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Post by Shi Da Dao on May 31, 2014 9:59:23 GMT 1
Dear Members
It is interesting to consider that even in the records that record Tang and Song Dynasty Ch’an masters, a certain proportion of the content inevitably deals with the issue of false Ch’an. False Ch’an, which is abundant in the world today, appears to be a simple error in the interpretation of what exactly legitimate self-cultivation actually entails. In more prosaic language, it is the mistaking of the shadow for the object. This extent of this problem can vary from individual to individual, and from group to group – indeed, entire orders, temples, societies and associations are premised upon its faulty foundation. To illustrate this point, the twelfth century Ch’an Master Huai T’ang said:
‘Pay close attention. An ancient worthy said: “A swift hound does not bare its teeth, but hardly do you make a move before it is on you right away!” Students in recent times insist on preaching Ch’an as religion before they have understood their own selves. They are all charlatans,’
In other words, false Ch’an is a product of incomplete training, coupled with the associated error of mistaking partial self-knowledge for full self-knowledge. Of course, within the parlance of the Ch’an School, partial understanding is nothing other than the unchanged and untransformed deluded mind. Although there has been spiritual training, no attainment has been gained, and the student remains firmly in the ‘guest’ position, without ever having glimpsed the ‘host’, or ‘host-in-host’ positions. Such people mistake a minor delusive experience during Ch’an training with that of the full experience of enlightenment. From this point, the followers of false Ch’an (i.e. ‘delusion’) give themselves empty titles of authority and gather students around them – spreading their delusion as enlightenment and continuously misrepresenting the Ch’an School through their ignorance. In this regard, Ch’an master Huai T’ang again comments on the sorry state of these kinds of Ch’an associations:
‘If pilgrims have no spiritual bones, their eyes do not know people, and they do not meet a real Ch’an master to open their minds, they plunge into a bag of curios: gathering in groups of two or three hundred, they make wild cries and talk wild talk, discoursing on mind and nature, lecturing on Ch’an and the Dao; criticising and extolling ancients and contemporaries. They call this Buddhism and consider it the essence of the teaching, but this is actually slandering the universal vehicle, creating seeds of hell. Such people are very numerous; they are to be pitied. Our path has deteriorated!’
It is not the case that schools like this should be openly attacked; on the contrary, such action is purely egotistical in nature and only serves to drive the deluded further into their delusion, thus making their unenlightened actions ever more incredible and extreme. The Ch’an method cuts directly through the delusion and does not engage the egotistical structure of the unenlightened individual, group, or association. The point of this is that those who are ready to move beyond their socially supported deluded state will move on into the enlightened with no further complication. A Ch’an master does not engage delusion – he cuts it down without mercy. Deluded Ch’an Buddhist social entities are just the deluded mind going about its business – nothing more. The Ch’an method instantly reveals the empty mind ground which lies at the essence of the deluded being – as ultimately no difference can be found between delusion and enlightenment (i.e. nirvana and samsara are identical). It is a method or technique of effectively ‘turning’ the mind back to the perception of its empty essence so that thoughts are not grasped by the ego, and the branches not mistaken for the trunk. In other words, the effectiveness of the Ch’an method relies upon the fact that the subtle teaching of Ch’an School is not a method at all, the twelfth century Fu An explains:
‘If we are to discuss this matter, the simple fact is that there is nothing whatsoever to point out to people. If there were anything at all to indicate to people, Buddhism would not have reached the present day. For this reason the successions of Buddhas extending a hand and the successions of Ch’an masters passing on transmission have done so for lack of practical choice: there has never been an actual doctrine to pass on.’
When faced with delusion, regardless of its perceived origin, the situation must be understood as being nothing more than faulty perception at work. All perception bubbles up from the empty mind ground, and in the deluded states the expression is mistaken for the essence – that is all. False Ch’an is nothing special; it is just the ordinary deluded mind pretending to be the antidote to its on corrupt predicament.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 13, 2014 11:25:43 GMT 1
Ch’an Digest – RHACS 10th Anniversary - September, 2014On this day in 2004, Richard Hunn and I, sat down on the computer in my house in Sutton, South London, and laid the foundation for the first internet presence of the combined Kyoto Ch’an Group, Norwich Ch’an Association and the Sutton Ch’an Association. Richard Hunn had run the Norwich Ch’an Association until the early 1990’s, and this transitioned into the Kyoto Ch’an Group upon his migration to Japan in 1991. The Sutton Ch’an Association was established around 1998 by myself as an important supplement to our family gongfu style of Chinese martial arts, - the Ch’an Dao Martial Arts Association – which had always encouraged its students to look into their minds whilst practicing the physical. This martial tradition is linked to Master Xu Yun (1840-1959), through Grandmaster Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993), whose family had a number of prominent Ch’an practitioners, some of whom were Ch’an monks in Southern China. This is why our Ch’an lineage has two strands leading back to Xu Yun – one through Charles Luk (1898-1978), and the other through Chan Tin San. The first net presence was called ‘Chinese Ch’an Buddhism UK’ and this title still serves as part of its net address of ‘chanbuddhismuk’. Richard Hunn had a small team of volunteers in South London – predominantly drawn from the British born Chinese community – who laboriously copy typed important texts involving Ch’an instruction given by Master Xu Yun, particularly his Ch’an Week held at the Jade Buddha Temple of Shanghai, held early in the year 1953. This was followed by many other texts before the Ch’an group acquired a ‘Scanner’, better computer skills, and access to Chinese source texts, etc. Living in Kyoto, Richard Hunn was engaged in the study of the arrival of Chinese Ch’an in Japan, and in the process became aware of how different Japanese Zen had become over hundreds of years of assimilation. In Japan he founded (and led) the Kyoto Ch'an Group which was comprised of a number of Japanese students interested in the Chinese Ch’an tradition. This is why he named the original online forum as he did, as he felt that Japanese Zen already had an extensive presence in the West, and that this presence often obscured the Chinese essence of its tradition. When Richard Hunn passed away in October, 2006, from pancreatic cancer, the ‘Chinese Ch’an Buddhism UK’ forum was renamed the ‘Richard Hunn Association for Ch’an Study’ (RHACS), and is commonly known as the ‘Ch’an Forum’ today. The aim of this net presence had been to preserve the translation work of Charles Luk, and continue this work through providing good quality and reliable English translations of important Daoist and Buddhist texts into English – free of charge to the reader. As these translations started to mount, it was thought that a more professional web platform was required to host them both efficiently and effectively. This is why in March, 2012, what has become known as the RHACS main site came into existence. This allowed the old site to continue as the ‘Ch’an Forum’ with the capacity for those interested in Chinese Ch’an to interact, whilst the new extension took the brunt of all the translation work. However, as many people like the format of the old forum, translations are still uploaded onto it, although often in varying versions. Up until very recently, for instance, the old forum did not support Chinese characters. Another issue is that following a recent – and involuntary – upgrade, many photographs have been lost on the old forum, although we are working to replacing them as and when we can. This dual approach works well as the simplicity of the old forum tends to be attractive to those who want a direct Ch’an instruction relatively free of the trappings of modern life and advanced websites. Two new articles of interest - one an interview with Richard Hunn from 2002, and the other John Blofeld's positive comments regarding Charles Luk's translation work - have been added to the 'Ch'an Forum': 2002 Interview with Richard Hunn (Upasaka Wen Shu)John Blofeld's Dedication to Charles Luk (1977)Shi Da Dao – Sutton – 14.9.14
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 29, 2014 14:25:13 GMT 1
Charles Luk (1898-1978) was adamant that Ch’an practice is fully compatible with Qianfeng Daoism – founded by Zhao Bichen (1860-1942) – simply because Zhao Bichen made routine use of the Ch’an method of the hua tou. This method aims to realise the empty essence of perception in the mind, by turning the mind back upon its own awareness. This is not just the process of realising the essence of what is perceived – such as sense objects – but the direct penetration of that which actually does the ‘perceiving’. The successful realisation of this method immediately dissolves the duality associated with dualistic thinking through the revealing of a profound and all-embracing emptiness that contains all things. This is the central purpose of both Ch’an Buddhist practice, and Qianfeng Daoist self-cultivation. The Chinese character ‘li’ (理) can be translated as ‘reason’, ‘logic’, or even ‘science’; it can also be taken to mean ‘arrange’, ‘administer’, and to ‘govern’. As such it represents an important philosophical principle contained within the teachings associated with neo-Confucianism, and denotes the ability to follow the naturally (and virtuously) correct path in any and all endeavours in life. In this regard, the concept of ‘li’ is synonymous with that of ‘dao’ (道), or the treading of a path that has the potential to unit what is above (i.e. the ‘divine sky’), with what is below (i.e. the ‘broad earth’). This is because ‘li’ as an ideogram, is written as a representation of the veins (or grains) found running through jade (or wood). These are natural pathways that are inaccordance with the flow of the universe, and do not, in anyway, contradict the direction of that flow. The appreciation of ‘li’ starts in the mind. When perception is traced to its empty essence, then all thought and perception ceases to occur – this is the realisation of relative enlightenment, which can be defined as an emptiness limited to the confines of the physical head. With further training, the ‘empty’ nature of this ‘emptiness’ is realised, and perception appears to expand and becomes all embracing. In this state, the essence of perception is seen clearly as the emergence from the void of ever-changing patterns of reality, which unfold into the physical world. Knowing and understanding this process of void and form is exactly where Ch’an and Qianfeng practice are at one. ICBI Qianfeng Daoism (UK) Protect
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Dec 5, 2014 19:22:55 GMT 1
Trapping the Tiger to Set it FreeThe true Ch’an method is not found in its colourful characters, unusual stories, different schools, great masters, illogical questions, failing aspirants, or meditative practice. This is because the ‘true’ Ch’an master is not a conveyor of ‘Buddhism’, even though a tenuous connection maybe present. It is preferable that ‘bridges’ are not built, and that ‘highways’ are not constructed. All this artifice is nothing more than dallying with the selfish ego and its physical manifestations. Those who ‘think’ they are ‘wise’ are not confronted, any more than those who ‘think’ that they are ‘ignorant’ - each is encouraged by the true Ch’an master to give full vent to their natural mind state, even though the end product may well be contrary to the wellbeing of the ego itself. This is how a trap is made that catches a tiger, so that its freedom is forever guaranteed. Those whose unrealised surface mind bathes in ‘knowing’ – attracting large crowds of admirers in the process – are destined to lose the very stability they think they possesses. Of equal concern are those who ‘pretend’ not to ‘know’ as a means to escape from making any effort whatsoever in the right direction. All are destined to wriggle on the hook, as the ego does not like being trapped, exposed, or transcended. For a tiger trap to laid, the ego is baited with adulation and platitudes – this will cause the deluded aspirant to show his or her true delusional colours, as the ego will not be able to resists the act of rising to the intrigue of the false inflation. This is how an ego is trapped – this is how an ego is killed. None of which is discernible to the ego itself as it is gently led by the nose to its pit of doom! The ego is like a tiger because it will fight ferociously for its own survival – this is the limited mind struggling to survive. Compassion demands that the true Ch’an master is merciless in the application of the Wisdom Sword and that all delusion is cut-down without hesitation. When the ego (trapped tiger) is dead, the all-embracing and empty mind (roaming tiger) is free of all constraints. This is because the true Ch’an master has applied the Ch’an method correctly, with every movement timed to perfection. In the meantime, the true Ch’an master sits and waits – patiently watching the ego make its home in Ch’an and Zen – mimicking this and mimicking that. The true Ch’an master times the deathblow so perfectly that no one accept the masters ever knows that something has happened! In the meantime, new Buddhas are produced, and old charlatans are diminished.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jan 10, 2015 21:47:58 GMT 1
