Radical Openess

   Vulnerability and openness is such an important part of Chan practice that often gets overlooked. The analogy of the empty room, which Guo Gu writes about in his book Silent Illumination, is an apt starting point to investigate this idea. The room is open and vast, and does not contract or change its shape no matter how much furniture is put into it. In the same respect, radical openness means to know the contents of the mind (emotional states, thoughts etc.) without attaching to the individual components. This is akin to having a basic confidence that the room (one's true mind or "identity") does not change, regardless of the contents that are there.

    If I am looking at a particular emotional state under this perspective, how do I face it without dwelling on the particular furniture? I think radical openness is the key, which means not identifying with the situation as myself. I can take responsibility for what is happening without clinging to the notion of "this is me". Guo Gu writes:

      We are so used to being caught up in our thoughts and feelings that we lose sight of our true        nature.  The key to meditation is to recognize that the host is not the guest. The comings and goings of   thoughts and feelings are like guests coming into our homes. Would you let guests run your house?         Of course not. You're the host. (p.39)

This idea does not mean that we disown feelings or try to get rid of thoughts. Instead, it means trying to acknowledge that the spaciousness of mind can accommodate all states without being affected or identified to it. This is difficult to conceptually accept, because I normally have an image in my mind about who I am. When I am listening to a sentence, I pick out the part of the sentence that is "myself" and then exclude all the parts that I don't think are myself. But if my mind is open, I am not discriminating between this is "my" thought and those are others. It's a bit like seeing everything as existing equally in the map of mind.

  At the end of the day, clarity of what's happening in mind seems to be foremost to practice: being aware without being tied to thoughts. This doesn't in the least bit mean suppressing thoughts, however. This ties into a radical openness and acceptance.

Guo Gu, Silent Illuminatino: A Chan Buddhist View To Natural Awakening. Shambhala.