Two Ways of Dealing With The Outer World

[Shi Da Dao]

When faced with the pull of the external world - there are two approaches. The first usually involves relocating the physical body to a place of peace and solitude. This removes the attractions of the outer world from being in direct contact with the bodily senses. This in-turn prevents the fluctuations of the mind that manifest as thought-patterns and their emotional over-lay. Remember that the Buddha states quite clearly that the mind (and its apparent activity) is impermanent - even if we are given the task of perceiving its empty foundation. After-all, the mind is 'empty' of permanence. Furthermore, the 'mind' is empty of 'mind' - and on it goes. The point is that it is interaction with the physical world that generates that activity which humanity currently perceives as 'mind' - and it is through a reduction in the frequency in that physical interaction that the empty essence of the mind can be realised. Within Chinese Ch'an, however, leaving the vicissitudes of the outer world is only ever a temporary solution as the Ch'an method requires a re-engagement with the external world as a means to 'test' the development known as 'self-cultivation'. The awareness must be positioned in such a manner that the individual is neither attached to the void (whilst hiding out in the wilderness) nor is hindered by the churn of everyday phenomena experienced through interaction the outer world (thus avoiding becoming a hedonist only interested in 'sensation')! This second method requires the practitioner to immediately (and continuously) perceive the 'empty-essence' of ALL phenomena as and when they make contact with the bodily senses and their psychic impressions traverse the surface of the mind! The choice is yours but neither path is easy. From this process, wisdom, moral fortitude and boundless compassion emerge without any effort from the centre of one's being - which turns-out to be the centre of all creation and non-creation...