In a tradition renowned for paradox, the biggest paradox of Zen is this: Zen teachers have nothing to teach. That’s because the dharma is already yours—it is your own faclelss face, unborn and indestructible, and only you can discover it. There is no magic mirror any teacher can hand over to make you see it.
Yet despite having nothing to teach, Zen teachers are regarded with love and reverence. Every day, Zen monasteries and temples chant their lineage, starting with the prehistoric, legendary buddhas, right down to the most recently deceased ancestor.
Bodhidharma, who is said to have brought what became known as Zen from India to China, acknowledged this seeming contradiction. He said he had only one thing to teach: that your own mind is Buddha. Enlightenment means nothing but dropping the desire for anything else except the mind that is right here, right now.
Yet Bodhidharma also stated, as translated by Red Pine, “If you don’t find a teacher soon, you’ll live this life in vain. It’s true, you have buddhanature. But without the help of a teacher, you’ll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.”
Nine generations after Bodhidharma we meet the teacher Obaku Kiun (Chinese: Huangbo Xiyun), who,
