Heretics and Buddhas

"During the time of the Buddha, there were some who slandered him and became disciples of heretics and demons." -- Mud & Water by Bassui, edited by A. Braverman

While some might wish to think of  "Heretics" in conjunction with an event such as the Christian-fueled Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades of Europe, fewer would bring the name of the Buddha to mind. Yet the great Zen master, Bassui does. It seems that all thinking souls are moved to discernment. He writes:

"Today's students of the Way go to teachers everywhere, but they don't want to penetrate all the way to the bottom of the great matter. They journey to the east, to the west, north and south, and take pride in having met many teachers. They try to surpass others with Zen stories and they collect paradoxical words and clever expressions from old masters. These are the ways of Heretics."

Writing further on the subject, Bassui delves into the value of knowledge. He writes of the karmic affinity for the way. Stating that some people have an affinity for the way while others do not, so if your karma does not discern a natural attraction, one that is immediate and affected, then you  neither trust nor believe what is taught. If, on the other hand, affinity is present, then that person will form a natural and easy bond with you. "Whether you follow the right path, or the path of heretics, depends upon your karmic inclination....A truly good teacher...does not destroy people's sight."

The Meaning of Looking at the Self with Hatred

"The root of life and death is the discriminating mind." Mud and Water by Bassui

"Looking at one's self is as intense as hatred for the enemy. What is the meaning of this?" When you awaken to your true nature, wrote the Zen master Bassui, you cut off the wheel of reincarnation. Awakening to your many virtues, you bring benefit to the lives of others also. Bassui wrote, "In the self, there is true and false. The discriminating mind is false; the Buddha-nature is true. Beginning practitioners mistakenly take things like the [ability to] emit light and perform miracles which are really the roots of ignorance, being activities of the mind, for the clear expression of Buddha nature." He further noted that as long as students of the Way "haven't eradicated their discriminating minds, all their activities and words are the deeds of karmic consciousness"; they are not in accord with the Way.

"If, he wrote,'you clearly eliminate the drunken mind, drunken rages will instantly stop, and mind and body will be calm and quiet. If you want to recover completely from your illness, then stay free when sitting, lying down or doing walking meditation. And don't rely on another's power. Just stop your wandering, look penetratingly into your inherent nature and concentrating your spiritual energy, sit in
Zazen ... then you will for the first time, attain liberation." He further explains that if one only seeks to stop his movement, to contain his spiritual energy, then his consciousness will be that of one searching after a robber and treating him like a child. That, Bassui concludes is why one must regard the self with the fresh hatred of viewing an enemy. Only then will you succeed.