No-thought (Zen)

This is closely related to wu-hsin, no-mind, which is said by some to designate the same experience. It can be referred to as the unconscious, since it is where conscious thoughts and feelings grow from. It implies having thoughts and yet not having them, untainted by conditions of life with which it is in contact, detached from objective conditions in one's own consciousness. It is to find the unconscious in consciousness. According to Shen-hui, this is suchness, not being attached to form, not thinking of being or non-being, of good or bad, of having limits or having no limits, of measurements or non-measurements, of enlightenment or being enlightened, of Nirvana or obtaining Nirvana, this is the unconscious which is prajnaparamita. Hui-neng says that no-thought-ness is seeing all things yet keeping the mind free from stain or attachment. This gives the perfect way through the world of multiplicities. Understanding the idea of no-thought-ness brings sight of the realm of all the Buddhas, attainment to the stage of Buddhahood.

Thus the intuition or apprehension of suchness occurs when the person is free of concepts, expectations and self-indulgent emotions. The realization of suchness may occur unexpectedly, for example in the beauty of a landscape or of a single flower. Keeping the mind in unison with suchness, the artist is aware of the same life animating him and the object. It is the object itself which works, the artist's brush, arms, fingers becoming servants of the object which makes its own picture.

According to Hui-neng, this concept of the unconscious is the foundation of zen, together with formlessness, wu-hsing, and non-abiding, wu-chu.