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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 28, 2013 9:28:51 GMT 1
Generally speaking, Chinese spirituality is very much a family and community experience. Often this is an insular affair, where many Chinese groups define themselves exclusively along name lineage and simultaneously refuse to acknowledge the validity of any other competing lineage. As all the groups are practicing the same social organisation - that is the imperial court replicated in the village name lineage - the mutual exclusivity holds it all together. Often, there is a certain antipathy between Chinese social groups and this tends to create a social space that in itself contains no objective elements. This is to say that traditionally speaking, Chinese spirituality is not obviously present in ordinary society. This is the same everywhere except the mainland of China where certain aspects of religion and martial arts have been deliberately 're-invented' purely for commercial purposes. These enterprises are spiritually ineffective as they lack true spiritual knowledge - people from the East and West are buying into another illusion. On the other hand, my mainland connections assure me that tradition is slowly being imported back into China from the Chinese diaspora, but in a quiet and unassuming manner. In the meantime the government continues to interfere in religious and cultural matters in an attempt to re-define the last 5000 years of history.
In the secular West, the objective social space is very well developed, and religion that once dominated society subjectively, now only really survives in this objective space. Of course I am talking in a general manner. The established Christian Church has lost its subjective power, and is now losing its objective power as its aims as an institution move ever further away from the inner requirements of individuals, and as a consequence becomes ever more irrelevant. On the other hand, the potential for inner spirituality is present in the West and Asian teachings such as Daoism and Buddhism are able to fill this requirement. Master Xu Yun appeared to be aware of this, and Charles Luk obviously understood this, as is evident through his meticulous translations. As the West was not functioning through a rigid Confucianism dominated by name lineage, the translated books could literally drop into the hands of thousands of Westerners who were inwardly yearning for wisdom and knowledge about an inner spiritual path. China and Hong Kong, did not share this social space, and therefore the work of Charles Luk remains unknown in this objective (Chinese) sense. Learning from a book, but having no living teacher, means that there is no appropriate lineage and this is interpreted as a lack of correct guidance. This is why the works of Charles Luk are not that well known in China.
In our Chinese subculture (in the UK), with its old lineages and associations, as a person born in the West of Anglo-Chinese heritage, Charles Luk's work in English helped me to penetrate and understand the culture of the older people who had been brought-up in China - many of these people are now dead and the younger generation are secularised Westerners. When I was young, I found the work of Carl Jung very important and helpful as it integrated the introvert and the extrovert in my character. In reality I am introverted by upbringing, but reading Jung and his theory of Individuation helped me develop the expedient mind out of certain programmed behaviours of habit. Ch'an and Daoist meditation - which I view as the same in essence - keeps the process perpetually unfolding. I found that much of Jung's work has been validated by my own meditational experiences. For a long time nothing appeared to be happening when I meditated - but I was happy whilst meditating. Oneday there was the erupting of the Daoist-imagery, which was eventually followed by a breakthrough into a calm and empty mind. This was probably a year later and involved daily and extensive meditation. Once I acquired the imagery I understood that all mental imagery, regardless of subjective over-lay, was all exactly the same process of unfolding mind. Emptiness of imagery - which came later - was blissful in its early stages. I could meditate in this samadhi for hour upon hour with no physical discomfort. The Ch'an Buddhist teachings clearly map out these experiences and the emphasis is always on moving on and through the latest achievement. Oneday I was sat meditating outside and a gentle breeze blew across my face - at this instant I experienced the expansion of the mind so that everything appeared with in the mind. This was in 1992 - at this point I left the isolated life and re-entered society to integrate emptiness with form so that no distinction can be found anywhere. This is an ongoing process.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 25, 2013 11:02:23 GMT 1
