The One Mind

A monk, tirelessly seeking the truth, came one morning to his master, Xuěfēng Yìcún, and spoke:

“Master, I have read the scriptures and heard of the Buddha-nature, the true suchness, the hidden essence, and the pure consciousness. Yet I do not understand where I can find these things. Where is the one mind that the ancient texts speak of?”

Xuěfēng sat quietly at the edge of a bamboo grove, where the morning sun shimmered through the leaves. He looked at the monk and asked:

“Tell me, how many names does the wind have?”

The monk was puzzled.

“The wind? It has many names—the breeze, the storm, the gust. But it is always the same wind, isn’t it?”

Xuěfēng nodded.

“Exactly so with the one mind. It is called Buddha-nature, true suchness, the hidden essence, the pure spiritual body, the pedestal of awareness, the true soul, the innocent, the universal mirrorlike cognition, the empty source, the ultimate truth, the pure consciousness. Yet it is always the same mind—your mind.”

The monk needed to know more and asked:

“But where do I find it? I have searched for so long—in the scriptures, in meditation, in the words of the ancient masters.”

Xuěfēng pointed to the sun reflecting in the still water of a small pond.

“The Buddhas of the past, present, and future, along with all their teachings, are contained within your original nature, inherently complete. Look at the sun in the water—do you need to search for it, or is it already there?”

The monk gazed at the water and saw the reflection of the sun, clear and radiant. Yet he hesitated.

“But Master, if it is already there, why do I feel so lost? Why have I not attained enlightenment?”

Xuěfēng smiled gently.

“You do not need to search, but you must save yourself. No one can do it for you. Your mind is like this pond—the sun is always there, but when the water is clouded by your thoughts and striving, you cannot see it clearly. Simply let it come to rest.”

The monk sat by the edge of the pond and closed his eyes. He let his thoughts come to rest, as Xuěfēng had instructed. After a while, he felt a deep clarity within himself, as if the boundaries between him and the world around him dissolved. He opened his eyes and saw the sun in the pond, more radiant than ever before.

Xuěfēng spoke softly:

“The one mind was never gone. You are the one who has always been it.”