This Mind Is Buddha

Text

Daibai asked Baso: "What is Buddha?" Baso said: "This mind is Buddha." Mumon’s comment: If anyone wholly understands this, he is wearing Buddha's clothing, he is eating Buddha's food, he is speaking Buddha's words, he is behaving as Buddha, he is Buddha. This anecdote, however, has given many a pupil the sickness of formality. If one truly understands, he will wash out his mouth for three days after saying the word Buddha, and he will close his ears and flee after hearing "This mind is Buddha." Under blue sky, in bright sunlight, One need not search around. Asking what Buddha is Is like hiding loot in one's pocket and declaring oneself innocent.

tr. Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps, 1934

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Mazu Daoyi
• Commentator
  Wumen Huikai

Lineage: Nanyue line

By Mazu Daoyi

• This Mind Is Not Buddhakoan
• This Very Mind Is Buddhadialogue
• Sun-Face Buddha, Moon-Face Buddhadialogue
• Drink Up the Yangtze Riverdialogue
• Not Mind, Not Buddhadialogue

From Mumonkan

• Every Season Is a Good Season
• Preface to the Gateless Barrier
• The Wild Fox Koan
• Joshu's DogCase 1
• Hyakujo's FoxCase 2
• Gutei's FingerCase 3
• A Beardless ForeignerCase 4
• Kyogen Mounts the TreeCase 5
• Buddha Twirls a FlowerCase 6
• Joshu Washes the BowlCase 7

Sources

• contentMumonkan (Gateless Barrier) — Senzaki & Reps translation, 1934

  Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps (trans.)

  Case 30, Mumonkan

  Mumonkan case 30: This Mind Is Buddha