Background: A Buddhist monk and teacher, Linji Yixuan (806–866) was a leading figure of Buddhism during the Tang dynasty in China. Founder of the Linji school, his teachings survive today in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese practices.
“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”
This phrase seems crazy for a Buddhist teacher to say. While not a Buddhist myself, I was amazed when discovering this quote and its origins. How would this work? Would you destroy the very person who brought you enlightenment?
Linji Yixuan wasn’t telling his students to literally kill the Buddha, but to destroy their idols. We won’t encounter Siddhartha Gautama on an everyday stroll, and we certainly aren’t called to draw a weapon and end his life. Instead, Yixuan is telling his students to destroy their own worship of a spiritual teacher. No matter who the teacher was, they weren’t to be idolized or worshipped—not even the “Buddha.”
In our lives, it is easy to idolize others. It’s easier to learn and follow than to innovate and lead. Even in philosophy, it’s easy to find yourself trying to fit into a certain sect, to align your beliefs with a certain author, and to worship sages as if they were gods. On the “way” (life) we meet many teachers: friends, mentors, family, authors. While we take advice and learn from them, a common mistake is attaching our entire ability to think to their teachings. We are not them, and their ideas don’t define us.
When first discovering philosophy, I found myself drawn to Stoicism. To me, it just seemed to click—controlling my emotions, not allowing externals to define me, and doing good regardless of how others treated me. Applying this to my life, I found visible change. I was happier, better able to regulate how I felt. I treated others with kindness: my job as a human being. However, upon delving deeper, I stumbled into a trap. Big names like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus became more than just sages—they became gods to be worshipped. I found myself clinging to their every word, analyzing every syllable, and instead of using their teachings to change my life, I changed myself to match their teachings. While philosophy helped me build my character, I found myself losing it as I researched more and more. I lost my sense of self, becoming a yes-man to ancient ideas.
Although these sages were key to my self-development, I eventually realized my unhealthy obsession with them. I saw how I had reshaped myself, losing myself among their ideas. For me, the Buddha was them. I conceptualized them as eternal, perfect figures whose ideas were likewise perfect. I needed to kill the Buddha—to dispel my idols, to break the golden pedestal they stood on. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t listen to anyone, but that we should prioritize our own journey, learning, and experiences over the sayings of others. Learn from teachers, but never idolize them. When we turn others into Buddhas, we inevitably lose our sense of self.
True peace is found inside us, not in outside teachers.
Andy Yao 2024-09-15