So what exactly is Zen? As the Zen of Zen Buddhism, the Zen that directly points to the human heart and becomes a Buddha by seeing the nature, it is separated from language and writing, and it is not a problem that can be solved by logical thinking, and can only be prompted by the method of "speaking with words". As for what Zen is, or what Zen is, we have to experience it ourselves.

What is Zen? First of all, Zen is a state of mind. There is a saying in Zen Buddhism that says, "If a person drinks water, he knows whether he is warm or cold." What kind of state is this? It is the state of life of the enlightened one. The enlightened person is the Buddha, the Buddha is always in Zen, every move, word and deed of the Buddha is Zen, so it is said that "walking is also Zen, sitting is also Zen, and the silent movement and static body are safe." "This is the life of an enlightened being, this is the life of a Buddha." Naga is always in place, and there is no time to be fixed", this is the state of Zen. We can see the peace, nature, and joy of the Buddha from the outside. This is also the state of life of the enlightened. An enlightened person who has not yet fully attained Buddhahood also has this realm, which is the second level. The third level is the realm of practitioners, and practitioners and meditators sometimes have this realm, but their realm cannot be completely integrated, it is intermittent, and his realm is different from the realm of a Buddha in terms of level.

That is to say, although your perception is equal to that of the Buddha, "there is no difference between the mind, the Buddha, and all sentient beings," that refers only to an equality in the cause and ground, and cannot be completely equated with the Buddha in the fruit position. However, talking about the mind, talking about the Buddha, talking about sentient beings, and talking about equality is still a kind of theory, a kind of thinking distinction, but it requires all these things to be put aside. Only by putting aside all the theoretical frameworks, by putting aside all the thinking separately, can you experience the state of Zen. In other words, as long as you let go of the duality completely, the present moment is the state of Zen. It's not that we have to wait until when it is that realm, everything is now. Each of us might as well give it a try, and in a moment, a second, two seconds, three seconds, you can experience this realm. In terms of effect, Zen is a state of mind, and it is this thing that each of us really has to grasp.

Second, Zen is a kind of use, a kind of experience. The realm of Zen is invisible and intangible, only to experience and use by oneself; Moreover, this kind of use is self-use, and cannot be shared with others. The use and experience of Zen can only be obtained by those who practice it, and only those who have evidence can obtain it. If you are a meditator, you will have this kind of experience and use. If you attain the state of Zen, you will get this kind of benefit. To use an analogy, on the dog days of June, we walk under the sun, what do we think most at that time? As far as people are concerned, it is to think of going inside a cool house. What happens when we enter this cool room? It's cool, it's comfortable, it's comfortable. That feeling is only known to you, can you tell that feeling? I can't describe it in words. Others only see that you are very peaceful and comfortable there, and your kind of use cannot be experienced by others, and your kind of experience is not shared. Of course, this is due to the transfer of space.

As I said earlier, Zen is direct, present. It doesn't need the transfer of space, nor does it need the transfer of time, that is, this thing, this thing. It's like a poet describing the use of Zen that a Zen master feels in the heat of a hot day.

How did the poet write in his poems? Everyone may know: "Everyone is like crazy to escape the summer", in the hot summer, they all want to escape the heat, and they run around as if they are crazy. "The only Zen master does not go out of the room", only those who participate in Zen, those who study Zen, and those who practice Zen, and he does not have this phenomenon of running like crazy. "It's not that the Zen master doesn't have the heat", it's not that the Zen master can't feel this kind of heat. "Only because the heart is quiet and naturally cool", when the heart is calm, it will naturally be cold. What is the state of tranquility? As I just said, the binary opposition of cool and hot does not exist, there is no heat or no heat. Once there is a duality, his feelings are immediately different. What is duality? It's our difference.

There is also a story here about a Venerable Zen practitioner who was reading a book one day and saw the sun go down, and when it was time to hold the lamp, although he did not light the lamp, he was still reading, and the words on the book were very clear and not blurry at all. At this time, a master came to his room by night with candles, and when he saw His Holiness still reading there without light, he said, "It's getting late, why are you still reading?" Can you see it? His Holiness was reminded by him and immediately began to discriminate: Oh, I can't see it. At that moment, his eyes were black, and he couldn't see anything.

There are a lot of stories like this. Master Yuan Xiao of Silla came to China to seek the Dharma. When I walked to the remote places of China, in the evening, I couldn't find a place to stay in the middle of the village, and I couldn't find a place to stay in the wilderness. A few people had no choice but to sleep in the open, with no water and no food. At night, they were vaguely looking for water to drink, and suddenly they found a very small pit with a little water in it, and they drank it desperately, and after drinking it they felt sweet and comfortable. The next morning, when I saw it, it was corpse water that had come out of the coffin. At that moment, I was distracted and vomited non-stop. The same thing, because there is a difference and there is no difference, there are two completely different effects. The moment when there is no difference, it is the realm of Zen, the use of Zen, and this use is very obvious.

It's the same for monks to place orders in monasteries. The monk who placed the order came, sent him to a room, where he lived quite peacefully, and slept beautifully. The next day, he was told that someone had died in the room yesterday, either from illness or by hanging. When he heard this, he didn't dare to live in that room anymore, he felt that there was a ghost. Where are the ghosts? The ghost is in the heart, and it is separation. This situation has probably happened to each of us.

Therefore, it is the root cause of all problems in the world. If you want to become a Buddha and become an ancestor, you must first remove this thing. Therefore, Zen is a kind of use, a kind of experience. This experience is to move away from distinction and to achieve non-distinction. Because things in the world are inherently equal, and everything is equal. Difference is only its appearance, equality is its nature, we have to prove the nature separately from the phase, so that the use obtained is the end.