Huang po and Foyan reccomend a course of action.. ( A practice)

.

.

#If you wish to understand, know that a sudden comprehension comes when the mind has been purged of all the clutter of conceptual and discriminatory thought-activity. Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate.

.

#HUANG PO.

. .

#Just because I wondered deeply, I later attained penetrating understanding.... If you do not reflect and examine, your whole life will be buried away.

.

#FOYAN.

.

.

.

.

T. O. M's comment.

.

.

Huang po says that, in order to understand, then a sudden compression comes when the mind has been purged of clutter..

.

.

He is here suggesting that A ( sudden compression) follows B ( the purging of clutter)

.

.

He also suggests that a person can get further away from truth, by over intellectual bullshit.

.

.

He does not state that mind is already a Buddha, so you can just repeat sayings endlessly every day because your already a Buddha anyway, so fuck it, just go on as normal.

.

.

Foyan also suggests a course of action..

Because he wondered deeply, he later attained.

The attainment ( outcome) followed a practice.

.

There are various instances of Zen masters clearly stating a course of practice or a method..

.

Here is another one from Foyan.

.

.

#The path is not revealed only after explanation and direction; it is inherently always out in the open. Explanation and direction are expedient methods, used to get you to realize enlightenment; they are also temporary byroads. Some attain realization through explanation, some attain realization through direction, some attain by spontaneous awakening; ultimately there is nothing different, no separate attainment. It is simply a matter of reaching the source of mind. .

.

.

.

There you have it, the methods ( even the method of having no method) are all simply expedient means to allow the Zen student to come to an understanding of mind, a realisation of what has always been there, so the attainment isn't really an attainment, it is a realisation... And some find this through practice, some may stumble upon it through miracle or accident..

.

.

T. O. M's End take..

.

.

#Zen masters DO suggest a practice.

.

.