Don't Think

Text

Yaoshan was sitting in meditation. A monk asked, "What are you thinking, sitting there so still?" Yaoshan said, "I'm thinking of not-thinking." The monk said, "How do you think of not-thinking?" Yaoshan said, "Non-thinking." Xuedou's verse: Not-thinking! What kind of thinking is this? A crane stands in the snow—it's not the same color. A bright moon, a reed flower—each has its own appearance. Non-thinking! All Zen students—understand for yourselves!

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Yaoshan Weiyan

Lineage: Qingyuan line

By Yaoshan Weiyan

• The Arrow on Highdialogue
• Meeting the Poet Li Jidialogue
• Thinking of Not-Thinkingdialogue

From Blue Cliff Record

• Tianhuang's Bowl Washing
• The Rhinoceros Fan
• The Condolence Visit
• The Seamless Tower
• Alive or Dead in Sitting
• All Sounds Are Buddha-Sound
• All Three Bodies of Buddha
• End-of-Summer Address
• Daguang's Laughing
• The Sound of Raindrops

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Blue Cliff Record, Case 72; Jingde Chuandenglu, Yaoshan chapter

  Blue Cliff Record: Don't Think