The Mind Is Not Buddha

A monk asked Baso, "What is Buddha?" Baso answered, "This mind is not Buddha."

Baso always said, "This mind is Buddha." But for this particular student, who may have been attached to the familiar statement, Baso destroyed this conceptualised Buddha. Teachings are taught according to the needs and capacities of the student. One teaching will not do for all. Truth is dynamic, changing according to people, place, and time. Yet truth is always concrete and particular. Anything that one conceptualises is not right. Anything to which one attaches is dead.