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The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind
This complete translation of the original collection of sermons, dialogues, and anecdotes of Huang Po, the illustrious Chinese master of the Tang Dynasty, allows the Western reader to gain an understanding of Zen from the original source, one of the key works in its teachings; it also offers deep and often startling insights into the rich treasures of Eastern thought. Nowhere is the use of paradox in Zen illustrated better than in the teaching of Huang Po, who shows how the experience of intuitive knowledge that reveals to a man what he is cannot be communicated by words. With the help of these paradoxes, beautifully and simply presented in this collection, Huang Po could set his disciples on the right path. It is in this fashion that the Zen master leads his listener into truth, often by a single phrase designed to destroy his particular demon of ignorance.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 857
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November 7, 2012
Like a mythical 1000 layer-fold Katana sword, this book not only pierces the veil of illusion, but shreds the shit outta it! Thus leaving a gaping hole in your mind so wide, Reality (One Mind) has no choice but to flow through you. With that being said, please take note that all of my words are relative, because we aren't communicating directly soul to soul. You're reading my relative thoughts conveyed through relative language filtered through your relative mind. Living in this relative, dualistic existence, how can we expect to comprehend the absolute; commune in the womb of the ultimate void; return to the singularity?
With great urgency, I devoured The Dharma of Mind Transmission, by Zen/Ch'an Master Huang-po. This book was first published in 1958 by John Blofeld, a pioneering Western Buddhist who picked this text to translate first because he felt it represented the most essential teachings of Zen Buddhism. One read and you'll understand why...
Huang-po, teacher of Lin-chi (Rinzai) and possibly a student of Ma-tsu, was iconically the most revered, seminal figure in Zen. He was exceptionally tall for his day, and one day he visited Master Nan-ch'üan wearing a large hat. Nan-ch'üan said, "You're so tall already, how come you have to wear such a big hat?"
Huang-po relied, "Well, it contains so many galaxies".
What differentiates this text is that Huang-po doesn't use the dazzling shock-tactics of later Zen Masters, those "strange words and extraordinary actions" perfected by Chao-chou, which form such a large part of our image of Zen. He teaches explicitly and directly. Contrary to the often repeated claim that Zen has no doctrines, no philosophy, his teachings are lineaged to those of earlier Mind-Only schools of Buddhism. Zen is often regarded as a uniquely Far Eastern development of Buddhism, but Zen followers claim that their Doctrine stems directly from Gautama Buddha himself. This text, which is one of the principle Zen works, follows closely the teachings proclaimed in the Diamond Sutra or Jewel of Transcendental Wisdom.
When digesting this discourse, it helps to drop your old notions, ideas and thoughts from past learning. I realize that referencing previous knowledge is part of how our mind works. But accumulation of new knowledge on top of the old is not the way. Zen is a new way of understanding; break through delusion using only no-mind. That means nothing exists but boundless Non-dual Mind, in which there is no subject or object, no self or other, no part or whole, no inside or outside, no before or after, no far or near. All these are relative concepts, leading you further away from the absolute, or divine truth.
Distilling Zen to it's very core is Huang-po's insistence that if we accept this idea intellectually and add it to our stock of concepts, it becomes an obstacle. We should have no thoughts of true or false, being or non-being - just take that singular leap, abandoning everything but the sole reality of Mind. If we can't manage that, we should spend every moment shedding attachments, ending the concept-forming habits of our (small) mind. This book would also be of interest to anyone exploring Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, or other mystical non-dual traditions.
However, even after a hundred reads, you'll still appreciate the shunyata. A living message is new every time, taking root and growing within you; you'll be transformed by this book.
With humor, wisdom, and compassion, Huang-po delivers the essential teaching of Zen in a manner and style that will make you laugh, cry, and spur you to new insights into the mystery of life, death, and the Way of Zen.
With great urgency, I devoured The Dharma of Mind Transmission, by Zen/Ch'an Master Huang-po. This book was first published in 1958 by John Blofeld, a pioneering Western Buddhist who picked this text to translate first because he felt it represented the most essential teachings of Zen Buddhism. One read and you'll understand why...
Huang-po, teacher of Lin-chi (Rinzai) and possibly a student of Ma-tsu, was iconically the most revered, seminal figure in Zen. He was exceptionally tall for his day, and one day he visited Master Nan-ch'üan wearing a large hat. Nan-ch'üan said, "You're so tall already, how come you have to wear such a big hat?"
Huang-po relied, "Well, it contains so many galaxies".
What differentiates this text is that Huang-po doesn't use the dazzling shock-tactics of later Zen Masters, those "strange words and extraordinary actions" perfected by Chao-chou, which form such a large part of our image of Zen. He teaches explicitly and directly. Contrary to the often repeated claim that Zen has no doctrines, no philosophy, his teachings are lineaged to those of earlier Mind-Only schools of Buddhism. Zen is often regarded as a uniquely Far Eastern development of Buddhism, but Zen followers claim that their Doctrine stems directly from Gautama Buddha himself. This text, which is one of the principle Zen works, follows closely the teachings proclaimed in the Diamond Sutra or Jewel of Transcendental Wisdom.
