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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 13:36:34 GMT 1
Week 1 Day 4
This is the fourth day of our Ch'an week. You have exerted yourselves in your training; some of you have composed poems and gathas and have presented them to me for verification. Ths is not an easy thing but those of you who have made efforts in this manner, must have forgotten my two previous lectures. Yesterday evening, I said:
self-cultivation has no other method; It requires but knowledge of the way.
We are here to inquire into the hua t'ou which is the way we should follow. Our purpose is to be clear about birth and death, we must have recourse to this hua t'ou which should be used as the Vajra King's precious sword to cut down demons if demons come and the Buddhas if Buddhas come so that no feelings will reman and not a single thing (dharma) can be set up. In such a manner, where could there have been wrong thinking about writing poems and gathas and seeing such states as voidness and brightness? If you made your efforts (so wrongly), I really do not know where your hua t'ou went. Experienced Ch'an monks do not require further talks about this, but beginners should be very careful.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 14:07:34 GMT 1
As I was apprehensive that you might not know how to undergo your training, I talked during the last two days about the purpose of sitting in meditation during a Ch'an week, the worthiness of this method devised by our Sect and the way of making efforts. Our method consists in concentrating pointedly on a hua t'ou which should not be interrupted by a day or night in the same way as running water. It should be spirited and clear and should never be blurred. It should be clearly and constantly cognizable. All worldly feelings and holy interpretations should be cut down (by it). An ancient (master) said:
Study truth as you would defend a citadel Which, when beseiged, (at all costs) must be held. If intense cold strikes not to the bone, How can plum blossom fragrant be?
These four lines came from (master) Huang Po and have two meanings. The first two illustrate those who undergo (Ch'an) training and who should hold firm the hua t'ou in the same manner as the defence of a citadel which no foe must be allowed to enter. This is the unyielding defence (of the citadel). Each of us has a mind which is the eight consciousness (vijhana), as well as the seventh, sixth and the first five consciousnesses.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 14:21:26 GMT 1
The first five are the five thieves of the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body.
The sixth consciousness is the thief of mind (manas).
The seventh is the deceptive consciousness (klista-mano-vijhana) which from morning to evening grasps the eighth consciousness 'subject' and mistakes it for an 'ego'. It incites the sixth to lead the first five consciousnesses to seek external objects (such as) form, sound, smell, taste and touch.
Being constantly deceived and tied, the eighth consciousness, (the) mind is held in bondage without being able to free itself.
For this reason we are obliged to have recourse to this hua t'ou and use its 'Vajra King's Precious Sword' to kill all these thieves so that the eighth consciousness can be transmuted into the Great Mirror Wisdom, the seventh into the Wisdom of Equality, and the sixth into the Profound Observing Wisdom and the first five consciousnesses into the Perfecting Wisdom. It is of paramount importance first to transmute the the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, for they play the leading role and because of their power in discriminating and discerning. While you were seeing the voidness and the brightness and composing poems and gathas, these two consciousnesses performed their (evil) functions.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 14:42:05 GMT 1
Today, we should use the hua t'ou to transmute the discriminating consciousness into the Profound Observing Wisdom and the mind which differentiates between ego and personality into the Wisdom of Equality. This is called the the transmutation of consciousness into wisdom and the transformation of the worldly into the saintly. It is important not to allow these thieves who are fond of form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma, to attack us. Therefore, this is likened to the defence of a citadel.
The last two lines:
If intense cold strikes not to the bone How can plum blossom fragrant be?
illustrate living beings in the three worlds of existance who are engulfed in the ocean of birth and death, tied to the five desires, deceived by their passions, and unable to obtain liberation. Hence the plum blossom in snowy weather. In general, insects and plants are born in the spring, grow in summer, remain stationary in autumn and lie dormant in winter. In winter, insects and plants either die or lie dormant. The snow also lays the dust which is cold and cannot rise in the air. These insects, plants, dust are likened to our mind's wrong thinking, discerning, ignorance, envy and jeslousy resulting from contamination with the three passions. If we rid ourselves of these (impurities), our minds will be naturally comfortable and plum blossoms will be fragrant in the snow. But you should know that these plum trees blossom in the bitter cold and not in the lovely bright spring or in the mild breeze of charming weather. If we want our mind-flowers to bloom, we cannot expect this flowering in the midst of pleasure, anger, sorrow and joy or (when we hold the conception of) ego, personality, right and wrong. If we are confused about these eight kinds of mind, the result will be unrecordable. If evil actions are committed, the result will be evil. If good actions are performed, the result will be good.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 15:27:48 GMT 1
There are two kinds of unrecordable nature: that of dreams and of dead emptiness. The unrecordable nature of dreams is that of illusory things appearing in a dream and unconnected with usually well-known daily activities. This is the state of an independent unrecordable state.
