The following is a talk prepared in Classical Chinese and delivered by
the Zen Master Kusan at the Zen Center on the 8th of February, 1973. The Venerable Kusan
is the abbot of the Song-kwang-sa monastery, located in the southwest part of the Republic
of Korea. He is the spiritual guide and teacher of Zen meditation for approximately one
thousand monks and nuns in that part of Korea.
All creatures are riding in a boat and crossing the sea. Man is one with the boat, and
water is one with the land. All is constant action and movement. There is only one thing,
which is majestic and quite natural. All things are at rest therein. Often we meet great
crowds, but does anyone understand what this one unmoving thing is?
If they know the unmoving thing, then they have attained the realm of liberation; the four
primary elements separate one from another, And the eye and vision separate one from
another. Where do they go?
If you know where they go, then you have arrived at the place of jewels. Are these jewels
in your own house?
Katz! Kick the earth, touch the moon and the sun with your hands, and only then will you
first attain. A stanza says, "The bright moon in the night sky is only a world of
sand; the deep blue sea and all its million of waves is basically that. When we slip
silently into the seas, we shall see a pillar of fire. When the rainstorm drips its waters
off the eaves, silver pearls are formed."
Societies of the world are feverishly looking for new gods. Asian spirituality and Western
technology are approaching a period of synthesis. Do all men know this? If they know that
this is the best of, times, will they tell us about it? Where are you all going? A stanza
says, "The staff is hanging in both the East and in the West; the bright sun is in
the heavens and the earth rejoices. The accumulated snow and ice of some two thousand
years is now meeting the warm spring breezes, and all creation is lovely."
You are now all meeting the Buddha's teachings. Spring has come to the world. All creation
is bursting into bloom. Do not lose this golden opportunity Practice diligently your
meditations and your wisdom. Become teachers of gods and men, and most earnestly strive
for the salvation of all creatures.
The bird flies and loses its feathers; fish swim and the waters are muddied.
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