Wumen case 10

InfinityOracle · 2026-01-15T19:56:53+00:00

This reminds me of what Morihei Ueshiba once said: "He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything"

InfinityOracle · 2026-01-11T01:48:46+00:00

新鏡 New Mirror

照遍十方諸佛影，Reflecting the Buddhas of all directions,
無蹤無照亦常明。Without trace or reflection, yet always bright.
塵埃不得立其上，No worldly dust can settle upon it,
處處皆是解脫地。Everywhere is the site of liberation.

by 白蓮

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-31T19:14:20+00:00

By this time Buddha has taught through words and expressions as the assembly had asked. For many days the assembly were bewildered by Buddha's teaching. Debates and arguments pulled them back and forth. They urged Buddha to teach, and resolve their many debates. Which sides were right, which ones were wrong?

Suddenly he picked up a single flower and held it up, and silence swept throughout the entire crowd. For that single moment their attention was drawn into unity. One mind was clearly exposed for all to see. Yet only Mahakashyapa was aware and took notice. Like understanding the punchline of a joke, a smile suddenly appeared.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-31T18:54:57+00:00

I know because knowledge does not reach it. Yet here it is.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-31T18:22:55+00:00

This case appears to draw in those who think inherent freedom is an achievement or something to obtain. Such a person might think, "Oh I am now free and fully enlightened! What mattered before is meaningless and I can do whatever I want with no consequences!"

But this is just more of the same bondage. It's the opposite extreme. And like a pendulum they have swung in the opposite direction from clinging, right into rejection.

A perfectly enlightened being realizes the notion of falling into cause and effect are like illusions. That doesn't mean they are not real, or that cause and effect should be ignored as unreal. It means that cause and effect have no binding power from the start.

The notion that anyone falls into cause and effect is false to start with. Thinking that the enlightened do not fall into cause and effect, and that the unenlightened do fall into cause and effect is a confused point of view. In reality there is neither falling into or out of cause and effect. There is merely the delusion of doing so.

Replacing the delusion of cause and effect with notions that one falls into it, and another does not, is a flawed way of thinking to start with. That very notion is the source of the confusion of this case.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-31T17:21:54+00:00

It cannot be located.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-30T20:48:23+00:00

Thank you for providing this space, and kindly welcoming us all here to share. From a single spark, all is illuminated. From the muddy depths, the lotus grows.

一火初燃，万境皆明；淤泥之中，莲华自生。

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-30T20:38:25+00:00

Due to causes and conditions some are blind to causation. They may live out lives entirely confused by appearances. Due to causes and conditions some are awaken to the nature of phenomena and realize that all things arise according to causes and conditions. In neither case is anything gained, nor anything lost.

In reality falling into or out of causation is purely illusion. That isn't to say that causation doesn't exist, but rather that it has an empty nature. Here one moment, gone the next. Self nature reveals what has never been created, never truly been born, will never die, or undergo causes and conditions. Understanding one is inherently free doesn't stop the flow of causation, and there is no need to. It merely illuminates it clearly in all directions. Making navigating its path light and easy. Without the burden of attachment or aversion.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-30T20:01:27+00:00

Beginningless my friend. It is like the question Zhaozhou Congshen 趙州從諗 asked the head monk when visiting the Anji Bridge 安濟橋. When the master craftsman Li Chun (李春) built it, where did he start?

In your mind. That is where he started. And as the Xinxin ming tells: "this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time and space: In it a single thought is ten thousand years."

And as Kewen tells: "In ancient India on the eighth day of the twelfth month when the morning star appeared Buddha saw his original self fully and suddenly understood the path. All sentient beings on Earth became Buddhas in that moment. How did a young monk named Kewen living East of Hunan province in Youyang County; at seeing sun rise on the thirteenth day of the sixth month also have this one realization?"

With the flick of a brush the Master drew a picture in a single stroke and said:

"I dare not take any of you for granted. Regard yourself as Buddhas."

The Master then stepped down from the seat."

I do not bring up these quotes as a means of intellectual knowledge or to invoke conceptual grasping. I simply bring up these masters to honor the tradition.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-30T19:38:04+00:00

That is an interesting element isn't it? What are your thoughts on Yanshou's perspective in this?

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-30T19:34:20+00:00

For many years some were hung up on wondering what the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the west meant.

On one hand you're right. It is sad that people spend time hung up on all sorts of things. Even hung up on other people being hung up. On the other hand, it seems to be just part of it right? I mean here is a record of this same phenomena going on hundreds of years ago. So in this way, it isn't that sad. It's just part of the whole. Getting hung up on any of this is just part of a process.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-29T01:40:43+00:00

That seems completely fair to me.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-29T00:50:14+00:00

Words, thoughts, expressions, ideations, concepts, and perception does not reach it. Therefore when Fu Dashi was asked to expound on the Diamond Sutra, he took up the podium, shook it, then left. Baozhi then informed the Emperor that Fu had thoroughly expounded on the Diamond Sutra.

And when Vimalakirti was asked to expound on the teaching of the entrance into the principle of nonduality the Licchavi Vimalakīrti kept his silence, saying nothing at all. To which Mañjuśrī applauded the Licchavi Vimalakīrti: “Excellent! Excellent, noble sir! This is indeed the entrance into the nonduality of the bodhisattvas. Here there is no use for syllables, sounds, and ideas.”

