Core tenet of Zen
Ordinary mind is the way.
No special state to attain — walking, eating, chopping wood are the way itself.
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
From the koan tradition: the way is not elsewhere, behind ordinary life; it is ordinary life, met without the film of commentary. Chopping wood and carrying water are not the interruption of the spiritual life — they are its entire venue.
From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited
Zhaozhou asked Nanquan: What is the way? Nanquan said: Ordinary mind is the way.
Mumonkan, case 19
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
Suffering has a cause, and therefore an end.
Buddhism
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Every soul is already omniscient.
Jainism
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Liberation happens while you are alive.
Sikhism
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Knowledge liberates.
Advaita Vedānta
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The arhat completes the path.
Theravāda
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Buddhahood is reachable in one lifetime.
Vajrayāna
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