What is the unrecordable dead emptiness? In our meditation, if we lose sight of the hua t'ou while dwelling in stillness, there results an indistinctive voidness wherein there is nothing. The clinging to this state of stillness is a Ch'an illness which we should never contract while undergoing training. This is the unrecordable dead emptiness.
What we have to do is throughout the day to hold without loosening our grip of the hua t'ou which should be lively, bright, undimmed, and clearly andconstantly cognisable. Such a condition should obtain no matter whether we walk or sit. For this reason, an ancient master said:
'When walking, naught but Ch'an; when sitting, naught but Ch'an. Then body is at peace whether or not one talks or moves.'
Ancestor Han Shan said:
High on a mountain peak Only boundless space is seen. How to sit in meditation, no one knows. The solitary moon shines over the icy pool, But in the pool there is no moon; The moon is in the night-blue sky. This song is chanted now, (But) there's no Ch'an in the song.
You and I must have a co-operating cause, which is why I have this opportunityof addressing you on the (Ch'an) training. I hope you will exert yourselves and make steady progress, and will not wrongly apply your minds.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 22, 2004 15:44:42 GMT 1
I will tell you another story, a kung an (or koan in Japanese). After the founder of the Hsi T'an (Siddham in Sanskrit) monastery on the Rooster's Foot (Chi Tsu) mountain had left home, he called on enlightened masters (for instruction) and made very good progress in his training. One day, he stopped at an inn, and heard a girl in a bean-curd shop singing this song:
Bean-curd Chang and Bean-curd Li! While your heads rest on the pillow, You think a thousand thoughts, Yet tomorrow you will sell bean-curd again.
The master was sitting in meditation and upon hearing this song, he was instantaneously awakened. This shows that when the ancients underwent the training, there was no necessity of doing it in a Ch'an hall for experiencing the truth. The (self-) cultivation and training lie in the One-Mind. So, all of you, please don't allow your minds to be disturbed in order not to waste your time. Otherwise, you will be selling bean-curd again tomorrow morning.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 23, 2004 0:43:11 GMT 1
Week 1 Day 5
About this method of (self) cultivation, it can be said that it is both easy and difficult. It is easy because it is really easy and it is difficult because it is really difficult.
It is easy because you are only required to lay down (every thought) to have firm faith in it (the method) and to develop a lasting mind. All this will ensure your success.
It is difficult because you are afraid of enduring hardships and because of your desire to be at ease. You should know all worldly occupations also require study and training before success can be achieved. How much more so when we want to learn (wisdom) from the sages in order to become Buddhas and Patriarchs. Can we reach our goal if we (act) carelessly?
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 23, 2004 0:55:55 GMT 1
Therefore the 1st thing is to have a firm mind in our self cultivation and performance of the truth. In this, we cannot avoid being obstructed by demons. These demonical obstructions are the (external) karmic surroundings caused by our passions for all form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma as enumerated in my talk yesterday. This karmic environment is our foe through life and death. For this reason, there are many sutra expounding Dharma masters who cannot stand firm on their own feet while in the midst of these surroundings because of their wavering religious mind.
The next important thing is to develop an enduring mind. Since our birth in this world, we have created boundless karmas and if we now wish to cultivate ourselves for the purpose of escaping from birth and death, can we wipe out former habits all at once?
