Dharma Wheel

The whole topic which I picked up concerns exclusivly Japanese zen. The main point still stands: Practising with koans is in order to gain realisation, shikantaza is practice-realisation, so there is a difference. If there were stages to be reached in shikantaza, then realisation were apart from pr...

can someone explain what cittavijnana in buddhist belief means? It is a concept specific to the yogacara school? Where have you seen such a term? In Yogacara there is talk of citta, manas, and vijnana as three distinct aspects/functions: 'When the Buddha speaks of citta, manas and vijñāna (cf. Dīgh...

The problem itself is not in shikan taza or koan practice. The problem is in complete denial of kensho/satori realization. The fact that one is practicing shikan taza does not mean by itself that kind of denial. In fact wether shikan taza or koan the experience should be exactly the same. Practisin...

There's nothing much that would allow us to conclusively say that certain ideas and teachings were never given by the Buddha and were simply developed later by "philosophers" and the like. That's not necessarily so. For instance, the concept of alayavijnana is a later development as we can see in t...

Dgj wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:42 pmAre these individual canons closed?

Basically, yes. Their titles often designate the imperial era of publication (e.g. Yongle, Qianlong, Taisho), so to modify them would mean a new version published at a different time.

As for Mahayana sutras, we know there will be new ones because Maitreya Buddha will arrive in the future and teach the dharma and therefore we can assume there will be new sutras. There are also old sutras and other texts discovered, as in the case of the Dunhuang manuscripts , for which here's a l...

For example the Chinese Tripitiaka; is it a closed canon? There are several Chinese canons , for example: Taisho 大正藏 and the supplement Xuzangjing (Zokuzokyo) 卍續藏 that are modern, 20th century editions, and older ones, like the Zhaocheng Jin 趙城金藏 (12th century), Qianlong 乾隆藏 (18th century), Norther...

Do you know why the history of Buddhism in Southern Asia seem to be spotty at different periods? Active at times, disappearing or blank on others? http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/thera_timeline.htm or is it a failure of history records/lost records? Isn't it like that everywhere else wi...

What was Kodo Sawaki's opinion of satori? From Homeless Kodo: 'A Zen tenma, or heavenly demon, is an ordinary person practicing to gain satori, to become great. Buddhadharma is not something for making an ordinary person great.' (Halfway Zazen chapter) 'Zazen is the way we tune in to the whole univ...

where would I find those translations of the works by Vasubandhu? There are the translations by Kochumuttom in A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience and by Thomas E. Wood in Mind Only. Online the Vimsatika and Trimsika are included in the BDK volume Three Texts on Consciousness Only , and the Trisvabha...

Manjushri wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:29 amwhat would be the essential texts pertaining to Yogachara, available in English translation today?

Mahayanasamgraha, Mahayanasutralamkara, Madhyantavibhaga, Vimsatika, Trimsika, Trisvabhavanirdesa, Cheng Weishi Lun.

In various texts, the term “outflows” is used, such as the Buddha or his disciples being free from outflows . Āsrava is a wonderful word, signifying how one mentally/emotionally is moved toward various objects, and how such things (in particular: sensuality/kāma, becoming/bhava, ignorance/avidyā, a...

Where do East Asian schools stand on this issue? Do some schools follow Yogacara philosophy, or are they like the Tibetans and consider themselves mostly to be Madhyamaka? There are eight or ten schools distinguished traditionally in Chinese Buddhism (Satyasiddhi 成實宗; Abhidharmakosa 俱舍宗; Vinaya 律宗;...

explain Yogacara philosophy to me and how it compares with Madhyamaka philosophy? There is no singular Yogacara philosophy but rather various texts considered by various people to be called Yogacara. Here are two introductory articles/essays: What is Yogacara? by Charles Muller What is and isn't Yo...

A pertinent educational animation by Dharma Drum Mountain TV: Chan in Daily Life motion picture series (1): Neon fans

A cursory glance at the former shows detailed instruction on how to sit, how to compose the mind, and the latter shows instruction on view. Let's consider Zazengi a bit then, because I would not call this one page writing a 'detailed instruction' on anything really. It has a shorter paragraph as a ...

Instructions on how to lay out the facilties, instructions on bathroom conduct, instructions on how to make the robes and what materials that should be used and why. Maybe it could be put under the category of ethics to argue against the use of toothbrush, as Dogen does in Senmen, but that's not mu...

'Matter or material form is (1-5) the five sense-faculties, (6-10) the five object-referents [or object-fields of the five sense-faculties], arid (11) the non-informative.' (AKB I.9ab, tr Sangpo, p 214) 'What is form? It is all form whatsoever that is included in the four great elements and that is...

narhwal90 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:15 pmThere are many very specific instructions and views in Shobogenzo, but perhaps I am misunderstanding?

Are there? Any examples maybe?

They both assert that one's very own fathom-long body is the Buddha. The idea of buddha-nature has been well regarded in China even before Bodhidharma, and it has been accepted by influential schools like the Sanlun, the Tiantai, and the Huayan. To say that Soto and Rinzai have their own philosophi...