"At work, at rest, never stop trying to realize who it is that hears.
Even though your questioning becomes almost unconscious,
you won't find the one who hears, and all your efforts will come to naught.
Yet sounds can be heard, so question yourself to an even profounder level.
At last every vestige of self-awareness will disappear and
you will feel like a cloudless sky.
Within yourself you will find no 'I', nor will you discover anyone who hears.
This Mind is like the void, yet it hasn't a single spot that can be called empty.
This state is often mistaken for Self-realization.
But continue to ask yourself even more intensely, 'Now who is it that hears?' (Bassui Tokusho)
"Buddha-Nature, the Self of all beings, is the simple Truth.
From Buddhas to insects, it is the seer, hearer, and mover." (Bassui Tokusho)
"Cast off what has been realized. Turn back to the subject that realizes to the root bottom and resolutely go on." (Bassui Tokusho)
"It cannot be helped that your thoughts arise and perish. Doubt your own mind thoroughly in accord with your thought. It is in order to be aware of the truth of being that you doubt profoundly. When you try to know what is unknown, your wandering mind will lose its way, and you will be at a loss. It is then that you are said to be in zazen. They say that to doubt in this way is kufu. In kufu you are to doubt thoroughly, whether you are on your feet or not, and whether you are asleep or awake, for you are well aware of your own unenlightenment." (Bassui Tokusho, "Kana Hogo")
"Just stop your wandering, look penetratingly into your inherent nature, and,
concentrating your spiritual energy, sit in zazen and break through." (Bassui Tokusho)
"[...] keep asking with all your strength, 'What is it that hears?'
Only when you have completely exhausted the questioning
will the question burst;
now you will feel like a man come back from the dead.
This is true realization." (Bassui Tokusho)
"Look directly! What is this? Look in this manner and you won’t be fooled!" (Bassui Tokusho)
"Seeing one's own nature is buddhahood." (Bassui Tokusho)
"The essence of your mind is not born, so it will never die. It is not an existence, which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void. It has neither color nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pains." (Bassui Tokusho)
"Those who seek the Buddha outside their own minds are like children of rich parents who have forgotten their home." (Bassui Tokusho)
"Those who wish to break the cycle of rebirth must know the way of becoming a Buddha. The way of becoming a Buddha is the way of enlightenment. Before one’s father and mother were born and before one’s own body was formed, one’s mind existed unchanged until now, as the ground of all sentient beings. This is also called one’s original countenance. This mind is pure from the beginning. When the body is born, it is without the form of life, and when the body dies, it is without the form of death. Neither does it have the form of man or woman, of good or evil. Because there is nothing to which it can be compared, it is called Buddha nature. From this mind there arise ten thousand images, like waves on a vast great sea or forms reflected in a mirror." (Bassui Tokusho)
"What is this mind? Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for self-realization,
but continue to ask yourself even more intensely,
'What is it that hears?'" (Bassui Tokusho)
"When the mind is deluded, as many ignorant thoughts as sands of the Ganges arise;
when enlightened, this mind gives birth to infinite wonderful meanings." (Bassui Tokusho)
"When you decide to come here, you do so by yourself.
When you ask a question, you do so by yourself.
You do not depend upon another.
Nor do you use the teachings of the Buddha . [...]
The written word, reason and duty, discrimination and understanding [...]
none of these can reach this Zen." (Bassui Tokusho)
"Who is hearing? Your physical being doesn't hear, nor does the void.
Then what does?
Strive to find out.
Put aside your rational intellect - give up all techniques.
Just get rid of the notion of self." (Bassui Tokusho)
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