Believe in...Nothing?

It is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing.That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color—something which exists before all forms and colors appear.

— Shunryu Suzuki

Before thinking there is no mind.
When thinking appears, mind appears.
When mind appears, dharma* appears.
When dharma appears, form appears.
And when form appears, then suffering appears:
Life and death,
Happiness and unhappiness,
Good and bad,
Like and dislike,
Coming and going.

Mind disappears, dharma disappears.
Dharma disappears, form disappears.
Form disappears, then
Life and death,
Good and bad,
Happy and unhappy,
Coming and going —
Everything
Disappears.

So don't make mind, okay?

— Seung Sahn

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The thoughts above, expressed by two sentient beings speaking from what I like to call the Zen Zone, may seem cryptic.

In terms of intent, such expressions are similar to the parables told by Jesus in that they require contemplation and introspection. Such expressions may or may not seem to "speak" to you. Whenever Jesus spoke in parables, he did so knowing that only those who were "ready" might have a clue what he was saying. He would say "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The same thing goes for Buddhist expressions such as these. A Buddhist parallel to Jesus' statement regarding parables is this: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears."