Third, Zen is a method, a means. This is from the convenience of Zen, not from the end of Zen. Of course, it is not separated from convenience, convenience is not separated from the end, two and one, one and two. In essence, Zen is the method of seeing nature, "pointing directly at the human heart, seeing nature and becoming a Buddha". In this way, the ultimate goal is to point directly at the insight, and not to take detours. How is it to be pointed at? It is to ask each of us to believe that we are Buddhas thoroughly, to believe thoroughly, not to be half-believed, but not to have any doubts at all. Then, under the guidance of this concept, all the requirements of the Buddha are put in place in one step, which is to "point directly to the hearts of the people and become a Buddha by seeing nature". The so-called "seeing nature to become a Buddha" is to do it in one step - to point it directly.

This method is not dead, but alive. It is a dynamic approach that changes from person to person, time to place. Shakyamuni Buddha used this method to show the public. Kaya didn't speak, just laughed. After Zen was transmitted to China, did it still use the method of holding flowers to show the public? In the lamp quotations and quotations of Zen Buddhism, it seems that no one uses this method anymore. No patriarch picks up flowers, you laugh - it's useless for you to laugh, you don't see sex. So this method cannot be plagiarized, and plagiarism is useless. This approach is alive and dynamic. When the patriarch does this, how can you know that he is enlightened? This must have that kind of teacher, and then there must be that kind of disciple. Only when the teacher has insight, the disciple has insight, has a tacit understanding with each other, and has a heart-to-heart relationship, can this effect be achieved. So, the method of Zen is alive.

Zen Buddhism talks about "not dying with people", that is, it does not have a fixed pattern. The ancient patriarchs used many methods when they were recruiting scholars, and there were 1,700 public cases in summary. What are the 1,700 public cases? To summarize it in a preliminary way, it is 1,700 methods. I think that's only found in quotations, and there are those that are not recorded in quotations, and I'm afraid there are more than 17,000 ways. The methods and means of Zen are flexibly used and constantly developed according to the time, place and person. It is still evolving to this day. Today, there are "Tranquility Zen" and "Life Zen", all of which are changing methods. It is necessary to use Zen to attract the masses according to the person, the place, and the time.

Fourth, Zen is a path. Since Zen is a method, with this method, there is a way to follow. What is the path? It is a way to explore and develop wisdom. Each of us has sufficient wisdom and virtue, but we cannot attain it because of delusional attachment. What methods should we use to develop it? Zen tells us that there is a way, and this method is to "make a decision at the right time, and take responsibility directly." "This method is very simple, but it is also difficult, and it is called standing on the wall and there is no door to enter. But you have to have a little courage to take one step forward in this situation.

Zen is also the way to break free from shackles. We live in a world of relativity, and everything relative binds us tightly like a shackle, so that we cannot be liberated or at ease. For example, if we want to rest and fall asleep at night, and if we are lying in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, and the more we sleep, the more awake we are, what is it that keeps us from sleeping? It's delusion that is doing the trick, and it's the separation that is doing the trick. If you don't have delusions, go to bed and fall asleep. There are also many such people. But more people love to think about things at night, and it is difficult to sleep, and he is very envious of the kind of people who fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, and he is very envious. But envy is useless, because envy itself is a kind of attachment. Sleep as you slept, slept as you slept, had no use for the same purpose, and broke free from the shackles of all distinctions.

Zen is also the path to liberation. Shackles are shackles and handcuffs, and when you get rid of shackles, you are liberated at the moment, and Zen plays this role. In short, Zen is the path to a fulfilling life. There are many flaws in our lives, and these flaws are self-inflicted, not inherent in us. We should have had a fully enlightened life, a fully enlightened life. The reason why we have many defects is that we are not able to become enlightened, we are not able to return to the present moment of life, and we are always seeking the Dharma from outside our hearts, and we are always seeking from the outside, so we cannot be satisfied, comfortable, or liberated. Don't seek liberation outside of shackles, don't seek nirvana outside of birth and death, don't seek bodhi outside of afflictions. Liberation is an infinite freedom, a total freedom. Where is this total freedom? The infinite is realized in the finite, and nirvana is sought in life and death. Life and death and nirvana are the same, the infinite and the finite are the same, and the afflictions and bodhi are the same. What's in it? Separated from some ignorance, i.e., discriminating minds. If you transcend it in the moment, you can achieve it. The so-called life and death are nirvana, afflictions are bodhi, and finite is infinite. This path of Zen tells us such a fact.

Fifth, Zen is an art of living, a way of living. The lives of ordinary people basically do not have the detachment and detachment of Zen, and do not have the joy and tranquility of Zen people, they are all struggling in pain, and there is no art of life, nothing more than firewood, rice, oil, salt, wives and children. Monks also have all kinds of troubles. The troubles of the monks are called studying and visiting good knowledge. The ancients said that "there is no temple, only no way", and they all hope to reach a certain level in cultivation and achieve something in Taoism. If there is a Tao, there must be a temple. This is to tell the troubles of the family. In the troubles of the family, if you are a student of Buddhism, today you hear that it is good to go to Zen, you will come to Zen, and tomorrow you will hear that it is good to recite the Buddha, and then you will go to the Buddha, and you will think that Amitabha Buddha will immediately take him to the Western Elysium, and do not stay in this world of samva, which is too bitter and bitter. This is the trouble of those who study Buddhism. People who don't study Buddhism have more troubles and more suffering, which can be said to be indescribable. There is no art in life! Even if you are an artist, your life is not the same as art; It's not the same as acting, acting is relatively easy.

But the life of a Zen man, that's really an art. There was a Zen master who wrote a poem about his family's life. He said: "Fortunately, he is a monk under Futian's clothes, and Qiankun has won an idler." If there is a fate, there is no chance to live, and the breeze sends the white clouds. "Between the world and the world, he is a person who is at ease, which shows that the artistry of this life is very high. Gusts of breeze, wisps of white clouds, just like the life of a monk, just like the image of a monk, how chic and comfortable! It can be said that it has truly reached a chic walk. We ordinary people say chic, but in fact, we say it head-on. Where is the real chic? The real chic is the life of a Zen person, and it is an artistic life, so Zen is an art of life.