Quote from No River to Cross
No River to Cross: Trusting the Enlightenment That's Always Right Here
by Zen Master Daehaeng
Wisdom Publications, Boston, Massachusetts, 2007. 104 pages
From chapter on "The Wall of Fixed Ideas"
“Letting go” means letting go of not only distressing and unpleasant things, but also every kind of fixed idea. We carry around so many fixed ideas such as “you” and “I”, “good” and “bad”. You made all of these fixed ideas, and as long as you cling to them, it’s impossible for you to become one with your true nature, Juingong.
The worst prison in the world is the prison of thought. The most difficult wall in the world to overcome is the wall of fixed ideas. From a certain perspective, spiritual practice means freeing yourself from such prisons of thought. Thus, if you keep thinking “I’m just an unenlightened being,” then because of that thought you cannot play any role other than that of an unenlightened being. Be very aware of the great difference a single thought can make.
Don’t make a big deal about other people’s level of spiritual development. If you discriminate between higher and lower, you will not be able to make progress in your own practice. Even though you truly know, do not give rise to the thought that you know. Even though you may be higher, do not think that you are higher. Even though someone else may be ignorant, you should not let yourself be caught by thoughts like that.
From the present viewpoint, something may clearly seem right or wrong. However, from the combined viewpoint of the past, present, and future, things cannot be so easily called right or wrong. You can roll a barrel only when you are outside of the barrel. When you are caught by fixed ideas, it is as if you are trapped inside of a barrel, so you cannot freely use your mind. If you escape from your fixed ideas, you will see that all of the thoughts and perspectives that you considered so precious are utterly ridiculous. Mind is formless and can freely go anywhere in the universe, so if you give rise to thoughts in a wise and all embracing manner, you can escape from the barrel, from bondage, and from the prison that has no bars. How can you use your mind freely unless you first step outside of your own fixed ideas? (pp. 41-42)
“Letting go” means letting go of not only distressing and unpleasant things, but also every kind of fixed idea. We carry around so many fixed ideas such as “you” and “I”, “good” and “bad”. You made all of these fixed ideas, and as long as you cling to them, it’s impossible for you to become one with your true nature, Juingong.
The worst prison in the world is the prison of thought. The most difficult wall in the world to overcome is the wall of fixed ideas. From a certain perspective, spiritual practice means freeing yourself from such prisons of thought. Thus, if you keep thinking “I’m just an unenlightened being,” then because of that thought you cannot play any role other than that of an unenlightened being. Be very aware of the great difference a single thought can make.
Don’t make a big deal about other people’s level of spiritual development. If you discriminate between higher and lower, you will not be able to make progress in your own practice. Even though you truly know, do not give rise to the thought that you know. Even though you may be higher, do not think that you are higher. Even though someone else may be ignorant, you should not let yourself be caught by thoughts like that.
From the present viewpoint, something may clearly seem right or wrong. However, from the combined viewpoint of the past, present, and future, things cannot be so easily called right or wrong. You can roll a barrel only when you are outside of the barrel. When you are caught by fixed ideas, it is as if you are trapped inside of a barrel, so you cannot freely use your mind. If you escape from your fixed ideas, you will see that all of the thoughts and perspectives that you considered so precious are utterly ridiculous. Mind is formless and can freely go anywhere in the universe, so if you give rise to thoughts in a wise and all embracing manner, you can escape from the barrel, from bondage, and from the prison that has no bars. How can you use your mind freely unless you first step outside of your own fixed ideas? (pp. 41-42)
-- quote submitted by Matt M.
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