"The sky has no ladder" (虛空無梯)

A talk I gave at morning practice on Thursday, August 1 (2024).
"Since there is no path to be traversed, there is no way in which to cultivate one’s mind. Since there is nothing to be used as a gate, one cannot walk through it. Yet even though the ocean itself has no ford, people can cross over it with a boat and an oar; also, even though the sky does not have a ladder, birds spread their wings and fly high above. By this we know that pathless path means that anything can be a path; gateless gate indicates that anything can be a gate. Since there is nothing that is not a gate, each and every phenomenon can be a gate to lead to the mystery. Since there is nothing that is not a path, each and every place becomes the road leading back to the origin."
Master Wonhyo, "Preface to the Commentary on the Sutra of the Primary Activities of Bodhisattvas"
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"The Tale of Yūkichi" is included in Norman Waddell's collection of translations: "Hakuin's Precious MIrror Cave":
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