The Formless Nature

A young monk, who had been meditating in the monastery for years and seeking enlightenment, stepped before his master, the wise Zen Master Xuěfēng, one day and asked:

“Master, I have meditated for many years and studied the scriptures, yet enlightenment remains distant. What must I do to attain it?”

Xuěfēng looked at him, smiled gently, and said:

“Before you attain enlightenment, you must perceive your essential nature.”

The monk inquired further:

“What does it mean to perceive my essential nature?”

Xuěfēng replied:

“It means to recognize your own original nature.”

The monk pondered for a moment and asked further:

“And what form does this original nature have? How can I see it?”

Xuěfēng pointed to the pond in front of the monastery, where the clear sky was reflected.

“When you perceive your original nature, there is no concrete object to see. Look at the water—can you grasp the sky it reflects?”

The monk shook his head.

“That is hard to believe, Master. How can something without form be my true nature?”

Xuěfēng gazed at the sky and continued:

“It is hard to believe, yet all Buddhas have achieved this. Do not look for something outside of yourself. Your original nature is not separate from you—it is that which sees, not that which is seen.”

The monk looked at the sky, uncertain, yet a spark of curiosity ignited within him.

“How do I find it if I cannot see it?”

Xuěfēng raised his hand, as if holding an invisible thread in the air, and spoke:

“Stop searching, and you will find it. Your original nature is like the space that encompasses everything—the mountains, the trees, the wind. It is not within them, and yet they are not separate from it. Who sees the mountains? Who hears the wind?”

At that moment, a gentle breeze blew through the garden, and a leaf fell from a tree into the pond, creating small ripples. The monk watched the ripples, and suddenly, for a fleeting moment, he felt a deep stillness within himself—as if he were the pond, the sky, and the leaf all at once.

Xuěfēng smiled.

“Exactly that. Pause.”