In olden times, ancestors such as Ch’an master Ch’ang Ch’ing who sat in meditation until he had worn out 7 mats, and (Ch’an master) Chao Chou who wandered form place to place (soliciting instruction) at the age of 80 after having spent 40 years meditating on the word Wu ( literally meaning ‘No’) without giving rise to a thought in his mind. They finally obtained complete enlightenment, and the princes of the Yen and Chao states revered them and made offerings to them. In the Qing dynasty, emperor Yung Cheng (1723-35 CE) who had read their sayings and found these excellent, bestowed upon them the posthumous title of ‘Ancient Buddha’. This is the resultant attainment after a whole life of austerity. If we can now wipe out all our former habits to purify our One-thought, we will be on an equality with Buddhas and Patriarchs.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 14:30:39 GMT 1
The Surangama Sutra says:
'It is like purification of muddy water stored in a clean container; left unshaken in complete calmness, the sand and mud will sink to the bottom. When the clear water appears, this is called the first suppression of the intruding evil element of passion. When the mud has been removed leaving behind only the clear water, this is called the permanent cutting off of basic ignorance.'
Our habitual passions are likened to mud and sediment, which is why we must make use of the hua t'ou. The hua t'ou is likened to alum used to clarify muddy water in the same manner as passions are brought under control. If in training, a man succeeds in achieving the sameness of body and mind with the resultant appearance of the condition of stillness, he should be careful and should never abide in it. He should know that it is (only) an initial step but that ignorance caused by passions is still not wiped out. This is (only) the deluded mind reaching the state of purity, just like muddy water which, although purified, still contains mud and sediment at the bottom. You must make additional efforts to advance further.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 14:42:19 GMT 1
An ancient master said:
Sitting on a pole one hundred feet in height One will still perceive (that) which is not real. If from the pole top one then takes a step One's body will appear throughout the universe.
If you do not take a step forward, you will take the illusion-city for your home and your passions will be able to rise (again). If so, it will be difficult for you to become even a self-enlightened person. For this reason, the mud must be removed in order to retain the (clear) water. This is the permanent wiping out of the basic ignorance and only then can Buddhahood be attained. When ignorance has been permanently wiped out, you wil be able to appear in bodily form in the ten directions of the Universe to expound the Dharma, in the same manner as Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who can appear in thirty-two forms and who, in manifesting to teach the Dharma, can choose the most appropriate form to liberate a responsive living being. You will be free from restraint and will enjoy independence and comfort (everywhere) even in a house of prostitution, a public bar, the womb of a cow, a mare or a mule, in paradise or hell.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 14:49:56 GMT 1
On the other hand, a discriminating thought will send you down to the turning wheel of births and deaths. Formerly, Ch'in Kuai who had (in a former life) made offerings of incense and candles toKsitigarbha Bodhisattva but did not develop an enduring mind (in his training) because of his failure to wipe out his ignorance caused by passions, was the victim of his hatred-mind (in his following reincarnation). This is just an example.
If your believing-mind is strong and your enduring-mind does not retrograde, you will, in your present bodily form, be able to attain Buddhahood, even if you are only an ordinary man.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 15:00:18 GMT 1
Formerly there was a poor and miserable man who joined the order (sangha) at a monastery. Although he was keen to practice (self-) cultivation, he did not know the method. As he did not know whom to ask about it, he decided to toil and moil every day. One day a wandering monk came to the monastery and saw the man toiling. The monk asked him about his practice and the man replied: 'Every day, I do this kind of hard work. Please show me the method of (self-) cultivation.' The monk replied: 'You should inquire into (the sentence) "Who is the repeater of Buddha's name?"' As instructed by the visiting monk, the man managed to bear the word 'Who' in mind while he did his daily work. Later, he went to stay in a grotto on an islet to continue his training, using leaves for clothing and plants for food. His mother and sister who were still living, heard of his retreat in a grotto on an islet where he endured hardships in his cultivation.
His mother sent his sister to take him a roll of cloth and some provisions. When she arrived, she saw him seated (in meditation). She called him but he did not reply, and she shook him but he did not move. Seeing that her brother neither looked at nor greeted her but continued his meditation in the grotto, she was enraged, left the roll of cloth and provisions there and returned home. Thirteen years later, his sister went again to visit him and saw the same roll of cloth still lying in the same place.
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 awhile, he took them out and invited the visiter 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.'
