Following the Second Moon to Seek the First Moon Is Chan Meditation.

If someone provokes me, I give him a whack of the stick, and this whack is the second moon, the echo in an empty valley; relying on this, go search for the true first moon, go search for the source of this second moon. How exhilarating that is, thoroughly refreshing! Why must you, like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse, sit there meditating all day long, sitting until there are no more delusive thoughts, having a moment of tranquility, and then comparing it with the pure nature of the eighth consciousness, thinking that this pure state, with no thoughts and no delusions—isn't this my original mind, the eighth consciousness? Isn't this my Dharmakāya Buddha, the Tathāgata?

You fool, who taught you to recognize the Tathāgata Buddha this way? If so, when you have delusive thoughts, when you have thoughts, is your Tathāgata Buddha dead, not yet born? Later, when your meditative concentration fades and thoughts arise and delusions appear, does your Tathāgata Buddha then vanish and perish? If so, how could your Tathāgata Buddha be subject to arising and ceasing? How could it be subject to increase and decrease? How could it be subject to change? How could it exist one moment and not the next, requiring constant watching?

The fact is, this pure state of yours without thoughts and delusions is the second moon, turned around from the first moon. Do not linger on the second moon; quickly chase along its path to find the first moon. That first moon is intrinsically pure, pure and without thoughts at all times, existing naturally without your meditation—that is your true mind, the Dharmakāya Tathāgata Buddha.

There are also people who mistakenly recognize the gap between the moment when the preceding thought has ceased and the following thought has not yet arisen—that crisp "snap"—thinking that this vividly solitary luminosity, this clear discernment, this crystal clarity, this utter lucidity, is their own original mind, the Tathāgata Buddha, which is without thought and without conception, intrinsically pure, unborn and undying. If so, before that "snap" when you cut off delusive thoughts, where was the Buddha? Had He not yet been born? When delusive thoughts appear a moment later, where has your Buddha gone—extinguished? When there are no delusive thoughts, what is it that is so clear? What is it that is so lucid? Clear and lucid about what, exactly?

The fact is, this gap of yours—when the preceding thought has ceased and the following thought has not yet arisen—is only the second moon, conjured up by the first moon. You must follow the state of vivid solitary luminosity to search for the original first moon behind it—this is Chan investigation (canchan). The original mind, the self-nature Tathāgata, has never been clear about or cognizant of your present pure state without delusive thoughts, and has never been clear about or cognizant of any worldly state of the five aggregates. He knows nothing at all—no seeing, no hearing, no awareness, no knowing; neither solitary nor vivid, neither in the middle nor at either end. Rather, it is the delusive dharma of arising, ceasing, increasing, and decreasing—the mind consciousness—that has delusive thoughts one moment and none the next, is clear and lucid one moment and muddled and unclear the next, solitary and vivid one moment and clamorous the next. When you truly recognize your own-mind Buddha, no matter what you are doing—even killing and arson—your own-mind Dharmakāya Buddha still exists and still functions wondrously. He has never been extinguished; at every instant there are corresponding functions and operations. He is not an empty, dull, do-nothing foolish Buddha.

He does not merely flicker before your eyes; He also silently serves you behind your back. He does not only appear when your mind is pure and free of delusions and afflictions; He also appears when you are reckless and unrestrained, and also appears when you are wreaking havoc in the heavenly palace, toppling hills and overturning mountains. He not only appears when you ascend to heaven, but also appears when you descend into hell. If you truly discover Him, then you will be able to discover Him everywhere; if you cannot discover Him elsewhere, then what you discovered here is not Him. When you truly know a person, you can recognize that person wherever he goes; if you have misrecognized a person, then in any other place you will be unable to recognize the real person.