Dharma Talks by Gilbert Gutierrez

Master Sheng Yen

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:10:31 PST

February 3, 2010

Today marks the 1st anniversary of Master Sheng Yen's passing. In order to mark this time, I would like to talk and give some impressions of him and talk about some history about him. In the context of Chan Masters in the later days, I would say that Master Sheng Yen was well up there. He had the unique ability to be not just a Chan Master but a Buddhist Scholar.

He was born in China in 1930, the Year of the Horse, on the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month. At that time where he was at, Buddhism was a little bit different. Some of the temples had a unique way of sustaining themselves financially. A lot of the monks were simply dedicated towards giving funeral rites. People would pay for monks to do recitations to help in the passing of their loved ones. They would collect the money and then would bring it back to the Temple. Some monks actually after they left the monastery, they would go freelance and whenever they need to they would put on their monk robes and do that even though they were no longer real monks attached to the temple. Even Master Sheng-Yen said that sometimes when they had an overflow, they would form some of that work out to some of these non-monks so that they wouldn't lose the business.

It was a very different time. He had grown up in a very small town from a very poor family. There was a gentleman that came by and asked him if he wanted to go and become a monk and he said "Yes" right away to which caused his mother great sadness. He didn't even think about the question. He just answered right away. It was because of his deep roots that he answered in this way.

So he went to become a monk and left his town. There was a very interesting part in his autobiography. It said that he looked up at the structures in the big city that were 5-6 stories tall and saw people hanging outside their balconies. He told his Master he was walking with that these buildings must be for bodhisattvas. They must be very holy people because they live so high up. He was used to only seeing the temples that maybe one or two stories high but these buildings were so large. In his mind he couldn't conceive the fact that these are actually regular sentient beings that were up there. So this gives you an idea of how small of a town he grew up in. He had very little experience with anything that was from the city.

From those beginnings he started studying to be a monk. Even when he was at study, it was difficult for him to acquire the monk robes to wear. There was quite a bit of difficulty in his early life. Then, there was the Chinese revolution that happened. He was recruited into the Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek Army and so he became a soldier. As a soldier, when the Chairman Kai-shek army was losing the battle to Communist Mao's Army, they fled by sea to the island of Formosa which is now Taiwan. He was stuck in the Army as an Intelligence Officer. While he was in the Army, he still maintained his writings as a Buddhist and a monk until finally, he found a person that was going to help him. This woman who was a benefactor of his enabled him to get out of the Army and continue on with his practice.

In his practice, he went to Japan to study Buddhism. In Japan, he obtained his doctorate. His Japanese Master told him that he had the potential of being not just a great Buddhist Scholar but a great Master. He tweaked the way he was going to make sure he understood where he should be in terms of his practice.

He was dedicated towards the practice but he realized that the state of Chan was such that monks were not given very much respect in society. They weren't very well educated and he knew that they needed to be educated. They needed to know that they weren't just simply for people to recite things for burial purposes but they needed to have a strong background. So he was largely responsible for reviving Chan in bringing it into the forefront.

As you know, we use word Zen simply because it is Japanese. Because of causes and conditions, there were Americans who went to Japan and studied and attended Zen workshops. So Zen became more common than Chan.

But Zen is the little brother of Chan. Actually, Tibetan Buddhism is also the little brother of Chan. Chan goes back to China and has its roots in Bodhidharma and before. So the practice of Chan is a very rich practice and it is important for us to respect this rich practice that we have and study it. We really have to be the people who are knowledgeable in what we're doing. It isn't enough just to sit on the cushion and hope that you're going to become enlightened. You have to understand why you're sitting on the cushion. This is what Master Sheng Yen understood. This is why he wanted to teach so much and to spread the Dharma.

When he came to the United States, he was an indigent and actually for a while in New York living on the streets. But causes and conditions were such that he had found some benefactors who helped him. He was able to start up the Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York.

About that time his master, Master Dong-chu in Taiwan passed away. He came back to Taiwan and took over for Master Dong-chu. But he didn't forget the United States and ultimately came back to the United States to try to work here. Keep in mind in Taiwan, he was very well respected and very well known at that point in his life whereas in the United States, he was just another person on the street.

Eventually, he began to pick up American and also Chinese practitioners and so his idea to bring to the United States the practice of Chan for Westerners. When he held retreats, he was always looking for Westerners that could help him in this endeavor. He was looking for people that have the right heart, the right energy and effort and more stable to be able to help him. He's had quite a few people that have been able to help him along the way.

What probably held him back the most in the United States was simply his English was not that good. It's a funny thing because his English wasn't really that bad but he wanted to speak the Dharma precisely in English so he would only speak the Dharma teachings through a translator to make sure that the English translation was correct. For a while he was holding retreats in Queens. The property is a three-story building that's very narrow. That is where I had most of my retreats until we opened the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in Pine Bush, New York. Then we established the Retreat Center there.

To those who just came in, I am speaking of my master, Master Sheng Yen; it is the one-year anniversary of this passing so I am dedicating this class to that. It is interesting that I am having a dialogue today about his passing. If Master Sheng Yen was here, he would not acknowledge it that way. I passed on to some colleagues a Koan that Master Sheng Yen had actually used just to keep us all into perspective. This Koan is one which reflects the spirit of Chan and the spirit of keeping the correct teaching:

There was a story about a master that went to visit another Temple or Monastery and when he was walking down the hallway accompanied by the monks. This visiting master looks on the wall and he sees a picture of a monk. He points to the picture and says to the monks, "Who is this fellow?" They said, "This is our Shifu, our Master; he has passed on." The visiting monk looked at them and he says, "Tell me, where has he passed on to?"

It's an important thing because even though we acknowledge this passing of Master Sheng Yen, there really is no passing. We have to be clear about that in our practice. We practice from the idea of the practice of gratitude but nevertheless, we knowledge correctly that there is no place he could have passed. As they say in the Heart Sutra, there's no birth and no death. So we have to be clear about our practice at all times. If we do not, we slip into complacency and into where the practice is not correct. It is up to all of us to keep practice clean and pure - meaning not clean or undefiled, just correct in terms of our approach to it.

In my connection with him, there were many many things I learned from Master Sheng Yen. The very first time that I went to retreat with him, he talked about the practice. He said, "The practice is as if you were walking all the way up a mountain that's fog-shrouded. You simply have to be aware that you put one foot in front of the other and be aware that you're climbing up. You keep climbing and you have a faith that if you keep climbing up that you will reach the top." But since there's fog there, you cannot see the top but you just know that if you just keep climbing you will get there. The purpose of this teaching is that we should not be in a rush to try to achieve anything but we should be mindful that we are just simply on this practice, that we just have to keep practicing and practicing.

A lot of us do the practice and then take a rest to see what we've done like if we were sanding some piece of wood; sanding and sanding. We always want to look at it and see how much we've done, how much is left to go. After a while, we probably get tired of sanding; "This is too much, I'll never be able to finish sanding" and then we give up.

But if we don't think about how far we've gone or how far we have to go but simply put our mind on the sanding, then we realize the practice itself will quiet the mind. There is no need to be realizing whether there's something to attain or not.

It is this type of the spirit that we practice - the spirit that we have a beginner's mind. This beginner's mind is always there when we sit, "Every time I sit, I sit with the beginner's mind. This way my mind is not stale when I sit. My practice is not dead. It is, I will sit and I will practice my method." One does not think "I have been practicing this method for so many years I should be there already or how many more times am I going to sit?" You are just there and sooner or later, there will be progress in your practice. More than likely, you will not realize the progress in your practice simply because there is less self there to realize the progress. Your progress is measured not in a light going on your head where people say, "You know what? I think you're enlightened because I see light all around you." It's not like that. It is in contributing a lot of work or that was a lot of work that you did but you never even thought about it, you never griped or say you never did anything. That is the measure. It is measured in this way as to how you dedicate yourself to others.

Once I was at a retreat with Master Sheng Yen in Queens. It was before the retreat started and I saw him and this was by the little narrow spots there right by the stairs. I said, "Shifu, the practice is like riding a bike. When you ride the bike and all the sudden, a stick of wood gets stuck in the spokes and the tire stops. All stops." And he looks at what it means and said "Yes, that's the way it is." I was trying to describe to him this quietness and the beginning of the clarity of mind. So he started walking the other way when all of a sudden he turned around and said to me, "Gilbert, remember, it only stops for you." I didn't really understand how profound and how deep that was. Keep in mind, this is his English. He was speaking to me and he said it only stops for me. What does this mean?

I remember that in the very first retreat I was with him he had said something to me that I didn't understand completely either. There I was explaining to him my experiences and he said that you can reach the level of an Arhat. An Arhat is someone that has perhaps seen their True Nature. He said I could reach that level but I really wasn't sure what he meant by it and it was tied again to this idea what he was saying about "it only stops for me." The idea was that when you practice, you don't practice for yourself; you practice for the benefit of other people. You realize from the stick going into the spokes and stopping the mind - stopping the self, that one is capable of doing this.

That is where the Dharma door is at because in order to enter into it, one has to develop the Bodhi heart. This is called the Mahayana practice - you try to practice for the benefit of others. This meat-puppet in front of you now speaking to you is a product of that practice and it works in this way because this body is useful for this purpose As you begin to understand that, what happens is that you begin to think "how can I help, how can I do this, how can I make this a better place?" And in this way, you become mindful of making this a better place. You realize that this is what our practice is. You recognize you are not an Arhat. An Arhat does not deliver other sentient being, even though they could reach a certain state of realization or awareness. They nevertheless have not completely entered through because of the fact that they're only thinking of the liberation of themselves rather than liberation of other people. Once we begin to think of other people, in the liberation of other people and the problems with the people, it changes our practice tremendously.

I once had one student told me, "You know if I do all of this of work, normally I get paid this amount of money and I'm giving away all of this for free." I said, "The same for me" and she said, "But it is not the same because all you do is teach the Dharma. You're not giving anything of value." I said, "Perhaps but I also donate my time to the Board of Directors and I also donate thousands of dollars of legal services." She remained very quiet. She could not fathom that. It was sad because if I could only give her that Bodhi heart to see that causes and conditions at work weren't quite there yet.

If we can do that and begin to use this body in a proper way, we find out that we have the freedom and ease of body and mind. The less we're concerned of our own individual problems, the freer we are. The more we are concerned about our individual problems, the more we suffer and we remain as ordinary sentient beings. But if we can continue to practice and help others, this is where it begins to pay off because after a while, we lose ourselves in those activities. You do not have to measure what you've done or what you're going to do and say, "you know what, I could be home watching American Idol right now, why should I be spending my time trying to deliver a bunch of people?

It doesn't even enter into the equation because essentially, whatever I'm doing is necessary and watching American Idol or whatever other program would be on TV or whatever else I could do is secondary to this. Engaging in Chan gives you a purpose in life. It doesn't necessarily mean you all have to become a Dharma teacher. It means that you teach according to your ability to teach: first by your body, speech and mind and by your quieting the environment around you. This is the way you teach. Little by little, you begin to bring people in accordance with their ability to understand what you teach them.

There was another time at the retreat center and I ran into Master Sheng Yen and again it was before the retreat started. I said "Shifu, I have a great joy in the practice." I really felt that I had sorted out enough to realize the direction that I should go. Not saying that I attain anything but simply sorted out the direction I should go and realized that it was working and that this is the proper way to go with this. It took me a long time; took me years and years of practice with different Masters. I could not find that direction but I knew it was there I knew something was there that I was searching for. I did not know the direction of the path but I was constantly thirsting for it.

When I heard Master Sheng Yen speak for the first time, I realized that his Chan teachings were what I needed to hear. They were very clear, they were very simple and it was common sense, common wisdom, and compassion. It was wonderful teachings that I could apply right now. It is funny because it's just as if you're watching a commercial on TV. These people would say if you want to learn the guitar, in 20 minutes you can learn to play a song. And I go "that's for me; I always wanted to learn to play guitar." That is pretty quick. You may not be a master but at least, you're on your way.

That's the way Chan is. Chan is so wonderful in its way because when we begin to practice in a very short time, we've already attained immediate benefits from it by quieting the mind. These are immediate benefits and we continue to quiet it and another thing we do is we stop making serious mistakes in our lives. We still make the smaller mistakes and the middle mistakes but the serious ones, we begin to catch those a little earlier but we don't make them. We think about them but we don't do them and so it begins to make our life easier, much easier than we had before. Doesn't mean that you've got it completely; what it means is that there is a point where things become easier and that serves as your faith - that this is the way to practice and there is something here of benefit.

From there, one does not even begin to measure or understand the progress it has made from that point on because there's very little self there to measure it. If the self comes up and tries to measure the progress, then we'll have a false pride that one will not be thinking clearly. But if we continue to practice, then the practices is one that's very quiet, very joyful.

On that particular day when I said that to Master Sheng Yen, he said, "yes, correct" and I was walking away and he was walking the other way and then he said, "Gilbert," so I turned around and he says, "remember, don't be too joyful." What he meant by this was that when we have a joy in the practice, we should not just simply seek some sensory feeling of joy or some kind of a feeling of accomplishment because it will mess the whole thing up. The joy is in "Hey, I'm cool; you're cool, it's cool." Whatever happened, it's cool; we can deal with whatever's there and we'll figure this out. You'll have an ease of mind and ease of body. When the body is tense, it creates a lot of physical problems. Those physical problems and the mental problems can give you fits and take away your comfort and they take away your feeling of serenity. You see the Buddha statues are always so serene because their mind is stable. It is not jumping and grasping at this and grasping at that. It is clear; it knows precisely what is happening and why it is happening.

Once we begin to quiet the mind, our mind becomes aware of the things around us and begins to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together to say these things are happening because of this particular situation. When that happens, then we're much better able to deal with situations that arise. We don't freak out about them. We make less mistakes. We don't combat with people or get defensive about anything.

So this Dharma joy is something that's just a very quiet feeling of body and mind. There was another thing that Master Sheng Yen taught me in a very interesting way. Once I was at the end of the retreat at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in upstate New York and this was after everybody was back in the main house and there was a bunch of books for sale. He was coming up behind us while we were all sitting at a table and I picked up a book and it had a picture of him in the back of the book. So I picked up the book, showed him the book and my finger pointing at his picture and I said "What you think of this fellow?" He looked at the book and he goes, "Him? I don't know him." And the idea there was that he didn't have a concept of the self. He does not have a personal accomplishment of writing a book or anything. There was no reason to know him because there was no him there. Again it goes back to where did he pass to? If there was a passing, it would've passed along time before he died.

This is the notion of the selflessness in our practice and it's a very beautiful and wondrous notion that we have. It is difficult for us because of our self-love and self-conceit. We don't want to put ourselves down. We don't realize though that it is our selves that cause the problem. Without the self is no problem there. It is very quiet.

Another thing I learned from Master Sheng Yen was his humility. I wish I had the deep humility that Master Sheng Yen has. I must confess I don't have that humility yet; perhaps one day when I am more seasoned. I saw him in New York at the Roseland Ballroom and there was an exchange, a dialogue between him and the Dalai Lama. Master Sheng Yen was talking to the Dalai Lama and he said to him "I know that Tibetan Buddhism is the little brother to Chan but it seems as though the little brother has exceeded its big brother in its practice." There were people in the audience who were absolutely shocked to hear that (from the Chan side). I was shocked in a different way as to how incredibly humble he was to say something of that nature. When the Dalai Lama heard that, his mouth opened like aghast at what he had heard. He was like trying to shake his head. He didn't even know how to respond to that extraordinary display of humility in that moment. It was absolutely an incredible scene to see. It didn't cost Master Sheng Yen anything; didn't cost Chan anything. It was absolutely amazing. You just have to feel that and look into that and you'll see what was happening there and why the Dalai Lama was speechless in that moment. This is incredibly great humility.

When Master Sheng Yen went to the United Nations, he has been recognized at that time as ninth of all the religious leaders in the world. But if you see them in the pictures, he is always in the back. You can barely see him because of his humility. There's no reason she wants to crowd to the front. And this is again just a little tiny example of his humility and lack of self. In the video you will see later, he was speaking to the U. N. One of the things that he says to the people there is "In our religion, we must reevaluate those parts of our religion that are no longer relevant to today's standards or today's life." Essentially, I think he was alluding to people the killing others in the name of religion and people imposing unrealistic interpretations or antiquated interpretations of the religion. Religion should become up-to-date and current. They cannot be stuck back 2000 years ago where stoning was the answer irregardless of what religion one follows.

It does not mean to relax the social mores. It just means to see everything clearly because in our practice, we practice what is called the "Middle Way." For instance, if you're a beginner in the Chan practice, the middle way would be to practice in your own ability. So if you're going to practice, practice for five minutes or 10 minutes but make it good. Little by little, you will do better. If you've been practicing for a while, five minutes or 10 minutes is not enough. But if you are a beginning practitioner, don't practice and try to sit for an hour or two hours because your practice will not produce the type of fruit that you want. You want to be able to quiet the mind. Once you quite the mind with your method, you will not even notice how much time has passed. Everything we do is in the Middle Way. We always have to adjust ourselves in terms of what's there. We cannot be too silent and we cannot be too vociferous. We cannot be too loud and not be too quiet. There are times when to speak and when not to speak but you have to use the right speech, the right attitude, the right practice.

When you practice from your heart, your heart will guide you. We try to practice from our head instead, that's why we mess things up because we have self-taught everything to flow through the ego. That ego is unnecessary in terms of being able to communicate and to function. Actually, it's counterproductive because the ego only begins to think of myself, my problem, my life, my space, my land, my reputation. All of these things can cause a problem.

When you don't have that, then everything is very calm. Once there was a scholar that had written a scathing commentary on something that Master Sheng Yen had written. His monks came to him and said "just look what was written here. He's criticizing about this and this and this against you. This is wrong. You should write an article correcting him." Master Sheng Yen said, "Why should I do that?" The monk says, "Because you know he's wrong; he's going to say the things the wrong way" and said, "Shifu if you don't want t do it, I will write the article for you. I will correct them." But Shifu just said "No. Whatever that is, that belongs to him and that opinion belongs to him. The moment I picked up my pen then, it belongs to me. Just let it go." Again, it is finished there. It is done; very quiet. He always said, "You have everything, I have nothing. You are right, I am wrong." When we think in this way, who else is going to take anything from you? They already have everything, you have nothing. They are right; you are wrong. Where is there going to be an argument? The argument is only when I say I am right and you were wrong. What have you lost? Where is it written anywhere that you've lost anything?

At some point in your practice, you may get where sometimes people can practice for a long time. They can sit for an hour, two hours or more but we do not know what's going on up in there. Maybe they become very adept at practicing their legs so Master Sheng Yen was always saying, "Are you practicing your legs or are you practicing your mind?" It is very important because whenever we're doing anything, we should be practicing our mind. What does that mean practicing our mind? It is being aware of every moment to moment to moment to moment what is arising in mind, what comes up in mind, what are the thoughts that are in mind. And you make a conscious choice as to what thoughts are arising in mind.

But instead, what we've done is we put our mind on autopilot and let our habitual tendencies dictate what thoughts are arising in mind. As a result of that, the thoughts will come up and we have given up the freedom of choice for those thoughts. We think that we are making these decisions but in fact it's not so.

For instance I use this example before. When I was in college, there was a young man that started law school with me. He was quite fit, very strong, and muscular but every day he would eat a big ice cream cone. He loved ice cream. Every day he ate ice cream. In three years that we went through law school, he became extremely rotund just because he was eating ice cream every day. He thought he was making a decision to eat the ice cream but he gave up his freedom of choice to his habitual tendencies. Every day he had developed a craving for sweetness and this craving for sweetness brought up to the point where he was constantly thinking "ice cream, I want ice cream." In spite of what he was seeing in the mirror, he had given up that freedom of choice to say "you know what? I really need ice cream; I desire ice cream." But he doesn't really need that. It is difficult. Again, these are choices that we make. I use this and you can put in whatever you want for ice cream. It can be cigarettes, man, women, alcohol, drugs, whatever. And then you realize that you abandon your freedom of choice. You've let the autopilot of habitual tendencies dictate what you are going to do.

Chan brings that back and says "Okay, you are on manual pilot now. You've got to steer this and what happens is you're sitting in meditation and boom; you're off again and went back on autopilot and you're in an illusion. But you bring it back. The trick is to continue to bring it back and bring it back to the method so you're on manual drive. You are controlling everything. The whole purpose of the practice is to do that so that you bring the body and mind to one point. Then what happens is wisdom and compassion will arise from there.

I could go on with Master Sheng Yen in terms of his teachings but these are things that really touched me in terms of learning the practice from him. Master Sheng Yen was a person capable of showing incredible compassion, incredible humor, and incredible appearance of scowling people if they needed it. He can be a father-figure to somebody to tell them that they were off. He would do that but in his heart he was not that way.

I'll leave you with this last thing because it is pertinent to today and what he was thinking. Once I was at another retreat. At the end of the retreat, this old man that followed Master Sheng Yen for quite a while said, "Shifu, I hope I die before you." Shifu said, "Why is that?" He said, "Because I care about you so much that if you die before me, I will be very sad." Master Sheng Yen gave him a very loving look and said, "But you know if you die before me, I shall not miss you." You have to understand Chan to understand the correctness of what Master Sheng Yen told him.

It is this way. So do I miss Shifu? Gilbert can say he misses Shifu but this mouth just simply testifies to him every day. If you understand that, you're not far from the door. It is just this way. We give gratitude to our teachers. We don't cling to them. If we cling to our teachers in a sentimental way, we are not correctly seeing our practice.

[Class summary by Rick Cabrera]

Practicing Chan

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:30:34 PST

Today is a little bit of a potpourri of Chan so that you can get an idea of what the practice is. When we talk about the practice of Chan, it is not just simply sitting on the cushion to meditate. Our real practice starts when we get up off the cushion and engaging in the environment. The environment means just as you see me, as you see this room, wherever you're at, it is your environment in that moment. The environment is not just a spatial type of reference. The environment has to do with what is appearing in mind at any particular time. Our idea is that we perceive through our eyes outwardly and inwardly and process and store memories of all of these things. As a result, we think that we have an individual self. But the practice is that as we begin to settle the mind, we realize that everything is appearing in this mind. There is no cut off point where you can say, "Okay, now this is appearing out here and my thoughts of it are appearing in here." It doesn't work that way.

