Montreal Zen Master Albert Low on the koan 'MU'

"Mu* is not a recent experiment that someone is trying out. It is not a shot in the dark in the hope or expectation that something might come of it. It is not simply for beginners or advanced people. for iron ladies or men of steel. Millions have worked with Mu over more than a thousand years. Chinese. Koreans. Vietnamese. Japanese. Americans. French. English men and women. artists. professors. businessmen. farmers. homemakers. emperors. soldiers. airmen. monks. nuns. All have swallowed the red hot iron ball of Mu. have perished in the Great Death while rejoicing in the Awakened life. Some have flung themselves into the furnace of Mu: some have impaled themselves on the point of Mu: some have drilled through emptiness and despair with Mu: some have dropped into the chasm of Mu. But all have found Mu to be home. to be that which they had sought since time began. but that which is more close than one's own skin. Some have gnawed at Mu like a rat that sharpens its teeth while gnawing through the wood of the vat to the butter beyond. Some have sat like a cat outside a mouse hole. to all appearances asleep. relaxed. indifferent. but all the while like a steel trap sprung open and ready to shut at the mere appearance of a whisker. Some have wooed. embraced. loved. and adored Mu. like a lover yearning and yearning and yearning. Some have held on to Mu like a lion at the neck of its prey. like a bulldog with jaws bred to clamp. to hold. never to yield. Some have penetrated Mu like a thread penetrates the eye of a needle so small that the point of a needle could never find it. Some have found Mu in the midst of pain in the legs made a burning fire of agony by an accident. and some have found it in the despair of forgetfulness when everything is finally lost in a samadhi of no hope and no tomorrow. But all have worked steadily, consistently. All followed finally what their teacher had been saying patiently, insistently. repeatedly. There is just Mu! Only Mu! Become One with Mu!"...Albert Low in The Iron Cow of Zen, pg. 162-163.  *Mu is a Japanese translation of the Chinese huatou Wu

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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Master Sheng Yen: attachments

picture by Joanne Carscadden

"We all have attachments, or to use a contemporary term, addictions. They may be material or mental; they may be worldly, philosophical, or physical. Attachments may be superficial and transient or deeply ingrained and stubbornly fixed. Attachments have one thing in common, however: they all create aggravation, turmoil in our lives.

Through practice, it is possbile to separate yourself from attachments. Gradually, step by step, you can drop attachments, until all vexations are eliminated. The sutra* speaks of four levels of attachment to transcend. Some teachers speak of the process as 'separation', but this is misleading because it implies that one is escaping or running away from attachment. This is not the case; rather, recognizing attachment is itself separating from attachment.

Recognizing attachment usually proceeds sequentially:

First, we detach ourselves from the illusions of worldly phenomena.
Secondly, we regard our own minds as illusory, and in so doing, detach ourselves from it.
Third, we realize that the thought of being free from the mind is also an attachment, and in so doing cease clinging to that concept as well.
Fourth, we detach ourselves from separation itself." *Sutra of Complete Enlightenment; quotation from Master Sheng Yen's Complete Enlightenment, pg. 113-114.

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki: "Don't be lost in resistance."

"We practice zazen like someone close to dying. There is nothing to rely on, nothing to depend on. Because you are dying, you don't want anything, so you cannot be fooled by anything.

Most people are not only fooled by something, they are also fooled by themselves, by their ability, their beauty, their confidence, or their outlook. We should know whether or not we are fooling ourselves. When you are fooled by something else, the damage will not be so big, but when you are fooled by yourself, it is fatal.

You may feel some resistance to this Zen way of life or to your life in the world, but don't be lost in resistance. Do you understand? If you are deeply involved in resistance or fight, you will lose yourself. You will lose your strength, lose your friends and your parents. You will lose everything, your confidence, the brightness of your eyes. You are a dead body! And no one will say, "Oh, I am sorry." No one will say so. Look at your face in the mirror to see if you are still alive or not. Even though you practice zazen, if you don't stop being fooled, it won't help at all. Do you understand?

Let's practice hard, while we are still a little bit alive."  ...from Not Always So, Practicing the True Spirit of Zen,  Shunryu Suzuki, pg 98

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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But how can beholding the mind be called understanding?

