in meinem Blog schrieb ich:
[…]but is that a merit, a benefit? should we meditate for the sake of something? no, at least we wont gain anything. if we keep anatman in mind, the teaching that there is no core, no self, what can be have any profit from meditation or the buddhist way at all?
i think bodhidharma, when he replied that there is no merit, no matter what intentions or motives we have, meant that its all just imaginations and dreams. we wont get anything out of buddhism. as long as we think we get out any benefit, its just running after illusions and creating our samsara. there is really nothing to grasp, no benefit. everything we can get is illusory. meditation will vanish all that hopes, believes, imaginations. all illusions all karma will drop away when body and mind drops.
Kodo Sawaki Roshi commented on Zen Master Longya Judun:
"A burglar breaks into an empty house. He can’t steal anything. Theres no need to escape. Nobody chases him. It’s nothing.
Understand: It’s nothing."
We are the thief, the burglar. Before we have a glimpse of our true nature, we expect a lot of the buddha way – like the burglar is convinced, that in the house is a treasure.
We make great effort to break into that house, and once we slipped in, we see its empty. nothing but vast emptiness. nothing to get out of it! thats what happens when we look into our true nature. There is nothing. All the dreams we had, the thoughts are nothing but clouds in the sky, castles in the air. the attempt to nourish a self that doesnt exist, to solid it, even if our motives are to attain nirvana.