#bankei

When we look back on this life, we see that when people are born, no one has thoughts of joy, sadness, hatred, bitterness. Are we not born with the state of Buddha mind, given by our parents? But once intelligence develops, we learn habits from others, and the Buddha mind is turned into a monster because of self-importance. We argue, lose our temper muse over useless things, repeat the same thoughts again and again… It is darkness to darkness in an endless cycle.

A layman: Master, I've heard that you can see right into people's minds. Right now, what am I thinking?

When we look back on this life, we see that when people are born, no one has thoughts of joy, sadness, hatred, bitterness. Are we not born with the state of Buddha mind, given by our parents? But once intelligence develops, we learn habits from others, and the Buddha mind is turned into a monster because of self-importance. We argue, lose our temper muse over useless things, repeat the same thoughts again and again... It is darkness to darkness in an endless cycle.

“Your wanting to realize buddhahood as quickly as you can is useless to begin with. Since the Buddha Mind you have from your parents is unborn and marvelously illuminating, before even a single thought is produced, all things are recognized and distinguished without resorting to any cleverness. Without attaching to [notions of] ‘enlightened’ or ‘deluded,’ just remain in the state where all things are recognized and distinguished. Let things take care of themselves, and whatever comes along will be smoothly managed—whether you like it or not!

“Where can you find anyone who steals because his karma is deep or his sins heavy? Stealing is the karma, stealing is the sin! If it weren’t for stealing, that sin and karma couldn’t exist. Whether you steal or whether you don’t depends on the present state of your own mind, not on your past karma. And what I’m telling you now doesn’t go only for stealing. Generally speaking, all delusions are just the same as stealing. Whether you’re going to be deluded or you’re not going to, all depends on the present state of your own mind. When you’re deluded, you’re an unenlightened being; when you’re not deluded, you’re a buddha. There’s no special shortcut to being a buddha beyond this. Isn’t it so? Everyone, realize this conclusively!”

Unborn and imperishable Is the original mind Earth, water, fire and wind A temporary lodging for the night Attached to this Ephemeral burning house You yourselves light the fire, kindle the flames In which you’re consumed Search back To the time When you were born You can’t remember a thing at all! Keep your mind as it was When you came into the world And instantly this very self Is a living “thus-come” one Ideas of What’s good, what’s bad All due to This self of yours In winter, a bonfire Spells delight But when summertime arrives What a nuisance it becomes! And the breezes You loved in summer Even before autumn’s gone Already have become a bother When you’ve got money You despise the poor But have you forgotten how it was Back when you were poor yourself? The money you amassed in life Amassed with a demonic heart You’ll watch with horror and alarm Seized upon by hungry ghosts Throwing your whole life away Sacrificed to the thirst for gold But when you saw your life was through All your money was no use Clinging, craving and the like I don’t have them on my mind That’s why nowadays I can say The whole world is truly mine! Your longing for the one you love Is for the present time alone It only exists by reason of The past before she’d come along To recall someone Means you can’t forget Not to recall them That you never had forgot Thinking back over the past You find it was an evening’s dream Realize that, and you’ll see Everything is just a lie Those who feel embittered by Life in this floating world of grief Anguish themselves, distress their minds Brooding over empty dreams Since, after all, this floating world Is unreal Instead of holding onto things in Your mind, go and sing! Only original mind exists In the past and in the future too Instead of holding onto things in Your mind, let them go! When you don’t attach to things The floating world will cease to be Nothing is left, nothing at all That’s what “living tathagata” means Having created The demon mind yourself When it torments you mercilessly You’re to blame and no one else When you do wrong Your mind’s the demon There’s no hell To be found outside Abominating hell Longing for heaven You make yourself suffer In a joyful world You think that good Means hating what is bad What’s bad is The hating mind itself Good, you say, Means doing good Bad indeed The mind that says so! Good and bad alike Roll them both into one ball Wrap it up in paper and then Toss it out—forget it all! Mysteries and miracles— There are no such things! But when you fail to understand The world’s full of weird happenings This is the phantom Who deceives Who makes us take the false world To be real Fame, wealth, eating and drinking, sleep and sensual delight— Once you’ve learned the Five Desires They become Your guide in life Notions of what one should do Never existed from the start Fighting about what’s right, what’s wrong That’s the doing of the I When your study Of Buddhism is through You find You haven’t anything new Enlightenment and delusion too Never existed at the start They’re ideas that you picked up Things your parents never taught9 If you think the mind That attains enlightenment Is “mine” Your thoughts will wrestle, one with the other These days I’m not bothering about Getting enlightenment all the time And the result is that I wake up in the morning feeling fine! Praying for salvation in the world to come Praying for your own selfish ends Is only piling on more and more Self-centeredness and arrogance Nowadays I’m tired of Praying for salvation too I just move along at my ease Letting the breath come and go Die—then live Day and night within the world Once you’ve done this, then you can Hold the world right in your hand! It’s the buddhas I feel sorry for: With all those ornaments they wear They must be Dazzled by the glare! Still too soon for you to be A buddha in the temple shrine Make yourself a Deva King Standing at the gate outside! If you search for the Pure Land Bent upon your own reward You’ll only find yourself despised By the Buddha after all! People have no enemies None at all right from the start You create them all yourself Fighting over right and wrong Clear are the workings of cause and effect You become deluded, but don’t know It’s something that you’ve done yourself That’s what’s called self-centeredness Grown used to the conditioned world Grown used to the world of transience When you become deluded like this You’re the one who’s losing out! The mind that’s not conditioned Is originally unborn What is conditioned doesn’t exist That is why there’s no delusion Though the years may creep ahead Mind itself can never age This mind that’s Always just the same Wonderful! Marvelous! When you’ve searched and found at last The one who never will grow old —“ I alone!” The Pure Land Where one communes at peace Is here and now, it’s not remote Millions and millions of leagues away When someone tosses you a tea bowl — Catch it! Catch it nimbly with soft cotton With the cotton of your skillful mind!