Living with Death

Lao-tse speaks of the death of a loved one, or anyone for that matter, as a time to rejoice and a birth as a time to mourn. He is right, you know. He was and Is one of the greatest Sages in history, the acclaimed author of the Tao Te Ching, and the founder of ancient Taoist philosophy. Zen, the non-religious philosophy and Practice of Mahayana Buddhism or Ch'an Buddhism expresses the Wisdom of Non-attachment to the good, the bad, the pain, and the suffering we encounter within the illusory "realities" created by our Egos. These two Ways of Wisdom are very similar and both absolutely correct teachings of the One Truth. Getting to this level of self-mastery is a Path that removes the accumulated garbage we suppress over eons and clears up the "interference" that conceals our calm Center, our True Nature or Self. However, the "tool(s)", such as meditation, Tai Chi, et al, we use to follow and clear this Path can take a lifetime or more of dedication. So what do we do when tragedy hits?

I just found out that my only brother died a tragic death so once again I am faced with this enormous obstacle on my Path. If I go with the Wisdom and Flow around it unattached, if possible, it will appear heartless and callous. Plus, if I just suppress my deep sorrow, it will have to be faced later. The only solution that feels Right is to allow my Mind and Body to Be naturally One, open the floodgates, and Let Go. It will painfully surface and eventually dissipate. This is the plan. When and where, I do not know.

I love you John, Always have, Always will, and we shall meet again along this vicious cycle of Life and Death. For now though, Rest in Peace. You deserve it!

In loving memory of my Brother...

Namaste'

Obituary:  http://amarillo.com/obituaries/2012-03-09/john-benton-langley

Sharing Wisdom on My Path

My Path is such a Joyful one whether I am alone or amongst a crowd of people. There is at least one day each week where I leave the beautiful sound of Silence out here in my paradise in the Texas Hill Country to go to the incredibly unique and stunningly beautiful city of San Marcos - home to my Alma Mater. One night each week is one just for enjoying the social life here and, particularly, Being amongst and conversing with the wonderfully inspiring, intelligent, and beautiful young men and women who are attending Texas State University. Their perspectives on life are of great interest to me and indeed quite enlightening in so many ways. There is never a night, an encounter, an in-depth conversation, or a newly-formed friendship that leaves me anything but refreshed, filled with joy, and very impressed with their Present overall level of worldly knowledge and, in the occasional meeting, some actual Wisdom of their True Nature. The other night was no exception. There was one particular conversation I had with three young students right before leaving town that made the entire evening very special indeed.

My greatest obstacle to fulfilling my honorable and humbling "assignment" here has Always been, "How do I explain the One Truth to them, or anyone, when such Truth is ineffable?". I have failed miserably in almost every case except, possibly,  for the aforementioned conversation. My insistence that Reality, that Life itself exist only in the moment, the Infinite Present, actually took hold of them. Their grasp of this Truth, this Ultimate Truth, set my Being alive and "buzzing" with the Blissful Energy of the Universe(s), Source, God, our True Nature, and our Oneness with All. Hopefully, our next conversation will be one with sincere questions about who we are, why we are here, and "where" do we go from here.

After such a night of realizing their willingness to truly "hear" my words, I am fully prepared and honored to help them to begin building their Foundation of Wisdom upon the necessity to Relax, to naturally Breathe deeply, and to Stop for a moment just to Observe, to Witness, and to realize the Folly of their Homunculus (internal dialogue), and to see that the reality "it" creates is Not the actual Reality in which we Live.  These three actions are the simple tools everyone must learn to use throughout the day to realize the incredible amount of useless noise their Ego is creating before beginning their Path back to the Present. Hopefully, they will remember to do this and Be amazed at the level of distractions it is creating. I eagerly look forward to hearing about this Awakening and our next "Learning Event"!

For now, I am just beginning my journey into Part V. of Section IV. "From the Chinese Zen Masters' in the Manual of Zen Buddhism translated by the arguably, and in my opinion, the greatest scholar and Zen Master of the Twentieth Century, D. T. Suzuki. Although I may compose and post other entries beforehand, each one of the teachings from this ancient text contains the very essence of the One Truth that constantly shines a Great Light upon our individual Paths with Heart - All eventually intercepting the One Path that lead us back Home to our True Nature, the Paradise within, to which We All Must return. Be well!

Namaste'

YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"

Continuing with the next ancient teaching from the " Manual of Zen Buddhism", I present Part IV. of this Section:

IV. FROM THE CHINESE ZEN MASTERS

       YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"


This is an incredible ancient Zen teaching on Enlightenment from a very early Zen Master. The original text by Master Yoka Daishi, Cheng-tao Ke, "realization-way-song", is more complex than the previous teachings and is filled with ancient terminology so I have spent quite some time contemplating whether I should post it here or not. After reading it many times and studying it thoroughly, though, the answer is now obvious. The great Wisdom contained within this very important teaching is a Must-read for everyone who is serious about their respective Practice(s). Please take your time with this one and it's beauty, it's true clarity, and it's infinite importance will be revealed. As always, domo arigato' to the late, great Zen Master and scholar, D.T.Suzuki, for translating the original text and presenting it's great Wisdom here for the benefit of all. Enjoy!

Namaste'

YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"[1]

1. Knowest thou that leisurely philosopher who has gone beyond learning and is not exerting himself in anything?

He neither endeavours to avoid idle thoughts nor seeks after the Truth;

[For he knows that] ignorance in reality is the Buddha-nature,

[And that] this empty visionary body is no less than the Dharma-body.

2. When one knows what the Dharma-body is, there is not an object [to be known as such],

The source of all things, as far as its self-nature goes, is the Buddha in his absolute aspect;

The five aggregates (skandha) are like a cloud floating hither and thither with no fixed purpose,

The three poisons (klesa) are like foams appearing and disappearing as it so happens to them.

3. When Reality is attained, it is seen to be without an ego-substance and devoid of all forms of objectivity,

And thereby all the karma which leads us to the lowest hell is instantly wiped out;

Those, however, who cheat beings with their false knowledge,

Will surely see their tongues pulled out for innumerable ages to come.

4. In one whose mind is at once awakened to [the intent of] the Tathagata-dhyana

The six paramitas and all the other merits are fully matured;

While in a world of dreams the six paths of existence arc vividly traced,

But after the awakening there is vast Emptiness only and not even a great chiliocosm exists.

--

5. Here one sees neither sin nor bliss, neither loss nor gain;

In the midst of the Eternally Serene no idle questionings are invited;

The dust [of ignorance] has been since of old accumulating on the mirror never polished,

Now is the time once for all to see the clearing positively done.

6. Who is said to have no-thought? and who not-born?

If really not-born, there is no no-birth either;

Ask a machine-man and find out if this is not so;

As long as you seek Buddhahood, specifically exercising yourself for it, there is no attainment for you.

7. Let the four elements go off your hold,

And in the midst of the Eternally Serene allow yourself to quaff or to peck, as you like;

Where all things of relativity are transient and ultimately empty,

There is seen the great perfect enlightenment of the Tathagata realized.

8. True monkhood consists in having a firm conviction;

If, however, you fail to have it, ask me according to your ideas, [and you will be enlightened].

To have a direct understanding in regard to the root of all things, this is what the Buddha affirms;

If you go on gathering leaves and branches, there is no help for you.

9. The whereabouts of the precious mani-jewel is not known to people generally,

Which lies deeply buried in the recesses of the Tathagata-garbha;

The sixfold function miraculously performed by it is an illusion and yet not an illusion,

The rays of light emanating from one perfect sun belong to the realm of form and yet not to it.

10. The fivefold eye-sight[1] is purified and the fivefold power[2] is gained,

When one has a realization, which is beyond [intellectual] measurement;

There is no difficulty in recognizing images in the mirror,

But who can take hold of the moon reflected in water?

11. [The enlightened one] walks always by himself, goes about always by himself;

Every perfect one saunters along one and the same passage of Nirvana;

His tone is classical, his spirit is transparent, his airs are naturally elevated,

His features are rather gaunt, his bones are firm, he pays no attention to others.

12. Sons of the Sakya are known to be poor;

But their poverty is of the body, their spiritual life knows no poverty;

The poverty-stricken body is wrapped in rags,

But their spirit holds within itself a rare invaluable gem.

13. The rare invaluable gem is never impaired however much one uses it,

And beings are thereby benefited ungrudgingly as required by occasions;

The triple body[3] and the fourfold jnana[4] are perfected within it,

The eightfold emancipation[5] and the sixfold miraculous power[6] are impressed on it.

14. The superior one has it settled once for all and forever

The middling one learns much and holds much doubt;

The point is to cast aside your soiled clothes you so dearly keep with you;

What is the use of showing off your work before others?

15. Let others speak ill of me, let others spite me;

Those who try to burn the sky with a torch end in tiring themselves out;

I listen to them and taste [their evil-speaking] as nectar;

All melts away and I find myself suddenly within the Unthinkable itself.[7]

16. Seeing others talk ill of me, I acquire the chance of gaining merit,

For they are really my good friends;

When I cherish, being vituperated, neither enmity nor favouritism,

There grows within me the power of love and humility which is born of the Unborn.

17. Let us be thoroughgoing not only in inner experience but in its interpretation,

And our discipline will be perfect in Dhyana as well as in Prajna, not one-sidedly abiding in Sunyata (emptiness);

This is not where we alone have finally come to,

But all the Buddhas, as numerous as the Ganga sands, are of the same essence.

18. The lion-roaring of the doctrine of fearlessness--

Hearing this, the timid animals' brains are torn in pieces,

Even the scented elephant runs wild forgetting its native dignity;

It is the heavenly dragon alone that feels elated with joy, calmly listening [to the lion-roaring of the Buddha].

19. I crossed seas and rivers, climbed mountains, and forded freshets,

In order to interview the masters, to inquire after Truth, to delve into the secrets of Zen;

And ever since I was enabled to recognize the path of Sokei,[8]

I know that birth-and-death is not the thing I have to be concerned with.

20. For walking is Zen, sitting is Zen,

Whether talking or remaining silent, whether moving or standing quiet, the Essence itself is ever at ease;

Even when greeted with swords and spears it never loses its quiet way,

So with poisonous drugs, they fail to perturb its serenity.

21. Our Master, [Sakyamuni], anciently served Dipankara the Buddha,

And again for many kalpas disciplined himself as an ascetic called Kshanti.

[I have also] gone through many a birth and many a death;

Births and deaths-how endlessly they recur!

22. But ever since my realization of No-birth, which quite abruptly came on me,

Vicissitudes of fate, good and bad, have lost their power over me.

Far away in the mountains I live in an humble hut;

High are the mountains, thick the arboreous shades, and under an old pine-tree

I sit quietly and contentedly in my monkish home;

Perfect tranquillity and rustic simplicity rules here.

23. When you are awakened [to the Dharma], all is understood, no strivings are required;

Things of the samskrita[9] are not of this nature;

Charity practised with the idea of form (rupa) may result in a heavenly birth,

But it is like shooting an arrow against the sky,

When the force is exhausted the arrow falls on the ground.

Similarly, [when the heavenly reward comes to an end], the life that follows is sure to be one of fortune.

Is it not far better then to be with Reality which is asamskrita and above all strivings,

And whereby one instantly enters the stage of Tathagatahood?

24. Only let us take hold of the root and not worry about the branches;

It is like a crystal basin reflecting the moon,

And I know now what this mani-gem is,

Whereby not only oneself is benefited but others, inexhaustibly;

The moon is serenely reflected on the stream, the breeze passes softly through the pines,

Perfect silence reigning unruffled-what is it for?

25. The morality-jewel inherent in the Buddha-nature stamps itself on the mind-ground [of the enlightened one];

Whose robe is cut out of mists, clouds, and dews,

Whose bowl anciently pacified the fiery dragons, and whose staff once separated the fighting tigers;

Listen now to the golden rings of his staff giving out mellifluous tunes.

These are not, however, mere symbolic expressions, devoid of historical contents;

Wherever the holy staff of Tathagatahood moves, the traces are distinctly marked.

26. He neither seeks the true nor severs himself from the defiled,

He clearly perceives that dualities are empty and have no reality,

That to have no reality means not to be one-sided, neither empty nor not-empty,

For this is the genuine form of Tathagatahood.

27. The Mind like a mirror is brightly illuminating and knows no obstructions,

It penetrates the vast universe to its minutest crevices;

All its contents, multitudinous in form, are reflected in the Mind,

Which, shining like a perfect gem, has no surface, nor the inside.

28. Emptiness negatively defined denies a world of causality,

All is then in utter confusion, with no orderliness in it, which surely invites evils all around;

The same holds true when beings are clung to at the expense of Emptiness,

For it is like throwing oneself into a flame, in order to avoid being drowned in the water.

29. When one attempts to take hold of the true by abandoning the false,

This is discrimination and there are artificialities and falsehoods;

When the Yogin, not understanding [what the Mind is], is given up to mere discipline,

He is apt, indeed, to take an enemy for his own child.

30. That the Dharma-materials are destroyed and merit is lost,

Comes in every case from the relative discriminatory mind;

For this reason Zen teaches to have a thorough insight into the nature of Mind,

When the Yogin abruptly by means of his intuitive power realizes the truth of No-birth.

31. A man of great will carries with him a sword of Prajna,

Whose flaming Vajra-blade cuts all the entanglements of knowledge and ignorance;

It not only smashes in pieces the intellect of the philosophers

But disheartens the spirit of the evil ones.

32. He causes the Dharma-thunder to roar, he beats the Dharma-drum,

He raises mercy-clouds, he pours nectar-showers,

He conducts himself like the lordly elephant or dragon and beings innumerable are thereby blessed,

The three Vehicles and the five Families are all equally brought to enlightenment.

Hini the herb grows on the Himalaya where no other grasses are found,

And the crows feeding on it give the purest of milk, and this I always enjoy.

One Nature, perfect and pervading, circulates in all natures;

One Reality, all comprehensive, contains within itself all realities;

The one moon reflects itself wherever there is a sheet of water,

And all the moons in the waters are embraced within the one moon;

The Dharma-body of all the Buddhas enters into my own being,

And my own being is found in union with theirs.

33. In one stage are stored up all the stages;

[Reality] is neither form, nor mind, nor work;

Even before fingers are snapped, more than eighty thousand holy teachings are fulfilled;

Even in the space of a second the evil karma of three asamkhyeya kalpas is destroyed;

Whatever propositions are made by logic are no [true] propositions,

For they stand in no intrinsic relation to my inner Light.

34. [This inner Light] is beyond both praise and abuse,

Like unto space it knows no boundaries;

Yet it is right here with us ever retaining its serenity and fulness;

It is only when you seek it that you lose it.

You cannot take hold of it, nor can you get rid of it;

While you can do neither, it goes on its own way;

You remain silent and it speaks; you speak and it is silent;

The great gate of charity is wide open with no obstructions whatever before it.

35. Should someone ask me what teaching I understand,

I tell him that mine is the power of Mahaprajna;

Affirm it or negate it as you like-it is beyond your human intelligence;

Walk against it or along with it, and Heaven knows not its whereabouts.

36. 1 have been disciplined in it for ever so many kalpas of my life;

This is no idle talk of mine, nor am I deceiving you;

I erect the Dharma-banner to maintain this teaching,

Which I have gained at Sokei and which is no other than the one proclaimed by the Buddha.

37. Mahakashyapa was the first, leading the line of transmission;

Twenty-eight Fathers followed him in the West;

The Lamp was then brought over the sea to this country;

And Bodhidharma became the First Father here:

His mantle, as we all know, passed over six Fathers,

And by them many minds came to see the Light.

38. Even the true need not be [specifically] established, as to the false none such have ever been in existence;

When both being and non-being are put aside, even non-emptiness loses its sense;

The twenty forms of Emptiness are not from the first to be adhered to;

The eternal oneness of Tathagatahood remains absolutely the same.

39. The mind functions through the sense-organs, and thereby an objective world is comprehended--

This dualism marks darkly on the mirror;

When the dirt is wiped off, the light shines out;

So when both the mind and the objective world are forgotten, the Essence asserts its truth.

40. Alas! this age of degeneration is full of evils;

Beings are most poorly endowed and difficult to control;

Being further removed from the ancient Sage, they deeply cherish false views;

The Evil One is gathering up his forces while the Dharma is weakened, and hatred is growing rampant;

Even when they learn of the "abrupt" school of the Buddhist teaching,

What a pity that they fail to embrace it and thereby to crush evils like a piece of brick!

41. The mind is the author of all works and the body the sufferer of all ills;

Do not blame others plaintively for what properly belongs to you;

If you desire not to incur upon yourself the karma for a hell,

Cease from blaspheming the Tathagata-wheel of the good Dharma.

42. There are no inferior trees in the grove of sandalwoods,

Among its thickly-growing primeval forest lions alone find their abode;

Where no disturbances reach, where peace only reigns, there is the place for lions to roam;

All the other beasts are kept away, and birds do not fly in the vicinity.

43. It is only their own cubs that follow their steps in the woods,

When the young ones are only three years old, they roar.

How can jackals pursue the king of the Dharma?

With all their magical arts the elves gape to no purpose.

44. The perfect "abrupt" teaching has nothing to do with human imagination;

Where a shadow of doubt is still left, there lies the cause for argumentation;

My saying this is not the outcome of my egotism,

My only fear is lest your discipline lead you astray either to nihilism or positivism.

45. "No" is not necessarily "No", nor is "Yes" "Yes";

But when you miss even a tenth of an inch, the difference widens up to one thousand miles;

When it is "Yes", a young Naga girl in an instant attains Buddhahood,

When it is "No", the most learned Zensho[10] while alive falls into hell.

46. Since early years I have been eagerly after scholarly attainment,

I have studied the sutras and sastras and commentaries,

I have been given up to the analysis of names and forms, and never known what fatigue meant;

But diving into the ocean to count up its sands is surely an exhausting task and a vain one;

The Buddha has never spared such, his scoldings are just to the point,

For what is the use of reckoning the treasures that are not mine?

All my past achievements have been efforts vainly and wrongly applied-I realize it fully now,

I have been a vagrant monk for many years to no end whatever.

47. When the notion of the original family is not properly understood,

You never attain to the understanding of the Buddha's perfect "abrupt" system;

The two Vehicles exert themselves enough, but lack the aspirations [of the Bodhisattva];

The philosophers are intelligent enough but wanting in Prajna;

[As to the rest of us] they are either ignorant or puerile;

They take an empty fist as containing something real, and the pointing finger for the object pointed;

When the finger is adhered to as the moon itself, all their efforts are lost;

They are indeed idle dreamers lost in a world of senses and objects.

48. The Tathagata is interviewed when one enters upon a realm of no-forms,

Such is to be really called a Kwanjizai (Avalokitesvara)

When this is understood, the karma-hindrances are by nature empty;

When not understood, we all pay for the past debts contracted.

49. A royal table is set before the hungry, but they refuse to eat;

If the sick turn away from a good physician, how are they cured?

Practise Zen while in a world of desires, and the genuine power of intuition is manifested;

When the lotus blooms in the midst of a fire, it is never destroyed.

Yuse (Yung-shih) the Bhikshu[11] was an offender in one of the gravest crimes, but when he had an enlightened insight into No-birth

He instantly attained to Buddhahood and is still living in another world.

50. The doctrine of fearlessness is taught as loudly as a lion roars:

What a pity that confused minds inflexibly hardened like leather

Understand only that grave offences are obstructions to Enlightenment,

And are unable to see into the secrets of the Tathagata's teaching.

51. Anciently, there were two Bhikshus, the one committing murder and the other a carnal offence:

Upali's insight was like that of the glowworm, and ended only in tightening the knots of offence;

But when they were instantly enlightened by the wisdom of Vimalakirti,

Their griefs and doubts melted away like the frost and snow before the blazing sun.

52. The power of incomprehensible emancipation

Works wonders as innumerable as the sands of the Ganga and knows no limits;

[To him] the four kinds of offerings are most willingly made,

By him thousands of pieces of gold are disbursed without involving anybody in debts;

The bones may be crushed to powders, the body cut

up to pieces, and yet we cannot repay him enough for what he does for us;

Even a phrase [issuing from him] holds true for hundreds of thousands of kotis of kalpas.

53. He is the Dharma-king deserving the highest respect;

The Tathagatas, as many in number as the Ganga-sands, all testify to the truth of his attainment;

I now understand what this mani jewel is,

And know that all those who accept it in faith are in correspondence [with it].

54. As to seeing it, the seeing is clear enough, but no objects are here to be seen,

Not a person here, nor the Buddha;

Chiliocosms numberless are mere bubbles in the ocean,

All the sages and worthies are flashes of lightning.