When we begin to practice in a way where we lose that illusory partition, what happens is we are able to see clearer and wisdom will arise. Master Sheng Yen refers to this of aspect of mind as a glass wall where things are projected upon. Actually, he said "hung upon" like hanging an old calligraphy on a wall. Nevertheless, those things are hanging somewhere. Where they are hanging is in mind which is what we've talked about before. If you picture an apple in your mind, where is it projected on? People always go, "Here!" (pointing a finger on their head). But you don't have an apple in your head. You have to see from where it is projected. All of these here are all projected/hung. But we take it to be some kind of a mental image that is solely processed through our brain and that it only exists within our brain. But we have it the reverse way. If we look at things in a different way - where all of these things are appearing in mind, naturally, always, manifesting, manifesting, appearing, appearing, we realize how this comes. It is as if a flower is sitting there in the garden with all of its radiant beauty and looking at the sun and looking at the earth and all things around and say, "How beautiful I am" without realizing that without the sun, without the soil and the moisture from the clouds that it would not be. In fact, it isn't; it takes its very essence from the environment around it. We have lost that idea of our interaction with other things and we've created an illusory island around us so that we think that we are separate from these things. But as we begin to practice, we begin to say, "Hmm, all these things are manifesting perfectly where they're at." So the flower need not say more and if it was an enlightened flower, it might even twirl.

But the idea is that there is an awareness that all of these things are connected. The flower does not manifest in the sky. It has to have some cause and condition that brings forth for it to appear. Mind you, it is important to understand that the term appear means not to exist but to appear in mind. We may say that the flower exists in mind but it's very temporary, it's transient. Ultimately, it will return back literally into the ground and produce the seeds of flowers to be in the future. When we begin to see things in this way, we begin to see that this is how our life is and how our lives are connected with others.

Once I had a very unusual vision of a link of people in space where each one was holding on to the other person's feet. It was interesting because it just felt like there was this chain of people. You can say that this chain is twisting or could be as a representative of the DNA but what is more important is the connection between people. There was no ending point to it and no beginning point. It was just the way things are. The idea is that we have to see ourselves not as individuals but part of this mind. As we see ourselves in this way, it changes the way we interact with the environment around us. When we perceive ourselves to be separate from the environment around us, we see things in a very egocentric way and in a very ego self-love way where we have the idea that we need to be satisfied, we need to be comfortable, we need to do all of these things and then we still are not happy. The whole thing is that we have to be clear about where we are at and what we're doing and also clear that what we are doing is something wholesome or unwholesome.

The reason I bring up the idea is because we are constantly making choices whether what we are doing is wholesome or unwholesome. Let's say we use a very easy example of food like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit and a lot of different types of nuts is a very wholesome meal to start the day with compared to say bag of potato chips. But we always choose the bag of potato chips. We always choose the junk and we do that in our life all the time with different things. We want things that we feel that we need but we don't really need them. We just crave them and what craves them is this feeling inside of us that attaches to things because we can't see that.

When we no longer claim the self, that is very interesting. Everything around us falls perfectly into its place and we are able to see when the self arises. It is unmistakable but to us ordinary people we can't see it. It's like an imaginary person that runs this machine. It is like an imaginary invisible person that gets inside our body and moves us around. It is interesting because when things like that happen, it begins to control us. We think that was our free will but actually it is not our free will because it is governed by all of our past patterns of habit energy and of habit practices that we've done.

Last Saturday I was teaching a class and said, "How's your practice? Is your practice good? When you leave here and you get on the road, do you keep the practice?" Sure enough, karma has a way of coming back because as I was driving home, out there was a car blocking the road so I pulled out into the next lane while observing that there was like two cars back that was doing the same thing. But this guy in a very big truck proceeded to lay the horn on me even though I didn't do anything wrong. And I thought at that moment, "Humph!!!" And I went "don't do it, don't do it" but it almost came out. So even for a person who teaches, all of a sudden the ego wants to go and do its thing. My son was watching the situations and this big truck peels away as fast as he can and as loud as he can. I said, "Go on." And you let them go; you continue on. But it was a choice and I have to say that the instant that happened, ego rushed in. It comes right in at once and wants to control it, "Don't let them do that, you have a faster car than him, you can bury him in the dust. Get him, get him and catch up with him." And here I am listening to this person saying, "Who are you and where did you to come from?" I was really quiet and I had this nice calmness to me and all of a sudden this guy Gilbert peels out with all this stuff and I began to feel emotionally excited. And as I was watching the emotion, it's just like the witch in the Wizard of Oz, it starts melting away. It went back and I was back to being tranquil again. Most of us don't catch it; I don't always catch it I have to admit that. When Gilbert takes control of the body, he messes things up.

The practice is that you try to catch it. You try to see these things as they are coming in. The more times you can catch it, the more times you can see that it's going to come up and you don't let it take control. We don't let a monkey drive our car. That guy certainly let a monkey drive his truck; cutting in front of me and others, the monkey couldn't have done a better job driving. And the thing is that you can see. If I do this or if I do that, road rage will come. You can see very clearly all these things that are coming up. In that moment because I chose tranquility, wisdom arose. To that poor soul, all he could see was just rage. That's what we do; we are practitioners. We catch situations like this and catch it again and as we do that, our life becomes less complicated as you see me here today instead of Gilbert coming out next week as soon as he bailed out jail because he caused an accident.

This is one thing that could possibly come out of that or the person could pull out a gun. There could be all sorts of things because the self is always saying "get him, get him; don't let him get away with that." These things happen all the time.

Our practice is that when we sit down on the cushion we understand this - "It is really very quiet here." But you let this go and you become very settled and you use that as your benchmark to measure what you should be when you get up off the cushion. Ask yourself, "Am I this quiet that I was before or is my mind reaching for this and reaching for that?" When you see that or you're aware there is this calm benchmark, it's interesting thing because what you want to do is you want to keep moving that benchmark down, becoming more and more relaxed. And naturally, it will do that until there is no further benchmark. It is just naturally settled and you're aware of that.

If you can keep your mind in a natural state of being settled, that is enlightenment. It is not that hard to understand but understand that understanding will not get you there. Nothing that I say, no words that I say will be able to deliver you. It doesn't work that way. The only way that it works is if you practice and keep your mind calm. Five minutes later into your journey to work, you might be all excited again. But that's just it; at least you're making these vows that are you going to practice delivering sentient beings, vowing to cut off endless vexations, vowing to master limitless approaches to Dharma and vowing to attain Supreme Buddhahood. You have these vows and because you have these vows, you are aware when you break the vows.

Master Sheng Yen had these sayings that he had repeated to his students. He repeated and told us we had to remember it. I really made great effort to remember the sayings because they were important. May not be important to a particular person but they are important to pass on. He said, "A person that has a vow to break is a Bodhisattva." A Bodhisattva is a person who is on the path to enlightenment. Essentially this person is on the path to deliver sentient beings. A loose Western equivalent would be a saint. What that means is that you have a vow. You may break it but at least you are cognizant that you have a vow. You are a practitioner. The second part of what he said was just that "A person who does not have vow about to break is a non-practitioner" because you have no guidance system in what you are doing. There is no compass there to be able to tell you whether you are on this type of a path and as a result, we leave it up to happenstance - praising God one moment and blaming Him the next for the things that we should take responsibility for in our life.

The beauty of Chan is that it makes us directly responsible for what's appearing there and clearly aware of why the things around you are appearing. Even if you're not aware of the exact purpose or the exact reason what brought this person into the room, you're aware of the general nature of that. I use this example all the time. This is a Chan class. Everybody here has some interest in Chan and to better themselves. This is not a class on how to chug beer. Here you are in Chan class so everybody here is perfectly in their place for this moment at this moment. You are aware why all people are situated in the way they do: why some people sometimes will sit in the back, why some people sit in front, some people pay attention, some people get drowsy and all sorts of different things. You become very aware.

The mind becomes extremely clear and observant which is really important because when we have a strong sense of self, we do not have very good observation powers. When the self is not there, good observation power is just naturally appearing. When we have a strong sense of self, it's like we have one of those thousand piece jigsaw puzzles with all the pieces all scattered all over the place. But the more you practice, the more the pieces come together.

My wife was talking that she had gone to the swap meet one weekend and she saw this one young woman of 22 or so and she was a vendor there at the swap meet. Then the lady came to her store yesterday and stayed for about six hours talking to her. She said, "I feel like I've known you, I feel that we were connected." And my wife was very quiet and calm talking to her and they talked about a lot of things including Budhadharma. And it is not by accident that she came; it is not by accident that they talked. All those things are perfectly fitting together in any given moment because of past causes and conditions. You need not know the reason she was doing that: whether it was because they were sisters in the previous life or they were married or whatever. It is not necessary; you don't need to know that. What you need to know is right now. Right now, all the time you say it is right now and now. You just keep it there. It is like driving a car. You have to keep the car in the lane and when the car begins to veer one way, you simply move the steering wheel little bit to keep the car right in the middle of the lane.

The practice is that way. Initially when you learn to drive, you are over-exaggerating your turns and corrections. After a while, you start driving very easily and comfortably and you don't really think about it. And then you mess it up because all of a sudden you forget you are driving and you start dreaming about all your stuff. Try turning off the radio and drive or just take a walk. It's really enjoyable; actually very quiet but we feel we need to have the radio on all the time. We need to have our brain clicking away 24-seven because the ego says you need me; you need to be thinking – "let's see, what problem can we think about, but I am tired of thinking about problems. How about Lola? Oh yes Lola; I don't get stressed thinking about her. Whatever it is you're thinking, your mind keeps generating all these thoughts to keep you going.

What if you don't think like that? Would your mind still function? Yes it would; if you're walking, it walks; if you're driving, it drives and it drives much better. When you are driving in that state, you're not driving like a zombie. You are driving and you are perfectly aware of what's happening around you. You are clearly aware of it. So again, it is just an inverted view that we see like to see things that messes things up. Once we begin to see things in a proper way, the world becomes very easy.

Unfortunately, we always put it on autopilot and the autopilot self is really a bad pilot. It messes things up for us because it always wants things for the self and it doesn't understand that if the self is not present, it doesn't need anything much. It needs food to keep the body from withering away and water but it doesn't need too much more. But we always have some kind of craving for this and craving for that and it never ends. The more we succumb to our cravings, the more the cravings will make us succumb. But don't worry, you will be reborn. And seemingly been fairly decent in this life, you might be reborn as a human again. If not, it is going to be a long wait. The idea then in our practice is to be aware that we are practitioners: aware that we have vows to break; aware that we follow precepts and these precepts are not deity-mandated but simply guidelines for us so that we have less idea of self.

I vow not to lie. If we don't lie, there is less of self. We only lie because our self tells us to lie. How many drinks have you had? "I only had one." But you know how many drinks you had but you don't want to make it look that way. Or did you know what that person said about you or whatever it is that you're lying about and whether it's your skill level or lying to hurt somebody. It always involves the self. You don't want people to know the truth; usually you embellish the truth to make yourself much more powerful, more knowledgeable, more this, or more that.

We don't steal. We don't steal because we should be content with what we have. There's no reason for us to take something that does not belong to us. I'm not saying everybody does it but I'm saying in general, idea of the self brings up these negative habits.

No alcohol and no drugs. Actually, you practice in your own accord about that. Some people might smoke marijuana and some of you may drink alcohol. What I've learned in my life is, the body doesn't need it and the environment doesn't need it. You can do much better without it and you could have just as much fun without it. One more thing, you will not suffer the repercussions of having a massive hangover the next day, headache or throwing up on your shoes or doing some foolish or crashing at things. Those aren't really great outcomes in what you're doing.

Yesterday, I was talking with one of my long time client who is a liquor salesman. He has a liquor store and says someday I'll give you a discount on this or when you come over I will give you a bottle of alcohol. I said that really won't work but you can get me a diet Pepsi. I said I don't drink alcohol. He said that's really bad because liquor store owners need to make money too. I said I never thought about it that way but I said I'm sorry but I can't buy alcohol or recommend it. I was thinking about the Eightfold Path which one of them is the Right Livelihood. Nevertheless, liquor salesman too can be practitioners and just because they do something doesn't mean that they should be condemned in terms of what they're doing. They just are ignorant to what causes and conditions can arise from those types of occupations. So we all practice in our own accord. So we should not be lazy practitioners nor should we be so fervent in our practice that we are blindly doing it. We practice in the middle way and little by little, our cravings will diminish on their own. We should not artificially diminish our cravings or suppress them. We only need to be aware of them. As we become aware of our cravings and discriminations and negative aspects, then our ability to control them gets much better. When we try to suppress those types of cravings and discriminations, we make everything worse.

So our practice is one where we understand what is happening. We understand that if we smoke a cigarette today, we keep smoking and tomorrow we're going to want to buy a pack of cigarettes. It could be a pack of cigarettes, it could be Marie Callender pie, could be ice cream, it could be anything. Whatever it is, we have to begin to recognize it as it arises. Again we practice in our own way. When you practice, you become aware when you attach and crave to things. Those cravings and material things are not as destructive as the cravings for emotion. Emotion causes probably the most harm in our world. Sometimes as a country we may crave for this and crave for that. Emotions of religious fervor, the emotions of a man towards a woman, or a woman towards a man, of jealousy, of greed; those things cost so much damage to our environment and we have to see that. We have to see that in ourselves and understand that as that is arising then we see it around us. We see how it forms the world around us and forms immediate environment around us. When we are meditating, we should really cherish the moment that we're sitting on the cushion because in this moment, none of those craving is there. All that's there and all that should be there is your practice; your method so that your mind can begin to settle down.

Your mind can become this glass wall; not the pictures that are put upon it or projected upon it but the wall itself. And you realize that glass wall permeates everything around you. It is not like you have an empty mind in the sense that this glass wall is clear and there's nothing there. It is quite the contrary. It reflects everything around you and this is your self-nature. We create our own separate little fiefdom that we call ourselves and we've cut ourselves off from the self nature - the true self nature that is without self-love and self-conceit but has unbridled compassion and the unbridled wisdom to see things clearly, to do the things that need to be done.

Last Saturday, somebody asked me the question, "Why do you teach?" Teaching is a function that arises from the practice itself. As the function arises in the practice; that automatically gravitate towards things that are wholesome, things that you want to do to help others.

It is not the idea that Gilbert wants to do anything. It is the idea that it needs to be done and as you do that, one never thinks "I am teaching anything." One simply says "okay, if there is a group there I'll come over and my mouth will move up and down. That is all that has to happen and if you use your heart, then the people's heart will be touched and if their heart is touched, then their practice will get better and they will bring other people to the practice. What's really important is that you want to expand this kind of an environment around you - this environment of common sense and wisdom and compassion. You let them come in, let them come in, let them come in. Even the bad people; let them come in because they're the ones that need it the most.

When this happens then everyone around you will be affected by your calmness and they will seek your guidance and your wisdom. And your compassion will be there to help them. You will not think "Not today, I think I'm going to take a rest; I really don't want to go do this or do that." You just show up and teach and then show up next Saturday or Wednesday to teach then next Saturday to teach a full day. If you just keep doing that way, all of a sudden, you begin to find a purpose in life. Now your purpose may not be to become the teacher. It could be the purpose of spreading words or helping others to practice and that's important.

Sometimes when I go to Taipei at Master Sheng Yen's University, there I would really feel humbled by the people that were working around. There were these vast grounds there and people would be there. A few would be washing the windows, sweeping the floors or making food for hundreds of people. I'm realizing this was their practice and that's what they're doing. Hui-Neng, the sixth patriarch did that. He was pealing vegetables and pounding rice. These people sometimes don't even catch a glimpse of Master Sheng Yen or not even able to talk to him and there I was talking to him. Of the many things the people there was doing I'll leave you with today – it is that they had faith; a very strong faith in the practice and that faith was reflected in what they were doing because they weren't thinking "I should be the one talking to Master Sheng Yen." Whatever job people would give them they would do it. Why, simply because it needed to be done.

As we begin to see things in this way, we realize our self nature and we work towards the benefit of everyone. If those people make the windows clean, the place looks neat and in order. It's been taken care of and it will last longer. And it will inspire others to work. This is how we practice. With this faith, the practice and the methods that we use will help us as well as help other people. Your practice will not diminish but rather it will get stronger. Stronger just means that we are just letting go of the self, letting go of the self, letting go of the self. That will strengthen our resolve to continue because we realize this thing works. If I'm a calm person, the people around me are calm and so it helps people. One of the greatest gifts you could give to anyone is calmness and peace of mind. You are able to give guidance to people when they need it. It is simply you are practicing for the benefit of others. If you keep this in your heart, your practice will do fine.

~ Class summary by Rick Cabrera

Knowing One's Self

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:30:53 PST

The book, Shattering the Great Doubt, is actually the Chan practice of Hua-tou. I will not emphasize Hua-tou tonight. I just wanted to go over a few things that Master Sheng Yen was talking about in the book that can assist us in our general practice. Some of you who went on to the retreat can perhaps identify with this a bit or maybe at least identify the self. In this particular part entitled "To Know Your Self," it describes how the self operates. To know the self is where we start in the practice of Chan. Once we begin to know the self and how the self operates, then we can begin to tinker with it and work on it and identify it when it is arising, what it's doing and what the consequences would be.

But the first thing is, we've got to identify it. When we sit in meditation, most of us when we first start out, we are absolutely confused as to what we're doing sitting on the cushion. We are there and we don't realize when the self is arising simply because we think it is "us" - what you could call "internal discussions". Sometimes even in a retreat you may be sitting there and you are going, "You are doing a good job; you are very quiet right now" but in actuality, it's not so quiet. The self was just talking a lot quieter. What you have to do is begin to identify when the self arises in mind.

We know when the thought arises in mind. Generally, we know after it's taken us somewhere else in a thought bubble but it is much more difficult for us to recognize when the self arises simply because it is cloaked in what we see as our conscious thought and we take that conscious thought and take it for our self. What we don't see is that the conscious thought is actually linked to the events or thoughts arising in mind (it could be externally or internally arising). It is just mind thoughts and we take the movement of the mind as mind impressions. It is not the recognition of the mind of particular objects or objects of thought that matters more but the impressions that the mind renders to these particular topics arising in the mind.

It could be the trusty Krispy Kreme donut. When a Krispy Kreme donut arises in mind, one is unaware that the mind has moved towards it and gave it an impression (I like this or I dislike like this) and as a result, in the subsequent thoughts (if I want one, what am I going to get and I like this one or if you don't want it you say this one is awful) at that moment it is there. So it is difficult for us to recognize that but when we meditate, it is ultimately the essential aspect in meditation to recognize this. Initially, it's just enough to sit there cross-legged and relax and attempting to watch your breathe. Little by little, as you begin to refine your practice, you let go of the environment and you let go of the idea of the self attaching to the environment and you let go of the thoughts of mind and the self attaching to the mind thoughts or body sensations that are arising and ultimately mind thoughts. There is a progression there that could happen where you are meditating and little by little, you are disassociating yourself with these things. It is difficult unless we understand before we sit on the cushion or before we engage in our environment what we're doing and what's there and when the self is present and when the self is operating and how it's operating.

Master Sheng Yen says,

To practice Chan is to know one's self and in knowing one's self, one will be able to ultimately liberate oneself.

Something happens in a nine-day or a seven-day retreat that generally you're not able to do when you're sitting on your cushion for an hour or two hours. In a nine or a seven-day retreat, as you begin to sit there and over course of the longer period, you begin to be quiet enough to recognize when the self is arising. There's a strange transition there where for while the self is just going, "Blah-blah-blah..." scattered mind talking, talking, talking and then it starts to settle down but now it is grumbling again. In the last retreat, if you could put a speaker on everybody's mind that was sitting in the retreat, it would sound like a bunch of grumbling pirates. They all wanted to jump ship. They are all grumbling about their legs being crossed or this is happening or that they couldn't get rid of scattered mind or they couldn't stay awake. And all this grumbling is happening.

What happens is that in the process of the retreat, the self appears. You have almost magically beaten the self out of the bushes and it suddenly appears in front of you. There it is in all its horror, this ugly self. It is ugly because it is not something that we really want. It's like a stinky guest in your house - the stinky guest you thought was you. But all of a sudden now it's facing right in front of you. You're looking at it and you say, "OMG, what is this?" At that point in a retreat is where I call it "stand up and fight." Now you recognize the self is there and when the self is present, you're aware of it. That doesn't mean the self goes away just because you recognize it is there because it has all sorts of different tricks to be there. And you look at the self and all of a sudden it jumps on your side saying, "Were doing a good job fighting them aren't we?" You don't realize that those things are happening but they are and so you have to continually discern what's arising in mind.

This takes time to do but the key is to show you ultimately as you begin to practice that the self is the quarry in terms of what you're looking at. It is not a quarry that you want to try to beat out of yourself. On the contrary, it is a quarry that you try to understand; that it is a quarry that comes from the awareness of the mind and the mind staying very stable that it is able to perceive that the self is operating. But first we have to understand how it operates. Before we go into the lab, first we go in a classroom understanding how the self operates, how it pops up and how it links to different phenomenal thoughts (whether it appeared to be external environment or internal environment) of the mind. Once we begin to understand that this is the quarry, then it's not a matter of trying to track the self. It is a matter of illuminating the mind at the same time stabilizing the mind by not rushing towards those self impressions or engaging in cogitation.

There is a difference between cogitation and awareness. One of the people at the retreat in their interview with me asked me what the difference is between cogitation and awareness. So I clapped my hands. When I clapped, in that moment he understood this no cogitation. The mind is perfectly aware of that moment of sound. Maybe after that, there is some kind of an attachment to the sound (that wasn't so much of a clap, that was pretty cool) whatever it is, it has no bearing on anything. That clap has nothing to do with cogitation. This is why the ancients used to shout because when they shouted, they realized that it is beyond words. It is just this moment.