When digesting this discourse, it helps to drop your old notions, ideas and thoughts from past learning. I realize that referencing previous knowledge is part of how our mind works. But accumulation of new knowledge on top of the old is not the way. Zen is a new way of understanding; break through delusion using only no-mind. That means nothing exists but boundless Non-dual Mind, in which there is no subject or object, no self or other, no part or whole, no inside or outside, no before or after, no far or near. All these are relative concepts, leading you further away from the absolute, or divine truth.
Distilling Zen to it's very core is Huang-po's insistence that if we accept this idea intellectually and add it to our stock of concepts, it becomes an obstacle. We should have no thoughts of true or false, being or non-being - just take that singular leap, abandoning everything but the sole reality of Mind. If we can't manage that, we should spend every moment shedding attachments, ending the concept-forming habits of our (small) mind. This book would also be of interest to anyone exploring Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, or other mystical non-dual traditions.
However, even after a hundred reads, you'll still appreciate the shunyata. A living message is new every time, taking root and growing within you; you'll be transformed by this book.
With humor, wisdom, and compassion, Huang-po delivers the essential teaching of Zen in a manner and style that will make you laugh, cry, and spur you to new insights into the mystery of life, death, and the Way of Zen.
October 8, 2014
This guy didn't mess around. He stripped absolutely everything away and got to the cold infinite essence of mind. This is pure Zen. Nothing cozy or blissfully navel-gazing about it.
April 3, 2020
Huang Po ukazao je na to da je svet onakav kakvim ga pojmimo sabiralište klopki percepcije – zbirka opsena. A i kako ne bi bio, kada je i sam jezik podražavalac privida jer omogućuje pojmovno mišljenje. I sada padamo u nezgodan paradoks – otkuda pojmovno mišljenje, ako ono ne odgovara istini? Ispada da smo na njega osuđeni – ono nam je dato da bismo mogli da ga se oslobodimo. Put osvešćivanja predstavlja oslobađanje od pojmovnog mišljenja – prihvatanje takozvane ništosti, od koje je univerzum satkan. Iako bi spominjanje ništosti obradovalo mnoge nihiliste, ništost nije ništavilo – ništost je sveprožimajući osnov kome se ne mogu dati atributi, a slično je sa darmom i buddhom (koju ne treba mešati sa osobom – Gautamom Budom) – pojmovima koji su iznuđeni da bi predstavili nešto ne-pojmovno ali moguće pojmivo. E paz’te sad – Huang Po je ovde izneo kritiku nekih budističkih škola – mi ne samo da robujemo pojmovima, mi robujemo i ne-pojmovima. Sama želja da se bude (novi) buddha, kao i težnja za dobročinstvima i spoznajom, osuđeni su na propast – što je slučaj sa uspostavljanjem bilo kakvog sistema. Borba protiv nečega pretvara se u svoju suprotnost. Stoga, sve što treba da činimo jeste da dok misao sledi misao, mi ne prijanjamo ni uz jednu od njih. (86) I nema razlikovanja između subjekta i objekta, dobra i zla, neba i zemlje, unutrašnjeg i spoljašnjeg. A sve je tu. I to veliko Tu, to upražnjeno mesto, moguće je samo nazreti. Praznina i intuicija u sprezi.
„Ceo vidljivi svemir jeste buddha: isto su i zvukovi; držite se jednog načela i sva ostala su identična. Kada vidite jednu stvar, videli ste sve,. Kada opazite bilo koji individualni duh, opažate sav duh. Nazrite jedan put i svi će se putevi naću u vašem pogledu, jer ne postoji mesto gde nema puta. Kada vam pogled padne na zrno prašine, ono što vidite identično je sa prostranim svetovima sa velikim rekama i grdnim planinama. Posmatrati kap vode znači posmatrati prirodu svih voda u svemiru. Štaviše, u takvom razmišljanju o sveukupnosti pojava, razmišljajte i o sveukupnosti duha Sve te pojave u suštini su prazne, a ipak taj duh s kojim su identične nije obična praznina. Time hoću da kažem da on ipak postoji, ali na način koji je odviše čudnovat da bismo mogli da pojmimo. To je postojanje koje nije postojanje, neposstojanje koje je ipak postojanje. I tako ta prava ništenost na neki čudnovat način „postoji”.” (87)
I da – sudeći po anegdotama u delu, bez obzira na neverovatnu misaonu dalekosežnost, mislim da Huang Po ne bi bio prijatan sagovornik. Neretko bi znao i da mlatne nekog nesrećnika koji mu se nađe u blizini. Naravno, svaka takva navedena grubost može imati i svoje zen budističko utemeljenje. Makar mislim da je tako.
