09/02/2026
Mind Makes Everything
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN
“If you want to understand all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future,
You must view the nature of the universe as being created by mind alone.”
Avatamsaka Sutra
Won Hyo lived in Korea in the 7th century. Early in his life, he was forced to fight in a great civil war. Men, women, and children were killed or maimed. The countryside was burned, crops were destroyed and even livestock were killed. All of this hit Won Hyo’s heart. He questioned even the reason for mankind’s existence and the meaning in his life. After much soul searching and angst, he threw away his soldier’s uniform, shaved his head, and became a monk. It is said, that he became an adept at understanding the sutras, but even with all that study, he still was not satisfied. He had heard of a master in China and decided to travel there. He walked many months in search of this great teacher. One night, completely exhausted, and ready to give up, he found a cave and went into the entrance way and lay down. In the middle of the night, he awoke with a great thirst and in his sleepy mind, he just began to feel around for a glass of water and his hand found a cup filled with water! He drank deeply, thanked the Buddha and went back to sleep. The next morning, the vessel he had taken for a cup in the middle of the night, turned out to be a human skull that was filled with rainwater. There were even bits of flesh still clinging to it and maggots at the bottom. Won Hyo became instantly disgusted and began vomiting profusely. As he vomited, his mind opened with the realization that last night the water tasted sweet and wonderful, but now that he could see what the cup was, the water no longer tasted sweet and wonderful, but was tainted. In that moment, he realized that mind makes everything. He turned around, went home, and eventually became the National Teacher in Korea.
What Won Hyo understood in that moment is not the fact that the universe is created by the mind, but that we taint that perception by our judgments. That our minds make everything is neither good or bad. For instance, if you and I are facing each other, we both have a different experience of our interaction. Your left hand is opposite of my left hand. What you see behind me is completely different than what I see behind you. It is in this way that we make our world. Our perception of reality is unique to each one of us. Everything we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, our memories, all our perception - it’s all experienced in our minds. This very act of perceiving is our Buddha nature. We can see the green tree - that is truth. We can hear the sound of the cardinal - that is truth. We can feel the soft air on our skin - that is truth. We can smell the fragrance of incense at the altar - that is truth. This is our clear, unfettered mind experiencing the universe just as it is.
Somewhere along the way in our lives, we begin adding onto our clear perceptions of reality.
The conditioning we’ve been exposed to clouds this clarity. We begin adding our own judgements, concocting our own story around that reality, letting our fears and anger contaminate and change this reality. This is what Won Hyo saw so clearly.
The Temple Rules in our school says, “The sound of the waterfall and the bird’s song are the great sutras.” One of my dear dharma sisters gave a talk on this statement. In her mind, the great sutras were just mundane, every day events like birds chirping and water flowing. I laughed so hard when I heard this because, in MY mind, I had the opposite reaction - WOW, just wow, the bird’s song and the sound of water flowing are GREAT SUTRAS - isn’t that wonderful?! This was my Won Hyo moment - perhaps not so dramatic, but nonetheless an important lesson. The sound of the waterfall is just the sound of the waterfall. The bird’s song is just the bird’s song. The great sutras are just the great sutras. There was no need to add anything more. Adding anything more is what Zen Master Seung Sahn called painting legs on a snake.
But we do add more onto our everyday experience. We color our perceptions with our like and dislike mind and then act as though that is the truth. This is the foundation of all wars and conflicts in the world - our attachment to our likes and dislikes - our attachment to our opinions and our point of view. I am reminded of the teaching on charity in the Diamond Sutra. The Buddha teaches Subhuti that when bodhisattvas give a gift they should not be attached to sight, sound, smell, taste, touch or dharma. Before retiring, I was a nurse-midwife and cared for pregnant women in the clinic and delivered babies in the hospital. It was not infrequent that a woman would come to the clinic or hospital without having any basic hygiene. Smelling and dirty, it was hard for some nurses to care for these women. But the Buddha teaches us not to be attached to sights, sounds and smells when giving. In other words, let go of that like and dislike mind and care for this woman without reservation.
This non-attachment to our thoughts, opinions and emotions is the “mind before thinking” or our “don’t know mind” This mind is what Shunryu Suzuki calls, “beginner’s mind” because a beginner sees all things as possible, but the person who thinks they know much, sees less possibility. The “don’t know mind” of our school then is wide open - expansive because it neither accepts or rejects anything, but only responds to this moment - moment by moment. It is not constrained by our thoughts, emotions and opinions. Our job on the cushion is to see that clearly and then bit by bit, let it all go until a wonderful clarity and openness to our experience is gained.
Learn more about our Zen center at prairyerthzen.org