I read something interesting about a Japanese Zen Master over at his house and there was a student of his and the student asked him what is Zen? And the Master was very quiet and look at him, jumped out of his chair and grabbed him by his clothes and started shaking him saying, "just now, just now, now." And that is what it is. Now if I started doing that to you, I don't think that you will get the idea except for the fact that if you find the practice moment-to-moment-to-moment-to-moment, you're making a choice each moment. Sometimes it is choice by default simply because you're letting the default program running the computer. What is the default program? You have run a crummy little virus program which is the self and you allowed that program to run. And then you're saying that is me. It's really not you. It's just a virus program and you allowed it to run and you've forgotten how fast and how clean the computer could run without this virus. With the virus in the computer it says, "I am you." And so you go, "Who am I?" It goes, "You are me. I am you." And you go, "Good enough for me." Why? Because the virus program constantly recertifies itself for its existence. It is constantly saying, "I'm here. We are okay. We are cool right now but I don't know about that guy next to us." And it's constantly making these impressions and these impressions are the things that keep it going. If it doesn't have those impressions then it has nothing to rely upon. Once those impressions are abandoned and they no longer have any kind of a causal link to another impression, the mind all of a sudden becomes very stabilized. Thought is not there but awareness is there. If the mind needs to be engaged, it's perfectly engaging with the environment in accordance with what needs to be there. But when we allow the default program this virus program to run, it messes everything up. It's very rare when the self will do something unselfish; even if it gave money, it would be aware that it is doing a good deed.

When Bodhidharma came to China from India, his benefactor was this Emperor and the Emperor called him for an audience. He said to Bodhidharma, "I have built temples, built stupas, I've essentially helped all the monks here. What benefit to do I get from all that?" Bodhidharma said, "No benefit." That person was confused thinking that he must be getting some good karma from doing this but the problem was that it was the self that was seeking some benefit. But the self cannot get a benefit; it's an illusion. So Bodhidharma was correct in the manner in which he was talking to him and he was very benevolent in the matter in correcting this particular Emperor because it was a fatal mistake on the part of the Emperor. Why a fatal mistake? It is because attachment to the self leads to birth and death. When we think about birth and death, it is not necessarily the birth and death of the corporal body but the birth and death moment-to-moment of the self. We give rise to the birth of the self and we give rise to the death of the self and this is constantly happening. When this happens in this way, we are unaware. Ultimately, it will give rise to a new body in the stages of samsara.

So the process is stabilizing the mind to see clearly that the self is not really our self nature. Our self nature is very stable. It is very great calm. It is unmoving and as strange as it appears, it can be unmoving and still engaged in activity. So if one is to do something of a benefit to others, it does not have a thought at that moment that anything is happening. It would not have thought, "I am helping people." It would be helping people but it would not have a thought. There is no necessity to have the thought. It is simply carrying out the function and we function in this way. It makes things different. We actually have control over a lot.

People who don't know will say, "That doesn't sound good; you know that's like you've been of some kind of a robot." On the contrary, a robot is when you use the default program because the default program constantly runs on habitual tendencies. Habitual tendencies will take over and pre-mark what you're going to do in a particular situation. If somebody gets upset, your program will say get upset back. If somebody insults you, insult him back. Why, because it is all preprogrammed. Through your self-love and self-conceit, you need to raise your defense mechanisms. How did you get there? You put yourself there. You taught yourself how to do that.

But therein lies the cure because you are the one that messed the mind up. You can simply un-mess it up. How? By simply following the methods so that mind can remain stable until lo and behold there comes a separation of you and the self - this illusory self. Mind will once again be able to recognize when these thoughts are arising that takes it self to be the self. It really is not the self but simply habitual tendencies that we've learned. But because it goes by so quickly and so linearly, we believe that it is there and that it is our true self. That all we need to do is to dust off and polish our ego and our personality and be a better citizen. But this is not the case. No matter how much you try to polish it, it's not going to work because you are operating under an erroneous assumption that you can make yourself better. Now I'm not saying you can't make yourself better in the sense that there cannot be improvements to this body in terms of its interaction with the environment. What I'm saying is that there's an erroneous assumption that by training this illusory self, that will lead to enlightenment.

Student question: How do you deal with people who constantly tries to step on you like a door mat?

Gilbert's answer: Whatever they do, their causes and conditions belong to them not to you. When we practice diligently, two things arise in the mind: one is wisdom and the other is compassion. The compassion allows us to try to harmonize with the people even when they are nasty to us. Wisdom enables us to know when we need to be functioning in a certain way so as to mitigate the karma not only for ourselves but up for the person that we're engaged with. So if a person is constantly taking from you, you don't have to let them take everything from you. That's not wise. If a person is taking more than their share, there's no reason for it. If they're constantly extracting something from you, it's okay to say "no." The difference is to know that you are acting under wisdom and compassion; not as you saying, "Who do they think they are? They keep taking my stuff." There is a difference here. When you start thinking, "who do they think they are, they are taking my tranquility. They are taking my peace, they want this, they want that…" When people act and think in this way, you are creating a karmic force on what you are doing. It's like the person that is a drinker trying to refrain from drinking without understanding what the true alcoholic's problem is. Ultimately, they will go on the binge. If you keep doing something in like that, then you'll ultimately going to blow up and start an angry exchange with a person that is taking from you.

On the other hand, if it's something that people are taking from you, you could say "no!" That person could get upset but so what? That belongs to them not to you. So you use your wisdom to be able to solve the issues and your compassion to know exactly the timing and how to do it so that you do not create any further karmic affinity with that person. Your wisdom will tell you, "no, this person can't do this to me." Like when you're walking down the street and somebody attacks you from out of an alley. It doesn't mean that you can't defend yourself because you are a Buddhist. We have a right to protect ourselves and that's not a problem. But on the other hand, we should not be the person jumping out of the alley and attacking people. Our wisdom and compassion prevent us from doing that. You have to be very aware of what's arising in mind. The more you practice then the more clearer the wisdom and compassion will be when it arises. The more you give in to the self, then it is different because it is the "I, I, I" whereas on the other one, it doesn't have an "I." You can also say that this is what I should do in that circumstance and sometimes it's just okay to disengage from the person. It is not going to help to sit there and fight with them. That's not helping the situation so you're better off leaving it that way. Little by little, it will come in to you and one day, you are going to see that and you say, "okay, so this is how it works."

As long as you engage in a battle of the "selves", it is going to be terrible. What harm would it do to say to them, "Okay you're right." Will it take anything from you? Will the silence of your tongue take anything from you? What can they take from you? Only the self, "okay take my self." If they take anything from you, so let them. If they want to attack you and say things about you or that they want to engage in a fight, let them. If it's something different that had a pattern of things, just say "no."

There was a lady that is always talking to my wife who comes into our store and kept asking for money - money for this and money for that. My wife says she's poor and she needs the money. I told her, she lives in the City of Diamond Bar and owns a million-dollar house. She's not poor; she just got into a pattern of asking for money and she's hitting you up all the time. And the thing is that you can help people but sometimes you also help create this habitual tendency to cause karma were they keep depending on other people to solve their problems and then they can't get out of that. There's nothing wrong with helping people in the time of need. Otherwise, you help create a person that is going to be a dependent and is dependent on you and that's not wise.

You try to help people the best you can and whenever people need help, I will help them. But one thing that I won't do is I won't wallow in their misery. I will sit down to work out solutions if we can, and if there's no solution, it's just it. If you want to give compassionately, do so. If you do it because you want to impress people, that's not a good idea. Everything is with the clear wisdom that you work of. Wisdom and compassion are selfless when you do that. Use your wisdom and compassion; cultivate that. The cultivation is being aware and letting the mind settle down and seeing things clearly. When you're engaged with somebody and you're fighting, the mind is not stable. It's very very clouded and when it's clouded, what happens is that you make mistakes and you create further karmic forces with this person. It's a funny thing; there are some people that like to fight. They enjoy fighting and pull you into their fights and they like to feel miserable. That's why said I will not wallow in other people's misery.

Master Sheng Yen used to say that people used to come to him and dump their garbage. Dumping their garbage at a person is essentially saying, "I have this problem and I don't know what to do with it." But the person earnestly does not want to solve their problem. They just want to have somebody else feel the way they're feeling. But that's not helping the person. If the people really want help, you say okay you've cried enough now let's go talk about how we can solve the problem. And you try to solve their problem. If you can't solve it, you at least tried. You try using the wisdom and compassion together to try to help the person break these repetitive patterns. We've got to see these repetitive patterns that we have that the self brings up. We all have it; we all have all sorts of repetitive patterns. We won't admit them to people most of the time but they are there.

There was a Master Sheng-Hua, he passed away but he was very good Master from the San Francisco Bay Area. People would always come and dump garbage on him and every Sunday he would have a public time where people could go to see him. Every week the line got longer and longer and so finally the following week he was there, one of the monks brought out a microphone and put loudspeakers throughout the assembly hall. He said, "Anyone who has a problem, come and speak on the microphone." Pretty good solution… a lot of times we don't want to do that. We don't want to face our self. We don't know really what the problem is and the problem is the "self." There is no way that he can help the people even in confidence and the people are sitting there just crying but if they can come up and stand in front of that microphone and express their problem, that's half the battle right there because you're getting it out in the open.

This is wisdom and also compassion because he's actually providing an opportunity for those people to present a cure for them. But we don't like to do those things because that's our "self" and we want to protect our self. It is our self that's hurting, when we say "it's not our self," it is this repetitive pattern. You've got to see that. Once you see that, it helps you. You have to recognize your repetitive patterns when it is constantly engaging in battle. It is best instead to turn the mind's eye inward and make that your battleground - where you say, "Okay, I want to take over control. I want to stabilize this mind." Once you do that, whatever the problems are, people will become very capable. It is so sad that the other person feels like they have to insult you, have to take more than what they wanted. Your wisdom and compassion will determine how you're going to resolve the problem. Little by little, we will talk about this in terms of the self. And because it's like "right, I don't want to get rid of my self" but you have to start working on it. Have to sneak up on the self and little by little, beat it out into the open to see it.

Anybody love their selves? Of course we do, we won't admit it but the self is the root of all the problems that we have. Let's be serious about it. Whatever problems you have generally come from the self. Whatever you have it's because you've attached to my this and my that, I love this, that person doesn't love you the way you want them to love you or doesn't pay attention to you. That's the battle between men and women; always have different ideas about love and different ideas about things and as result, problems.

Okay we got through one sentence of the lecture. Let's go to the next one.

But knowing the self is difficult. Having control of the self is more difficult. Liberating itself is even more difficult.

To those of you who went to the retreat, you know knowing the self is difficult. To try to control it after you got it there is even more difficult. But once you start controlling it, something very interesting happen. If you even get that control a bit up there, it smoothes out very quietly; very clearly, very easily, very wondrously. There is serenity there and there is also a joy - not the opposite of sorrow; it's just a contentment that one has or a serenity that one has simply because we no longer have to please the self. Even the Christians have that in one of their prayers, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." When "I shall not want" happens, mind becomes very stable. If the self rears its ugly head, mind is aware of it.

But first, we've got to start looking at this. So this week that's coming up, I want you to practice identifying your selves in different situations. It's an easy practice and the self will start popping up all over the place. You all just have to be on the lookout for it when it comes up. Very strange things will happen when you begin to recognize your selves because all of a sudden you will start disassociating from it like hanging around with the wrong element or hanging around with the stinky person. When you hang around with the person that let's say hadn't bathed for couple months or brushed their teeth, you would not really want to be around that person for too long.

But here we are. We get to do that. We got used to the stinky self. Sometimes, when the self comes into a room it really stinks up the entire room. Not in a smelly way. It stinks up the environment, pollutes the environment, it changes the environment from a tranquil setting to an angry setting. Like a storm coming, some people wherever they go they take a storm with them. You can see them coming. Are you that way or can you be an oasis of tranquility? If you're in an oasis of tranquility, people will want to be come close to you because you're calm. You don't present a threat to them. They can take a rest with you but when you are always so stormy, people will stay away from you. You create opinions and discriminations and negative affinities to people.

Back to Master Sheng yen:

Yet it must be done because all ignorance and afflictions arise from not knowing who we are. Lacking control of ourselves, we have vexations, we have self-grasping and we are thus in bondage to the self. The purpose of the practice is to liberate ourselves from this bondage. To do this we need concepts as our guide and we need a method of practice.

You now have an idea about the self; something Matt probably read into at the retreat. It is not a pretty picture. He had a long battle with it. These are the things we need to continue to work on. Stay with it; stay with your practice. Keep that mellowness there. Remember what it feels like because later on, you will forget and you have to use this memory to remember. Come back to this mellowness whenever you sit and practice your meditation. Remember this mellowness and coolness. Let it perpetuate when you get off your cushion.

Student question: How do you help someone see that they are bringing up this storm and problems upon themselves?

Gilbert's answer: It is very difficult because those people have acquired a habitual tendency to blame others for their ills. Once you try to talk to them about things, then you become a problem to them as well. Try to use your best to talk to the person and use a very soft mirror to try to get them to see their conduct as well. Very softly, you have to use this clear mirror and be careful not to shock them. When you do, they will bite you back and you expect that. Try to use compassion and wisdom. Little by little, for example tell them, "these people you are talking about really don't have anything negative to say about you but there must be something that's making you unhappy and making you feel the way you are." And if the counseling doesn't work, then back off. You're not going to be able to have this healing affinity with everyone. Some people you can and in some people you can't. When you can't, then you simply don't create worse karma that the person starts snapping up to you and all of a sudden you are snapping back at them saying, "What an ungrateful person; you try to give them the moon and they don't want it." Then you create a negative affinity with them. You have to be careful. You teach people in accordance with their ability to understand. Some people can understand; some people cannot.

[Class summary by Rick Cabrera]

Fukanzazengi: How Everyone Can Sit - 06/11/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:53:38 PST

Dogen Zengi's words are a little of both very advanced teaching and the very beginning teaching. One must remember to keep a beginner's mind when reading or listening to any teaching. One can pour more tea into a cup that is empty than a cup that is already full; likewise, a beginner's mind can pick up more from a lecture than a practitioner who thinks he/she is advanced. An advanced person's mind has created a duality of where he is now and where he is not. This duality impedes one's ability to relax the mind and let go of past achievements. Chan is just being aware of this moment… this present moment is the beginner's mind.

Discernment is simply being aware whether the cup is empty or full; it is also being aware that the cup is empty even when it appears to be full. It is being aware of the impermanence of all things as they appear in mind, it is being aware of things simply as they are without opinion or apprehension; it is being aware that all things happen as a result of causes and conditions… all in the same awareness before the thought arises.

Dogen Zengi said that True Nature is in essence perfect and it is everywhere. But if there is the slightest gap, sky and earth are ripped apart; therefore, do not give rise to even a flicker of like and dislike. Do not become puffed up about your understanding and inflate your little experiences… always maintain a beginner's mind.

Listen to Master Dogen…

Fukanzazengi: How Everyone Can Sit
by Eihei Dogen zenji
translated by Yasuda Joshu Roshi and Anzan Hoshin Roshi (published in Progress Into the Ordinary, Great Matter Publications, 1986
and Chanting Breath and Sound, Great Matter Publications, 2001
and will appear in the forthcoming book Dogen: Zen Writings on the Practice of Realization)

Primordial Awareness is in essence perfect and pervades everywhere. How could it be dependent upon what anyone does to practice or realize it? The movement of Reality does not need us to give it a push. Do I need to say that it is free from delusion? The vast expanse of Reality can never be darkened by the dust of presumptions. Who then could believe that it needs to be cleaned of such dust to be what it is? It is never separate from where you are, so why scramble around in search of it?

The thing is, if there is the slightest gap, sky and earth are ripped apart. If you give rise to even a flicker of like and dislike, you lose your mind in delusion. Just suppose you become puffed up about your understanding and inflate your little experiences: You think you have seen the truth, attained the Way, recognized the luminosity of mind and can grasp at heaven. You might think that these initial jaunts about the borders are entering the realm of enlightenment but you've lost the Way of complete liberation.

May I point out the one from Jetavana, the Buddha, who was himself Primordial Awareness and still sat for six years? And how about Bodhidharma transmitting the seal of Awareness through doing wall-gazing at Shaolin temple for nine years? The echo of those is heard even now. If this is how it was with the great ones and their diligence, then how about you in your own practice? You should stop chasing understanding through juggling words, allow the external seeking of your mind to collapse upon itself and light up your own nature. Doing this, the bodymind will drop through itself spontaneously revealing your Original Nature. If you wish to be realized in Suchness, immediately practice Suchness.

A quiet room is good for zazen. Eat and drink moderately, don't entangle yourself in delusive relationships. Just leave such things to themselves. Don't think about good or bad, right or wrong. Don't give rise to the mind's common concepts, the judging of thoughts and observations. Don't sit to become an Awakened One because you can't fabricate a Buddha out of sitting or lying down.

In the place where you practice spread out some thick matting and place a round cushion on top of them. Sit on the cushion with your legs crossed in either the full lotus posture or the half-lotus. This means place your right foot on your left thigh and your left foot on your right thigh, loosen your clothes and belt keeping them neat. Then put your right hand palm up on your left foot and put your left hand in the palm of your right, the tips of the thumbs touching lightly. Find your posture, leaning neither to right nor left, forward or back. Your ears should be aligned with your shoulders, and from the front, your nose in a direct line with your navel. Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth keeping mouth and lips closed. Your eyes should be open and you should breathe gently through your nose.

Once you have found your posture, breathe in and out deeply, sway left and right and then settle firmly and steadily. Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Be Before Thinking. These are the basics of zazen.

What I call zazen is not developing concentration by stages and so on. It is simply the Awakened One's own easy and joyful practice, it is realized-practice within already manifest enlightenment. It is the display of complete reality. Traps and cages spring open. Grasping the heart of this, you are the dragon who has reached his waters, the tiger resting in her mountains. Understand that right here is the display of Vast Reality and then dullness and mental wandering have no place to arise.

Getting up from zazen move slowly and quietly. Don't just jump up. Looking at the past, we see that transcending common and sacred, or being able to die while in zazen or standing are all rooted in the power of this practice. It is impossible for words or thinking to grasp how the old masters could seize the moment for disciples with a finger, pole, needle or mallet, display Actuality with a whisk, a fist, a staff or a shout. Practicing mystical powers or thinking dualistically about practice and realization don't help in this either. Practice and realization are the deportment of this very bodymind, beyond sight and sound, before thinking and analyzing.

Since this is as it is, it doesn't matter if you're clever or stupid; the distinctions distinguish nothing. Whole-hearted practice is the Way. Since realized-practice cannot be stained, progress into the ordinary.

In this and all other worlds, in India or in China, every place is marked by the seal of Awake Awareness. Upholding the essence of this Way, devote yourself to zazen, completely do zazen. You might hear about ten thousand ways to practice but just be complete and sit. What's the point of giving up your seat to go wandering around in dusty lands and countries? Take a wrong step and you'll miss what's there.

You've got what you need, the treasure of this body and birth, so don't waste your time. Keep to this as the basis of the Way of Awake Awareness. Don't be attracted by just a spark from the flint. Anyway, your body is like dew on the grass, your life a flash of lightning; vain for a moment and then vanished in an instant.

You who are in this excellent lineage of Zen, don't blindly grope only a part of the elephant or fear the true dragon. Put all of yourself into this Way which directly presents your own nature. Be grateful to those who have come before and have done what was to be done. Align yourself with the enlightenment of the Awakened Ones and take your place in this samadhi-lineage. Practice in this way and you'll be what they are. The doors of the treasure house will fall open for you to do with as you will.
(1227 C.E.)
� 1999-2004 White Wind Zen Community. All rights reserved.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Why Practice Chan? - 06/04/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:37:17 PST

What is a Chan practitioner all about?

People come to Chan class for various reasons. Some wanted to learn how to quiet and silence their mind because of emotional or guilt problems that they have in their lives. Others were looking for something or for answers to questions that they could not find anywhere else. They want to know how to make sense of all of the things happening to them.

This is one of the first steps toward becoming a Chan practitioner. They would say that there's got to be something here in this class that I can understand and would calm me; I can't find the answers anywhere else so maybe I need to figure this Chan stuff out some more.

These are the some of the reasons why they knock at the door of Chan and if they practice sincerely, they will find guidance about how to quiet their mind and their hearts and obtain the benefits of the practice. They will find a safe haven in Chan.

Those who initially started out wanting to find a way to quiet their mind soon found out a different taste of the real practice of Chan. They found more than just the knowledge and ability to quiet their mind. They found acceptance and understanding of the causes and conditions that lead to the problems they were experiencing.

Those who initially came to find answers found themselves asking more questions than getting the answers. The nature of Chan is that the questions formerly raised become less interesting than the subsequent questions. Practitioners begin to ask: why did this bad thing happen to me? Why did it happen that way? What caused that person to say those harmful words? And as more interesting questions come, they learn to investigate. They learn to validate the information as they were presented to them. When confronted again in like situation, they learn to ask more questions: this person insulted me, why did he do that for? Should I react in like manner or should I respond in a wholesome manner instead? And as more questions come in, pieces of the puzzles begin to take shape as if weaving the fabric and tapestry of the True Nature. They learn to understand that things happen because of individual causes and conditions.

As causes and conditions of the practitioner ripen, wisdom and clarity of the True Nature also manifest by itself on the practitioner. And more questions arise: who am I? Where did that thought come from, who said that?

Teaching Chan is telling the student to expect nothing of the practice and that the teacher can only point his finger to the path. When a practitioner continues to walk the path of Chan, there comes a true experience that cannot be equaled by any teacher of Chan. As these experiences come, practitioners must learn to leave them behind and continue with the practice because these experiences are nothing but cogitations.

Gilbert told the story of Bodhidharma and a student who wanted to learn the Way. Bodhidharma did not think he was worthy enough so he remained in meditation inside the cave. This student stood outside the cave until snow was waist high. Bodhidharma still would not teach him until he proved his sincerity by cutting off his left arm. He told him, "My mind is anxious, please pacify it." Bodhidharma replied, "Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it." Huike (from Ssu-shui hsien, Henan) said, "Although I've sought it, I cannot find it." "There," Bodhidharma replied, "I have pacified your mind."

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Cogitation - 05/28/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:35:27 PST

The practice of Chan is very simple. When we don't process thoughts through the ego, mind tends to attain its own balance and calm by itself. But we tend to obscure mind by engaging in cogitation. When we try to get rid of thoughts for example, we encounter difficulty because we always think first that we need to get rid of something before we do it. This creates the habit energy that binds us to cogitation in anything we try to do. To complicate it further, we learn to add opinions and emotions to the process thereby feeding more fuel into the habit energy.

