廓然無聖
かくねんむしょう / Kakunen Mushō
Kakunen Mushō (廓然無聖) Meaning
Meaning
Vast and open, nothing holy. Like a clear sky with no edges, there is nothing in it set apart as sacred or special. It points to a mind that has let go of dividing the world into the exalted and the ordinary, the worthy and the unworthy.
Origin
The phrase comes from a famous encounter between Bodhidharma, the Indian monk traditionally regarded as the founder of Zen in China, and Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty. It appears as the first case of the Blue Cliff Record (Biyan lu) and the second case of the Book of Serenity (Congrong lu). When the emperor asked for the highest meaning of the holy truth, Bodhidharma replied, "Vast emptiness, nothing holy." Asked, "Then who is standing before me?" he answered, "I don't know." The story has been handed down within Zen tradition, and historians generally doubt that it happened as told.
How it helps with everyday worries
Many of us carry an invisible pedestal in our heads: the version of ourselves that is impressive enough, productive enough, admired enough. We measure our real selves against it and come up short. This phrase gently suggests that the pedestal was never really there. A clear sky does not need to prove anything to be a sky, and you do not need a title or achievement to be fully yourself. The same goes for how we see others. When we place someone high above us, or quietly look down on someone else, relationships become tense and tiring. If nothing is holy, nothing is lowly either. Setting the ranking aside, even for a moment, lets you meet a coworker, a friend, or a stranger simply as another person under the same wide sky.
A small practice for today
Look up at the sky, or picture one, and let a single wish to be seen as impressive drift out into it, just for one breath.