Sudden Sprout   Gradual Oak
Channel: One Mind Zen Collective
Date: 23/02/2023

Great Seon Ancestor Jinul spoke of "Sudden Enlightenment, Gradual Cultivation." Both the Sudden School and the Gradual School often take issue with this--awakening is either sudden or gradual, they contend. However, once awakening is reached, is it not possible to backslide into worldly concerns, to "un-awakened behavior?" Given the way humans are, that's not an unreasonable statement to make. At the very least, once the acorn has sprouted, there's no harm in giving it a bit of water to make sure the oak stays an oak. Awakening can be getting hit by a bucket of water or walking through a cloud--you still end up wet. But if more water isn't continually applied, how does one stay "wet."
Haengdal Citta gives us the Dharma talk at One Mind Zen on February 22, 2023.