Hello Siska,
Excellent inner observation. Thank you.
We say in our school, "let us not practice with our mind but with our
heart."
In order words, only when our mind is completely at rest, then
compassion and wisdom rises from our heart, or spirit if you prefer.
In the traditional Buddhist teaching, our mind is the seventh
consciousness, and our subconsciousness is the eighth. We will be free
only when we reach the ninth, Amala consciousness. Otherwise we are
still being bombarded with our mind and subconsciousness.
Any "judgment" of our notions, regardless of the final label is still
functioning in the conscious domain and not in the spiritual domain.
Let me know your comment.
jm
Learn the Basics of Chan Meditation...
http://www.chan-meditation.org
Chan in everyday life...
http://www.chanliving.org
To be enlightened in this life...
http://www.heartchan.org
To save our world...
http://www.universal-oneness.org
On 9/5/2011 2:43 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Hi JM,
Thanks for looking into this.
> This is why we must step off the top of that hunded foot pole of
emptiness into the world of an awakened everyday.
I believe distinction between the two is unnecessary. What is called
awakened everyday is emptiness itself. I fully agree that we are
subject to conventions and from time to time we need conventions.
Unfortunately, identifying certain things as 'emptiness' or
'non-duality', while others as 'everyday world' or 'duality' is a
duality view itself.
> In truth, Two and One are in support of one another.
Here it seems that Rev Harvey makes distinction between Two and One.
Are they really different at all?
> Are we present? Are we kind? Do we practice with a mindful heart?
It has been a while since I began questioning this practice of
questioning. I used to remind myself whether I was present, whether I
have been kind today, whether I was mindful. At one point, I
discovered that whatever answers I had for those questions are
doubtful for words are ambiguous and I no longer know what being kind
or mindful really means anymore beyond their conventional use.
Siska
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From: * Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <[email protected]>
*Sender: * [email protected]
*Date: *Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:09:48 -0700
*To: *<[email protected]>
*ReplyTo: * [email protected]
*Subject: *[Zen] Fwd: Re: [Zen Living] Supreme Vehicle
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 /
