Chapter 14

Someone asked: "What is 'true insight?'"

The Master said: "You have only at any time to enter the secular, enter the sacred, enter the defiled, enter the pure, enter the land of all the buddhas, the Tower of Maitreya, and the dharmadhatu of Vairocana, and [enter] all the lands everywhere which you manifest [that] come into being, exist, decay, and disappear.

"The Buddha came into the world, turned the Wheel of the Great Dharma, then entered Nirvana, yet no trace of his coming and going can be seen. Though you seek [proof of] his birth and death, you will never find it.

"Then, having entered the Birthless Dharmadhatu and traveled throughout every country, you enter the Lotus-womb Realm, and there see through and through that all dharmas are characterized by emptiness and that there are no real dharmas whatsoever.

"There is only the man of the Way, listening to my discourse, dependent upon nothing- he it is who is the mother of all buddhas. Therefore buddhas are born from non-dependence. Awaken to non-dependence, and there is no Buddha to be obtained, either. Insight such as this is true insight.

"Students do not comprehend this, and, because they adhere to names and phrases and are obstructed by such terms as 'secular' and 'sacred' becloud their Dharma Eye and cannot obtain clarity of vision. Take for instance the twelve divisions of the teachings - all are but expositions in written words. Not understanding this, students form interpretations based upon names and written words. Being dependent, they fall into causation; they don't escape the round of birth-and-death in the three realms.

"If you want to freely live or die, go or stay, to take off or put on [your clothes], then right now recognize the man who is listening to my discourse. He is without form, without characteristics, without root, without source, and without any dwelling place, yet is brisk and lively. As for all his manifold responsive activities, the place where they are carried on is, in fact, no-place. Therefore when you look for him, he retreats farther and farther; when you seek him, he turns more and more the other way: this is called the 'Mystery'.

"Follower of the Way, don't acknowledge your illusory companion, the body: sooner or later it will return to impermanence. What kind of thing are you looking for within this world that [you think] will give you emancipation! You look for a mouthful of food to eat and while away the time patching your robe. You should be searching for a good teacher. Don't drift along [like this] pursuing comfort. Value every second. Each successive thought is impermanent. The gross material [of which you are composed] is at the mercy of the four phases, birth, being, decay, and death. Followers of the Way, you must right now apprehend the state in which the four [elements and four phases] are formless to avoid being buffeted about by circumstances."