The Flying Carpet of the East 

By Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by Shan Tung Hsu P.hD., Bekka, Karin Greenway

This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 31st book, 東方的飛氈.

CHAPTER 17 - Conversations About Zen

Hsieh Tng-hua and Hsu Wen-chen, both from Taipei, came to see me to discuss spirituality.

Hsieh was the editor of the Morning Light magazine and a talented writer. Hsu was a medical student who wrote often. Both of them had heard talk about me.

"What is God?" Hsieh asked curiously.

"Please tell me which God you are asking about," I answered.

"Are there many Gods?"

"Countless. Immeasurable."

"How come we cannot see them?" Hsu asked.

"If you can see, you are awakened already. You cannot see because you are deluded. Most people on earth are deluded. God is spirit and spirit is formless. Only the psychic or spiritual eye can see the gods."

"What evidence do you have?"

"Me."

"One person doesn't count. You have to have evidence."

"There is no dharma beyond the heart. If there were dharma beyond the heart, it would not be right dharma. If I can see Buddha, that is my heart talking. There is no instrument, no other evidence. I am the heart. The heart is me. If what I say doesn't count to you then there is nothing else, no instruments, no evidence that can be counted."

The two men looked at each other for awhile, not knowing what to say.

"What do you think about birth and death?" asked Hsieh.

"There is no birth and no death," I answered. "Birth is the beginning of death. Death is the end of birth. Death is also the beginning of birth and birth is the ending of death. From the eye of the Buddha of infinite light there are only soul bodies. The manifestation of the physical body is an illusion, although it seems real to us."

Hsieh asked, "Is this the Buddhists' theory of transmigration?"

"This is the most natural and ultimate key teaching of Buddha. It isn't mysterious. The only difference is the delusion on awakening. To see delusion is to see transmigration. To be awakened, or enlightened, is to see through reincarnation or transmigration. When I speak of transmigration to people I am addressing those people in the devas realm, the human realm, the asuras realm, the hungry ghost realm, the hell realm, and the animal realm. All the beings in those six realms are still ruled by reincarnation".

"Is the Tao of Heaven God?" asked Mr. Hsieh.

"Yes. The Tao of Heaven is the Tao of God. God is the purified soul. Yet, all those souls walking the proper path, living the virtuous life, can enjoy the accumulation of their merit even after death. Reincarnation is still necessary. Only awakened souls are truly free of reincarnation.

"Are you subject to reincarnation?" Mr. Hsu suddenly asked.

"Well, if I tell you, you might not believe it."

"Tell me; I'll believe it."

"It is up to me if I am going to be reincarnated. I have a choice to do it or not do it."

My answer surprised them. They both seemed to feel that my answer was different than most people's. Actually, the words came out of my mouth naturally. As a matter of fact, there was great meaning in my answer.

"I am very interested in Zen. Can you teach me some?" Hsu began to reveal the purpose of his visit.

"If you are interested in Zen I can teach you. The Heaven Dragon".

"What is the Single Finger Zen?"

"One finger is one State. If you can stay in one state then you have one point of view. When you have one point of view it will be of benefit to your life."

"Thank you. Thank you. Makes sense."

"According to what you said, if you worship something and call that thing God, then that is it, right?" asked Hsieh.

"Well, you are close."

"Yes. Then if I regard a woman's nipple as God then is the woman's nipple God?"

"That makes sense. Would you regard a woman's nipple as God?"

Hsieh thought for a moment. I took Hsieh and Hsu to my altar. There stood the forms of Golden Mother, Shakyamuni Buddha, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. At that moment there were many people worshipping at the altar.

"Why do they worship a wooden staue?" Hsieh asked.

I didn't answer him directly but asked, "Do you feel this altar is solemn and dignified?"

"Yes. It is," they both said.

"Then that's it! In their heart, when they worship their god, they feel God is there. If both of you feel dignified at this altar then they can feel it too. Can you deny this feeling and say that feeling is not true, not real? That is what Zen is. Do not belittle or look down on this feeling."

I recited a verse from the Transmission of the Lamp.

"Great wisdom said 'When Bodhisattva saw the Buddha nature it was through his eye, not his heart.'

"Question: 'How can you use your eye to see the nature of Buddha?'"

"Answer: 'If you can only see through your heart you are still in a dark cave. Only when you can see through your eye can you know completely. Therefore the nature is like a great void. All the manifestations of this world come from this great void. Nature, the great void and all the things of this world are all the same. All are one thing.'"

"Mr. Lu, what do you think nature is?" Hsieh asked.

"It is spirit."

"Then what is spirit?"

"Spirit is the original nature which was one with all the manifestations in the world."

Then I did a reading for both of them about their past and their future.

Some things in the future we don't know accurately, but everything in their past was read so clearly they were astonished. It looked as if it was a fake. They spent almost half the afternoon asking me questions.

All people are curious about their past and future. As far as these matters are concerned, most people seem to understand some aspects and to misunderstand other parts. Many intellectuals wave a hand and pronounce that these knowings are mere superstitions and imaginations.

In truth, years of study does not lead to greater spiritual wisdom because it is the heart, not the mind, that knows God.

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