If the Buddha You Meet Is an Idol, Pass Beyond It
If you meet the Buddha, go beyond the Buddha; if you meet a patriarch, go beyond him too.
That figure I revere — is it growing me, or doing my thinking for me?
📝Reflection
This is counted among the most shocking lines in all of Zen: if you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. It is, of course, no call to violence. It means that even the Buddha, once turned into an idol, becomes an obstacle to awakening. We revere someone, then quietly hide behind them — leaning on a teacher's authority, a book's sentences, a great name, until we stop thinking for ourselves. Linji says: the moment even the most sacred thing becomes an idol, go beyond it. True respect is to stand on your own as that person did, not to sit forever behind them. To surpass the teacher you love most is the highest repayment to that teacher.
🌱Apply It Today
If you settled a judgment today with "because that person/book said so," ask once more: "And what do I think?"
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