Instead of thinking to get rid of scattered thoughts or whatever it is you are going to do, simply put the thought down or let them pass by with no apprehension or cogitation whatsoever - simply follow the function.

The practice of Chan is like walking up the fog-shrouded mountain, said Master Sheng-yen. You don't need to see where you are going or how far you have walked. As long as you are going uphill, just keep one foot in front of the other.

This week's Dharma talk is about cogitation and where it is coming from. Listen to the words from the masters:

BURDEN OF NOTHING

A student asked T'ou-tzu, "How about if I don't bring a single thing?" T'ou-tzu said, "Where did you get this?"

THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE by Chih-men

High-minded mystics and pilgrims should have the eyes of Zen. When they open their mouths, they exhaust the senses of a thousand sages, make a thousand mental objects unbinding; father and mother both die, guest and host do not stand.

If you understand in this way, it is still just a little bit of Zen perceptive understanding, not the whole experience of Zen.

What is the whole experience? Go back and have some tea.

THE SELF

Chih-men was asked, "What is my self?" He replied, "Who is asking?" The questioner said, "Please help me more." Chih-men said, "The robber is a coward by heart."

AVOID DRIFTING OFF by Chien-ju

If you really want to deal with birth and death, just avoid drifting off under any circumstances, whether you are dressing or eating, attending the calls of nature, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down.

Be like someone who sees a ferocious tiger, totally engrossed in getting away and escaping with his life.

Or be like someone on a battle front who only wants to kill the leader of a rebellion; only when he has taken the leader's head can he rest.

Why bother with grasping and rejection, purity and defilement, profane and sacred, right and wrong, and so on?

Otherwise it is a waste of effort – when will peace ever be attained?

If you work in this way, it has some relevance to birth and death; otherwise it is all contrivance, without benefit on the way. A former teacher said, "Don't get stuck in small successes; you must reach the state of the ancients before you attain freedom in life and death." Otherwise it is all something on the shore of birth and death; there's really no end in sight.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Master Dogen - 05/21/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:29:06 PST

Master Dogen was a Japanese Chan master who studied Soto Zen in China. Soto is Japanese for Ts'au-tung which translates to Silent Illumination. Silent Illumination simply means "to sit." To sit is not just to sit in meditation. It is sitting to let the mind to come to a rest. Letting the mind come to a rest is like crystal clear water. We become aware when we agitate the water. Initially, we maybe aware of small moments in time when the water is very calm, when there are only ringlets going. But other times when our mind is not calm, it will become very agitated. When it is disturbed by the environment, we no longer have this Silent Illumination; we are no longer aware of the thoughts arising in mind. When thoughts appear in a linear manner, we've already lost that clarity of mind.

Silent illumination is the mind that just sits. Body and mind has nothing to do but sit and be aware of the functioning and causes and conditions occurring in mind. Like master Dogen said, just sit (be aware), that's all.

There was a story of a master in the company of other masters camping out in the wood. One master said, "There are tigers and other wild animals out here that can eat us." The other master put his hands over his head and shook them saying, "Boooooo…. your mind is still moving and you are still worried about your body, you are not yet complete." Later on when the fire was burning, the master got a piece of charcoal and wrote the name of the Buddha on the rock where the other master had been sitting. When the other master returned, he saw the Buddha's name on the rock but did not want to sit on that rock anymore. Which master does not have a clear mind?

We create our own illusions. Practicing Chan will not make us and our dear ones exempt from the problems that occur in life. Practicing Chan is being aware that these problems happen because of causes and conditions. What we do today or fail to do today will have consequences tomorrow. With this understanding of causes and conditions, we can minimize problems that can occur tomorrow. All things begin in mind, so we must be aware whenever mind is scattered. We must be aware to do the wholesome thoughts and actions coming out of a clear mind instead of the unwholesome ones resulting from an unclear mind. The other master in the story refused to sit on the rock with the Buddha's name written on it. His mind was not clear at that moment because if he did not want to sit where the Buddha was, where else can he sit that the Buddha is not?

Some people give up the practice because of the things that happened to them. They think that because they are Chan practitioners, no problems can come to them. Likewise, some very good Christians denounce God because they said He let bad things happen to their loved ones. They do not realize that they are not exempt from the law of causes and conditions. Anything is possible and we should use the practice instead of denouncing it in times of need.

Understand that mind and the external environment are connected. What we sow in mind, so shall we reap as manifestations in the external environment. This is how causes and conditions work so we must make the choice to sow good seeds now.

Silent Illumination, the art of just sitting gives us the opportunity to see the wondrous functions of the mind, to see things clearly, and to sow good seeds that can benefit us and others. When causes and conditions ripen, the wisdom of the non-arising mind will begin to manifest and answers to all questions one may have will be revealed as well.

Read the wisdom of Master Dogen's words. Read them as many times until his words become yours. And when you think you have fully understood them, it is then time to put them down and let them go.

Master Dogen's words from:

The Pocket Zen Reader, edited by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Publications

On Images and Relics

If you think you can become enlightened just by worshiping images and relics, this is a mistaken view. This is actually possession by the poisonous serpent of temptation.

On Discipline

If you insist upon disciplinary regulations and vegetarianism as fundamentals, make them established practices, and think you can attain enlightenment that way, you are wrong.

On Overcoming Greed

If you would be free of greed, first you have to leave egotism behind. The best mental exercise for eliminating egotism is contemplating impermanence.

Tact

When you see other's errors and you want to guide them because you think they are wrong and you feel compassion for them, you should employ tact to avoid angering them, and contrive to appear as if you were talking about something else.

Emotional views

Students of recent times cling to their own emotional views and go by their own subjective opinions, thinking Buddhism must be as they think it is, and denying it could be any different. As long as they are wandering in illusion seeking their own emotional judgments, most of them will make no progress on the way of enlightenment.

Appearance and Reality

· Most people of the world want others to know when they have done something good, and want others not to know when they have done something bad.

· If you refrain from doing something bad because people would think ill of it, or if you try to do good so others will look upon you as true Buddhist, these are still worldly feelings.

· If you have compassion and are imbued with the spirit of the Way, it is of no consequence to be criticized, even reviled, by the ignorant. But if you lack the spirit of the Way, you should be wary of being thought of by others as having the Way.

· What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good.

· If people who keep up appearances and are attached to themselves gather together to study, not one of them will emerge with an awakened mind.

· You should not be esteemed by others if you have no real inner virtue. People here in Japan esteem others based on outward appearances, without knowing anything about inner virtue; so students lacking the spirit of the Way are dragged down into bad habits and become subject to temptation.

Practicing Truth

· If you study a lot because you are worried that others will think badly of you for being ignorant and you'll feel very stupid, this is a serious mistake.

· People of the world cannot necessarily be considered good – let them think whatever they will.

· To "leave the world" means that you do not let the feelings of worldly people hang on your mind.

· You should not do what is bad just because no one will see it or know of it.

· You should think about the fact that you will surely die. This truth is indisputable.

· Even if you do not think about the inevitability of death, you should determine not to pass your time in vain.

· Our lives are only here for now.

· One should not differentiate good and bad on the basis of taste.

· One need not necessarily depend on the words of the ancients, but must only think of what is really true.

· If you want to travel the way of the Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing.

Morals

· The ancient thought it shameful to seek advancement or to want to be head of something, or the chief or senior.

· No one should torment people or break their hearts.

· Just regard people's virtues, don't be obsessed with their faults.

· People should cultivate secret virtue.

· No matter how bad a state of mind you may get into, if you keep strong and hold out, eventually the floating clouds must vanish and the withering wind must cease.

· Do not be so proud as to hope to equal the great sages; do not be so mean as to hope to equal the ignoble.

· If one pursued selfish schemes to stay alive, there would be no end to it.

· There is fundamentally no good or bad in the human mind; good and bad arise according to circumstances.

· Though a nobleman's power is greater than that of an ox, he does not contend with an ox.

· To plow deep but plant shallow is a way to natural disaster; if you help yourself but harm others, how could there be no consequences?

Understanding

· Don't cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there maybe some higher meaning yet.

· Although a suspicious mind is bad, still it is wrong to cling to what you shouldn't believe in, or to fail to ask for a truth you should seek.

· Even if you have thoroughly studied the stories of the ancients and you sit constantly like iron or stone, as long as you are attached to yourself you cannot find the Way of the enlightened, ever.

· Although the Way is complete in everyone, realization of the Way depends on a combination of conditions.

· Tenacious opinionation is not transmitted by your parents; it is just that you have tacitly come to believe in opinions for no reason other than that over time you have picked up what people say.

· Whether or not beginners are imbued with the spirit of the Way, they should carefully read and study the sagacious teachings of the scriptures and treatises.

· One having understood, you should read the teachings of the sages many times.

· Truth is not greater or lesser, but people are shallow or deep.

Attitude

· Even if you are in a high place, don't forget you may fall. Even if you are safe, don't forget danger. Even though you are alive today, don't assume you will be alive tomorrow.

· The mind has no fixed characteristics; depending on circumstances, it may turn out anyway at all.

· Even if it is painful and lonely, associate with worthy companions.

· Consider how you will travel the path, without taking notice of slander from others, without heeding resentments from others.

· Do not think of studying Buddhism in order to gain some advantage as reward for practicing Buddhism.

· Everyone has great faults, and pride is the greatest faults.

· Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.

· If the mentality that seeks honor and advantage does not cease, you will be ill at ease all your life.

· Students of the Way must individually examine their own selves. To examine yourself means to reflect upon how you should carry yourself, mentally and physically

· If the heart is not empty, it will not admit truthful words.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Four Great Vows - 05/14/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:18:46 PST

1. I vow to deliver innumerable sentient beings.
2. I vow to cut off endless vexations.
3. I vow to master limitless approaches to dharma.
4. I vow to attain supreme Buddhahood.

We recite the Four Great Vows at the beginning of the class in order to condition and open the mind. It does not matter whether a practitioner is an Atheist or Christian. To learn and practice the vows is a positive thing. Reciting them put things into motion and one can only receive positive results from them.

When a practitioner makes a vow to deliver innumerable sentient beings for example, it is like planting good seeds into the ground. Causes and conditions never fail. Every time a practitioner recites the vow, it conditions the mind; it strengthens the vow and puts things into motion. The good seeds grow to become big trees that will produce good fruits. As more practitioners make the vow to deliver (good fruits to) innumerable sentient beings, these good fruits will greatly nourish whoever eats from that tree. This is how the power of the vow can change the environment we live in. So as you come to class each week, you are invited to wholeheartedly recite these vows because they can't hurt. They can only produce good things.

Gilbert told the joke of a Rabbi who was in a sinking boat. As the boat was about to go down, the Rabbi did the sign of the cross. The people saw that and said, "But Rabbi, you are Jewish." The rabbi simply raised his hands and said, "It can't hurt." So it is with reciting the vows, it can't hurt.

Mind is not the kind of mind that we generally relate to. Chan Buddhism associates mind to what is called the Heart Mind. Mind is the cogitating kind of mind whereas Heart Mind is that part of mind not associated with I, me, mine. Heart Mind is there for the common good of all, it wants to help others and understands morality that is in there not as a commandment but the kind of morality that simply says this is the way that things ought to be. It is different because we are not doing it to please anyone but rather we do it because this is the right thing to do like washing the bowl after we are finished eating; just following function. If not you, then who else would wash the bowl?

Heart Mind is also associated with being mindful and being aware of everything that is occurring in mind every moment. There was a story of a monk who came to study with a Chan master. It was raining that day so as he arrived at the temple and asked the master to teach him the Dharma, the master asked him, "When you came in, did you put your umbrella on the right side or the left side of your sandals?" The monk could not remember because his mind was not settled and aware enough of everything around him at that moment that he entered the temple.

There was another story of a master teaching a student how to sleep. The student said, "But master, I already knew how to sleep." Yet, how many of us still toss and turn for several minutes before actually falling to sleep? How many of us can simply close our eyes and open them the next morning? When all the causes and conditions of the day were dealt with accordingly, mind will settle by itself. When it is time to rest, causes and conditions will also manifest by themselves. There is nothing else to do but close the eyes and sleep.

If you do not understand that which meets the eye, you are already lost said Chan Master Dogen. It means be aware that everything happens the way they do because of causes and conditions. Gilbert also told a story of a Chi-gong master who tried to stop a train with his Chi-gong power. Needless to say, this master was not one with the laws of nature. He was not thinking clearly, he thought he was powerful enough to stop the train. Causes and conditions never fail and this was unfortunate for him.

Likewise when we meditate, thoughts will rise naturally because of our individual causes and conditions. Some practitioners will try to block these vexations from rising in mind thinking that this is the way it should be. As they do this, it generates more distractions and impatience. They are not allowing the mind to settle down by staying with the method. Simply following the method and observing mind without apprehension are enough. When causes and conditions continue to ripen, mind will settle by itself; Heart Mind will reveal itself eventually.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Ultimate Reality Transcends What Can Be Expressed in Words - 04/23/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:09:49 PST

from: "The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha," edited by Edwin A. Burtt, c 1955, p. 194-204

The document, here employed, in abbreviated form, presents the teaching of Hsi Yun, one of the Ch'an (or Zen) masters who lived about 840 A.D. His teaching is reported by P'ei Hsiu, an official and scholar who became a student under Hsi Yun. It gives a more or less sympathetic disclosure of Ch'an philosophy. First it defends the doctrine with which we are now familiar, that universal mind alone is real. This result is then used to explain why one must abandon seeking for anything; universal mind is realized by the cessation of all seeking and by leaving behind the analytic discriminations it uses and trusts. This step is achieved in a flash of sudden awakening. But at this point the argument shifts. The reader is supposed to be ready now to see that mind itself, and the categories by which it has been explained, are self contradictory. The real truth lies behind any kind of verbal expression. The conclusion is ruthlessly applied even to such central Buddhist ideas as that of the Dharma. Buddha was, of course, aware of the truth of these matters, but in his compassion he communicated partial insights; their purpose was to lead people to a stage where they could achieve this fuller realization. Again comes a shift, this time the completely non-rational technique of using words, not to answer an observer's question, but to discourage him from asking it. It is hoped that he may now be able to attain the awareness that the real difficulty lies not so much in his questions being unanswerable as in his continuing state of mind that leads him in asking them. This state - in the confidence of analytic reason - is precisely that out of which he needs to awaken. The procedure of this essay constitutes as dramatic a challenge to the presuppositions of Western philosophy as well can be imagined.

The Master said to me: "All the Buddhas and all the sentient beings are nothing but the universal mind, besides which nothing exists. This mind, which has always existed, is unborn and indestructible. It is not green or yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the categories of things that exist or do not exist, nor can it be reckoned as being new or old. It is neither long nor short, big nor small, but transcends all limits, measures, names, speech, and every method of treating it concretely. It is the substance you see before you - begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error. It is like the boundless void, which cannot be fathomed or measured. This universal mind alone is the Buddha and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient beings, but sentient beings are attached to particular forms and so seek for Buddhahood outside it. By their very seeking for it they produce a contrary effect of loosing it, for that is using the Buddha to seek the Buddha and using the mind to grasp mind. Even though they do their utmost for a full kalpa, they will not be able to attain it. They do not know how to put a stop to their thoughts and forget their anxiety. The Buddha is directly before them, for this (universal) mind is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings. It is not the less for being manifested in ordinary beings, nor is it greater for being manifested in the Buddha.

Sudden illumination is seeing things just as they are. Chan teaches that one should not negate the practice (even when a teacher says there is nothing to rely on) but seeing what should be done about the practice. Sudden illumination simply cuts right through the chase. Sudden illumination is simply realizing mind (the substance you see before you) without cogitation or conceptualization. Begin to cogitate or conceptualize and the mind starts to rise (and you at once fall into error, said Master Hsi Yun).

Mind will naturally arise according to causes and conditions of the practitioner. Diligence and great faith about the practice will eventually bear fruit. The non-arising mind will eventually reveal itself and will naturally be aware whenever mind begins to arise. "Knowing the mind arising is the non-arising mind."

"As to the merits, countless as the sands of the Ganges, which come from performing the six paramitas (perfect duties) and vast numbers of similar practices, since you are fundamentally complete in every respect, you should not try to supplement that perfection with meaningless practices. When there is occasion for them, perform acts of charity, and, when the occasion has passed, remain quiescent. If you are not absolutely convinced that this [mind] is the Buddha, and are attached to the forms, practices and performances whereby merit is achieved, your way of thinking has no connection with reality and is quite incompatible with the Way. "The mind IS the Buddha, nor is there any other Buddha or any other mind. It is bright and spotless as the void, having no form or appearance whatsoever. To make use of the mind to think [in the ordinary sense of the word] is to leave the substance and attach yourself to forms. The Buddha who has always existed exhibits no such attachment to forms. To practice the six paramitas and a myriad similar practices with the intention of becoming a Buddha thereby is to advance by stages, but the Buddha who has always existed is not a Buddha of stages. Only awake to the universal mind, and realize that there is nothing whatsoever to be attained. This is the real Buddha. The Buddha and all sentient beings are the universal mind and nothing else....

"The universal mind is no mind [in the ordinary sense of the word] and is completely detached from form. So it is with the Buddhas and sentient beings. If they (the latter) can only rid themselves of analytic thinking (mentation) they will have accomplished everything.

"The original Buddha-nature, in all truth, is nothing which can be apprehended. It is void, omniscient, silent, pure; it is glorious and mysterious peacefulness, and that is all which can be said. You yourself must awake to it, fathoming its depths. That which is before you is it in all its entirety and with nothing whatsoever lacking. Even if you go through all the stages of a Bodhisattva's progress towards Buddahood, stage by stage, when at least, by single flash of thought, you attain to full realization, you will only be realizing your original Buddha-nature and by all the forgoing stages, you will not have added a single thing to it. You will merely regard those kalpas of work and achievement as nothing but unreal actions performed in a dream.....

Do not participate in activities for the purpose of achieving anything because the desire to achieve something strengthens the nature of the self. (Turn the eyes inward, try to see when the ego is dictating the want to achieve something.) Does not mean there is no purpose in performing, simply means completing the task at hand with no motive of gain. Like Master Hsi Yun said, merits (countless like the sands of the Ganges) will come to you with simply doing the tasks at hand in our work place, when performing acts of charity, helping someone or simply going through our everyday activities in a transparent way (remaining quiescent). Just doing what needs to be done is following function and this is enough. Mind is perfect in this way; with no attachments, no conceptualization and no analytical thought. Being aware of every moment before one starts sipping that cup of coffee till the very last drop certainly has its merit. When causes and conditions ripen, the merit drop by itself. It is still there because causes and conditions never fail but there is no self acknowledging the merit.

"The pure mind, the source of everything, shines on all with the brilliance of its own perfection, but the people of the world do not awake to it regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind. Because their understanding is veiled by their own sight, hearing, feeling, and knowledge, they do not perceive the spiritual brilliance of the original substance. If they could only eliminate all the analytic thinking (mentation) in a flash that original substance would manifest itself like the sun ascending through the void and illuminating the whole universe without hindrance or bounds. Therefore, if students of the Way only regard seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing as their [proper] activities, upon being deprived of these perceptions, their way towards [an understanding of] mind is cut off and they find nowhere to enter. You have but to recognize that the real mind is expressed in these perceptions, but is not dependent on them on the one hand, nor separate from them on the other. You should not start reasoning from such perceptions, nor allow your thinking to stem from them, yet you should refrain from seeking universal mind apart from them or abandoning them in your pursuit of the Dharma. Neither hold to them, abandon them, dwell in them, nor cleave to them, but exist independently of analytic all that is above, below, or around you. For there is nowhere in which the way cannot be followed.

"When the people of the world listen for the Way, all the Buddhas proclaim the doctrine of universal mind. If it is held that there is something to be attained apart from mind and, thereupon, mind is used to seek it, [that implies] a failure to understand that the mind and the object of its search are one. Mind cannot be used to seek something from mind, for even after the passage of millions of kalpas, the day of success would never come. Such a method cannot be compared to immediately putting a stop to all analytic thinking (mentation), which is the fundamental dharma. Suppose a warrior, who did not realize he was wearing a pearl (which he thought to be lost) on his forehead, were to seek it elsewhere; though he were to traverse the whole universe, he would never find it. But if a knowing fellow were to point it out to him, he would immediately realize that it was in its old place. Therefore, if students of the Way are mistaken about their own real mind, not recognizing it as the Buddha, they will accordingly seek elsewhere, indulging in various practices and achievements, and relying on such graduated progress to attain realization. But after eons of diligent searching, they will still be unable to attain the Way.

"Such methods cannot compare with immediately putting a stop to all analytic thinking (mentation), in the certain knowledge that there is nothing that has absolute existence, nothing on which to lay hold, nothing on which to rely, nothing in which to abide, nothing subjective or objective. It is by not allowing wrong thinking to take place that you will realize Bodhi (Illumination) and, at the moment of realization, you will but be realizing the Buddha who has always existed in your own mind. Kalpas of striving will be realized to have been so much wasted effort, just as when the warrior found the pearl, he merely discovered what had been on his own forehead all the time, and just as his finding of it was not dependent on his efforts to find it elsewhere...."

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra 04/09/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:06:23 PDT

"When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara

was coursing in the deep Prajnaparamita,

he perceived that all five skandas was empty,

thereby transcending all sufferings.

Sariputra, form is not other than emptiness

and emptiness is not other than form.

So also are sensation, perception, volition and consciousness.

Sariputra, this voidness of all dharmas

is not born, not destroyed,

not pure, not impure, does not increase or decrease.

In voidness there is no form,

and no sensation, perception, volition and consciousness;

no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;

no sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought;

there is no realm of the eye

all the way up to no realm of mental cognition.

There is no ignorance and no ending of ignorance

through to no aging and death

and no ending of aging and death

There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,

no cessation of suffering and no path.

There is no wisdom and any attainment.

With nothing to attain,

Bodhisattvas relying on Prajnaparamita

have no obstructions in their minds.

Having no obstructions, there is no fear

and departing far from confusion and imaginings,

they reach ultimate Nirvana.

All past, present and future Buddhas,

relying on Prajnaparamita, attain Anuttara-Samyak-Samdodhi.

