Questions & Answers
Between Master Geng-Yun and His Disciples
[HOW TO DEAL WITH FANTASIES ] [HOW TO DECREASE ONE’S WORRIES] [MY DISCIPLES SHOULD DEFEND AND PROPAGATE DHARMA] [Reciting the Diamond Sutra can Remove One’s Negative Karma] [No “Resistance” Results in Better Effect ] [Bearing Me in Your Mind, You Can Receive My Blessing] [“Wisdom Sees Through Agony” Is A Witty Way of Preaching] [The Invaluable Four Statements by Master Geng-Yun] [It Is Not Suitable to Publicly Ask Questions About Supernatural Perception] [The Mind of No-Thought Appears in a Flash] [Besides Implementing the Practice of Prajna, Do We Have to Do Sitting Meditation] [To Live with An-Hsiang Equates to Living by The Golden Means][“Attempting to Empty One’s Mind” Is Not Right] [When I initially attained An-Hsiang, I could not fall asleep. What can I do?] [How to Strengthen Your Mentality] [How to Effectively Correspond to “The Method of No-Thought”] [The Meaning of “Removing Worries Results in More Worries; and Seeking for Reality is Evil”] [The Meditation Practice of the Sixth Patriarch Is Not Sitting Meditation] [The Meaning of “The Intention to Practice is an Illusive Attempt; To Hold onto it is not the Main Doctrine.] [The Meaning of “Following What One Sees and Get Lost in the Flow of Change”]
※HOW TO DEAL WITH FANTASIES
Q: It is very easy to fall asleep when reading sutras or general articles, as well as straying in thought; may I ask how should one handle these situations?
A: You should remember the statement that “Human beings live within mistakes.” Buddhist sutras claim that “Lotus does not grow in land or highland.” Lotus does not grow in Pamier Heights, but in the mud. The most precious feature of lotus is that it is not dirtied by the filth of the mud in which it grows, and blooms into perfect purity. Throughout all of time, people have been living with mistakes. The issue then, is whether or not “your mind has its own strength”? You know when you have made mistakes, but will your mind be strong enough to rectify them? The power of one’s mind assures one’s success, and it can be trained to reach its full strength. Gou-Jian slept on hay and tasted the bitter gall to strengthen the power of his mind. By doing so, he intended to prevent his downfall in the face of deterioration, indulgence, and neglect of past shame. Tao-Kan always moved bricks in his spare time, because he was afraid of increasing his waist line like me and gradually losing his motivation for action and eventually his strength. Therefore, he kept exercising
It is very easy to deal with your problems. Whenever you start fantasizing and your mind begins to drift, slap yourself immediately. That is the way I deal with it. I used to be exactly like you. When I fell asleep while reading sutras, I slapped myself. When I started fantasizing, I also slapped my own face. It was really difficult in the beginning; however, it became natural in the end. To slap oneself is better than being slapped by others, isn’t it? You can use my method. If it does not work, you can rebuke me next time you see me. We must adapt ourselves to this method. When saying something wrong, slap yourself; when having any fantasies, slap yourself. If you decide to finish reading certain pages (do not over-estimate your own ability), you must fulfill it even by the sacrifice of your sleep and meals. It does not mean that you must read sutras to be enlightened. It simply emphasizes that you have to wholeheartedly carry out your own decision. If one thinks of an issue yet before getting any conclusions he keeps on thinking of other issues, he eventually ends up with no conclusions at all. Therefore, when he thinks of one issue, there will be seven to eight issues coming into his mind at the same time. When people ask him this question, he will answer for the other question, and finally become psychotic.
Generally speaking, people without mental power usually lack determination. They are always nervous, dreamy and forgetful; that is due to lack of mental power. I was saying before that there are four types of religions. With regard to Rational Religion, it pursues theories, knowledge and reasons, and its merits are calmness and reason while its defects are pessimism and indifference. With regard to Emotional Religion, its merit is to provide people with spiritual dependence, and its defect is to lead people to go into ecstasy. Ecstasy is a kind of demon. As for the defect of Physical Religion, it is the attachment to the flesh and the pursuit of benefits. Its merit is to train one’s mental power. I often talk about the two reasons why the Sixth Patriarch could attain the robe and bowl of the Dharma at Huang-Mei within eight months; one is that “Originally, no objects exist.” That which is true is original, and there is nothing originally. Indeed, it reaches its end. On the contrary, Shen-Xiou’s application of “Bodi-tree”, “Mirror Stand”, and emphasized on constantly “keeping it clean” to “avoid being dusted”. That is the reason why the Fifth Patriarch told him that “You are still outside of the gate, still on the way.” The other reason is that the Sixth Patriarch had stamped grain for eight months. The Six Patriarch was not tall and he had to tie a stone to his waist to become heavy enough to stamp grain. You can imagine how hard it must have been for him, and it was his use of mental power that allowed him to achieve it. Otherwise, it would not last for eight months. If you asked me to do it, I would not have sustained even for eight days. I would say that “Life is short, needless to torture yourself, forget it, go home.” Then I would simply leave. Therefore, practice definitely needs mental power. You have to persist to the last moment to attain success. To continually persist will win you victory. If you retreat because of the difficulties, you will end up with nothing.
