The Teachings of Zen Master Man Gong (part 1)

What Am I? The Necessity of Finding Your True Self

1. It is said that human beings are the most precious of all things because they can attain their true nature.

2. True nature means total freedom, being in charge of one’s life, yet human beings are rarely free anytime or place. They cannot control their lives because their deluded thinking (small ‘I’) becomes the boss while their true nature is just a slave.

3. The small ‘I’, deluded thinking, is the offspring of true nature. Deluded thinking arises from selfish desire. True nature (clear mind or bodhisattva mind) is correct mind, which has no beginning and no end; it has no existence or extinction, yet it lacks nothing.

4. How is a human being who has lost sight of his true nature any different from an animal which only pursues sex and food instinctively? No matter how great or famous you are, if you do not attain your true nature, you are just like a molecule, subject to the four types of birth and death and the six realms of existence (samsara).

5. In our world most people live together, sharing a lifestyle, mindlessly following their karma. Their lives just happen, without direction. They don’t see the terrifying thing waiting for them. When death comes, they are blind to what lies ahead.

From the book, The Teachings of Zen Master Man Gong.