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ALL RIGHT."
RYO DUSTED HIS SLEEVES AND BEGAN TO TAKE HIS DEPARTURE.
BASO CALLED TO HIM AND SAID, "PROFESSOR!"
RYO TURNED HIS HEAD.
BASO SAID, "FROM BIRTH TO DEATH, THIS IS HOW IT IS."
The no-mind... Mind continuously changes: a child's mind is one thing, a young man's mind is another thing, a mature middle-aged mind is another thing, the mind of an old man is another thing. The mind is constantly accumulating, changing viewpoints, ideologies, religions. It is not very trustworthy, it cannot be relied upon. Today it may be a communist and tomorrow may turn against communism; today it may be atheist, tomorrow it may become a theist. Mind is just hot air, as polluted as Poona.
No-mind is your unpolluted nature, from the beginning to the end. Baso is saying, "FROM BIRTH TO DEATH, THIS IS HOW IT IS." No-mind is continuously singing its song whether you hear it or not; its music is there whether you hear it or not; its dance is there, though of course your eyes cannot see it. It is an eternal dance.
RYO HAD A GREAT AWAKENING AND BOWED IN RESPECT TO BASO.
BASO SAID, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU BOWING FOR, NIT-WIT?"
RYO'S WHOLE BODY WAS NOW RUNNING WITH SWEAT. GOING BACK TO HIS TEMPLE, RYO SAID TO THE MONKS, "I THOUGHT IT COULD BE SAID THAT ALL MY LIFE NO ONE COULD LECTURE BETTER THAN I ON THE SUTRAS. TODAY, A QUESTION BY BASO DISSOLVED THE ICE OF A LIFETIME." RYO GAVE UP HIS LECTURES AND RETIRED FAR INTO THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS AND WAS HEARD OF NO MORE.
Meeting with a man like Baso is dangerous. It is not without reason that I am called the most dangerous man of this century. I am. Meeting me once, you will disappear, you will not be heard of anymore, you will not be seen again... One meeting is enough!
... ON ANOTHER OCCASION
BASO SAID TO THE ASSEMBLED MONKS,
"BELIEVE THAT EACH AND ALL OF YOU HAVE THE MIND WHICH IS THE BUDDHA! BODHIDHARMA CAME FROM INDIA TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM TO ENLIGHTEN YOU WITH THE TRUTH HE CONVEYED OF ONE MIND," of this moment, of suchness.
A MONK SPOKE UP AND SAID, "WHY DO YOU TEACH `THE MIND IS THE BUDDHA'?"
BASO SAID, "TO STOP THE BABY CRYING."
All
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