As If Come

Yutang Lin


As if come, as if gone, indeed neither come nor gone.
Sun rises and sets, day after day, without ever moved.
All-encompassing oneness grasps not to appearances.
Worldlings see changes through attachments to forms.

Comment:

Complete awakening is free from considerations of forms and appearances, and hence is beyond talks of coming or going. Talking from the formal point of view, there seems to have had arrivals and departures. Therefore, attainment of enlightenment that could not be named, in accordance with worldly practices, is temporarily and inadequately called "As If Come" or "As If Gone." Once this is understood, the coming together and going separate among human relationships could also be seen as "as if come" and "as if gone," and then one would not be bothered by them. Emancipation of selflessness could be so enjoyable.


Written in Chinese on May 22, 2002
Translated on May 23, 2002
El Cerrito, California


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