The basic purpose of meditation is to help one to recognize the nature of the Mind, to master the Mind and to become cognizant of the clarity of the Mind. A Mind that is not mastered is a Mind full of worries. Worries are created by an untamed Mind—thinking of what should not be thought of, or, vice-versa, not thinking of what should be thought of. Consequently, life cannot be lived to the fullest unless the Mind is tamed and mastered.
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Chan (Chinese Zen)
Essence of Life
Two Books by Ven Jian Liao
Two Books by Ven Jian Liao
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Re: Two Books by Ven Jian Liao
"What is pure Mind? The Master says: “I am speaking to you, and you are listening to me. The capability to listen without discriminating, without the intervention of interpretation or judgment, is a capability of pure Mind.”
If the Mind is judgmental and discriminating, then it can no longer be called pure Mind. It is the Mind of the ordinary person because it is controlled by attachments. Take for example the phenomenon of hearing. Some can hear sound and some cannot. The deaf are aware that they do not hear sound. This knowing is an immutable characteristic of Mind. The ability to be aware of the absence of sound in the deaf is no different from the ability to be aware of the presence of sound in normal people. This ability is inherent in all human beings. Adults as well as children have it. This Mind is formless, non-discriminative and it has neither beginning nor end. It can neither be created nor annihilated. All possess the same Mind, yet, due to distortion, the oneness of Reality fragments into duality. Therefore, different things are heard. This means that even though the same words are heard, the discriminating Mind interprets the words differently. Therefore, each one forms different notions and concepts based upon these very same words because of conditioning to a certain way of thinking. What is manifested by pure Mind (Truth) is compared to what has been altered by personal judgment or interpretation (subjective reality)."
(Jian Liao: Chan)
If the Mind is judgmental and discriminating, then it can no longer be called pure Mind. It is the Mind of the ordinary person because it is controlled by attachments. Take for example the phenomenon of hearing. Some can hear sound and some cannot. The deaf are aware that they do not hear sound. This knowing is an immutable characteristic of Mind. The ability to be aware of the absence of sound in the deaf is no different from the ability to be aware of the presence of sound in normal people. This ability is inherent in all human beings. Adults as well as children have it. This Mind is formless, non-discriminative and it has neither beginning nor end. It can neither be created nor annihilated. All possess the same Mind, yet, due to distortion, the oneness of Reality fragments into duality. Therefore, different things are heard. This means that even though the same words are heard, the discriminating Mind interprets the words differently. Therefore, each one forms different notions and concepts based upon these very same words because of conditioning to a certain way of thinking. What is manifested by pure Mind (Truth) is compared to what has been altered by personal judgment or interpretation (subjective reality)."
(Jian Liao: Chan)
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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White Lotus
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Re: Two Books by Ven Jian Liao
yes ''worries are created by an untamed mind'', unless we have mental discipline that comes from meditation it will be hard to let go of our suffering.
i see that as an important aspect of zazen. disciplining the mind in order to let go. the essence of just being is just letting go. non attachment; impossimble without mindfulness and control.
zazen or shamatha enables one to see the exceedingly subtle and mundane. it is since one is observing not a thing, (except sometimes the breath) that one is able to appreciate the subtilty of the dharma/dhamma nature.
thanks Astus. Another good quote.
best wishes, Tom.
i see that as an important aspect of zazen. disciplining the mind in order to let go. the essence of just being is just letting go. non attachment; impossimble without mindfulness and control.
zazen or shamatha enables one to see the exceedingly subtle and mundane. it is since one is observing not a thing, (except sometimes the breath) that one is able to appreciate the subtilty of the dharma/dhamma nature.
thanks Astus. Another good quote.
best wishes, Tom.
in any matters of importance. dont rely on me. i may not know what i am talking about. take what i say as mere speculation. i am not ordained. nor do i have a formal training. i do believe though that if i am wrong on any point. there are those on this site who i hope will quickly point out my mistakes.