If you have been fully enlightened (successful practice), I am telling you that “There will be a flushing village turning up after walking through vast dark bush and a much more wonderful life is waiting for you.” I am definitely not telling lies. Your utmost sincerity makes me tell the truth. I would never say anything fake. You must train your mental power, and the best way is to slap your own face automatically. If you ask your wife to do it, the effect will be even greater.
※HOW TO DECREASE ONE’S WORRIES
Q: I have many worries. I wish to stop thinking of them, but I can’t. How should I practice to minimize these concerns in my mind?
A: You need to make a list of all your worries. The most disturbing fact in your life to make you weak and unable to grow is that you try to avoid problems and resist facing them. People who are used to avoiding problems can never grow up, and they will still be very weak even in their sixties or eighties. Practitioners should always face problems to accept whatever comes to you. Any result comes from a cause, and vice versa; do not try to escape from it.
You say that you are loaded with a lot of worries, but as long as you maintain your present state of mind, those worries will leave you gradually. It is because mistakes are equivalent to worries, so you have to remove all those mistakes. Do not care about yourself too much and instead try to look after others. If you pay too much attention to yourself, you seem to live for others. You are always concerned about whether he likes me or hates me, or he is saying something behind my back. In the long run, you seem to become subordinate to the public, and have lost your independent ego. Therefore, do not attend to others, simply behold your own state of mind.
In order to eradicate worries, one needs to sing “Song of True Nature”and “Song of An-Hsiang” more often. When you are free, try to sing them, I believe your worries will become less and less. It is because your mistakes will be less and less.
※MY DISCIPLES SHOULD DEFEND AND PROPAGATE DHARMA
I am very glad that you all would be my disciples, because “Men’s greatest weakness is fully displayed by his tendency to be someone’s mentor.” In fact, I have nothing to teach you. There is no ritual to perform, nor certificates to issue, as long as you acknowledge me as your mentor, and that is it. My doctrine is the mind, and beyond that there is nothing. Simply let your mind take refuge with me. If you insist on doing something, then I would suggest you try to support our Chan Association. In other words, people generally are expecting harvest without cultivation, success without efforts, and gain without pain. It is not allowed, as it violates the law of causality.
Generally, following my doctrine will be very conducive to your practice. However, you have to make some offer, contribution and efforts. The least you can do is to write for the Chan Association. We have asked you to write for our Association. Some people are really enthusiastic and provide excellent articles, while many others simply refuse using their incompetence as an excuse. I think people who can talk can not find any excuse to say they are unable to write. As we know, words are symbols of language, thoughts are silent language and language is the voice of thoughts. If you can talk and your brain can think and function, you will be able to write. It does not matter whether you are a good writer or not. As long as you write with sincerity, then your article must be good. All good articles are characterized by true and sincere nature. The articles that you write with your true heart will be definitely readable. People who talk or think without sense will never be able to write well.
Therefore, I would like to seriously remind you to cherish “the precious connection between us”. Try to cultivate for harvest, make efforts for success, and render for much more, greater and more complete rewards. In other words, please give your full support to the Chan Association and try to write more often for our Chan Magazine Quarterly. Meanwhile, please do not forget to encourage people to donate when you are engaged with the propagation for our Chan Magazine Quarterly. As you can tell, the cost for the production of the magazine, especially with such a high quality of compiling and printing, is very high. Though we dare not comment its presentation as neither precedent nor final, at least, we think it is unique and distinct. If you do not give it strength, it will not survive. We need to irrigate it with our heart and blood to make it grow and bloom in full. Undoubtedly, you can ask me to be your mentor; however, you need to support our Association and our Quarterly. Otherwise, “A false cause will definitely result in doom.” Indeed, a false cause can never achieve a sound effect.
“Your support for the Chan Association is equivalent to that for Dharma life, and your support for the Chan Quarterly also equals to your support for me.” I would ask you not to forget these statements.
※Reciting the Diamond Sutra can Remove One’s Negative Karma
Q: I am always having horrible dreams. It is said that reciting the Diamond Sutra can remove one’s negative karma; however, the Diamond Sutra is very hard to understand. Please give some advice.
A: Once you have understood it, it cannot remove your negative karma. That is how it works. Since you do not understand it, it truly can remove your negative karma. Otherwise, it is counter-productive.
The Diamond Sutra has an extraordinarily special merit in terms of its structure, “All beings, who are not all beings, are truly all beings.” “That to see me with forms and beg me with voices is a vicious deed, so that one cannot see Tathagata.” We cannot find this superb feature in any other religion, and I would only give two quotes as above. You should always behold and contemplate this, “All the conditioned are fantasies and bubbles as dews and flashes, and everyone should see as is.” After having verbally recited the Diamond sutra three thousand times, all your vicious dreams will be gone. Those dreams are the shadows accumulated from your previous lives.
That what I have said may not be understood by many people, because modern psychology is Freudian, which presents only one dimension, like geometric sin. However, our mind is not flat, but three dimensional and has depth. It will take ages to explain in detail. In the 唯識法相宗, it gives a complete analysis of human mind.
