The Master Lin Chi took the high seat in the hall. He said 'On your lump of red flesh is a True Person of No Rank who is always going in and out of the face of every one of you. Those who have not yet proved him, look, look!'
True person of no rank is your functioning right now. Don't be distracted by the phrase 'no rank'. In one sense, no rank means no status. Even more, no rank means no boundaries, not bound by any particular status, by rules of status society, by ideas and concepts. So, no rank is this person of emancipation. Look at all the ranks that you believe and hold. We may even turn Lin Chi's phrase into some idea, 'practice is finding this no-rank'.
Do not think there is some 'true person' coming in and out other than this. This is exactly your functioning! Not a hairbreadth of separation! And yet, if we do not see this, live this, then it is not so.
The constant spinning mind is trying to create life in a way that will be pleasant, that will make us feel safe, secure, feel good. It is grabbing on to every emotion-thought that arises. So, allow thought, emotion, feeling, to arise and pass, be this open awareness that you are. Since you lack faith in yourself you run around seeking something outside; or seeking something inside. Even if through your seeking you find something, that something will be nothing more than elaborate descriptions and written words. In the end you will fail to gain the Mind of the living ancestor.
Is a shit-wiping stick different from the true person of no rank? Do not be fooled! My teacher Soen Nakagawa Roshi said 'I, too, am such a shit-wiping stick fellow, but also, this true man of no rank'. This true person is exactly our life. Not anywhere else, not something other than the exact life we are now. It transcends good, bad, delusion, enlightenment. Even shit-wiping stick and true person, it is NOT that and yet not anything else; this is exactly who we are. Lin Chi says it right here. 'This true man without rank, what kind of shit-wiping stick is he!' This is not a question. Look! What kind of shit-wiping stick he is! Only if we are not so, not clear, then this is not enough. It is our practice opportunity to be the shit-wiping stick fellow, though it may be hard or painful to be so in the midst of body-mind habits and attachments.
It doesn't matter what rank, doesn't make us better or worse. You are exactly this true person, nothing but this true person.
By/ Elihu Genmyo Smith
Salam,
Cherine
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