Zen Thoughts & Reflections

The Buddhism of Zen

editor@hsuyun.org — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:33:03 -0700

A visit to Nan Hua monastery in China, founded by our sixth and last Chan patriarch, Hui Neng, will leave most any westerner pondering over the many obvious differences between Zen Buddhism as it's presented in its birthplace country, and as it's presented here in the West. isitors to this or, in fact, any other Buddhist monastery in China, will observe Chan monks chanting, bowing, praying and performing elaborate rituals. They will observe a variety of beautiful religious art motifs: gilt statues of the Buddha, ornate shrines, and various Buddhist iconography ... by Rev. Chuan Zhi Shakya and Rev. Fa Gong Shakya

Musings on the Corpse & the Skandhas

editor@hsuyun.org — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:34:30 -0700

I was once asked "doesn't asking the question 'who drags the corpse' imply a false duality between the body and the mind?" Of course, at one level the question simply points to the limitations of semantics, and the very reason why Chan so characteristically dismisses such questions. In this world, our senses (including our "sixth sense", the discriminating mind) are the measure of all we know and perceive; they are therefore unable to address, much less answer, questions relating to the unknowable Absolute...by Fa Gong Shakya

Tibet and the Beijing Olympics

editor@hsuyun.org — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:33:54 -0700

Grandmaster Jy Din, a dharma-heir of the famous Chan Master, Hsu Yun, founded the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun at the end of the last century (1997) realizing that the Buddha dharma in general, and the teachings of Hsu Yun in particular, should take advantage of the ever-changing nature of the world we live in, and the technological opportunities such a world presented...by Fa Gong Shakya

A Dangerous Game

editor@hsuyun.org — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:35:00 -0700

The Internet has a peculiar way of grabbing us and taking us off course, often without us even being aware it's happening. Recently as I was searching the Internet for a particular book I came across a list of forum posts relating to religious beliefs. I don't generally take the time to read forum posts, blogs, and the like, but I thought it might be educational to find out what people were finding interesting enough to talk about publicly ... by Upasaka Zheng De

Selections by No Ajahn Chah

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:45:17 -0700

A visiting Zen student asked Ajahn Chah, "How old are you? Do you live here all year round?" "I live nowhere," he replied. "There is no place you can find me. I have no age. To have age, you must exist, and to think you exist is already a problem. Don't make problems; then the world has none either. Don't make a self. There's nothing more to say." ...

Selections from the Dhammapada -- Sayings of the Buddha

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 18:16:04 -0700

Speak not harshly to anyone; those thus spoken to will retort. Vindictive speech begets sorrow, and retaliatory blows may bruise you. -- Canto X.5

Even though a man be richly attired, if he should live in peace, calm, controlled, assured, leading a holy life, abstaining from inflicting injury upon all creatures, he is truly a brahmana, a recluse, a bhikkhu. -- Canto X.14

Behold this painted image, a mass of sores, stuck together, sickly, full of idle imaginings, in which nothing lasts. -- Canto XI.2

Let not a man abandon his own good for the sake of another's good, however great. Once a man has clearly apprehended his own good, let him pursue it with diligence. -- Canto XII.10 (166)

and many more . . .

Who Drags This Corpse? The Vajra-Sword of Hsu Yun

editor@hsuyun.org — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 09:06:10 -0700

One hour and then another. Inexorably march, step by step. Whenever I meet you, we each smile. But who is it who drags your corpse around? -- Chan Master Hsu Yun (Empty Cloud)

"Who drags this corpse around?" This is one of Chan's now famous mind-puzzles, or hua tou's, thanks to our great Chan Ancestor Hsu Yun. And it takes us right to the essence of Chan.

For the beginner new to Chan's tactics, attacking a hua tou may seem too abstruse, too hard, and too alien to know how to approach it. As easy as it might be to sit and count our breaths, be mindful of our thoughts, or concentrate on a mantra for a half-hour, investigating the baffling question, "Who am I?", can be so daunting that we quickly and happily toss it aside, discounting it as nonsense. Yet we can't neglect the fact that Empty Cloud considered that pondering this one question is a powerful and direct entrance into Chan's precincts. . . . by Fa Gong Shakya, OHY

The Fast Way to Chan

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 08:58:05 -0700

Many spiritual seekers get frustrated as they become lost in the myriad approaches to enlightenment presented in Buddhist literature and by various spiritual teachers: take this path … or that path; study this sutra, then that sutra; do these things … don't do those things. There is also much discussion of psychology, philosophy, science -- a billion things to occupy the mind and distract from the simple, direct approach to Self-realization. While all these things are, in and of themselves, well and fine, it's not surprising that few come to realize their own enlightened nature through them. The untended mind naturally latches onto the ephemeral as if it were the perennial -- that's when we end up chasing our tail, getting dizzy, and falling down in a dead heap.

