If you conceive of the Buddha in terms of the characteristics of purity, brilliance, and liberation, and if you conceive of sentient beings in terms … - Huangbo Xiyun

" "

If you conceive of the Buddha in terms of the characteristics of purity, brilliance, and liberation, and if you conceive of sentient beings in terms of the characteristics of impurity, darkness, and samsara—if your understanding is such as this, then you will never attain bodhi even after passing through eons [of religious practice] as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River. This is because you are attached to characteristics. There is only this One Mind and not the least bit of dharma that can be attained.

English
Collect this quote

About Huangbo Xiyun

Huangbo Xiyun (Simplified Chinese: 黄檗希运; Traditional Chinese: 黄檗希運; pinyin: Huángbò Xīyùn; Wade-Giles: 'Huang-po Hsi-yün') (died 850) was an influential Chinese master of Chan Buddhism. He was born in Fujian, China in Tang Dynasty. Later he became a monk in Huangbo Shan (lit. Huangbo Mountain), after which he was named.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Shi Xiyun Huangbo heshang Duanji chanshi Xiyun
PREMIUM FEATURE

Advanced Search Filters

Filter search results by source, date, and more with our premium search tools.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Additional quotes by Huangbo Xiyun

If one definitively understands that all dharmas are fundamentally nonexistent and that there is nothing that can be attained, with no reliance and no abiding, no subject and no object, without activating false thoughts—this is to realize bodhi. And when one realizes enlightenment, this is only to realize the fundamental Buddha of the mind. To pass through eons of effort is nothing but useless cultivation. Just as when the warrior attained his pearl he merely attained the pearl that was originally on his forehead, and this had nothing to do with his ability to seek elsewhere. Therefore the Buddha has said, “I have truly not attained anything in the ultimate bodhi.”

Sending the Buddha in search of the Buddha, grasping the mind with the mind, they may exhaust themselves in striving for an entire eon but will never get it. They do not understand that if they cease their thoughts and end their thinking, the Buddha will automatically be present.

Loading...