Uvek se obradujem realijama u filozofskim tekstovima. Zamislite samo kakav bi život u Kini u IX veku zaista izgledao? A posebno me izazivaju periodi ćutanja. A kad sam već kod toga, Huang Po smatra da je samo ćutanje govor i da previše govorimo, pišemo, beležimo. Slušajući velikog učitelja, pokorno završavam i ovaj tekst.
„Ceo vidljivi svemir jeste buddha: isto su i zvukovi; držite se jednog načela i sva ostala su identična. Kada vidite jednu stvar, videli ste sve,. Kada opazite bilo koji individualni duh, opažate sav duh. Nazrite jedan put i svi će se putevi naću u vašem pogledu, jer ne postoji mesto gde nema puta. Kada vam pogled padne na zrno prašine, ono što vidite identično je sa prostranim svetovima sa velikim rekama i grdnim planinama. Posmatrati kap vode znači posmatrati prirodu svih voda u svemiru. Štaviše, u takvom razmišljanju o sveukupnosti pojava, razmišljajte i o sveukupnosti duha Sve te pojave u suštini su prazne, a ipak taj duh s kojim su identične nije obična praznina. Time hoću da kažem da on ipak postoji, ali na način koji je odviše čudnovat da bismo mogli da pojmimo. To je postojanje koje nije postojanje, neposstojanje koje je ipak postojanje. I tako ta prava ništenost na neki čudnovat način „postoji”.” (87)
I da – sudeći po anegdotama u delu, bez obzira na neverovatnu misaonu dalekosežnost, mislim da Huang Po ne bi bio prijatan sagovornik. Neretko bi znao i da mlatne nekog nesrećnika koji mu se nađe u blizini. Naravno, svaka takva navedena grubost može imati i svoje zen budističko utemeljenje. Makar mislim da je tako.
Uvek se obradujem realijama u filozofskim tekstovima. Zamislite samo kakav bi život u Kini u IX veku zaista izgledao? A posebno me izazivaju periodi ćutanja. A kad sam već kod toga, Huang Po smatra da je samo ćutanje govor i da previše govorimo, pišemo, beležimo. Slušajući velikog učitelja, pokorno završavam i ovaj tekst.
November 30, 2007
Nothing is born, nothing is destroyed. Away with your dualism, your likes and dislikes. Every single thing is just the One Mind. When you have perceived this, you will have mounted the Chariot of the Buddhas. -- Huang Po
October 16, 2012
Huang Po is one of the most influential of the Chinese Zen masters and translater John Blofield, one of the scholars responsible for introducing Zen to the West, has done an admirable job with this compilation of sermons and anecdotes. Unlike the Buddhist traditions associated with the Hinayana School, Zen (a part of the broader Mahayana tradition which developed as Buddhism spread from India to China and Japan) says that enlightenment comes in a flash, not as the result of study and discipline. This creates interesting dilemmas for "students" and "teachers," since the primary teaching is something like "this can't be taught." Huang Po repeatedly cautions his questioners against allowing concepts and strivings, including the striving for freedom from concepts, interfere with the state where all of the distinctions vanish. The difficulties involved with translating this engagement with the untranslatable are both immense and a bit amusing. Any translation from Chinese is going to fill in numerous gaps--the ideograms sit next to each other, but there's a ton of room for projecting different sorts of connections. Blofield is well aware of this. The introduction includes a self-reflective discussion of why he chooses to translate the term which refers to the unexpressable unity as "Mind." In a first stab at the translation, he'd used "Universal." I'm a bit curious as to why he didn't go with "Tao," which invokes fewer interfering concepts for western readers. In several footnotes, Blofield comments on how similar Huang Po's approach is to those of Taoist masters like Lao Tze. I'm guessing he avoided Tao because he wanted to emphasize (properly enough) Huang Po's grounding in the Buddhist tradition, which carries with it its own vocabularies and logics.
I'm of two minds about Blofield's decisions to include parenthetical glosses of tricky terms in the text itself and to place footnotes at the bottom of each page. There's a long tradition of presenting Buddhist and Taoist texts with commentary, but I think I prefer Thomas Cleary's approach of placing them in a separate section following the text. Blofield's practice does give a clear sense of the complexities behind and within each of the sermons, but it also makes it even more difficult to escape the abstractions and conceptualizations Huang Po resists.
At this point, I can see Huang Po bopping me on the head to jar me out of my own head cloud, smile.
Main point is that this is a cool book--one that had a big impact on the Beat Generation's understanding of Zen--and that anyone interested in the dharma should put it high on their list.
I'm of two minds about Blofield's decisions to include parenthetical glosses of tricky terms in the text itself and to place footnotes at the bottom of each page. There's a long tradition of presenting Buddhist and Taoist texts with commentary, but I think I prefer Thomas Cleary's approach of placing them in a separate section following the text. Blofield's practice does give a clear sense of the complexities behind and within each of the sermons, but it also makes it even more difficult to escape the abstractions and conceptualizations Huang Po resists.
At this point, I can see Huang Po bopping me on the head to jar me out of my own head cloud, smile.
