[Buddha-l] Non-Dual Awareness, continued.

[gruenig at tulane.edu]

Greetings,

Now that the listserv difficulties have been dispatched, let me try to gather
and express my thoughts and questions in a single post.

First, though I've thanked responders individually, I wanted to offer on-list
thanks to those who responded to my recent email on Buddhist Non-Dual Awareness
Text Recommendations which was kindly posted by proxy by Joanna Kirk.  This
inquiry is gathering "interest momentum" and is proving quite rewarding for me.
 Thank you all!

I've been looking over some of the recommendations (others are still on order)
and have been particularly fascinated by "Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul's
Korean Way of Zen".  I heard elsewhere that "The Unborn: The Life and Teachings
of Bankei" would be relevant.  While ordering the latter, I came across a
potentially relevant list of books and quotes in an amazon.com guide called:
"Understand Ch'an (Zen), Direct Pointing At Its Best!" (quotes included below).
 These quotes (along with some conversations) sparked some (apparent) insights
and caused me to wonder.

After many years of mainly Theravada studies (with limited explorations into
other forms of Buddhism) I have become interested in the history of the
following trends and would love to hear any overviews and/or relevant text
recommendations from anyone with any knowledge about them.

Path of Purification vs. Instant Recognition.  By "Path of Purification" I mean
the approach wherein the practitioner meditates and continually works to bring
mindfulness and equanimity to experience in order to uproot defilements.  Here
the practice focus is usually on conditioned phenomena.  By "Instant
Recognition" I mean the approach of pointing out / recognizing (often right at
the beginning of practice) the Unconditioned, Unborn, Radiant, Mirror Like,
Seamless Like Space, Luminous, Radiant, Deathless, Unchanging, Empty, Vast,
Sky-like "Mind Essence" which always already is.  Here the practice focus is
usually on unconditioned "Mind Essence" -- which seems (?) to be akin to pure
(non-dual) consciousness/awaring in some other Indian traditions.

I'd love to hear what anyone knows about any of these topics:

1. When did the Pointing Out / Instant Recognition approach arise within
Buddhism (or what are the earliest occurrences you are aware of)?
2. What are (some theories on) the origins of the Pointing Out / Instant
Recognition approach?
3. Is there evidence of Pointing Out / Instant Recognition in the Pali Canon?
4. Has anyone made a convincing argument that Nibbana (the only "unconditioned"
dhamma) in Theravada Buddhism is a reference to the Unconditioned Mind Essence?
5. Otherwise, when does discussion of an unconditioned Mind Essence first arise
in the history of Buddhism (or what are the earliest occurrences you are aware
of)?


Thank you,
-Hans Gruenig.

------------------

From
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/XLCAF1W1YGFT/ref=cm_bg_dp_m_1/104-6482495-1247913

"Among all you people here today there's not a single one who's an unenlightened
being. Everyone here is a Buddha." 'Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of
Bankei' pg. 4

"All of you should believe that your mind is Buddha, that this mind is identical
with Buddha." 'Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School
of Ch'an' pg 62

"Followers of the Way, as I look at it, we're no different from Shakyamuni. In
all our various activities each day, is there anything we lack? ... If you
could just look at it this way, then you'd be the kind of person who has
nothing to do for the rest of his life." 'The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi'
pg. 24

"You have always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend you can 'attain' to
this oneness by various practices." 'The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the
Transmission of Mind' pg 137 (pocket edition)

"Good friends, enlightenment (bodhi) and intuitive wisdom (prajna) are from the
outset possessed by men of this world themselves." 'The Platform Sutra of the
Sixth Patriarch' pg. 135

"Seen by the light of the true Dharma eye, all people--the old and the young,
the high and the low, priests and laypeople, wise and otherwise--are endowed
with the wonderful virtue of buddha-wisdom..." 'Essential Teachings of Zen
Master Hakuin'pg. 56