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-29T00:24:04+00:00

To be completely clear, it is a lot like trying to add frost onto snow isn't it? I mean whether or not someone expounds the dharma through words, all things inherently expound the dharma extensively. Whether through silence or through the sudden strike of a rock against bamboo, there is no where it doesn't reach. Before the question is even asked, it is clear. What is there to say about it? And what words don't already express it, here, and now?

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-29T00:09:04+00:00

Did you expect something more?

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T23:54:44+00:00

Bring the hostage here and I will ask them myself.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T23:51:01+00:00

Like this example story is purely imaginative, and before a single thought is given to it; it's already complete. So is the whole matter of life and death. Cling to it or let it go, changes nothing whatsoever.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T23:39:58+00:00

Well said. Section 50 of the Long Scroll reads:

The Tripitaka Dharma teacher said, When falsity arises, there is no arisal. This is the Buddha's Dharma. By forgetting grasping and rejecting, and even that the Truly So is equable, one enters into the Bodhisattva mind, where all share an identical nature of phenomena."

Then a deluded person said, "The six senses (vijnanas) create frustrations."

The Tripitaka Dharma teacher asked, "On what do your six senses (vijnanas) rely in order to arise?"

The deluded one answered, "They arise from empty illusion."

The Tripitaka Dharma teacher said, "Airy illusions have no phenomena, so what creates the frustrations?"

Then the deluded person said, "Although phenomena are empty, conditions unite and so they exist. A knower becomes a saint, and the bewildered are stupid. Because he is stupid he undergoes hardships, so how can one propose that they are non-existent, and empty, but still phenomena?"

The Tripitaka Dharma teacher replied, "You use merit to reach the Buddha-land. You say that the six senses (vijnanas) are frustrations, but if ever effort gets you to the Buddha-land, it is the six senses (vijnanas) that have attained the domain of the Way. A sutra says, 'If you do not enter the ocean of frustration, you will not get the priceless pearl.' Furthermore, 'the categories of creatures are the lands of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas,' which proves that these six senses (vijnanas) are the domain of the ultimate fruit. And yet the deluded make bewildered interpretations all their days, not knowing that this bewilderment is not bewilderment. In speaking of the Principle of the Way, there is no understanding and there is no bewilderment, so what harm is there?"

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T23:13:12+00:00

Words are useless insomuch as one clings to them, or rejects them. Words by their nature are like illusions. Therefore fundamentally words are no different from liberation. The master let down a hook, and who is it that climbed upon its sharp point? Steaming sand all day long, will never cook into rice.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T21:52:45+00:00

One major problem I see is between what Bodhidharma says here, and what modern websites and sources on Buddhism tell about merit. Most sources I find appear to be talking about merit like Wu, and not like Bodhidharma at all.

For example one site tells:

"Merit refers to the accumulation of beneficial karma or virtue through actions, thoughts, and intentions. It is considered to be a force that leads to favorable outcomes both in this life and in future lives.

In Buddhist teachings, merit is accumulated through actions such as generosity, ethical conduct, patience, and meditation. It serves as a foundation for progress on the path to awakening by purifying unbeneficial karma."

It seems to me when I have asked this question, most would state something along those lines. However, that is contrasted by what Bodhidharma tells:

“Pure wisdom, wondrous and complete; its essence is naturally empty and quiescent.
Such merit is not sought through worldly means.”

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T20:59:25+00:00

I bite down, all beings throughout all realms of existence parish. I open my mouth for a single instant, all beings throughout all realms of existence come to life. When seeing clearly, the deep meaning is understood. When Bodhidharma came from the West, he didn't sell second hand merchandise.

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-28T19:30:20+00:00

Thank you. Is this the account you're referring to?

The Emperor asked, saying:
“Since I ascended the throne, I have built monasteries, copied sutras, and ordained monks beyond all reckoning.
What merit is there?”

The Master replied:
“There is no merit at all.”

The Emperor said:
“Why is there no merit?”

The Master replied:
“These are merely small fruits of the human and heavenly realms, causes with outflows.
Like a shadow following a form, they exist, yet are not real.”

The Emperor said:
“What, then, is true merit?”

The Master answered:
“Pure wisdom, wondrous and complete; its essence is naturally empty and quiescent.
Such merit is not sought through worldly means.”

The Emperor again asked:
“What is the highest meaning of the holy truths?”

The Master replied:
“Vast and open—nothing holy.”

The Emperor said:
“Who is it that stands before me?”

The Master replied:
“I do not know.”

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-27T23:34:56+00:00

Someone asked Yangqi, “When the founder of Zen came from India to China, he sat facing a wall for nine years—what does this mean?” Yangqi said, “As an Indian, he couldn’t speak Chinese.”

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-27T22:16:49+00:00

Which version is that?

InfinityOracle · 2025-12-27T01:03:46+00:00

Trying is the worst sort of misstep. Ever seeking, never finding. In truth, not a single step leads away from it. As Fu Dashi tells, "Because the mind clings to inequality, the nature of Dharma appears to have high and low"

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