seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

Recommendations

Info

SECOND STEP ON THE PATH CHAPTER 12 RIGHT THOUGHT OR PURPOSE Who is it who has dragged this carcass here? - Chinese Hua-tou (thought puzzle) Nobody gets anywhere in Buddhism without understanding from his scalp to the soles of his feet that samsaric life is bitter and painful, the First Noble Truth. And why is life so hard? Because in our egotism we crave so many foolish things. This is the Second Noble Truth. Can we get out of the mess? Yes. This is the Third Noble Truth. How? We kill the fool who craves. We kill it by tearing it away from the people, things and ideas it clings to as it parasitically tries to drain from these sources some substantive identity. The tearing-away process is the painful wounding of the ego, the harsh Right Purpose of the Fourth Noble Truth's Eightfold Path. When we're young, our craving for status serves a biological imperative. Social success insures successful breeding and survival of the stock. That's how nature programmed us; but once we have played out our biological programs, we're entitled to retire from the everyday cruelties of competition and to live in the perfect peace of spiritual fulfillment. We have to awaken from the dreamy illusion that we are the sum of people and things with which we have identified. People who have spent enough time in swamp water hear the reveille clearly. They need a few instructions and a little direction but require no further prodding. Others, who are new to disillusionment, are usually not so fortunate. Their egos have to feel a bit more of the pain of alienation and humiliation. They need a good Chan master who has a big heart and a strong stick. "Who is it who has brought me this carcass?" the Chan master demands to know. His student trembles. This is Buddhism's principal challenge and there is no way to avoid it. "Who am I?" Ask a swamp dweller "Who are you?" He answers, "I'm nobody. I'm less than nothing." And he's not being modest. Ask him again after he's made it even halfway up the Path. "I'm the most blessed man on earth," he replies without resorting to hyperbole. He is CHAPTER 12 RIGHT THOUGHT OR PURPOSE S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM 134
adiant, humble, compassionate, joyful. He is a budding Buddha. His fool is dead. It died in the Swamp along with everything else he used to value. Many Chan newcomers, however, act as if they intend to climb the Path while still embracing their old strategies, titles and possessions. Like gentlemen contestants in a leisurely sport, they require material comforts - books, recorded music, video, telephones, computers, as well as quality garments and suitable accommodations. They need a supporting entourage and of course, a gallery. Where is the sport if their efforts are not appreciated by family, friends, colleagues, lovers, scapegoats and other prized companions? Now the Chan master wants to know, "Who are you?" And the foolish newcomer answers, "I'm John Doe, scion of the Doe family." Whack! The Chan master hits him with the stick. "That's a name, a lineage, you dolt! Who are you!?" He tells the student to get out and to come back the next day with a better answer. During subsequent interviews, the contestant tries to identify himself in a variety of ways. He tries his occupation or his membership in a social rank. He is somebody's son, father, husband, or brother. He attempts to distinguish himself by his net worth or by his nationality. He sees himself as somehow being a unique individual by virtue of his creed or his address, by his personal achievements, traits or physical features. And each time he offers a false identification, his master strikes him with his stick and charges him with stupidity. By design, this humiliation does not take place in private. Chan masters are notoriously loud, gruff, and indiscreet. Everyone within a radius of fifty miles will know that the poor, oafish student is an Oaf of the First Magnitude. May we suppose that by presenting ourselves as religious persons we have legitimatized our fool? If, when our master asks who we are, we reply, "A humble servant of the Lord," our master, when he stops laughing, will hit us with his stick. Faking it, we may add, constitutes an impertinence deserving of many whacks. A person who replies, "I am a Buddha" without having discovered this fact through Satori had better be able to run fast. No ego identification is valid. We do not vanish if our money or possessions disappear or if our titles are taken away or if we are suddenly unable to perform some meritorious act or other. If we lose a leg, our humanity is not diminished by a proportionate loss. If we are stricken with amnesia we are not genetically altered. Let all this and more be taken from us, yet while we live and are conscious, we remain. The ego is a series of fictitious characters. In none of its aliases does it exist. Ultimately we find that all we are is a complex human covering of a single Buddha Self. Detachment is a yielding of status, a surrendering of pride. We live our lives clamoring for recognition, sinking our emotional teeth and claws into other people whose CHAPTER 12 RIGHT THOUGHT OR PURPOSE S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM 135
Page 1 and 2:
THE SEVENTH WORLD OF CHAN BUDDHISM
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents PART I: ORIGINS C
