The Fundamental Principle...

If an ordinary man, when he is about to die, could only
see the five elements of consciousness as void;

the four
physical elements as not constituting an 'I';

the real Mind
as formless and neither coming nor going;

his nature as
something neither commencing at his birth nor, perishing
at his death, but as whole and motionless in its very depths;

his Mind and environmental objects as one-if he could
really accomplish this, he would receive Enlightenment in
a flash.

He would no longer be entangled by the Triple
World; he would be a World-Transcendor.

He would be
without even the faintest tendency towards rebirth.

If he
should behold the glorious sight of all the Buddhas coming
to welcome him, surrounded by every kind of gorgeous
manifestation, he would feel no desire to approach them.

If he should behold all sorts of horrific forms surrounding
him, he would experience no terror.

He would just be himself,
oblivious of conceptual thought and one with the
Absolute.

He would have attained the state of unconditioned
being.

This, then, is the fundamental principle.



from The Zen Teaching of Huang Po