The main rule for Dharma practice is not to ask why, but simply to do it. If you knew why, it would not work. That is the trick. What you need is “the personal verification”, not “useless knowledge”. If I lecture for hours and hours about how the Diamond Sutra can remove your negative karma, it will do you no good at all. If you find your load of negative karma is gradually lessened, it proves that it is working. Therefore, speaking of Chan, sometimes it gives you reasons, while other times it does not. It is because Chan is different from other schools. Being loaded with much useless knowledge does not help you with your application for a job, neither can it stop your worries to make your life smooth. You would rather let go of everything, no more asking why, and simply maintain the mind of An-Hsiang. If you can maintain the present state of mind, you can completely disconnect yourself from these vicious dreams. Otherwise, they may come back.
Reciting The Diamond Sutra definitely can remove your negative karma. Among all the sutras, the Diamond Sutra is the most superb, ultimate, and complete. By using the Diamond Sutra, all those demoniac and unauthentic schools are easily defeated. The Diamond Sutra is symbolic as the sun, while those demonic laws and religions are dew. Dew will immediately be vaporized when the sun rises.
※No “Resistance” Results in Better Effect
Q: I started learning the Dharma two years ago. By reading “The Beauty of the An-Hsiang” and transcribing it, I felt very comfortable and joyful. Then I verbally recited the Diamond Sutra, and read Master’s lectures and listened to the tapes. Today, I heard “the Song of the True Nature” and met Master; however, I cannot hold my tears, nor control my heartbeat and feel fevered. Can you tell me why?
A: You have a very good root. Your experience exactly displays your “correspondence” to the Dharma. “Correspondence” means yoga; yoga is the union. The union of you and the Dharma has been achieved, so that your mental status has been completely changed. You have attained a very good perception both physically and mentally, and that proves your good root.
When you are truly sincere, respectful and faithful, you will have this kind of perception. When there is no one around and you feel like crying, you can cry your heart out. Try to hide yourself to cry, so no one can stop you. After having cried out loud, your mental stains will have been washed away, and you may even feel better.
Both tears and laughter are ways of emotional release, which are very important to a practitioner. It is fearful that “one cries without tears and laugh without facial movement.” People like this are hopeless. Emotion and reason are both strengths of life. Unconditional mercy means to be sympathetic without any bias, and shared compassion means to feel the perception of others. All these are the motivated power of practice. Those great scientists, literati, and artists all possess extraordinary emotion. A cold and degenerate person can never be a genius, nor will he succeed in practice.
Conclusively, one feels like crying when he has connection with the Dharma, so he must be extremely sympathetic. In other words, he will make the achievement eventually. It is fearful that one does not feel anything, which means he does not correspond to the Dharma. Normally, people should perceive something at least. If you feel fevered in your heart, or feel like sunlight on your face, you are corresponding to the Dharma. Only the genuine Dharma can give you this perception. On the contrary, the evil ones will make you cold and your temperature keeps dropping and dropping. It is very dangerous and it will destroy your vitality and lead to your downfall.
※Bearing Me in Your Mind, You Can Receive My Blessing
It is said that some of the audience here would like to be my disciples. For those who would be my disciples please stand up and make a bow to me. “Good, please sit down, please sit down.。 This way will be fine.
True heart is essential to count. If you do not mean to be my disciple, even if you kneel three times before me with nine times of kotow it is ultimately meaningless. It only results in the mild effects of exercise, which is meaningless. What really counts is your true heart. As long as you acknowledge me as your mentor, I would not resist or refuse you. I definitely will sense it. Whenever you think of me, you can tell the difference in your mental state. I will be in your heart, and so will you.
If there are no more questions, it is quite late now, thanks for coming. Please cherish this affiliated connection, because it is very precious. In addition, please support our Chan Association as well as our Chan Magazine Quarterly.
※“Wisdom Sees Through Agony” Is A Witty Way of Preaching
Q:
In “the Chapter of Prajna”, it applies “the grand wisdom” to break through the Five Aggregations, what does “the grand wisdom” imply? It means Mahaprajna. When Mahaprajna reveals, the agony of the Five Aggregations simultaneously evaporates. We should try to understand his true intention, but not his choice of wording. It is unnecessary to be attached to the wording and by doing so, lose the true focus. In the former statement, it emphasizes “Mahaprajna-paramita”, because it is the chapter of Prajna. Without Mahaprajna-paramita, people will have no “wisdom” to apply to attain their liberation. That is why he said so.
With regards to “the Chapter of Protecting the Dharma”, the statement he (the Sixth Patriarch) made was referring to people who had been enlightened. To those enlightened people, if they blindly follow the methodology of “applying wisdom to see through agony”, they will inevitably oppose the perception that“Agony equates to Bodhi”. Where is the validity in the statement“Agony equates to Bodhi”? Bodhi means consciousness. Without consciousness, you can not even sense agony; therefore, agony is formed by consciousness. Though you are worried by agony, it reveals that you possess the sense of consciousness. If you lose your consciousness whenever you have agony, you would never have a chance to sense agony and suffer from it. Let’s take a wooden statue and a stone sculpture as examples, they are senseless to agony because they do not possess consciousness. Consequently, the statement“Agony equates to Bodhi” means that people can sense their agony by means of their consciousness. For people who can not sense any agony; obviously, they do not possess the nature of consciousness.
※The Invaluable Four Statements by Master Geng-Yun
Q:“The nature of which is dependently originated is empty; to me, that which is dependently originated is empty; it can be called a false name as well as the meaning of the mean way.” These four statements almost have become a catchphrase in the Buddhist field. When I was reflecting on the four statements made by my honorable master, the state of these four statements is exactly what I have eventually achieved. As a result, when I closely bear the four statements in mind to deal with the mundane world, I feel so relaxed and free from any disturbance. Can you tell me whether my realization is correct?
A: Your realization is superficial and shallow. The implication of my statements of“To shiver when resisting a chill; to sweat when struck by heat; to drink when feeling thirsty, and to eat when feeling hungry;” is much deeper than that of“The nature of which is dependently originated is empty; to me, that which is dependently originated is empty.” Though you have realized “the nature of which is dependently originated is empty; to me, that which is dependently originated is empty”, you have not yet seen the true nature, neither have you been liberated. Meanwhile, you are unable to attain the genuine view and the genuine perception.
Nevertheless, when you have fully realized my statements, your genuine view and genuine perception will emerge simultaneously and you will have completed the grand task. My statements are so profound that they even cover the most majestic truth of the universe. As far as your realization is concerned, I can only tell you that you have only broken through one level, and there are ten more levels to go. If you can completely break through them, you will attain your great enlightenment.
With regards to “The nature of which is dependently originated is empty; to me, that which is dependently originated is empty; it can be called a false name as well as the meaning of the mean way.”, it is very simple to define. What is the meaning of “the nature of which is dependently originated is empty”? The “which” refers to motivations and conditions; they originally do not exist. Their formation is based on the combination of various elements; therefore, “to me, that which is dependently originated is empty.” Consequently, I claim that not a single form can forever exist without any change, isn’t it clear?
Why does Buddhism claim that “The universe is an empty universe.”? It is because all formations are organisms, which I mentioned in the chapter of organism in my “Essays on Watching Waves”. Mundane rules correspond to the Dharma. You can see that even an atom, the most basic element of matter, is not alone. Moreover, without an electron, a neutron will disappear in a second. Therefore, it is not by itself, but an organism. The reason why it is empty is because of the nature of organism. It is originally empty, but then it is formed by certain elements, causes, or motives to generate a new object. In“Essays on Watching Waves”, I made the statement that “to organize is a means to create.” All creations come from non-existence. If it originally exists, it is not a creation. With regards to the original emptiness, it does not possess any unchangeable or eternal contents. Consequently, it itself is empty.
With regards to the notion of “a false name”, when you speak of an ashtray, it is because we named it an ashtray. In fact, there is nothing eternally unchanged to be named an ashtray. It does not exist originally, but it is made by man and will eventually disappear. Consequently, it only has a name but not a realistic embodiment. A realistic embodiment is unchangeable, eternal and true. As we know, the truth is always eternal. As it is not true, so it is not eternal.
What does “the meaning of the mean way”imply? When you have realized that all these names without their true embodiments are false forms, you will deviate from being discriminative and come to the state of “neither having, nor being empty”. Indeed, there is neither possession nor emptiness. Originally, it has no possession, and it eventually has no possession. Therefore, “the possession is empty.” “Emptiness” is referring to “possession”. If “possession” does not even exist, it is redundant to talk about “emptiness”. Referring to the statement of “both possession and emptiness should be dismissed”, there is nothing bilateral and dualistic, namely, it is exactly the mean way. At this moment, the mean way has been fully revealed.
※It Is Not Suitable to Publicly Ask Questions About Supernatural Perception
Q: Before I fell asleep, I was lying on my bed and attentively meditating on a certain spot. When I entered the state of no-thought, I felt my limbs suddenly disappear. I felt very illusive, weightless, unconscious, and floating. When I was meditating, I saw a mass of gas which seemed living and identical to the description stated in the Sixth Patriarch Sutra, “no size, no length, and no color”. Nevertheless, I felt so intimate with it. Could you please tell me whether it is the revelation of the original mind? I do not know if it is right to fully acknowledge it.
A: Life is very short; therefore, what we can learn and know is very limited. Generally, people are living within the scope of general knowledge; however, doing practice is supernatural. Consequently, during the process of practice, many of your perceptions are supernatural. All our members here, please bear this in mind, the scenario similar to this should avoid publicity. At most, you can ask privately, but should not tell anyone; otherwise, it will be harmful to your personal practice.
Well, as far as your experience is concerned, it is a good phenomenon. Nevertheless, you should not become attached to it, and you should forget it and disregard it. You do not like it or hate it, but simply treat it with a common attitude. Then, a better state will emerge. On the contrary, if you become attached to it and get excited or terrified, you will be in trouble.
With regards to the occurrences such as this, many of our audience members here had experienced even much more supernatural states, but they all kept silent about it. It is forbidden for practitioners to talk about these experiences, and we should look at them as a kind of illusion. Is it an illusion? You realize the answer, and so do I. Why? Cultivation must bring harvest, and making efforts will bring you success. Your hard practice returns you merits.
It is inevitable to go through this experience, and there are more to come in the future. Nevertheless, I hope that you do not become attached to this, namely, not to be excited, disgusted, worried or suspicious about it. Simply try to forget about it, and not take it seriously. In the long run, you will be enormously upgraded.
※The Mind of No-Thought Appears in a Flash
Q: When I was reflecting on those Ch’an anecdotes and could not find answers, I often retreated for a while. Then, at that very moment, I confirmed the saying“the mind of no-thought appears in a flash, and that exactly comes from the original mind.” Please verify my realization.
A: In fact, a flash equates to eternity. We should avoid discussing this kind of issues here. However, because you mentioned it, I am giving you an answer.
If there are consecutive happenings afterwards, your realization is correct. If there is nothing happening after that, your realization is not incorrect either. The point is that you did not catch the “flash”. You should try hard to catch the “flash”, and try to digest that “flash”. Then, it is correct. This is the only way I can answer it.
※Besides Implementing the Practice of Prajna, Do We Have to Do Sitting Meditation
Q: As the saying goes -“There are six Paramitas to take people to the other shore.” As we know, besides implementing the practice of prajna-paramita, there is also the paramita of meditation. Therefore, do we have to do the sitting meditation as well?
A: I often make the comment, for those who have already possessed An-Hsiang, their practice of sitting meditation is likened to attaching an accelerator to a rocket. It makes one’s practice more efficient and helpful. With regards to people without An-Hsiang, sitting meditation can only train the strength of their minds, and be good for their health. However, they need instructors to guide their practice. One should not do sitting meditation by oneself, because one may encounter some states, physical response, or mental reflections that one does not know how to deal with. If there is no one there to guide at the moment, one may get into trouble. If people can maintain their An-Hsiang to practice sitting meditation, it will be likened to attaching an accelerator onto an ICBM ( inter-continental ballistic missile) or a space rocket, it will facilitate their practice to be better and quicker. Above all, it surely will not go wrong. The reason is that An-Hsiang equates to the genuine perception and the genuine view, and you can see clearly with the genuine view to avoid getting into trouble. Under these circumstances, sitting meditation is truly favorable.
※To Live with An-Hsiang Equates to Living by The Golden Means
Q: I have been feeling very well since I started practicing the An-Hsiang Ch’an. How should I practice to meet the Golden Means?
A: How to achieve it? Well, it is very simple, just living with An-Hsiang. Indeed, living with An-Hsiang meets the Golden Means. As long as you are living with An-Hsiang, you will be able to meet the Golden Means.
※“Attempting to Empty One’s Mind” Is Not Right
Q: My hesitation and restless states of mind have almost been completely settled since I started studying the Diamond Sutra and the Sixth Patriarch Sutra. Therefore, I often encourage myself to make my mind free of any thoughts. As a result, I occasionally should forget things I have to do, and even lose the motivation to participate in anything. Would Master tell me why I have come to this situation?
A: It is because you have made a mistake; namely, you always think of emptiness. Buddhism is not emptiness. If there is no realistic life, Buddhism definitely will not be needed. Buddhism grows root into the true reality, but not emptiness. What you need is An-Hsiang, but not emptiness.
You need to maintain An-Hsiang and delight. I always claim that “An-Hsiang is the fountain of bliss, and delight is the sunshine of life.” If you always possess An-Hsiang, you will simultaneously possess delight. When you have delight, you will not get depressed, nor be indifferent. I often say that “People who are depressed and indifferent will achieve nothing, and simply waste their lives. The Buddha condemned those “burned sprouts and rotten seeds”, which refers to people who are cold and depressed. I also regularly make the comment that “People who are cold and depressed are unlikely to be geniuses, and unable to be creative. They are likened to those oxen who have been desexed, and have lost their strong will and energy. Consequently, it is because you are walking the wrong way. From now on, you should live with An-Hsiang, but not emptiness.
※When I initially attained An-Hsiang, I could not fall asleep. What can I do?
Q: When I had reached a moderate mind, I could not sleep for a whole night and felt drunken and drifting. However, I still felt energetic the next day. Will this phenomenon cause any physical or other problems?
A: When you have reached the state of possessing An-Hsiang, you will feel like getting something new. It is also like a year one student who just gets a new and imported electrical toy, and he will be too excited to sleep. To a person who initially attains An-Hsiang, he will enjoy the drifting and drunken feeling and be unable to sleep. Why? Firstly, it is the joy of the Dharma, and secondly, it is the increasing strength of the living power.
While you are unable to sleep, you should observe your mind to maintain it in the state of no-thought, no-form, and no-attachment. Lying on the bed with this state of mind, even you do not sleep at all, you still can look into the mirror next day and find yourself as vibrant as usual. It is because “the Dharma” (An-Hsiang) is the origin of our living energy, and it will make you healthy and free from agony. Nevertheless, you must get used to it; then, you can sleep truly sound and well though you still feel a bit drunken.
