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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 15:26:08 GMT 1
Master Hsu Yun's Discourse in the Ch'an Hall.
(Dear friends,) you have been coming frequently to ask for my instruction and I really feel ashamed (of my incompetence). (Every day) from morning to evening, you have been all hard at work splitting firewood, tilling the fields, moving earth and carrying bricks. In spite f this, you still remember your religious duties; this earnestness of your does indeed warm the heart of other people. I, Hsu Yun, feel really ashamed of my incompetence in religion and lack of virtue. I am not qualified to give instruction and can only pick up a few sentences left behind by the ancients in reply to your questions.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 20, 2004 21:49:13 GMT 1
PRELIMINARIES OF THE METHOD OF TRAINING
There are many kinds of method but I will deal briefly with them.
PREREQUISITES OF THE PERFORMANCE OF RELIGIOUS DUTY.
(1) Firm Belief in the (law of) causality
Whoever one may be, especially if striving to perform one's religious duty, one should believe firmly in the law of causality. If one lacks this belief and does whatever one likes, not only will one fail in the performance of religious duty, but also there will be no escape from this law (of causality) even in the three unhappy ways. An ancient master said: 'If one wishes to know the causes formed in a previous life, one can find them in how one fares in the present life; if one wishes to know the effects in the next life, one can find them in one's deeds in the present life.'
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Post by hengyu on Oct 21, 2004 8:04:28 GMT 1
He also said: 'The karma of our deeds will never be wiped out even after hundreds of thousands of aeons (but) as soon as conditions become ripe, we will have to bear the effects ourselves.' The Surangama Sutrs says: 'If the causal ground is not a true one, the ripening (fruit) will be distorted.' Therefore, when one sows an evil cause, one will reap an evil fruit; when one sows melon (seeds) one will gather melons (and) when one sows beans, one will gather beans. This is the plain truth. As I am talking about the law of causality, I will tell you two stories to illustrate it.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 21, 2004 8:23:10 GMT 1
The first story is about the massacre of the Sakya clansmen by the Crystal King (Virudhaka). Before the advent of Sakyamuni Buddha, there was near Kapila town a village inhabited by fisherman, and in it was a big pond. It happened that because of a great drought, the pond ran dry and all the fish were caught and eaten by the villagers. The last fish taken was a big one and before it was killed, a boy who never ate fish, played with it and thrice knocked it on the head. Later, after Sakyamuni Buddha's appearance in this world, King Prasenajit who believed in the Buddha-Dharma, married a Sakya girl who then gave birth to a prince called Crystal. When he was young, Crystal had his schooling in Kapila which was then inhabited by the Sakya clansmen. One day, while playing, the boy ascended to the Buddha's seat and was reprimanded by others who dragged him down. The boy cherished a grudge against the men and when he became king, he led his soldiers to attack Kapila, killing all inhabitants. At the same time, The Buddha suffered from a headache which lasted three days. When His disciples asked Him to rescue the poor inhabitants, the Buddha replied that a fixed Karma could not be changed. By means of his mirculous powers, Maudgalyayana rescued five hundred Sakya clansmen and thought he could give them refuge in his own bowl which was raised up in the air. When the bowl was brought down, all the men had been turned into blood. When asked by His chief disciple, the Buddha related the story (kung an) of the villagers who in days gone by had killed all the fish (in thier pond); King Crystal had been the big fish and his soldiers the other fish in the pond; the inhabitants of Kapila who were now killed had been those who ate the fish; the Buddha Himself had been the boy who thrice knocked the head of the big fish. (Karma was) now causing Him to suffer from a headache for three days in retribution for His previous act. Since there could be no escape from the effects of a fixed Karma, the five hundred Sakya clansmen, although rescued by Maudgalyayana, shared the same fate. Later, King Crystal was reborn in hell. (As cause produces effect which in turn becomes a new cause) the retribution (theory) is inexhaustible, The law of causality is really very dreadful.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 21, 2004 8:45:56 GMT 1
