The Original Face

Venerable Master Hye-Am's Dharma Talks

The Original Face

True, profound Dharma has never been created nor annihilated. How often have we transformed our bodies; sometimes born in heaven, sometimes born in the ghost world? Whatever countenance we possessed has depended on differing transformations and karmic result, while the suffering and pleasure have alternated back and forth accordingly. Good karma results in being born in the heaven or human body, while bad karma molds the ghost or animal bodies, etc.; whichever we have produced at the moment of death. The sufferings from these alternations have never ended throughout this million-kalpas-karmic-cycle.

Then, what is the cause?
It is where all indigent-beings have forgotten their own Self-nature. The mind is deluded, so to speak. It Self-nature is originally bright, how did it become deluded? Defilements,delusion, and greed have covered the pure mind and blocked its luminosity. More clearly, using an analogy, it is the bright moon net disclosed in the dark night because of black clouds. These black clouds are equivalent to defilements and delusion; the bright moon is the pure mind. Therefore, by carefully cultivating ourselves, like one breeze from the West dispersing the clouds, we should disperse the cloud of the mind, so that our bright, transparent, and original moon can be found.

How do we find it?
We see things outside by eyes, however, the dead corpse also has eyes but cannot see. There is one thing, independent of physical eyes, which can see whatever it wants to see. Yet, no matter how hard we try to introspect upon what sees here, there is not even one form that can be seen.

When not even one form can be seen, no matter how hard we try to introspect upon what sees, right at this moment, "The West wind has already blown and scattered the black cloud, and the bright moon has already been exposed."

When not even one form can be seen, no matter how hard we try to introspect upon what sees,right at this moment, "Love and hatred have already been annihilated."

When not even one form can be seen, no matter how hard we try to introspect upon what sees, right at this moment, "Liberation from life-and-death has already been accomplished."

When not even one form can be seen, no matter how hard we try to introspect upon what sees, right at this moment, "The sea of suffering has already been crossed."

The indigent- beings' "Life-and-death" is derived from their contemplating only the physical bodies. Life-and-death itself originally does not subsist.

While originally they do not subsist, everyone has, rather, one bright, self-divine light of Buddha-nature, which is magnificently luminous in ten directions in the world of each and every being and of everything.

When and how does it come to be? When color can be seen by the eye, and when sound can be heard by the ear, then right at this moment, it actually comes to be. Now, even though we say that color comes to be eye, and sound comes to be in the ear, what if there is neither color in the eye nor sound in the ear? Then where does it come to be?

When there is neither color nor sound, this has been tranquil; and then by sudden karmic chance, like this book of Dharma talks you are now reading, it comes to be.

This disclosure of be-coming itself cannot be expounded by the three different time of Buddhas. It can not even be transmitted one to the other by the Good-and-Wise Ones (Master-Mentors).

In this be-coming itself, all karmas are cut off from object; thus out of the relativities is "the True Essence(Original Face) of every Buddha and Bodhisattva in the Ten Direction World." of all the Good-and-Wise Ones, and of everyone here. Even though every indigent-being has continuously maintained and used this since ancient time 'til now, it has never been diminished. This is what is called the True Original Face which "each and every indigent-being has maintained and carried from the beginning."

Now listen to my Gatha:

Body is our chamber of right dharma,
Mind is obstructionless candle.
All Dharma has been disclosed, it is empty;
Everything can be seen very clearly.

* Prolegomena
* How to Study Kong-an
* True Prayer
* The Original Face
* Re-Examination Is the Faith
* What to Love