Experiences with the mind are never without the presence of the human body as the brain (a physical organ) clearly resides within the physical body. This observation is not intended to reduce consciousness to matter, but rather is designed to remind the meditator that no matter how ethereal a meditative state maybe, and regardless of the refinement of awareness into non-attached states, nevertheless, the body is still present and does not disappear into thin air. Within the Chinese Ch’an Buddhist path, the direct method of perceiving the empty mind ground is associated with the developed skill of non-association with - or non-attachment to – thoughts as they arise and form the discursive mind of dualistic interpretation. When the mind is habitually split into a ‘subject-object’ dichotomy, it resides in the ‘ignorant, or ‘deluded’ state described by the Buddha, where suffering is guaranteed through a continued misinterpretation of events as they arise in the mind, body, and environment. The Buddha’s suffering is essentially the precise and exact psychological and physical description of the principle of ‘alienation’ as experienced a priori by humanity. This is the separation of the empty mind ground from direct human perception, which mistakenly looks outward for meaning and legitimacy, but without ever finding either attribute. What is required is a radical ‘turning around’ of the mind so that its functioning – in relation to itself, its body, and its environment – is optimised by being turned the right way around. As the Buddhist view of the mind is that it is essentially inside out in its functionality when in the deluded state, the Ch’an method – whatever this might entail – seeks to rectify this predicament directly and without procrastination. The Ch’an method interprets the Buddha’s teaching as pointing directly back to the empty mind ground – the direct perception of which involves the casting away of any sense of permanent or omniscient self. This is because any ‘idea’ of what reality is, remains only a ‘thought’ or a ‘series of thoughts’ in the head, and has no bearing whatsoever on the ‘direct’ experience of reality that is not mediated by, or reliant upon discursive thought. The empty mind ground should not be confused (as it invariably is) with the impermanent thoughts that arise and pass away within it. The Ch’an method involves the radical re-presentation of the mind’s essence – to itself. This is invariably done by turning words (back to their empty essence), or by actions which perform exactly the same function. The teacher – that is the one who already communes with the empty mind ground – stimulates the psycho-physical energy of the student so that an intense and highly focused inner potentiality is produced that drills straight through the layer of obscuring thought and directly into the void that lays beyond. This is the only purpose of the words and actions of the Ch’an masters, as well as the intention behind both the gong an and hua tou methods. If enlightenment is not instantaneous, that is if the empty mind ground is not directly perceived here and now, in this very moment, then the expedient method of meditation is required as an antidote to human delusion. The Patriarch’s Ch’an breaks entirely with Brahmanic and Yogic traditions, and does not, in and of itself, rely on meditation practice. Patriarchal Ch’an relies entirely upon the ability of the master to raise the inner energy of the student so that it immediately ‘sweeps away’ delusion like a strong wave hitting the shore and shattering its flood defences. Of course, the Buddha initiated this teaching on Vulture Peak – where he held-up a flower – but only Mahakasyapa understood its direct implication. All the other disciples and students who were also present, did not understand what the Buddha meant, and probably thought his action had no significance with regard to the teaching of the Dharma. Mahakasyapa smiled – and with that smile the Ch’an tradition was born. For those who did not understand this profound teaching – which seems like nothing – the Buddha adapted Brahmanic and Yogic practices so that they could follow a less direct path reliant upon physical discipline and meditation practice. This adaptation of Brahmanic and Yogic practices – albeit in a new and radical manner – is referred to as the Tathagata’s Ch’an. A modern Ch’an student should understand the differences between the two types of Ch’an – and not discriminate as each method arose from exactly the same single Buddha. When meditating, the Ch’an masters insist that all thoughts, feelings, dreams, imaginations, and other experiences such as ‘bliss’ and ‘pleasure’ should be ignored, abandoned, and not indulged as they represent merely more delusionary experience that continues to obscure the empty mind ground. This is required because much of what passes as ‘transcendental’ experience is in fact simply subtle but often intense feelings generated throughout the physical body – via the musculature – that are a variation upon the pleasure experienced during sexual orgasm. This intense pleasure – although detached from any and all sexual activity – nevertheless it is nothing more than a variant of it, and is often referred to as samadhi bliss, as if it were a purely psychological event somehow detached from the physical body. Prajna awareness reveals that these waves of pleasures, although generated through mental discipline, are actually waves of enjoyable muscular contractions which may be interpreted as the opposite to the very painful experience of muscular spasm, or cramp, etc. The requirement to abandon physical sensations also includes emotional feeling and visual formation in the mind itself – none of it is useful, and all of it serves to obscure the empty mind ground. This is why the Ch’an master advised that all superfluous experience should be laid down without exception. The resultant experience, should the Ch’an method be properly followed is one of luminous centrality. This is the state of being present here and now, so that mental awareness and physical matter are understood to be one and the same (mano-rupa), without the mind being reduced to matter (materialism), or matter reduced to the mind (idealism). This is the Buddha’s transcendence of duality and represents a perfect balance between void and form whereby all contradictions are immediately resolved, but which simultaneously avoids the trap of ’oneness’ and ‘twoness’ (i.e. duality). As is obvious, this realisation also bypasses the trap of religion, thus demonstrating that Buddhism is a developmental philosophy and not a religion in the theistic sense. This new awareness has a ‘radiance’ to it that is beyond light and dark, and not limited to geographical location, or the time periods of past, present, or future. It signifies the completion of Dharma whilst remaining free of Dharma. It is the point of Buddhism, whilst escaping the trap of Buddhism. This is the meaning of Patriarchal Ch’an.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 13, 2015 8:33:41 GMT 1