Master Xu Yun Said:
‘When I was born, I lost my mother whom I never saw. I only saw her picture at home and each time I thought of her, my heart broke. Previously I had taken a vow to go to the Ashoka (A Yu Wang) Monastery in order to revere the Buddha’s relics and to burn off a finger there as an offering to the Buddha for the liberation of my affectionate mother. As I now wished to fulfil this vow, I went to Ningbo (where the Ashoka Monastery is situated). At the time, Dharma-Master Huan-ren and Chan Master Ji-chan (alias ‘Ba-zhi Tou-tuo’ or ‘The Eight-fingered ascetic’) were in charge of the Tian-tong Monastery (near Ningbo) and Master Hai-an was compiling the Annals of Ashoka Mountain. They all invited me to help them but since I had come to fulfil my vow, I politely declined. At the Ashoka Monastery, I paid reverence to the Buddha’s relics and every day, from the third watch of the night until the evening meditation, except when I was in the main hall, I used only my own cloth mat instead of the Monastery’s hassocks when making three thousand prostrations. One night, while sitting in Chan meditation - as if in a dream - I suddenly saw a dazzling bright golden dragon which was many feet in length. It descended through the air, flying to the pool before the reliquary hall. Thereupon, I climbed on its back and flew into the sky until it reached a place where the mountains, streams, trees and flowers were most beautiful to behold, with palaces and chambers of an exquisite grandeur. I saw my mother in a room and called out, ‘Mother, please ride this dragon to the Western Paradise (of Amitabha Buddha).’ As the dragon came down again, I was shaken and woke up. My body and mind were cheerful and the vision had been entirely intelligible to me. This was the only time in my life that I saw my mother.’ (Master Xu Yun – Empty Cloud – Page 41 – 58th Year of Life)
From 1989-1992 - when as a monastic, I used to sit for long hours in meditation, I often entered a state of mind whereby a dragon would come to me through a swirling vortex - Master Xu Yun's dream reminds me of this. My dragon would carry me through this vortex to a different land where beggars played with gems whilst sat on the ground, but who wore tattered rags as clothes - they did not see the value in their hands. I went into a palace and the Jade Emperor sat on a high throne at its centre. He would raise his hands and fire beams of intense qi energy at me. I would raise my hands and fire qi energy back, but his energy was always stronger and I was always bodily lifted into the air and thrown backwards across the palace floor and into the nearest wall. I would land in a heap and the dragon would appear and take me on his back through the vortex and to my meditation cushion. I had this dream/vision for about a year, (probably around 1991), and the end result was always the same. I would be sitting in meditation and focusing on the hua tou 'Who is hearing?', when the swirling vortex would manifest and the dragon appear out of its centre - there was never any coercion. Although I tried my best to equal the Jade Emperor's power - I could not - I was always over-whelmed when I resorted to 'force against force'. One day I decided not to respond - when the Jade Emperor raised his hands to fire the energy, I re-doubled my concentration upon the hua tou 'Who is hearing?', returning all my sensations to their root. The Jade Emperor fired the energy and I remained passive and still. At the exact moment of expected impact, the entire psycho-physical world changed. Suddenly I was sat on the throne in the centre of the palace and the Jade Emperor was stood where I had been a moment before - there was no sense of violence or victory - things where as they should be. The dragon appeared by my side and I climbed on his back and was returned to my meditation seat. The dragon said good bye - and has never appeared again.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jan 31, 2014 11:13:32 GMT 1
Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) believed Ch'an was relevant for the modern world - he did not resist change but insisted that change must be wise if it is to be effective. His disciple Charles Luk (1898-1978) was a traditional Chinese scholar with a modern education, and Richard Hunn (1949-2006) was amongst many other things a Jungian Analytical Psychologist who travelled to Zurich to meet the Jung family whilst researching Jung's positive attitude (in his later life) toward the notion of rebirth. Ch'an and modern science are compatible in everyway, and each generation must find parallels between the two in a continuous process of evolution. Ch'an mind organisation appears to evolve around:
'Neither attached to the void, nor hindered by phenomena.'
