Jade Buddha Monastery Lectures Week 2.

[Shi Da Dao]

Week 2 Day 1.

My coming here has already caused much inconvenience to the monastery and I do not deserve the generous hospitality extended to me by the (Venerable) Abbott and group leaders. Today, I am again asked to preside over this (second Ch'an) week. I must say I am not qualified to do so. It is quite logical tha the (venerable) old Dharma master Ying T'zu who is advanced in age and Dharma years should preside over this meeting. There are also in this monastery many learned and virtuous Dharma masters. I am only 'duckweed' floating on water and am, therefore, a completely useless man. It would be wrong to say that I am accorded priority and courtesybecause of my age. Even, in the world-dharma, no consideration is given to the question of age. Formerly, when the scholar's examination was held in the imperial palace, no matter whether a candidate was young or old, he called the examiner 'my old teacher' for the latter was respected (because of his rank and) not because of his age. In the Buddha Dharma also, no consideration is given to age. (I cite) Manjusri Bodhisattva who very long ago attained Buddhhood and was the teacher of sixteen princes, one of whom was Amitabha Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha was also his disciple, bu t when Sakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, Manjusri came to assist him (in teaching his disciples). Thus we know there is only One equality which is neither high nor low. Therefore, please make no mistake about all this.

[Shi Da Dao]

As we are learning the (the Dharma), we should respect (and observe) the rules and regulations (set up for the purpose). The (Venerable) Abbott has in mind the enlightenment of others, the expounding of sutras, the holding of Ch'an meetings and the spreading of the Buddha Dharma. This is indeed a rare opportunity.

All of you have been braving the cares and confusions of travel and giving yourselves a great deal of trouble to come of your own accord to attend this retreat. This shows that you have in mind the rejection of passion and desire of quiet.

In reality, you and I have only one mind but because of the difference between delusion and enlightenment, there are living beings who are busy from morning till evening without a day of rest. If we give some thought to this (state of things), we will see that no advantage can come from it. In spite of this, there are people who are busy all day long foolishly thinking of abundance of food and clothing for themselves and anxious to find pleasure in singing and dancing. They want their children and grandchildren to have wealth and fame and their descendants to enjoy glory and prosperity. Even when they are about to breathe their last to become ghosts, they still think of protection and prosperity for their children. These people are really foolish and stupid.

[Shi Da Dao]

There are also people who know something about good and evil and about cause and effect. They do meritorious acts which consist only in holding Buddhist ceremonies, in giving offerings to monks, in commissioning statues of Buddhas and in repairing temples and monastic buildings. Their acts contribute to the worldly cause, and they hope to be rewarded with happiness in the next rebirth. Because they do not know anything about the passionless merits which are unsurpassed, they do not perform them. The Lotus Sutra says: 'Sitting in meditation (even) for a short while is better than erecing as many seven treasure stupas as the sandgrains in the Ganges.' For thismethod of sitting in meditation will enable us to wipe out our passions and to have peace of mind and body, resulting inthe complete realization of the self-nature with liberation from birth and death. By 'a short while', it means a moment as short as an instant (ksana). If one cleanses and purifies his mind and turns the light inwards on himself, his sitting in meditation even for an instant will (at least) enable him to sow the direct cause of attainment of Buddhahood, if it does not ensure the (immediate) realization of the truth. His ultimate achievement can be expected (sooner or later). If his training is effective, Buddhahood canbe attained in an instant. For this reason, Ananda said in the Surangama Sutra: 'Dharmakaya can be ralized without having to pass through countless aeons (kalpas).'

[Shi Da Dao]

However, you and I, and all other people n general, live in the midst of passions, of joy and anger, of gain and loss, of the five desires and pursuits of pleasure and enjoyment. All these things are no more seen and heard as soon as we step into this Ch'an hall where our six senses are exactly like the black tortoise's six (vulnerabel) parts which shrink into its shell and where nothing can disturb your minds. This is the practice of the passionless Dharma and (is also) the passionless Dharma (itself). Therefore, the merits derived from the erection of as many sevn treasure stupas as the sandgrains in the Ganges cannot be compared with those resulting from a moment spent sitting in meditation. The simile of the black tortoise comes from the (story of) the fish-eating seal which swam to catch the tortoise on the seashore. Seeing that it was attacked, the tortoise withdrew its head, tail, and legs into its shell, so evading the seal's efforts to bite it.

