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Post by hengyu on Nov 1, 2004 9:22:04 GMT 1
ESSENTIALS OF CH'AN TRAINING
Our daily activities are performed within the truth itself. Is there a place that is not a Bodhimandala? Fundamentally a Ch'an hall is out of place; morover Ch'an does not mean sitting (in meditation). The so-called Ch'an hall and the so-called Ch'an sitting are only provided for people (who encounter) insurmountable obstructions (of their own) and who are of shallow wisdom in this period of decadence (of the Dharma).
When one sits in training, one's body and mind should be well controlled. If they are not well controlled a small harm will be illness and a great harm will be entanglement with the demon, which is most regrettable. In the Ch'an hall, when incense sticks are burned for your walking or sitting, the aim is to ensure the control of body and mind, but I will deal briefly with the essential ones.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 1, 2004 9:30:49 GMT 1
When sitting in Ch'an meditation, the correct position is the natural one. The waist should not be pushed forward, for to do so is to pull upward for inner heat with the result that after the sitting, there will be tears, bad breath, uneasy respiration, loss of appetite and even vomiting of blood. Neither should the waist be drawn backward with dropped head, for this can easily cause dullness. As soon as dullness is felt, the meditator should open his eyes wide, pull up his waist and gently shake his buttocks, and dullness will disappear automatically.
It the training is undergone in hot haste, one will feel a certain annoying dryness in the chest. In this case, it will be advisable to stop the training for the time a half-inch of the incense stick takes to burn, and resume when one feels at ease again. If one does not proceed in this manner, one will, as time goes on, develop a hot and excitable character, and in the worst case, one may thereby become insame or get entangled with demons.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 1, 2004 9:37:01 GMT 1
When the Ch'an sitting (in meditation) becomes effective, there will be (mental) states which are too many to enumerate, but if you do not cling to them, they will not hinder you. This is just what the proverb says: 'Don't wonder at the wonderful and the wonderful will be in full retreat.' Even if you see evil spirits of all kinds coming to disturb you, you should take no notice of them and you should not be afraid of them. Even if Sakyamuni Buddha comes to lay His head on your head and prophesies (your future Buddhahood) you should not take any notice of all this and should not be delighted by it. The Surangama Sutra says: 'A perfect state is that in which the mind is undisturbed by the saintly; an interpretation of the saintly in entanglement with all demons.'
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Post by hengyu on Nov 1, 2004 9:45:04 GMT 1
HOW TO BEGIN THE TRAINING DISTINCTION BETWEEN HOST AND GUEST
How should one start the (Ch'an) training? In the Surangama assembly, Arya Ajnatatkaundinya talked about the two words 'foreign dust' and that is just where we should begin our training. He said: 'For instance, a traveller stops at an inn where he passes the night or takes his meal, and as soon as he has done so, he packs and continues his journey, because he has no time to stay longer. As for the host (of the inn), he has nowhere to go. Me deduction is that the one who does not stay is the guest and the one who does stay is the host. Therefore, a thing is foreign when it does not stay. Again in a clear sky, when the sun rises sunlight enters (the house) through an opening, the dust is seen moving in the ray of light whereas the empty space is unmoving. Therefore, that which is still is voidness and that which moves is dust.'
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Post by hengyu on Nov 2, 2004 9:05:17 GMT 1
Foreign dust illustrates false thinking and voidness illustrates self-nature, that is the permanent host who does not follow the guest in the latter's coming and going. This serves to illustrate the eternal (unmoving) self-nature which does not follow false thinking in its sudden rise and fall. Therefore, it s said: 'If one is unmindful of all things, one will meet with no inconvenience when surrounded by all things.' By dust which moves of itself and does not inconvenience voidness which is clearly still, one means that false thinking rises and falls by itself and does not hinder the self-nature which is immutable in its Bhutatatha (suchness, thatness) condition. This is the meaning of the saying: 'If the mind does not arise, all things are blameless.'
