Surangama Sutra

 

The Surangama Sutra is one of the major texts of Mahayana Buddhism.

According to tradition, it was translated in 705 from Sanskrit to Chinese. The original Sanskrit version has been lost.

It gradually became the object of particular interest for the masters of the Chan school, including Hsuan Hua 宣化 (1918-1995) and Charles Luk (1898-1978) who contributed greatly to its dissemination and understanding.

 

 

The salient points of the Sutra are:

The worthlessness of the (intellectual) study of the Dharma without the practice of Meditation and the respect of moral precepts.

The importance of not falling victim of delusion and demonic influence that may arise during meditation, and of fake self appointed masters and gurus

 

2 Translations side by side

I have put side by side two translations by Hsuan Hua 宣化 (1918-1995) and Charles Luk (1898-1978) into English of this sutra.

You can download them by clicking on the link:

 

Surangama Sutra 2 Translations

 

 

Walking meditation and Kinhin

Walking meditation is a form of Qigong practice that incorporates slow, deliberate movements with focused breathing and mental awareness. It promotes balance, relaxation, and the flow of energy (Qi) throughout the body.

Kinhin is a form of walking meditation practiced in Zen Buddhism, usually in conjunction with seated meditation (zazen).

As a matter of fact, I started to practice Walking meditation on my own many years before I became acquainted to Zen. I had read about it in a Tai Chi book and decided to experiment with it.

In this article, we’ll explore Walking meditation and Kinhin.

 

1. Walking meditation

Walking meditation involves walking slowly and mindfully, focusing on the breath and straightening the spine.

Lots of guides to walking meditation put emphasis on mindfulness, mind control, being in the moment. And there is nothing wrong about all of this. However, this is not easy to do. So forget about it for the time being, and rather than worrying about being mindful of anything, concentrate on 2 only things :

1. Posture
2. Breathing.

 

While practicing, thoughts and distractions will arise. Just observe them and let them pass like clouds in the sky. If you get caught up in them, bring your attention back to your breathing and posture.

1. Posture: Keep your back straight, Squeeze your butt cheeks, relax your shoulders, arms either at your sides or with your hands clasped softly in front of you. Make sure your neck is vertical and your head is up.

2. Breath : Try to to coordinate your steps with your breath. For example, take a step with each inhale and another with each exhale. At the beginning of your practice use regular abdominal breathing : relax your abdominal muscles on the inhale and tighten them on the exhale.

Concentrate either on the feeling of the air in and out of your nose, or even better on the sensations you experience inside your abdomen, in your "Tanden" a little below your navel.

With practice, your mind will become more settled, and distractions will become less frequent.

2. KINHIN

Kinhin is a form of walking meditation we use in Zen.

In Soto Zen , we practice a very slow Kinhin. Kinhin was introduced in Japan by master Dogen Zenji (1200-1253 CE)

Practiced between long zazen sessions, Kinhin helps with circulation inside the legs, preventing stagnation and physical pain,
it therefore allows to cultivate a deeper awareness and insight.

Kinhin is usually practiced inside the Zendo, between sessions of Zazen. It follows a clockwise circuit.

 

Kinhin Walking is more formal than general waking meditation.

Hands : Hands are held in front of the solar plexus, The right fist around the left one, forearms horizontal.

Gaze : Keep your gaze lowered and directed toward either the ground or on the feet of the person ahead of you. Make sure, however, that your eyes only gaze down and your head stays up

Walking : In most Zendo, the walking is made by landing the heel first, then the sole and toes of the foot. I teach a different way of walking where the ball of the foot first lands on the ground and the heel follows. This is more in line with martial tradition, it helps keep a straighter spine. 

Walking is very slow.

Everything above mentioned about walking meditation applies to Kinhin.

The 2 main points, just like for general meditation, also are posture and breathing.

Practice 😃

 

 

Culavedalla Sutra

Us Zen people do not care too much about Buddhist scriptures. We might be missing on some things. The Pali Canon has many gems...

As I was researching Mindfulness of Feelings, I discovered 2 weeks ago the Culavedalla Sutra and found it very interesting in 2 aspects :

• In this sutra, the teachings are given by a Nun named Dhammadinna while the Buddha is sitting beside her listening. After the talk, the Buddha said that he could not have taught any better and praised her. This is a good reminder of the importance of the contributions of Nuns to the Dharma.

