梁武帝問達摩：「大師東來，如何是聖諦第一義？」達摩答道：「廓然無聖。」
佛陀的教法和達摩的「廓然無聖」，所指的都是「元點」，即是在好惡和你我生起之前的世界。我們禪院的教法就是，當你證入了這點，你會怎樣用這點去救渡世界？如你證入了平等，你會如何運用平等去幫助這世界？就算你明白了平等，只是明白不能幫助這世界，不能幫助這人生。所以古語有云：「一行勝萬言。」如你有思維，你的心和我的心便不一樣，所以你說好，我說不好，你說喜歡，我說不喜歡，父親說好，兒子說不好。
在美國，如你問小朋友問題，他們第一個反應是：「不」。而在韓國，如你問小朋友問題，他們則會說：「是」。那個國家的人教小朋友的方法才是正確？韓國人會說：「說是，因為我們尊重父母和長輩。」美國人則認為：「我們熱愛言論自由，我們愛民主，我們愛說不。」世界一半的人說是，一半人說不，平衡了。但這不是平等。
佛陀說：「天上地下，唯我獨尊」，背後的意思是「我與這宇宙從不分離。」 天上地下，我是聖，我是樹，我是海洋，故經中有云：
水山山水水山空
山水水山何曾轉
山山水水各珖然
當中的意旨是，首先證入完全的平等，山是水，水是山，下一步是兩者皆空，山、水、好、壞、喜歡、不喜歡，其實沒有意義，最後山是山，水是水，各司其職。
你的左眼和右眼是平等的，但它們也是分開的，然而並非重要。那什麼是重要呢？天是藍色，樹是綠色。如我們返自本性，我們的眼耳鼻舌身意，自會正確地運作。如果我們沒有返回原本的職責 — 即平等的境界，那我們便不能明白我們的職責。當你有思維，你的心和我的心便不一樣，如你切斷思維，那你的心和我的心便是一樣。如你百分百保持不知的心，那你便返回了元點，所以不知不是什麼都不知道，「不知」是「元點」，「元點」名為「不知」。換言之，平等即是「不知」。
When Buddha stepped from the side of his mother, pointing to heaven with one finger, pointing to earth with the other, he said, "Between heaven above and earth below, only I am holy." Is that equality? If that is equality, why did Buddha say, "Only I am holy"?
Emperor Wu asked Bodhidharma, "Great Patriarch from India, what is the highest of holy truths?" Bodhi-dharma answered, "No holiness is clear like space".
The teaching of the Buddha and Bodhidharma's "No holiness is clear like space" are all teaching the "Primary Point", which means the world before likes and dislikes, the world before you and me. So our School's first teaching means if you attain this point, then how do you use this point to save all beings? If you attain equality, how do you use this equality and help this world?
Even if you understand equality, understanding cannot help this world and cannot help this life. So an old Chinese proverb says, "One action is better than ten thousand words". When you are thinking, your mind and my mind are different. You said good, so I said bad, you said like, I said don't like. Father said "yes", son said "no".
In America, all little children, if you ask them anything, their first response is "No". In Korea, anything you said to a child, he says, "Yes, sir". Which one is correct? Which one is a correct human being? Which country is teaching their children correctly? Korean people say, "Yes. Respect your parents and elders". So we are correct, all our children say, "Yes, sir". But America people say, "We like freedom of speech. We like democracy. We like 'no' ". So half of this world says "yes", half of this world says "no", it is a balance. But that is not equality.
The Buddha's speech is very wonderful, "Between heaven above and earth below, only I am holy." The behind meaning is, "The universe and I are never separate." Between the heaven above and earth below, I am holy. I am tree, I am ocean. So sutra says,
Water, mountain, mountain, water.
Mountain, water, emptiness.
Mountain, water, water, mountain, when did they ever revolve?
Mountain is mountain, water is water;
Each is separate from the other.
This means first attain complete equality - mountain is river, river is mountain. Then next course, both are empty - mountain and river, good, bad, likes, dislikes, really have no meaning. But mountain is mountain, water is water. Each is separate from the other, which means mountain has its job, river has river's job.
Your left eye and your right eye are equal. But each is separate from the other. That's not important. Then what is important about your eyes? The sky is blue and the tree is green. Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind - if we return to our original nature, they always do each job correctly. If we don't return to our original job, to the realm of equality, then we don't understand our job. When you are thinking, your mind and my mind are different. If you cut off all thinking, your mind and my mind are the same. If you keep don't know mind 100%, then you return to Primary Point. So don't know is not don't know. "Don't Know" is "Primary Point". The Primary Point's name is "don't know". In other words, the name for equality is "don't know".