※How to Strengthen Your Mentality
Q: Is the inconsistency of the state of An-Hsiang caused by the neutral mind? During the process of practice, my focus has always been on and off. Is it because of the weakness of my mind power? Master instructed that “asceticism is not ultimate.” Is it possible that a practitioner will completely adapt himself to ascetic practice? How to effectively practice in a mobile environment?
A: It is a good question, and I just gave you the answer. The “inconsistency of the state of An-Hsiang” is not caused by “the neutral mind.” “The neutral mind” refers to a mind which does not bear any cause or effect, nor good or evil. In other words, it is like being unconscious and asleep. “The neutral mind” is not the cause of mistake of our practice, and it is simply a kind of natural physiological phenomenon. The true mistakes of our practice are those mistakes I just mentioned.
During the process of practice, the reason why you are always deviating from your focus is due to lack of mind power. People without mind power cannot achieve anything in the realistic world, let alone having practice. Look at those successful people. They, like the lotus painter Wang Mian and the inventor Thomas Edison, are all very determined. They were not forced to do their work; on the contrary, they regarded their work as their greatest amusement. People who enjoy doing what they are doing will always feel happy and become healthy. In addition, they will become very creative and brilliant. On the contrary, people who feel stressed, upset and resistant to their work will be deprived of their health, joy, wisdom and the glory of life, as their work becomes a kind of punishment to them. The critical point lies on how you deal with it.
How to make us enjoy ourselves in working? Firstly, you need to acknowledge the fact that you are committing yourself to your responsibilities and obligations. Though you are busy and tired, you have a clear conscience and you are creating positive values. If you wish to gain ten million US dollars monthly without making any efforts but sleeping at home, you are creating negative values. If everyone has the same wish, the earth will definitely be destroyed and human beings will be starving to death. Is what I just said related to your question? It is a matter of whether you possess your magnetic nature. When we are filling in an application form for the personnel department, we always need to fill in the column of aptitude. What is aptitude about? It is about telling people what is magnetic to you. In other words, it shows people which arena attracts you most, and where you will definitely be successful. Picasso is a painter; therefore, art is attractive and magnetic to him. However, if you asked him to study computer, I am afraid he would have failed in doing so.
In the same way, do you have good capacity for possessing the Dharma? It all depends on whether the Dharma or Ch’an is magnetic to you. Is the Dharma your sole interest in your life? Is it the most indispensable thing to you? You never give it up, and no one can take it away from you. If you have this kind of interest and passion, you naturally have the mind power to acquire Ch’an. Generally, most practitioners intend to gain without paying off, to harvest without cultivation, to succeed without making efforts, and these are all wrong concepts. In our life, bearing this kind of wrong concept in mind, you will surely make mistakes and become the person to be blamed, no matter what profession or business you are engaged with. We find those bank clerks, who steal money from banks, all expect to gain but not pay off, and to harvest without cultivation. You must not cultivate yourself in this way. You must work hard, and be interested in it. It should be amusement instead of restraint to you. If you feel practice is a kind of burden, you should quit as soon as possible because you will never succeed. The feeling of burden is that of resistance. Consequently, you will resist the Dharma.
If you intend to “practice effectively in the states of activity”, in the Buddhist teachings there is a method called “the prolonged meditation”—by walking constantly without sitting or resting for days. Why doing so? It is for seeking one’s peaceful mind and the effective way to enlightenment. I believe many of you here had this experience: If your mind is in the state of An-Hsiang, it seems there is no one else while you are walking along the street. Meanwhile, you do not crash into a car, step into a ditch, or run down anyone. That is the “effective practice in the states of activity”. As long as you can maintain An-Hsiang in your mind, your practice is always effective no matter what activities you are engaged with. It is not only effective, but also relaxing. There is an old saying, “Whenever it is effective, it is relaxing.” This is my answer to your question.
※How to Effectively Correspond to “The Method of No-Thought”
Q: The “Chapter on Wisdom” of the Platform Sutra states, “People who have realized the method of no-thought can realize all things, and can perceive the state of all Buddhas and reach the status of a Buddha as well.” Would you please tell me how to practice to achieve the above-mentioned status?
A: The prime guideline of the Platform Sutra is “No-thought, No-form, and No-attachment”. The Diamond Sutra says, “One’s mind should not attach to anything.” The “Method of No-thought” is the core of the Dharma as well as the life of the Dharma.
What is No-thought? Having a thought is equivalent to having no thought, because the Dharma is the truth that is non-dualistic. All conflicts are united into the realm of the Dharma. What does No-thought mean? It means having thoughts. How can having thoughts mean having no thought? Though there are thoughts in your mind, you are not attached to them. These thoughts are not generated from yourself. This kind of thought equates to no thought. It seems that you are having a thought; however, you are not attached to it. Now, you all sit in front of me, and you can clearly hear my talk. If you want to talk, you surely can talk. Nevertheless, when you do not talk and listen—let us hold for a moment—this is the original mind, the original state of mind.