Therefore, know that Prajnaparamita

is the great mantra of power,

the great mantra of wisdom, the supreme mantra,

the unequaled mantra,

which is able to remove all sufferings.

It is real and not false.

Therefore, recite the mantra of Prajnaparamita:

Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha."

There are many variations of the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra. The sutra above is the version in the Dharma Drum website. Master Sheng-yen has written many articles covering the Heart Sutra. The Heart Sutra is a good sutra to read because it is short and it has the codes for deciphering all the other sutras. It leaves the reader with nothing to hold on to except the intuitive wisdom that transcends the kind of wisdom that is learned from years of experience. Prajna means wisdom and Paramita means perfected wisdom.
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is a deity attuned to the world and so hears all the suffering of the world. In Chinese, the name translates to Kuan-Yin Pusa, the Bodhisattva of compassion. Kuan-yin is often seen as the Bodhisattva that is holding a big jar pouring out all this compassion to the world. He is also portrayed as the deity with 4 arms, sometimes with thousands of arms and even called a thousand-eye Bodhisattva because his compassion can be felt everywhere. Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara made a vow not to enter Nirvana until every sentient being in all realms are enlightened.

"When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was coursing in the deep Prajnaparamita, he perceived that all five skandas was empty, thereby transcending all sufferings."

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was coursing through the wondrous functioning of the mind; seeing things as they are, neither judging nor apprehending concepts, abiding in any thought or detaching from it. Mind is not moving at all like being on the beach listening to the ocean until there is no more ocean. Waves are still there and mind is aware but mind neither abides nor detaches from them. Coursing through the wondrous functioning of mind lead to a very deep state of wisdom. He realized that all five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, volition (will, want, choice) and consciousness are impermanent and that realizing the uselessness of clinging to them can remove all suffering.

Sariputra, form is not other than emptiness and emptiness is not other than form.

So also are sensation, perception, volition (will, want, choice) and consciousness.

He was telling his disciple, Sariputra that anything that has form is always changing like the way our health and physical body changes all the time but this change is not other than the suchness of all form itself; so also are sensation, perception, volition and consciousness. Change is what it is; it is the thusness in everything.

Sariputra, this voidness of all dharmas is not born, not destroyed, not pure, not impure, does not increase or decrease.

In voidness there is no form,

and no sensation, perception, volition and consciousness;

no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;

no sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought;

there is no realm of the eye all the way up to no realm of mental cognition.

The dharma (with small case 'd') mentioned here are all phenomena. Phenomena are anything occurring in mind. Everything occurring in mind is transitory and impermanent and like form, sensation perception, volition, and consciousness, it has no characteristics, origin, personality or mass. In impermanence, all phenomena are not ultimately real; even the eighteen realms of the six sense organs, what they perceive, and all the sensed objects are not real.

There is no ignorance and no ending of ignorance

through to no aging and death

and no ending of aging and death

There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,

no cessation of suffering and no path.

There is no wisdom and any attainment.

Ignorance and impermanence, aging and death, suffering and its causes, path to wisdom or attainment only exist in mind according to causes and conditions.

With nothing to attain,

Bodhisattvas relying on Prajnaparamita

have no obstructions in their minds.

Having no obstructions, there is no fear

and departing far from confusion and imaginings,

they reach ultimate Nirvana.

All past, present and future Buddhas,

relying on Prajnaparamita, attain Anuttara-Samyak-Samdodhi.

Mahayana practitioners make a vow to attain supreme enlightenment not for themselves but for the benefit of other sentient beings. Realizing that there is nothing to attain, the pressure is off to want to become enlightened. Wanting nothing, all budhas and bodhisattvas of the past, present and future (realizing this perfected wisdom of Prajnaparamita) reach sudden enlightenment.

Therefore, know that Prajnaparamita

is the great mantra of power,

the great mantra of wisdom, the supreme mantra,

the unequaled mantra,

which is able to remove all sufferings.

It is real and not false.

Therefore, recite the mantra of Prajnaparamita:

Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha."

Mantra is sanskrit for that which protects mind from mind. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha means go, go, go to the other shore, Bodhi Svaha.

Gilbert told a funny joke about two people on either side of the river. One yells to the other, "Hey, hey, how do I get to the other side?" The other said, "Silly, you are on the other side." The deep wisdom of Prajnaparamita encourages all of us to go, go, go to the other side.

But like the story says, we are already there. We simply need to realize it...

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Meditation Methods and Why We Meditate - 04/02/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:31:19 PDT

There is a Chan story that is often repeated many, many times. This was the story about a young monk who was sitting down and meditating. The master saw him meditating and he asked him, "Why are you meditating? The young monk said, "I am meditating so I can become enlightened." The master said nothing but instead sat down next to the young monk. He had a piece of tile with him so he started rubbing this piece of tile with his robe. He was rubbing and working on it and working on it till finally he attracted the monk's curiosity. The young monk asked him, "Master, what are you doing?" The master answered, "I am polishing up this tile and trying to make it into a diamond." The young monk said, "It is not possible, you cannot do that." The master responded, "It is quite so the same with you sitting there not becoming enlightened."

The story has a deeper meaning into it but when practitioners hear the story, they nod their heads in veneration and reverence and say, "aaah… Chan." It is easier to admire the subtlety of the story but penetrating the deeper and real meaning of the story is another. The condition, timing and application of wisdom by the master is remarkable but penetrating the wisdom foretold in this story is yet another.

The master was simply trying to teach the young monk to disentangle the mind. Practitioners apply their methods and sit in meditation to learn how to calm the mind. As the mind becomes calmer, we begin to become aware of the wondrous functions of the mind. When we are aware, the self does not get in the way. Even when the self is present, awareness will root it out. Polishing the tile is simply the master following function. In following function, the mind is revealed; polishing the tile until it becomes a diamond.

Seeking enlightenment during meditation is not possible. We make a vow to attain Supreme Enlightenment but this is different from sitting in meditation and desiring to become enlightened. Buddha Nature is already in everyone. There is no need to seek or desire for it. When we learn to disentangle and settle the mind, when the mind becomes calmer and clearer, Buddha Nature will reveal itself and the nonsensical contradictions regarding the teaching of Chan are eventually resolved. Even when we see things arising in mind, we are aware that they are appearing naturally. We are aware where they are coming from and why without any cogitation.

The illusion of self also begins to reveal by itself. We become aware of the gross sensations and shadows of the mind and eventually even the subtle little ghosts that seem to appear nowhere. Yet again, we are aware where they are coming from and why without any cogitation.

We follow the meditation method in order to bring about clarity of the mind but first, it is very important to have the right view about the method. This right view determines the attitude whether we are going to start with the method right away or waste 10 minutes indulging with the cesspool of thoughts first before starting the method. Be clear about the right view and your attitude before sitting on your cushions or chairs. Desiring to become enlightened will not lead to enlightenment much like rubbing the tile to try to turn it into a diamond. Following the method, having great faith about the practice and doing it diligently are enough.

Writer's comments:
When mind is not calm, it is easier to get drawn into discussions and apprehension. The incomprehensible cannot be described in words. The more one tries to describe it, the more thoughts and concepts arise and therefore more defilement. The more defiled the mind is, the farther away one is from Buddha Nature.
And yes, these comments are just more slop…

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra (Contd.) - 03/26/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:28:52 PDT

http://www.purifymind.com/BuddhahoodSutra.htm

Manjusri is a Bodhisattva of the Mahayana Tradition. He was demonstrating and hoping that in this sutra, ordinary sentient being would see something in his description of that which is inconceivable. Manjusri's teaching goes directly to the point. The practice of Chan likewise cuts right through the illusions including that which thinks is cutting through the illusions.

The inconceivable state is difficult to see. We are not able to penetrate the teachings of the sutras because of our habit energy and causes and conditions that keep us clinging to the notion of the self. Do not look at the words; instead, look beyond the words. This is a good way of eroding the notion of the self. This may sound easy but the self is very resilient about sticking with the host. It is like removing a sticky piece of gum from the bottom of you shoes on a hot summer day. You scrape it and scrape it but the gum keeps on sticking. It may take a little bit of effort to dislodge that gum but it can be done.

The practice of Chan is the same way. The practice teaches us to separate mind from the notion of the self. Chan teaches us that mind left to itself can function perfectly. We cannot vanish all thoughts from mind because they cannot appear anywhere else but in mind. Simply be mindful when thoughts are occurring and especially be mindful when the self is arising. There is no need to eradicate the self; we simply need to shine a light on it and see it for what it is.

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, do you detach yourself from the defilements or abide in them?"
Manjusri said, "All defilements are equal [in reality]. I have realized that equality through right practice. Therefore, I neither detach myself from the defilements nor abide in them. If a sramaga or Brahmin claims that he has overcome passions and sees other beings as defiled, he has fallen into the two extreme views. What are the two? One is the view of Eternalism, maintaining that defilements exist; the other is the view of nihilism, maintaining that defilements do not exist.
World-Honored One, he who practices rightly sees no such things as self or other, existence or nonexistence. Why? Because he clearly comprehends all dharmas."

Chan teaching neither agrees nor disagrees with these views of eternalism or nihilism. In order to have a view, there has to be a viewer (self) and whenever the self is present, then we make a mess of the practice. Manjusri neither detaches himself from the defilements nor abides in them. In this way, the notion of self does not exist.

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what should one rely upon for right practice?"
"He who practices rightly relies upon nothing."
The Buddha asked, "Does he not practice according to the path?"
"If he practices in accordance with anything, his practice will be conditioned. A conditioned practice is not one of equality. Why? Because it is not exempt from arising, abiding, and perishing."

The Buddha asked Manjusri, "Are there any categories in the unconditioned?"
Manjusri answered, "World-Honored One, if there were categories in the unconditioned, then the unconditioned would be conditioned and would no longer be the unconditioned."
The Buddha said, "If the unconditioned can be realized by saints, then there is such a thing as the unconditioned; how can you say there are no categories in "Things have no categories, and the saints have transcended categories. That is why I say there are no categories."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, would you not say you have attained saint-hood?"
Manjusri asked in turn, "World-Honored One, suppose one asks a magically produced person, 'would you not say you have attained sainthood?' What will be his reply?"
The Buddha answered Manjusri, "One cannot speak of the attainment or non-attainment of a magically produced person."
Manjusri asked, "Has the Buddha not said that all things are like illusions?"
The Buddha answered, "So I have, so I have."
"If all things are like illusions, why do you ask me whether or not I have attained sainthood?"
The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what equality in the three vehicles have you realized?"

Manjusri was saying that if we practice hoping that we will be enlightened, we will mess it up. We can still keep the vow to attain Supreme Buddhahood. This is different from practicing to get enlightened because later on, we might be thinking that we have already achieved enlightenment.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Story of the Fox/Monk - 03/19/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:29:31 PDT

Due to a technical glitch, lecture was not recorded.

There was a story of a monk who encountered a fox while walking in the forest. The fox spoke to the monk and asked him to please help him with his ordeal. The fox told him that he also used to be a monk but because he gave the wrong answer to a question, he was reborn as a fox for the past 500 lifetimes as his retribution. The monk felt compassion towards the fox so he asked him, "What was the question?" The fox answered, "Is an enlightened person free from karmic forces?"

Writer's comments:

What you do today or fail to do today will certainly have its consequences tomorrow. "What ye sow, so shall ye reap," as the Bible tells. When someone engages in an unwholesome act, say an unwholesome word or think an unwholesome thought, the consequence may not show up right away. But when conditions are right, say when someone has more than a couple of tequilas and is driving erratically or in excess of the speed limit on the freeway and a CHP car happen to be approaching behind you, I can assure you that you will be pulled over for either a speeding ticket or a sobriety test. In addition, if you say unwholesome words to the officer, I guarantee you that he is not going to be nice to you.

A person may also believe that thinking an unwholesome thought does not carry the same resonance as an unwholesome act. The law of causes and conditions has a way of manifesting by itself. Everything is created by the mind. When unwholesome thoughts appear in mind, the self justifies those thoughts because they can be pleasant thoughts; otherwise, the owner will not be tempted into thinking those thoughts and see them as unwholesome. The owner does not realize however that the self usually performs these justifications beyond the normal level of mental cognition. Causes and conditions never fail. When these thoughts are left unchecked, they can manifest into words which can then lead into action. Thinking about coveting the neighbor's wife or a co-worker for example can lead to very serious consequences. Someone said, "The forbidden fruit is the leading cause of many bad jams."

As practitioners of Chan, students are taught to observe what is going on in mind moment by moment. We are taught to also be clear and be aware of everything occurring around us. We are taught to take full responsibility for all our actions, words and thoughts. There is no such excuse as "I didn't know why it happened" because you were there all the time.

Enlightenment is already inherent in everyone. There is no need to look for it elsewhere but we must be willing to learn to turn the eyes inward and investigate how the mind works. Manjusri said that we must neither detach ourselves from defilements of the mind nor abide by them. When causes and conditions begin to ripen, the sutras and the Dharma will open by themselves like a lotus flower. But as he added, "When a Bodhisattva truly enters the realization of sainthood and become separated from samsara, he emerges from that realization in order to deliver other sentient beings." This is the first of the Four Great Vows of a Mahayana practitioner. Because of this vow, there is again no such thing as enlightenment lest you want to defile your mind and be reborn as a coyote. Causes and conditions never fail and this is the very same reason that not even an enlightened person is free from karmic forces.

When the monk answered the question, the fox was very grateful. After the fox died, the monk knew that he has been released from his fox body and he was given a monk's funeral.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra - 03/12/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:09:10 PDT

http://www.purifymind.com/BuddhahoodSutra.htm

Thus have I heard:
Once the Buddha was dwelling in the garden of Anathapindika, in the Jeta Grove near Shravasti, accompanied by one thousand monks, ten thousand Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, and many gods of the Realm of Desire and the Realm of Form.
At that time, Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Manjusri and the god Suguna were both present among the assembly. The World-Honored One told Manjusri, "You should explain the profound state of Buddhahood for the celestial beings and the Bodhisattvas of this assembly."

Manjusri said to the Buddha, "So be it, World-Honored One. If good men and good women wish to know the state of Buddhahood, they should know that it is not a state of the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, or the mind; nor is it a state of forms, sounds, scents, tastes, textures, or mental objects. World-Honored One, the non-state is the state of Buddhahood. This being the case, what is the state of supreme enlightenment as attained by the Buddha?"

The Buddha said, "It is the state of emptiness, because all views are equal. It is the state of sign-less-ness, because all signs are equal. It is the state of wish-less-ness, because the three realms are equal. It is the state of non-action, because all actions are equal. It is the state of the unconditioned, because all conditioned things are equal."

Manjusri asked, "World-Honored One, what is the state of the unconditioned?"
The Buddha said, "The absence of thought is the state of the unconditioned."
Manjusri said, "World-Honored One, if the states of the unconditioned and so forth are the state of Buddhahood, and the state of the unconditioned is the absence of thought, then on what basis is the state of Buddhahood expressed? If there is no such basis, then there is nothing to be said; and since there is nothing to be said, nothing can be expressed Therefore, World-Honored One, the state of Buddhahood is inexpressible in words."

During Gilbert's last Chan trip to Chicago, there was an elderly gentleman who commented that his Chan lecture was among the best he's heard because it pointed directly to the source and that source is mind. In Wednesday night's lecture of The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra, the Buddha, Manjusri and Subhutti were coursing through the nature of mind. Manjusri explained that the state of Buddhahood is inexpressible in words. It is not in any state perceived by the sense organs or the (ordinary) mind but that it is in this non-state wherein lies the state of Buddhahood.

The Buddha added that in the state of emptiness, there is no right and no wrong, perceptible or imperceptible, lack or excess, desire or deprivation because all of these are equal. No coming or going, no beginning or end and as written in the Heart Sutra, "this voidness of all dharmas is not born nor destroyed, not impure, not pure, does not increase or decrease, there is no suffering, no cause of suffering, no cessation of suffering and no path." It is exactly within these words wherein mind is. But be careful, if you use the cogitating mind to find the "inexpressible," all you'll see is the dust on the mirror.

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, where should the state of Buddhahood be sought?"
Manjusri answered, "It should be sought right in the defilements of sentient beings. Why, because by nature the defilements of sentient beings are inapprehensible. Realization of this is beyond the comprehension of Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas; therefore, it is called the state of Buddhahood."

The Buddha asked Manjusri "Does the state of Buddhahood increase or decreases."
"It neither increases nor decreases."
The Buddha asked, "How can one comprehend the basic nature of the defilements of all sentient beings?"
"Just as the state of Buddhahood neither increases nor decreases, so by their nature the defilements neither increase nor decrease."

The Buddha asked, "What is the basic nature of the defilements?"
"The basic nature of the defilements is the basic nature of the state of Buddhahood. World-Honored One, if the nature of the defilements were different from the nature of the state of Buddhahood, then it could not be said that the Buddha abides in the equality of all things. It is because the nature of the defilements is the very nature of the state of Buddhahood that the Tathágata is said to abide in equality."

The Buddha asked further, "In what equality do you think the Tathágata abides?"
"As I understand it, the Tathágata abides in exactly the same equality in which those sentient beings who act with desire, hatred, and ignorance abide."
The Buddha asked, "In what equality do those sentient beings who act with the three poisons abide?"
"They abide in the equality of emptiness, sign-less-ness, and wish-less-ness."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, in emptiness, how could there be desire, hatred, and ignorance?"
Manjusri answered, "Right in that which exists there is emptiness, wherein desire, hatred, and ignorance are also found."

The Buddha asked, "In what existence is there emptiness?"
"Emptiness is said to exist only in words and language. Because there is emptiness, there are desire, hatred, and ignorance. The Buddha has said, 'Monks! Non-arising, non-conditioning, non-action, and non-origination all exist. If these did not exist, then one could not speak of arising, conditioning, action, and origination. Therefore, monks, because there are non-arising, non-conditioning, non-action, and non-origination, one can speak of the existence of arising, conditioning, action, and origination.' Similarly, World-Honored One, if there were no emptiness, sign-less-ness, or wish-less-ness, one could not speak of desire, hatred, ignorance, or other ideas."
The Buddha said, "Manjusri, if this is the case, then it must be, as you said. That who abides in the defilements abides in emptiness."

Manjusri said, "World-Honored One. It a meditator seeks emptiness apart from the defilements, his search will be in vain How could there be an emptiness that differs from the defilements? If he contemplates the defilements as emptiness, he is said to be engaged in right practice."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, do you detach yourself from the defilements or abide in them?"
Manjusri said, "All defilements are equal [in reality]. I have realized that equality through right practice. Therefore, I neither detach myself from the defilements nor abide in them. If a sramaga or Brahmin claims that he has overcome passions and sees other beings as defiled, he has fallen into the two extreme views. What are the two? One is the view of Eternalism, maintaining that defilements exist; the other is the view of nihilism, maintaining that defilements do not exist.
World-Honored One, he who practices rightly sees no such things as self or other, existence or nonexistence. Why? Because he clearly comprehends all dharmas."

Manjusri also explained that defilements of sentient beings, desires, hatred and ignorance exist because causes and conditions never fail. Emptiness, sign-less-ness, wish-less-ness or non-arising exist only in words and languages but because of this very nature, desires, hatred and ignorance also exist. In the state of Buddhahood, everything is exactly the way things should be because of causes and conditions. In True nature, there is nothing to be expressed in words. Earth's temperature is increasing because causes and conditions never fail. Whether one argues the increase use of fossil fuel or that it is cyclical in nature, it is still because causes and conditions never fail. With words and language, ordinary sentient beings talk about them hence the defilement. In True Nature however, no words and language are necessary. It is precisely the suchness or thusness of all things.

When a practitioner practices diligently, causes and conditions also begin to ripen. As causes and conditions begin to ripen, one can find emptiness in defilements and where there lies emptiness, therein also lies the defilement. This is why Manjusri said neither detach yourself from defilement nor abide in them; neither falling into eternalism nor nihilism. In True Nature, no words and language are necessary. Likewise, the state of Buddhahood is inexpressible.

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what should one rely upon for right practice?"
"He who practices rightly relies upon nothing."
The Buddha asked, "Does he not practice according to the path?"
"If he practices in accordance with anything, his practice will be conditioned. A conditioned practice is not one of equality. Why? Because it is not exempt from arising, abiding, and perishing."

The Buddha asked Manjusri, "Are there any categories in the unconditioned? "
Manjusri answered, "World-Honored One, if there were categories in the unconditioned, then the unconditioned would be conditioned and would no longer be the unconditioned."
The Buddha said, "If the unconditioned can be realized by saints, then there is such a thing as the unconditioned; how can you say there are no categories in "Things have no categories, and the saints have transcended categories. That is why I say there are no categories."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, would you not say you have attained saint-hood?"
Manjusri asked in turn, "World-Honored One, suppose one asks a magically produced person, 'would you not say you have attained sainthood?' What will be his reply?"
The Buddha answered Manjusri, "One cannot speak of the attainment or non-attainment of a magically produced person."
Manjusri asked, "Has the Buddha not said that all things are like illusions?"
The Buddha answered, "So I have, so I have."
"If all things are like illusions, why do you ask me whether or not I have attained sainthood?"
The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what equality in the three vehicles have you realized?"
"I have realized the equality of the state of Buddhahood."
The Buddha asked, "Have you attained the state of Buddhahood?"
"If the World-Honored One has attained it, then I have also attained it."

Thereupon, Venerable Subhuti asked Manjusri, "Has not the Tathágata attained the state of Buddhahood?"
Manjusri asked in turn, "Have you attained anything in the state of Sravaka-hood?"
Subhuti answered, "The liberation of a saint is neither an attainment nor a non-attainment. "
"So it is, so it is. Likewise, the liberation of the Tathágata is neither a state nor a non-state."

Subhuti said, "Manjusri, you are not taking care of the novice Bodhisattvas in teaching the Dharma this way."
Manjusri asked, "Subhuti, what do you think? Suppose a physician, in taking care of his patients, does not give them acrid, sour, bitter, or astringent medicines. Is he helping them to recover or causing them to die?"
Subhuti answered, "He is causing them to suffer and die instead of giving them peace and happiness."

