Sin is Originally Non-existent

One day, a man named Sengcan came and said: "I have contracted the wind disease. Please help me repent of my sins."

Huike replied: "I will eliminate your sins for you. Bring me your sins, and I will help you repent of them."

"No matter how much I search for sins, I cannot find any."

"Your sins have all been repented."

At that moment, Sengcan suddenly awakened.

The "wind disease" mentioned here does not refer to stroke. It means being afflicted with wind disease—that is, wandering aimlessly.

He had been searching until now. He had wandered in search. Why? Because he realized that everything in the world was but shells and illusions. The structure of the world—it is a social construct made of ego. He was deeply despairing of that ego-centered world. He wandered like that, trying to find the invisible substance, that something intangible, that something called truth. One who seeks cannot sit still. Wind blows for the seeker. He wandered here and there like the wind. His disease was the wind disease.

"Please help me repent of my sins."

What I found while wandering like the wind was also shells and shadows. I have heard countless stories labeled as truth. What I heard—all that knowledge, memory, and experience—was also the world of shells. Now, Master, please eliminate this world I am holding onto and help me obtain the world of substance.

Huike said: "I will eliminate your sins for you. Bring me your sins, and I will help you repent of them."

"No matter how much I search for sins, I cannot find any."

"Your sins have all been repented."

At that moment, Sengcan suddenly awakened.

You all carry guilt, whether over big matters or small ones. How do we escape from sin? The sense of guilt you think you have is also like the clapping of hands. The world of emotions is also like the sound of clapping hands. Therefore, while you speak quite naturally of "emotions exist, something exists," please do not acknowledge that world which you yourselves acknowledge. Breaking free from "the human world is all like that"—that very thing is the shortcut to enlightenment.

If an ant lives that way, and you accept that as an image, you become bound to the ant's world. The world you can see beyond the image—that is enlightenment from the ant's perspective. The ant would probably think of humans who can see beyond the ant's world as gods. Likewise, the world that can see humans by transcending the human treadmill is called "enlightenment." That is precisely "God."

Jesus said, "I am the Son of God." He called himself the "Son of God" because he had a human body.

People asked: "Who are we then?"

Jesus answered: "You too are children of God."

Then people thought: "Then there's no difference between Jesus and us, is there? He is God's son, and I am God's son too. If he is enlightened, then I am enlightened too."

People tried to become friends with Jesus. They wanted to have a drink with him and call him "Hey there, bearded friend!" Jesus is fine with this. Jesus can become friends with anyone. But people cannot become friends with Jesus. The thought "If you're God's son, then I'm God's son too" becomes fixed. When that happens, those people cannot go to God's world.

Then Jesus thought: "It's good that they share wine with me and become friends and play together. But in that way, I cannot break their concepts. To save them, I must not treat them that way."

Jesus spoke again: "I am not the Son of God. I myself am the Lord. From now on, you shall call me 'Lord!' You are my servants, my lambs. I am your shepherd. I am the shepherd who carefully watches the path your egos take and guides you on the path to escape from yourselves. I myself am the Lord."

People were very offended: "Sometimes he says he's God's son just like us, and now he treats us like servants. He must be trying to make himself king by making us his subjects."

So it eventually led to killing Jesus. They went before Pilate and shouted to crucify Jesus. Thus they crucified Jesus and wrote above him: "Jesus, King of the Jews"

You must bow your heads before one who is enlightened. Do not bow to me, but you yourselves must bow your heads. Why must you bow your heads? When you truly bow your heads, you immediately obtain holiness. The very holiness that Emperor Wu asked Bodhidharma about—you obtain that.

We feel holiness when we enter a cathedral with brilliant candles burning or a magnificent temple hall. But that holiness is not created by the temple hall or cathedral. It is something you create yourself. If someone praying holily with eyes closed in a cathedral were quietly lifted and placed in front of a bathroom, would their holiness instantly disappear? No. They would continue praying holily. They would say, "Lord, not according to my will, but let heaven's will be done!" and then open their eyes to see where they are.

Think about it. Why is it holy even in front of a bathroom? Holiness exists everywhere. You simply don't perceive it. Holiness exists not only in quiet temple halls but also in the middle of noisy marketplaces. You simply don't perceive it. It's not that holiness exists separately and you feel holiness from it, but when you yourself bow down your pride, your ego, your holiness exists. Holiness is the fragrance that appears when ego is humbled.

Emperor Wu asked Bodhidharma: "Then what is the highest principle of holiness?"

He was searching for holiness and wanted to feel holiness. He was an emperor, and therefore in a position where it was difficult to feel holiness. His surroundings were decorated entirely in holy and magnificent ways, so he was buried in such things. He could not feel holiness even in magnificent temple halls. Since he had taught and cultivated numerous monks, he rarely felt moved to revere the monks around him either. He knew Bodhidharma's words were extraordinary and tried to feel holiness from him.

"What is the highest principle of holiness?"

Bodhidharma still spoke quietly: "There is no holiness at all."

"The mind that searches for holiness can never be holy. Though you have accumulated merit, knowing that you have accumulated merit, the mind that tries to reach Buddha's holy world through accumulated merit can never reach holiness." That's what he said.

"You are trapped in holiness. That place is not a holy place but like a gutter or bathroom over there. People are always prone to falling. Beware of falling into gutters or bathrooms." That's what Bodhidharma said.

Therefore, do not think of holiness, do not strive to live holily, but by watching the self in which holiness arises and escaping from that, you will finally obtain heaven's holiness.

Sengcan said: "I have contracted the wind disease. Please help me repent of my sins."

Sengcan had also wandered to many places. He despaired of the world and felt disillusioned with the ego-centered world. He roamed like the wind, desperately searching for something called truth. At first, reading sutras was holy, and meeting ascetic monks seemed holy too. But now he could no longer feel holiness. Because he had come to know even the limitations of holiness.

"I have contracted the wind disease."

Now he no longer knew what more he should pursue. Every day he trembled with inexplicable suffering. Then what is this? What kind of karma is this that torments me so?

"Please help me repent of my sins."

"Bring me your sins."

Bring that karma here.

When Sengcan looked back and thought about it, that disease was nowhere to be found. It was actually non-existent. If it existed, it was only something he had created himself—entirely like a dream.

Then Huike put the final dot: "Your sins have already all been repented."

This Zen dialogue illustrates the fundamental teaching that what we consider our deepest problems—our sins, our suffering, our spiritual diseases—are ultimately constructions of our own minds. True liberation comes not from finding solutions to these problems, but from recognizing their empty nature from the beginning.