JMJM,
Excuse me for butting in after some pause.
I agree with you that 'chi' is not an illusion. The routes of chi
flowing in the human body can be tracked by modern science, using
electro-resistance method. Chi can also be felt by long practicing. It
cannot 'take care of itself'.
On the other hand, I find it hard to agree with your statement that
'mind' is the false self, while 'heart', including feelings,
sensations and awareness, is the true self. Feelings etc are part of
the emotions, which are sometimes harmful. They are not scientifically
associated with the heart. The misunderstanding dates back to
Kumarajiwa more than a thousand years ago. When he translated 'citta',
he found no better word in Chinese than the the character 'xin', for
heart. In much later dates, the English language took 'mind' to
represent 'citta'. So don't be mistaken, both 'heart' (except for the
physical organ) and 'mind' are the same. I wonder how year teacher say
in reference to the word 'mind'.
Anthony
--- On *Mon, 14/3/11, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明
/<[email protected]>/* wrote:
From: Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <[email protected]>
Subject: [Zen] Five Poisons II
To: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]
Date: Monday, 14 March, 2011, 12:00 AM
Good morning Mark,
I thank you for response. Now we have something to talk about.
Otherwise, it can be boring just talking to myself. Since Harvey
Sensei did say in one of his posts that sometimes our words could
be like blades, I shall try to be a little more blunt, I hope you
don't mind. Because we are getting into the nitty gritty area,
where we are discussing the invisible while any delicate tiny
imbalance will throw us off course by a mile.
"Hair width difference is like heaven and earth apart..."
XinXinMing...
* All I am doing is to trying to stir up some wave,
(blade:wake up), because all words are illusory in the first
place, including mine. Any agreement or disagreement is
caused by our attachment to a particular way of living or
believe or practice. Some are easier to communicate because
the words are familiar. Some are difficult because the
experiences are different. Chan is in essence a spiritual
practice. Therefore instead of agree or disagree, just
practice with our heart open and cultivate our awareness to
be connected with everything. As you said, we don't do
enough. But not enough in which direction? :-)
* True as you stated, in the practice, words or vibration of
our conscious mind, hinders our connection to the present
moment. Before we dig a little deeper into "present
moment", l need to redefine two words, which are, IMO,
critical in communicating our practice and witnesses.
o "Mind" means all mental work, all logic, all dharma,
all thinking, all analytic process. We also call this
"false self", or consciousness.
o "Heart" means feelings, sensations, awareness, spirit,
soul, or "true self".
o Though they serve two different function but they
affect each other.
* Indeed as you say, the key in Chan is to focus on, in, at,
with the present moment. If we dig a little deeper,
checking with the sutra, where Buddha has recorded his
journey, we may need to investigate "to what" and "with what"?
* Do we focus on the "form", or the "formless"? Based on the
sutra, it is the formlessness we need to focus on. Then
what is that? Our teaching and witness explains that it is
the chi, the energy, the spirit, the connection to the
wisdom of the moment with our "heart" without any tiny,
microscopic vibration from our "mind". In short, focus on
the heart of the universe and not its manifestations.
* After 2,500 years, there are too many versions of Buddha's
teaching. Therefore in our school, we use primarily the
Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra. Both Buddhist in
terminology.
* Words I used, such as "realm, Bodhisatva" are just words.
These are however actually spiritual state we can witness.
Eileen called them "deeper", we call them "higher", they are
still words or emptiness. Yet we have witnessed that all
descriptions in the sutra can be experienced and witnessed.
The key is in the practice.
* I often wish that we have other words to use, which are more
familiar with others. Yet at the end, it is still our mind
making the final judgment. This is the sadness of our
delusional mind.
A side note, Order of Chan historically is also called the Order
of Buddha Heart. Transmission is heart to heart transmission and
not a transmission of words or teaching or understanding. (No
different from the water crystal experiment done by Dr. Emoto.)
When we are in sync, we are able to accept all manifestations as
is and clearly "connecting to" the "cause/wisdom/truth/dharma" of
that particular moment.
Again, thank you Mark for your feedback. Now I am granted with
this opportunity to share. I am grateful.