Page 5 and 6:
As their population increased, so d
Page 7 and 8:
from the womb of their Holy Mother
Page 9 and 10:
fade quickly in early morning body-
Page 11 and 12:
doctrine of Karma meant nothing les
Page 13 and 14:
The other method of salvation, the
Page 15 and 16:
As H.G. Wells reconstructs Siddarth
Page 17 and 18:
CHAPTER 2 CHINA How wonderful! How
Page 19 and 20:
in its concealed vitality, a new mo
Page 21 and 22:
favor. (Unhappily, as we shall see,
Page 23 and 24:
demand, or, perhaps, respectfully r
Page 25 and 26:
demonstrated divine affection; and
Page 27 and 28:
Believing that human nature was inh
Page 29 and 30:
after a specific individual can, wh
Page 31 and 32:
The Confucians also mocked the old
Page 33 and 34:
Preferring to be absolutely certain
Page 35 and 36:
male, earth and sky, dark and light
Page 37 and 38:
As farmers, they of course studied
Page 39 and 40:
emember. How much credence can we a
Page 41 and 42:
Again, as there is no willful, exte
Page 43 and 44:
CHAPTER 4 ORIGINS OF THE TWO MAIN S
Page 45 and 46:
ecstatic beggars ambling through th
Page 47 and 48:
As monasteries and shrines competed
Page 49 and 50:
Though he could see Infinity in a s
Page 51 and 52:
When, however, the fellow failed to
Page 53 and 54:
was necessary, went back to South C
Page 55 and 56:
intelligentsia sought refuge in Con
Page 57 and 58:
She must have paid a fortune for it
Page 59 and 60:
Even though Titans are noticeably h
Page 61 and 62:
with the cosmos - encounters which
Page 63 and 64:
The name Devil comes from the wretc
Page 65 and 66:
challenge. To live in the Six World
Page 67 and 68:
CHAPTER 6 THE GAP BETWEEN THE SIX W
Page 69 and 70:
himself as being under siege from e
Page 71 and 72:
advise him to seek sanctuary in a m
Page 73 and 74:
CHAPTER 7 A WORKING MODEL OF THE PS
Page 75 and 76:
that because something conforms to
Page 77 and 78:
and protect them, they very likely
Page 79 and 80:
follow a prescribed moral code that
Page 81 and 82:
survival value. With this friend th
Page 83 and 84: Even today, a man will spend consid
Page 85 and 86: CROSS-SECTION: MODEL OF PSYCHE The
Page 87 and 88: in which we simply live out the lif
Page 89 and 90: pride, anger, security, jealousy, a
Page 91 and 92: honest, loving, witty, and good hum
Page 93 and 94: feel if we discover that our trust
Page 95 and 96: CHAPTER 9 HIGH PRICE OF DESIRE It s
Page 97 and 98: including veterans' organizations)
Page 99 and 100: the legend, "Even when you're baaaa
Page 101 and 102: Mr. Doe tells himself that he does
Page 103 and 104: Since his ex-wife and kids live in
Page 105 and 106: court press.) His new attachments w
Page 107 and 108: When evaluating dreams we must reca
Page 109 and 110: PART III: PRACTICE CHAPTER 10 FIRST
Page 111 and 112: Again, meditation requires that the
Page 113 and 114: Some people find it easier to count
Page 115 and 116: Zen is a branch of the Mahayana, an
Page 117 and 118: FIRST STEP ON THE EIGHTFOLD PATH CH
Page 119 and 120: Now, the question is this: Which ba
Page 121 and 122: It is necessary to appreciate the d
Page 123 and 124: punishment in the sense of physical
Page 125 and 126: through his troubles. It's another
Page 127 and 128: And if a single confession of past
Page 129 and 130: At the turn of the century, a famou
Page 131 and 132: and death' the moment we enter Nirv
Page 133: Insofar as these events concern our
Page 137 and 138: Usually our love-affairs with thing
Page 139 and 140: The chronic annoyance of trivialiti
Page 141 and 142: After Dad has sympathized with Sonn
Page 143 and 144: conviction, "The friend of my frien
Page 145 and 146: Chan requires us not only to analyz
Page 147 and 148: Of all the projections one individu
Page 149 and 150: ego is so important." The layman, l
Page 151 and 152: Of greater importance to the person
Page 153 and 154: Buddhists because it is virtually i
Page 155 and 156: 1. Non-killing 2. Non-stealing 3. N
Page 157 and 158: Salesmen frequently have difficulty
Page 159 and 160: would not be able to perform such g
Page 161 and 162: CHAPTER 15 RIGHT LIVELIHOOD "The pr
Page 163 and 164: killing of animals being unambiguou
Page 165 and 166: SIXTH STEP ON THE PATH CHAPTER 16 R
Page 167 and 168: What if we don't have a whole house
Page 169 and 170: When we finally decide to get in sh
Page 171 and 172: By Right Effort we mean that we cre
Page 173 and 174: sanitized in translation and appear
Page 175 and 176: men and women involved would have q
Page 177 and 178: the gentle monk came outside and sa
Page 179 and 180: There is another revolving sensatio
Page 181 and 182: length of time he'll require. He pe
Page 183 and 184: Eventually he realizes that he is b
Page 185 and 186:
"Are there any teachings which go b
Page 187 and 188:
The rules which govern eating defy
Page 189 and 190:
CHAPTER 19 RIGHT MEDITATION EIGHTH
Page 191 and 192:
cannot describe either the rush of
Page 193 and 194:
The hands may either be held high a
Page 195 and 196:
for as long as possible - the durat
Page 197 and 198:
OTHER FORMS OF MEDITATION The word
Page 199 and 200:
Pay attention to one clock only. As
Page 201 and 202:
volume and harmony until it seemed
Page 203 and 204:
Fasting, never a gentle exercise, c
Page 205 and 206:
So far, so good. The characters and
Page 207 and 208:
What type of prayer is permissible?
Page 209:
CONCLUSION I remember once being ta
show all

seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?