The Mind That Does Not 'Move'

[Shi Da Dao]

A continuous aspect of Master Xu Yun's (1840-1959) teaching is that he emphasises time and again the concept of the 'Immovable Mind' as is evident in the above photograph. This emphasis recurs continuously throughout his Chinese-language Dharma-Talks - only a fraction of which have been translated and are available in the West. The 'Immovable Mind' is fully independent and so does not belong to a single Sect, Temple, School or Lineage, etc. No group can mediate its presence or define 'how' and 'when' it manifests. This is because the 'Immovable Mind' is nothing less than the eternally 'shining' Buddha-Nature! It is the fully realised 'empty mind ground' in its 'all-embracing' aspect! Master Xu Yun states time and again that the 'Immovable Mind' 'does not move' when 'it encounters myriad external forms'! In other words, although 'change' is the true nature of the external world (as explained by the Buddha in the Four Noble Truths) - the fully realised inner mind 'does not move' when in continuous contact with the external world of flux! This is because the 'mind that moves' is the deluded mind that must be 'stilled' to stop its conscious processes from being deluded! Stillness is 'relative' or 'Hinayana' enlightenment - whilst a 'still' and 'all-embracing' mind is the 'Mahayana' enlightenment! Both are distinguished from the state of 'delusion' by the fact that 'stillness' is the key designator. This is what Chinese Ch'an Buddhism has to offer the modern mind with regards to preventing and/or curing modern-style mental illness (which is highly painful patterns of inner movements of the mind that spill-over through abhorrent behaviour into the outer world). The ability to 'still' the mind cut's the head off of any potential development of painful inner patterning. Indeed, correct Ch'an meditation prevents the conditions for mental illness to develop! Either way, where modern concepts of psychology and psychiatry assume that it is inevitable that the 'mind moves' - Chinese Ch'an Buddhism does not accept this hypothesis. Medical science has proven that advanced meditators can and do 'still' their mind processes and that this concept is not a religious myth. It is obvious that 'psychological and physical life continues' after the mind is 'stilled' and that those who achieve this rarefied state, enter into a new and enhanced frequency of being!