Of course, the 'void' is misunderstood and difficult to realise, and it is precisely phenomenal hindrance (in mind and body) that causes human suffering. With the realisation that space is by far the greater substance (non-substance) in the universe is attained, then it is closely guarded as an antidote to suffering generated through movement of the mind. Attachment to the void, as I experienced it, was gently blissfull, but just as the mind had stopped obviously moving, so had my body stopped moving (interacting) in the world. I think this is a stage of Samadhi within Brahmanism where the practitioner disappears, or the Ch'an practitioner sits upon a hundred foot pole. However, my Ch'an teachers always drove me onward and said that the mind must start working (moving) again, and that this movement must not deviate from the fabric of insubstantiality. This was described as integrating void with form, or host with guest. Here, the illusion of duality falls away and it is understood that 'void' and 'thought' were never separate, and nor are they the same.
The realisation of this centralised, universal position in the midst of all things (and non-things), allows for the root of the klesic thought formations to be cut-away so that they do not arise. For a time, thought formations, driven by the power of habit, do try and arise, and if not checked, can cause all kinds of discomfort. The Ch'an practitioner, being centralised, simply acknowledges the presence of klesa and dissolves it through understanding. This process can become so reefined that the klesa are immediately cut-off at root, giving the impression that habit of thought is not present, but it definitely is. As Ch'an is a direct path to the realisation of insubstantiality, often it is the case that historical functioning of the mind, that is its habits collected from environment, parentage, and personal history, continue to function post-enlightenment, albeit in a greatly reduced capacity. The new clarity of insight attained through mind development allows for the functioning of the mind to be objectively observed by the individual. Master Xu Yun spoke often of a clear mind being like clear water, where mud has settled at its base - shake the water and the mud will come back. Practice must be continuous until all detrimental mind movement ceases into insubstantiality requiring no effort.
What I find interesting about modern psychoanalysis is that through self-analysis, (and analysis received from others), the klesic manifestations (represented by streams of misunderstood, non-understood, and potentially destructive mind formations), can be greatly weakened (and eradicated at source) through correct understanding. This wisdom 'sees through' the klesic formations, and through a scientific understanding of the historicity of the arising (and cessation) of thought formations, automatically dissolves the implicit power of habitual thought formation. This means that the methodology of Ch'an, which ignores the world denying aspects of Brahmanism, fully engages the world and can be greatly aided by the modern science of Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis may be termed 'correct seeing' within Buddhist thinking.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jan 7, 2015 22:35:25 GMT 1
This is the Heart Sutra in 276 characters - presented to me by Richard Hunn (1949-2006) during September, 2004 - his last trip to the UK. The Heart Sutra is printed on a delicate linin cloth which we keep respectfully wrapped-up and appropriately covered until the time is right to have it framed. This version was acquired in Japan - but uses Chinese characters with Japanese character notation. Charles Luk (1898-1978) translated the Heart Sutra into English and his rendering remains the best available today.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 28, 2015 10:13:00 GMT 1
王 (Wang2) This is one of the first Chinese characters that I learned to analyse. The British sinologist Richard Hunn (1949-2006) was teaching me how to read and interpret the Yijing (易經), and he used the traditional Chinese method of linking ‘王’ (Wang2) to the eight trigrams (八卦 – Ba Gua) – specifically to ‘☰’ (天 – Tian1) – or the ‘Divine-sky’. the three horizontal lines represents the following: 1) Top line = Divine-sky (天 – Tian1. 2) Middle line = Humanity (人 – Ren2). 