55. However rapidly revolves the iron-wheel over my head,

The perfect brightness of Dhyana and Prajna in me is never effaced;

The sun may turn cold. and the moon hot;

With all the power of the evil ones the true doctrine remains forever indestructible.

The elephant-carriage steadily climbs up the steepest hill,

Before whose wheels how can the beetle stand?

56. The great elephant does not walk on the hare's lane,

Supreme Enlightenment goes beyond the narrow range of intellection;

Cease from measuring heaven with a tiny piece of reed;

If you have no insight yet, I will have the matter settled for you.

Notes:

[1] Yoka Daishi (died 713, Yung-chia Ta-shih, in Chinese), otherwise known as Gengaku (Hsuan-chiao), was one of the chief disciples of Hui-neng, the, sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Before he was converted to Zen he was a student of the T'ien-tai. His interview with Hui-neng is recorded in the Tan-ching. He died in 713 leaving a number of short works on Zen philosophy, and of them the present composition in verse is the most popular one. The Original title reads: Cheng-tao Ke, "realization-way-song".

[2] The fivefold eye-sight (cakshus) : (1) Physical, (2) Heavenly, (3) Prajna-, (4) Dharma-, and (5) Buddha-eye.

[3] The fivefold power (bala): (1) Faith, (2) Energy, (3) Memory, (4) Meditation, and (5) Prajna.]

[4] (1) The Dharma-body, (2) the Body of Enjoyment, and (3) the Body of Transformation.

[5] (1) Mirror-intuition, (2) intuition of identity, (3) knowledge of doing Works, and (4) clear perception of relations.

[6]The Abhidharmakosa, VIII, gives an explanation of the eight Vimoksha. See La Vallee Poussin's French translation, Chap. VIII, pp. 203-221.

[7] For the six Riddhi, which are the supernatural products of the meditations, see op. cit., VII, 122 ff.]

[8] T'sao-ch'i is the name of the locality where Hui-neng had his monastery, means the master himself.]

[9] According to Buddhist philosophy, existence is divided into two groups, samskrita and asamskrita. The samskrita applies to anything that does any kind of work in any possible manner, while the asamskrita accomplishes nothing. Of this class are space regarded as a mode of reality, Nirvana, and nonexistence owing to lack of necessary conditions.]

[10] Shang-hsing, lit. "good star", was a great scholar of his age.]

[11] The story of this Bhikshu is told in the Sutra on Cleansing the Karma-hindrances (Ching Yeh-chang Ching).

Calm Down

 

This article is a great introduction to some formal types of meditation practices available to everyone. They All work very well IF you will be consistent with your daily Practice and give them the necessary time to change the neural makeup of your brain. This is called "Neural Plasticity" - something amazing that Science just recently discovered and is rapidly expanding it's research in worldwide. There are several links at the bottom to more information about each of them. Doing this Practice in one of these or any other proven system is the most important thing you will ever do, Period! Enjoy!

Namaste'

 

Calm down

Can Sacramento meditation practices help us learn to quiet the noise and cultivate appreciation for our world?

By Nancy Brands Ward

 

On one of the most exquisite days of Sacramento’s summer, three dozen people elected to spend the day indoors, sitting straight-backed in a darkened room, paying careful attention to the inner workings of their minds and the wisdom of an unassuming Zen master.

What could motivate these ordinary people to sit silently 

for many hours, settling into a formless meditation called 

shikantaza, paying no mind to thoughts as they arise, simply 

bringing the attention back home over and over again each

time it wandered?

The promise of enlightenment, perhaps?


Lin Jensen, who led the retreat sponsored by the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group that’s met weekly to study all Buddhist traditions for the past 20 years, believes there’s an overemphasis on enlightenment in popular discourse on Buddhism and meditation.


“Soto Zen says you’re already enlightened, you just haven’t noticed it,” said Jensen, senior Buddhist chaplain to High Desert State Prison in Susanville and founder of the Chico Zen Sangha, noting that he found being asked to hold still when he first began meditation a revolutionary idea.


The stillness of meditation is all about the noticing.


Most religions incorporate some form of meditation into their traditions, and in recent years the contemplative practice has been swelling in popularity, with millions of Americans now reporting that they meditate.


That upswing can be evidenced beyond a doubt in the Sacramento region.
Why do they meditate? They do it for stress relief, to control pain and to achieve emotional balance. They practice it to become familiar with a new way of perceiving themselves and the world. And they endure it to cultivate loving kindness or compassion.


Enlightenment? Maybe. Maybe not.


Meditation has been around since at least the time of the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago, and there are many methods espoused for finding peace and liberation through the practice. Dozens are represented in the Sacramento region, and SN&R visited a handful to give you the scoop on where they are and what to expect when you visit.


Nearly all are run completely by volunteers and operate through donations. Some recognize the existence of an external deity, though most speak only of the divinity within. All welcome newcomers and don’t require that you become a Buddhist, a yogi or even a Christian to engage in meditation. What SN&R found is that at their cores, they’re all aiming for the same result through contemplative practice: the equanimity to engage life with generosity and kindness.

Engage the world
Theravada Buddhism: Sacramento Insight Meditation


Twice a month on Thursday evenings, several dozen Sacramentans gather in the Friends meeting house (Quakers) near Sacramento State to work at cultivating their minds through a practice called vipassana, or insight meditation, which is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness.


Some sit on cushions, but most sit in chairs aligned inside the arc of the circular meeting hall. They come together as members of the Sacramento Insight Meditation group to practice the four foundations of mindfulness: contemplation of the body, feelings, mind and dharma (the teachings of Buddhism, or simply “the way things are”).


Like many meditative techniques, vipassana begins by paying attention to the breath to help calm and focus the mind. But what distinguishes insight meditation from many other practices is that in it nothing is pushed away, said Diane Wilde, a teaching mentor at SIM. “We engage with whatever comes to the forefront during meditation—a really strong feeling … the sounds of birds chirping—we investigate it.”


From this mindful awareness comes a deep understanding about the reality of the world and ultimately freedom from the often painful results of reacting in a conditioned, or not mindful, way.


“Are we aware of what we’re putting out in the world for ourselves and for others?” Wilde said in explaining the goal of mindfulness meditation. “It’s not a retreat from the world—it’s engaging the world with compassion and understanding.

 
 

“God, yes, it’s hard!” she said. “However, for the people who stick with it—what a difference. I work with men at Folsom prison who are no longer suffering.
“It’s possible,” Wilde said. “But the question is, do you want to make [a] commitment or not? It means less TV, less Internet, more mindfulness.”

Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg are among the most well-known American teachers in this tradition. Kornfield teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin, and many local teachers have studied with him and teach there themselves. SIM’s supervising senior teacher, John Travis, is a member of Spirit Rock’s Senior Teachers Council and is the founding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center in Auburn.

