(© HKU Press, 1964)There is no mystery whatever - only the inability to perceive the obvious.
'He has nowhere to hide', as Mumon put it.The supposed or apparent 'mystery' is due to the objective inexistence of pure non-objectivity - which is the Buddha-nature, because objectivity is only conceptual, and non-objectivity is incompatible with any degree of positivity.
Huang Po said it categorically, 'Our original Buddha-nature is, in highest truth, devoid of any atom of objectivity.'What is there mysterious in This-here-now-am, which is everywhere, and apart from which nothing else is?
Objectively It is not here.
This which IS is pure presence, autonomous and spontaneous.
It is This which is looking for Itself when we look for It, and we cannot find It because It is This which we are.
Note: Dualistic language does not permit us to express these things without the use of objective terms such as 'it'. There is no such word as 'thisself', nor can the word 'this' be repeated indefinitely, and it is only a pointer in any case. The sense must maintain an uninterrupted subjectivity.
