Every Saturday at 3 p.m. Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua teaches a class in Buddhist Poetry. Everyone is invited to attend and not miss this excellent opportunity to study the Chinese language and the principles of Buddhism.
WISDOM AND STUPIDITY;
TRUE AND FLASE
Wise men seek the
truth
not apart from the false;
Stupid men clutch
the false,
and confuse the truth.
Wisdom, stupidity,
two marks—
their functions have myriad
Differences;
True and false, one
suchness—
substance without obstruction.
**written by Master
Hsuan Hua
translated by Heng Chien**
“GUEST DUST VERSE”1
Eighty-one doubts exhausted,
2
rest the maddened mind. 3
Stilling qualms, consider, 4
“Who is this so busy?” 5
Eighty-four thousand (guest
dusts) 6
free to go their way:
Independent, not departing,
the enlightenment nature king. 7
**written by Master
Hsuan Hua
translated by Heng Shou**
Translator’s
notes:
1) This verse is
a valuable and versatile tool for use in cultivation. Although on first perusal it may appear quite simple, its lesson
is firmly grounded in specific Buddhist teachings.
To
benefit from continual mindfulness of this verse, it is essential to understand
the basic connotations of “guest dust”.
The term refers to all elements of conditioned existence, such as the
objects of the five desires: wealth; form; fame; food; and sleep; or
alternately: forms; sounds; smells; tastes; and touchables.
In the SHURANGAMA SUTRA, where the
principle of the “guest dust” analogy is quite clearly revealed,
AjanataKaundinya, senior of the assembly, spoke thus: “Because of enlightenment
to the two words “guest dust”, I realized the fruit. World Honored One, it is like a traveling guest who seeks a
lodging and stops at an inn, either to spend the night or to take a meal. Following the affairs of the night’s rest
and food, he packs up and resumes his journey along the path before him, stopping
neither for leisure or peaceful dwelling.
The actual host, (the innkeeper), has no departing.
“Thus considered, the non-dweller is called
the guest and the dweller is called the host.
It is be means of non-dwelling that the meaning of “guest” is
established.
“Again, it is as when clouds have freshly
cleared and the sky is clear and sunny, light entering through an opening
illuminates the existent signs of dust in space. Dust motes swirl and drift about, and emptiness is still.
“Thus considered, clear stillness is called
space. That which dances and moves
about is called dust. It is by means of
that agitation and movement that the meaning of dust is established.”
The Buddha said, “So it is.”
2) “Doubts”
refers generally to confused and false thoughts which arise in response to
states, and serve as upside-down principles on which to base actions. If one is not confused by states, false
thoughts do not arise; consequently unprincipled action ceases.
3) As the author revealed when he explained the
verse, it is said in the SHURANGAMA SUTRA, “The mad mind put to rest is Bodhi.”
4) “Stilling
qualms, consider,” might as well be interpreted thus: “While engaged in the
practice of dhyana, consider…”
“Stilling qualms is the standard translation used by Chinese Buddhists
when they define “dhyana”.
5) This is an example of investigating the
“word-head”. (See the explanation in Chan Seven”—pages 33-34). Perhaps one who is “busy” vigorously
practices “mindfulness of the Buddha”, yet turns to the practice of dhyana as
well, using the question, “Who is this so busy?” as he investigates the
word-head.
6) Here, as in most cases, “eighty-four
thousand” represents a figure immeasurable by either number or parable.
7) Because the nature of enlightenment is free
of all dependence, it has no coming or going.
It is the true mind, which is compared to a king. A true ruler who is all-powerful needn’t
leave his palace to fully know and understand all the affairs of his
country. If one is able to allow all
guest dust to follow its own course, and thus be neither dependent upon it or
moving, that which remains is “the enlightenment nature king”.
* * * *
VERSE ON A HUNDRED FOOT POLE
Cultivating the Way
resembles the climb
up a hundred foot pole:
Coming down is
easy;
going up is hard.
If from the top of
the pole
you can
take yet another step,
In the ten
directions
of the Dharma realm
you’re free to come and go.
** written by
Master Hsuan Hua
translated by Heng Yin **
(Extract
from VBS October 1970 Volume I, Series 2, No. 7, Pages 23 & 24)
* * * *
*
When Shakyamuni Buddha was about
to complete the stillness, he instructed the assembled bhiksus to take the
precepts as their master after his extinction.
In modern times, few have been able to follow these instructions. Of these, the highest is vinaya Master Hung
I. This Dharma Master left home when he
was 39, and from that time devoted his superior intelligence and essential
energy to the stern cultivation of the precept path. His example of sincerity and true cultivation is very rare in the
world.
