Study Hall

After putting aside the Shobogenzo, I decided to pick up The Undying Lamp of Zen, which Robert kindly gave me some months ago, and I am enjoying the robust and salty Rinzai language of Torei. I could have done with having this section to hand last night in the Young Urban Zen 'after-party', where the group I fondly think of as the Berkeley Intellectuals hung around to throw around and chew on some concepts and ideas until after my bedtime:
"Right now, what is this? What is it that sees? What is it that hears? What is it that moves? What is it that sits? At all times, in all places, focus your mind and see how it is. Without conceiving of being or non-being, without thinking of affirmation or negation, without discriminating, without rationalizing, just observe in this way. When the time comes it will appear of itself, without need of your intellectual discrimination. As soon as you conceive discrimination, you obscure original essential nature - then even if you labored forever, you couldn't get it.
If thoughts are flying around, consider this story: 'Does a dog have buddha-nature? No.' Bring it to mind directly, and don't interpret it logically. Don't interpret it as flavorless, don't interpret it as nothing. If you conceive any logical understanding, you'll never complete the work. But don't develop an illogical mind either. Logic and no logic are after all random ideas. Just bring it up and look at it. It has nothing to do with interpretation; it is the real way of practice of the Buddhas. Continue moment to moment, whether speaking or silent, active or quiet, walking, sitting, and lying down - do not forget it! Or if you do occasionally forget, don't lose power".