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

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to doing a particularly odious job so we absolve ourselves of guilt by dumping the job onto someone else. A person who goes to work every day makes choices and compromises. So complex is the network of commerce, industry, and professional services that it is often impossible to draw any line of demarcation between acceptable and unacceptable occupations. A Chan man must live in society and what is legal in society is legal for a Chan man. If he doesn't like the law, he can try by legal means to alter it. If he finds an occupation personally repugnant, he should abstain from it; but he should not chastise or condemn someone else whose views differ from his. There simply is no other realistic way of complying with Right Livelihood. In all the world there is nothing more repugnant than a morally superior religious leader who will take money from those whose occupations he finds reprehensible, who likes fine leather gloves which, he supposes, come from leather trees, who demands a well ordered society while denigrating the hands that do the dirty work of maintaining it, who richly lives where there are no rats but who forbids the poor to rid themselves even of this scourge, and so on. Such a cleric is a professional hypocrite, a livelihood many stations below the more conservative forms of prostitution. CHAPTER 15 RIGHT LIVELIHOOD S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM 164
SIXTH STEP ON THE PATH CHAPTER 16 RIGHT EFFORT Upon reaching this particular step, most Buddhist texts usually deliver a little sermon on willpower. Says Walpola Rahula (quoting scripture, I believe) "Right Effort is the energetic will (l) to prevent evil and unwholesome states of mind from arising, and (2) to get rid of such evil and unwholesome states that have already arisen within a man, and also (3) to produce, to cause to arise, good and wholesome states of mind not yet arisen, and (4) to develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of mind already present in a man." The Reverend Dr. Rahula, having begun and concluded his remarks on Right Effort, moves on to the next step in the Path. We are left wondering how we can use the information provided in this four-part definition. A definition is not a plan. Right Effort requires us to simplify our life and to restructure it in ways that conduce to the performance of our Chan practice. We create an environment in which our practice can thrive. Right Effort, then, enables us to establish a positive feedback loop: success in meditation makes us feel better emotionally and physically, and feeling better makes us enthusiastic about keeping our Chan practice. Willpower is not something we will ourselves to have. We are motivated to act only when we desire the rewards of our actions. It is possible to be motivated to act in order to avoid pain, discomfort or the descent into a former, failed way of life; but this negative kind of motivation is never very strong. A merciful providence consigns pain to oblivion. We quickly forget how really awful life can be, how very injurious to us certain people, places and things actually are. We get sloppy and backslide. In the fables of Hinduism and Buddhism, a recurring character appears: the purchased devil. How important it is to maintain our practice is illustrated in one particular story: A man is walking through the marketplace when he suddenly sees a caged devil for sale. He wonders why anyone would want to buy a devil but the merchant assures him that the devil is well worth the investment. The devil can perform any and all domestic tasks assigned to him. All that is necessary, says the merchant, is that the devil faithfully be told CHAPTER 16 RIGHT EFFORT S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM 165
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THE SEVENTH WORLD OF CHAN BUDDHISM
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Table of Contents PART I: ORIGINS C
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As their population increased, so d
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from the womb of their Holy Mother
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fade quickly in early morning body-
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doctrine of Karma meant nothing les
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The other method of salvation, the
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As H.G. Wells reconstructs Siddarth
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CHAPTER 2 CHINA How wonderful! How
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in its concealed vitality, a new mo
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favor. (Unhappily, as we shall see,
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demand, or, perhaps, respectfully r
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demonstrated divine affection; and
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Believing that human nature was inh
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after a specific individual can, wh
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The Confucians also mocked the old
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Preferring to be absolutely certain
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male, earth and sky, dark and light
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As farmers, they of course studied
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emember. How much credence can we a
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Again, as there is no willful, exte
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CHAPTER 4 ORIGINS OF THE TWO MAIN S
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ecstatic beggars ambling through th
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As monasteries and shrines competed
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Though he could see Infinity in a s
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When, however, the fellow failed to
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was necessary, went back to South C
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intelligentsia sought refuge in Con
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She must have paid a fortune for it
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Even though Titans are noticeably h
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with the cosmos - encounters which
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The name Devil comes from the wretc
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challenge. To live in the Six World
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CHAPTER 6 THE GAP BETWEEN THE SIX W
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himself as being under siege from e
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advise him to seek sanctuary in a m
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CHAPTER 7 A WORKING MODEL OF THE PS
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that because something conforms to
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and protect them, they very likely
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follow a prescribed moral code that
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survival value. With this friend th
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Even today, a man will spend consid
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CROSS-SECTION: MODEL OF PSYCHE The
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in which we simply live out the lif
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pride, anger, security, jealousy, a
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honest, loving, witty, and good hum
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feel if we discover that our trust
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CHAPTER 9 HIGH PRICE OF DESIRE It s
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including veterans' organizations)
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the legend, "Even when you're baaaa
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Mr. Doe tells himself that he does
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Since his ex-wife and kids live in
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court press.) His new attachments w
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When evaluating dreams we must reca
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PART III: PRACTICE CHAPTER 10 FIRST
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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 and 134: Insofar as these events concern our
Page 135 and 136: adiant, humble, compassionate, joyf
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: killing of animals being unambiguou
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
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seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

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