Rabbit Horns, Ox Horns
I'm not asking about the teaching that this very mind is Buddha. But what is the teaching that is neither mind nor Buddha?
A monk asked Chan Master Caoshan Benji: I'm not asking about the teaching that this very mind is Buddha. But what is the teaching that is neither mind nor Buddha?
Caoshan answered: A rabbit's horn needs no proof it doesn't exist — it never did. An ox's horn needs no proof it does — it always has.
For a Zen practitioner, everything is plainly laid out; any attempt to prove it is pointless. Things themselves are clearer than any doctrine. Look at them, feel them, let them settle in the heart — they speak more clearly than any words.