[Shi Da Dao]

In this world, when we do not have money, we are worried about our food and clothing, and when we have money, we cannot free ourselves from passions. We are caught and eaten by the seal. If we know of the danger to which we are exposed, we should bring our six senses under control and turn the light inwards on ourselves so that we can be lierated from mortality. Two days ago, I talked onour Sect's Dharma, dealing with the Right Dharma Eye, the Tathagata's Mind-dharma and the basis of liberation from birth to death. Other Dharma doors including the expounding of the sutras, in spite of their aims which are the arousing of faith and understanding, are only accessories and do not advance the perfect (experiential) understanding. If the sutra expounding Dharma is used to ensure liberation from birth and death, there must still be (two complementary phases) to pass through: practice and witnessing which are very difficult to achieve. For this reason, very few cases have been recorded of those who listened to the expounding of sutras or followed other Dharma doors and who thereby attained instantaneously complete enlightenment and acquired transcendental powers. These cases were few as compared with those in the Ch'an Sect. According to our Sect, not only Ch'an monks and laymen (upasaka) possessed the inconceivable device, but Ch'an nuns were also of outstanding abilities.

[Shi Da Dao]

Ch'an master Kuan Ch'i was a disciple of Lin Chi but did not realise the truth in spite of having stayed several years at his master's monastery. One day, he (left his master) to call at other places (for instruction). When he arrived at a monastery on Mo Shan mountain, a little nun reported his arrival to Ch'an Bhiksuni) Mo Shan who sent her attendant to ask him this question; 'Venerable Master, do you come here for sightseeing or for learning the Buddha Dharma?' Kuan Ch'i replied that he had come for learning the Buddha Dharma. Mo Shan said: 'If you come for the Buddha Dharma, there are here also rules about beating the drum and ascending to the seat.' Thereupon, she ascended to her seat, but Kuan Ch'i bowed only and did not kneel down. Mo Shan said: 'What place did the Venerable Bhiksu leave today?' He replied: 'I left the entrance to the road.' She asked him: 'Why didn't you cover it up?' Kuan Ch'i could not reply and knelt down (to pay his respects), asking: ' What is Mo Shan?' She replied: 'The top of the head is not exposed.' He asked: 'Who is the owner of Mo Shan (mountain)?' She replied: 'He is neither male nor female.' He shouted: 'Why does he not transform himself?' She asked back: 'He is neither a ghost nor a spirit, into what should he transform himself?' He could not reply and submitted to her authroity. He became a gardener at the nunnery where stay three years during which he was completely enlightened.

[Shi Da Dao]

(Later) when Kuan Ch'i went to the Ch'an hall (to instruct) his own disciples), he said to them: 'When I was at my father Lin Chi's place, I got a half-ladle (and) when I was at my mother' Mo Shan's, I got another half-ladle, thus obtaining a full ladle which has enabled me to satisfy my hunger up to now.@ Thus, although Kuan Ch'i was Lin Chu's disciple, he was also Mo Shan's Dharma successor.

We can see that among the nuns, there existed also people of real ability. There are many nuns here as well; why do not they come forward to show their abilities and reveal the Right Dharma on behalf of their predecessors? The Buddha Dharma extols equality (of sex) and we are only required to make efforts in our training without backsliding so as not to miss this (rare) opportunity.

The ancients said:

In one hundred years or six and thirty thousand days,
There is not a quiet moment to lay down mind and body.

For countless aeons, we have been floating in the sea of morality because we have never wanted to lay down our bodies and minds inorder to have quiet for our learning and self-cultivation, with the result that we have been turned round by the wheel of transmigration without a chance of liberation. For this reason, all of us should lay down both body and mind and sit in meditation for a moment with the hope that the bottom of the cask of (black) lacquer will drop off and that we will together experience the law of no-birth.

[Shi Da Dao]

Day 2.

This is the second day of the second Ch'an week. The increasing number of those who come to this meeting shows how really good-hearted are the people of Shanghai and the excellence of their blessed virtues. It also indicates every man's aversion to disturbance (caused by passions) and longing for the quiet (found in meditation), and every man's desire to escape from sorrow and to seek happiness. Generally speaking, there is more suffering than happiness in this world and, as time passes very quickly, the short space of several decades slips away in the twinkling of an eye. Even if one can live 800 years like Peng Tsu, this space of time is (still) short in the eye of the Buddha Dharma. However, worldly men who can reach the age of seventy are rarely seen. Since you and I know that this short length of time is like an illusion and a transformation, and is really not worth our attachment (to it), we have come to the Ch'an week and this is ceretainly due to our having grown good roots in our former transmigrations.

[Shi Da Dao]

The method of (self-) cultivation requires an enduring mind. Formerly, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas reached their goal after spending many aeons in self-cultivation. The Surangama Sutra's chapter on Avalokitesvara's Complete Enlgihtenment says:

'I remember that long before the elapsing of as uncountable a number of aeons as there are sandgrains in the Ganges a Buddha by the name of Avalokitesvara appeared in the world. At that time I developed the Bodhi mind and for my entry into Samadhi was instructed by Him to practice (self-) cultivation through (the faculty of) hearing.'

