Why is it unacceptable? Why can't you believe it? Because the power of self-awareness has not arisen. If the power of self-awareness has not arisen, it will be difficult to accept the One Vehicle dharma door taught by the Buddha. If you want to achieve the state of Buddha seeing the star, you must sit like this. To enter the state of non-thinking, the method of non-thinking proposed by Zen Master Yaoshan is the best. So he suddenly mentioned here that "Thinking is also flesh and bone marrow, and not thinking is also flesh and bone marrow" because he is afraid that everyone will misunderstand and think that the thoughts' arrival is wrong. Thoughts not arriving is the samadhi of no thinking (Soh: the eighth mundane absorption or jhana of neither perception nor non perception), but thoughts still come when one leaves concentration. You are not a piece of wood or rock, thoughts will definitely come. According to the Buddha's guidance, it doesn't matter if thoughts come and go, so how is it different from ordinary people's thoughts coming and going? He said, "Thinking is also the marrow of the flesh and blood, and not thinking is also the marrow of the flesh and bone", and he was referring to this place. He tells you that when a thought comes, if you give rise to an opinion to accept it, or give rise to an thought to cast it away, that is the real problem. That thought itself is flesh and blood. It’s not that I am here observing the thoughts, when the thought comes I know, thought goes [I] know, thought moves here and there, here I have an unmoved [knower] that is here knowing... Ai! This is the method of heretics [non-Buddhists], and many people are teaching this method. "From here I know thoughts coming and thoughts going. Before the second thought comes, ah! It's silence. My place here is silence, it will not follow thoughts coming and going, its silence beyond comparison, without any movements. Comings and goings are guests, I am the host/master..." This is the practice of heretics! Many people fall here and don’t know what’s wrong. You still have a pure and unmoving You to observe the movement! What did Buddha really teach? Thinking is also flesh and bone marrow!

There is no problem with the thought itself, just like the sound. The sound of clapping hands is the sound of clapping hands, and the sound of knocking on the table is the sound of knocking on the table. Do the ears discriminate "I want to hear the sound of clapping hands" in order to hear it? When sound is different, the appearance manifests differently accordingly. Do you need to use your mind to distinguish it? Don't try to distinguish it, it will appear different in itself! Is it because you distinguish it that it turns into two different voices? Are these two sounds the same? Not the same, there is a difference. Was it you who distinguished it? Is it different only if you differentiate it? Need not! You don't need to distinguish it, it will naturally be different. This is the meaning of "differentiation is non-differentiation, non-differentiation is differentiation". The voice appears, where does it appear? It didn't appear to me! We all first believe that there is a self, and then the sound appears outside, and I hear the sound from here. In this case, there is no way to correspond to the Dharma taught by the Buddha. First recognise and affirm that there is me, I am here, and then when there is something I will see it, when there is a sound I will hear it, when there is whatever conditions [I will] manifest whatever [conditions], when conditions are there then there is, when conditions isn't then there isn't. My six faculties appear along with external conditions... My six faculties... just like that you learn it that way. From the start already established "the existence of me" as a basis, and then wait from there, when there is any sound then it manifests, upon any images it sees, seeing and listening according to the situation/conditions, my ears, my ears... . Look, how can this be the Dharma taught by the Buddha? The starting point is already wrong, and it is already based on a false/illusory self, right? The voice appears, is there any distinction between yours and mine or his? Does the ear faculty distinguish? Even to speak of a ear faculty is already not right, it is just for the convenience of explanation. Which ear do you mean by ear? So when I talked about it, fundamentally there is no listening, listening is just like this. Who listens and what is listened to? Appear there as one body! There is no sound to be heard, and there is no one who listens, or is there a ear that listens? But we are all in the [delusional] state of "I exist", and the concept of "I" couldn't be shaken off. When you listen to Buddhism in this state, after listening you mistaken it as so, isn't that still what you misunderstood by your ownself.

2) Excerpt two:

"There are also some people who argue that only beginners need to sit in meditation, and it is not necessary to practice meditation in Buddhism. “（Dogen)

There is another group of people who say that those who practice Buddhism do not necessarily have to meditate, and that meditation is a convenience for those who are new to Buddhism and who are just beginning to learn Buddhism. What are their reasons? Walking is also Zen, sitting is also Zen... Some people wrote in my book, "Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen, the [basic] substance peacefully abides amidst speech and silence"... "So you walk, sing, walk is zen, sitting is zen, sleeping is zen, talking is zen, not thinking is zen, that basic substance does not move..." Look, how beautifully it is said! Zen Master Dogen said, "That's an excuse! It's not like this." They say that only beginners need to meditate, and it is not necessary to meditate to learn Buddhism. The Buddha did not speak like this! This kind of teaching is the result of people who came later mixed with a lot of heretical practice. Substance peacefully abides? Let me ask you, what is that substance of yours? That substance didn't even move? That substance -- isn't that the substance you imagined in your concept. You imagine a basic substance from concept, that substance doesn’t move no matter what, the substance is like the sea, our speech and movement are like waves, the sea doesn’t move.... That's a thought from your concept! You have to go to the non-thinking state yourself, otherwise you can't understand this. You talk about substance abiding peacefully, substance, substance...isn't substance still your concept? You must never ever take this path, it is going into [conceptual] theoretical discussion. Chan Master Rujing is very strict and brilliant. There are not many patriarchs recognized by Chan Master Rujing, such as Chan Master Hongzhi, Chan Master Huangbo, and Chan Master Daoyuan...