• I finally found some clarification about the "neither pleasant nor non-pleasant" feeling, the one that leads to delusion if you let it take you away on arising. I had had quite some problems understanding what the damn thing could be. And there it was quite clearly : 

"Pleasant feeling is pleasant in remaining, & painful in changing, friend Visakha. Painful feeling is painful in remaining & pleasant in changing. Neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling is pleasant in occurring together with knowledge, and painful in occurring without knowledge."

Beside that, this Culavedalla sutra is very insightful about the 5 aggregates and the Noble Eightfold path. You might enjoy it... 

 

May all beings be happy...

 

Definition

When people speak and argue for hours it is often because they do not have a clear and common understanding of what they are talking about.

This at times happens in Buddhism. (Believe me, I was there...)

Clear definitions allow everybody to  be on the same page when discussing or reading about an issue.

Tibetan Buddhism defines mind as what distinguishes sentient beings from rocks or trees or bodies of water. Mind is that which grasps - or rejects - something external. It is characterized by a discriminating awareness or a sense of duality.

 "What is the mind? It is a phenomenon that is not body, not substantial, has no form, no shape, no color, but, like a mirror, can clearly reflect objects."

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Zen, Budo and Flying.

Back to the Pilot analogy

You can try to learn everything about the theory of flights. You'll never will be able to fly. 

Buddhism and Martial Arts are the same.  If you spend your life trying to understand, you will become a Buddhist or a Martial Arts Scholar. You won't have acquired any useful skills and all you'll have learned won't really help you when you need it. 

On another hand, some believe they practice Zen by spending hours in a row sitting without moving or thinking at all. They are like someone who would sit in the cockpit of the plane, close their eyes, and believe they really are flying. 

Some other people practice and teach crazy things (Yes, you can become a certified light saber fighting instructor !) and believe they could actually fight. 

Buddhism and Budo first and for all are practices. 

Find a teacher, learn how to fly ! 

 

News

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with trying to stay informed of current events, but you have to be sensitive to the effect that too much attention to the news can have on your mind. 

The basic message of the news is that your time is unimportant, that the important things in the world are what other people are doing in other places. 

This is the opposite of the message of meditation: that the most important thing happening in your world is what you’re doing right here, right now. 

Knowing and Doing

There are basically 2 questions you can ask about things :

• What can I do with this  ?
• How does this work ? (How is it built)

As far as survival is involved, "What can I do with this" is better than "How does this work?"

You can drive a car without having any idea how it works. However, if you have a mechanical problem in the middle of the desert, it maybe handy to know how to disconnect the thermostat to make sure the fan stays on and keep cooling the engine (trust me on that one, personal experience...)

So again, it is interesting to know both about things, 

• what you can do with them, and 

• how they are built and work, 

And this is true for every domain. If someone comes at you and you find a stick, it is a good idea to whack them with that stick, without trying to have the perfect stance and style. You have no need to know exactly how to fight with a stick: just whack them quickly and strongly.  

If later on more people get in the habit of coming at you, it could be a good idea to learn how to use your stick more efficiently. That is what martial arts are about.

Now in Buddhism, we have a number of teachings. They are meant to be USED. If you try to understand them before you practice, you'll be in the situation of a guy who having been shot with a poisoned arrow wants to know everything about who shot it and the kind of material used to make the arrow, the bow and the string before pulling the arrow out of his thigh. Basically the guy would die before he'd know the answers to these questions. 

This story was told by the Buddha 2500 years ago,  and was recorded in the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta.

"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a brahman, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him."

In the West, we love to understand everything before we act. At times, it is a good idea, but not always. 

Intellectual analysis sometimes delays or even prevents actual experience.

Don't waste your time, Practice...

 

Clarification about the 'Self'

All forms of Buddhism teach that all dharma or phenomena have 3 universal characteristics :

All phenomena are Impermanent	The teaching of ANICCA
All phenomena are Unsatisfactory	The teaching of DUKKHA
All phenomena are Not-Self	The teaching of ANATTA

The teachings of Anicca and Dukkha are common to all religious or philosopHical traditions, but the teaching of Anatta is unique to Buddhism.

According to Anatta there is nothing that can be identified as 'self', all the things that we take to be ourself, to be I and mine, are really 'not-self'.

Buddhism holds that these notions are deceptive delusions that lead us into conflicts and suffering. To stop this suffering we have to realize the nature of all phenomena. This is achieved by intellectual understanding and through insight.

Because almost all of our thoughts and activities are centred around the idea of "I", "mine" and "myself" Anatta is the deepest and the most difficult of the 3 characteristics to realize. To grasp its exact meaning we have to clarify what it actually does and does not deny. 'Anatta' meaning literally 'not-self', what really is this 'self' denied by it ?

