Rev. Danny Fisher

Today’s quote comes from the eighth/ninth-century Ch’an master and poet Huang Po.  It’s translated by John Blofeld, and appears in Jack Kornfield’s Teachings of the Buddha, pg. 139-140.

By the Dharma is meant the heart, for there is no Dharma apart from the heart.  Heart is no other than the Dharma, for there is no heart apart from the Dharma.  The heart in itself is empty, and there is no such empty heart either.  When the empty heart is sought after by the heart, this is making it a particular object of thought.  There is only testimony of silence, it goes beyond thinking.  Therefore it is said that the Dharma cuts off the passage to words and puts an end to all forms of mental activities.

The heart is the source, the pure Buddha-nature that is inherent in all of us.  All sentient beings, however mean and degraded, are not in this particular respect different from Buddhas and bodhisattvas–they are all of one substance.  Only because of their imagination and false discrimination, sentient beings work out their karma and reap its result, while in their Buddha-nature itself there is nothing corresponding to it.  The essence is empty and allows everything to pass through; it is quiet and at rest, it is illuminating, it is peaceful and productive of bliss.  When you have within yourself a deep insight into this, you immediately realize that all that you need is there in perfection and in abundance, and nothing is at all wanting or lacking in you.