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Post by hengyu on Nov 2, 2004 9:11:58 GMT 1
(The meaning of) the above word 'foreign' is coarse and (that of) 'dust' is fine. Beginners should clearly understand (the difference between) 'host' and 'guest' and will thus not be 'drifted about' by false thinking. By advancing further, they will be clear about 'voidness' and 'dust' and thus will experience no inconvenience from false thinking. It is said: 'When (false thinking) is known, there will be no harm.' If you enquire carefully into and understand all this, over half of what the training means will become quite clear to you.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 2, 2004 9:18:19 GMT 1
HUA T'OU AND DOUBT
In ancient times, the Patriarchs and Ancestors directly pointed at the mind of realisation of self-nature and attainment of Buddhahood. Like Bodhidharma who 'quietened the mind' and the Sixth Patriarch who only talked about 'perception of self-nature', all of them just advocated the outright cognizance (of it) without any more ado. They did not advocate looking nto a hua t'ou, but later they discovered that men were becoming unreliable, were not of dogged determination, indulged in playing tricks and boasted of their possession of precious gems which really belonged to others. For this reason, these ancestors were compelled to set up their own sects, each with its own devices; hence, the hua t'ou technique.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 2, 2004 9:20:45 GMT 1
There are many hua t'ou, such as: 'All things are returnable to the One, to what is (that) One returnable?' 'Before you were born, what was your real face?' but the hua t'ou: 'Who is repeating Buddha's name?' is widely used today.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 3, 2004 10:26:58 GMT 1
What is hua t'ou? (lit. word-head). Word is the spoken word and head is that which precedes word. For instance, when one says 'Amitabha-Buddha', this is a word. Before it is said it is a hua t'ou (or ante-word). That which is called a hua t'ou is the moment before a thought arises. As soon as a thought arises, it becomes a hua wei (lit. word-tail). The moment before a thought arises is called 'the unborn'. That void which is neither disturbed nor dull, and neither stil nor (one-sided) is called 'the unending'. The unremitting turning of the light inwards on oneself, instant after instant, and exclusive of all other things, is called 'looking into the hua t'ou' or 'taking care of the hua t'ou'.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 5, 2004 9:09:08 GMT 1
When one looks into a hua t'ou, the most important thing is to give rise to a doubt. Doubt is the crunch of hua t'ou. For instance, when one is asked: 'Who is repeating Buddha's name?' everybody knows that he himself repeats it, but is it repeated by the mouth or by the mind? If the mouth repeats it, why does not it do so when one sleeps? If the mind repeats it, what does the mind look like? As mind is intangible, one is not clear about it. Consequently some slight feeling of doubt arises about 'WHO'. This doubt should not coarse; the finer it is, the better. As all times and in all places, this doubt alone should be looked into unremittingly, like an ever-flowing stream, without giving rise to a second thought. If this doubt persists, do not try to shake it; if it ceases to exist, one should gently give rise to it again. Beginners will find the hua t'ou more effective in some still place than amidst disturbance. However, one should not give rise to a discriminating mind; one should remain indifferent to either the effectiveness or ineffectiveness (of the hua t'ou) and one should take no notice of either stillness or disturbance. Thus, one should work at the training with singleness of mind.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 12, 2004 8:33:30 GMT 1
Firstly, there is the moment when one will experience utter purity and boundless ease and if one fails to be aware of and look into the same, one will slip into a state of dullness. If a learned teacher is present, he will immediately see clearly that the student is in such a state and will strike the meditator with the (usual flat stick, thus clearing away the confusing dullness; a great many are thereby awakened to the truth.
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Post by hengyu on Nov 12, 2004 8:43:25 GMT 1
Secondly, when the state of purity and emptiness appears, if the doubt ceases to exist, this is the unrecordable state which the meditator is likened to one sitting on a withered tree in a grotto, or to soaking stones with water. When one reaches this state, one should arouse (the doubt) to be immediately followed by one's awareness and contemplation (of this state). Awareness (of this state) is freedom from illusion; this is wisdom. Contemplation (of this state) wipes out confusion; this is imperturbability. This singleness of mind will be thoroughly still and shining, in its imperturbable absoluteness, spiritual clearness and thorough understanding, like the continuous smoke of a solitary fire. When one reaches this stage, one should be provided with a diamond eye and should refrain from giving rise to anything else, as if one does, one will (simply) add another head upon one's head.
Taken from Ch'an and Zen Teachings - First Series: By Charles Luk, page 29-48.
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