We have to follow 'reasonable speculation'. There is a concensus among Buddhist scholars that says most mahayana literature was compiled hundreds of years after Buddha's demise. That does not mean the articles do not conform to Buddhism. Some of them are excellent presentations. As regards Diamond Sutra's insistence that the Buddha claims he did not utter a word, it means something profound. However, we should use it with care. The other theory is mahayana inference that nivarna is not different from samsara. That also has a profound meaning. Over the past hundreds of years, the media has started to record events, which makes us believe they did happen. But how about a few thousands years ago? Do you deny the existence of alexander the Great, Jesus, Aristotle, Confucious etc? Anthony
--- On Tue, 21/6/11, Guy <[email protected]> wrote: From: Guy <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Why Practice Chan? To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, 21 June, 2011, 12:33 PM OK, you think that or you know that? It's speculation. Unless you were there you could never know what the man said. Guy --- In [email protected], Anthony Wu <wuasg@...> wrote: > > JM, >  > Buddha never denied he ever said a word. It is the author of the Diamond > Sutra, who was born 1,000 years after Buddha's demise, that says that. >  > Please also regard what I just said as no value. >  > Anthony > > --- On Tue, 21/6/11, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> wrote: > > > From: Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> > Subject: Re: [Zen] Why Practice Chan? > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, 21 June, 2011, 7:43 AM > > >  > > > > Hi Anthony, > > Every word I posted is form. There is no value in them. Don't take them > too seriously. > > Especially those from Buddha, because he denied that he ever said a word. > > Okay? > > Talk to you next week... > 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 6/20/2011 3:57 PM, Anthony Wu wrote: >  > > > > > > > JM, >  > Thank you for your post. It is interesting. I have no doubt that Heart Chan > is a good practice that gives you happiness and good health. However, some of > the ideology is away from Buddhism. For instance, the following from the > posted article: >  > spirits are eternal >  > Buddhism says nothing is eternal. When our lives end and we reincarnate into > a different entities, it is the everchanging 5 skandhas of ours that are on > the journey. They are not the same 'spirits'. >  > It is an absolute practice liberating our spirit, terminating our > reincarnation, and living in Buddha's bright lights forever. >  > Buddha teaches us there is no 'self'. Than who is going to live in Buddhs's > bright lights forever? >  > Please note I am not trying to stop you practicing heart Chan. If you benefit > really and are happy, why not continue? I just want to point out the 'points > of deviation', while not attempting to say, 'this is the only truth, while > the rest are neither false or subordinate to the truth. >  > I hope to see more of your posts. Thank you for your kindheartedness. >  > Anthony >  >  >  >  > > > --- On Tue, 21/6/11, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> wrote: > > > From: Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> > Subject: [Zen] Why Practice Chan? > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, 21 June, 2011, 2:13 AM > > >  > > > > > > > This email contains graphics, so if you don't see them, view it in your > browser. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Buy This Book To Get Started!($14.99) > > > > > > Learn Chan Meditation online! > > > > > > > Dear Friend, > > Please visit our new web site. It empowers you to participates with us > online. Just click here or click on our header at the top. Do let us know > how you like it. Okay? Thank you. > > Below is a talk from our enlightened Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian for your > reference. > > > > Why Practice Chan? > > > > The purpose of practicing Chan is to establish a place for our life after > death. > Why practice Chan? What is its purpose? From a religious point of view, > whether it is Protestant, Catholicism, Buddhism or Islam, the common emphasis > is to ferry our spirit. Jesus said that "Believe in me, you shall live > forever!" Buddhism teaches the attainment of Buddhahood. How do we obtain > everlasting life and land in heaven? Practicing Chan is the answer. > Through out our life, most of us seek fame, fortune, political power, etc. > Can we keep them after our death? What we really need to seek is a place for > our afterlife. This way, we will not panic when our time comes to an end. > This is the real purpose of practicing Chan. Though we probably don't know > where we were from, we should at least be clear about where we will be > going. At the least, we should have some control of our destiny. In > Buddhism, the end game is enlightenment. > Surpass our