Is This a Stage of Non-Mind Samadhi?

Whether you say "this is it" or "this is not it," it is still this. Raising the bamboo staff is this, and lowering it is this. When I say "this," I'm not following the meaning of "this," but rather this activity (?) of saying "this" in this very moment is it. It has no form, so it cannot be described, yet it is clearly present everywhere. When you say "Buddha is the enlightened one," I'm not chasing the meaning of "enlightened one," but rather this of this very moment when "Buddha is what it is." It's the same whether you call the Buddha a "shit-stick" or "three pounds of flax."

This, which is so clearly alive, is precisely consciousness (識). Everything is a function of consciousness. Consciousness is precisely the 'this!' you speak of, Master. And as you said, Master, even if you try to find this (consciousness), you cannot find it. The moment you try to find it, another 'this' that seeks to find it arises. That's why you said that if you try to grasp it, it runs away. Also, Master, do you ordinarily reside in non-mind and then bring forth words and thoughts when necessary? I understand these four states—the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothingness, and the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception—as stages of non-mind samadhi mentioned in early scriptures. Is this correct? I ask you to examine whether I am studying correctly.

Answer:

Everything you are talking about is discrimination, understanding, thought, and delusion.

You are calculating and discriminating the 'this!' I point to, through thought.

I have told you countless times that what I point to with the word "this!" is indiscriminable, incalculable, and unknowable.

If you calculate and understand it as you are doing, it is all discriminating delusion.

'This!' is something to be realized by transcending thought, not something that can be discriminated or understood.

If you say it is the function or activity of this moment where you are saying "this is it," that is discrimination and thought.

The word "this!" is merely an expedient word; it is not something that can be known through calculation.

'This!' is not the knowledge that is consciousness (識).

Only when your discriminating mind is cut off, and you have an inconceivable experience of being freed from thought, will you finally know what "this!" means.

When you clearly penetrate 'this!', even if you say "this!", you are not saying "this!"

This study is precisely the experience of liberation from thought, leading to the ability to think without thinking.

Why Are There No Enlightened People?

Korean Seon Buddhism heavily practices Ganhwaseon (Koan meditation), so why are there so few enlightened people?

Answer:

Only an enlightened person recognizes another enlightened person.

To recognize an enlightened person, you must first become enlightened yourself.

Do not concern yourself with whether others are enlightened or not; instead, devote all your effort to your own enlightenment first.