Manjusri said, "Such is the case with a teacher of the Dharma. If, in taking care of others, he fears that they might be frightened and so hides from them the profound meanings of the Dharma and instead speaks to them in irrelevant words and fancy phrases, then he is causing sentient beings to suffer birth, old age, disease, and death, instead offing them health, peace, bliss, and nirvana"

When this Dharma was explained, five hundred monks were freed of attachment to any dharma, were cleansed of defilements and were liberated in mind; eight thousand devas left the taints of the mundane world far behind and attained the pure Dharma-eye that sees through all dharmas; seven hundred gods resolved to attain supreme enlightenment and vowed: "In the future, we shall attain an eloquence like that of Manjusri."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what should one rely upon for right practice?" Manjusri answered, "He who practices rightly relies upon nothing." The Buddha asked, "Does he not practice according to the path?"

The practice of Chan is pointing directly at the path and the path is mind. In sitting meditation, a practitioner learns to quiet the cogitating mind by staying with the method. Scattered thoughts will come and go depending on causes and conditions of the practitioner. The practitioner must neither abide into nor detach from scattered thoughts. Your teacher cannot overemphasize this enough because this is very important. It is only natural for scattered thoughts to exist in mind because of causes and conditions. When one's mind does not latch on to the mouse each time it comes out of the hole on the wall, one is diligent with the practice of sitting. When the practitioner is aware of the mouse but nevertheless stays with the method, this is being diligent and this is enough. Realize that if you are off by even a hair on this, you will be off by more than a mile down the road.

In seeking for the state of Buddhahood, you are seeking for an illusion because the state of Buddhahood is inexpressible. As Subhutti said, "The liberation of a saint is neither an attainment nor a non-attainment." There is nothing to attain as the Heart Sutra says and with nothing to attain, Bodhisattvas have no obstructions in their minds.

The goal of a practitioner is enlightenment but as the masters always say, "the difference between an enlightened person and a non-enlightened one is that a non-enlightened person knows; whereas an enlightened person knows there is no such thing as enlightenment."

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (Contd.) - 02/27/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:02:16 PDT

Mahayana-Sraddhotpada Shastra

Attributed to Asvaghosha (predecessor to Nagarjuna)
Translated by Yoshito S. Hakedas
Copyright 1967 Columbia University Press

A. Mind in Terms of the Absolute

The Mind in terms of the Absolute is the one World of Reality (dharmadhatu) and the essence of all phases of existence in their totality. That which is called "the essential nature of the Mind" is unborn and is imperishable. It is only through illusions that all things come to be differentiated. If one is freed from illusions, then to him there will be no appearances (lakshana) of objects regarded as absolutely independent existences; therefore all things from the beginning transcend all forms of verbalization, description, and conceptualization and are, in the final analysis, undifferentiated, free from alteration, and indestructible. They are only of the One Mind; hence the name Suchness.

All explanations by words are provisional and without validity, for they are merely used in accordance with illusions and are incapable of denoting Suchness. The term Suchness likewise has no attributes which can be verbally specified. The term Suchness is, so to speak, the limit of verbalization wherein a word is used to put an end to words. But the essence of Suchness itself cannot be put an end to, for all things in their Absolute aspect are real; nor is there anything which needs to be pointed out as real, for all things are equally in the state of Suchness. It should be understood that all things are incapable of being verbally explained or thought of; hence the name Suchness.

B. The Mind in Terms of Phenomena

1. The Storehouse Consciousness

The Mind as phenomena (samsara) is grounded on the Tathagata-garbha. What is called the Storehouse Consciousness is that in which "neither birth nor death (nirvana)" diffuses harmoniously with "birth and death (samsara)", and yet in which both are neither identical nor different. This Consciousness has two aspects which embrace all states of existence and create all states of existence. They are: (a) the aspect of enlightenment, and (b) the aspect of nonenlightenment.

Storehouse of consciousness (Alaya Vijnana or Mindground) is from where everything comes from. Everything that comes into being, goes out of being, is to come to being is contained in this vessel without any borders to it; there is nothing outside of this container including nothing.

Mind is like this; nothing outside of mind including nothing. Countless entire galaxies including countless dark voids of space and the known and unknown universe cannot exist without mind. All these phenomena (constantly changing) can only exist in mind. These are not part of mind (because of their impermanence) but are not separate from mind either (because they cannot exist anywhere else but in mind). The difficulty lies when mind starts to cogitate on concepts of empty and non empty. The cogitating mind is not able to comprehend beyond cogitation. A rested mind however can realize emptiness without the notion of emptiness.

Things are the way they are because causes and conditions never fail. This is another suchness of all things. In mindground, this is the suchness of all things arising out of causes and conditions. When one sows a wholesome seed today, depending on conditions, it will most likely bear a wholesome fruit in the future. This fruit is stored in the mindground to be released in the future when conditions ripen. The sower can then pick this fruit and eat it or assign it to someone as in transferring merit.

"The term Suchness is, so to speak, the limit of verbalization wherein a word is used to put an end to words." There is no other way to try to explain suchness. "The term Suchness likewise has no attributes which can be verbally specified."

a. The Aspect of Enlightenment

(1) Original Enlightenment

The essence of Mind is free from thoughts. The characteristic of that which is free from thoughts is analogous to that of the sphere of empty space that pervades everywhere. The one without any second, i.e. the absolute aspect of the World of Reality (dharmadhatu) is none other than the undifferentiated Dharmakaya, the "Essence-body" of the Tathagata. Since the essence of Mind is grounded on the Dharmakaya, it is to be called the original enlightenment. Why? Because "original enlightenment" indicates the essence of Mind (a priori) in contradistinction to the essence of Mind in the process of actualization of enlightenment; the process of actualization of enlightenment is none other than the process of integrating the identity with the original enlightenment.

Before mind can be free of thought, we must first identify thought. What is coming out of mind? It can be a feeling or sensation, perception, emotion, consciousness or most of the time, just a Crispy Crème doughnut. So how does one set the mind free from thought?

In sitting meditation, we sit in a controlled environment. Whatever the method we are in, simply follow the method. When a doughnut or dandelion appears in mind, be aware that they are not part of the method. How the doughnut looks like and what it does to the taste bud have nothing to do with what you are doing so simply return to the method. Being aware of what's happening in mind is enough.

As in the past lectures, when the body and mind becomes one with the method, all other thoughts will slowly melt away. When mind is free from thoughts, there is simply awareness. Everything around will continue to function but there is no cogitation, not even the concept of no cogitation. Essence of mind is free from thoughts. "Because "original enlightenment" indicates the essence of mind, the process of actualization of enlightenment is none other than the process of integrating the identity with the original enlightenment." Dharmakaya, Dharmadatu, Tathagata, Mindground, all indicating essence of mind.

(2) The Process of Actualization of Enlightenment

Grounded on the original enlightenment is nonenlightenment. And because of nonenlightenment, the process of actualization of enlightenment can be spoken of. Now, to be fully enlightened to the fountainhead of Mind is called the final enlightenment; and not to be enlightened to the fountainhead of Mind, nonfinal enlightenment. What is the meaning of this? An ordinary man becomes aware that his former thoughts were wrong; then he is able to stop (nirodha) such thoughts from arising again. Although this sometimes may also be called enlightenment, properly it is not enlightenment at all because it is not enlightenment that reaches the fountainhead of Mind. The followers of Hinayana, who have some insight, and those Bodhisattvas who have just been initiated become aware of the changing state (anyathatva) of thoughts and are free from thoughts which are subject to change [such as the existence of a permanent self (atman), etc.]. Since they have forsaken the rudimentary attachments derived from unwarranted speculation (vikalpa), their experience is called enlightenment in appearance.

Bodhisattvas who have come to the realization of Dharmakaya become aware of the temporarily abiding state (sthiti) of thoughts and are not arrested by them. Since they are free from their rudimentary false thoughts derived from the speculation that the components of the world are real, their experience is called approximate enlightenment. Those Bodhisattvas who have completed the stages of a Bodhisattva and who have fulfilled the expedient means needed to bring forth the original enlightenment to the fullest extent will experience the oneness with Suchness in an instant; they will become aware of how the inceptions of the deluded thoughts of the mind arise (jati), and will be free from the rise of any deluded thought. Since they are far away even from subtle deluded thoughts, they are able to have an insight into the original nature of Mind. The realization that Mind is eternal is called the final enlightenment. It is, therefore, said in a sutra that if there is a man who is able to perceive that which is beyond thoughts he is advancing toward the Buddha wisdom. Though it is said that there is an inception of the rising of deluded thoughts in the mind, there is no inception as such that can be known as being independent of the essence of Mind. And yet to say that the inception of the rising of deluded thoughts is known means that it is known as existing on the ground of that which is beyond thoughts [i.e., the essence of Mind]. Accordingly, all ordinary people are said not to be enlightened because they have had a continuous stream of deluded thoughts and have never been freed from their thoughts; therefore, they are said to be in a beginningless ignorance. If a man gains insight into that which is free from thoughts, then he knows how those thoughts which characterize the mind [i.e., deluded thoughts] arise, abide, change, and cease to be, for he is identical with that which is free from thoughts. But, in reality, no difference exists in the process of the actualization of enlightenment, because the four states [of arising, abiding, etc.] exist simultaneously and each of them is not self-existent; they are originally of one and the same enlightenment [in that they are taking place on the ground of original enlightenment, as its phenomenal aspects]. And, again, original enlightenment, when analyzed in relation to the defiled state [in the phenomenal order], presents itself as having two attributes. One is the "Purity of Wisdom" and the other is the "Suprarational Functions".

A person may experience enlightenment in appearance, approximate enlightenment or non enlightenment. This may perhaps be a hundred lifetimes away from final or supreme enlightenment but nevertheless, regardless of how far the journey is, this person is one step away from beginningless ignorance. Asvaghosha said, "If there is a man/woman who is able to perceive that which is beyond thoughts, he/she is advancing toward the Buddha wisdom."

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Shame and Repentance Practice & Penetrating the Teachings - 02/20/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:17:36 PST

There are two parts to the Wednesday night lecture: First part is Penetrating the Study, the second part is Shame and Repentance/Sense of Humility. We will start with Shame and Repentance/Sense of Humility.

Sense of Humility
by Chan Master Sheng-yen
Chan Magazine, Winter 2000

In Chinese the word "chan kui" means that whatever we do, we could do better and we should do better. This concept is quite useful to our practice. We can and should do more than we have already accomplished. In English we translate this term as "a sense of humility" or "a sense of shame," although neither covers all of the word's connotations and nuances.

When we reflect on ourselves we realize that we have not fulfilled all of our responsibilities. Also, we often do not do our best. In addition, we do things that we should not do, we say things that we should not say, and we have thoughts that we should not think. We even exhibit facial expressions that we should not have! We know that we should not engage in certain actions of body, speech and thought, yet we continue to do them, lacking self-control and self-restraint. Recognizing this, we should generate a sense of humility and shame and we should feel the need to do better.

The idea that we can and should do better can help us all the way to Buddhahood. We have not done our best until we reach Buddhahood, which is perfection.

Shame and Repentance/Sense of Humility
In our individual lifetime, in our country's history and in the history of every civilization on this planet, we as human beings have at one time or another either stepped onto or trampled upon another person's feet or head or neck in order to be where we are at today. Because of our greed, hatred and ignorance, we have caused death or extreme degree of pain and suffering to other sentient beings. It can be in the form of cruel words or lies that we said to them or to others about them, physically or mentally hurting them or it can be an unwholesome act that affected them in a very negative way. These other sentient being(s) can be someone we love like a family member, a friend, a co-worker, a pet or someone living in a different country we have not even seen before.

When we reflect on these and our conduct with them in the past and present, we feel a sense of remorse; we wished we could go back and undo the things that we have set into motion. This feeling of remorse is the development of and the rising of shame and repentance that Chan practitioners must realize.

Shame and repentance is feeling the hurt that we have caused others; feeling this hurt not only in our hearts but also through the eyes of the sentient being(s) we hurt. Shame and repentance is feeling sorry for that conduct and the causes and conditions that we have set into motion. Shame and repentance is asking ourselves, "Why did I do that? What did it accomplish? Was it worth it? And how can I undo those things?" Shame and repentance/sense of humility is telling ourselves, "I will be more mindful from now on. I can change. I will be a better human being." Shame and repentance and sense of humility are something we need to learn and practice and as Master Sheng-yen said, "we can do better and should do better."

Penetrating the Study
There are various ways of practicing Chan. We practice by reading, listening to lectures, or putting into action the purposes of what we have learned. One of the points of the practice is in penetrating the studies and lectures and making it your own.

As we read a sutra or as we listen to lectures, we hear words. Penetrating these words on the other hand is like a small piece of the candy stuck on the back of the tooth. Because it is sweet, we go back to it over and over until it is resolved. When we listen to the lectures, we may understand it on the intellectual level but on the other level, there is still that doubt. We say, "I understand what that meant but why is that doubt still lingering around?" The intellectual level is content but there is that deeper meaning and wisdom to the words that the intellect can never comprehend. So we say, "I want to know what that doubt is all about and what the words really mean."

When we approach this good doubt on this next level, we tend to go back and forth to that line and the ones before it and try to see how they fit just like resolving that stuck piece of candy. As we learn to focus our thought on those words, slowly but surely all other remaining thoughts begin to melt from the mind. Our attention and the whole universe is now on that investigation and doubt, everything else is non-existent (like sitting in meditation). Mind begins to rest in a very quiet and stable state. There is no other thought except that occupying doubt working in the investigation. We become single-minded; just doing function.

In time and with practice, the flower will eventually open up; the study and the sutras will reveal themselves naturally and the penetration of the study becomes your own. The beauty, clearness and simplicity of the Chan practice become self-evident. The answers will not come in words but in the way each petals open on the flower. In this moment, you will understand knowing without knowing because causes and conditions have ripened. The ocean waves have returned to its source. Mind ground is this way. If we can do this, there is no other sutra that we cannot understand.

Writer's comment: When I volunteered to do the summaries, I only wanted to share them with those who missed the lecture hoping this would entice them to attend the class regularly. I did not know that I would also learn to resolve those small pieces of candy stuck on my tooth. There are good days and there are not so good days but there were more good days now than not so I urge all of you to give this a try because this will help your practice. You'll never know what really lies in the deepest corner of your heart unless you look in there. Many thanks to those who responded positively and many thanks to Gilbert for allowing me the practice of becoming a parrot.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Transferring Merit - 02/13/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:27:43 PST

Transferring Merit

Transferring merit is a wholesome action and it is part of our Chan practice. When one engages in listening and teaching the Dharma, giving donation to charity or doing prostrations or recitations for example, the wholesome action of the giver/performer returns to the giver in what is called karmic benefits. These benefits can then be assigned to other people for their own benefit. You can assign the benefit by putting your mind on the wholesome action and where you want the karma of this wholesome action to go to. This is called Transferring Merit.

The recipient(s) perhaps may not receive the full value of the transfer but if they receive a partial merit, this is enough. The donor does not think whether the receiver gets only one merit out of all the merits from the 1000 prostrations that the donor did. The simple act of giving is enough. The donor and the receiver both benefit from the wholesome action. As the donor, your action of transferring merit to another serves to tame the notion of the self just by the action of giving without the idea of expecting something in return. The receiver benefits as well because they are placing their mind and connecting with that donor sentient being. Another good thing about this act of transferring merit is that you can learn to give to anyone all the karmic benefits that you have, and still not lose any of it. Everything the giver gives returns to the giver. But you have to give from the heart, from a Bodhisattva heart, a Buddha heart, the heart mind that is free of the self.

One of the great benefits in the act of transferring merit is that it creates a bridge between two sentient beings. Eventually, one finds that it becomes easier to connect a bridge-work with any sentient being. Then you can start making this connection with any sentient being even without the bridge being there. One then realizes you are looking clearly into mind and later on, there is no looking into mind; just following function. This is just one of the many by-products of transferring merit. Give good wishes to people whether you know them or not, whether you meet them face-to-face or not. Create bridges because you can change people around you with wholesome thoughts. The practice of transferring merit enriches one's practice of Chan and the awareness of mind.

Everything within the realm of mind testifies to mind therefore, every moment of every day, we are constantly swimming in mind. Mind generates everything reflected within it with no discrimination at all. Generate a positive and wholesome thought of accomplishing something with your life and it will eventually bear fruit. Likewise, generate a thought of idleness and this too will bear the fruit of idleness. With this, one can realize the power of mind and the great potentialities that mind brings. Great faith in mind can set into motion potentialities that can affect you and other sentient beings and improve the environment that you are in.

Transferring merit can work in a various ways depending on causes and conditions. You can focus and transfer healing energy as in Chi-gong energy to another, transfer calming energy to help with their vexation or whatever they are suffering from. Remember that mind generates everything reflected within it. Transferring merit is simply one of those reflections so give merit from the heart, from a Bodhisattva heart, a Buddha heart, the heart mind that is free of the self.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (Contd.) & Sitting Meditation Basics - 02/06/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:24:30 PST

There are two parts to the 02/06/2008 lecture. The first part was a continuation on The Awakening of Faith in Mahayaha. The second was the Basics to the Practice of Meditation.

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana
(Mahayana-Sraddhotpada Shastra) Attributed to Asvaghosha
Translated by Yoshito S. Hakedas
Copyright 1967 Columbia University Press

Question: If such is the meaning of the principle of Mahayana, how is it possible for men to conform themselves to and enter into it?
Answer: If they understand that, concerning all things, though they are spoken of, there is neither that which speaks, nor that which can be spoken of, and though they are thought of, there is neither that which thinks, nor that which can be thought of, then they are said to have conformed to it. And when they are freed from their thoughts, they are said to have entered into it. Next, Suchness has two aspects if predicated in words. One is that it is truly empty (sunya), for this aspect can, in the final sense, reveal what is real. The other is that it is truly nonempty (a-sunya), for its essence itself is endowed with undefiled and excellent qualities.
1. Truly Empty
Suchness is empty because from the beginning it has never been related to any defiled states of existence, it is free from all marks of individual distinction of things, and it has nothing to do with thoughts conceived by a deluded mind. It should be understood that the essential nature of Suchness is neither with marks nor without marks; neither not with marks nor not without marks; nor is it both with and without marks simultaneously; it is neither with a single mark nor with different marks; neither not with a single mark nor not with different marks; nor is it both with a single and with different marks simultaneously. In short, since all unenlightened men discriminate with their deluded minds from moment to moment, they are alienated from Suchness; hence, the definition "empty"; but once they are free from their deluded minds, they will find that there is nothing to be negated.
2. Truly Nonempty
Since it has been made clear that the essence of all things is empty, i.e., devoid of illusions, the true Mind is eternal, permanent, immutable, pure, and self-sufficient; therefore, it is called "nonempty". And also there is no trace of particular marks to be noted in it, as it is the sphere that transcends thoughts and is in harmony with enlightenment alone.

PART 1:
Asvaghosha was trying to identify what mind is. In the practice of Chan, we have to work, learn and see what mind is and what mind is not. In the context of Zen, the sand shifts quite frequently and readily that it is difficult to get a firm stance or foundation to base any concept on what mind really is. Mind is constantly trying to think about these concepts but these concepts also are illusory and therefore impermanent.

Chan teaching is trying to point to this impermanence and saying do not approach the practice in this way. It is difficult to simply use words to describe and negate the cogitating mind because it does not work that way. If it was possible to do this, everyone would be instantly enlightened after only attending one Zen class. Likewise is the difficulty in trying to identify mind. If this was possible, there would be no need for Zen schools.

The concepts and notions of the teaching are contradictory and may seem abstract but the more one practices, the more one will realize that the answer is just right at the tip of the nose where it has always been. Mind needs to settle and rest. The more we practice, the more time is allowed for mind to settle and rest. Practicing and listening to the lectures set up the mold that develops the sound foundation to the practice of Chan. The more we practice, the more we will realize that we do not need to know whether we are getting anywhere or not. Following function and just practicing are simply enough.

Gilbert told the story about one Feng-shui master who went to their store and asked his wife Ai-lun, "How long have you been practicing?" Ai-lun answered, "Been practicing for a very long time." He then asked, "What have you gotten out of it?" She replied, "Nothing." Her practice was not about the goal but in the practice itself. Just practicing is enough.

PART 2: BASICS OF SITTING IN MEDITATION:

1. Relax – relax the mind first and then the body. There are varying stages to relaxation. When the body is in pain, it is because body and mind has not yet learned how to relax. When the body is relaxed, the body can endure more. When there is attachment to the relaxed state, one can not relax any further. But when there is no attachment to the relaxed state that one is experiencing, one can relax further.
2. Use the Teachings as the Foundation of the practice – use the teachings and put them into practice when sitting. What if everything really is mind? Can you see what this can do to your mind? Mind will continue to expand with this reality and everything comes to life without you thinking about any of it.
3. Be patient – simply practice. Do not expect to see changes or improvement in your practice. You may not notice the changes but people around you will notice the difference in you.
4. Rest but do not sleep – do not confuse a relaxed mind with a sleepy mind. The reason that we are sleepy is because we have not learned to relax the mind before sleep. Trying to sleep does not have to be a struggle; a relaxed mind can bring good quality sleep. When you find yourself dozing off while sitting, relax the mind and be aware that you are on the method.
5. Do not harvest green fruits – do not pay any attention to any enhanced sensory experience or intuition. You do not have to look at all the billboards coming in front of you when driving. When you stop, look and start picking the green fruits, you are definitely off the method. Let the green fruits go; stay on the method.
6. Keep the body in a proper posture – balance and relax the body so as it does not lean forward or backward or side to side. Keep the spine erect; let the body float or hanging on a string from the top of the head like pearls on a string.
7. Be clear about the method – be sure what your method is and also be sure that you are on that method from one moment to the next. The most common thing that can happen to anyone is finding out that they are not on the method. This is natural; it is also part of the method to have a good memory and return to it whenever you find yourself away from it. No thought is fine as long as there is awareness that one is still on the method. On the other hand, no thought and no awareness of what is going on is like dwelling inside a cold and empty cave. Get out of the devil's cave and turn some awareness lights on.
8. Don't pick up anything nor put anything down – stay on the method and be clear about what is occurring.
9. Don't think – the method does not require any thinking.

