Which Mind Is It That Neither Eliminates Delusive Thoughts nor Seeks the True?

Chan Master Yongjia said: 不除妄想不求真。This is spoken from the perspective of the true mind, meaning that true suchness has no deluded thoughts, and therefore one need not eliminate deluded thoughts; true suchness itself does not cultivate practice, does not cultivate precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, does not seek to awaken to the true mind and see its nature, and does not wish to become a Buddha; therefore He has no desire to attain realization. Master Yongjia was a deeply wise accomplished practitioner of the Way, and thus he was able to directly realize the nature of the true mind, and what he expounded were all truths concerning the mind of suchness. Those who have not awakened will speak from the perspective of the perceiving mind, the conscious mind—all of which are conditioned and subject to arising and ceasing, illusory dharmas that do not touch upon the ultimate truth (paramārtha). Between those who possess the Way and those who do not, the difference in wisdom is often as vast as the gap between heaven and an abyss. As for the nature of our deluded mind consciousness, after we study Buddhism and cultivate practice, we are always pondering: how do we remove deluded thoughts and scattered notions? How do we make the mind pure? How do we avoid greed, aversion, and delusion? How can we realize the true mind and find our self-nature? Yet the true mind never thinks about such things. Nor does He think about how to attain liberation, how to become a Buddha, how to uphold the precepts, or how to cultivate samādhi and wisdom. The true mind does not consider these matters; they have nothing to do with Him, because He has no birth and death—therefore the true mind does not cultivate practice.

Verse by Layman Pang: 庞蕴居士偈：心如境也如，无实也无虚。有也不管，无也不居，不是贤圣。了事凡夫易复易，即此五蕴有真智。十方世界一乘同，无相法身岂有二？若舍烦恼入菩提，不知何方有佛地。