When you think with your original mind, the thought you have equates to no-thought. If you do not recognize the original state of mind (namely, you have not yet seen your true nature), every thought of yours sticks to your mind. To you, every thought is real and it contaminates your mind. When you have seen your true mind and can regularly maintain An-Hsiang, your thought would be like a piece of cloud in the sky. It is like being and not being there, and it does not disturb you at all. This is exactly “the true no-thought”. This is the state of all Buddhas. As far as all Buddhas are concerned, it does not mean that they do not have any thought; it means that they are not attached to any thought. Both being and non-being are united into the state of An-Hsiang, and only An-Hsiang can unite them.
Some people make the statement that one can have no thought at all. Please do not miss out the statement from the Platform Sutra, “People who have no thought in their minds are virtually dead and will be reborn in some other places. To practice in this way is a great mistake.” It means that “a person without thoughts should mean that he is dead and has lost all his functions.” Therefore, having thoughts and no-thought are not two separate states. All that are separated into two violate the non-dualistic doctrine.
You asked about “How to quickly correspond to the state of no-thought?” As we know, the greatest business takes time to achieve. The sprouts of beans grow quickly; the sprouts of soya beans grow slowly. But even the sprouts of beans need to take one week to grow. As far as the attainment of Buddahood is concerned, one needs to take three incalculable aeons to achieve it. Even having merits accumulated through lives and lives without regression, one will still take one hundred thousand years to achieve it. Nevertheless, the Buddha has a method out of compassion—people who have seen their true nature can become a Buddha. That is to say, when you see your true nature, you can immediately correspond to the state of no-thought. This is the quickest way.
Moreover, I would like to talk about “What is meant by seeing the true nature?” The nature of water is being humid, no matter it is in the form of steam, liquid or solid. Water as H2O can never be changed, neither its nature of being humid. The nature of fire is being hot. Whether the fire is 200 degree or ten thousand degree as the surface of the sun, it is always hot. Fire cannot be called fire if it is not hot; water cannot be called water if it is not humid. Then, with regards to the nature of life, what cannot be missed out? To see the true nature means you see the common attribute of life.
Having seen the true nature, you need to acknowledge it and claim that it is your original self, the immortal self, the eternal self, the non-dualistic self and the self in which living beings and the Buddha are equal. If you can acknowledge it, it is your Dharmakaya. When you have seen it, you can sustain An-Hsiang in your mind in every second and constantly be in the state of no-thought. This is the quickest method.
※The Meaning of “Removing Worries Results in More Worries; and Seeking for Reality is Evil”
Q: How to Explain “Removing worries results in more worries; seeking for reality is evil” from “A Poem on Perceiving the Way” written by Zhang-Zhuo of the Tang Dynasty?
A: Why did Zhang-Zhuo write this stanza? It is because he had perceived the true nature and become enlightened. What is the state of being enlightened? It is the state of An-Hsiang. To a fully enlightened person, two things happen on him simultaneously: he acquires right view and right perception. In this, what is the state of the combination of right view and right perception? It is the state of An-Hsiang. To a person of An-Hsiang, the scenario of “Removing worries results in more worries” does not apply to him at all. It is because he has virtually nothing to worry about; so what is it to remove? With regards to “Seeking for reality is evil”, when one has already reached the reality, it is needless to keep searching for it. If he does, he would be psychotic. It is likened to someone looking for the horse that he is riding on.
Zhang-Zhuo was a fully enlightened person, and he sustained An-Hsiang in every second. Speaking of “removing worries”, worries are unreal and have no substances. Originally there is no worry. There is no worry after all. Thus, what is it for him to remove? With regards to “seeking for reality”, An-Hsiang is the reality. [In Chinese] “Zhen-ru (reality as it is) is Ru-zhen (as the reality)”. [The word “Zhen” is enough to convey the meaning of reality], so why adding the word “ru” [which means “as” and can be extended to mean “like”]? It is because people who claim to have attained the reality actually only reach to about ninety percent of it. It is impossible for people to completely attain one hundred percent of the reality. Therefore, the word “ru” (“like”) is added. It is because when the Buddha was alive, he was in the state of “nirvana with remainder”. It is when he died and abandoned his body that he attained the “nirvana without remainder”. As human beings are still having their bodies, their skin bags, we add “ru” [meaning “like” and “not totally equivalent”] onto the truth they have attained.
Zhang-Zhuo had attained the state that “there is no worry to remove and no reality to seek for”; therefore, he could claim so. If he had not been enlightened and claimed so, he would have been talking nonsense.
※The Meditation Practice of the Sixth Patriarch Is Not Sitting Meditation
Q: In the “Chapter on Meditation Practice” of the Platform Sutra, it states that “The meditation practice of our School teaches that one does not attach to one’s mind, neither to purity or motionlessness.” May I ask how to interpret it?
A: “The meditation practice of our School” refers to the meditation practice of the Sixth Patriarch. The Sixth Patriarch defined his meditation practice as “Ch’an means not attaching to external forms, namely, not to identity with the forms outside; and “stability means one’s internal mind is not disturbed”. He called this meditation practice, and therefore this is not sitting meditation. With regards to “meditation practice does not mean to be motionless”, it is likened to the state that “after having fully applied all your strength to fulfill your commitments, you do not feel losing any energy.” Yes, you have been busy for whole day; however, your An-Hsiang is still there without any change.
