Quote:
Dahui's criticism of silent illumination was partly valid, based on the legitimate danger of
practitioners misunderstanding this approach as quietistic or passive. Dahui's critique was
echoed centuries later by Japanese Rinzai critics of just sitting, such as Hakuin in the
seventeenth century. Just sitting can indeed sometimes degenerate into dull attachment to
inner bliss states, with no responsiveness to the suffering of the surrounding world.
Hongzhi clarifies that this is not the intention of his practice, for example when he says,
"In wonder return to the journey, avail yourself of the path and walk ahead. . . . With the
hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace graciously share yourself."[11] The
meditation advocated by both Hongzhi and Dogen is firmly rooted in the bodhisattva path
and its liberative purpose of assisting and awakening beings. Mere idle indulgence in
peacefulness and bliss is not the point.
Bold parts are my favourite.