Words Of Zen Master Lin-Chi

Words of Lin-Chi | Zen Buddhism

Contemplative wisdom readings for meditation.

Línjì Yìxuán (?–866) was the founder of the Linji school of Chán Buddhism during Tang Dynasty China. Linji was trained by the Chan master Huang-Po

Transcript

When it's time to get dressed,

Put on your clothes.

When you must walk,

Then walk.

When you must sit,

Then sit.

Just be your ordinary self in ordinary life,

Unconcerned in seeking enlightenment.

When you are tired,

Lie down.

The fool will laugh at you,

But the wise man will understand.

If you live in the sacred and despise the ordinary,

You are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.

Just be ordinary and nothing special.

Eat your food,

Move your bowels,

Pass water,

And when you're tired,

Go and lie down.

The ignorant will laugh at me,

But the wise will understand.

The real being with no status is always going in and out through the doors of your face.

If you want to be free,

Get to know your real self.

It has no form,

No appearance,

No root,

No basis,

No abode,

But it is lively and buoyant.

It responds with versatile facility,

But its function cannot be located.

Therefore,

When you look for it,

You become further from it.

When you seek it,

You turn away from it all the more.

Just put thoughts to rest and don't seek outwardly anymore.

When things come up,

Give them your attention.

Just trust what is functional in you at present,

And you have nothing to be concerned about.

If you want to perceive and understand objectively,

Just don't allow yourself to be confused by people.

Detach from whatever you find inside or outside yourself.

Detach from religion,

Tradition,

And society,

And only then will you attain liberation.

When you are not entangled in things,

You pass through freely to autonomy.

Satsang with Mooji People who study Buddhism in the present day should for now seek truly accurate vision and understanding.

Then life and death will not influence you,

And you will be free to leave or to stay.

You do not need to seek the extraordinary,

For the extraordinary will come of itself.

The worthies of old all had means of emancipating people.

What I teach people just requires you not to take on the confusion of others.

If you need to act,

Then act,

Without any further hesitation or doubt.

When students today do not realize this,

Where is the problem?

The problem is in not spontaneously trusting.

If you do not trust yourself completely,

You will then hurriedly go along with whatever happens in all situations.

As you are caused to undergo changes by those myriad situations,

You cannot be independent.

Satsang with Mooji If you were able to put a stop to the mentality in which every thought is running after something,

Then you would be no different from a Zen master or a Buddha.

Do you want to know what a Zen master or a Buddha is?

Simply that which is immediately present,

Listening to the teaching.

It is just because students do not trust completely that they seek outwardly.

If they get something by seeking,

It is all literary excellence.

They never attain the living meaning of the masters.

Make no mistake about it.

If you do not find it now,

You will repeat the same routines for myriad eons a thousand times over again,

Following and picking up on objects that attract you.

We are no different from Shakyamuni Buddha.

Today,

In your various activities,

What do you lack?

The spiritual light causing through your six senses has never been interrupted.

If you can see in this way,

You will simply be free of burdens all your life.

The world is unstable,

Like a house on fire.

This is not a place for you to stay long.

The haunt of impermanence comes upon you in a flash,

No matter whether you are rich or poor,

Old or young.

If you want to be no different from a Zen master or a Buddha,

Just do not seek outwardly.

Do not allow any more interruptions at any time,

And everything that you see is it.

Just because feelings arise,

Knowledge is blocked.

That is why you keep repeating the same routines in the world and suffer a variety of miseries.

The reality of mind has no form but pervades the ten directions.

In the eyes,

It is called seeing.

In the ears,

It is called hearing.

In the nose,

It smells.

In the mouth,

It speaks.

In the eyes,

It is called hearing.

In the nose,

It smells.

In the mouth,

It speaks.

In the hand,

It grips.

In the feet,

It steps.

Basically,

It is a single spiritual light.

Seeing thus,

You are liberated wherever you are.

What do I mean when I say this?

It is just because you are unable to stop the mentality of seeking that you get hooked on useless actions and states of other people who lived a long time ago.

If you take my view,

You will sit at the head of the embodiments of Buddha.

You have these obstacles only because you have not realized the emptiness of eons.

Genuine wayfarers are never like this.

They just dissolve their history according to conditions,

Dressing according to circumstances,

Acting when they need to act,

And sitting when they need to sit,

Without any idea of seeking the fruits of enlightenment.

Time is to be valued.

Do not stop with learning Zen or Tao on the surface as something outside yourself.

Learning to recognize terms and slogans,

Seeking enlightenment,

Seeking Buddhahood,

Seeking mastery,

Seeking teachers,

Considering them conceptually.

Make no mistake about it.

Turn your attention back upon yourself and observe.

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Reviews

the beauty and subtlety of this ancient wisdom…these are the kind of concepts that change the angle from which you view your human experience.

looking forward to returning to this track very soon. so grateful for this practice.

🙏 simplifying and getting to the essence of how I hope my life to flow.

Enjoyed this peaceful, insightful meditation. Thank you.

No need to seek. Just sit and everything will unfold. 🙏

This was… confusing. I loved it. Thank you. 🙏🏽

I only grasped a small bit

When meditate meditate. Namasté 🪷🧘🏻‍♂️

Peaceful and practical. 🙏💙

Profoundly simple….yet not. It brings with it a deep “memory” of Peace and Truth. Thank you for the reminder. 🙏

So beautiful!

Great, ❤️🙏

One of the best talks I have heard on Insight Timer. Profound truth

Thank you for the deep guidance.
Namaste,
Donna

"Ordinary " and practical wisdom in the best tradition of Zen. The reading was paced just right, allowing time for processing each statement. Grateful for this compact introduction to a Zen master of whom I was not aware until now. Thank you!

Gratitude for sharing this beautiful simplicity ✨️

On with your day

Thank you for recording this, I come back to it over and over again.

Excellent recording. Such wise presence and depth filled with simple treasures that are within our sight within reach. A question need not have an answer. We can be. Thank you for words I can listen to again and again.

Powerful simplicity. Moments well spent. Gratitude for sharing 🙏

Wow. Must listen again!