If you yourself do not understand, you must consult a good spiritual friend to bring an end to the very root of birth and death. If he does not see his nature, he is not to be called a good spiritual friend. Failing this, even if one can expound the twelve divisions of the scriptures, one still cannot avoid the wheel of birth and death and suffers within the three realms with no time of release. Long ago there was the monk Good Star, who could recite the twelve divisions of the scriptures, yet he himself still did not avoid the wheel, because he did not see his nature. Since Good Star was like this, people today who lecture on three or five sūtras and treatises and suppose that this is the Dharma are fools. If you do not recognize your own mind, reciting idle literary texts is entirely useless.

If you wish to seek the Buddha, you must directly see your nature. Nature is precisely the Buddha; the Buddha is one who is free, a person without affairs and without contrivance. If you do not see your nature, you spend the whole day in a haze, rushing outward in pursuit; in seeking the Buddha you have never obtained him. Although there is not a single thing to be obtained, if you seek to understand, you also must consult a good spiritual friend; you must earnestly and strenuously seek so that your mind comes to comprehension. Birth and death are a great matter; do not let them pass by in vain—self-deception is of no benefit. Even if you had rare delicacies piled like mountains and kin as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, you see them when you open your eyes; when you close your eyes, do you still see them? Therefore know that conditioned dharmas are like a dream and an illusion.

If you do not urgently seek a teacher, you will let a whole life pass in vain. Indeed, the buddha-nature is naturally present, but without relying on a teacher you will never come to clarity. Those who awaken without a teacher are rare—one among ten thousand. If, however, by the conjunction of conditions you yourself obtain the intent of the sages, then you need not consult a good spiritual friend; this is to be born knowing—it surpasses learning. If one has not yet awakened to understanding, one must diligently and laboriously investigate and study; by means of instruction one then attains awakening. Once awakened, even without further study it is also attained.

Do not be like the deluded, unable to distinguish black from white, recklessly proclaiming imperial edicts of the Buddha, slandering the Buddha and maligning the Dharma. Such types, who preach as if the Dharma were pouring like rain, are entirely voicing demonic teachings and not the Buddha’s teaching. Their teacher is the demon king; their disciples are the demon’s people. Deluded folk let themselves be commanded by them, unwittingly plunging into the sea of birth and death. Anyone who does not see his nature and falsely claims to be a Buddha—such beings are great offenders, deceiving all beings and leading them into the demon’s realm. If one does not see one’s nature, then however much one expounds the twelve divisions of the scriptural teaching, it is entirely demonic discourse. They are the demon’s household and retinue, not disciples of the Buddha’s household. Since they do not distinguish black from white, by what reliance could they escape birth and death?

If one sees one’s nature, that is the Buddha; if one does not see one’s nature, that is an ordinary sentient being. If, apart from the nature of sentient beings, there were some other buddha-nature to be obtained, where would the Buddha be now? Precisely the nature of sentient beings is the buddha-nature. Outside of nature there is no Buddha; the Buddha is precisely nature. Apart from this nature, no Buddha can be obtained; apart from the Buddha, no nature can be obtained."

Also, Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche said:

"If you wish to eradicate your afflictions, you must follow your teacher and study for a long time. Otherwise, studying for only a few days will not have any significant effect ... Some people today are not willing to study or reflect on the Dharma, but they are enthusiastic about meditation. They believe meditating all day with their eyes shut is the ultimate practice. I do not think much of this. Although there are people of the highest caliber who attain enlightenment without study or reflection, are you of such caliber? Therefore, you cannot live in a cave or another completely isolated place when you first start to practice. Instead, you should be with a qualified Dharma teacher and earnestly receive the Buddhadharma; it is best if you are always engaged in study, reflection, and practice. Of course, I am not asking you to study and reflect for a lifetime without ever practicing. But to spend an entire life in blind meditation without any study or reflection is also the wrong path!"

Zen teacher Ven Jinmyo Renge Sensei: "Sometimes students really can't understand why they can't just sit at home, by themselves, without instruction. After all, the Buddha did that. Bodhidharma did that. May I point out that you are not the Buddha and you are not Bodhidharma. You're also not Einstein and you're not going to come up with anything like the theory of relativity – not without countless years of instruction and study and probably not even then. You're not Bach and so it is highly unlikely that you will write music like his, not without countless years of instruction and study. Sorry if this is the first time anyone's pointed this out, but things are not all equal, they're not all fair, we do not all have the same starting point and you are as you are, not as someone else is. Or was. Start from where you are and be willing to learn from others.


You might not like what I just said, but do you understand why I said it?

I once asked the Roshi about Teachers – if two people who had nothing in common Woke Up and became Teachers, would they somehow come to agree with each other about everything? He said "No, but they would understand why the other was saying or doing what he or she was saying or doing."" - https://wwzc.org/book/export/html/1017