Don't Be Bothered By Your Mind / Science of Philosophy is Like a Dissection

Summary

This talk presents a Zen teaching centered on the immediacy of true mind and the limitations of retrospective analysis. The speaker argues that science, philosophy, and psychological interpretation can only examine what has already happened, and therefore resemble a dead remnant of practice rather than living practice itself. By contrast, authentic understanding must arise in the present moment, where one directly encounters one’s own mind and inmost nature. A major theme is the distinction between the small, conceptual mind and buddha nature. The speaker invokes Bodhidharma, described as the first patriarch in China and the 28th patriarch after Buddha, to illustrate this point. Bodhidharma’s image of seeing water before seeing a fish is used to explain that before one can perceive buddha nature, one must first notice the mind that is already perceiving. The speaker interprets this not as a separate object to be found later, but as the very act of awareness itself. In this sense, the true nature is not hidden behind experience; it is present in the act of watching. The talk also references Descartes’ statement, “I think, therefore I am,” but reinterprets it through Zen. The “I” is not treated as a fixed ego or dead self, but as living, continuous activity. This “I” is described as always moving, swimming, flying, and functioning within the vastness of existence. The speaker emphasizes that this awareness is universal and inclusive, not limited to a personal identity. In this view, the world is not separate from practice; rather, practice includes everything within and without, and the whole world belongs to the practitioner in the sense of being fully present in experience. Another important contrast is between direct experience and shadow-like mental activity. The speaker criticizes the tendency to chase after thoughts, memories, and interpretations of the mind as if they were the mind itself. These are compared to shadows that cannot be caught by stepping on them, because they always remain ahead or behind. Likewise, dwelling on past or future is described as futile. The teaching insists that one should instead return to the present act of living, where true mind is already available. The speaker uses a Zen story involving Bodhidharma and a disciple who tries to bring forth a sinful mind for confession. When the disciple cannot locate such a mind, Bodhidharma declares that confession is complete. This story is used to show that what is sought as a fixed mental object cannot be found in the way people expect. The realization is immediate and precise: the true mind is not something to be grasped conceptually, because it is already the condition in which grasping occurs. The conclusion returns to practice as the means of realizing this truth. The speaker identifies sesshin as the practice of catching the true mind, not through thinking or feeling, but through moment-to-moment attention to breathing and posture. This embodied discipline is presented as the only real secret. Even suffering, wandering, or confusion do not remove true mind; it remains present in all states. The talk closes by reinforcing that there is no need to search elsewhere, because the essential point is already here in direct practice and immediate awareness.