The word "self" can be used in three senses :

• (a) A reflexive sense, as when when we speak of "myself", "yourself", "oneself". (French “moi-meme”, “toi-meme”, “soi-meme”). Buddhism accepts such use of the word "Self". You have to train yourself, one must purify oneself, you have to make the effort yourself and so on.

• (b) "Self” as one's own person, the compound of body and mind or psycho-physical personality. Here the word 'self' is used to refer easily and economically to what really is a complex process. Buddhism accepts such use of the word "Self".

• (c) A substantial and lasting ego entity, core of the compound of body and mind. This idea of a "Self" is categorically rejected by the teaching of Anatta, for it is this assumption that draws us into suffering.

Thanksgiving Interfaith Gathering

Below is a text I read tonight at the Thanksgiving Interfaith Gathering held at St Columba Catholic Church in Dothan. It is inspired by a Theravada tradition Scripture.

Countless are those born with poor physical or mental health. 

I have been born with all limbs and faculties complete. 

Many are those who live in lands of strife and conflict, and who are deprived of security and safety. 

I am living in a place where there is peace. 

Incalculable are those forced to toil without end, and who are driven by hunger and want. 

I have enough to sustain my body and time to give it rest. 

Numerous are those who live as slaves, unable to go where they wish and think as they like. 

I enjoy great freedom. 

Numberless are those who live in regions where the light of the truth does not shine and its message is not heard above the racket of doctrines that cause great suffering. 

I have heard the good teachings. 

Truly precious and great are the blessings I enjoy. Here I contemplate on my good fortune and the good of others. 

To repay all these gifts, I will use my efforts to overcome the 3 poisons of greed, hate and delusion.

 

We practice Zen meditation every Monday evening at 8:00 pm.

You are welcome to join us in Headland.

You can reach me by email at

frederic.lecut@gmail.co

or by phone at

334 798 1639

3 Dhukkas

When the First Noble Truth is told as “Life is Suffering” most people are unhappy because it sounds very negative to them.  

This is a translation problem.

 The Buddha did not speak English, French or Chinese. He did not use the word “Suffering” but “Dukkha”. Unfortunately, we do not have an accurate word to translate “Dukkha”.

Beside “Suffering” it is sometimes translated as “Stress” or “Dissatisfaction”. Actually, these 3 words- concepts - are part of Dukkha, but they do not fully represent it. So we might as well dump them and use “Dukkha”.

Dukkha

The Buddha spoke of 3 aspects of Dukkha :

• Dukkha dukkha – Dukkha of regular Suffering or Pain
• Viparinama dukkha - the Dukkha caused by Impermanence
• Samkhara dukkha - the Dukkha of Conditioned Existence

Dukkha dukkha is easy to understand by most everyone, and it is properly translated in English by “Pain”, or “Suffering. “ It is the physical pain of a tooth ache, or the mental pain of losing a loved one.

There are different interpretations of the next 2 Dukkhas, and I will stick to one only of them. 
 

Viparinama dukkha is the dukkha due to Impermanence - the fact that things change. 
 

Example : You are working in your yard. The outside temperature is in the 80's but you do not feel hot. You walk inside your home to drink a glass of water. The AC is running and you stay inside a little to enjoy the coolness. You get back outside, and immediately feel uncomfortable because of the heat you experience. 

This is Viparinama Dukkha. The temperature has not changed outside, and you were not feeling uncomfortable before, but you enjoyed the coolness of the house, so when you went back outside, it felt too hot to you. So Viparinama dukkha describes the suffering or dissatisfaction arising in us when we lose something we were enjoying. 

 

Sankhara Dukkha is said to be deeper and more subtle, but actually I do not think it very complicated if you look at it from a certain perspective, Sankhara Dukkha deals with OUR impermance and the fact that we have to struggle to stay alive. 
 

What are we really ? We are an assemblage of living cells trying to stick together. At the moment of our conception, a sperm and an egg produce a first living cell which later splits and develops into a fetus by incorporating atoms brought to it by its mother. At the time of birth we begin to absorb food and oxygen from the outside world, and grow a bigger body. This growing of an individual being is one of 2 great trends of the universe. 
 

One trend organizes, structures and bring order. The opposite and complimentary trend disorganizes, dissolves and brings chaos. 
 

A powerful description of this is the Taoist Yin-Yang theory. Practically it describes everything is subject to 2 competing and complimentary trends, one promotes the organization of usually inanimate matter into a well defined entity separate from the rest of the universe, one trend tends to the opposite. Matter gets organized into a fawn, the fawn tries to stay alive, but eventually will die, the molecules that composed him separate, and will one day become part of an other creature. Or he could be eaten by a wolf, and part of him will become part of the wolf. There is a constant flow, it is almost a dance. Matter gets organized and disorganized constantly.