A reputation for discipline
Soto Zen Buddhism: Valley Streams Zen Sangha


On a recent Monday night, 25 Zen students sat in a makeshift zendo in East Sacramento, contemplating a belief posted by the Dalai Lama on Facebook that a surefire cure for anxiety is to focus attention away from one’s self and toward others.


“Yes,” said Myo Denis Lahey, guiding teacher of the Valley Streams Zen Sangha, before posing the question: “But if there is no inherent existence, how then can compassion for fellow beings arise?”


Discussion meandered around the question for a half-hour, with both the flashes of clarity and cloudy ambiguity Zen is famous for when exploring the burning questions of existence that the tradition holds cannot be answered by dualist Cartesian reasoning. The discussion led by Lahey, teacher in residence at San Francisco’s Hartford Street Zen Center in the lineage established in the 1960s by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, capped off the evening that began with 30 minutes of meditation.


Earlier that evening, sangha members had turned The Yoga Solution’s largest studio into a meditation hall. Students dress modestly in black or dull colors and sit on cushions or chairs facing the wall in silence.


While meditation—called zazen in this tradition—is about training the mind, it’s not as some mistakenly believe about eliminating all thought or transcending ordinary experience. Jim Hare, who has served as ino, or head of the meditation hall, since 2002, describes the practice this way: “We wouldn’t stand by a stream and say that with the power of our concentration, we make the stream flow. Similarly, we don’t say about zazen that with the power of our concentration we awaken to true mind. True mind is fully awake. Meditation is the noticing of this never-beginning, never-ending wakefulness of mind.”


Expect incense, bells, bowing, chanting and walking meditation at Valley Streams Zen Sangha. Beginning meditation instruction, which is offered before the practice period on Monday evenings and through a Tuesday-night course beginning in October, focuses on teaching newcomers the forms of practice.
Zen’s reputation for strict discipline can be off-putting, and some may react to what they see as the conformity of the sitting postures, mudras for holding hands, severity of dress and seeming isolation involved in facing a blank wall. Hare notes that practicing with others supports individual resolve, and he likens the discipline of Zen to his experience of learning to play the violin.


“Anyone who’s ever played the violin knows you can’t just put your fingers down anywhere and make music,” Hare explained. “Through many people’s study of the violin, there’s developed a narrow way to play it. The more I became adept at the technique, the better I played.”



 

Riding the breath
Tibetan Buddhism: Davis Shambhala Meditation Center


Buddhism explodes into color in the Tibetan tradition. In a second-floor suite of a strip-mall-type building on D Street, practitioners enter the Davis Shambhala Meditation Center’s meditation hall through a shiny red door. There’s more color inside, with rectangular red and gold meditation blocks positioned atop neat rows of red mats facing an altar adorned with bright-colored tapestries, flowers, candles, bowls and gold-colored statues.


In a separate room on a Monday evening, senior student Richard Darsie instructed a handful of beginners in the basics of shamatha meditation, which is also known as peaceful, or calm, abiding. Again, the basic instruction is to focus awareness on the breath, either by feeling the sense of breath in the chest, the abdomen or the base of the nostrils, following the breath until the awareness is “riding the breath” as it moves in and out of the body.


As thoughts inevitably arise, they’re acknowledged, labeled
“thinking,” and they fade from awareness. Each time a flash of awareness occurs that awareness has wandered from the breath, the instruction is to bring the focus back gently to the motion of breath. With practice, the frequency and duration of these wanderings diminishes.


Darsie was drawn to this tradition primarily because of its focus on working with emotions through meditation. Working intelligently with emotions can help us make less trouble for ourselves in our everyday lives, he explained.


“Our minds are addicted to complexity and drama,” Darsie said. “The repetition of meditation wears away our habitual ways of thinking, and helps us cultivate gentleness toward ourselves and appreciation for our world.”


Meditation is an opportunity to rest the mind by paying attention to what’s before it. Like other traditions, Shambhala aims to move mindfulness into all aspects of daily life. Darsie explained: “There’s no activity in your life that would not benefit from paying more attention to it.”


Darsie also spoke of the difficulty of meditation and cautioned newcomers against thinking it’s some sort of quick fix to the ordinary suffering of life that everyone experiences.


“You have to turn toward the parts of yourself you don’t like. It’s like sitting in a bath of manure,” he said. “But you surround yourself with space and nonjudgmental kindness as you come face to face with all your stuff.”


Shambhala was founded in 1973 by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, artist, author and poet. His son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, leads the tradition today. The Northern California Shambhala senior dharma teacher is Pema Chödrön, a best-selling author and well-known teacher who has opened some previously advanced meditative practices like tonglen to followers in the West.

Walk this way
Walking meditation: the labyrinth, Episcopal Church of St. Martin

 

Most Buddhist and other religious traditions incorporate some form of walking meditation into their practices. But moving meditation is not what most people typically associate with Christian faiths—that is, unless they’ve tapped into the recent resurgence of interest in walking the labyrinth.


The region’s most stunning labyrinth can be found at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis. It’s modeled after the world-famous labyrinth built at the Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220. Like that one, it’s about 42 feet in diameter and leads the walker one-quarter mile along a single path over 11 different circuits.


A labyrinth isn’t a maze. There are no tricks to it, no decisions to be made and no dead ends. Some say that walking one is like holding up a mirror to reveal your life. You’re never sure where the path will lead you, but ultimately you find yourself at the center of the circle. Then you set out to return to where you began.


St. Martin members laid down the labyrinth created by famed designer Robert Ferre in just 10 days, completing it in November 2009. The church installed it to enhance parishioners’ spiritual experience, as well for outreach to the community.
Walking it takes about 15 minutes, more or less, depending on your own pace and labyrinth etiquette, which demands that walkers follow the path and try to stay out the way of other walkers along the path.


“But if no one’s walking the labyrinth, there’s no problem walking across it,” said Janet Lane, senior warden and president of the church’s board. “It’s kind of sacred space, but for a recent celebration we set up a bubble machine in the center and let the kids play.”


The benefits of walking include meditation, relaxation, balance, enjoyment and contemplation or prayer, Lane said, adding that “the energy of people walking produces good vibes.”


Lane, who shepherded the labyrinth into existence, has seen students sitting in its center studying, a group of turbaned Sikhs walking it and people from the medical center across the street finding their centers along its meandering concrete and resin path.


“We’re just really glad it’s being used,” Lane said.
The revival of interest has spawned other labyrinths across the region, including a monthly walk at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Midtown Sacramento, one at the Methodist church in Davis, a couple cut into the grass at the Davis Cemetery and others.



 

The space between the eyebrows
Raja yoga: Self-Realization Fellowship


The Self-Realization Fellowship was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, who is often credited with introducing Westerners to meditation and yoga. Many arrive at the SRF’s doors after reading his 1946 Autobiography of a Yogi.


That’s how Michael Mair, who coordinates the Self-Realization Fellowship group in Carmichael, came to practice the raja yoga—or meditation practices—advanced by Yogananda. Devoted practice of the highest level of meditation, called kriya yoga, is said to lead to “realization of God and liberation of the soul from all forms of bondage.” In his autobiography, Yogananda explained that “Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and other prophets were past masters in the use of Kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to dematerialize at will.”