An-Hsiang is Ch’an. Without An-Hsiang, there is no Ch’an. It is as simple as that. “Walking is Ch’an; Sitting is Ch’an”means that in walking, working, eating, sleeping, moving.... one is in the state of An-Hsiang; this is exactly the Ch’an that the Sixth Patriarch meant. The Ch’an has always been defined by the heretics and other schools as “sitting meditation”. Though the Ch’an School does not resist sitting meditation, it does not advocate sitting meditation either. It emphasizes the practice of one’s mind and “the transmission of mind” so as to receive An-Hsiang and maintain it. Therefore, the meditation practice of the Sixth Patriarch is different from that of the other schools.
※The Meaning of “The Intention to Practice is an Illusive Attempt; To Hold onto it is not the Main Doctrine.
Q: The “Chapter on Opportunity and Condition” of the Platform Sutra states, “The three bodies are actually in me; the four wisdoms are manifestations of the original mind. The bodies and wisdoms interpenetrate with one another, and one lives flexibly with any change. The intention to practice is an illusive attempt; to hold onto it is not the main doctrine. It is the great master who teaches us all these wonderful ideas, and we can avoid being contaminated”. May I ask: it is stated that the intention to practice is illusive and to hold onto is not real; however, not to intend to practice and not to hold onto may let us fall into the state of indifference. How can we deal with this problem?
A: The so-called “Practice” is a conditioned dharma. When there is a condition, there is formation. Formation brings deterioration. It can not avoid the phenomenon of formation, existence, deterioration and annihilation.
With regards to Buddhahood, it can not be attained through “practice”. It does not ask you to add anything to it; on the contrary, it only requires you to give away the extra things you do not need. When you keep throwing away things that originally do not belong to you, it will come to the time when you have nothing more to throw away, and you are left with your original belonging. Your “original belonging” is “true”; because “the true” is “the original”. The truth is original. Consequently, what you finally possess is something that is true and original; it is not gained through practice. The outcome of any effort will eventually deteriorate, such as the Great Wall and the A-Fong Palace. They were built, and they will deteriorate. Nevertheless, Buddhahood is not the outcome of efforts; it is the revelation of the original mind and the recovery of one’s original state of mind.
“To intend to practice”; what is it to practice about? When you have a thought of practice in your mind, the thought is a conditioned dharma. “To hold onto it”; what is it to hold onto? There is no need to hold onto anything; holding onto is attachment. If there is something to hold onto, there must be something to attach to. As a result, there are the two hindrances of principle and fact. It is likened to hold onto “the routines of reciting how many sutras a day, to kowtow how many times, to eat what sorts of vegetarian diets and how many precepts to abide by”. That is “holding onto”. The authentic practice has nothing to hold onto.
Though we say there is nothing to hold onto, you still need to maintain it and monitor it at the beginning of your practice. What does “maintain” mean? It means to keep it and to trust it. What does “monitor” mean? It means to manage it and carry it. What to manage? It is to manage your mind. What to carry? It is to carry your An-Hsiang and not to lose it. There are the Cowherd diagrams drawn by Ch’an masters in the past, which is about the taming of cattle [representing the mind]. The way to tame cattle is just like taming horses in the western America. In the beginning, it is not obedient, nor attentive or cooperative, and it will run away at any time. After having been trained and modified for a certain period of time, it will gradually become stable and do not run away. Indeed, only when you reach the stage in which “you are An-Hsiang, and An-Hsiang is you,” that you can say “to hold onto it is not the main doctrine.” By that time it is not necessary to keep holding on anything.
Statements of this kind are all made by people who have attained enlightenment; therefore, they may sound a little awkward to us. In fact, as long as you can keep and maintain An-Hsiang for a month, you will have intimate feeling to these statements. You will feel like these statements are spoken by yourself.
※The Meaning of “Following What One Sees and Get Lost in the Flow of Change”
Q: The “Chapter on Opportunity and Condition” of the Platform Sutra states, “Views arise without reason, and one is attached to searching for Bodhi. Passion exists in a thought of enlightenment, and how can this thought transcend the state of illusion? One’s own nature is the source of awakening, but following what one sees enables one to get lost in the flow of change. If one cannot enter into the room of the Patriarch, one will be lost at both ends.” Please interpret the statement “following what one sees enables one to get lost in the flow of change.”
A: “Following what one sees enables one to get lost in the flow of change” If you follow what you see and focus on the external objects and do not reflect on your own mind, you regard the external forms as real and become lost in the flow of change. The qualities of your Dharmakaya will be lost.
“If one cannot enter into the room of the Patriarch, one will be lost at both ends.” “Both ends” refers to annihilation or permanence, success or failure, ordinary or sagely beings etc. etc. Nevertheless, “the room of the Patriarch” refers to that which is absolute, in which you cannot find anything dualistic. “The room of the Patriarch” is the non-dualistic truth. Once you enter into the non-dualistic truth, you are away from discrimination, duality, the two extremes and plurality. You will only live in the world of the original mind, which is free from any discrimination.
