Philosophy
♥
One to One
♥
Beautiful Words
♥
Sights & Sounds
♥
Funny One!
Philosophy
Up, Up
and Away!
ALL THE
BUDDHAS and all sentient beings are nothing but the One
Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without
beginning, is unborn and indestructible. It is not green or
yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong
to the categories of things that exist or do not exist, nor can
it be thought of as new or old. It is neither long or short, big
or small, for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces
and comparisons. It is that which you see before you—begin to
reason about it, and you at once fall into error. It is the
boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured. The One
Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between
the Buddha and sentient beings.
Our original
Buddha-Nature is in the highest truth devoid of any atom of
objectivity. It is void, omnipresent, silent and pure; it is
glorious, mysterious and peaceful joy—that
is all. Enter deeply into it by awakening to it yourself. That
which is before you is it, in all its fullness,
utterly complete. There is nothing
beside it. Even if you go through all the stages of a
Bodhisattva’s progress towards Buddhahood one by one; when at
last in a single flash you attain to full realization, you will
only be realizing the Buddha-Nature that has been with you all
the time; and by all the foregoing stages you have added nothing
to it at all. You will come to look upon those aeons of work and
achievement as no better than unreal actions performed in a
dream. That is why Tathagata said: “I truly attained nothing
from complete, unexcelled Enlightenment.” He said: “This Dharma
is absolutely without distinctions, neither high nor low, and
its name is Bodhi."
It is pure Mind
which is the source of everything, and whether appearing as
sentient beings or as Buddhas, as the rivers and mountains of
the world of form, as the formless, or as penetrating the whole
universe, it is absolutely without distinctions, there being no
such entity as self or other.
Nothing is born,
nothing is destroyed. Away with your dualism. Every single thing
is just the One Mind. When you have perceived this, you will
have mounted the Chariot of the Buddhas.
Q: I’ve been reading the ancient scriptures for a long
time. I’ve concentrated on them as hard as I know how, but I
still can’t seem to grasp their meaning.
A: I don’t make people waste their time on old, worthless
documents. You don’t yet know about your Unborn Buddha-Mind and
its illuminative wisdom. I’ll tell you about it. That will take
care of everything. Pay careful attention.
What I call the “Unborn” is your Buddha-Mind. This Buddha-Mind
is unborn with a marvelous virtue of illuminative wisdom. In the
Unborn all things fall right into place and remain in perfect
harmony. When everything you do is according to the Unborn, the
eye that sees others as they are opens in you, and you know in
your own mind that everyone you see is a living Buddha. That’s
the reason why once you live in the Unborn you never fall back
into your old ways. The Unborn Buddha-Mind deals freely and
openly with everything that is presented.
When people are convinced that their Buddha-Mind is Unborn and
wonderfully illuminating, and they live in it, they are living
Buddhas from then on. The Unborn is the origin of all and the
beginning of all. There is no source apart from the Unborn, and
no beginning that is before the Unborn. Being Unborn means
dwelling at the very source of all the Buddhas.
Once you come to know without any doubt that the marvelous
illuminative wisdom of the Unborn is the Buddha-Mind, and that
the Buddha-Mind puts all things in perfect order by means of the
Unborn, you can no longer be deluded or led astray. People with
this unshakable conviction are called “the firm and
incontrovertible.” For today and endless future ages they are
Unborn, living Buddhas.
All things are perfectly resolved in the Unborn.
Q: I’ve practiced diligently for a long time, but even
when I think I’ve advanced to where I won’t backslide anymore,
there’s a strong tendency to do so, and sometimes I slip back.
How can I become so I won’t backslide?
A: Live in your Unborn Buddha-Mind. Then there’s no
regression. No need for advancement. Any idea of wanting to make
progress is already a regression from the place of the Unborn. A
man of the Unborn has nothing to do with advancing or
backsliding. He’s always beyond them both.
Since the Buddha-Mind takes care of everything by means of the
Unborn, it has nothing to do with Samsara or Nirvana. Seen from
the place of the Unborn, both are like shadows in a dream. There
can be no death for what was never born.
The marvelous brightness of the Buddha-Mind, by means of words,
is able to enlighten people and deliver them from their
illusions one by one. And when someone hears these words,
understands and affirms them, he will know for himself that the
Buddha-Mind’s wonderful brightness surpasses even the brightness
of the sun and moon.
What an incalculable treasure is your Buddha-Mind!
Fresh, newly born, each moment I am alive. Bubbling
volcano, vibrant light. Knowing
nothing, I am the child's eye, In awe,
amazed, wondering. I am the
heart, beating rhythmically.
Breathing in and out, I am. Born
again, a single point of eternity, Shining
bright, lighting the world, the universe, my creations. And
again born anew, without a clue, I witness the play.
I am alive, I am.
A man walking in a
freezing cold, blustery snowstorm was deep in prayer when all of
a sudden he said aloud, "Lord grant me one wish!" The snow
stopped, the wind softened, and a booming voice said,
"Because you have tried to be faithful I will grant you one
wish." The man said, "Build a bridge to the Hawaiian paradise so I
can drive over anytime I want to."
The Lord answered,
"Your request is very materialistic. Think of the logistics of
that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the
bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take. I
can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for
worldly things. Take a little more time to think of another
wish—a wish you think would honor and glorify me."
The man thought for
a long time and finally said, "Lord, I wish that I could
understand women. I want to know what they feel inside, what
they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment, why
they cry, what they mean when they say 'nothing', and how I can
make a woman truly happy?"
After a few
minutes God said, "How many lanes do you want on that bridge?"
The
One Life
● One Heart
● One Love
E-letter is compiled by Stephen
Wingate and is not for profit. It is distributed freely for
educational purposes. Copyrighted material may be used in
accordance with the doctrine of "fair use" as set forth in
Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act -Title 17 U.S. Code. If
your material has been used and you'd like it removed, contact
us and we'll remove it:
stephenwingate11@yahoo.com
ALL THE
BUDDHAS and all sentient beings are nothing but the One
Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without
beginning, is unborn and indestructible. It is not green or
yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong
to the categories of things that exist or do not exist, nor can
it be thought of as new or old. It is neither long or short, big
or small, for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces
and comparisons. It is that which you see before you—begin to
reason about it, and you at once fall into error. It is the
boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured. The One
Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between
the Buddha and sentient beings.
Q: I’ve been reading the ancient scriptures for a long
time. I’ve concentrated on them as hard as I know how, but I
still can’t seem to grasp their meaning. 
A man walking in a
freezing cold, blustery snowstorm was deep in prayer when all of
a sudden he said aloud, "Lord grant me one wish!" The snow
stopped, the wind softened, and a booming voice said,
"Because you have tried to be faithful I will grant you one
wish." The man said, "Build a bridge to the Hawaiian paradise so I
can drive over anytime I want to."