The Sutra of Ten Stages says, "In the body of mortals is the indestructible buddha-nature. Like the sun, its light fills endless space, but once veiled by the dark clouds of the five shades, it's like a light inside a jar, hidden from view." And the Nirvana Sutra says, "All mortals have the buddha-nature. But it's covered over by darkness from which they can't escape. Our buddha-nature is awareness: to be aware and to make others aware. To realize awareness is liberation." Everything good has awareness for its root. And from this root of awareness grow the tree of all virtues and the fruit of nirvana. Beholding the mind like this is understanding...from The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, translated by Red Pine, pg. 79

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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Mortals liberate buddhas and buddhas liberate mortals

"Mortals liberate buddhas and buddhas liberate mortals. This is what is meant by impartiality. Mortals liberate buddhas because affliction creates awareness. And buddhas liberate mortals because awareness negates affliction. There can't help but be affliction. And there can't help but be awareness. If it weren't for affliction, there would be nothing to create awareness. And if it weren't for awareness, there would be nothing to negate affliction. When you're deluded, buddhas liberate mortals. When you're aware, mortals liberate buddhas. Buddhas don't become buddhas on their own. They're liberated by mortals. Buddhas regard delusion as their father and greed as their mother. Delusion and greed are different names for mortality. Delusion and mortality are like the left hand and the right hand. There's no other difference.

When you're deluded, you're on this shore. When you're aware, you're on the other shore. But once you know your mind is empty and you see no appearances, you're beyond delusion and awareness. And once you're beyond delusion and awareness, the other shore doesn't exist. The tathagata isn't on this shore or the other shore. And he isn't in midstream. Arhats are in midstream and mortals are on this shore. On the other shore is buddhahood."  ...from Wake-up Sermon in The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, translated by Red Pine, pg. 69-70.

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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"Go beyond language. Go beyond thought."

"Language and behaviour, perception and cognition are all functions of the moving mind. All motion is the mind's motion. Motion is its function. Apart from motion there's no mind, and apart from the mind there's no motion. But motion isn't the mind. And the mind isn't motion. Motion is basically mindless. And the mind is basically motionless. But motion doesn't exist without the mind. And the mind doesn't exist without motion. There's no mind for motion to exist apart from, and no motion for mind to exist apart from. Motion is the mind's function, and its function is its motion. Even so, the mind neither moves nor functions, because the essence ot its functioning is emptiness and emptiness is essentially motionless. Motion is the same as the mind. And the mind is essentially motionless.

Hence the sutras tell us to move without moving, to travel without traveling, to see without seeing, to laugh without laughing, to hear without hearing, to know without knowing, to be happy without being happy, to walk without walking, to stand without standing. And the sutras say, "Go beyond language. Go beyond thought." Basically seeing, hearing, and knowing are completely empty. Your anger, joy or pain is like that of a puppet. You can search, but you won't find a thing." ...from The Bloodstream Sermon in The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma translated by Red Pine, pg. 44-45 (written around the early 6th century).

John Crook, English Dharma heir to Master Sheng Yen, dies http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/news-item+M5468d1b790a.html

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master
Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

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Big boxes and small boxes

"Buddha" means "one who has woken up from the dream of self-image." We can't really understand what waking up is until we wake up. We can talk about it but we can't really describe it as such. Someone who is sleeping might dream about being awake, going to work, meeting friends and so on, but it is a dream. So, usual mind cannot encompass Awakened mind within itself. We can't put a big box into a small box. Only Buddha can realize Buddha. ....from Anzan Hoshin on Shojo Zen in http://www.wwzc.org/book/begin-here-five-styles-zen

"If you have already discovered that your deluded thoughts are not really you then whatever method you have been using---breath awareness, reciting the Buddha's name, or even a mantra---as long as you are able to calm the mind, you will gradually reach a point where a quiet, subdued realization of impermanence arises, that is what we call "lightness-and-ease," or "mental pliancy." This mind is quite tranquil; it has experienced at some level its own insubstantial nature. This gradual approach is likened to a clay vessel containing muddy water in which the mud settles little by little until eventually the water is clear and transparent.

Using this kind of gradual approach is fine, but the huatou approach is not only a matter of gradually letting the mind settle down; rather, you use your full life force, like blowing at the water in the clay pot with great determination until there is no more water, nor any mud to settle. Better yet, using the power of huatou, you can shatter the clay vessel into a thousand pieces. All that will be left is your illuminated mind."....Master Sheng Yen in Shattering the Great Doubt, pg. 82. 

Also check out these Chan sites of interest:

1. http://chancommunity.ca/home.php

2. How to chan meditate:

http://chancenter.org/cmc/chan-practice/how-to-meditate/

3. Master Sheng Yen in Facebook

4. The Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

Call Adrian at 250 898 8201,

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