3) Bottom line = Earth (地 – Di4). The vertical line travelling from top to bottom (or from bottom to top) of the ideogram serves to ‘unite’ the divine-sky, with humanity and the broad earth. In other words, within the constructs of feudal China, a great being (usually male, but occasionally female), possessed the wisdom and virtue to bring all of humanity together, but not on its own, but inaccordance with the universe above, and nature below. This is the acquisition of inner and outer harmony brought about in the physical world through clear-thinking and lack of selfish motives. Another way of interpreting ‘王’ (Wang2) is to view its structure as representing a human head that is capable of thinking great thoughts. The implication is that if one possesses the ability to think clearly and profoundly, then within Chinese feudal society such a person is obliged to assist society by positively contributing to it – usually through a leadership role. Today, in modern China, this view is out of date, as there now exists universal education which teaches the ordinary people to ‘think’ for themselves. However, ‘王’ (Wang2) is relevant for self-development on a system-wide scale where all beings can use it as a cognitive map and guide for psychological, emotional, and physical cultivation. Although one person can nolonger ‘rule’ society, establishing inner and outer harmony within the individual serves to benefit all beings by removing ignorance and conflict from the within the human mind and from the interactions that comprise society. ©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2015.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Aug 3, 2015 11:18:28 GMT 1
Richard used to say that we must abandon everything to realise the empty mind ground, and only after doing this will we truly understand that politics matter. Richard Hunn (1949-2006) was very politically aware and his views can best be described as leftwing. This is interesting as in many ways he was an English gentleman whose academic knowledge, understanding, and ability to teach was second to none, and certainly of the standard of any middle class scholar. He always linked the ability to be ‘other-worldly’ (and detached from the humdrum of everyday existence), with the concrete practice of caring for others in a practical manner, through the agency of Buddhist compassion and loving kindness. An ordained Buddhist monk from Myanmar once said to Richard that the political system of the country did not matter – even if it where rightwing. Richard disagreed and said that if he (the Buddhist monk) woke-up tomorrow and found that Buddhism had been outlawed – what would he do? The monk looked confused and did not reply. Richard was upset when the police were beating middle class protestors in Parliament Square some years – not because he agreed with their politics – but because they were human beings. Another issue was that of the way the Israeli Authorities in Palestine treat the Palestinian population. Richard was opposed to Zionism – but for worldwide Jewish rights. He taught me to disentangle narratives and see them clearly. Anti-Semitism – or hatred against Jewish people because of their religion and ethnicity throughout the world is wrong, but any form racism premised upon an ultra and extreme Nationalism (such as Jewish Zionism) is also equally wrong. To me, this ability to dissect confused narratives and to sort them into their constituent parts, is the continuation of the Buddha’s method of knowledge. It clears confusion by removing the misconceptions that obscure reality as it actually is. In inter-personal dialogue, for instance, a master clears the confused and entangled klesa from the mind of the enquirer, and reveals the empty mind ground. In the world of politics, confused narratives are removed through exactly the same procedure. As the rightwing is premised upon desire, and dishonesty, its teachings may be abandoned as ‘aDharmic’.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 16, 2015 9:53:44 GMT 1
(Photograph copyrighted to Taeko Hunn - please do not reproduce without permission) This is a wonderful; picture of family happiness! Here, Richard Hunn is with his mother and father - and Mrs Taeko Hunn - taken on one of their annual visits to the UK prior to 2006. Mrs Taeko Hunn inspired Richard in his life, his professional work, and all his hobbies. This lady is a wonderful person and I keep intouch with her regularly. Mrs Taeko Hunn continuous to support her late husband's legacy in the UK, and is keen to see RHACS continue in its mission to facilitate Chinese Ch'an practice in the West free of charge through English translations of Chinese Buddhist texts, and good quality and free instruction. May All Beings Be Happy and Free from Suffering!