The second story is that of (Ch'an master) Pai Chang who liberated a wild fox. One day, after a Ch'an meeting, although all his disciples had retired, the old master Pai Chang noticed an elderly man who remained behind. Pai Chang asked the man what he was doing and he replied: 'I am not a human being but the spirit of a wild fox. In my previous life, I was a head-monk of this place. One day, a monk asked me. "Does a man practising self-cultivation, still become involved in the (theory of) retribution?" I replied: "No, he is free from the (theory of) retribution." For this (reply) alone, I got involved in retribution and have now been the spirit of a wild fox for five hundred years, and am still unable to get away from it. Will the master be compassionate enough to enlighten me on all this?' Pai Chang said to the old man: 'Ask me the same question (and I will explain it to you).' The man then said to the master: 'I wish to ask the master this: Does one who practises self-cultivation still get involved in the (theory of) retribution?' Pai Chang replied: 'He is not blind to cause and efect.' Thereupon, the old man was great;ly awakened; he prostrated himself before the master to thank him and said: 'I am indebted to you for your (appropriate) reply to the question and am now liberated from the foxes body. I live in a (small) grotto on the mountain behind and hope you will grant me the usual rites of a dead monk. The following day, Pai Chang went to a mountain behind (his monastery), where in a (small) grotto he probed the ground with his staff and discovered a dead fox for whom the usual funeral rites for a dead monk were held.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 21, 2004 8:49:54 GMT 1
(Dear) friends, after listening to these two stories, you will realise that the law of causality is indeed a dreadful (thing). Even after His attainment of Buddhahood, the Buddha still suffered a headache in retribution (for His former act. Retribution is infallible and fixed Karma is inescapable. So we should always be heedful of all this and should be very careful about creating (new) causes.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 26, 2004 7:18:33 GMT 1
(2) Strict observance of the rules of discipline (commandments)
In striving to perform one's religious duty, the first thing is to observe the rules of discipline. For discipline is the fundamental of the Supreme Bodhi; discipline begets immutability abd immutability begets wisdom. There is no such thing as self-cultivation without obervance of the rules of discipline. The Surangama Sutra which lists four kinds of purity, clearly teaches us that cultivation of Samadhi(-mind) without observance of the rules of discipline, will not wipe out the dust (impurities). Even if there be manifestation of much knowledge with dhyana, this also will come to a fall into (the realm of) maras (evil demons) and heretics. A man breaking the rules of discipline is called a big robber by the ghosts who make a clean sweep of even his footprints.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 26, 2004 7:28:03 GMT 1
Formerly, in Kubhana state (Kashmir), there was nearby a monastery a poisonous dragon which frequently played havoc in the region. (In the monastery) five hundred arhats gathered together but failed to drive the dragon away with their collective power of Dhyana-samadhi. Later, a monk came (to the monastery) where he did not enter into Dhyana-Samadhi; he merely said to the poisonous dragon: 'Will the wise and virtuous one leave this place and go to a distant one.' Thereupon, the poisonous dragon fled to a distant place. When asked by the arhats what miraculous power he had used to drive away the dragon, the monk replied: 'I did not use the power of Dhyana-Samadhi; I am only very careful about keeping the rules of discipline and I observe a minor one with the same care as a major one.' So, we can see that the collective power of five hundred arhats' Dhyana-Samadhi cannot compare with a monk's strict observance of the rules of discipline.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 26, 2004 7:36:08 GMT 1
If you (retort and) ask me (why) the Sixth Patriarch said:
'Why should discipline be observed if the mind is (already) impartial?
Why should straightforward men praise Ch'an?'