In the case of human beings, our evolution as a specie has given us one extremely potent tool to help us staying alive as individuals : our ego, or sense of self. Without this very potent tool, it is unlikely that we would have survived surrounded by the predators that were after us 100,000 years ago. One characteristic of human is their extraordinary will to live and fight to survive amazingly difficult physical or mental situations. This is the job of the ego. (And our problem comes from believing that we ARE this ego - but this is a different story).

So Sankhara Dukkha is the stress due to our constant trying to keep us alive as an entity, trying to keep together all molecules that are composing us while the rest of the universe wants them scattered... We are an assemblage of a great number of elements, we try – against the rest of the universe - to keep them together, and it is a constant effort. This is life itself, this is Sankhara Dukkha.

When you really look at them, the 3 Dukkha are not that different, They all comes back to impermanence and dependent origination. But teaching the 3 kinds will help better understand the 1st noble Truth.

The Monk and the Samurai

There are several version of this tale. Sometimes, Hakuin is the hero. A Zen monk was once visited by a samurai warrior. “I want to know about heaven and hell,” said the samurai. “Do they really exist?” he asked the monk.   The Monk looked at the samurai and asked, “Who are you?”   “I am a samurai,” announced the proud warrior.   “A samurai, really?” exclaimed the monk.  “Look at yourself ! You're unkempt, dumb and dirty. Indeed you're a disgrace and an embarrassment to the whole samurai class ! What makes you think you could understand such insightful things? Go away and do not waste my time with your foolish questions,” the monk said, waving his hand to drive away the samurai.   The enraged samurai drew his sword to slice the monk's head off, and the monk calmly retorted,  “THIS,  is Hell.” The samurai was taken aback. His face softened. Humbled by the wisdom of the monk, he put away his sword and bowed to him. “And THIS, is heaven,”  stated the monk just as calmly. Most people think this story is about the compassion and courage of the Monk who does not hesitate to put his life in danger to teach the Samurai. They are missing the point. No matter how admirable compassion is, it does not help people break the chains of suffering. The problem is not Hell or Heaven, the problem is Liking or Disliking. By insulting the Samurai the monk sets in motion the whole chain of dependent origination. On hearing the words "unkempt, dumb and dirty", rage - suffering - dukkha -  instantly raises in the samurai.  His proud ego  - He - is born anew.  And as soon as he hears "This is Hell", he realizes what has been happening. This same ego  - He - dies. The monk in fact skilfully demonstrated to him the mechanisms of Dependent Origination: how our ego constantly dies and is reborn in us.  In our ignorance of the dharma we are addicted to the world and ego we have built. Until we figure out how we can use the same mechanisms that have been enslaving us to free ourselves, we will suffer, just like the samurai suffered when the monk insulted him. The Buddha himself taught that Dependent Origination was a complicated and subtle thing to realize. It is so confusing that  it has been interpreted in very different ways by numerous Buddhist sects. In Zen, we do not put much emphasis in studying it, relying on the Heart Sutra's  negation of it : "There is neither Ignorance, nor extinction of Ignorance, neither Old Age and Death nor extinction of Old Age and Death".  But for a slow and thick headed learner as me, studying the basics : 4 Noble Truth, 8 fold path, and Dependent Origination is very helpful. I do not take them as Dogma or Theories, but as Efficient Tools to be used toward a Practical Goal.  Take Dogen's "Dropping body and Mind". People who are much more advanced than me wrote fascinating and abstruse stuff about it. But if you study Dependent Origination, it appears very likely that Dogen was simply  referring to the 4th link of Dependent Origination : Body/Mind - Nama/Rupa and that there is no need to  think of anything more complicated than that.  Before you run, learn how to walk, always practice basics... The great way is not difficult,  For those who have no preference...

Kalama Sutta

In the Kalama Sutta the Buddha taught us to not accept any teaching, including His, without testing and examining it for ourselves. While rejecting blind faith and dogmatism and encourages free and systematic personal inquiry, it does not dismiss the value of doctrines and of Master–Disciple teaching.

The sutta goes like that :

The Kalamas of the town of Kesaputta had been visited by teachers of divergent views. Each of them had exposed their own doctrines and had torn down the doctrines of their predecessors. So the Kalamas were confused. And when the Buddha arrived in their town, they asked his advice on this matter.

