Residing there in an abode for disciplining the spirit, an ashram, or temple, he, engaging in yoga exercises, turned inwards away from his senses and fixed his mind on the true self. Fully absorbed in that self he detached himself from the direction of the modes, from time, and devoted himself to the Absolute in the form of the Lord who is pure consciousness [skt. Chaitanya].
Bhagavata Purana - Chapter 2
Posted by: Jung | March 16, 2021 at 03:42 AM