Zhen Li wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 3:29 am
LastLegend wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 3:19 am
Chan is not easy but not that difficult either given proper understanding of mahaprajna (which is unique to Chan literature) and not much discussed in Zen or Seon...that’s just my thought.
You probably need to go into some more detail about the unique Chan understanding of mahāprajñā, which, of course is present in Japanese zen literature but perhaps not in the same way.
From
https://terebess.hu/zen/platform-sutra.pdf
“24. Good friends, now that you have finished taking refuge in the Three Treasures, each of you should clear your mind, and I will convey to you the teaching of Maha Prajnaparamita. Good friends, you may have chanted this without understanding it. But if you listen, I will explain it.
Maha Prajnaparamita is Sanskrit. In our language it means ‘The Great Wisdom That Leads to the Other Shore.’ This teaching must be practiced and not simply chanted with your mouth. If you chant it with your mouth but don’t practice it, it’s like an illusion or a mirage. But the dharma body of those who practice it is the same as a buddha’s.
What does maha mean? Maha means ‘great.’ The capacity of the mind is so great, it’s like space. But if you practice Empty-mind Zen, you will fall into a featureless void. In this world of ours, space has room for the sun and the moon and the stars, the earth and its mountains and rivers, every plant and tree, bad people and good people, bad teachings and good teachings, heavens and hells. All of this exists in space. The
emptiness of our nature is also like this.
25. Our nature contains the ten thousand dharmas. That’s how great it is. And the ten thousand dharmas are our nature. To see humans and non-humans, both the good and the bad, good dharmas and bad dharmas, without rejecting them and without being corrupted by them, this is to be like space. This is what we mean by ‘great.’ This is what maha means.
Deluded people chant this with their mouths, the wise practice it with their minds. There are also deluded people who call having an empty mind and not thinking ‘great.’ But that isn’t how this works. The capacity of the mind is great, but if you don’t use it, it’s small. If you merely talk about emptiness with your mouth, but you don’t practice this practice, you’re no disciple of mine.
26. What does prajna mean? Prajna means ‘wisdom.’ At all times to keep your thoughts free of ignorance and always to practice wisdom, this is what we mean by the practice of prajna. One thought of ignorance, and prajna stops. One thought of wisdom, and prajna reappears. A person whose mind is full of ignorance says ‘I’m practicing prajna.’ But prajna has no form. It’s the nature of wisdom.
And what does paramita mean? This is Sanskrit. In our language, we say ‘what leads to the other shore,’ which means what transcends birth and death. When we are attached to objects, we give rise to birth and death, like when waves form on the water. This is what we mean by ‘this shore.’ When we are free of objects, there is no birth or death, like when a river flows on forever. So we say this ‘leads to the other shore.’ This is what we mean by paramita.”
“Our nature is pure like the clear sky above, and our wisdom is like the sun and the moon, our wisdom is always shining. But if externally we become attached to objects, the clouds of delusion cover up our nature, and we can’t see it. Then, because we meet a good friend who explains the true teaching, our delusions are blown away and everything inside and outside becomes perfectly clear, and the ten thousand dharmas in this
nature of ours all appear. This nature of ours in which the ten thousand dharmas are present is what we mean by the pure dharma body. Those of you who take refuge in yourselves, if you get rid of bad thoughts and bad practices, this is called taking refuge.”
It’s eye blinking.