Appreciating a Zen Poem: Being Buddha, No Need to Seek Buddha—Only Thus Are Bonds Forgotten

Verse Two for Disciples [Tang Dynasty] Chan Master Guishan Zhengyuan

In seeking a teacher, one recognizes the source of the original mind, Both shores are profound—one alone is incomplete. If you are Buddha, you need not seek another Buddha, Only by seeing this do all bonds fall away.

"Seeking a teacher, one recognizes the source of the original mind" cuts to the core of the 1,700 koans in the Chan tradition: every teaching and practice points to the same truth — helping people awaken to the source of their original mind. This is exactly what Mazu meant when he said, "This mind itself is Buddha." But so often, people get stuck puzzling over one or two koan phrases, and lose sight of that source of mind entirely, drifting further and further from the path. It’s like mistaking the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself: they fail to see that the source of mind is the moon, not the finger. Caught in delusion and attachment, sentient beings turn a single apt phrase into "a post for tethering donkeys through ten thousand ages."

"Both shores are profound—one alone is incomplete." Before awakening, neither the far shore of enlightenment nor the near shore of ordinary life holds true; once you awaken, both are fully real. "Neither side is fixed, nor does the middle way abide." The far shore and near shore are one, not two — so what harm is there in speaking of two? Two cannot be pinned down, and one is not one either. When you see this clearly, you realize the Buddha has always stood right before you, reflected in the mirror: every place is Buddha, so what need is there to seek and search? Mind and Buddha are not two; a Buddha outside of mind cannot be found at all. As the saying goes, "Wearing through iron shoes in fruitless search, only to find it was yours all along, no effort required." Once you awaken to this, you let go of all attachments, cut off the myriad streams of thought, drift with the waves, move with the natural current, loose and at ease — rising and soaring, free and unbound, all the way.

Translation Notes

• “Both shores are profound” (两岸俱玄): I chose “profound” over “mysterious” to convey 玄 as a term for the ineffable depth at the heart of Chan discourse, while retaining “both shores” to preserve the river-crossing metaphor of 彼岸 (far shore) and 此岸 (near shore).
• “A post for tethering donkeys through ten thousand ages” (万世系驴橛): This is a well-known Chan idiom; the vivid literal image is preserved in English to keep its original, striking impact.
• “Wearing through iron shoes in fruitless search, only to find it was yours all along, no effort required” (踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫): A common Chinese proverb, preserved in natural English to retain its familiar resonance for readers.
• “Rising and soaring, free and unbound” (腾腾任运): The reduplicated 腾腾 evokes a sense of vigorous, unhindered movement, while 任运 translates to “following the natural course” of things.