I will ask you back this question: 'Is your mind already impartial and straightforward; if the (lady) Ch'ang O came down from the moon with her naked body and embraced you in her arms, would your heart remain undisturbed; and if someone without any reason insults and beats you, will you not give rise to feelings of anger and resentment? Can you refrain from differentiating between enmity and affection, between hate and love, between self and other, and between right and wrong? If you can do all this, then you can open your mouth widely to talk, otherwise it is useless to tell a deliberate lie.'
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Post by hengyu on Oct 26, 2004 7:45:50 GMT 1
(3) A firm faith
A firm believing mind is the fundamental of one's training for performing one's religious duty, because faith is the mother (or begetter) of the beginning (or source) of right doctrine, and because without faith, no good will derive therefrom. If we want to be liberated from (the round of) births and deaths, we must first have a firm believing mind. The Buddha said that all living beings on earth had (inherent in them) the meritorious Tathagata wisdom which they could not realise solely because of their false thinking and grasping. He also expounded all kinds of Dharma doors (to enlightenment) to cure (all kinds of) ailments from which living beings suffered. We shoud, therefore, believe that his words are not false and that all living beings can attain Buddhahood. But why have we failed to attain Buddhahood? It is because we have not gone into training according to the (correct) method.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 27, 2004 10:59:06 GMT 1
For example, we believe and know that bean curd can be made with soybean but if we do not start making it, soybean cannot turn into bean curd (for us). Now assuming that soybean is used for making bean curd, we shall still fail to make it if we do not know how to mix it with gypsum. If we know the method, we will grind the soybean (put the powder in water), boil it, take out the bean grounds and add a suitable quantity of gypsum powder; that we will certainly get bean curd. Likewise, in the performance of our religious duty, Buddhahood will be unattainable not only because of lack of training, but also because of training not in conformity with the (correct) method, without either backsliding or regret, we are bound to attain Buddhahood.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 27, 2004 11:06:56 GMT 1
Therefore, we should firmly believe that fundamentally we are Buddhas; we should also firmly believe that self-cultivation performed according to the (correct) method is bound to result in the attainment of Buddhahood. Master Ying Chia said (in his Song of Enlightenment):
'When the real is attained, neither ego nor dharma exist.
And in a moment the avici karma is eradicated.
If knowingly I lie to decieve living beings, my tongue
Will be pulled out for aeons uncountable as dust and sand.'
The old master was very compassionate and took this boundless vow to urge those coming after him to develop a firm believing mind.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 27, 2004 11:12:54 GMT 1
(4) Adoption of the method of training
After one has developed a firm faith, one should choose a Dharma door (to enlightenment) for one's training. One should never change it, and when one's choice has been made, either for repetition of the Buddha's name, or for holding a mantra, or for Ch'an training, one should stick to it for ever without backsliding and regret. If today the method does not prove successful, tomorrow if shall be continued; if this year it does not prove successful, next year it shall be continued; and if in the present lifetime it does not prove successful, it shall be continued in the next life.
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Post by hengyu on Oct 27, 2004 11:18:02 GMT 1
The old master Kuei Shan said: ' If one practises it in each succeeding reincarnation, the Buddha-stage can be expected.' There are some people who are irresolute in their decisions; today after hearing a learned man praise the repetition of the Buddha's name, they decide to repeat if for a couple of days and tomorrow, after hearing another learned man praise Ch'an training, they will try it for another tow days. If they like to pay in this manner, they will go on doing so until their death without succeeding getting any result. Is it not a pity?
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Post by hengyu on Oct 27, 2004 11:26:15 GMT 1
METHOD OF CH'AN TRAINING
Although there are many Dharma doors (to enlightenment), the Buddha, Patriarch and Ancestors were agreed that the Ch'an training was the unsurpassed wonderful door. In the Surangama assembly, the Buddha ordered Manjusri to choose between the (various modes of) complete enlightment, and (he chose) Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's (method) of using the faculty of hearing, as the best. When we turn back the hearing to hear our self-nature, this is (one of the methods of) Ch'an training. This place is a Ch'an hall in which we should discuss this Ch'an training.
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