Shih-tou Hsi-chien (700-790) was a very well known Chinese Ch'an master. As a young monk, he was one of the disciples of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng. After Hui-neng passed away, Shih-tou continued his pilgrimage...
He paid a vist...
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THE SEED OF THOUGHT
When an object does not intend to be in the field of perception of the mind; and the mind does not intend to come to the object to perceive it. But the object is perceived by the mind through the senses, And an image or an impression would be left on the mind, This is called "idea" or the seed of thought.
The "idea", therefore, did not come into being by itself as an entity. It did not come from the object itself It did not come from the the mind itself, either. If there were no object, then there would be no idea left on the mind. If there were no mind, then there would be no idea of the object, either.
If one holds on some idea and takes it as some meaning of the object, tightly and long, then the meaning of it wouldn't be established by far.
Why would one hold on ideas too tight and too long?
ChonTri 01/16/2008
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