Main point is that this is a cool book--one that had a big impact on the Beat Generation's understanding of Zen--and that anyone interested in the dharma should put it high on their list.
June 16, 2008
This is a must read. Incredible
May 2, 2013
Incomparable
August 14, 2019
Typically most books have the aim to transmit knowledge from one mind to another. But not this book. This book is different. This book aims to transmit No-Mind to No-Mind. The writings of Huang Po are aimed at deconstructing dualities in reality through language.
There is only one way to get to the other side where there are no sides and that is to unlearn everything we know about our sides.
The more we feel, the further away we are from IT,
The more we see, the further away we are from IT,
The more we think, the further away we are from IT.
And thus feel not, see not, and think not, for everything exists beyond the six vehicles of illusion.
Some excerpts I enjoyed:
-That which is before you is it. Begin to reason about it and you will at once fall into error. Only when you have understood this will you perceive your oneness with the original Buddha-nature.
Thus Mind is transmitted with Mind and these Minds do not differ. Transmitting and receiving transmission are both a most difficult kind of mysterious understanding, so that few indeed have been able to receive it. In fact, however, Mind is not Mind and transmission is not really transmission.
Not to seek is to rest tranquil. Who told you to eliminate anything? Look at the void in front of your eyes. How can you produce it or eliminate it?
Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath.
THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA IS THAT THERE ARE NO DHARMAS, YET THAT THIS DOCTRINE OF NO-DHARMA IS IN ITSELF A DHARMA; AND NOW THAT THE NO-DHARMA DOCTRINE HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED, HOW CAN THE DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA BE A DHARMA
Nevertheless, when true understanding and ephemeral knowledge are properly integrated, it will be found that they no longer exist.
In reality, there is nothing to be grasped ( perceived, attained, conceived, etc. )—even not-grasping cannot be grasped. So it is said: ‘There is NOTHING to be grasped.’ We simply teach you how to understand your original Mind.
There is only one way to get to the other side where there are no sides and that is to unlearn everything we know about our sides.
The more we feel, the further away we are from IT,
The more we see, the further away we are from IT,
The more we think, the further away we are from IT.
And thus feel not, see not, and think not, for everything exists beyond the six vehicles of illusion.
Some excerpts I enjoyed:
-That which is before you is it. Begin to reason about it and you will at once fall into error. Only when you have understood this will you perceive your oneness with the original Buddha-nature.
Thus Mind is transmitted with Mind and these Minds do not differ. Transmitting and receiving transmission are both a most difficult kind of mysterious understanding, so that few indeed have been able to receive it. In fact, however, Mind is not Mind and transmission is not really transmission.
Not to seek is to rest tranquil. Who told you to eliminate anything? Look at the void in front of your eyes. How can you produce it or eliminate it?
Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath.
THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA IS THAT THERE ARE NO DHARMAS, YET THAT THIS DOCTRINE OF NO-DHARMA IS IN ITSELF A DHARMA; AND NOW THAT THE NO-DHARMA DOCTRINE HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED, HOW CAN THE DOCTRINE OF THE DHARMA BE A DHARMA
Nevertheless, when true understanding and ephemeral knowledge are properly integrated, it will be found that they no longer exist.
In reality, there is nothing to be grasped ( perceived, attained, conceived, etc. )—even not-grasping cannot be grasped. So it is said: ‘There is NOTHING to be grasped.’ We simply teach you how to understand your original Mind.
August 17, 2013
ZEN TEACHING OF HUANG PO is great remedy for all intellectual Buddhists and for all who wish to know themeselves better. I was reading it around 1986 for the first time and caused some Awakening in me just by reading it carefully .For me the most important sentence in the book is about the SOUND OF TATHAGATHAS . Those who wish to understand true connection of Dzogchen with Chan must read this precious book .
June 18, 2017
Another relatively short, but also precise and powerful, piece of classic Zen. If memory serves, the original version of this book was one of the texts John Cage picked up on when he was first discovering Buddhism generally and Zen in particular. It is essentially Q&A between master and students, with some lecture material to preface it, and it's not hard to see how Cage borrowed the didactic format for some of his own lectures and writings. I'm not too sure about this being used as an introductory text; it's probably better thought of as a 200-level reading. Blofeld's translation style might also bug some people (although I was used to it from some of his other works). But it's not hard to see why it's become a staple presence on shelves.
January 24, 2022
This collection of oral pointings to Truth is not for beginners to Zen Buddhism or Buddhism generally. Huang Po assumes knowledge of diverse Buddhist paths. He presents, as true to Zen dharma, simple but profound teaching. To say the least, the book is densely wonderful!
The Zen subsect Huang Po was of taught direct transmission of Mind; hence, one is not awakened through words or practices. He contrasts his dharma-way throughout with the teaching of other Buddhist sects that did not follow true to the dharma of Bodhidharma (India, b. 483; credited as the first Zen patriarch of China, having taken Chan, or Zen, Buddhism from India there).
