This Very Mind Is It

📝Reflection

To disciples wandering far in search of something, Mazu pointed a finger at their own chests: this very mind. We always place awakening up there, far off, at an unreachable height, and so judge this ordinary present mind as lacking. Mazu collapses that hierarchy: what you seek is already within you — as a bird searching for the sky is already flying within it. This is not arrogance but deep affirmation. Instead of denying your present self and straining to become another, begin right where you stand. The answer is in the nearest place.