Suchness Neither Belongs to Knowledge nor to Non-Knowledge

Huangbo Chan Master said: "The Dharma is originally non-existent; do not regard it as non-existence. The Dharma is originally not non-existent; do not regard it as existence. Views of existence and non-existence are entirely emotional views."

In the mind of emptiness, there is not a single dharma, yet one must not consider it non-existent. The true suchness mind is not non-existent; it truly exists, thus it is called the true reality mind. However, one must not think it possesses any form or any dharma. Whether we regard true suchness as existent or non-existent, or whether phenomena are real or illusory, these perceptions are all views of our conscious mind. The conscious mind is the deluded mind, and all such views are emotional views, not the perception of true suchness. True suchness neither perceives nor knows, yet there is not a single dharma it does not know, nor is there a single dharma that can exist apart from it. Therefore, knowing is false perception, and not knowing is neutral indeterminacy. True suchness belongs neither to knowing nor to not knowing.