Ch'an and IllnessIt is the Buddha’s contention that every single one of us is ‘ill’, and that this state of ‘dis-ease’ has broadly speaking, two-levels. The first and most obvious level is presence of infection and dysfunction in the mind and body – what might be reasonably termed ‘conventional’ illness. The rational mind of humanity has created an entire and wondrous edifice of logic (i.e. ancient and modern medicine) as a means to counter this phenomena. When individuals are either ‘ill’ or otherwise ’incapacitated’, they are in a state of enhanced psychological and physical suffering, that is focused around the presence of the ailment itself The human intellect quite rightly strives to out-think these problems and to provide somekind of cure. This is the alleviation of the suffering caused by illness, disease, and incapacity on the psychological and physical plane, which relies entirely upon the understanding and manipulation of the chemical aspect of the physical world. When chemical behaviour is understood, that behaviour can be used at the molecular level to produce medicines that alter the dysfunctional chemistry of the illness, in an attempt to eradicate its presence in the mind and body. The ability to use the human mind in this manner may be considered a ‘siddhi’ or psychological power that is usually earned during long years of solitary meditation. However, in the secular tradition, the same developmental effect is achieved not by individuals sat independently under trees and disciplining their minds by following their breath, but rather through generations of academics who collectively discipline their minds by focusing upon a particular set of problems, associated with a specific academic subject – in this case ‘medicine’. In this secular model of reality, the human mind is disciplined not by focusing upon the breath, but rather by affixing its attention upon the behaviour of atoms and molecules. What links secular knowledge to spiritual wisdom is that the human mind is the central organ of operation. The Buddha, although considered ‘spiritual’ actually advocates the use of logic to assess reality that does not rely upon the acceptance a priori of superstitious or theological models that attempt to explain the world in one huge sweep of the imagination. This is the second, and most important kind of illness found within Buddhism. All human beings are ‘ill’ in this sense, even if ‘dis-ease’ is not obviously present in the mind and body. In other words, humanity may not be conventionally ‘ill’ all of the time, but it is philosophically ill at all times. Only Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, and Arahants have made the effort to cure this fundamental kind of spiritual illness. Conventional religion is of no use – (as the Buddha denied its validity) - and so the Buddha called into play the rational mind as a means to put out the fire of distorted vision. The human mind is perpetually ill because it is operating throughout time whilst under the influence of a false premise. Its default operational setting is that of greed, hatred, and delusion. The presence of these three taints obscures the empty mind ground, and skewers logic so that the resultant karmic world is continuously creating modes of experiential suffering, whilst continuously devising ever sophisticated short-term answers to socially escape these creations. This continuously created and collapsing duality repeats itself through habit - time and again. This is the dissatisfactory nature that lies at the root of human existence and human suffering. Using greed, hatred, and delusion as a means to escape greed, hatred, and delusion, is an obvious absurdity that the Buddha understood by focusing his mind upon the problem whilst sat in meditation. He saw the illogicality of the human condition, and through his wisdom – turned human perception ‘the right way around.’ This is how he cured the fundamental illness of humanity through the secular use of his brain.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Apr 8, 2015 18:17:18 GMT 1
What is Ch’an? This question can be answered in a number of ways, with each definition being correct within the context being explained. For instance, the following approaches maybe employed: 1) A type of Indian Buddhism transplanted into China. 2) A distinct type of meditation. 3) A Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese Mahayana School. 4) An anti-logic school of Buddhist thought that applies illogicality to free the mind. 5) An Anti-sutra school of Buddhist thought that focuses the mind through seated meditation. 6) A heretical form of Buddhist practice that ignores Buddhist conventions. 7) As ‘Zen’, a school that dismisses the upholding of the Vinaya Discipline as irrelevant. 8) A Chinese school of Indian Buddhism that follows Buddhist conventions, upholds the Vinaya Discipline, and emphasises strict seated meditation. 9) As ‘Zen’, a Western art-based movement that serves as the antithesis to established norms and conventions. 10) As ‘Zen’ a vague sense of performing a function, skill, or art in the secular West that is devoid of strenuous effort, or somehow ‘new’ or ‘unexpected’. The Chinese school of Ch’an Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) is that of number 8. This school is firmly built upon a foundation of legitimate Indian Buddhism that studies the sutras and adheres to the Vinaya Discipline, whilst cultivating a sense of Buddhist-inspired community. However, this is not all there is to authentic Chinese Ch’an, as within this superstructure that carries the tradition from one generation into the next, there exists an infrastructure of antithesis. This creates what might be described as a postmodern state that is comprised of a ‘certainty’ (superstructure) that is in continuous communication with an ‘uncertainty’ (infrastructure), with both ultimately cancelling one another out. This is inaccordance with Nagarjuna’s tetra lemma – or ‘four sided logic’: a) Everything Exists b) Everything does not exist c) Everything exits and does not exist (simultaneously) d) Everything neither exists nor does not exist (simultaneously) Nagarjuna read through the Buddha’s teachings contained in the sutras, and formulated that the Buddha’s logic comprised of the above four assertions. Therefore it can be said that: i) Ch’an exists ii) Ch’an does not exist iii) Ch’an exists and does not exist (simultaneously) iv) Ch’an neither exists nor does not exist (simultaneously) The point here is that the ordinary intellect is unable to function on this frequency of interpretation, and in its unenlightened (or unevolved) state, views the Buddha’s logic as gibberish, or ‘mystical’ inspired nonsense, when in fact the Buddha’s logic has more in common with higher science (i.e. quantum theory), than is does with theistic religion or the imaginations of superstitious based thinking. This is because the unenlightened intellect has no capacity to ‘perceive’ that which lies beyond the borders of its limited vision. Ch’an enlightenment is not freedom from discipline or convention, and cannot be equated with any form of anarchy as such. It is not ‘nature’ unfolding, as nature unfolds quite happily regardless of whether the perceiver of its unfolding is enlightened or not. It is not spontaneity – as anyone in the deluded state is capable of any type of spontaneous activity. A mind that is undisciplined is a mind that is unchannelled. An unchannelled mind lacks the direction required for energy to be developed in the correct manner, so that it can expand beyond its current limitations of awareness. Discipline has one real purpose, and that is the curtailing of energy wastage in the mind (and body), so that the saved energy can be focused (like a laser beam) through meditation, and turned drill-like into the deepest recesses of perceptual awareness. By going inwards, eventually the essence of all perception is understood in a non-dual manner and one becomes equally free of ‘superstructure’ and ‘infrastructure’, without necessarily rejecting either.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on May 27, 2015 19:01:10 GMT 1