* * * *
*
The 1970 (98) Day
Lecture and Cultivation Session, held at the Buddhist Lecture Hall, began with
a week devoted solely to the recitation of the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,
called a Kuan Yin Seven. Following this
session, students dug in for 10 weeks of meditation and sutra study, every day
spending six hours in class, and eight hours on the cushion. The remaining hours were spent in recitation
and study.
Following these ten
weeks, on September 13th, a Chan Seven was held to complete the
summer’s work. Students arose at four
every morning for seven days, and spent seventeen hours in meditation until the
evening’s rest period, which began at ten p.m.
To guide students in proper cultivation, the Master Hsuan Hua gave
Dharma talks to open and close the Session.
These talks, translated by the Buddhist Text Translation Society, of
great interest to those interested in meditation, are presented in their
entirety in this issue of V.B.S.
OPENING TALK
The opportunity to attend a Chan Seven is rare and should not be
wasted. During the next seven days you
will have an opportunity to work very hard investigating your hua tou (lit.
“word-head), or doing the work you usually do.
But you must apply your own effort.
Don’t strike up false thinking.
During these seven days you must find a way to beat your false thinking
to death and give birth to wisdom.
After you have given birth to wisdom, you can open enlightenment. If, during these seven days, you penetrate
to the bottom and meet your original face, you will not once have toiled in
vain. Oridinarily you allow time to
pass by emptily. This is extremely
pitiful.
During this week some
people may fall asleep during periods of meditation. Perhaps some will snore, and hinder other people’s work. If the person on either side of you falls
asleep, tap him lightly, and wake him up.
Don’t make any noise; just wake him up.
This is being mutually helpful; you help him and he helps you. Don’t fall asleep! Do the work!
Investigation of the
word-head is practiced by the Chan School in China. But it is not just the Chinese Chan School that does so, it is
the Buddhist Chan School. So now we vigorously
investigate the word-head. What is
it? It is the word before it has
arisen; that is called word-head. You
should not investigate the tail of the word.
You should investigate the word before it has been spoken. Investigating the tail of the word is just
to recite without investigating the meaning, and is useless.
What is the
word-head? Now, most people take up the
word-head, “Who is reciting the Buddha?”
Reciting Buddha…which one is it?
Say it is you…If you die, if you burn up in a fire, does no one then
recite Buddha? Is it this way or
not? No. We should find out who is mindful of the Buddha.
At other times we recite “Na
Mo A Mi Tou Fo” (Namo to Amitabha Buddha).
Now you should find out who recites “Na Mo A Mi Tou Fo”, find the
one who is mindful of the Buddha. If you
can find him, that is just enlightenment.
If you don’t find him, then slowly, slowly, undertake the search.
During this Chan Seven
there will be no informal talks in the daytime. In the evening, lectures on the WONDERFUL DHARMA LOTUS FLOWER
SUTRA will continue from 7 until
9. When listening to the Sutra
lectures, if you work just as hard as you do during the meditation periods, I
believe you will certainly be able to open enlightenment. If you don’t apply effort to meditation, you
can certainly waste your time. You
mistakenly err if you waste this opportunity.
No one will be allowed to
talk during this week. Have several of
you made a vow not to talk?
Dharma Master Heng Ching:
Yes. Upasaka Kuo Fa, and Upasaka Steve
Berman.
Master: If you don’t talk
outside, you also shouldn’t talk inside.
Constant chatter inside your belly is useless. To remain silent this week, and then, when the week is over, to
talk twice as much, is also useless.
The Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas, and Arhats of the ten directions all come out of the Chan
Hall. Therefore, the Chan Hall is also
called the Prajna Hall, and is the mother of all Buddhas. If you don’t look upon yourself as too
little, if you don’t belittle yourself, and are able to say, “In the future I
will have the right to accomplish Buddhahood”, then you do not hinder yourself
in giving it a try. If, however, you
say, “In the future I will certainly be an animal”, then you should leave
immediately. Don’t stay here.
If you look upon yourself
lightly, although I wish to help you accomplish Buddhahood, there is no way to
do so. Because you don’t want to do
it. If you want to accomplish
Buddhahood, you must raise your spirits, and be like a wild tiger plunging down
a mountainside. You must chew your
karmic obstacles to death and kill the karmic obstacle ghost. I believe you would like to do this
work. Now we have the opportunity to
open enlightenment, the opportunity to accomplish Buddhahood.
Now some people are
striking up false thoughts. I see them. What false thoughts? They think:
“I fear that I won’t be able to open enlightenment during this week.”
Don’t worry. If you have no awakening this week, on the
15th of November, fourteen more weeks of opportunities will
begin. You can come again then, and we
will genuinely do the work. We will
truly chew the karmic obstacle ghost to death.
During those fourteen weeks we will cultivate 21 hours and sleep 2½ or 3
hours every day. It will be an
excellent time for opening enlightenment.