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Dec 31, 2015 10:21:27 GMT 1
When Richard Hunn asked Charles Luk why it was that he recommended Daoism as part of his over-all advice regarding self-development (considering its obscurity, rituals, and general unfamiliarity), Charles Luk replied that there was no difference whatsoever between Daoist Immortality and Buddhist Enlightenment. The conversation continued - RH: Why, then, does there appear to be differences? CL: There appears to be differences because of the discriminating mind – uproot the delusion that is the basis of duality, and the distinction disappears. RH: What is Daoism without Distinction? CL: Daoism without distinction is Immortality without attachment to words and letters. RH: What did Zhao Bichen think about this? CL: Zhao Bichen did not possess a mouth. RH: If he did not possess a mouth, then how did he convey the Qianfeng teaching? CL: He conveyed it specifically because he did not possess a mouth that would misled humanity and raise up demons. RH: How did you learn it if Zhao Bichen did not possess a mouth? CL: I did not ‘learn’ it – this is how it was conveyed. RH: Xu Yun did not like Daoism – so why teach it? CL: Xu Yun was quite right not to like the Dao for if he ‘liked’ it his mind would have ‘moved’ and he would not have lived within the Dao. RH: What is Dao? CL: A ‘still’ mind that reflects all things that is not attached to its own realisation. RH: If this is so, how can it be questioned? CL: By possessing no mouth. (Dialogue Recorded 1976 – Hong Kong)
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jan 31, 2016 9:25:34 GMT 1
When Richard Hunn was dying from cancer in October 2006, the doctors in Japan eventually told him that there was nothing else that conventional medicine could do for him. When I was talking to him, he said that he had decided to use Daoist qigong as a method for balancing the inner and outer body energy (qi) regardless of the illness he was experiencing. This showed a remarkable clarity of thought despite the fact that the cancer had spread everywhere and that he was facing the ‘shuffling off of this mortal coil’ as he once described the dying process to me (quoting Shakespeare I believe). When people are fit and healthy, quite often they lack inspiration to train and clear their minds and settle their bodies – and they never envision what it is like being chronically or terminally ill. Being ill is part of the ‘suffering’ that the Buddha taught about, and part of the condition that Daoist Master Zhao Bichen sought to relieve through his Qianfeng teaching. When Richard ‘transitioned’ from one energy frequency to another, he had the clarity of insight of the empty mind of Ch’an and the presence of mind of the qi energy flow of Qianfeng Daoism.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 2, 2016 10:20:40 GMT 1
Richard Hunn (1949-2006), whilst on one of his annual visits to the UK (from his home in Kyoto, Japan), once commented to me that in the West, the shops are full of book-covers featuring smiling lamas grinning like Cheshire cats! He said that in the East Buddhism is simply not misrepresented in this manner, because it is taken very seriously as a method of self-development. You do not mock the medicine that makes you better by taking the p*ss out of its packaging. He went on to say that true self-cultivation involves a tremendous amount of suffering – that is if the practitioner is serious about purifying his or her mind by using this distinctly ‘Eastern’ method. Whereas in the West the subjects of modern psychology and psychiatry are interested in the ‘measurable’ and ‘quantifying’ content of the brain/mind that manifests through speech and behaviour, the Buddhism of the East by-passes this altogether. Why is this the case? - because the Buddha did not, and does not ‘care’ about the intricacies of the content of your mind as he has already declared it to be ‘delusional’ and ‘suffering’ inducing. The Buddha does not want to talk through your delusional conditioning because he sees this as just more delusion. The point of the Buddha’s teaching is not that it makes you ‘happy’ in a one-sided sense, but rather that it enables you – as a practitioner – to take control of the machinations of your own mind, and transcend the polarity of the two major aspects of human suffering, namely shallow ‘happiness’ (smiling lama) and profound suffering (my suffering is really important and self-consuming). Buddhism in its real essence is in no way a ‘comforter’ of humanity in the sense that a religion, a good film, or a bag of decent chips are to the average ego. Buddhism is the a priori undermining of everything the ego holds dear, and this is why probably around 90% of what passes as ‘Buddhism’ in the West is not Buddhism at all, but merely the sophisticated ‘modern’ ego’ doing what it does best – mimicking happiness and reality.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 23, 2016 12:01:32 GMT 1