Emptiness and BeyondCh’an training does not end with the realisation of ‘emptiness’. This is something of a profound misconception, even though the realisation of ‘emptiness’ is a required and crucial step. Realising emptiness in the mind is at best only indicative of being half-way along the path, and is not the objective of the Ch’an method. The next step is to understand ‘where’ this one-dimensional emptiness arises from. An empty mind in this state is not an enlightened mind, but simply one which has had its endless stream of thoughts pacified through the effective practice of a meditative technique. Within Mahayana texts, this state is referred to as Hinayana – or ‘Small Vehicle’ – enlightenment, and is considered a stage of incomplete development. A mind with no thoughts has not yet fully ‘turned around’ as the Lankavatara Sutra describes, and is not yet functioning with wisdom and compassion. It is a mind devoid of any profound functionality and is viewed as a trap within Ch’an thought, often described as ‘sitting atop of a hundred foot pole’. The situation is not only stagnant, but is also precarious. A sudden change of external circumstance can easily shake the mind out of this temporary and apparently ‘tranquil’ state, and back into turmoil if a further step of training is not immediately undertaken. The problem is that this one-sided emptiness is experienced as such a relief from the endless stream of disruptive thoughts and feelings, that there is an immediate and strong attachment developed for it by the experiencer. When the Buddha taught the next stage beyond this attainment in the Lotus Sutra, hundreds of disciples who had attained to one-sided emptiness turned their backs on the Buddha – their teacher – and left the assembly. Even in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, the enlightened layperson Vimalakirti, criticised many of the Buddha’s prominent disciples for being attached to their realisation of one-sided emptiness, and the practices that had helped them attain to it. This being the case, it is important that Ch’an practitioners understand that one-sided emptiness must be transmuted into an all-embracing three-dimensional emptiness that not only exits in the mind, but permeates and expands throughout the entire physical environment. To get to this unusual and rare stage, the practitioner must push onwards when an empty mnd manifests – and strive to find where the emptiness comes from. This is because emptiness as a distinct concept is only indicative of progress, and not the arrival at the objective of full enlightenment.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 16, 2015 9:56:56 GMT 1
Fifty six years ago Master Xu Yun left his body. He was in his 120th year of life, and his 101st year of living a life of an ordained Ch’an Buddhist monk. He was a fervent advocate of psychological and physical discipline (sila), as a means to subdue, quieten and calm the mind in meditation (dhyana), so that the processes and functionality of mind can be optimised for the production of progressive knowledge and transcendental wisdom (prajna). This is the path he followed - sila, dhyana, and prajna – and the path he taught. At no time in his long existence did he teach any other way, and when he spoke with respect about Confucianism and Daoism, he always related these practices to this broad Ch’an method. With regard to the specific technique he preferred to use to ‘still’ the mind during meditation (dhyana), he always advised the use of the hua tou. The hua tou is often literally translated as ‘word head’, but is probably better rendered as ‘word lead’. Through the use of the word ‘who’ as a question, all the multitudinous thoughts are eventually subsumed into this single word ‘who’. The many thoughts, through the application of psycho-physical discipline (sila), become the single thought ‘who’ during meditation (dhyana). Understanding and applying this method correctly is the beginnings of advanced knowledge and wisdom (prajna). As the single thought ‘who’ is also produced as a ‘question’, it becomes the investigatively dynamic ‘who?’ When used correctly, this ‘question’ can be used to drill into the apparent and ever present stream of thoughts that seem to traverse the surface of the mind, and has the ability to show the meditator exactly ‘where’ and ‘how’ the word ‘who’ originates within the fabric of the mind. However, at this stage it is important to remember that the mind is considered a ‘sense’ along with smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste. The Ch’an method teaches that when one sense is successfully returned to its empty essence, all the other five senses are also automatically returned to exactly the same empty essence. This demonstrates that Ch’an enlightenment is not only psychological but also physical. Although the empty mind ground appears to be accessed through the mind, this is only an expedient method, whereby the realisation of the empty mind ground cannot be limited to small notion of the mind. Therefore the Ch’an method as taught by Master Xu Yun is fully in accordance with the Buddha’s description of his own philosophy as being one of ‘nama-rupa’, or ‘mind-body’. When the word ‘who’ is clearly perceived as arising out of nothing, its root is discerned. Of course, this ‘nothing’ is not really ‘nothing’, but it is empty of any substantiality. All thoughts are a creation and consequence of the past conditioning (karma) of the mind and body. The delusion is that thoughts and feelings are viewed as ‘independently real’ of the conditioning that has produced them – this is proven to be a false assumption when ‘who’ is correctly returned to its empty essence. The important point to remember is that the ‘empty essence’ is also ‘empty’ of ‘emptiness’. The Great Ch’an Master Ti Guang was with Master Xu Yun when he passed away, and Master Ti Guang’s biography can be read here: Master Ti Guang (1924-2005)
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Nov 19, 2015 12:46:08 GMT 1
Master Xu Yun – Meditation as a Response to Violence ‘Later a hungry refugee came to the grotto wherein he saw a monk in ragged garments; he entered and begged for food. The monk got up and went to the side of the grotto to pick some pebbles, which he placed in a pot. After cooking them for a while, he took them out and invited the visitor to eat them with him. The pebbles looked like potatoes and when the visitor had satisfied his hunger, the monk said to him: ‘Please do not mention our meal to outsiders.’’ Master Xu Yun – Ch’an Week Retreat – Jade Buddha Monastery, Shanghai (1953) For a number of years in his very long life, Ch’an Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) lived as a wandering ascetic, living in the hills and surviving on dew-water and local vegetation of various sorts. He moved from one place to another as the urge took him, and often made his home in remote and inhospitable areas. To many he must have seemed like a beggar or refugee with his long hair and beard, and tattered robes. He suffered extreme deprivation and avoided even the slightest hint of sensory indulgence. During much of the last decade of his life, Master Xu Yun lived in a cowshed in the grounds of the Zhen Ru Temple situated on Yunju Mountain, Jiangxi province. This centre of Cao-Dong Ch’an practice was the last temple he restored, but he refused to live in any better accommodation. When he suffered calamity in life, he would hardly mention what had happened, but would instead keep his mind firmly focused upon and within the empty mind ground. He lived through many military invasions and uprisings, and personally witnessed Japanese atrocities committed against the Chinese population during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45). During the Boxer Uprising (1998-1900) he was threatened by a Western soldier who met him on the road. Whilst aiming his gun at Xu Yun the Westerner asked if he was afraid to die. Xu Yun was unconcerned and replied that if it is his karma then so be it. It is interesting to note that despite the Western forces murdering tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Beijing, Master Xu Yun’s awe-inspiring deportment saved him from a similar fate, as the Western soldier lowered his gun. Xu Yun’s example demonstrates that an enlightened response does not deny reality, but neither does it encourage delusion (and further destructive thoughts and actions). When he suffered accidents and illnesses he remained quiet and self-absorbed - not wanting to appear selfish or attached to personal sensations. It 1895, Xu Yun was travelling to the Gaoming Temple to participate in a Ch’an Week Retreat. Whilst walking along the river-bank he tripped and fell into the river and was swept away by the current. He was thrown around in the water for one day and one night until a fisherman caught him and lifted him out. During this experience Xu Yun suffered many injuries and was in terrible pain. When he eventually arrived at the Gaoming Temple, the Abbot asked Xu Yun to officiate at the upcoming Ch’an Retreat Week, but Xu Yun declined. As refusing an Abbot’s direct order, Xu Yun was subjected to the temples discipline and was beaten with the wooden ruler. This punishment re-opened his wounds and caused extensive bleeding. Xu Yun responded by sitting in meditation day and night for 20 days, and his illness completely disappeared. In 1905 Master Xu Yun had returned from Burma (Myanmar) when he met a Chinese monk named Ding-ru. Ding-ru, whilst going about his devotional duties in the temple and after reciting the rules for repentance and reform, chanted ‘Kill, Kill, Kill!’ He told Xu Yun that he did this because he hated all foreigners for what they had done to China, and what they were still doing to China. Xu Yun advised that the correct Ch’an attitude is to treat friend and foe alike. In 1916, whilst visiting Singapore, Master Xu Yun was beaten-up by police on suspicion of being a ‘leftist’ in a bizarre episode where the British colonial authorities announced that they were assisting the President of the Republic of China to re-introduce the monarchy in China. Xu Yun was tied-up (along with many other passengers) and repeatedly beaten and left-out in the hot sun without being allowed to relieve himself properly. He was eventually rescued by a wealthy Chinese Buddhist who vouched for his character. During all this Xu Yun remained indifferent and unconcerned. In 1951 Xu Yun was staying at the temple on Mount Yunmen when forces representing the local authorities surrounded the area apparently acting on a tip-off and this is all he said about what happened next: ‘During the transmission of the Precepts in the spring, misfortune befell me at the Yunmen Monastery.’ The authorities were looking for arms, ammunition, a radio transmitter, gold and silver. Despite detaining the entire population of the temple and subsequently carrying-out an extensive search of the property – nothing was found. Xu Yun was locked in a room and periodically beaten for days (as where other monks) in an attempt to find the suspected contraband. Xu Yun was in his 112th year of life at the time and he quietly sat in meditation whilst the blows rained down upon his head and body. Not only did he not complain or resist, but he did not want the events recorded in his biography. When the Beijing Government heard what was happening at Yunmen (in Guangdong province), they ordered it to stop immediately. In the meantime, Xu Yun healed himself through Ch’an meditation. Xu Yun’s mind throughout his life did not move between ‘like’ and ‘dislike’. He saw the empty essence of all experience and lived fully within its reality Xu Yun’s response to outer violence and destruction was to sit in meditation.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jan 9, 2016 12:56:37 GMT 1
‘Yang Shan asked the Master (Wei Shan): “What did the coming from the West mean?” The master replied: “A good big lantern. Yang Shan asked: “Is it just that one?” The master asked back: “What is that one?” Yang Shan replied: “A good big lantern.” The master said: “Really you do not know.”’(Ch’an and Zen Teachings – Second Series by Charles Luk – Page 61) The Tang Dynasty Ch’an masters always probed the minds of those who called for instruction in a deep and profound manner. They could do this because the enlightened (which they possessed) operates at a higher frequency than that of the deluded mind, and as a consequence ‘sees more’. This means that the deluded mind is narrow and exclusive, whilst the enlightened mind is broad and inclusive. For the deluded mind to become enlightened it must ‘give up’ the artificial boundaries within which it operates, but this is not an easy task due to the strength and depth of the historical psychological and physical conditioning of habit. The Ch’an masters performed the task of shining a light into every corner of a disciple’s mind to reveal what might be lurking in the dark recesses. The ego is able to fall itself and drag all and sundry into the confusion – except of course, for the compassionate Ch’an master who sits aloof from the play of blatant desire and deception. The ego is a dangerous entity that will do anything to stay in existence and power. When an individual is attempting to free the mind from its grasp, the ego will ‘pretend’ to be spiritually developed and exhibit all the opinions and behaviours it thinks is appropriate for such a position – but this is all a lie. This is nothing other than the ego ‘acting’ or ‘playing a part’ and this is exactly why Ch’an masters must be so exact in their dealings with the world. To allow delusion to pass as enlightenment is against the Buddha’s teaching and only adds to the suffering already in the world. Nothing can pass the Ch’an master that is not the true realisation of the empty mind ground. The authentic Ch’an master sees clearly hat is ‘true’ and what is ‘false’. What is true will be developed into the realisation of the empty mind ground, and will see its integration with the phenomenal world, whilst what is false will be automatically ‘stroke-down’ by the Ch’an master’s incisive wisdom. Throughout the entirety of this enlightening process it is only the ego that is offended, as the all-embracing mind knows no limitations.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 1, 2016 11:27:06 GMT 1
Ch'an Master Zhenjing said: 'Few monks of the last age have integrity: whenever they see others' lofty conversation and broad discourse, they say to themselves that no one can equal themselves. But when they are given a meal, then they after all assist those with whom they had first differed, and praise those whom they had previously torn down.