These oral teachings are nondual. Huang Po employs negation and paradox throughout. He plays with words to offer transmission of Mind, through dismantling conceptuality; as said Bodhidharma, "Freeing oneself from words is liberation." For Huang Po, likewise, conceptuality is the only barrier to entering the Gateless Gate. He teaches that one moment of dropping all concepts would mean instant enlightenment, and he affirms a person is enlightened in one instant; hence, he denies progressive stages to it. Yet, he says, very few go through the Gate, for they refuse to let go of intellectuality. Devotees come to the Void and stop, fearing extinction, he says at one point. "Extinction" would mean the Absolute is a vacancy, not a pleromatic Void.
Some questions, with answers, regarding the dharma of Huang Po -
1) What is Mind? Mind is not what most mean by mind. Mind is the Absolute, which Huang Po equates with Buddha, Dharmakaya, .... Hence, the use of Mind here, and in other Buddhist writings, can be misleading for many readers. The usual sense of "mind" now is what Huang Po would refer to as conceptuality.
2) What is the Void? The Void is the Absolute, the Mind, Buddha, the Dharmakaya, ... wherein is not a lack of phenomena, but the Ground wherein the absolute and relative, as opposites in mind, exists together in perfect union. For Huang Po, there is no enlightened escape from matter. There is a void, one that a person might experience, wherein she experiences a 'transcendence' of phenomena, but, says Huang Po, this is not the Void. The Void has a perfect synthesis of absolute and relative, spirit and matter - to say one is to say the other, so to say neither: such is the dharma herein.
3) What is Buddha? Buddha is Mind, is Void. Buddha, for Huang Po, is not the historical Siddhartha Gautama. Buddha is a word for another word: "Absolute."
4) Celestial Beings? For Huang Po, there is no distinction between celestial beings and sentient beings.
5) Spiritual Practice? Huang Po returns again and again to how spiritual practices are hindering Buddhists from the Absolute. Such practices avail nothing, is the usual posture presented by the Teacher. He does briefly observe that preliminary practices can be preparative, but, based on his dharma, not sensible - seeing direct Mind transmission is available. Simply, why practice for eons to clean the dust from the mirror (a common image used in Zen Buddhism), when the dust of Mind can clean away now, in one moment, even the idea of mirror and dust?
6) Nirvana? Nirvana is not opposite samsara - this world of suffering. They are one.
7) Nihilism? The Teacher sees Nirvana not as an absence, but a harmony. While he, as other Buddhists, did not ascribe to eternalism, he, like them, taught Nirvana transcends the opposites of extinction and eternality, even as Huang Po would say theism and atheism are both, finally, false positions. Huang Po did not teach a teaching the opposite of eternalism, but rather a dharma that has nothing to oppose eternalism to. Huang Po, like the historical Buddha, keeps veering from metaphysical speculations, returning the listener to Nirvana here-and-now, this-and-not-this. So, the Buddhamandala, place of awakening, is anywhere one awakens to the Truth.
A difficulty in this work is how Huang Po so stresses negation, and one could be left with the sense only the Absolute is - meaning an Absolute absent the duality absolute-relative. Hence, we would have a monistic dharma, rather than a nondual dharma. Huang Po leans so strongly into negation, at times, one could conclude the Void is truly a void. As one reads on, the Teacher leans a little to the other side of the absolute-relative spectrum, the relative, and one may feel relieved to find the relative is something after all, just not a something in contrast to absolute or the Absolute.
In summation - a great read, inspiring, informative, lively. I highly recommend this work for anyone seeking to explore nonduality, Zen Buddhism, or Buddhism. This is not a work for persons who are intellectually curious or wish to weave more knowledge-wool, however. To read well this work, this means to invite Huang Po to threaten all you think to be true. Why? For he shows over and over that all we think is indeed untrue, for it, at best, is a hint to be dropped, so one can pass through the Gate that is no-Gate.
The Zen subsect Huang Po was of taught direct transmission of Mind; hence, one is not awakened through words or practices. He contrasts his dharma-way throughout with the teaching of other Buddhist sects that did not follow true to the dharma of Bodhidharma (India, b. 483; credited as the first Zen patriarch of China, having taken Chan, or Zen, Buddhism from India there).
These oral teachings are nondual. Huang Po employs negation and paradox throughout. He plays with words to offer transmission of Mind, through dismantling conceptuality; as said Bodhidharma, "Freeing oneself from words is liberation." For Huang Po, likewise, conceptuality is the only barrier to entering the Gateless Gate. He teaches that one moment of dropping all concepts would mean instant enlightenment, and he affirms a person is enlightened in one instant; hence, he denies progressive stages to it. Yet, he says, very few go through the Gate, for they refuse to let go of intellectuality. Devotees come to the Void and stop, fearing extinction, he says at one point. "Extinction" would mean the Absolute is a vacancy, not a pleromatic Void.
