CHAPTER 16

The Master addressed the assembly, saying: "Men who today study the Way must have faith in themselves. Don't seek outside! But you just go on clambering after the realm of worthless dusts, never distinguishing the false from the true. For instance, [they say] that there are buddhas and patriarchs, [but their existence] is no more than a matter of the verbal evidence of the teachings. When someone brings forward a phrase or comes forth from within the concealed or the revealed, you are at once beset by doubt, appeal to heaven, appeal to earth, run to question your neighbors, and are utterly bewildered.

Resolute men, don't just pass your days in discussion and idle talk, arguing about authorities and outlaws, right and wrong, licentiousness and wealth. As for me, whoever comes here, whether he be monk or layman, I discern him through and through. Regardless of the manner in which he presents himself, as far as [his] words and phrases are concerned, they are all dreams and illusions. On the other hand, it is obvious that the man who avails himself of every circumstance is [embodying] the mysterious principle of all the buddhas. The state of buddhahood does not of itself proclaim, 'I am the state of buddhahood!'; rather than that, this very man of the Way, who is dependent upon nothing, comes forth availing himself of every state.

"If someone comes forth and asks me about seeking Buddha, I immediately appear in conformity with the state of purity; if someone asks me about bodhisattva hood, I immediately appear in conformity with the state of compassion; if someone asks me about Bodhi, I immediately appear in conformity with the state of pure mystery; if someone asks me about Nirvana, I immediately appear in conformity with the state of serene stillness. Though there be ten thousand differentiated states, the man himself does no differ. Therefore,

According with things he manifests a form,
Like the moon [reflecting] on the water.

"Followers of the Way, if you want to accord with Dharma as is, just be men of great resolve. If you spinelessly shilly-shally along, you're good for nothing. Just as a cracked jug is unfit to hold ghee, so he who would be a great vessel [of Dharma] must not be taken in by the deluded views of others. Make yourself master everywhere, and wherever you stand is the true [place].

"Whatever comes along, don't accept any of it. One thought of doubt, and instantly the demon [Mara] enters your mind. When even a bodhisattva doubts, the demon of birth-and-death takes the advantage. Just desist from thinking, and never seek outside. If something should come, illumine it. Just have faith in your activity revealed now - there isn't a thing to do.

One thought of your mind produces the three realms and, in accordance with casual conditions and influenced by circumstances, the division into the six dusts takes place. What is lacking in your present responsive activity! In an instant you enter the pure, enter the dirty, enter the Tower of Maitreya, enter the Land of the Three Eyes, and everywhere your travel all you see is empty names.