Adherents don’t get to practice the advanced techniques of kriya yoga until they’ve spent at least a year in study and preparatory exercises and have decided to enter into “the sacred guru-disciple relationship.” And no one can learn the techniques from anyone other than the original source. The reason for that, Mair said, is to prevent the kind of errors of transmission that result from passing along messages as happens in the children’s game of Chinese Whispers, or as we Americans more commonly call it, Telephone. Yogananda died in 1952, but the tradition continues on from headquarters in Los Angeles.


The local Self-Realization Fellowship center, situated in a quiet residential neighborhood, feels more like a church than any yoga studio you’ve ever visited. Rows of pews fill the main hall. In place of a cross on the altar hang the pictures of Yogananda, various Indian saints and Jesus Christ, who’s counted as a guru in the tradition’s lineage.


On a Wednesday night, a series of “energization exercises” practiced in the courtyard preceded meditation. Designed to draw “cosmic energy into the body through the medulla oblongata by the power of will,” the exercises felt more like basic calisthenics as the leader suggested they might at first glance. The resulting relaxation provided a foundation for a two-hour session of prayer, chants to the accompaniment of a squeeze-box harmonium and meditation to come.
“Heavenly father, divine mother … help me convert from limited human consciousness to cosmic consciousness,” the half-dozen members of the group prayed to begin the session.


The basic meditation instruction given is to focus attention on the spiritual eye, or the space between the eyebrows. Meditators sat in straight-backed chairs in a darkened room separate from the main church facing a mini-altar showing the same guru’s images. A peculiar-looking wooden instrument—a board 3 inches wide and about 3 feet long—attached in the center to an adjustable length of pole sat on the floor next to each person’s chair. Some time into the first meditation period, each person positioned the pole on the chair between their legs, rested their arms on the flat of the board and raised their hands to their heads with splayed fingers straddling their temples.


Written lessons that promise to explain the mystery are available from SRF headquarters for a small fee to cover duplication and shipping.

Concentrate, observe, detach

Sivananda yoga: Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm


Fifteen miles west of Grass Valley, the hot, dry countryside on one early fall day opened into a green oasis, where hammocks were strung between majestic shade trees, lounge chairs sat beside a seductive pond, and visitors strolled talking softly in couples or trios past an outdoor yoga platform, meditation temples, cottages, tents and corrals housing pet lamas and goats.


Some came just for the day, others were staying longer for retreats and workshops of varying lengths, and still others live at the yoga farm, which is one of the two Sivananda monastic communities in the United States. The tradition boasts that it’s a synthesis by Swami Sivananda of all the myriad traditional yoga paths. It was brought from India to the West by Swami Vishnu-devananda. Devotees dress modestly in yellow shirts—symbolic of learning—and white pants—symbolic of teaching. Peaceful relaxation is the unmistakable vibe at the 80-acre ashram, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in April.
Meditation is practiced in the tradition, but it’s the end of the five points of Sivananda yoga rather than the beginning: proper exercise (asanas), proper breathing (pranayama), proper relaxation (savasana), proper diet (vegetarian) and meditation (dhyana).


Silent and guided meditation to condition the mind to be “here and now” is performed each morning and evening. The daily routine also includes two hours of yoga asanas, a half-hour of chanting and two vegetarian meals.
Everything is geared to minimize distraction, said Swami Sitaramananda, who has directed the ashram for the past 15 years. Of all the traditions of yoga, this one has a reputation for completely transforming one’s life. “We lead a balanced life to bring about a balanced mind.”


Yoga exercises, or asanas, circulate energy in preparation for meditation. Specialized breathing techniques and mantras chanted in Sanskrit moderate the emotions, calming and focusing the mind. The idea is that when body and energy are under control, meditation comes naturally. Sitaramananda called meditation a “spiritual science of controlling the mind” that yogis use to inquire into their own true nature and into the nature of reality.


The meditation methods involve concentration, observing and detaching from thoughts and aims, and a complete transcendence of the mind and merging with the absolute reality. Sitaramananda said, “The goal is self-realization.”



Find your own path

Nearly everyone SN&R talked to mentioned having found the “right path,” and they expect to follow it throughout their lifetimes. Having found vipassana 10 years ago after trying Zen, Hindu and martial arts, Sacramento Insight Meditation’s Wilde concluded: “This is the way I want to live my life.”
Most have experimented with other forms of meditation practices. Many, including the guide at the yoga farm’s open house, Mair from the Self-Realization Fellowship and Darsie, now with the Davis Shambhala Meditation Center, started out practicing Zen.


“A lot of people try it—it fits for only a minority,” said the Valley Streams Zen Sangha’s Hare, quoting a saying common among Christian ministers: “‘They comes, and they goes. But mostly they goes.’


“Only a handful finds the practice moves them so that they’re willing to endure the difficulties, especially when they don’t see immediate breathtaking results,” Hare said.


“It’s very much about your own personal experience,” Mair said. “Choose what resonates with you and then follow up.”


Whether individuals meditate in a completely secular and nonideological way—with methods such as those thrust into the mainstream by teachers like Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the best seller Wherever You Go, There You Are—or choose to follow one of the timeless contemplative paths, diligent practice promises liberation from suffering and peace of heart and mind.


What if you don’t find it? Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, had some advice about that during a visit to Sacramento several years ago: “If meditation has not transformed your life, then you better ask yourself what you’ve been doing.”

---

Meditate local
Davis Shambhala Meditation Center
Meditation instruction at 9 a.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Thursdays
133 D Street, Suite H in Davis
www.davis.shambhala.org

The Episcopal Church of St. Martin
Labyrinth open during daylight hours
640 Hawthorne Lane in Davis
http://churchofstmartin.org

Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group
Meets Sundays at 7 p.m.
Social hall, Congregation B’nai Israel
3600 Riverside Boulevard
www.sbmg.org

Sacramento Insight Meditation
Second and fourth Thursdays at 7 p.m.
Sacramento Friends meeting house • 890 57th Street
www.sactoinsight.org

Self-Realization Fellowship
Meets Sundays at 10 a.m. and Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
4513 North Avenue in Carmichael
http://sacramentocenter.org

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm
Next open house: November 21
14651 Ballantree Lane in Grass Valley
www.sivanandayogafarm.org

Valley Streams Zen Sangha
Meets Mondays at 7 p.m.
The Yoga Solution • 887 57th Street, Suite B
www.valleystreamszen.org

FROM HUI-NENG'S TAN-CHING

 

Here is Part III of Section IV. From the Chinese Masters from the Manual on Zen Buddhism written by the late, great brilliant scholar and Zen Master D. T. Suzuki. This teaching is so important! In essence, it explains the absolute necessity for living in the Present without the dualistic nature of thought or words and actually Being the Truth within the words. You must let go of All dogma and actually Live the Oneness of our True Nature which can not be described. Just live the meaning of the word "BE"!
Everything happens for a reason and my writing this now and sharing these great words of Wisdom from an ancient Chan, or Zen, Master, are directly related to a conversation I had earlier tonight about this very aspect of Wisdom. All I can say is, "WOW"! This IS the True Nature of Reality and is realized in everyday life by those who understand the One Truth. I am constantly in Awe of the workings of this One Truth as it reveals IT's Presence and settles the waves of our illusory duality back to Reality's natural Stillness to reveal the explicit grandeur of the Calm and Peaceful Oneness within us All! With great honor and sincere humbleness, I offer you this impeccable Teaching. Enjoy!
 