Some questions, with answers, regarding the dharma of Huang Po -
1) What is Mind? Mind is not what most mean by mind. Mind is the Absolute, which Huang Po equates with Buddha, Dharmakaya, .... Hence, the use of Mind here, and in other Buddhist writings, can be misleading for many readers. The usual sense of "mind" now is what Huang Po would refer to as conceptuality.
2) What is the Void? The Void is the Absolute, the Mind, Buddha, the Dharmakaya, ... wherein is not a lack of phenomena, but the Ground wherein the absolute and relative, as opposites in mind, exists together in perfect union. For Huang Po, there is no enlightened escape from matter. There is a void, one that a person might experience, wherein she experiences a 'transcendence' of phenomena, but, says Huang Po, this is not the Void. The Void has a perfect synthesis of absolute and relative, spirit and matter - to say one is to say the other, so to say neither: such is the dharma herein.
3) What is Buddha? Buddha is Mind, is Void. Buddha, for Huang Po, is not the historical Siddhartha Gautama. Buddha is a word for another word: "Absolute."
4) Celestial Beings? For Huang Po, there is no distinction between celestial beings and sentient beings.
5) Spiritual Practice? Huang Po returns again and again to how spiritual practices are hindering Buddhists from the Absolute. Such practices avail nothing, is the usual posture presented by the Teacher. He does briefly observe that preliminary practices can be preparative, but, based on his dharma, not sensible - seeing direct Mind transmission is available. Simply, why practice for eons to clean the dust from the mirror (a common image used in Zen Buddhism), when the dust of Mind can clean away now, in one moment, even the idea of mirror and dust?
6) Nirvana? Nirvana is not opposite samsara - this world of suffering. They are one.
7) Nihilism? The Teacher sees Nirvana not as an absence, but a harmony. While he, as other Buddhists, did not ascribe to eternalism, he, like them, taught Nirvana transcends the opposites of extinction and eternality, even as Huang Po would say theism and atheism are both, finally, false positions. Huang Po did not teach a teaching the opposite of eternalism, but rather a dharma that has nothing to oppose eternalism to. Huang Po, like the historical Buddha, keeps veering from metaphysical speculations, returning the listener to Nirvana here-and-now, this-and-not-this. So, the Buddhamandala, place of awakening, is anywhere one awakens to the Truth.
A difficulty in this work is how Huang Po so stresses negation, and one could be left with the sense only the Absolute is - meaning an Absolute absent the duality absolute-relative. Hence, we would have a monistic dharma, rather than a nondual dharma. Huang Po leans so strongly into negation, at times, one could conclude the Void is truly a void. As one reads on, the Teacher leans a little to the other side of the absolute-relative spectrum, the relative, and one may feel relieved to find the relative is something after all, just not a something in contrast to absolute or the Absolute.
In summation - a great read, inspiring, informative, lively. I highly recommend this work for anyone seeking to explore nonduality, Zen Buddhism, or Buddhism. This is not a work for persons who are intellectually curious or wish to weave more knowledge-wool, however. To read well this work, this means to invite Huang Po to threaten all you think to be true. Why? For he shows over and over that all we think is indeed untrue, for it, at best, is a hint to be dropped, so one can pass through the Gate that is no-Gate.
March 4, 2022
Very direct Zen teaching. The starting point for Huang Po and Zen is the Buddha's enlightenment. According to Huang Po, everything is this One Buddha Mind, including who we truly are. This enlightenment is not something we attain because it is not a thing and there is no self to attain it. It is already here, but veiled by the minds concepts. Our true Self is fundamentally complete and this is not a supplement to it. Zen is a practice to see the innate perfection clearer, not another concept to add to what we believe we are lacking. In fact, the entire feeling of lack is born of delusion & identifying the Self with the nonself. Through this false veil we lose the spiritual brilliance innate within & follow the galloping horses of selfish desire, perpetuating our suffering.
Therefore the practice is to just stop. Stop adding more concepts and more delusions and instead discard them all. Using concepts to find this true nature will only lead us further astray. The seeing comes instead from a Mind transmission or steadfast practice removing concepts. Adding more concepts or things is just going the wrong way, tangling us up in temporary phenomena. But, at the same time, however, we cannot reject the "things" of the world either as that too is attachment to enlightenment as something separate. Real followers of the way neither look to their surroundings or to the Dharma. "The true Dharma is to forget them both". They just abide in the Unborn and realize the innate perfection here and now.
Therefore the practice is to just stop. Stop adding more concepts and more delusions and instead discard them all. Using concepts to find this true nature will only lead us further astray. The seeing comes instead from a Mind transmission or steadfast practice removing concepts. Adding more concepts or things is just going the wrong way, tangling us up in temporary phenomena. But, at the same time, however, we cannot reject the "things" of the world either as that too is attachment to enlightenment as something separate. Real followers of the way neither look to their surroundings or to the Dharma. "The true Dharma is to forget them both". They just abide in the Unborn and realize the innate perfection here and now.
