Was reading the
THE ZEN TEACHINGS OF BODHIDHARMA overseas and thought of
sharing this in this thread:
The sutras say that someone who
wholeheartedly invokes the Buddha is sure to be reborn in the
Western Paradise. Since is door leads to Buddhahood, why seek
liberation in beholding the mind?
If youre going to invoke the Buddha, you have to do it right.
Unless you understand what invoking means, youll do it wrong. And
if you do it wrong, youll never go anywhere.
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that
prevents evil from arising in either. And to invoke means to call
to mind, to call constantly to mind the rules of discipline and to
follow them with all your might. This is whats meant by invoking.
Invoking has to do with thought and not with language. If you use a
trap to catch fish, once you succeed you can forget the trap. And
if you use language to find meaning, once you find it you can
forget language. To invoke the Buddhas name you have to understand
the Dharma of invoking. If its not present in your mind, your
mouth chants an empty name. As long as youre troubled by the three
poisons or by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mind will keep you
from seeing the Buddha and youll only waste your effort. Chanting
and invoking are worlds apart, Chanting is done with the mouth.
Invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking comes from the
mind, its called the door to awareness. Chanting is centered in
the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while
searching for meaning, you wont find a thing. Thus, sages of the
past cultivated introspection and not speech. This mind is the
source of all virtues. And this mind is the chief of all powers,
The eternal bliss of nirvana comes from the mind at rest. Rebirth
in the three realms also comes from the mind. The mind is the door
to every world and the mind is the ford to the other shore. Those
who know where the door is dont worry about reaching it. Those who
know where the ford is dont worry about crossing it.