The Buddha first assured them that under such circumstances it was proper for them to doubt, encouraging them into doubt and free inquiry. He next advised them to abandon those things they knew for themselves - by experience - to be bad and to adopt those things they knew to be good. 

"Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition, nor upon rumor, nor upon scripture, nor upon surmise, nor upon axiom, nor upon specious reasoning, nor upon bias towards a notion pondered over, nor upon another's seeming ability, nor upon the consideration 'This monk is our teacher.' When you yourselves know: 'These things are bad, blamable, censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them. When you yourselves know: 'These things are good, blameless, praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them."


This advice not to rely upon established tradition, abstract reasoning, and charismatic gurus, can be dangerous if taken out of context by complete morons. So the Buddha further helped the Kalamas by questioning them, leading them to see for themselves that greed, hate and delusion, being detrimental to all, are to be abandoned, and their opposites, being beneficial to all, are to be sought.

Unfortunately, this Buddha's advise is sometimes interpreted by ego-inflated individuals as an encouragement to reject all doctrines and teachings and to do whatever they like.

This is as stupid as believing one could become a fighter without learning from a valid Master. The beauty of Martial Arts is that the delusion does not last very long. On their first incursion in a ring, a battlefield or any place loaded with alcohol and adrenaline, self taught fighters brutally get their asses back into reality.  (This also happens to people who trained under deluded self appointed Masters,  I have seen it...)

In spiritual matters, it can take much longer before one realizes one's own or one's teacher's arrogance and vanity.

Before He started his own quest, the Buddha himself spent years practising and perfecting his spiritual technique under 2 great Yoga Masters... He acquired with them those abilities and expertise that would allow him to reach awakening and teach.

So what the Buddha said was NOT to follow whatever we like as the path to liberation, but to carefully consider, examine, doubt and ponder all teachings of all Masters including His - for only us can see for ourselves and realize the Dharma - keeping faith in our ability to one day figure it out through diligent practice. 

Habit : the Genesis of Identity

My 2 puppies Itto & Tomoe are charming, smart and very destructive. It is important to keep them busy unless they do stupid things. People are also like this. I try to keep them busy by teaching them different things : walk beside me, stop, sit... etc... I have trained dogs before. Border Collies are smart and easy to train, they want to learn and they want to please.

However, I quickly realized that you cannot train 2 puppies at the same time. It just does not work, and I believe I know why.

Actually, dogs do not really know their names. Nothing happens in Itto's head that tells him he “IS” Itto. Itto does not think “I am Itto”; he has no concept of Identity. 

However, a particular dog will understand a command preceded by his name. But, if other dogs are around and if you do not call the dog's name before giving the command, the dog won't understand.

There is no point trying to teach Itto or Tomoe to answer the command « Sit ». It can be done, but there is no point doing it. You can individually teach each dog to sit. But when both dogs are together and you ask Itto to sit and Tomoe does not sit, she will realize that she does not have to follow the command « sit ». She will get confused, and later will not follow your commands. You will get frustrated, think she is stupid, but really and truly, it is not the dog's fault, it's yours !

So it is necessary to teach each dog separately "Tomoe, sit" and "Itto, sit", This applies to any command: "Itto, come"; "Tomoe, Stay"... Once the dog understands which command applies to him or her, it become possible to have them work together. You can ask one dog to come while the other stays put. That is how shepherd use several dogs to handle their flocks. They always give personalized commands to their dogs.

Itto does not know his name. However, he knows he should sit when he hears "Itto, sit" . This is true of many commands : "Itto, Come" ; "Itto, Walk", etc...

Little by little, Itto realizes that when he hears the sound "Itto" he will  be asked to do something specific. So every time he hears this "Itto", he lifts his ears and focus.

THIS is why we can say the dog knows his name.

Knowing his name is nothing but the ability to react to a sound; the result of a conditioning. This ability is voluntary at the beginning (The trainer triggers it in various ways, this is what dog training is about) and little by little it becomes involuntary: the dog reacts without having to pay attention. We say that the dog knows his name, and who he is, but it is just a pattern of acquired behavior, an habit.

Likewise our personality – our Ego - is the result of such an habitual and cultural conditioning: an acquired behaviour. And this conditioning is so powerful that from an early age we come to believe that this personality is an actual entity, a "Real Thing", and we totally identify to it.

Human mind has a hard time perceiving and conceiving of an ever-changing reality. It loves to imagine immutable things and sort them in categories. 


We call this construct Ego, Soul or Atman.

And we imagine it has a transcendental and eternal nature because we cannot conceive it is just a convention of language for an acquired behaviour.

And this is one of the roots of suffering...