Others have false
thoughts, “I couldn’t hack that. Much
too bitter.” If you don’t want to
suffer, then you don’t want to accomplish Buddhahood. If, in this state without bitterness you don’t truly practice,
there will be no genuine sweetness obtained.
Moreover, the forging of your vajra indestructible bodies is done right
within suffering.
We smelt gold to burn
away the residue so that only pure gold remains. Now it is just as if we were refining gold. Whoever wishes to be gold should come here
and try it out. If you do not want to
be gold, but would rather be dirt…dirt is everywhere. You don’t have to come here.
Do you understand the
meaning of all this?
FROM A VAJRA SEED
FORMERLY SOWN
NOW SHOOTS FORTH A BODHI
SPROUT;
AWAKEN TO THE PROPER
ENLIGHTENMENT FRUIT,
STRAIGHTWAY ARRIVE AT THE
DHARMA KING’S HOUSE.
ARISE!
* * * *
*
CLOSING TALK
On the last day of the Session the Master said:
Who
recites Buddha? Does anyone know? (No answer)
Most important in a Chan Seven is not to have false thinking. Having even a hair’s worth of false thinking
is losing the battle. In the beginning
I asked, “Who recites Buddha?” and told
you to investigate this question. I was
sure that you, intelligent as you are, would easily find the answer. But now, nobody opens his mouth. Originally, not opening your mouth is right—if
you really understand. But you make a
mistake if you don’t understand and keep your mouth shut.
You
like to sit in Dhyana? This means that
you have good roots. Not everyone can
practice this Dharma door.
We
started the 1970 Summer Lecture and Cultivation Session with a Seven Day Kuan
Yin Recitation, followed by three months of hard study, and a Seven Day Chan
Session. But the Chan session wasn’t a
real Chan session. If it had been a
real Chan Seven, everyone would have gotten up at three in the morning and gone
to bed at midnight, and all day long practiced sitting, walking, sitting,
walking, with no time for false thinking.
You had it easy this week.
Consequently no one can answer my question. If you had chased away your false thinking, you would be able to
answer, because you would understand the four marks as empty: no mark of self;
others; living beings; or a life.
During
the first Summer Session a phony patriarch came here. He wanted me to certify him, to gold plate him. I told him I would take his head, and he got
scared and ran out, uncertified. If he
had really been a patriarch, he could have given me his head, he could have
given anything to anyone. Had he seen
through to the bottom of the four marks, there would have been no problem.
For
example, in the Tang Dynasty, the Fourth Patriarch declined four imperial
invitations. Finally, Emperor Tai Sung
sent his attendant with orders to bring back the Patriarch or his head. So the Fourth Patriarch stuck his neck out
and said, “Here, Here, take my
head. Go ahead, take it.” The attendant stood there for a long time,
bewildered, and finally the Fourth Patriarch said, “Why don’t you cut it off!” And the attendant said, “Oh, I wasn’t really
going to take your head.” The Patriarch
replied, “Now you know that there is still a true man.”
Did
the Fourth Patriarch know that the Emperor was bluffing? He knew he wanted his head, and, he knew
that he didn’t want his head. This is
not so easy to understand. There is a “who?”
inside it. If we cultivate the Way, we
must really cultivate. The Fourth
Patriarch sat for 60 years without lying down.
We know that his state was very high.
What
kind of place is the Buddhist Lecture Hall?
It is a place for selecting patriarchs.
The Buddhist Lecture Hall and the Sino-American Buddhist Association are
proving grounds for patriarchs. If you
want to realize Buddhahood, if you want to be a patriarch, you should certainly
come here. Come here and get the seal
of approval.
Tomorrow
you will receive your graduation certificates.
They are patriarch certificates.
Not now, but in the future when you have them validated, they will be
certificates of partriarchship. If you
want your certificate validated, bring it here and we will have a little
chat. If I approve, then you can be a
patriarch. If I don’t approve, then you
have to cultivate some more.
Now
the Chan Seven is completed.
THE
CHAN SEVEN ALREADY FINISHED,
(Whether
you got hit or not)
THOUGHT
MUST STILL BE CULTIVATED
(If
you can answer “Who?” then you can rest)
SUDDEN
ENLIGTENMENT IS IN A KSANA,
(But
long effort must be applied,
like sowing in the spring, blooming
in summer, harvesting in the fall,
eating in the winter)
GOOD
ATTAINMENT, REST IN THE WONDERFUL.
(Real
resting, not coarse resting.
This is the wonderful in the wonderful—
The mysterious in the mysterious).
Now
we have finished. Everyone stand and we
will bow to the Buddha three times to thank him. We think him, because even if we did not have a great
enlightenment, we had a small enligtenment.
If we did not have a small enlightenment, at least we didn’t get
sick. If we got sick, at least we didn’t
die. So let’s thank the Buddha.