Richard Hunn (1949-2006) stated to me that the Mind Precept in the essence of all precepts and that by blindly following physical codes designed to modify behaviour – whilst not penetrating the empty mind ground – was a waste of time. The Vinaya Discipline should be followed in such a manner that all six senses are returned to their root instantaneously. He also said that although on the outer level there appears to be ‘lineages’ of this and that, inwardly there is no such thing. Outer lineages are historical indicators – but in reality they are like the recording of stepping stones across a river, and nothing more. Attachment to lineage is a disgrace within Ch’an. It is true that Chinese culture has, in the past, set a great deal of meaning to recording generations of who taught what, where, when and to whom. Even Master Xu Yun (1940-1959) did this, as did Daoist Master Zhao Bichen (1860-1942). Even so, this does not mean that lineages are ‘real’, even if they are convenient historical markers of some kind of human progress. Richard Hunn likened the process of generational transmission as being like one bead being held between the fingers and thumb on a mala (or string of ‘Buddha Beads’ similar to a Christian Rosary) which is then ‘let go’ as the fingers and thumb touch and hold the next bead. This is a repetitive cycle of ‘nothing’ happening inparticular, and yet through this expedient device (that has no substantiality in and of itself), there is time-keeping, and a measure of the ‘here and now’ as it traverses the past, present and future. It is the string of the mala that holds it altogether, and it is the human mind (and its ‘intention’) that is the agency that moves the fingers and thumb from one bead to another, becoming inherently ‘aware’ of the entire processing of ‘moving’, ‘feeling’, ‘holding’ and ‘letting go’, and yet this profound ‘awareness’ is not an ‘attachment’ to any part of this ‘recording’ procedure, or indeed any notions of the over-arching practice itself. Each bead should be ‘indifferent’ to the ‘connecting’ function it serves, this is entirely how a Ch’an practitioner should proceed. There may be more ‘reliable’ beads just as there are more ‘reliable’ malas, but in realty this notion of ‘reliability’ exists only within a discriminating mind. This is equally try (from a Ch’an perspective) of anyone who happens to ‘think’ that they are more ‘reliable’ than the next person (or ‘bead’). Of course, there is ‘transmission’ but there is ‘no one’ to receive it. As long as people yearn for ‘status’ and ‘distinction’, transmission will be a thousand miles away. When the bead on the string becomes ‘universalised’ through the very real application of a profound ‘indifference’ to its role, can it truly be considered a ‘transmitter’ of something. As I received absolutely ‘nothing’ from Richard Hunn – there is absolutely ‘nothing’ to transmit. When I am approached by ‘lineage hunters’, what they fail to understand is that their true egotistical motive has already been clearly discerned. A cup that is already full cannot be refilled. To date, I have had three full cups approach me – what a joke! Each full cup ‘pretended’ to be ‘empty’ and did not even possess the basic insight to see its own conditionality! It is only ever the ego that ‘asks’ for transmission because it is still seeking adoration, power over others, and affirmation within deluded society. This type of accomplishment is easy because this is how ordinary (and ‘deluded’) society functions all the time, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Ch’an. A genuine vehicle for ‘transmission’ fulfils its task with an absolute ‘indifference’ to surroundings and the viewpoints of others. This is why Richard Hunn was adamant that this is ‘nothing’ to ‘transmit’ because there is ‘no one’ to ‘receive’ it.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on May 18, 2016 8:46:18 GMT 1
Richard Hunn not only spoke about how the inner mind is deluded or inverted in the unenlightened state, but how all around us in society is dishonesty and distortion – much of it emanating from ‘official’ sources. He mentioned this as part of our discussion about certain Ch’an masters (such as Da Hui, Han Shan and Xu Yun) becoming directly involved in political issues, and how a Ch’an master has a duty to relieve suffering and if need be, fight for justice. As enlightened Ch’an masters were notorious for not toeing the official line, Richard said that ‘prajna’ and ‘bodhi’ – in other words the activated innate wisdom of humanity – must be used clearly and concisely to distinguish what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ in all given situations. This is a Ch’an capacity within a fully enlightened mind that is the basis of all enlightened beings adjusting themselves to circumstance. Adjusting to circumstance does not mean turning a blind eye to the suffering of others, on the contrary, it is the exact opposite. A Ch’an master must be prepared for his or her body of five aggregates to be torn asunder in the service of ensuring enlightened justice. This is not a theoretical