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You are here: Articles / Chan Meditation 禅 / Daily Lectures at Two Ch’an Weeks – Week 2

Daily Lectures at Two Ch’an Weeks – Week 2

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Given at the Jade Buddha Monastery, Shanghai, in 1953
Translation. Lu K’uan Yu (Charles Luk)

The Second Week

The First Day

The first day my coming here has already caused much inconvenience to the monastery and I do not deserve the generous hospitality extended to me by the (Venerable) Abbot and group leaders. Today, I am again asked to preside over this (second Ch’an) week. I must say I am not qualified to do so. It is quite logical that the (venerable) old Dharma master Ying Tz’u who is advanced in age and Dharma years should preside over this meeting. There are also in this monastery many learned and virtuous Dharma masters. I am only ‘duckweed’ floating on water and am, therefore, a completely useless man. It would be wrong to say that I am accorded priority and courtesy because of my age. Even, in the world-dharma, no consideration is given to the question of age. Formerly, when the scholar’s examination was
held in the imperial palace, no matter whether a candidate was young or old, he called the examiner “my old teacher” for the latter was respected (because of his rank and) not because of his age. In the Buddha Dharma also, no consideration is given to age. (I cite) Manjusri Bodhisattva who very long ago attained Buddhahood and was the teacher of sixteen princes, one of whom was Amitabha Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha was also his disciple, but when Sakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, Manjusri came to assist him (in teaching his disciples). Thus we know there is only One equality which is neither high nor low. Therefore, please make no mistake about all this.

As we are learning (the Dharma), we should respect (and observe) the rules and regulations (set up for the purpose). The (Venerable) Abbot has in mind the enlightenment of others, the expounding of sutras, the holding of Ch’an meetings and the spreading of the Buddha Dharma. This is indeed a very rare opportunity.

All of you have been braving the cares and confusion of travel and giving yourselves a great deal of trouble to come of your own accord to attend this retreat. This shows that you have in mind the rejection of passions and desire of quiet.

In reality, you and I have only one mind but because of the difference between delusion and enlightenment, there are living beings who are busy from morning till evening without a day of rest. If we give some thought to this (state of things), we will see that no advantage can come from it. In spite of this, there are people who are busy all day long foolishly thinking of an abundance of food and clothing for themselves and anxious to find pleasure in singing and dancing. They want their children and grandchildren to have wealth and fame and their descendants to enjoy glory and prosperity. Even when they are about to breathe their last to become ghosts, they still think of protection and prosperity for their children. These people are really foolish and stupid.

There are also people who know something about good and evil and about cause and effect. They do meritorious acts which consist only in holding Buddhist ceremonies, in giving offerings to monks, in commissioning statues of Buddhas and in repairing temples and monastic buildings. Their acts contribute to the worldly cause, and they hope to be rewarded with happiness in the next rebirth. Because they do not know anything about the passionless merits which are unsurpassed, they do not perform them. The Lotus Sutra says: “Sitting in meditation (even) for a short while is better than erecting as many seven treasure stupas as the sandgrains in the Ganges.” For this method of sitting in meditation will enable us to wipe out our passions and to have peace of mind and body, resulting in the complete realization of the self-nature with liberation from birth and death. By “a short while”, it means a moment as short as an instant (ksana). If one cleanses and purifies his mind and turns the light inwards on himself, his sitting in meditation even for an instant will (at least) enable him to sow the direct cause of attainment of Buddhahood, if it does not ensure the (immediate) realization of the truth. His ultimate achievement can be expected (sooner or later). If his training is effective, Buddhahood can be attained in an instant. For this reason, Ananda said in the Surangama Sutra: “The Dharmakaya can be realized without having to pass through countless aeons (kalpas).”

However, you and I, and all other people in general, live in the midst of passions, of joy and anger, of gain and loss, of the five desires and pursuits of pleasure and enjoyment. All these things are no more seen and heard as soon as we step into this Ch’an hall where our six senses are exactly like the black tortoise’s six (vulnerable) parts which shrink into its shell and where nothing can disturb your minds. This is the practice of the passionless Dharma and (is also) the passionless Dharma (itself). Therefore, the merits derived from the erection of as many seven treasure stupas as the sandgrains in the Ganges cannot be compared with those resulting from a moment spent sitting in meditation. The simile of the black tortoise comes from the (story of) the fish-eating seal which swam to catch the tortoise on the seashore. Seeing that it was attacked, the tortoise withdrew its head, tail and legs into its shell, so evading the seal’s efforts to bite it.

In this world, when we have no money, we are worried about our food and clothing, and when we have money, we cannot free ourselves from passions. We are thus caught and eaten by the seal. If we know of the danger to which we are exposed, we should bring our six senses under control and turn the light inwards on ourselves so that we can be liberated from mortality. Two days ago, I talked on our Sect’s Dharma, dealing with the Right Dharma Eye, the Tathagata’s Mind-dharma and the basis of liberation from birth and death. Other Dharma doors  including the expounding of sutras, in spite of their aims which are the arousing of faith and understanding, are only accessories and do not advance the perfect (experiential) understanding. If the sutra expounding Dharma is used to ensure liberation from birth and death, there must still be (two complementary phases) to pass through: practice and witnessing which are very difficult to achieve. For this reason, very few cases have been recorded of those who listened to the expounding of sutras or followed other Dharma doors and who thereby attained instantaneously complete enlightenment and acquired transcendental powers. These cases were few as compared with those in the Ch’an Sect. According to our Sect, not only Ch’an monks and laymen (upasakas) possessed the inconceivable device, but Ch’an nuns were also of outstanding abilities.

