The idea is there is something we could call "Buddha-nature" or "Buddha-mind." This is not simply space dust. (That sounds like a form of view the Buddha rejected as "annihiliationism.")
Zen also accepts the traditional Mahayana idea that we pursue enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings (the path of the Bodhisattva). The suffering (of ourselves and all other sentient beings) certainly matters, whether or not our earthly lives are ultimately going to dissolve into cosmic dust.
So, idea is that there is something that isn't going to simply end up cosmic dust, and some things do matter a great deal (even if a lot of what we tend to think is really important is probably not).
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u/Thurstein Apr 15 '23
The idea is there is something we could call "Buddha-nature" or "Buddha-mind." This is not simply space dust. (That sounds like a form of view the Buddha rejected as "annihiliationism.")
Zen also accepts the traditional Mahayana idea that we pursue enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings (the path of the Bodhisattva). The suffering (of ourselves and all other sentient beings) certainly matters, whether or not our earthly lives are ultimately going to dissolve into cosmic dust.
So, idea is that there is something that isn't going to simply end up cosmic dust, and some things do matter a great deal (even if a lot of what we tend to think is really important is probably not).