assessment designed to make the better-off feel good about the injustice all around them, but is in fact a pure Ch’an in operation. This is not necessarily an ideological zeal in essence – but rather a natural balancing of asymmetric situations (rather like the practice of pushing hands in Taijiquan) which sees the skilful application or withdrawal of positive and negative psycho-physical energy (yin-yang) or qi energy. This is a practical manifestation of the Buddha’s ‘middle way’, and although the Buddha lived outside of the political system of his day (rejecting ‘caste’ and all its racialised and superstitious institutions), he nevertheless often and directly interfered in political affairs if he thought he could influence leaders into maintaining peace and assisting the common people. Despite rejecting the political system of his day, he still understood that the ‘Sangharama’ or ‘Sacred Space’ that he eventually inhabited, was itself an apolitical area set aside for religious and spiritual people to practice their paths within society (by the local ruler), free from taxation, conscription, and state law. The acceptance of this ‘free’ land required that the practitioners did not disrupt the functioning of the state outside the boundaries of their allotted land. This is why the Vinaya Discipline of Early Buddhism advocates a non-disruptive monastic lifestyle. However, the Buddha also made it clear that gross negativity in the mind gives rise to deluded actions in the environment, and there are descriptions in the sutras that sees the Buddha literally standing between two armies, or conversing with criminals, as a means to address the balance of justice in all circumstances. Buddhism advocates an accommodation of prevailing circumstances to a certain extent, but also suggests a radical interference when situations require such action. An example of state-sponsored lying in the UK was raised by Richard. During the Miner’s Strike of 1984-85, the BBC (paid for by a national licence fee that everyone has to pay by law) aired a piece of footage that appeared to show miners throwing clods of earth at the police – who then responded with a baton charge – mercilessly beating unarmed miners to the ground and causing considerable injury. These events can be read about in Dennis Skinner’s book ‘Sailing Close to the Wind’ (Pages 203-204), together with the results of a subsequent enquiry that showed that the BBC had deliberately ‘reversed’ the film footage in question, to give the false and incorrect impression that miners had attacked the police – when in fact it was the police who had attacked the miners for no lawful reason. Another issue that Richard Hunn took exception with (and with which I fully agree), was the idea that certain Buddhist monks in Asia had said that living within an unjust regime was OK as long as Buddhism was left alone. Richard made the point that these selfish monks might wake-up to find Buddhism outlawed! Of course, we also discussed how certain special interest groups in the West mislead the general public about what is, and is not correct or incorrect internationally – often demeaning and ridiculing China. Much of this distortion about other countries outside of Europe is racially motivated and of no enlightened input. The point of all this was that if we live in a privileged lifestyle but refuse to acknowledge the suffering of others – we are not in fact practising Buddhism.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Jun 10, 2016 9:22:37 GMT 1
My teacher - Richard Hunn (1949-2006) was a prolific Sinologist and well-known researcher in consciousness studies who had connections with the BBC, the Buddhist Society (London), the Guardian newspaper and even Carl Jung's family in Switzerland - but even he had problems with the bourgeois publishing industry. Everytime he presented a book of research for publishing (such as on the ancient Chinese Book of Changes), the interested publishers would immediately begin the task of 'dismantling' his central themes and core narratives, changing his work into something it was not intended to be. This invariably involved the insertion of current political and cultural content and interpretations (relevant to the West) that had no relevance to the work itself. Whenever this happened, Richard Hunn would immediately withdraw his work from consideration. With regard his 1988 editing of Charles Luk's 'Empty Cloud', he was asked to add virulent anti-Mainland Chinese propaganda - which he refused to do - and the publishers eventually backed-down due to the project already being quite advanced. One betrayal that concerned Richard Hunn was a reprint of Charles Luk's 'Taoist Yoga' where the publishers added to the cover a description implying that the book was about 'sexual yoga' when it obviously was not.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Aug 26, 2016 7:16:41 GMT 1
(This is an extract from a longer post about Master Xu Yun. It is included here due to its biographical information about Richard Hunn and Charles Luk.)
