Talking Appearances

The following quote appears to be Seung Sahn's translation of a passage from the Diamond Sutra further translated by Stephen Mitchell. But Mitchell is notoriously loose in his translation of the Tao, and this appears to be very loose as well, confusing the Diamond Sutra take on impermanence to be nihilistic. It's not. “All appearance is delusion. If you view all appearance as non-appearance, then that view is your true nature.”

Rather view objects as appearances, or appearances as appearances.

Thich Nhat Hanh: “The Buddha is saying 'All dharmas are impermanent,' but he is not saying that they are not here. He only wants us to see the things in themselves. We may think that we have already grasped reality, but, in fact, we are only grasping its fleeting images. If we look deeply into things, we will be able to free ourselves from the illusion."

In other words, objects are appearances but appearances are not non-appearances.

Further, a person is an appearance. Universal consciousness is not a non-appearance.

As self-awareness is a reflection in pure awareness.