[Shi Da Dao]

From the above statement, we can see that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva did not achieve his goal in one or two days. At the same time, he clearly told us about the method of his training. He was head (of the group of) twenty-five 'Great Ones' who attained complete enlightenment. His method consisted of (self-) cultivation of the ear which enabled him to transmute the faculty of hearing into perfection which led to (the state of) Samadhi. Samadhi means the (state of) undisturnedness.

Therefore, he continued:

(I) 'At the start, by directing the hearing (ear)
Into the stream (of meditation), this organ became
Detached from its object.'

This method consists in turning the hearing inwards (on the self-nature) to hear the self-nature so that the six senses will not (wander outside to) be in touch with the six external objects. This is the collection of the six senses into the Dharma nature.

There, he continued:

(II)'By wiping out (the concept of) both sound and
Stream-entry,
Both disturbance and stillness
Became clearly non-existent.'

He said again:

(III)'Thus advancing step by step,
Both hearing and its object came to an end.
But I did not stop where they ended.'

[Shi Da Dao]

He meant that we should not allow our training, by turning our hearing inwards (on the self-nature) to come to a halt; he wanted us to move forward little by little and to make additional efforts to reach (another stage about which he said as follows: )

(IV)'When the awareness (of this state) and this state
Itself (were realized) as non-existent,
The awareness of voidness became all-embracing
After the elimination of both subject and object,
Relating to voidness.
Then the disappearance of both creation and
Annihilation
(Realised in) the state of Nirvana becoming
Manifest.'

This state results from the training which consists in turning the ear inwards to hear the self-nature and after all kinds of creation and annihilation are realized as non-existent, the true mind will manifest itself.

[Shi Da Dao]

This is the (meaning of the saying: ) 'When the mad mind is brought to a halt, it is Bodhi I.e. perfect wisdom)'.

After attaining this stage, Avalokitesvera Bodhisattva said:

'Suddenly I leaped over both the mundane and the supramundane and realised an all-embracing brightness pervading the ten directions, acquiring two unsurpassed (merits). The first one was in accord with the fundamental Profound Enlightenment Mind of all Buddhas high up in the ten directions, possessing the same merciful power as the Tathagata. The second one was in sympathy with all living beings in the six realms of existence, here below in the ten directions, sharing with them the same imploration of pity.'

[Shi Da Dao]

Today, in our study of the Buddhist doctrine for our
(self-) cultivation, we should first succeed in our training by liberating all the living beings of our self-nature such as concupiscence, anger, stupidity and arrogance and by realising the fundamentally pure and clean Profound Enlightened Real Mind. Only then can we perform the Buddha work high above for the salvation of living beings here below, as did Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who could manifest in thrity-two different forms, each being suitable for the liberation of the corresponding individual, and only then can we possess the required (transcendental) powers. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (can) appear in the world as a boy or a girl, but worldy men do not know that he has already attained Buddhahood, has no sex and is neither an ego nor a personality, making a (particular) appearance only in response to each individual potentialityWhen worldy men (in China) hear the Bodhisattva's name, their thoughts of devotion and reverence for him arise. This is due to the fact that in their former lives, they had repeated his name so that seeds previously sown in the field of their store-consciousness (alaya-vijnana) now develop in them. For this reason, the sutra says:

'After entering through the hearing,
The Bodhi-seed is sown for ever.'

[Shi Da Dao]

Today, as we come here for our self-perfecting and self-cultivation, we should rely on the Dharma of the Supreme Vehicle practised and experienced by all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Dharma consists in clearly recognising the fundamental Profound Enlightened Mind; that is to say, the perception of the self-nature leading to the attainment of Buddhahood. If this mind is not recognised, Buddhahood can never be attained. In order to recognise the mind, we should begin with the performance of virtuous deeds. If every day, from morning until evening, we perform all good actions and refrain from committing evil deeds, we will accumulate merits and if in addition we hold a hua t'ou constantly (in our minds), we will be able to realise, in a moment's thought, the state of no-birth and will (thereby) attain Buddhahood instantaneously.

Dear friends, please make a profitable use of your time and do not give rise to wrong thoughts in your minds. Now is the time to give rise to a hua t'ou for your self-cultivation.

[Shi Da Dao]

Explanatory Note.

When the Buddha expounded the Surangama Sutra, he ordered the twenty-five 'enlightened ones' who were present, to talk about the various means by which they had attained enlightenment, so that the assembly could learn something from them. After the statements by twenty-four of the 'enlightened ones' of their realisation of the real by means of the six gunas;

1) sound.
2) sight.
3) smell.
4) taste.
5) touch.
6) idea.

The five sense-organs;

7) the eye.
8) nose.
9) tongue.
10)body.
11)mind.

And the six perceptions;

12)sight.
13)ear.
14)nose.
15)tongue.
16)body.
17)faculty of mind.

The seven fundamental elements;

18)fire.
19)earth.
20)water.
21)wind.
22)space.
23)knowledge.
24)perceptibility -

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva declared that he had attained enlightenment by means of (25) the organ of hearing.