Namaste'

 

FROM HUI-NENG'S TAN-CHING  [1]

 

24. Mahaprajnaparamita is a Sanskrit term of the Western country; in T'ang it means "great-wisdom (chih-hui), other-shore reached". This Truth (dharma=fa) is to be lived, it is not to be [merely] pronounced with the mouth. When it is not lived, it is like a phantom, like an apparition. The Dharmakaya of the Yogin is the same as the Buddha.


What is maha? Maha means "great". The capacity of Mind is wide and great, it is like emptiness of space. To sit with a mind emptied makes one fall into emptiness of indifference. Space contains the sun, the moon, stars, constellations, great earth, mountains, and rivers. All grasses and plants, good men and bad men, bad things and good things, Heaven and hell-they are all in empty space. The emptiness of [Self-] nature as it is in all people is just like this.



25. [Self-] nature contains in it all objects; hence it is great. All objects without exception are of Self-nature. Seeing all human beings and non-human beings as they are, evil and good, evil things and good things, it abandons them not, nor is it contaminated with them; it is like the emptiness of space. So it is called great, that is, maha. The confused pronounce it with their mouths, the wise live it with their minds. Again, there are people confused [in mind]; they conceive this to be great when they have their minds emptied of thoughts--which is not right. The capacity of Mind is great; when there is no life accompanying it, it is small. Do not merely pronounce it with the mouth. Those who fail to discipline themselves to live this life, are not my disciples.



26. What is prajna? Prajna is chih-hui (wisdom). When every thought of yours is not benighted at all times, when you always live chih-hui (=prajna, wisdom), this is called the life of Prajna. When a single thought of yours is benighted, then Prajna ceases to work. When a single thought of yours is of chih, i.e. enlightened, then Prajna is born. Being always benighted in their minds, people yet declare themselves to be living Prajna. Prajna has no shape, no form, it is no other than the essence (hsing) of chih-hui (wisdom).


What is Paramita? This is a Sanskrit term of the Western country. In Yang it means "the other shore reached". When the meaning (artha in Sanskrit) is understood, one is detached from birth and death. When the objective world (visaya) is clung to, there is the rise of birth and death; it is like the waves rising from the water; this is called "this shore". When you are detached from the objective world, there is no birth and death for you; it is like the water constantly running its course: this is "reaching the other shore". Hence Paramita.


The confused pronounce [Prajna] with their mouths; the wise live it in their minds. When it is merely pronounced, there is at that very moment a falsehood; when there is a .falsehood, it is not a reality. When Prajna is lived in every thought of yours, this is known as reality. Those who understand this truth, understand the truth of Prajna and practise the life of Prajna. Those who do not practise it are ordinary people. When you practise and live it in one thought of yours, You are equal to the Buddha.


Good friends, the passions are no other than enlightenment (bodhi). When your antecedent thought is confused yours is an ordinary mind; as soon as your succeeding thought is enlightened, you are a Buddha.


Good friends, Prajnaparamita is the most honoured, the highest, the foremost; it is nowhere abiding, nowhere departing, nowhere coming; all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future issue out of it. By means of Great Wisdom (ta-chih-hui=mahaprajna) that leads to . the other shore (paramita), the five skandhas, the passions, and the innumerable follies are destroyed. When thus disciplined, one is a Buddha, and the three passions [i.e. greed, anger, and folly] will turn into Morality (sila), Meditation (dhyana), and Wisdom (prajna)



27. Good friends, according to my way of understanding this truth, 84,000 wisdoms (chih-hui) are produced from one Prajna. Why? Because there are 84,000 follies. If there were no such innumerable follies, Prajna is eternally abiding, not severed from Self-nature. He who has an insight into this truth is free from thoughts, from recollections, from attachments; in him there is no deceit and falsehood. This is where the essence of Suchness is by itself. When all things are viewed in the light of wisdom (chih-hui=prajna), there is neither attachment nor detachment. This is seeing into one's Nature and attaining the truth of Buddhahood.



28. Good friends, if you wish to enter into the deepest realm of Truth (dharmadhatu), and attain the Prajnasamadhi, you should at once begin to exercise yourselves in the life of Prajnaparamita; you just devote yourselves to the one volume of the Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita Sutra, and you will, seeing into the nature of your being, enter upon the Prajnasamadhi. It should be known that the merit of such a person is immeasurable, as is distinctly praised in the sutras, of which I need not speak in detail.


This Truth of the highest order is taught to people of great intelligence and superior endowments. If people of small intelligence and inferior endowments happen to hear it, no faith would ever be awakened in their minds. Why? It is like a great dragon pouring rains down in torrents over the Jambudipa: cities, towns, villages are all deluged and carried away in the flood, as if they were grass-leaves. But when the rain, however much, falls on the great ocean, there is in it neither an increase nor a decrease.


When people of the Great Vehicle listen to a discourse on the Vajracchedika their minds are opened and there is an intuitive understanding. They know thereby that their own Nature is originally endowed with Prajna-wisdom and that all things are to be viewed in the light of this wisdom (chih-hui) of theirs, and they need not depend upon letters. It is like rain-waters not being reserved in the sky; but the water is drawn up by the dragon-king out of the rivers and oceans, whereby all beings and all plants, sentient and non-sentient, universally share the wet. All the waters flowing together once more are poured into the great ocean, and the ocean accepting all the waters fuses them into one single body of water. It is the same with Prajna-wisdom which is the original Nature of all beings.


 
29. When people of inferior endowments hear this "abrupt" doctrine here discoursed on, they are like those plants naturally growing small on earth, which, being once soaked by a heavy rain, are all unable to raise themselves up and continue their growth. It is the same with people of inferior endowments. They are endowed with Prajna-wisdom as much as people of great intelligence; there is no distinction. Why is it then that they have no insight even when listening to the Truth? It is due to the heaviness of hindrance caused by false views and to the deep-rootedness of the passions. It is like an overcasting cloud screening the sun; unless it blows hard no rays of light are visible.


There is no greatness or smallness in Prajna-wisdom, but since all beings cherish in themselves confused thoughts, they seek the Buddha by means of external exercises, and are unable to see into their Self-nature. That is why they are known to be people of inferior endowments.


