30This Very Mind Is Buddha即心即佛

馬祖因大梅問。如何是佛。祖云。即心是佛。

Damei asked Mazu, "What is Buddha?"
Mazu said, "This very mind is Buddha."

Wumen's Comment 無門曰

若能直下領略得去。著佛衣喫佛飯。說佛話行佛行。即是佛也。然雖如是。大梅引多少人。錯認定盤星。爭知道說箇佛字三日漱口。若是箇漢。見說即心是佛。掩耳便走。

Take this in directly, and you wear Buddha's clothes, eat Buddha's food, talk Buddha's talk, walk Buddha's walk. You are Buddha.

Even so, Damei has led no end of people to misread the scale. How could they know that saying the word "Buddha" once means three days rinsing out your mouth? A real one, hearing "this very mind is Buddha," covers his ears and runs.

Verse 頌曰

青天白日
切忌尋覓
更問如何
抱贓叫屈

Clear blue sky, broad daylight.
Whatever you do, don't go looking.
Ask once more, "What is it?"
and you're the thief, holding the loot, crying he's been robbed.

Pointer

Mazu was an eighth-century master known for blunt, mind-stopping replies. His student Damei ("Big Plum") asks the largest question there is, what Buddha is, and Mazu hands back the plainest line in Zen: this very mind is Buddha, already yours, nothing to chase. The bait is taking that as a slogan to bank or a thing to go hunting. That is the "misreading the scale" in the commentary, fumbling the weights and landing on the wrong total. The word "Buddha" is so loaded that Wumen says speaking it once leaves a taste you need three days to rinse out. Which is why a real adept wouldn't simply nod along; hearing "this very mind is Buddha" he'd cover his ears and bolt before the good news can set into one more idea to grip. Notice that the cure and the disease are the same four words, depending on whether you hold them.