Writer's Comments: Part 1: It is common engineering knowledge that the height and size of a building is dependent upon the mass and integrity of its foundation. Even if it was possible for words to describe exactly what mind is, it would not be beneficial to the practitioner because there would not be a firm foundation that would establish what mind really is. Without a solid foundation, it would be easy to lose the essence of Chan. In the slightest wavering of doubt, the practice could crumble and the meager foundation would collapse. This is the very reason that teachers of the way can only attempt to point the fingers to the gate of Chan. It is then up to the students to enter the (gateless) gate and walk the path. Learning to walk the path (practice sitting meditation) is the basic foundation of Chan. When this foundation becomes more firm, the building may crumble when sitting goes sour but the sound foundation will hold. The practice can then resume and rebuild.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana - 01/30/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:21:55 PST

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana
(Mahayana-Sraddhotpada Shastra)

Attributed to Asvaghosha
Translated by Yoshito S. Hakedas
Copyright 1967 Columbia University Press

I take refuge in the Buddha, the greatly Compassionate One, the Savior of the world, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, of most excellent deeds in all the ten directions; And in the Dharma, the manifestation of his Essence, the Reality, the sea of Suchness, the boundless storehouse of excellencies; And in the Sangha, whose members truly devote themselves to the practice, May all sentient beings be made to discard their doubts, to cast aside their evil attachments, and to give rise to the correct faith in the Mahayana, that the lineage of the Buddhas may not be broken off.

The Contents of the Discourse

There is a teaching (Dharma) which can awaken in us the root of faith in the Mahayana, and it should therefore be explained. The explanation is divided into five parts. They are (1) the Reasons for Writing; (2) the Outline; (3) the Interpretation; (4) on Faith and Practice; (5) the Encouragement of Practice and the Benefits Thereof.

"MAHA" in Mahayana means highest and the Mahayana practice is the highest vehicle in terms of Chan training. This is the vehicle used to deliver others and not ourselves so listening to Chan lectures is to listen for the benefit of others that we are going to pass this on to in the future. Likewise, we do not practice for ourselves but rather we practice to deliver others in their suffering.

If we practice in this way, our practice greatly accelerates. Whereas, if we practice for ourselves to end our own suffering and to achieve enlightenment for ourselves, we will obtain some degree of progress but the greatest stride still lies in putting the self down. When we practice for the benefit of others on the other hand, we will be more concerned about their suffering that our own suffering will not seem as bad and we tend not to think about our own suffering as much. Our practice becomes more refined like that of the texture and aroma and taste of a good wine that comes with the right age. This is the fine result when causes and conditions begin to ripen.

Hinayana is called the lesser vehicle because practitioners are only concerned about their own enlightenment and the removal of their own suffering. Nothing wrong with this practice but taming the ego becomes more difficult when the practice is geared towards self-enlightenment.

In the practice of helping others, the ego is less involved hence it does not get in the way or cause problems as much as when we think of ourselves first. As we get into the habit of helping others, we become more adept at helping and it becomes second nature. The self then becomes less active. It eventually moves way in the back seat where it is less bothersome allowing for the true nature of mind in the driver's seat.

PART 1. The Reasons for Writing

Someone may ask the reasons why I was led to write this treatise. I reply: there are eight reasons.

The first and the main reason is to cause men to free themselves from all sufferings and to gain the final bliss; it is not that I desire worldly fame, material profit, or respect and honor.

The second reason is that I wish to interpret the fundamental meaning of the teachings of the Tathagata so that men may understand them correctly and not be mistaken about them.

The third reason is to enable those whose capacity for goodness has attained maturity to keep firm hold upon an unretrogressive faith in the teachings of Mahayana.

The fourth reason is to encourage those whose capacity for goodness is still slight to cultivate the faithful mind.

The fifth reason is to show them expedient means (upaya) by which they may wipe away the hindrance of evil karma, guard their minds well, free themselves from stupidity and arrogance, and escape from the net of heresy.

The sixth reason is to reveal to them the practice of two methods of meditation, cessation of illusions and clear observation (samatha and vipasyana), so that ordinary men and the followers of Hinayana may cure their minds of error.
The seventh reason is to explain to them the expedient means of single-minded meditation (smriti) so that they may be born in the presence of the Buddha and keep their minds fixed in an unretrogressive faith.

The eighth reason is to point out to them the advantages of studying this treatise and to encourage them to make an effort to attain enlightenment. These are the reasons for which I write this treatise.

Question: What need is there to repeat the explanation of the teaching when it is presented in detail in the sutras?

Answer: Though this teaching is presented in the sutras, the capacity and the deeds of men today are no longer the same, nor are the conditions of their acceptance and comprehension. That is to say, in the days when the Tathagata was in the world, people were of high aptitude and the Preacher preached with his perfect voice, different types of people all equally understood; hence, there was no need for this kind of discourse. But after the passing away of the Tathagata, there were some who were able by their own power to listen extensively to others and to reach understanding; there were some who by their own power could listen to very little and yet understand much; there were some who, without any mental power of their own, depended upon the extensive discourses of others to obtain understanding; and naturally there were some who looked upon the wordiness of extensive discourses as troublesome, and who sought after what was comprehensive, terse, and yet contained much meaning, and then were able to understand it. Thus, this discourse is designed to embrace, in a general way, the limitless meaning of the vast and profound teaching of the Tathagata. This discourse, therefore, should be presented.

PART 2. Outline

The reasons for writing have been explained. Next the outline will be given. Generally speaking, Mahayana is to be expounded from two points of view. One is the principle and the other is the significance. The principle is "the Mind of the sentient being". This Mind includes in itself all states of being of the phenomenal world and the transcendental world. On the basis of this Mind, the meanings of Mahayana may be unfolded.

Why? Because the absolute aspect of this Mind represents the essence (svabhava) of Mahayana; and the phenomenal aspect of this Mind indicates the essence, attributes (lakshana), and influences (kriya) of Mahayana itself. Of the significance of the adjective maha (great) in the compound, Mahayana, there are three aspects: (1) the "greatness" of the essence, for all phenomena (dharma) are identical with Suchness and are neither increasing nor decreasing; (2) the "greatness" of the attributes, for the Tathagata-garbha is endowed with numberless excellent qualities; (3) the "greatness" of the influences, for the influences of Suchness give rise to the good causes and effects in this and in the other world alike. The significance of the term yana (vehicle) in the compound, Mahayana: The term yana is introduced because all Enlightened Ones (Buddhas) have ridden on this vehicle, and all Enlightened Ones-to-be (Bodhisattvas), being led by this principle, will reach the stage of Tathagata.

PART 3. Interpretation

The part on outline has been given; next the part on interpretation of the principle of Mahayana will be given. It consists of three chapters: (1) Revelation of the True Meaning; (2) Correction of Evil Attachments; (3) Analysis of the Types of Aspiration for Enlightenment.

CHAPTER ONE Revelation of True Meaning

I. One Mind and Its Two Aspects

The revelation of the true meaning of the principle of Mahayana can be achieved by unfolding the doctrine that the principle of One Mind has two aspects. One is the aspect of Mind in terms of the Absolute (tathata; Suchness), and the other is the aspect of Mind in terms of phenomena (samsara; birth and death). Each of these two aspects embraces all states of existence. Why? Because these two aspects are mutually inclusive.

The aspect of mind in terms of the Absolute is referred to as the Noumenon whereas Phenomenon is the phenomenal nature of mind. Phenomena in Chan means everything that is appearing in mind: all appearances or forms, feeling or sensation, perception, mental formation and consciousness. These phenomena are not part of mind due to their transitory nature but they are also not separate from mind because they cannot appear anywhere else but in mind. In the example of Jolly Ranchers candy, the candy can appear in the form of green or any color in mind. The sour/tart taste, the salivation, perception of like or dislike and the consciousness that come with it appear nowhere else but in mind. But do not confuse these impressions with the Noumenon or mind.

Noumenon (mind) allows these impressions to appear in it like the canvas on a movie screen. Images, sensations, perception, mental formation and the consciousness that come along with the projection on the screen are the phenomena. Mind is the Noumenon and phenomena are the projections appearing in mind. Without the Noumenon (mind), there is no canvas to allow the projections to appear. With mind, projections are allowed to appear. The Noumenon (mind) does not interfere with the constant arising and falling of these impressions. It just is; this is the suchness of mind. This is how the mind works. The two aspects of Noumenon and phenomena are mutually inclusive. Each of these two aspects embraces all states of existence. Each cannot exist without the other. But be very careful to realize the difference when phenomena is appearing onto the pneumenon.

Noumenon is the mind ground from where all things come from and return to without ever anything coming from or returning to. This reality is the fundamental emptiness of mind that enables this to be realized. Everything is where it is supposed to be according to causes and conditions. Whatever seed is put in the Noumenon (mind) will manifest as wholesome or unwholesome fruit according to causes and conditions at work at the time. Chan is looking into and investigating every moment that is occurring as just the way things are according to what is put into mind and causes and conditions.

A. Mind in Terms of the Absolute

The Mind in terms of the Absolute is the one World of Reality (dharmadhatu) and the essence of all phases of existence in their totality. That which is called "the essential nature of the Mind" is unborn and is imperishable. It is only through illusions that all things come to be differentiated. If one is freed from illusions, then to him there will be no appearances (lakshana) of objects regarded as absolutely independent existences; therefore all things from the beginning transcend all forms of verbalization, description, and conceptualization and are, in the final analysis, undifferentiated, free from alteration, and indestructible. They are only of the One Mind; hence the name Suchness.

All explanations by words are provisional and without validity, for they are merely used in accordance with illusions and are incapable of denoting Suchness. The term Suchness likewise has no attributes which can be verbally specified. The term Suchness is, so to speak, the limit of verbalization wherein a word is used to put an end to words. But the essence of Suchness itself cannot be put an end to, for all things in their Absolute aspect are real; nor is there anything which needs to be pointed out as real, for all things are equally in the state of Suchness. It should be understood that all things are incapable of being verbally explained or thought of; hence the name Suchness.

Question: If such is the meaning of the principle of Mahayana, how is it possible for men to conform themselves to and enter into it?

Answer: If they understand that, concerning all things, though they are spoken of, there is neither that which speaks, nor that which can be spoken of, and though they are thought of, there is neither that which thinks, nor that which can be thought of, then they are said to have conformed to it. And when they are freed from their thoughts, they are said to have entered into it. Next, Suchness has two aspects if predicated in words. One is that it is truly empty (sunya), for this aspect can, in the final sense, reveal what is real. The other is that it is truly nonempty (a-sunya), for its essence itself is endowed with undefiled and excellent qualities.

1. Truly Empty

Suchness is empty because from the beginning it has never been related to any defiled states of existence, it is free from all marks of individual distinction of things, and it has nothing to do with thoughts conceived by a deluded mind. It should be understood that the essential nature of Suchness is neither with marks nor without marks; neither not with marks nor not without marks; nor is it both with and without marks simultaneously; it is neither with a single mark nor with different marks; neither not with a single mark nor not with different marks; nor is it both with a single and with different marks simultaneously. In short, since all unenlightened men discriminate with their deluded minds from moment to moment, they are alienated from Suchness; hence, the definition "empty"; but once they are free from their deluded minds, they will find that there is nothing to be negated.

2. Truly Nonempty

Since it has been made clear that the essence of all things is empty, i.e., devoid of illusions, the true Mind is eternal, permanent, immutable, pure, and self-sufficient; therefore, it is called "nonempty". And also there is no trace of particular marks to be noted in it, as it is the sphere that transcends thoughts and is in harmony with enlightenment alone.

B. The Mind in Terms of Phenomena
1. The Storehouse Consciousness
The Mind as phenomena (samsara) is grounded on the Tathagata-garbha. What is called the Storehouse Consciousness is that in which "neither birth nor death (nirvana)" diffuses harmoniously with "birth and death (samsara)", and yet in which both are neither identical nor different. This Consciousness has two aspects which embrace all states of existence and create all states of existence. They are: (a) the aspect of enlightenment, and (b) the aspect of nonenlightenment.

a. The Aspect of Enlightenment

(1) Original Enlightenment

The essence of Mind is free from thoughts. The characteristic of that which is free from thoughts is analogous to that of the sphere of empty space that pervades everywhere. The one without any second, i.e. the absolute aspect of the World of Reality (dharmadhatu) is none other than the undifferentiated Dharmakaya, the "Essence-body" of the Tathagata. Since the essence of Mind is grounded on the Dharmakaya, it is to be called the original enlightenment. Why? Because "original enlightenment" indicates the essence of Mind (a priori) in contradistinction to the essence of Mind in the process of actualization of enlightenment; the process of actualization of enlightenment is none other than the process of integrating the identity with the original enlightenment.

(2) The Process of Actualization of Enlightenment

Grounded on the original enlightenment is nonenlightenment. And because of nonenlightenment, the process of actualization of enlightenment can be spoken of. Now, to be fully enlightened to the fountainhead of Mind is called the final enlightenment; and not to be enlightened to the fountainhead of Mind, nonfinal enlightenment. What is the meaning of this? An ordinary man becomes aware that his former thoughts were wrong; then he is able to stop (nirodha) such thoughts from arising again. Although this sometimes may also be called enlightenment, properly it is not enlightenment at all because it is not enlightenment that reaches the fountainhead of Mind. The followers of Hinayana, who have some insight, and those Bodhisattvas who have just been initiated become aware of the changing state (anyathatva) of thoughts and are free from thoughts which are subject to change [such as the existence of a permanent self (atman), etc.]. Since they have forsaken the rudimentary attachments derived from unwarranted speculation (vikalpa), their experience is called enlightenment in appearance.

Bodhisattvas who have come to the realization of Dharmakaya become aware of the temporarily abiding state (sthiti) of thoughts and are not arrested by them. Since they are free from their rudimentary false thoughts derived from the speculation that the components of the world are real, their experience is called approximate enlightenment. Those Bodhisattvas who have completed the stages of a Bodhisattva and who have fulfilled the expedient means needed to bring forth the original enlightenment to the fullest extent will experience the oneness with Suchness in an instant; they will become aware of how the inceptions of the deluded thoughts of the mind arise (jati), and will be free from the rise of any deluded thought. Since they are far away even from subtle deluded thoughts, they are able to have an insight into the original nature of Mind. The realization that Mind is eternal is called the final enlightenment. It is, therefore, said in a sutra that if there is a man who is able to perceive that which is beyond thoughts he is advancing toward the Buddha wisdom. Though it is said that there is an inception of the rising of deluded thoughts in the mind, there is no inception as such that can be known as being independent of the essence of Mind. And yet to say that the inception of the rising of deluded thoughts is known means that it is known as existing on the ground of that which is beyond thoughts [i.e., the essence of Mind]. Accordingly, all ordinary people are said not to be enlightened because they have had a continuous stream of deluded thoughts and have never been freed from their thoughts; therefore, they are said to be in a beginningless ignorance. If a man gains insight into that which is free from thoughts, then he knows how those thoughts which characterize the mind [i.e., deluded thoughts] arise, abide, change, and cease to be, for he is identical with that which is free from thoughts. But, in reality, no difference exists in the process of the actualization of enlightenment, because the four states [of arising, abiding, etc.] exist simultaneously and each of them is not self-existent; they are originally of one and the same enlightenment [in that they are taking place on the ground of original enlightenment, as its phenomenal aspects]. And, again, original enlightenment, when analyzed in relation to the defiled state [in the phenomenal order], presents itself as having two attributes. One is the "Purity of Wisdom" and the other is the "Suprarational Functions".

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Chan and Emptiness (Sunyata) - 01/23/2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:13:37 PST

Chan and "Emptiness" (Sunyata)
by Master Sheng-yen

Chan Magazine, Winter 2000

This is an excerpt from a book entitled Hoofprint of the Ox, which is based on lectures by master Sheng-yen translated, compiled, arranged, and edited by Professor Dan Stevenson.

Chan and Buddhist Meditation

The word "chan," from which Chan Buddhism or Zen Buddhism takes its name, is a Chinese transliteration of the Indian Buddhist term dhyana, meaning "meditative concentration" or "meditative practice." Applied specifically to the Chan or Zen school, it carries the particular sense of the cultivation and experience of enlightenment itself, not just any sort of meditative experience. Thus Chan or Zen Buddhism is often characterized as the school of meditative experience qua enlightened insight par excellence, for it claims to embody and transmit the living wisdom that Siddhartha Gautama achieved when he became the Buddha or "enlightened one."

The practice of Chan brings the Buddhist term "dhyana" to a much deeper meaning than just simply a meditative process or concentration. In Chan, there is transmission of very high and unexcelled wisdom (Maha Prajna-paramita) without there being a transmission or subject and object. It is self-evident but it cannot be achieved by words; one has to experience it without the sense of self being there.

The concept by which Chinese Chan was born with emphasizes a different way of practice. Apart from other practices, the Mahayana practice is the highest form because we don't practice for our own self but for the deliverance of other sentient beings from their suffering. When we practice in this way, we no longer try to achieve anything for ourselves. The mind becomes clearer and more stabilized. "Having nothing to obtain and having no place to stand," one simply walks the path; simply following function. Mind looking into mind; one thought for ten thousand years.

As the timeless insight that informed the Buddha's fashioning and preaching of the Buddhist doctrine, this enlightenment can be said to both precede and "stand apart from" the spoken word of the Buddhist sutras. But at the same time, it is immanent to the sutras and the spoken Dharma as the very subject around which they orbit. For the scriptures both take it as their foundation and aspire to point the way back to it, as a finger might point to the moon or a raft be constructed to help one reach the other shore. The living wisdom to which the Buddha awakened and to which his spoken teachings aspire is the heart of Buddhist tradition in all its forms.

This being the case, Chan is not something utterly distinct from the sutras, much less antagonistic to them. For it embodies the very insights that the sutras seek to express, allowing for a profound complementarity between the two: What is stated in words in the Buddhist scriptures will be confirmed in fact in the course of Chan practice, while what is experienced in Chan practice will resonate immediately with what is written in the sutras.

Today one hears many American students say that, as practitioners of Zen or Chan, they don't need to learn or think about the Buddhist sutras and their teachings. Just sitting in zazen is the real practice; reading and studying written words is for soulless pedants and academics. In China, Korea, and Japan, where knowledge of the Buddhist teachings was widespread, such a rejection of the written word makes poignant sense. But this is a very dangerous attitude in a culture that has no native traditions of Buddhist learning to speak of. For silence, in and of itself, is anything but innocent or neutral, much less free of ignorance. How the more problematic it becomes when it is blissful!

The spoken words of the sutras are very important. Words are necessary to convey the meaning - you do not need the sutras to find it but you need to read the sutras to be able to find it. Culturally here in the US, we are not properly structured toward the practice of Chan and we think that sitting on a cushion is enough. In just sitting or the practice of meditation, the most that we maybe able to progress up to is the unification of mind and this is where people get lost because they stop the search there perceiving this to be enlightenment.

Without the basis to properly understand "Sunyata" or true emptiness, they will mistake other experiences to be this form of true emptiness. Beware of the experience of dead wood or cold stone (no thoughts arising) because perhaps all you did is turn the awareness machine "off". This is an experience in dwelling in emptiness. In this state, there is no awareness, no wisdom and no compassion arising. It is simply a disengagement of body and mind from reality. This is the very reason why we need to study the sutras, listen to the lectures and practice meditation so that we will become familiar with these different states of mind.

While an empty state of dead wood and cold stone experience can lead the practitioner nowhere, a blissful state is even more dangerous. In an empty state, one can realize the trap that he/she is in because there is nothing going on there and step away from the trap the next time. But in a blissful state, it is so blissful there that one might not realize the trap and worse, not want to leave that blissful state.

Like the story of Ananda (cousin to the Buddha) who does not want to practice any more because he already has everything he wanted. His practice was so good that he was assured he would be reborn in the heaven realm. The Buddha showed him heaven and the life after heaven that changed him. After realizing that even eons of the blissful state in heaven has to come to an end, he still has to come to terms with his next lifetime-to-be. The Buddha took him to hell and showed him the cauldron of boiling pot of oil just waiting for him there as soon as he leaves the heaven realm.

Blissful state is a deeper trap than a dull state. One way to avoid a trap is to know its presence. This is the very reason why we need to study the sutras, listen to the lectures and practice meditation so that we will become familiar with these different states of mind.

Gilbert told the story about one student becoming enlightened in a temple. When this was announced, all the monks rushed over and asked him, "How does it feel to be enlightened?" The student said, "…as miserable as ever."

The reality in this human realm is that no one is exempt from the law of karma and causes and conditions. This is another thusness of all things. As we age, the body will change and feel different. As relationships change, some things will become pleasant and unpleasant. As one wins the superlotto, this person will need to find ways to deal with all this winning. Before enlightenment, the student was aware that he/she was not enlightened. After enlightenment, the student realized that there is no such thing as enlightenment because causes and conditions still apply. The bones will still ache as we get older, relationships will still test our calmness of mind and superlotto winning perhaps may impose more problems than solutions to everyday living. After enlightenment, suffering will still exist but there will be much less attachments to them.

Chan/Zen and the sutras are both the wisdom of the Buddha, and between the two there is no real discrepancy. Without the Buddha's word how would we ever hear or think to seek the Dharma, much less begin to fulfill our vow to help others on the path to enlightenment? If one has already set out on the path of "Zen" or "Chan," what is this "enlightenment" that you are seeking? What are the aims of "Zen practice"? What does it entail and how does it "work"? If you did start to ask such questions about Zen, you would probably hear a lot of aphorisms, sayings, and stories from previous masters, all of them gleaned from books. If you started to look into this Chan or Zen literature you would soon discover that it is more extensive than any other school of East Asian Buddhism, even the doctrinal ones! Indeed, to be a good priest or Zen master in Japan, one must be trained in this literature through and through. You would also find that the ancient Chan masters and patriarchs were themselves highly literate individuals, whose teachings were deeply imbued with the language of the Buddhist sutras. Moreover, of all the specialized ideas that one might come across, by far the most common would be liberative insight or wisdom (chih-hui; prajna) and its correlate teachings of "emptiness" (k'ung; sunyata), "having nothing to obtain" (wu so-te; anupalabda) and "having no place to stand or abide" (wu so-chu; apratistha).

