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The end of any spiritual way is to see. Yet, this word suggests an experience - to say see is of Something we say, "I can't see." When the monk sees, he exclaims truthfully, "I see, I see!" He sees what he could not see, so seeing and not-seeing.
Another word for this insight is know. An early story from the Desert Fathers addresses this, alike what Huang Po was teaching through the slap.
St. Antony posed a question to disciples. He quoted a difficult scripture from the Bible. He asked each follower, "What does this mean?" From youngest to oldest, the men gave intellectual, subtle answers. Each man thought his reply demonstrated his knowledge and devotion to the spiritual life. The monk Joseph was the last to answer. He said, "I don't know." St. Antony told the disciples, "Only Joseph knows the way."
Here, again, know points to Something one knows through direct, unmediated intimacy. There is no such thing as inherited Truth, taught Truth, learned Truth, but there is realization of Truth. Once more, as above, one knows and does-not-know.
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A friend says she was not a good Catholic. As a child given lessons in the church, she was told what to believe. She wanted to know the reason why she should believe it. She was informed she only needed to believe. She was not to ask that all-important question "Why?" No reason was given. So, possibly, she was trying to be a good Catholic by wanting more than a list of you-are-to-believes.
This is a good place to begin to see, to know - "Why?" Yet, this can only lead one to belief. This makes believers. Yet, the Way leads us beyond being a believer, to a knower, a seer - one who has had an intimate, eye-opening, brain-unfolding encounter with the Sacred. We need to have a reason for why we think what we do about the Sacred, so we can see that is not enough, is not the truth of Truth.
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When Huang Po says,"There is only Kuei Tsung who is worth something," this is likely another pointer to Truth, the Absolute. Kuei is the "only," for everyone is the "only." You and I are one with any Teacher who speaks Truth. We are one with Jesus. We are one with the Buddha. We are one with the man convicted of murder. We are one with the priest. We are one with the bank teller. We are one with the farmer. So, there is one and many - for one-is-many. Yet, seeing that, we know there is only one.
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In fact, we cannot say we are not Truth or that we are Truth, for Truth is not an object we can see or know. When we see, or know, Truth, there is nothing outside the Intimacy we see, or know. Even the sense of Truth as an object other, this is a perception of Truth happening within Truth.
What does this mean practically? We each have equal access to Truth. Humans tend to glorify spiritual sages, mystics, and teachers, as though these beings have a special status with Grace. However, in Truth, no one has a special status with or access to God. We are all already in the Light. We cannot say "I" or "we" and not connote, at the same time, "God," "Truth," "the Light," "Love," "the Creator," ...
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