JMJM
Head Teacher
Order Of Chan
Be Enlightened In This Life - We ALL Can
http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com <http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com/>
http://www.heartchan.org <http://www.heartchan.org/>
On 3/12/2011 8:39 AM, Mark Perew wrote:
JMJM -
I shall be honest that I find no value in your posts about Chan.
I'm with Bill in my approach and view of zen. All the schools
and theories just get in the way of sitting and experiencing what
is. The more explanations we try to provide, the more we
separate ourselves from just being fully present.
Does it really matter if there are 10 levels or 2 or a million?
Maybe the idea that levels exist is just more illusion. And,
yes, I suspect that karma and chi are only illusions.
My suspicion is that even if karma and chi were real, that even
looking at them is counterproductive. If I focus on being fully
present in the here and now, accepting the deep
interconnectedness of all things, and acting with compassion to
all beings then my chi and karma would take care of themselves.
Of course, since chi and karma are just illusions I can skip them
entirely and just move on to being fully present in the here and
now, accepting the deep interconnectedness of all things, and
acting with compassion. Win!
What I would be delighted to read from everyone is your personal
experiences with zen. What happens for you when you sit, walk,
interact in a mindful way? What brings you, personally,
directly, immediately closer to being fully present in the here
and now?
We don't do enough of that.
2011/3/12 Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <[email protected]
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>>
Hello Maria and Eileen,
Thank you for your feedback. Because these terminology is
not in the "usual" zen dictionary. I needed to know whether
I should continue on this path, though Chan uses primarily
Tao in practice and Buddhism in describing spirituality.
Buddha taught for 49 years. And his teachings probably
contains the most material describing various states of
spirituality. I sense probably it is time to talk a little
about spirituality.
If you like, I will post more.
Thank you for your time,
JM
Be Enlightened In This Life - We ALL Can
http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com <http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com/>
http://www.heartchan.org <http://www.heartchan.org/>
On 3/12/2011 1:06 AM, Maria Lopez wrote:
JMJM;
I learnt from the recent discussion you had with ED. This
other kind of posting doesn't appeal much to me as it sounds
a kind of catethism and this is why I don't usually answer
to it. However, It's nice of you to send it as it's always
refreshing to read you.
Thank you for the effort and time spent on them
Mayka
--- On *Fri, 11/3/11, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明
/<[email protected]>
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>/*
wrote:
From: Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明
<[email protected]>
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>
Subject: [Zen Living] Five Poisons II
To: [email protected]
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>,
[email protected]
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>,
[email protected]
<http://sg.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>
Date: Friday, 11 March, 2011, 23:12
Dear All,
Since my last post, there was not any response. I
assumed that my last post was not clear or foreign in
terminology. Please allow me to elaborate.
There are ten realms according to Buddhism. The Human
realm is the fifth from the top. The Bodhisatva realm
is the second only to Buddha.
Bodhisatva realm is pure heart, which is pure
compassion, pure wisdom and pure joy and above all karma.
Human realm is thinking in human terms, act in human
ways with some self-interest and trapped in forms.
When our spirit is in the Bodhisatva realm, our heart is
filled with wisdom, compassion and joy. We live based
on the wisdom of the moment with harmonious intentions,
because in this realm, our heart is one with the other
without separation.
As soon as we begin to think, to analyze, to judge, our
spirit drops right back down to human realm, we think,
act with limited human knowledge/experience and self
interest. We are then trapped in form. Sutra labels
this state of being as reincarnation, for it is an
endless chase of relativity.
When our spirit is in the realm of Bodhisatva, we are
not affect by all the forms. We are able to penetrate
to the veil of self defense. We are able to be
connected to the invisible wisdom of the moment to
harmonize the situation. Buddhist say to resolve all karma.
This is way I was taught, practice and witness the way
to rid of the Five Poisons.
Just for your reference. Thank you for your attention.
JMJM
Head Teacher
Order of Chan
--
Be Enlightened In This Life - We ALL Can
http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com <http://chanjmjm.blogspot.com/>
http://www.heartchan.org <http://www.heartchan.org/>