Those beings who, listening to the "Abrupt" doctrine, do not take themselves to external exercises, but reflecting within themselves raise this original Nature all the time to the proper viewing [of the Truth], remain [always Undefiled by] the passions and the innumerable follies; and at that moment they all have an insight [into the Truth]. It is like the great ocean taking in all the rivers, large and small, and merging them into one body of water -'this is seeing into one's own Nature. [He who thus sees into his own Nature] does not abide anywhere inside or outside; he freely comes and departs; he knows how to get rid of attaching thoughts; his passage has no obstructions. When one is able to practise this life, he realizes that there is from the first no difference between [his Self-Nature] and Prajnaparamita.[2]


 
30. All the sutras and writings, all the letters, the two vehicles Major and Minor, the twelve divisions [of Buddhist literature]-these are all set forth because of the people of the world. Because there is wisdom-nature (chih-hui-hsing), therefore there is the establishment of all these works. If there were no people of the world, no multitudinous objects would ever be in existence. Therefore, we know that all objects rise originally because of the people of the world. All the sutras and writings are said to have their existence because of the people of the world.


The distinction of stupidity and intelligence is only possible among the people of the world. Those who are stupid are inferior people and those who are intelligent are superior people. The confused ask the wise, and the wise discourse for them on the Truth in order to make the stupid enlightened and have an intuitive understanding of it. When the confused are enlightened and have their minds opened, they are not to be distinguished from the people of great intelligence.


Therefore, we know that Buddhas when not enlightened are no other than ordinary beings; when there is one thought of enlightenment, ordinary beings at once turn into Buddhas. Therefore, we know that all multitudinous objects are every one of them in one's own mind.[3] Why not, from within one's own mind, at once reveal the original essence of Suchness? Says the Bodhisattvasila Sutra: "My original Self-nature is primarily pure; when my Mind is known and my Nature is seen into I naturally attain the path of Buddhahood." Says the Vimalakirti Sutra: "When you have an instant opening of view you return to your original Mind."


 
48. The Great Master died on the third day of the eighth month of the second year of Hsien-t'ien (713 C.E.). On the eighth day of the seventh month of this year he had a farewell gathering of his followers as he felt that he was to leave them forever in the following month, and told them to have all the doubts they might have about his teaching once for all settled on this occasion. As he found them weeping in tears he said: "You are all weeping, but for whom are you so sorry? If you are sorry for my not knowing where I am departing to, you are mistaken; for I know where I am going. Indeed, if I did not, I would not part with you. The reason why you are in tears is probably that you do not yourselves know whither I am going. If you did, you would not be weeping so. The Essence of the Dharma knows no birth-and-death, no coming-and-going. Sit down, all of you, and let me give you a gatha with the title, "On the Absolute"[4]


There is nothing true anywhere,
The true is nowhere to be seen;
If you say you see the true,
This seeing is not the true one.[5]


Where the true is left to itself,
There is nothing false in it, which is Mind itself.
When Mind in itself is not liberated from the false,
There is nothing true, nowhere is the true to be found.
A conscious being alone understands what is meant by "moving";
To those not endowed with consciousness, the moving is unintelligible;
If you exercise yourself in the practice of keeping your mind unmoved, [i.e. in a quietistic meditation] [6] 
The immovable you gain is that of one who has no consciousness.
If you are desirous for the truly immovable,
The immovable is in the moving itself,
And this immovable is the [truly] immovable one;
There is no seed of Buddhahood where there is no consciousness.
Mark well how varied are aspects [of the immovable one],
And know that the first reality is immovable;
Only when this insight is attained,
The true working of Suchness is understood.
I advise you, O students of the Truth
To exert yourselves in the proper direction;
Do not in the teaching of the Mahayana
Commit the fault of clinging to the relative knowledge of birth and death. [7]


Where there is an all-sided concordance of views
You may talk together regarding the Buddha's teaching;
Where there is really no such concordance,
Keep your hands folded and your joy within yourself.
There is really nothing to argue about in this teaching;
Any arguing is sure to go against the intent of it;
Doctrines given up to confusion and argumentation
Lead by themselves to birth and death.




Notes

1. The Dunhuang copy, edited by D. T. Suzuki, 1934. Hui-neng = Daikan Enō; 637-712 A.D.

2. The text has "the Prajnaparamita Sutra" here. But I take it to mean Prajna itself instead of the sutra.

3. The text has the "body", while the Koshoji edition and the current one have "mind".

4. The title literally reads: "the true-false moving-quiet". "True" stands against "false" and "moving" against "quiet" and as long as there is an opposition of any kind, no true spiritual insight is possible. And this insight does not grow from a quietistic exercise of meditation.

5. That is, the Absolute refuses to divide itself into two: that which sees and that which is seen.

6. "Moving" means "dividing" or "limiting". When the absolute moves, a dualistic interpretation of it takes place, which is consciousness.

7. Chih, jnana in Sanskrit, is used in contradistinction to Prajna which is the highest form of knowledge, directly seeing into the Immovable or the Absolute.

 

Altered Muse: Silence really is golden

This is a blog post from a new acquaintance, Celina, the author of a wonderful blog, Altered Muse, who just discovered what meditation really is. She participated in a rapidly growing form of psychological therapy, MBSR, where Mindfulness is used to treat various forms of stress-related problems including those experienced by the returning combat veterans with PTSD. The brilliant Ph.D from MIT and founder of MBSR, Jon Cabat-Zinn, is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

I hope you enjoy this post and take some time to visit Celina's blog and personal website. Be well!

Namaste'

Altered Muse: Silence really is golden

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day not speaking. No it wasn't a silent treatment directed at my husband, but a series of exercises in pure blissful stillness. I am rounding out my 8th and final week of a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class based on John Cabit Zinn's curriculum and approach to meditation. The class has been an eye opening experience on how many of us (myself very much included) get skillfully good at going through our days on auto-pilot. Everything from the way we eat to the way we drive can become incredibly zoned out. The exercises I participated in yesterday were something I did not ever envision myself sitting through so peacefully. Which led me to the realization that I am behind in checking off one item on my life list: Learn the Art of Meditation.

Here is what I now know to be true about meditation:

You don't "learn" to meditate. Meditation is not a destination. It is a practice. It is not a skill, it just is what it is.

Meditation is about being gentle with yourself and what you can do in this moment. There are no "shoulds."

Taking a walk through the woods listening to the sound of the wind in the trees and noticing the color of the grass is a meditation.

Sitting quietly in your car focusing on one breath, then another.....and then another before stepping out into your busy day is a meditation. 

Placing your attention on your toes and breathing with that tiny part of your body is a meditation. 

Eating your food one slow bite at a time, tasting, feeling, smelling and seeing is a meditation.

Meditation is not about thinking about absolutely nothing, but instead an opportunity to compassionately reel yourself back in as your mind slips away.

You see, what I've learned over this past year is that I do in fact already have everything inside of me I need to know to practice meditation. Every day life is a meditation if you allow it to be. If you practice noticing, sensing, feeling then you are practicing a form of meditation. Something I was not aware of when I was plunking down wishes on my life list. I realize now it isn't a skill that can be learned but an artful practice that occurs moment to moment to moment every day of our lives. 

Namaste~