April 6, 2024
This is, perhaps, one of the best books on Chan Buddhism ever, with the exception maybe of 'The Record of Linji: A New Translation of the Linjilu in the Light of Ten Japanese Zen Commentaries', who Huang Po (Huangbo) taught!
Here's Linji's answer to a question about Huang Po:
A monk asked, “Master, of what house is the tune you sing? To whose style of Chan do you succeed?” The master said, “When I was staying with Huangbo I questioned him three times and was hit three times.” The monk hesitated. The master gave a shout and then struck him, saying, “You can’t drive a stake into the empty sky.”
. The Record of Linji (Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture) (Kindle Locations 587-589). University of Hawaii Press. Kindle Edition.
Here's Linji's answer to a question about Huang Po:
A monk asked, “Master, of what house is the tune you sing? To whose style of Chan do you succeed?” The master said, “When I was staying with Huangbo I questioned him three times and was hit three times.” The monk hesitated. The master gave a shout and then struck him, saying, “You can’t drive a stake into the empty sky.”
. The Record of Linji (Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture) (Kindle Locations 587-589). University of Hawaii Press. Kindle Edition.
August 26, 2012
I consider this book one of the basics for those interested inthe history of Buddhist thought in Tang Dynasty China. Blofeld's translation is for the most part clear and (in my opinion) accurate. I would question though his interpretation of the Chinese term wu hsin -- lit. "no mind"-- as freedom from or absence of conceptual thought. I think the term has more to do with freedom from egotism and the absence of egocentric thought. But so long as I bear that in mind, I find this book a clear statement of Huang Po's teachings. It's one of those books I've had to buy twice (having worn out the first paperback copy I bought). I own it in the Kindle edition too.
January 28, 2022
Classic Zen text that I would put at being a 200 or maybe a 300-level reading. Don't make this your first foray into the subject; come to this one after you've done some more preliminary reading and, ideally, some sitting of your own. (FYI: I've been sitting for around 8 years, and I feel like I'm only just at the level where I can appreciate something like this.)
April 18, 2013
A classic devoted to the recorded teachings of the very important 8th century Ch'an Buddhist lineage master Huang Po. Huang Po strips the Buddhist teachings down to the bare essentials. A must read for serious Zen Buddhists.
August 25, 2013
Excellent, but requires a little contemplation as you move along - it is easy to skim over rather profound phrases. Highly recommended and as it is rather short it is easy to get through or carry around. Sort of like the Heart Sutra - short, but hard to peirce through easily.
January 10, 2013
Quite simply the best Zen book out there. It cuts right to the heart of the matter and is often breath-takingly, mind-expandingly illuminating. Thoroughly recommended reading for everyone.
October 5, 2019
The "straight edge" of non-dualism.
Huang Po's teachings are very straight forward and leave no room for fairytales of bliss and love for the world. This direct approach is interesting, because it is supposed to leave no room further illusions. The whole book is build as a Q&A and questions get repeated all the time. I guess "The Way" is rather complex for many because of it's simplicity, which seem puzzle many of the questioners. You can get a grip of the essence already in the first pages and just skip the continuous repetition of similar questions.
In order to reach enlightenment (yes, I know that enlightenment can not be reached, because there will be no self to reach it - just for semantics) you are supposed to drop every single conceptualization you have - you are basically already everything and there is nothing more to gain nor to lose. Any kind of labelling, wether good or bad or anything else leads you straight back into the illusion of dualism.
Enlightenment comes in flash - that's what is believed in Zen Buddhism. It also seems to be the reason why Huang Po's teachings are so radical and this might help you on your journey.
I personally like other approaches more but it still gave me valuable insight coming from an enlightened master. Definitely worth a read.
Huang Po's teachings are very straight forward and leave no room for fairytales of bliss and love for the world. This direct approach is interesting, because it is supposed to leave no room further illusions. The whole book is build as a Q&A and questions get repeated all the time. I guess "The Way" is rather complex for many because of it's simplicity, which seem puzzle many of the questioners. You can get a grip of the essence already in the first pages and just skip the continuous repetition of similar questions.
In order to reach enlightenment (yes, I know that enlightenment can not be reached, because there will be no self to reach it - just for semantics) you are supposed to drop every single conceptualization you have - you are basically already everything and there is nothing more to gain nor to lose. Any kind of labelling, wether good or bad or anything else leads you straight back into the illusion of dualism.
Enlightenment comes in flash - that's what is believed in Zen Buddhism. It also seems to be the reason why Huang Po's teachings are so radical and this might help you on your journey.
I personally like other approaches more but it still gave me valuable insight coming from an enlightened master. Definitely worth a read.
December 4, 2022
Huang Po was a Zen Buddhist who died around 850AD. This book was written by a student of his and was translated by John Blofeld.
The book is interesting. Often very confusing. It engages with a lot of metaphysics and esoteric concepts from Eastern and Buddhist thought at the time that I am not familiar with. Then paradoxically, it repeatedly rejects conceptual thought altogether. There are occasional passages that struck me as quite profound and meaningful. But they were interspersed with a lot of confusion. It's ironic to read so many words about what can apparently not be spoken about.
