Hello Siska,
Below is a reply from Rev. Harvey in terminologies of Zen. Perhaps it
will clarify some of the questions in your mind?
jm
-------- Original Message --------
Aha, Sensei,
Indeed. It is transformation instead of elimination.
The key of Chan practice lies in the way of "challenging & teaching &
awaken" without ourselves. Too often we impose "our practice" onto
others. In such case, we still are attached to dharma.
I just loved your English. So much more depth in every word. As
always, I found one new words I needed to look up from dictionary.
Thank you for your sharing. jm
On 9/4/2011 6:01 AM, Harvey Daiho Hilbert wrote:
With respect to all,
Good Morning JMJM,
Thank you for the correction as regards your Order's hierarchy,
although I will continue to see you as a Master.
It is true that to see oneself as one with everything, there is a
danger we will fall into a sort of quietism. This is why we must step
off the top of that hunded foot pole of emptiness into the world of an
awakened everyday.
In Zen we step back from that pole in order to work for the freedom of
all beings. We live in a world of two truths, the Universe is One and
the Universe is not one. Realizing the Vast Impermenance of all things
does not negate all things.
Engaged practice, then, is a practice of going out into the world of
the relative with an Absolute Mind. How we walk, talk, eat, and touch
become teachers to those around us. Are we present? Are we kind? Do
we practice with a mindful heart? These are profound, but
beginning beginning steps, steps of a first order. A second order is
more foundational. We practice to address the conditions within which
duality is permitted to emerge. Notions of social stratification,
distributive justice, and prejudice must be addressed directly,
challenged, and transformed.
I say /transformed/ rather than /eliminated/ because these causes of
duality function for purposes that are usually righteous. The
purposes of stratifacation, unequal distribution of goods and
services, and prejudice often have more to do with fear and the
consequent presumed need for self preservation than anything about the
targets of these efforts. The goal may be righteous, but the method
is problematic.
When people have a "self" and fear the loss of things that support
that "self" they will do all manner of things to protect it. So, our
practice (for ourselves, as well as for others) is to cut through the
delusion of a self, show there is no need to protect a nonexistant
self, and find ways to support such a transformative process. Our
methods include challenging, teaching, and supporting people as they
are in the everyday world. Bearing witness for peace, and
against hunger and violence are beginning steps, but key steps.
In truth, Two and One are in support of one another. When we can live
with such an open eye, we know we have nothing to fear. Without fear,
the bodhisattva is free to engage the universe.
Be well
/Rev. //Daiho Hilbert, //abbot/
/OCMZ /
*From:* Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]
*Sent:* Saturday, September 3, 2011 11:08 AM
*Subject:* [Zen Living] Supreme Vehicle
Good morning Sensei,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I am just a
practitioner of Chan and not a master. A master in our school means
someone who is enlightened and has received "Buddha Heart Imprint",
while I have neither. Since Zen does recognize the Mahayana practice,
then please let me share some of the discussions we had recently in
our school....
As we know, Hinayana is often called the Small Vehicle and Mahayana is
the Great Vehicle. And in China, the Chan is called the Supreme
Vehicle. It means that Chan could free everyone.
It is true, when others are enlightened, we are enlightened. The
danger of this realization is the rationalization that we only need to
work on ourselves. If so, then we are only practicing Hinayana. We
did not "do" the circular track of Chan.
The Mahayana practice is a practice, only when we leave our lotus and
step into the mud, could we than detach ourselves from the limitation
of our practice and our dharma. In other words, as we focus on the
difficulty in freeing others, could we then realize how limited we are
in wisdom and energy in resolving their karmic hindrance. Only then we
could be motivated to continuously surpassing our habitual practice,
form and formless. In turn to realize that "Dharma is not dharma. No
dharma is dharma."
Then we would know dharma is in every encounter. It is up to us to be
one with it. Only then we are liberated from the rationalization of
our mind and awaken to the fact that the One of Chan is the ALL. This
realization occurs when we journey midway into the freeing of each
one, as a Supreme Vehicle.
Too often we quit by rationalizing to ourselves that this practice is
not for everyone. Or the time is not right, or whatever excuses we
place upon our practice. If so, we have trapped ourselves into
believing that our current practice is the only path. The practice of
Supreme Vehicle is every practice in each moment, in each encounter,
without self, without other, without dharma, without form, without
notion, etc.
To free all beings is not to impose "our" practice upon them, but
rather let them awaken from within. The only way we could accomplish
that is to speak in their language in their mindset and help them to
resolve whatever there needs to be resolve in resources, mindset or
life force. In other words, we needed to be them and undertake their
karma. Thus the mud is the lotus and lotus is the mud and they both
grow in tandem.
To phrase it in beautiful labels, Mahayana is the journey for
Bodhisattva, Supreme Vehicle is the journey for Buddha, who is the one
and all and us and everyone.
Thank you all for your attention,
JMJM
Head Teacher
Order Of Chan
Learn the Basics of Chan Meditation...
http://www.chan-meditation.org <http://www.chan-meditation.org/>
Chan in everyday life...
http://www.chanliving.org <http://www.chanliving.org/>
To be enlightened in this life...
http://www.heartchan.org <http://www.heartchan.org/>
To save our world...
http://www.universal-oneness.org <http://www.universal-oneness.org/>
On 9/1/2011 9:49 PM, Harvey Daiho Hilbert wrote:
With palms together,
Good Evening Everyone,
On the Zen Living list, Ch’an Master Jue Miao Jing Ming , asked me a
question the other day. “Dear Sensei, Do you consider Zen a Mahayana
practice? If so, what does Mahayana actually do?”
While Zen is within the Mahayana tradition, it is not a Mahayana
practice as I understand it.Student Rev. Shoji and I were discussing
this question today and Rev. Shoji brought up an interesting
distinction.He argued that Mahayana Buddhists aim at the Bodhisattva
ideal to free all beings before they, themselves, enter nirvana.He
points out that from a Zen point of view, self and other are one,
therefore there is no one, but oneself, to free.
Zen Master Seung Sahn argues in his Compass, that both Theravadan and
Mahayane traditions have “roads,” but that Zen has not only no road,
but no map, as well.The practice is practice realization as one.Path
and destination are not two.
These beg the question, however, “What does Mahayana actually do?”
Mahayana does nothing.Mahayana is just a word.And we can see from the
question that such things as words and concepts can create a
hindrance.We could ask a better question, “What is Mahayana /practice
/and what does it do?” The aim of the practice is to free beings, but
how?
Again, Master Sahn offers the Six Paramitas as “practice guides.”They
are rather like the manifest value in the nexus between idea and
behavior, rather like the term “Quality” as used in Pirsig’s “Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” A Mahayana practitioner practices
to make manifest the six aspects of our true nature in the hope that
to do so will free suffering beings.
A Zen practitioner, however realizes practice and life are one, that
everything is already free, perfect as it is, but that we jail
ourselves with our thoughts.A Zen practitioner notices and ceases all
grasping: no attachment to ideas, desires, things, feelings, etc.
A Zen practitioner is free and easy in the everyday world.His mind is
free and his heart limitless.He recognizes all beings are likewise
like this.
Be well.
/Rev. //Daiho Hilbert, //abbot/
/OCMZ /
