Epistēmē
It has been said that some of you are not very interested in the words of dead people. Okay. You want to hear what I have to say in my own words. So I have heard. You want the living word. Excellent. But can you distinguish living words and dead words? I'm not sure that you can. Even if you can, what use are words from my mouth to your ears? What do you suppose is going on here? Make no mistake about this.
For my part, I don't have anything to say that hasn't been said. I have nothing to give you. I am not a teacher or guide. If Zen is what you're after, go to the Zen masters. If you have questions for me, I might have answers. That's a conversation, not a sermon. If you want a sermon, listen to the wind and rain. If you can understand the wind and rain, anything that I can say is extra. If you can't understand wind and rain, how will I help you? Speech is just decorating the air.
The inherent rightness of reality rests on nothing whatsoever. It does not depend on axioms or philosophical arguments. It cannot be verified by science or conceived by the mind. It is not achieved by sudden action or gradual cultivation. Cause and effect arise and dissipate according to conditions; but the fundamental reality is without form, substance, or origin. Though it functions perfectly everywhere, there is absolutely nothing there to grasp.
The myriad phenomena do not stir the mind originally. Since the original mind is intrinsically void, whatever is conceived by it is also void. When thoughts about the nature of phenomena arise, phenomena merely conform to the principle. If you suppose that form and substance exist outside your mind, you are henceforth bound by the illusion of form and substance. It is like going along with dreams one after the other without stopping to consider what came before.
Only when you have tried everything to no avail and spent your energies do you finally return to the beginningless quiescence of the root source. But you have never been apart from it—how can you return? All of this amounts to deluding yourself. It is better that I keep my mouth shut so that no one is confused by my rambling.
