2.3 The Gate of Life and Death: Releasing the Arrogance of the "Practitioner"

2.3 The Gate of Life and Death: Releasing the Arrogance of the "Practitioner"

【The Function of the Deep Sea】
This may be the highest gate: letting go of craving for "liberation" or "awakening." If you believe your practice makes you "superior," or if you disdain noise in pursuit of stillness, you've merely jumped from the cage of material desire into the cage of spiritual desire---this is still "mind at work."

【Ultimate Guidance】
True liberation is not clinging---even to the idea of liberation. Let die the "little self" that wants to become a Buddha---and you'll see: the chair you sit on, the tea you drink, the sky beyond the window---these are already fragments of the Buddha‑land. You stop seeking liberation---because you are already within it. This is the complete stability of No‑Mind.

【Ancient Wisdom】
Master Zhaozhou said: "Ordinary mind is the Way."

Mazu Daoyi added: "The Way need not be cultivated---only do not defile it."

Closing of Chapter
Only by not avoiding the world is true purity revealed;
Only by not leaving daily affairs is non‑action realized.