It is hard to find anyone who will say that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, who is balanced, true, and upright free from hypocrisy.' (Record on a wall - early Song Dynasty) Sentiment and Cliché are traps on the path - as the true Ch'an master can never be deceased and will never give-in to flatery. The Ch’an master behaved like accomplished martial artists and skilfully weaved here and there to avoid any and all attempts at reinforcing the delusion in the minds of their students. This is an approach that had no association with being ‘popular’, as often the most compassionate route for ‘freeing’ a mind from its delusion, is the route that the student’s ego would rather not follow. A Ch’an master must correctly ‘present’ reality, and then take it away again so that the ego has no chance of acclimatisation. The Ch’an masters understand that he or she is locked in a life or death struggle with the universal ego that exists in the minds of all of humanity. The ego must be engaged and uprooted, and this must be done in the most efficient manner – hence what often seems to be the bizarre behaviour of Ch’an masters. Of course, it is not their behaviour that is bizarre, as it simply mirrors the inconsistency of the ego it seeks to vanquish. The true Ch’an master is a like a phantom that only appears to have physical form as all of their behaviour and expressions are transcendent in nature. Try to grasp and hold them in one place, and the enquirer realises that they are grasping emptiness. The Ch’an master simultaneously represents the empty mind ground, and existence in the physical world. As soon as an individual ‘thinks’ or ‘assumes’ that he or she is a ‘master’ the tiger trap has already been sprung! The paradox is that although the Ch’an master does not appear to substantially exist, nevertheless, there is a tremendous and liberating power that emanates from his or her centre. This is because the experience of psychological enlightenment is also a radical realignment of the bodily processes and energy flow. In the mind ground state, personal and universal energy unite and are optimised. The mind state (and personal history) of each enquirer is clearly seen, and the way to ‘unlock’ the conditioning of the individual ego becomes instantaneously apparent. What is important is that the ego can never out-manoeuvre its mind ground foundation – and this is the unassailable advantage that all true Ch’an masters possess.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 9, 2016 9:35:28 GMT 1
Ch'an Guild of Hui Neng (CGHN)Sometime ago a facilitation device for breaking through the layer of deluded thought (that obscures the empty mind), was initiated on the International Ch'an Buddhism Institute's main website. This is not an 'Order' simply because it does not follow the teachings of a Christian Saint - which are absolutely fine within their own tradition. Within Asian Buddhism there are no 'Orders' as such, as the Dharma is only a temporary raft designed to carry us across the waves of samsara - quite literally to the 'other shore'. As the West has no discernible, indigenous Buddhist traditions today (despite an early presence with the Greeks, Vikings and perhaps the Celts), it was felt that an expedient 'Dharma-door' was required to give individuals living in the West a temporary direction-finder. Why 'temporary'? This is because the empty-mind ground is exactly the same everywhere and at all times. It functions in the West - just as it functions in the East. It can also be found through other religious paths (which are all possess their own distinct validities) if practitioners of those faiths apply the hua tou method of turning words back to their origination, deep within the fabric of the empty mind ground. The hua tou is a ‘tool’ used to clear the obscuring layer of the mind that prevents the direct perception of the empty mind ground. In the old days in the West, workmen gathered together for job-security and social-security around their particular trades – these groups were called ‘Guilds’ and were run by ‘Masters’ who had perfected their trade perfectly. In those days, young men always ‘apprenticed’ with a Guild Master and slowly learnt all the secrets of his chosen profession, such as carpentry, brick-laying, tailoring, and shoe-making, amongst many others. The ‘Guild’ served as a constructive channel through which men travelled to attain mastery. In these more enlightened times, men and women are on a more equal footing, and the Guild of Hui Neng (which does not really exist) does not discriminate with regards to gender – as the empty mind ground underlies all equally, regardless of the temporary manifestation of physical characteristics. It is intended that the example set by the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng – will return all to a deep and profound ‘emptiness’ and free all beings from suffering. Once this is achieved, the Ch’an Guild of Hui Neng has no further use.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on May 6, 2016 9:52:57 GMT 1
Returning Awareness to its Empty Root The sensations of pain, pleasure and neutrality exist only in awareness. Awareness (through the six senses) is the means through which humans (and other life forms) sense their inner and outer environments. If a nerve-ending in a finger, for instance, is damaged or destroyed through injury, or temporarily incapacitated through anaesthetic or some other method, the finger no longer acts as a conveyor of sensation to the brain. If all sensation stops in the finger then the finger is perceived by the brain as being ‘outside’ of the scope of internal awareness, and appears to be ‘external’ to the body system to which it is inherently attached. Of course, when the sensation and awareness returns, the finger re-takes its position as being part of the body’s internal and integral awareness. When the finger is numb, there is an awareness of a lack of sensation, and when sensation returns, the three aspects of awareness become evident (i.e. pain, neutrality and pleasure). However, when the sensation and awareness are absent in the finger, the finger can nolonger ‘communicate’ between the external environment and the internal environment (bearing in mind that that the ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ environments are comprised of different arrangements of matter). It is also difficult for the brain to communicate with the outer environment as the finger nolonger possesses the relevant data reception ability to be of any such use. Pain is not imported into the mind and body from the outer environment of the physical world, but is an internally generated response to certain and various outer events. As human-beings do not fully understand reality correctly, and often perceive reality in an inverted manner in the mind and body, the