Other methods of practice use impeccable ways and logic to achieve realization. Chan use an incredible wealth of sutras and treatises and use these teachings to support the practice. It serves no good to accumulate these phrases, sayings and information. Realization comes from using the teachings, sayings and phrases in support of the practice.

Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth Indian patriarch and first Chinese patriarch of Chan, once remarked, "The Buddhas expound the Dharma of emptiness in order to eradicate the myriad false views. But should you then cling to emptiness, even the Buddhas will be unable to do anything to help you. When there is arising, it is only emptiness that arises; when there is perishing, it is only emptiness that perishes. In reality nothing whatsoever arises or perishes."[1]

When we perceive in a linear way or quantitative way, we cogitate. When we cogitate, we are off the practice. Chan is beyond conception, it is like "a flea copulating with an elephant."

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

1. From Ta-mo lun, in Yanagida Seizan, ed. Daruma no goroku. Zen no goroku 1 (Tokyo: Chikuma shoten, 1969), p. 58.

Dharma Talk, January 16, 2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:37:37 PST

Chan 101

There was this one master who came to see Hui-Neng to pay him respect. When he bowed, Hui-Neng noticed that his head did not touch the floor (as in giving respect when doing prostration). This master did not give a complete respect when he bowed to him. To Hui-Neng, this did not matter but he realized that this master still has too much idea of self. By not bowing in a proper way, he was actually harming his own self. Hui-Neng pointed to him about his incomplete bow and started asking him about what he had been studying. The master said that he memorized the Lotus Sutra and had recited it at an incredible amount of times. But yet, he did not penetrate the sutra because of his idea of self-importance. This self-importance as an individual that he was able to accomplish these things became the kind of albatross around this master’s neck. This is very sad but as he started studying with Hui-Neng, he eventually achieved realization.

There was another Chan story about two monks who keep fighting over a cat. Both of them wanted sole ownership of the cat so eventually they went to their master (Nan-Chuan) to ask him to resolve the dispute. They each presented their arguments as to why they should own the cat. After hearing bo th sides, the master reluctantly said that there is only one way to solve the problem and that is to cut the cat in half. Each one of the two monks ended up with half a cat.

After (soon-to-be master) Pai-Chang (Chao-chou/Zhaozhou - ed) returned to the temple from his travel, he went to the master’s room and the monks told him what has happened and asked him what he thought about it. Pai-Chang took his sandals off, put them on top of his head, stood up and walked out of the room.

There was another story about the Incredible Monk who came to visit this small town. The town people were very excited and humbled that this Incredible Monk chose their town to visit. The monk took residence at this lady’s house and the people were making quite a bit of notice about his presence. The lady of the house has a son. He was a very naughty boy and did not like all the attention being given to this stranger as he was used to having all the attention given to him. When the master was seated at the dining table, the little boy took a chamber pot (small portable toilet pot in those days) and turned it over onto the monk’s head and left it there. Apparently, the chamber pot was not empty.

The people were all aghast at what they saw. This very famous and humble monk now has a dripping chamber pot on his head. The monk got up from his seat and started walking into town. This made quite a commotion because everyone was shocked to see that he still has the dripping chamber pot on top of his head. He walked till he reached the river and calmly washed himself and the chamber pot off. When he was done, all he said was, “A toilet on a toilet” or in this case, a chamber pot on a chamber pot.

Eradication of the self does not mean eradication of mind. For people new to Chan, this becomes very disconcerting because they believe that they cannot live without their self-identity, self-worth or self-importance. Actually, the idea of self is where all problems come from. Without this idea of self, we would not have to fight with our neighbors over 6-12 inches of unused property or travel across the ocean to cause harm or fight with someone. But when we disregard the notion of self, we begin to see things much clearer. When mind is at rest, wisdom and compassion manifest by themselves.

The master had this idea of self-importance that he was able to completely recite the Lotus Sutra for so many times without a mistake and this manifested in the incomplete bow to Hui-Neng. But when he started studying with him and learned to drop the idea of self, he achieved realization.

Pai-Chang took his slippers off and put them on top of his head and left the room signifying the upside-down thinking of humans and the two monks fighting over a cat and the master who decided to have the cat cut in half. The cat’s death need not be if not for the notion of the self and greediness of the two monks fighting over it and the master's lack of wisdom that decided its cutting in half.

The Incredible Monk however had no notion of self-importance, self-worth or self-identity. No matter how the people responded when the naughty little boy poured the contents of the chamber pot on top of his head, his clear mind did nor waiver. Instead, he simply followed function with no apprehension or discrimination of what just happened. He calmly stood up, walked across town till he reached the river and simply washed himself and the chamber pot off. And the only reply heard from him was, “A toilet on a toilet.”

The first toilet is analogous to the illusory mind which gets us into trouble all the time. The little boy’s jealousy and sense of self caused his parent so much disappointment and humiliation to this Incredible Monk and to the people in town. The second toilet refers to the Incredible Monk’s “no sense of self” or no no-self. There was no self-importance, self-worth or self- identity on him at that time and therefore no suffering.

One can fully function without the self. Without it, wisdom and compassion manifest by themselves and life becomes easier to deal with. As Chan practitioners, we need to see when the red apple arises in mind and when the self interferes in the natural functioning of mind. Like in last week’s lecture, it is easier to spot the red apple than the self. But with the practice of calming the mind during meditation, it eventually becomes easier to spot both.

~Class summary by Rick Cabrera

Dharma Talk, January 09, 2008

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:22:57 PST

Silent Illumination

The technique of Silent Illumination is more than just sitting and expecting something to happen during meditation. Chan teaches an important component of Silent Illumination. That component is the awareness that thoughts are arising in mind and that they are naturally and perfectly arising in mind because of causes and conditions (with no grasping, no apprehension and no clinging to what are occurring). Everything that happens occurs perfectly in response to what we put into mind. For example, students are drawn to this class because of their curiosity to learn to quiet the mind, ease some suffering or learn to meditate. Everything occurs in this way; everything is exactly where it should be.

But when we act on our concept of how things are supposed to be, we mess things up and we allow the self to govern our lives. Eventually, we create this illusion that the self is real. When we think this person should be like this or that, we engage in likes and dislikes regarding this person. Chan teaches the difference between knowing the reality that things are occurring naturally according to causes and conditions and acting on the concept of the self and the way we believe the world should be.

When we perpetuate the concept of the self, we begin to believe to practice to save and deliver the self and then we lose the awareness that the notion of self is itself an illusion. The “red apple” appears nowhere else but in mind according to what we put in mind. Causes and conditions never fail; it enables that apple to appear nowhere else. The apple exercise enables us to know that the red apple is not real. It appears in mind just like the concept of the self or ego. It is more difficult to spot the ego or the self from the apple but when mind is illuminated, it is easier to spot both.

The self will always want to take the front seat, will always want to know and cause trouble while the illumination of mind takes the backseat.

We should practice and investigate where our thoughts arise. These thoughts arise in mind and they arise naturally because of causes and conditions. The important component of Silent Illumination is knowing whenever thoughts arise and why they arise but with no concept of what is and why it is arising. This is knowing without knowing. Chan is this way.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Dharma Talk, December 26, 2007

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:05:15 PST

The Four Noble Truths

1. Suffering exists.
2. Suffering has an identifiable cause.
3. That cause may be terminated.
4. The means by which that cause may be terminated leads to enlightenment (Buddhahood)

The Four Noble Truths sets forth the foundational principles of the practice. The goal of the practice of Chan is the elimination of all suffering. They are called noble because suffering is real and termination of suffering is a reachable goal.

The fourth Noble Truth and the terms enlightenment and Buddhahood has nothing mysterious and special about it. Buddhahood simply means an ordinary mind that is free from vexations, a calm mind, a non- discriminating mind. Practitioners make the vow to attain Supreme Buddhahood as a goal. Masters also aim for it and make the same vow to accomplish it. In the method of relaxing the mind, one must investigate and realize that everything appearing in mind is not part of mind because all of these appearances are impermanent (always changing). However, these appearances are also not separate from mind because they appear nowhere else but in mind. Thus, mind is a manifestation of what is/are occurring in it; all appearances occurring in mind is nothing but mind. This investigation of mind, the understanding and realization of these manifestations eventually lead to an ordinary mind that is free from vexation, discrimination and apprehension.

The fourth Noble Truth is a process and the goal is to follow the instructions of the method in order to terminate the cause of suffering. Adherence to the directions is a must before desired results can be achieved. In the same manner as not taking a short cut or deviating from a known recipe when baking a cake, desired results are achieved when the baker precisely follows the mixing of the ingredients and baking temperature and time involved with the cake.

The second and third Noble Truths look into the types of suffering, their causes and a deeper understanding of the nature of suffering. Suffering can manifest in many forms: words that others said to us, words we wished we had not said to others, words or thoughts that make us worry, or events/incidents that happened to us. We have to recognize where suffering comes from. Some are bothered by the environment; too cold or too hot, too noisy. Some have suffering from their mind; fears of events to come, things we wished we have not said, or words we hear from others. There is also suffering when things change; when our friendship/relationship or when marriage turns into a separate course. Even when these relationships remain great and unchanged for a long time, this will also cause suffering because it is inevitable that all things change. We will grow older and we each have a finite number of breaths left in this lifetime. When we desire something and not receive it, we suffer. Likewise when we get what we desired, there is still that eventual loss and when that happens, we suffer. When we feel hate or become greedy, we cause others to suffer and eventually, this suffering returns to the sender. Clinging to worldly things will also guarantee suffering.

Failure to identify the causes of suffering and our ignorance and inability to accept the impermanence of all things are the main causes of suffering. When we realize that appearances that cause us suffering happen because of causes and conditions and when we realize that even suffering is impermanent like all things, we will have less to suffer about. Understanding and acceptance of the True Nature of all things, everything becomes clearer; mind is less agitated. When we see things as they are with no apprehension and vexation, we become better prepared for whatever comes our way. When we take the time to enjoy the present and live every moment and the next, there is less suffering.

Gilbert told the story of the two monks crossing the muddy creek. There was a beautiful young woman also trying to cross but didn’t want to get mud on her pretty dress. One of the monks offered to carry her across. She accepted and after he set her down on the other side, she thanked him and the monk returned it with a bow. Two or three miles later, the other monk said, “I bet you are still thinking about that pretty girl that you helped cross the creek.” The monk said, “Oh her, I set her down back there by the side of the creek, it seems like you carried her all this way.”

Most of the time, we are like that other monk. We have not learned to put our clinging and vexations down. We have not learned to rest the mind and so we suffer. Learn to ease the suffering of others and we will have less time to think of our own suffering. When we learn to accept things as they are with no vexations and clinging, when we realize the impermanence of all things, when we realize that everything happens because of causes and conditions, mind becomes calmer and less agitated. This calm and relaxed mind is the goal of the practitioner.

Writer’s comments:
In our garden of life, weeds always grow and problems do happen. It has been this way for eons. Life would be less challenging and boring without (some) problems and algebra and trigonometry will not make sense without them. It is enough that we pull the weeds out of the garden and do whatever we can to correct or alleviate the present problem. After all possible corrective action is done, there is not much to do but to rest the mind. When the weeds reappear, pull them out again or don't if you prefer. But do not allow vexation turn you to hate the weeds; simply understand that it is natural for weeds to grow in any garden. I have not seen any garden without them.

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Dharma Talk, December 19, 2007

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:55:05 PST

Chan Class Questions and Answers Summary

Question: What do you think of the statement "There are no facts; everything that you think of is based on belief."
Answer: The idea of saying there are no facts and anything is based on belief opens up a lot of things and anyone can do whatever they want with that kind of question and anyone can interpret it in any way they want to. For example, one can say that is nonsensical because there is no fact, everything is based on belief; and if there is no fact then there is no "you." If there is no you, then there is no belief. So where does one go with that statement? It doesn't really get anywhere.
The important idea of mind and no mind in the practice will ultimately lead to a reconciliation whereas in conceptual thought, there is no reconciliation because of the appearance of the two opposites. But when say we don't have mind; then that is just mind. That maybe is nonsensical but when we play with the concept, Chan is simply asking, " Who wants to know what the answer is?" This is the point where we abandon the concept of the ego. Jumping into the void is understanding that everything around us is empty including our idea of perceiving that everything is empty. When we settle and rest the mind, there is an awareness of knowing without knowing and thinking without thinking. Conceptual thoughts will see this as irreconcilable opposites but the application of the practice of Chan on this again ultimately leads to a reconciliation. This reconciliation cannot be expressed in words because this must be experienced by the practitioner. The exploration of practice of Chan is what leads to this reconciliation. Being right or wrong is not that important; in Chan, this reconciliation solves the idea of right and wrong.

Question: The fundamentals of what is being taught in this Chan class (in trying to keep away from the ego) date back in the 14^th – 16^th century. Are there newly published books beside Master Sheng-Yen's? Are you working on publishing one yourself?
Answer: Gilbert said, "About ten years ago I tried to write a book and Master Sheng-Yen said set it down for a while. He said, "these are just my words you are using." And I said, "yes" and Master Sheng-Yen looked at me in a funny way." Later on, Gilbert read in a book that Master Sheng-Yen's master said the same thing to him; that he was just using his words, and Master Sheng-yen said, "yes."
Master Sheng-Yen recently published a book where 4 Chan masters were in there with their teachings of Chan. Two masters were from the 7^th century, there was Master Shun-Yun (Empty Cloud) and then Master Sheng-Yen himself. The teachings of these masters express the root and lineage of the teachings from the 7 ^th century to Gilbert's teaching in class. Faithfulness to the teaching is there. The concepts of these classical teachings withstood the test of time because they are still much applicable today as they were during that time. The present interpretation and analogy of this live classical Chan can be felt in today's class as if Matsu, Pai-chang, Hui-hai, Zhongfeng Mingben and Ocean Cloud themselves were teaching the class.

Question: [There was a cultural question about the different Buddhist practices that was not clearly picked up by the recorder.]
Answer: There are many paths to the Buddhist practice; there is Chan, Zen, Pureland School, Theravadin, and Tibetan just to name a few. Regardless of the path one chooses, the path still leads to the same place. Some paths take longer, some paths are more direct but all roads eventually lead to reconciliation. Sentha added that it does not matter whether one is adept in the Dharma or not. One of the Buddha's disciples was not able to remember any of the words of the Dharma and yet reached enlightenment simply by doing what he was told to do when sweeping the courtyard. Simply following function is one of the important teachings of the Chan practice. As we simply follow function without apprehension, mind is calm. This is enough; this is the practice of Chan.

Question: What does Chan think about Reincarnation?
Answer: There is a Hindu concept of Transmigration of Souls and goes somewhat in parallel with the Christian concept of Reincarnation. Since Chan does not recognize the ego or an individual lifened being, there isn't really a concept of reincarnation but it does not however negate the concept of reincarnation. Because of the product of past causes and conditions, each one of us was reborn into this realm. If causes and conditions were different in the past lifetime on the other hand, we each could have been reborn into another realm. It is not called souls being reborn but rather a product of causes and conditions. In the analogy of souls bobbing on the river of reincarnation, Chan is simply the river and the current itself rather than the souls bobbing on the river. Whatever causes and conditions happened upstream will be reflected further downstream due to causes and conditions. In Chan, there is reward and retribution because causes and conditions never fail. On the deeper end however, there is neither reward nor retribution; just appearances in mind as products of causes and conditions.

In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha asked Subhuti, "Subhuti, if there are as many Ganges rivers as the sand grains of the Ganges and if a good man or good woman filled three thousand galaxies of worlds with the seven treasures for each sand grain in all those Ganges rivers, and gave them all away in gifts of alms, would he or she gain great merit?"
Subhuti answered, "Great indeed, World-Honored One."
Then Buddha declared, "Nevertheless, Subhuti, if a good man or a good woman studies this discourse only so far as to retain four lines, and teaches and explains them to others, the consequent merit would be far greater."
"The sincere act of charity however huge that charity is is nothing compared to the act of explaining four lines of the Diamond Sutra to others. This teaching of the sutra can set things in motion which may relieve suffering for an individual and allow that individual to deliver others in their suffering and hopefully stop the turning of the wheel of Samsara (birth and rebirth). Whereas charity although an important trait in Chan, is transitory and therefore empty.

Writer's comments:
Lao-Tzu said: "There are no fixed judgments of right and wrong in the world. People each judge as right whatever they consider pleasant and as wrong whatever they consider unpleasant. Thus, the search for right is not search for truth, but search for those who agree with oneself; it is not a departure from wrong, but a departure from those who disagree with one's feelings and ideas.
Now if I want to choose what is right and abide by it, and pick out what is wrong to depart from it, I do not know what society calls right and wrong. Those who aim for accord are increasingly liked as their words hit the mark; those who are personally aloof are viewed with suspicion as their strategies hit the mark. If I want to be correct myself in my dealings with others, how do I know from what perspective society looks at me? If I join in the customary race, that is like trying to run away from the rain; wherever you go, you get wet.
If you want to be in emptiness, then you cannot be empty. When you do not contrive emptiness but are spontaneously empty, this is what is desired and it brings everything into reconciliation. Communion of the Way is like the axle of a carriage which does not move itself yet enables the carriage to travel thousands of miles, turning in an inexhaustible basis."
- Wen-Tzu, Understanding The Mysteries; Further Teachings of Lao-Tzu. Translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Dragon Editions 1992

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Dharma Talk, December 12, 2007

gilbert@riversidechan.org — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:40:48 PST

In the practice of searching for mind, sometimes the practice may go stale or we might begin to have doubts about the practice. This is natural and puts no fault on the practitioner.

On the other hand, there comes a point in time when advanced practitioners start to think they've got it. When this very moment happens and we think we've got it, we are actually off. When we think that we understand things or we feel that we know what mind is, we are off by a thousand miles. No matter what is said about mind, we can not know what mind is even though we use mind everyday. The idea of knowing mind is different than the idea of the awareness of mind. In the knowing of mind, we have these ideas of concepts learned in Dharma training. We begin to recognize these concepts and we create a construct of the mind based on these concepts. By doing that, we cling to these constructs. This is a form of attachment. The practice is not this way. Let the mind be because it is not something we can hold on to. Simply aware of it and functioning in the present moment is enough.

When we think we've got it, we then stop the search and the investigation of mind. The investigation is the most important aspect of the practice; constantly investigating what mind is and the causes and conditions arising in mind is what Chan is all about. When the search for mind is on, mind is quiet and still. This calmness of mind is the nature of Chan. This quiet and stillness will eventually develop into an awareness which in time, this awareness becomes transparent and the practice no longer needs to look into mind. Little by little, there comes a natural process to slowly drop that notion of the personality looking into mind.

Do not try to strip these notions of personality or ego. Personality is a vexation and personality during the method will be present. We cannot totally remove it but realizing that vexations are there because of causes and conditions is enough. Have an honest evaluation of the progress and take each presented opportunity to transform vexations into practice. Do not try to root the ego out of mind; instead, investigate how mind works.

In meditation, we first relax the body. The body just sits there on the cushion/chair and that is the only function of the body at that moment. Relaxation of mind however is not so easy. Habit energy is so strong that our mind tends to race outside what is going on in the present moment. Tension in the mind is created when we cling to things. The more we cling, the more tension it creates. A good memory is then necessary in order for us to realize when mind is not in the method. When we are off the method, simply return to it; and this is enough.
~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Dharma Talks by Gilbert Gutierrez

Master Sheng Yen

Practicing Chan

Knowing One's Self

Fukanzazengi: How Everyone Can Sit - 06/11/2008

Why Practice Chan? - 06/04/2008

Cogitation - 05/28/2008

Master Dogen - 05/21/2008

The Four Great Vows - 05/14/2008

The Ultimate Reality Transcends What Can Be Expressed in Words - 04/23/2008

The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra 04/09/2008

Meditation Methods and Why We Meditate - 04/02/2008

The illusion of self also begins to reveal by itself. We become aware of the gross sensations and shadows of the mind and eventually even the subtle little ghosts that seem to appear nowhere. Yet again, we are aware where they are coming from and why without any cogitation.

The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra (Contd.) - 03/26/2008

Story of the Fox/Monk - 03/19/2008

The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra - 03/12/2008

http://www.purifymind.com/BuddhahoodSutra.htm

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, in emptiness, how could there be desire, hatred, and ignorance?"Manjusri answered, "Right in that which exists there is emptiness, wherein desire, hatred, and ignorance are also found."

Manjusri said, "World-Honored One. It a meditator seeks emptiness apart from the defilements, his search will be in vain How could there be an emptiness that differs from the defilements? If he contemplates the defilements as emptiness, he is said to be engaged in right practice."

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, what should one rely upon for right practice?" Manjusri answered, "He who practices rightly relies upon nothing." The Buddha asked, "Does he not practice according to the path?"

The goal of a practitioner is enlightenment but as the masters always say, "the difference between an enlightened person and a non-enlightened one is that a non-enlightened person knows; whereas an enlightened person knows there is no such thing as enlightenment."

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (Contd.) - 02/27/2008

Mahayana-Sraddhotpada Shastra

Storehouse of consciousness (Alaya Vijnana or Mindground) is from where everything comes from. Everything that comes into being, goes out of being, is to come to being is contained in this vessel without any borders to it; there is nothing outside of this container including nothing.

"The term Suchness is, so to speak, the limit of verbalization wherein a word is used to put an end to words." There is no other way to try to explain suchness. "The term Suchness likewise has no attributes which can be verbally specified."

Before mind can be free of thought, we must first identify thought. What is coming out of mind? It can be a feeling or sensation, perception, emotion, consciousness or most of the time, just a Crispy Crème doughnut. So how does one set the mind free from thought?

~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera

Shame and Repentance Practice & Penetrating the Teachings - 02/20/2008

Transferring Merit - 02/13/2008

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (Contd.) & Sitting Meditation Basics - 02/06/2008

The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana - 01/30/2008

Chan and Emptiness (Sunyata) - 01/23/2008

Dharma Talk, January 16, 2008

Dharma Talk, January 09, 2008

Dharma Talk, December 26, 2007

Dharma Talk, December 19, 2007

Dharma Talk, December 12, 2007

The Buddha asked, "Manjusri, in emptiness, how could there be desire, hatred, and ignorance?"
Manjusri answered, "Right in that which exists there is emptiness, wherein desire, hatred, and ignorance are also found."