Observations placeholder
Bassui Tokushō - from 101 Zen stones
Identifier
016430
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Bassui Tokushō (抜隊 得勝?, 1327–1387) was a Rinzai Zen Master born in what is now the modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture who had trained with Sōtō, Rinzai and Ch'an masters of his time
A description of the experience
A Letter to a Dying Man
Bassui wrote the following letter to one of his disciples who was about to die:
The essence of your mind is not born so it will never die.
It is not an existence, which is perishable.
It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void.
It has neither color nor form.
It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pain.
'I know you are very ill. Like a good Zen student, you are facing that sickness squarely. You may not know exactly who is suffering, but question yourself:
What is the essence of this mind?
Think only of this.
You will need no more.
Covet nothing.
Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in the pure air.'