Buddha stated that humanity is fundamentally ‘deluded’ about the world within which it lives. It is only when the mind ceases to be inverted that enlightenment is attained, and perception is turned the right way around. An example of ‘perceptual error’ can be found in Kim’s Argument (often used in the academic subject of Philosophy of Mind). A conventional model of the perception of pain is as follows: A sharp needle pierces the surface of the skin of a finger and because of the resultant pain associated with a sharp object entering the body, the brain immediately ‘pulls’ the finger away from the source of the pain (and any further danger). However, academic studies have demonstrated that this model is wrong. Reality unfolds as follows: a sharp needle pierces the skin and before the brain is even aware of the situation (and prior to any pain being felt), a reflex arch is triggered from the spine that instinctively ‘pulls’ the finger away from the source of pain (and danger). What happens next is generated in the mind and body as a ’false’ perceptual ‘over-lay’ to the situation. The brain creates the perceptual fiction that the finger was pulled away because of the experience of ‘pain’ (when in fact the finger was instinctively ‘pulled away’ BEFORE any pain was felt). Deluded order of events: 1) Needle pierces skin of finger. 2) Pain is experienced. 3) The brain – because of the pain – pulls the finger away from the needle. Correct order of events: a) Needle pierces skin of finger. b) Reflex arch triggers in spine that instinctively contracts the muscles and pulls the finger away. c) The brain generates ‘pain’ after the finger has been pulled away, and creates the fiction that the pain preceded the event of pulling the finger away. It is believed that this inverted perception – although incorrect in the interpretation of the order of events and their meaning – nevertheless serves a useful evolutionary purpose to ‘condition’ humanity away from dangerous habits of behaviour and potentially life-threatening situations. This appears to be stating that human survival as a species is premised upon a useful delusion. As all sensation appears within the sphere of perception, the Ch’an methods of hua tou or gong an are designed to return all awareness to its non-existing root of perception. This is how ALL pain can be transcended as the perceptual root is ‘cut-off’ through following ALL six senses back to their root of emptiness. In this realised state perception does not cease, but rather is transformed from a sense of subject-object dichotomy, to that of a unified oneness that has no boundaries and is not limited to its own ‘oneness’. Pain, in this realised state, is completely ‘cut-off’ and transformed into universal loving kindness and compassion for all beings without exception. This is how Ch’an masters can be indifferent to the presence of excruciating pain and illness, whilst retaining a fully embracive heart and mind that excludes nothing and no one. This is the guest returning to host – in preparation for the establishment of ‘host in host’. Or to put it another way, this is the ‘form’ returning to the ‘void’, in preparation for the ‘integration’ of the form and void. The point is that through a rarefied concentration (Ch’an) dualistic pain can be ‘cut-off’ and transformed at its root by returning all sensation to its empty root.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jul 1, 2016 18:05:10 GMT 1
Letting Go of What is Not Necessary ‘Conceiving the real in unreality while seeing unreal the truly real, roaming fields of thoughts ill-formed: never they at the real arrive. That which is real they know as real, that unreal, to be unreal; roaming fields of thought well-formed they at the real arrive.’ The Dhammapada Chapter 1 - Twin Verses – Verses 11, 12. Letting go in the Ch’an sense, is the development of a continuous awareness of the transitory nature of human thought, and human physicality – and then the return of that awareness to its non-substantial essence (defined in Ch’an literature as the ‘empty’ mind ground). Of course, all this can happen in a split-second, or be a drawn-out process over an extended time period – but however it seems to unfold – it is always ‘here and now’. This is an insight often emphasised by Japanese Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253), and it is prevalent throughout Chinese Ch’an literature and various Buddhist Sutras popular within Chinese Buddhism in general. In a broad sense, it is the application of eternal forgiveness premised upon the dissolving of the dualistic root that separates ‘this’ from ‘that’, as it is only when the mind abides in duality that entire edifices of ‘hate’ exist and are sustained through the habit of historical conditioning (from one generation to the next). Master Xu Yun (1840-1959), when asked what enlightenment was, replied that it is ‘this’ and ‘that’. In other words, it is only ever the pristine insight of the ever present, despite its historical manifestation or era, and the personal circumstances of the individual concerned. Rich or poor, healthy or ill, safe or dangerous, war or peace – none of these outward states matter from the underlying reality that is the basis of ALL states, although it is absolutely true that health is better than illness, peace better than war, love better than hate, and so on. The point of Ch’an training is that regardless of circumstance, (good or bad), the mind (and the other five senses) are gathered together (focused or ‘fused’ through concentration), and returned (or ‘followed’) back to the perceptual essence (which is the non-perceptual ‘root’). The Buddha states that full enlightenment is beyond ‘perception’ (form) and ‘non-perception’ (void), because void is the essence of form, and form is the essence of void. For this rarefied (but entirely ‘practical’) state to be achieved, the mind must be ‘detached’ from ‘form’ to realise the ‘void’, and detached from ‘void’ to realise the ‘form’. This is why the Buddha describes his path as ‘nama-rupa’ (mind-body), or ‘void-form’. However, throughout his 45 years of training, the Buddha clarified his philosophical position which has been described by Nagarjuna in his ‘tetralemma’, or ‘four-point logic’: 1) Enlightenment is form and void (perception). 2) Enlightenment is not form and void (non-perception). 3) Enlightenment is both form and void and not form and void (perception and non-perception). 4) Enlightenment is neither form and void and not form and void (neither perception nor non-perception). This schematic of understanding – non-understanding correlates with the Buddha’s Pali teachings of the eight jhana (or states of developmental, meditative absorption). See my article listed below: Jhana: The Buddhist Search For Focused Equanimity.
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