Secret Transmission

A monk asked Haryo, "What do the words 'secret transmission in the East and in the West' mean?" "Are you quoting those words from the poem of the third patriarch?" Haryo inquired. "No," answered the monk, "those are the words of Shin Jin Mei." "It is my mistake," Haryo apologised. "I am such a dotard."

Ever since Gautama, the Buddha, attained Nirvana, enlightenment has been transmitted from mind to mind for generation after generation in India (the West) and in China and Japan (the East). What is the truth about this secret transmission? When spring comes, the flowers bloom; when autumn arrives, the leaves turn yellow. The sun rises in the east every morning and sets in the west every evening. Water flows naturally from higher to lower. This is the secret transmission in the East and the West. It is not secret at all. It is the understanding of truth itself. Scholars, theologians, and monks are too much concerned about statements, theories, and creeds. They do not see reality itself. Master Haryo is not forgetful or absent-minded. He is trying hard to show the monk the importance of seeing life directly.