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 15:52:34 GMT 1
Some time later, the monk thought to himself: 'I have stayed here so many years for my (self-) cultivation and should now form (propitious) causes (for the welfare of others).' Thereupon, he proceeded to Hsia Men where on the side of a road, he built a thatched hut offering free tea (to travellers). This took place in Wan Li's reign (1573-1619) about the time the empress mother passed away. The emperor wanted to invite eminent monks to perform (Buddhist) ceremonies for the welfare of his deceased mother. He first intended to invite monks in the capital but at the time, there were no eminent monks there. (One night) the emperor saw in a dream his mother who said that there was one in the Chang Chou prefecture of Fu Chien province. The emperor sent officials there to invite local monks to come to the capital for the ceremonies. When these monks with their bundles set out on the journey to the capital, they passed the hut of the poor monk who asked them: 'Venerable masters, what makes you so happy and where are you going?'
They replied: 'We have received the emperor's order to proceed to the captial to perform ceremonies for the spirit of the empress mother.'
The poor monk said: 'May I go with you?'
They replied: 'You are so miserable, how can you go with us?'
He said: 'I do not know how to recite sutras but I can carry your bundles for you. It is worth while to pay a visit to the capital.' Thereupon, he picked up the bundles and followed the other monks to the capital.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 19:15:38 GMT 1
When the emperor knew that the monks were about to arrive, he ordered an official to bury a copy of the Diamond Sutra under the doorstep of the palace. When the monks arrived, they did not know anything about the sutra, crossed the doorstep and entered the palace one after another. When the miserable monk reached the threshold, he knelt upon his knees and brought his palms together but did not enter (the palace). In spite of the door-keepers who called him and tried to drag him in, he refused to enter. When the incident was reported to the emperor who had ordered the burial of the sutra, he realised that the holy monk had arrived and came personally to receive him. He said: ‘Why don’t you enter the palace?’
The monk replied: ‘I dare not, because a copy of the Diamond Sutra has been buried in the ground.’
The emperor said: ‘Why don’t you stand on your head to enter it?’ Upon hearing this, the monk placed his hands upon the ground and somersaulted into the palace. The emperor had the greatest respect for him and invited him to stay at the inner palace.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 23, 2004 19:16:43 GMT 1
When asked about the altar and the ceremony, the monk replied: ‘The ceremony will be held tomorrow morning, in the fifth watch of the night. I will require only one altar with one leading banner and one table with incense, candles and fruit for offerings (to Buddhas).’<br> The emperor was not pleased with the prospect of an unimpressive ceremony and was at the same time apprehensive that the monk might not possess enough virtue to perform it. (To test his virtue), he ordered 2 maids of honour to bathe the monk. (During and) after the bath, his genital organ remained unmoved. The maids of honour reported this to the emperor whose respect for the monk grew the greater for he realised now that the visitor was really holy. Preparation was then made according to the monk’s instruction and the following morning, the monk ascended to his seat to expound the Dharma. Then he ascended to the altar, joined his palms together (to salute) and holding the banner, went to the coffin saying:
In reality I do not come; (But) in your likes you are one-sided. In one thought to realise there is no birth Means that you will leap o’er the deva realms.
After the ceremony, the monk said to the emperor: ‘I congratulate you on the liberation of her majesty the Empress Mother.’ As the emperor was doubting the efficiency of a ceremony which ended in such a manner, he heard in the room the voice of the deceased saying: ‘I am now liberated; you should bow your thanks to the holy master.’<br> The emperor was taken aback and his face beamed with delight. He paid obeisance to the monk and thanked him. In the inner palace, a vegetarian banquet was offered to the master. Seeing the emperor was wearing a pair of coloured trousers, the monk fixed his eyes on them. The emperor asked him: ‘Does the Virtuous One like this pair of trousers?’ and taking them off, he offered them to the visitor who said: ‘Thank your Majesty for his grace.’<br> Thereupon the emperor bestowed upon the monk, the title of State Master Dragon Trousers. After the banquet, the emperor led the monk to the imperial garden where there was a precious stupa. The monk was happy at the sight of the stupa and stopped to admire it. The emperor asked: ‘Does the State Master like this stupa?’ The visitor replied: ‘It is wonderful!’ The emperor said: ‘I am willing to offer it to you wit reverence.’ As the host was giving orders to remove the stupa to Chang Chou, the monk said: ‘There is no need, I can take it away.’ After saying this, the monk placed the stupa in his (long) sleeve, rose in the air and left. The emperor stunned and overjoyed at the same time, praised the unprecedented occurrence.
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