There were two good friends, Chokei and Hofuku. They were talking about the Compassionate Ones' [Bodhisattas'] Way. Chokei said, "Even if an enlightened one [arhat] were to have evil desires, still the Tathagata [Buddha] does not have two kinds of words. I say that the Tathagata has words but no dualistic words."
Hofuku said, "Even though you say so, your comment is not perfect." Chokei asked, "What is your understanding of the Tathagata's words?" Hofuku said, "We have had enough discussion, so let us have a cup of tea!"
* * *
Zen Master, Suzuki Roshi, comments: "Hofuku did not give his friend an answer, because it is impossible to give a verbal interpretation of our [Zen] way."
He continues ...
Nevertheless, as a part of their practice these two good friends discussed the Bodhisattva's Way, even though they did not expect to find a new interpretation. So Hofuku answered, "Our discussion is over. Let's have a cup of tea!" That is a very good answer, isn't it? It is the same for my talk—when my talk is over, your listening is over. There is no need to remember what I say; there is no need to understand what I say. You understand; you have full understanding within yourself. There is no problem.
*Shunryu Suzuki. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: 50th Anniversary Edition.
* * *
Not seeking an answer in discussion about the Way is a good practice. Then, we can talk and listen playfully. Sharing becomes a transmission of energies. Sharing becomes sacramental. The aliveness of truth can emerge as a living presence and grow stronger in the exchange.
We trust truth emerging in the other and ourself. We know there is understanding present: understanding is present before one understands one understands. We recognize the understanding is nonconceptual.
We, in this playful discussion, are practicing the energy transmitted through sharing itself, which is deeper than the talking and the listening. In fact, the talking and listening are one. We can leave feeling renewed in a way we do not fathom.
We would have added a layer, if we had been trying to reach a conclusion. That layer would have been an attachment to pursuing an answer. The talk would have received some unneeded weight. We might have got to a conceptual answer, but maybe not. Still, the answer would not have been truth. Such enlightened wisdom has no alphabet. Trying to frame an answer is like trying to grasp air or capture sunlight in a shoebox. Spiritual wisdom is totally noncreedal. You cannot fit it inside a book, scripture, dogma, or confession of faith.
* * *
The ego likes to arrive at conclusions. The ego thrives on having the right answers as opposed to others having the wrong answers. We could have walked away, saying, "Well, look at what we found." But we do not. We feel lighter. There is no right answer, for no answer at all.
We find it a relief that we did not have to find an answer or come away with something we could hand on to others, saying, "Hey! Look at what we discovered. You need to know this!"
We enjoyed a subtle, lively meeting heart-with-heart, mind-with-mind. We cannot take something away, like something purchased at the grocery store or local art gallery. We have nothing copied down so as not to forget something. We cannot package whatever we received and hand it on to our friends. What we received is too intimate to put in a book for sale in the spirituality supermarket or preach from a pulpit.
What we received passed right through us. Something was embodied in the body but passed through like a wind through one window and right out the opposite. We could not hold on to it. Still, we feel its afterglow. We might enjoy memories of it for the rest of our life.
* * *
Still, we cannot replicate that kind of energetic, sacramental intimacy. That sharing is precise, on-the-spot: so direct, many people avoid such sharing and hide away in answers or busyness.
In this way, we do not feel the heaviness often accompanying religious or spiritual talk. We have nothing to prove, for we do not have an answer to defend. We feel inspiration, and we do not leave feeling dragged down. We feel uplifted. We were just serious enough to be playfully serious, but we were not just serious. This sharing mirrors our spiritual growth: becoming gentler, more humorous and playful, less guarded and calculating, and more spontaneous.