physical lives and terminate reincarnation > When we are alive, through our senses, we could be pretty sure that we are > living in a material world. However, this is not the world of our spirit. > When our lives come to an end, where will our spirit be going? What do we > know about the spiritual world? > According to Buddhism, there are ten spiritual realms. From top down, they > are Buddha, Bodhisattva, Sravaka, Pratyeka, Deity, human, Asura, Animal, > Hungry Ghost and Hell. The realms below "human" contains mostly sufferings > and disasters. The lower the realm, the worse the conditions are. The > only way for us not to be in these realms is to practice Chan, purifying the > karma from our previous lives, so that our spirit could be elevated to a > higher realm. Perhaps even possible to be landed in the realm of Buddha or > Bodhisattva, if we practice Chan with dedication. > In other words, spirits are eternal. When our body die, our spirit will > journey to a spiritual realm corresponding to the merits or karma accumulated > throughout our lives. Therefore, when we die, it is not the end. It is > just another beginning. This is the "judgment" as labeled by Christians and > the "reincarnation" by Buddhist. > On the other hand, practicing Chan enhances our spiritual purity. If > majority of the people has purer spiritual quality, the society would be in > general more peaceful and harmonious. For the first fifty years in Taiwan, > though we had little material wealth, but we were generally happy and > content. Different from nowadays, our society is filled with murder, > violence, incest, etc. These are indications of being in those realms below > "human". It is urgent for us to practice Chan as soon as possible. > Otherwise, there will be more natural disasters and man-made miseries. If war > ever breaks out, we will be in the realm of hungry ghost and hell. > Liberate our spirit into everlasting joy > Simply, the purpose of the Chan practice is to be enlightened in this life. > Some people may have difficulty in believing that. Such disbelief is > usually resulted from thinking or analyzing with our physical human brain. > Shakyamuni is as much a human as any of us. After six years of searching as > an ascetic and six years of meditation under a Bodhi tree. Shakyamuni > liberated his spirit from his body and his consciousness, and ultimately > attained Buddhahood. Exemplified by his journey, he taught everyone of us, > that we all could be enlightened also. We all possess Buddha nature. Just > have to practice the authentic lineage Chan. > What is an authentic lineage practice? It is an absolute practice > liberating our spirit, terminating our reincarnation, and living in Buddha's > bright lights forever. It is a practice enabling us to surpass the three > realms of "Desire, Form and Formlessness". Desire is the hindrance of our > consciousness. Form is the hindrance of our physical body. Formlessness is > the hindrance of our karma hidden in our subconsciousness. Therefore the > practice of Chan is, through the purification of authentic lineage dharma, > cleans the hindrances of our consciousness, our physical body and the karma > of our previous lives, and entering into a journey of purity, which means a > path without hindrances to Buddhaland. So that upon our death, we would not > panic. We would be certain that we would be on our way there. > Each of us has approximately one hundred years to live. How many years do > you have left? We must quickly learn to practice Chan, through which to > improve our health, de-stress our mind, and broaden our focus from material > world to the spiritual world. Turn our knowledge into wisdom. Transform our > transient self to be everlasting. Awaken from delusions to the "final > truth". This is only way to liberate our spirit.Otherwise, we will continue > to be reincarnated and float through various spiritual realms without end. > Be reminded that our entire life span, from beginning to end, is nothing but > emptiness. The only possible meaningful accomplishment is a spiritual one. > If you understand this truth and dedicate yourself to be enlightened in this > life, not only you shall receive everlasting bliss, you shall be able to help > more people, just like what Buddha and Jesus did. > > > > > > > > > About Us > > > > Heart Chan is the teaching of Grand Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian. He is the > 85th patriarch since Shakyamuni, 58th patriarch since Bodhidarma and 48th > patriarch of Linji School. > He teaches that we all could be enlightened in this life. > > > > The Four Practices To Enlightenment > > > > > > > > Purity > Detox our body, our mind and our spirit. > > > > Wisdom > Detach from all forms. In Sync with the Heart of Buddha. > > > > Fulfillment > Fulfill every encounter without question or expectation. > > > > Enlightenment > True Nature Connects With Buddha. > > > > > > > > > Not interested any more? Unsubscribe >