Ch’an master Kuan Ch’i was a disciple of Lin Chi but did not realize the truth in spite of having stayed several years at his master’s monastery. One day, he (left his master) to call at other places (for instruction). When he arrived at a nunnery on Mo Shan mountain, a little nun reported his arrival to (Ch’an Bhiksuni,) Mo Shan who sent her attendant to ask him this question; “Venerable Master, do you come here
for sightseeing or for learning the Buddha Dharma?” Kuan Ch’i replied that he came for learning the Buddha Dharma. Mo Shan said: “If you come for the Buddha Dharma, there are here also rules about beating the drum and ascending to the seat.” Thereupon, she ascended to her seat, but Kuan Ch’i bowed only and did not kneel down. Mo Shan asked him: “What place did the Venerable Bhiksu leave today?” He replied: “I left the entrance to the road.” She asked him:
“Why didn’t you cover it up ?” Kuan Ch’i could not reply and knelt down (to pay his respects), asking: “What is Mo Shan?” She replied: “The top of the head is not exposed.” He asked: “Who is the owner of Mo Shan (mountain)?” She replied: “He is neither male nor female.” He shouted:
“Why does he not transform himself?” She asked back:
“He is neither a ghost nor a spirit, into what should he transform himself?” He could not reply and submitted to her authority. He became a gardener at the nunnery where he stayed three years during which he was completely enlightened.

(Later) when Kuan Ch’i went to the Ch’an hall (to instruct his own disciples), he said to them:
“When I was at my father Lin Chi’s place, I got a half-ladle (and) when I was at my mother Mo Shan’s, I got another half-ladle, thus obtaining a full ladle which has enabled me to satisfy my hunger up to now.” Thus, although Kuan Ch’i was Lin Chi’s disciple, he was also Mo Shan’s Dharma successor.

We can See that among the nuns, there existed alsopeople of real ability. There are many nuns here as well; why do not they come forward to show their abilities and reveal the Right Dharma on behalf of their predecessors? The Buddha Dharma extols equality (of sex) and we are only required to make efforts in our training without backsliding so as not to miss this (rare) opportunity.

The ancients said:
In one hundred years or six and thirty thousand days, There is not a quiet moment to lay down mind and body.

For countless aeons, we have been floating in the sea of mortality because we have never wanted to lay down our bodies and minds in order to have quiet for our learning and self- cultivation, with the result that we have been turned round by the wheel of transmigration without a chance of liberation. For this reason, all of us should lay down both body and mind and sit in meditation for a moment with the hope that the bottom of the cask of (black) lacquer will drop off and that we will together experience the law of no-birth.

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The Dharma age of a monk is the number of summer or discipline years since his ordination.
i.e. a man of no fixed abode. Master Hsu Yun had come from the Yun Men monastery in South China and did not yet know where he was going to settle. The Yun Men monastery was that of Ch’an master Yun Men, founder of the Yun Men Sect, one of the five Ch’an Sects in China. The monastery was rebuilt by master Hsu Yun.
Master Hsu Yun was then 114 years old. 
World-dharma or worldly affairs.
Worldly cause, or asrava in Sanskrit, meaning ‘leaking’ cause; inside the passion-stream as contrasted with anasrava, outside the passion-stream; no drip or leak. 
Ksana = the shortest measure of time, as kalpa or aeon, is the longest. 60 ksanas equal a finger-snap, 90 a thought and 4,500 a minute. 
Direct cause, a truth, as compared with a contributory cause.
 Asankhya in Sanskrit, or innumerable aeons.
The five desires arising from the objects of the five senses, things seen, heard, smelt, tasted and touched.
This parable is frequently used in Buddhist Scriptures to advise us to shut the six gates of our senses so as to be detached from external surroundings.
Dharma doors to enlightenment or methods of realizing the self-nature.
Lit. leaves and branches in literary forms, i.e. accessories not fundamental in the experiential realization of the real. On the other hand, the Ch’an Sect aims at the direct pointing at the Buddha nature which every living being poseesses and the instantaneous realization of the mind leading to the attainment of
Buddhahood. 
Founder of the Lin Chi Sect.
Mo Shan’s question means: If you think you are really enlightened and can dispense with kneeling, you should have realized your Dharmakaya which pervades everywhere and covers also the entrance to the road, for it is free from coming or going, and does not leave one place to come to another. 
The question: “What is Mo Shan?” means: “What is the state of the enlightened mind in the Mo Shan nunnery?” The questioner wanted a description of the Bodhi mind. The nun’s reply refers to the small lump on the top of the Buddha’s head which could not be seen by his disciples. Mo Shun meant that since the visitor was unenlightened, he could not perceive her Dharmakaya which was indescribable.
When Kuan Ch’i asked about the owner of Mo Shan, i.e. about herself, she replied that the owner was neither male nor female for sex had nothing to do with enlightenment, and the Dharmakaya was neither male nor female. Generally, women had many more handicaps than men, and Kuan Ch’i seemed to look down upon her because of her sex and asked her why she did not change herself into a man if she was enlightened. His question showed that he was still under delusion. 
The maximum life span of each individual.
In Ch’an parlance, our ignorance is symbolized by the thick black lacquer contained in a wooden cask, because nothing can be seen through it. Ch’an training will cause the bottom of the cask to drop off, thus emptying it of the black lacquer, i.e. our body and mind of delusion. This is the moment when we can perceive the real.
Law of no-birth: lit. endurance leading to the personal experiencing of the law of no-birth, or immortality, i.e. the absolute which is beyond birth and death, boundless patience or endurance being required for subduing the wandering mind.
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