If you are one of those rare people who just wants to get down to business, here's the scoop: . . . by Chuan Zhi Shakya, OHY

The Monk, The Man, and the Fish

editor@hsuyun.org — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 08:44:00 -0700

A solitary monk was carrying a large fish to his home to prepare it for his meal. As he walked along the path, a man approached from the other direction. As he reached hailing distance, the man called out "Hey monk! I see you coming! What is that you're carrying?

Not wishing to shout in the quietude of the forest path, the monk thought: I will answer this man’s question when I am close enough so that a shrill shout will not be necessary.

As the two approached one another closely, the monk opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off by another bellow from the man.

Why didn't you answer me, Monk?” The fellow demanded . . . by Fa Dao Shakya, OHY

True Atonement

chuanzhi@hsuyun.org — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 18:26:27 -0700

Anyone who saw the movie Gandhi holds forever in his memory one galvanizing scene:

The time is shortly after India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947. India is torn by civil strife; Muslims and Hindus are killing each other; and Gandhi is fasting to protest the violence and to jolt people into becoming aware of their terrible actions.

Gandhi is near death from starvation when a crazed man, a Hindu, arrives with food that he insists Gandhi must eat. He demands, "Here! Eat! Eat! I'm going to hell - but not with your death on my soul!"

Gandhi replies, "Only God decides who goes to hell."

"I killed a child!" the man confesses. "I smashed his head against a wall!"

Gandhi asks, "Why?" ... by Chuan Zhi Shakya, OHY

Ancient Wisdom: The Blue Lotus

chuanzhi@hsuyun.org — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 08:49:08 -0700

"The countenance of the Buddha is like the clear full moon, Or again, like a thousand suns releasing their splendour. His eyes are pure, as large and as broad as a blue lotus. His teeth are white, even and close, as snowy as white jade. " - from the Suvarnaprabhasa (Suvarnabhasottama) Sutra

Something may strike us odd about these lines of scripture. Anyone who has been to China or India is familiar with lotus flowers: they are white or pink or cream or rose colored . . . but they are not blue.

We’re all prepared to visualize the Buddha’s blue eyes. He was an Aryan, of European descent, a nobleman in a societal caste system that did not ‘officially’ intermarry with native populations. The rigidity of the system can be seen even in further generations. Nearly a thousand years later, Bodhidharma, another Aryan descendant, was called The Blue Eyed Demon by the Chinese. Also, in recent years we’ve witnessed the startling discoveries of three thousand year-old blond and red haired Caucasian mummies in the Takla Makan area of western China. We know beyond question that Aryans were indeed present in the Orient long before the Christian era; but Nymphea caerulea savigny, the blue lotus, was not. . . . . by Chuan Zhi Shakya, OHY

Non-Discrimination and the Chan Mind

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 10:21:29 -0700

Discriminating is a fundamental aspect of being human. Everything we do is a choice based on discrimination between one thing or another, or between one thing and a thousand others. The collection of choices we each make is unique to each of us. Sometimes our choices are based on our likes and dislikes of things, like if we choose to be vegetarians or eat meat, listen to loud rock music or to Mozart … Sometimes our choices are based on fears, like what we consider people might think of us. Or maybe we are concerned if our action might be a sin. Might our choice cause harm? Maybe we are afraid of other people's differences from us - their nationality, religion, or skin colour.

And so discrimination goes on and on nearly every moment of our daily lives and it's a primary source of our suffering. . . . by Chuan Kong Shakya, OHY

Bodhi Day: The Day of Enlightenment

editor@hsuyun.org — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 18:02:00 -0700

It was the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, the story goes, that Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Shakyamuni, awoke from a week of meditation to view of the morning star - Venus - and exclaimed, "That's it! That's it! That's me! That's me that's shining so brilliantly!" In that single moment he fully realized the Dharma - that body of unalterable, immutable, unending Truth that he would spend the rest of his life teaching to others.

Zen Buddhists of Japanese traditions celebrate Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) on December 8th (even though "Rohatsu" means, literally, "the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month"); In China this important event is mostly forgotten in popular culture even though the day is not. The 8th day of the 12th lunar month, Laba Jie (làbajié), is celebrated yearly by billions as a reminder of the upcoming New Year. Knowledge of the Buddhist origins of the Laba festival has become lost to contemporary Chinese culture, just as the Christmas Tree has mostly forgotten origins that predate Christianity. . . . by Fa Dao Shakya, OHY