We have to learn how to see the empty boundless horizon in everything that arises. If we cannot do that, we cannot handle the fetters that bind us down. Just to give you an example: It is like with the flower that we see by the side of the road. That flower is an outcome of factors entirely conditioned by Karma. If there was no seed containing karmic information, if there wasn’t that kind of memory, the flower would not grow into a flower. What we call “interdependent arising” is nothing but the conditions that bring forth composite things such as this flower. Every single thing is a composite, a construct. And every construct is impermanent, and therefore not real.

Therefore we have to slowly learn how to see the real form of all things - which is an empty boundless horizon. Perhaps this teaching is a bit deep for us, but since our heart wants to return home, we need to understand it. Once we have understood, we will no longer hold on to conditioned things. As the Heart Sutra says: “In that empty boundless horizon, there is no eye, ear nose, tongue, body mind; no color sound smell, taste, touch, thing; no realm of sight and no realm of consciousness.” In other words, we have to make all of these into “nothing”! Constantly contemplating things in this way will help us to solve all of the problems of life and death. This is how we become freed from all suffering and realize that “Nirvana is already here.”

Chan practice means returning to our essential nature in which there is “originally not a thing”. If we want to return home there, we cannot bring anything along. If we carry things with us, our heart simply cannot return home, but gets stuck in so many places along the way. But the heart does not want to get stuck anywhere. Therefore we have to let go of everything. Letting go of everything means “cessation,” Nirvana, a place of peace. And what do we call not letting go of everything? We call it “Clinging to things, carrying them along.”

“Cessation is itself Bodhi wisdom.” “Cessation” is our enlightened nature; it is “our original face before our parents were born.”“Cessation” means letting go of everything, and being at peace. Please don`t get into a deluded state again – let us return to the home of our heart!

Dharma Master Hsin Tao
(Translated by Maria Reis Habito)

禪修 讓心回家

禪修的目的是讓心回家，怎麼回家？要放下所有的攀緣，如果放下攀緣，心才能回家。

我們要在一切的緣起法裡面看到空性，如果我們沒有看到空性，就沒有辦法處理所有的束縛。舉例來說，就像路旁的花，這個花，是一個緣起，沒有緣起、記憶體，它就不可能成為花，所謂的「緣起」就是它的組合條件，每一個東西都是一個組合，而組合都是無常的，都是不實際的。

所以我們要慢慢看到，諸法的實相就是一個空相，這個道理也許有點深，但是心要回家，就要了解這個，了解之後就不再攀緣，無眼耳鼻舌身意、無色身香味觸法，無眼界..都要「無」了啊！如果我們能夠這樣去直觀的時候，才能夠出離所有的生死問題，所以我們才能夠自在，究竟涅槃。

坐禪就是回到本來無一物的心性！所以心回家就是不能夠帶東西回家，如果帶著東西，心就沒有回家，就附著在很多的地方。心不要附著在任何的地方，都要放下，放得下叫做「歇」，放不下時叫做什麼呢？帶東西回家。

「歇即菩提」，「歇」就是我們的覺性，「歇」就是我們的本來面目，「歇」，知道嗎？「歇」就是放下的意思，請不要再忙碌了，我們要回到心的家！

─── 心道法師