Some one asked him: “Why may we not worship the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?” He answered:
“Ogres and hobgoblins can at will assume the outward form of Bodhisattvas; such are heretical and not of the true Buddha. There is no Buddha but your own thoughts. Buddha is the Way. The Way is Zen. This word Zen cannot be understood even of the wise. Zen means ‘for a man to behold his fundamental nature.’”[2]
The highest truths cannot be written down or taught by speech. A man who cannot write a word, can yet contemplate his own heart and become wise. Knowledge of 1,000 Sūtras and 10,000 Shāstras cannot help him to realise the Absolute within him.
He was asked: “Can a layman with wife and children, one given over to the lusts of the flesh, achieve Buddhahood?” He answered:
“Provided he contemplate his own inner-nature, he will achieve Buddhahood. It does not matter about his lusts. Even a butcher can achieve Buddhahood, if he searches in his own heart.”
“What,” cried his listeners, “a butcher, who lives by taking life, and he achieve Buddhahood?” The master replied:
“It is not a question of the man’s trade. If he has learnt to know his own nature he will be saved.
“I have come from India only to teach you that Buddha is Thought. I care nothing for monastic rules or ascetic practices. As for walking on water or through fire, climbing sword-wheels, fasting, sitting upright for hours without rest—all such practices are heretical; they belong to the World of Being.
“Thought, Thought, Thought! It is hard to seek. Expanding, it covers the whole world; shrinking, it is too small to lodge a pin.