Richard Hunn (1949-2006) often commented how interesting it would have been, if Master Xu Yun had visited the West. In fact, Master Xu Yun visited many places outside of China, including India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as Bhutan and Tibet, but circumstances never permitted his further travel Westward, even though on many of those travels in Asia (and China), he did have opportunities to meet a number of Westerners – primarily British and American – as photographic and biographical evidence records. Charles Luk (1898-1978) came to London in 1935, and had a visit with Christmas Humphreys – founder of the Buddhist Society headquartered there. Charles Luk requested that the Buddhist Society assist with the preservation of Chinese Buddhism, and perhaps invite Master Xu Yun to the West, but Christmas Humphreys refused on the grounds that the Buddhist Society was committed to supporting Japanese Zen Buddhism. This is a remarkable position to take by this learned Westerner, when it was well-known in the West that modern Zen (ever since the Meiji Restoration of 1868) had become entwined with militarism and a racist nationalism. Not only this, but this distorted ’Zen’ was being used throughout the Japanese military as a means to create highly aggressive and amoral soldiers who were encouraged to associate mindless killing, with the state of Zen enlightenment. Just two years after this meeting, the Japanese formally unleashed an attack on China that has become known as the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945, which led to the death of millions of Chinese people, and which spread into the Japanese involvement in WWII. Of course, once the Japanese engaged the West in open warfare, this amoral Zen was used by its soldiers to kill Westerners in their thousands, and to brutalise prisoners of war, etc. Incredibly, the stance of the Buddhist Society did not change either during WWII, or in the decades following it, where it remained firmly committed to the dissemination of post-Meiji Japanese Zen ideology in the West (a position it still adheres to). Richard Hunn was of the opinion that the presence of Master Xu Yun in London’s Eccleston Square, might well have altered the opinion of Christmas Humphreys, and ushered in a whole new generation of interest in Chinese Ch’an Buddhism. However, this was not to be, and Master Xu Yun had other matters to deal with.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 3, 2016 21:45:15 GMT 1
How ‘Ch’an and Zen Teachings’ Came About The three volumes entitled ‘Ch’an and Zen Teachings’ are the extensive translation of key Chinese Ch’an Buddhist texts extant within China and throughout the Chinese diaspora. These volumes do not cover Japanese Zen Buddhism in anyway. The title was a compromise between the translator Charles Luk, and his British publishers who actually wanted all references to Chinese Ch’an removed, and replaced with ‘Japanese Zen’ – creating the false (and inverse) impression that China practises a form of ‘Japanese’ Buddhism, when in fact it is Japanese ‘Zen’ that derived historically from Chinese Ch’an. It was only after Charles Luk threatened to ‘pull out’ of the publishing contract, that Rider & Co offered a ‘compromise’ whereby both ‘Ch’an’ and ‘Zen’ were to be used in the title, with no further alterations to the translated texts contained therein. However, the point of these Chinese Ch’an translations into English, was to be a ‘corrective’ to the post-WWII dominance of Japanese Zen in the West, and the often ‘corrupted’ interpretations offered by a number of so-called ‘Zen’ teachers. Master Xu Yun (1840-1959), who had lived through the barbarous Japanese occupation of China, was of the opinion that the murderous Japanese behaviour was a direct result of that country abandoning the following of the Vinaya Discipline, and considering ‘lay people’ to be ‘ordained’ Buddhist monks, despite the fact they ate meat, drank alcohol, engaged in sexual activity, and routinely took life. Even in Xu Yun’s autobiography (that highlights in parts, Japanese atrocities in China), the British publishers insisted that he be erroneously (and disrespectfully) referred to in the title as a Chinese ‘Zen’ master. It must be understood that Master Xu Yun requested that Charles Luk ‘translate’ Chinese Ch’an texts as a ‘corrective’ to the deluded excess demonstrated by many Japanese Zen practitioners during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) in China, and elsewhere in the world. Charles Luk’s work had absolutely ‘nothing’ to do with ‘Japanese Zen’, which is a separate and distinct subject of no historical or cultural relevance to the people of China.
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