The Roar of Suchness

By Kankana

When the void joins the void,

all things then arise.
I am perfectly aware of the four moments;
by stopping in between, there is supreme awakening.
Dot and crescent have not entered the mind;
while seeking one, the other's lost.
Knowing where you come from
you remain centered, unencumbered.
Kankana says, in tumultuous sounds,
"All has been smashed by the roar of Suchness!"

The Flower Ornament Scripture says, 'Mind discriminates worlds, but

that mind has no existence. The enlightened know this truth, and
thus see the body of Buddha."8** It also says, "No view is called seeing, the birthless is
called beings. Whether views or beings, knowing they've no substantial nature, the seer
dismisses entirely the subject and object
of seeing; not destroying reality, this person knows the Buddha."87
Kankana says, in tumultuous sounds,
"All has been smashed by the roar of suchness!"
Smashing everything by the roar of suchness means realizing what is referred to in
Buddhist Yoga as the "selflessness of things in true suchness." The selflessness of things
means there is no inherent identity in things, as their definitions and identities are actually
projected mental constructions.
The Flower Ornament Scripture says, "If one can know this real body's quiescent
character of true thusness, one can see the truly enlightened transcending the path of
speech. Things expressed in words cannot disclose the character of reality; only through
equanimity can
one see things, including the Buddha."88 The same scripture says, "There is no creator or
created; they only arise from habitual conceptions. How can we know it is so? Because
other than this, naught is. All things have no abode; no definite locus
can be found. The Buddhas abide in this, ultimately unwavering.
Pure and impure water make the tree grow; The wise one who obeys the teacher cuts it.
According to Zen master Pai-chang, the introductory teaching of Buddhism is for
"weeding out impure things," while the advanced teaching is for "weeding out pure
things." He explains, "When traces do not appear on either side, then there is neither lack
nor sufficiency, neither profane nor holy, neither light nor dark. This is not having
knowledge, yet not lacking knowledge; it is not bondage, not liberation."
Obsession with "pure things" can delude people even more deeply than attachment to
"impure things," because of the blinding demon of self-righteousness. Pai-chang also
said, "Just do not be affected by greed for anything, even being or nonbeing. When it
comes to the matter of untying bonds, there are no special words or phrases to teach
people. If you say there are some particular verbal expressions to teach people, or that
there is some particular doctrine to give people, this is called heresy and demonic
suggestion."
Pai-chang further describes spiritual progress in terms of successive attachments and
detachments, ultimately transcending obsession with both impure things and pure things:
"To dwell on evil when

Suchness of mind is inherently pure; Jayanandi says

directly, "There is no other."
The Sandhinirmocana-sutra says, "With supremely pure awareness,
the Buddha was attached neither to the mundane nor the
supramundane. lie proceeded according to formless truth and dwelt
in the abode of the enlightened ones. He had arrived at equality
with all the enlightened ones and had reached the point of
nonobstruction and the state of unchangeability."94
The Zen master Hsia-t'ang said, "'Buddha' is a temporary name for
what cannot be seen when you look, what cannot be heard when
you listen, whose place of origin and passing away cannot be
found when you search. It covers sound and form, pervades sky
and earth, penetrates above and below. There is no second view, no
second person, no second thought. It is everywhere, in everything,
not something external. This is
why the single source of awareness is called "Buddha/"95