The translator notes were very helpful. I also liked that he himself sometimes appeared quite puzzled even after questioning Zen experts on certain passages.
Main takeaways for me:
- Zen bears a keen resemblance to Taoism
- Conceptual thought only gets you so far and then it is more like a boundary beyond which you cannot pass
- Being totally still and ridding yourself of discriminatory thought is the path beyond conceptual thought and dualism
- All is one and one is all and there is nothing beyond for anything else to be in
- Everything is what it is ("thusness")
Zen strikes me as both profound & mundane. Reading this book has been an experience both confusing & clarifying.
The book is interesting. Often very confusing. It engages with a lot of metaphysics and esoteric concepts from Eastern and Buddhist thought at the time that I am not familiar with. Then paradoxically, it repeatedly rejects conceptual thought altogether. There are occasional passages that struck me as quite profound and meaningful. But they were interspersed with a lot of confusion. It's ironic to read so many words about what can apparently not be spoken about.
The translator notes were very helpful. I also liked that he himself sometimes appeared quite puzzled even after questioning Zen experts on certain passages.
Main takeaways for me:
- Zen bears a keen resemblance to Taoism
- Conceptual thought only gets you so far and then it is more like a boundary beyond which you cannot pass
- Being totally still and ridding yourself of discriminatory thought is the path beyond conceptual thought and dualism
- All is one and one is all and there is nothing beyond for anything else to be in
- Everything is what it is ("thusness")
Zen strikes me as both profound & mundane. Reading this book has been an experience both confusing & clarifying.
February 27, 2021
This is a book more for specialists in Buddhist thought and practice. Much of the terminology lies outside of the typical worldly life. Therefore, it will be hard for a new lay reader to comprehend the text. For the scholar, the historian of Eastern thought, and the practitioner, this work stands as an important tract in the merger of Theravadin ("old school") methods and practice that orginated in India, and its expansion as Buddhist thought took hold in China.
April 22, 2022
amazing! transcendental!!
I am so thankful for the piece of mind this gave my soul. This work will align you with the middle path. I am currently going through so much compromise. I must say writing like this does promote peace, encourages balance, wisdom and understanding. Anyone going through trials in life could benefit from zen work like this from huang po, or the New Testament… or even the kybalion or the songs of milarepa :)
I am so thankful for the piece of mind this gave my soul. This work will align you with the middle path. I am currently going through so much compromise. I must say writing like this does promote peace, encourages balance, wisdom and understanding. Anyone going through trials in life could benefit from zen work like this from huang po, or the New Testament… or even the kybalion or the songs of milarepa :)
February 20, 2019
Huango Po's words are a gentle refuge to Buddhist practitioners and anyone seeking peace and clarity. His brief talks speak repetitively of the "One Mind," but this repetitive quality gives his talks a rhythmic quality while also driving home the utter simplicity and straightforwardness of the Dharma. A precious gift.
March 21, 2019
While it's pretty cool to read what a zen master's teaching from over a thousand years ago, I'm afraid time and translation has not been kind to the message. At least to me, it was too full of old zen jargon to get much out of. A shame, because I see many others find this to be one of their all time favorite zen texts.
April 18, 2019
This is a small bite at a time kind of book. After reading and implementing things from The Four Agreements by Ruiz and The Power of Now by Tolle, I understood much more about the Buddhist Zen writings. Definitely recommend for those who are working on mindfulness, non-duality, non-attachment and the like.
May 19, 2023
Although I would personally have liked to see the original Chinese side-by-side with Blofeld's translation, I greatly enjoyed this book and it remains my favourite book to pick up and re-annotate to this day. It can be dense for somebody unacquainted with Zen and Buddhism philosophy, but it is a fantastic read nonetheless.
December 30, 2020
There’s something unique about the Vietnamese Zen tradition. They’re even aware of, and comment on, it. They seem to humanize it. Flesh it out. Warm it. Huang Po is a newer author for me. It’s funny, because he’s the inspiration for the authors I’ve already admired.
It’s really just a nice biography with breakouts of his contributions to Buddhist theory and practice.
It’s really just a nice biography with breakouts of his contributions to Buddhist theory and practice.
May 16, 2024
This is a six star game changing book. The insights are simple yet profound. On top of the incredible amount of wisdom documented in this book, the simple act of listening had a calming effect on my mind.
If you have never been exposed to buddhist or zen teachings this book might be too advanced.
If you have never been exposed to buddhist or zen teachings this book might be too advanced.
December 11, 2018
Insights from the late taoist movement, Chan buddhism.
February 10, 2018
Huang Po: "Cease all conceptual thought"
Me: "Why am I still reading this if I'm supposed to cease all conceptual thought?"
*keeps reading*
Me: "Why am I still reading this if I'm supposed to cease all conceptual thought?"
*keeps reading*
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