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...

 

Should Masters adapt to their Disciples ?

Humans are a highly adaptable specie with a great ability to learn and develop expertise. Still, body types generally condition our physical abilities. 

Judokas know it is easier to throw someone taller than you and to sweep someone shorter. This is simply due to the relative position of their centers of gravity. 

O Soto Gari

So during his first sparring matches a short guy will generally put emphasis on throws, and a tall one on sweeps. With years of diligent practice, abilities change, expertise comes and a tall fighter might develop a great way to throw an shorter opponent, or a shorter guy might become excellent at sweeping a giant. 

However, at the beginning, in order to develop self confidence in students, a teacher should adapt his teachings according to their physical abilities and be able to teach both types of techniques, independently from his own preference and body type.

The same applies to spiritual practice. Dharma gates are boundless, we vowed to enter them. We should be able to teach a variety of practices. You may liken the Buddhist path to the ascension of a mountain. On your way to the top, several trail of various difficulty are available.  Zen in essence is about getting off those trails to directly climb to the top. Not everyone can do this. Some people will fall off the rocks, some will get lost on their way. 

Gravity is not just a theory...

I believe a practice leader should know how to teach different path to different disciples at different stages of progress. Before teaching them how to climb rocks, lets teach them how to walk the trail. The Buddha first talked about the 3 Noble Truths : Dukkha, Anicca, Anatta. Emptiness came much later... We should keep this in mind.

What are your thoughts ?

Original Mind

One who practices Zen must put a stop to all kinds of conditions and eliminate all sorts of things -- good and evil, right and wrong, self and others, mundane and supramundane. He must abandon both the body and the mind, thinking of nothing whatsoever, letting his mind go free. If one is not bound by seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing and if one is not deluded by circumstances, then, and only then, can he truly practice Zen. 

 

The Zen practitioner should understand that :

• Past things are already past. If you do not think about it, then any thought of the past vanishes; thus, there are neither any past things nor any past mind. 
• Furthermore, future things have not yet arrived; so if you do not wish for or seek anything, then any thought of the future vanishes; thus, there are neither any future things nor any future mind. 
• Finally, present things are already present, so if you are just aware without grasping at or dwelling on anything and never let a thought of love or hate arise, then the thought of the present vanishes; thus, there are neither any present things nor any present mind. 

If you can understand the mind without being fixed anywhere or on anything, just generate pure thought, neither grasping at anything nor dwelling anywhere - that is seeing one's own Original Mind; that is seeing one's own Original Nature. 

Dazhu Huihai - 8th century AD

When you practice Zen, sit in the lotus position, close your eyes, keep your body erect and allow your mind to become clear and still. Abandon any thoughts of good or evil. When thoughts do arise, just observe each thought carefully and become aware whence it arises. Then you can become aware of false thought as it suddenly arises and suddenly dies away, as it comes and goes, never stopping for one instant. 

You should have ni impulse to follow false thoughts anywhere nor  hold any idea about getting rid of it...

... In time, as the observer becomes very skilful, false thought gradually falls away until, without a single thought arising, there remains only still, clear voidness. While walking, standing, sitting and lying down, always practice in this manner...

From the Introduction to the 

Treatise on Entering The Tao of Sudden Enlightenment, 

Translated by Dharma Master Lok To 

Anatma

The following is clearer than anything I have ever heard.

The term anatman is usually translated as "non-soul", but in reality atman is here synonymous with a personality, an ego, a self, an individual, a living being, a conscious agent, etc.

The underlying idea is that, whatsoever be designated by all these names, it is not a real and ultimate fact, it is a mere name for a multitude of interconnected facts, which Buddhist philosophy is attempting to analyse by reducing them to real elements (dharma). Thus "soullessness" (nairatmya) is but the negative expression, indeed a synonym, for the existence of ultimate realities (dharmata).

Buddhism never denied the existence of a personality, or a soul, in the empirical sense, it only maintained that it was no ultimate reality (not a dharma). The Buddhist term for an individual, a term which is intended to suggest the difference between the Buddhist view and other theories, is santana, i.e. a "stream ", viz. of interconnected facts.

It includes the mental elements and the physical ones as well, the elements of one's own body and the external objects, as far as they constitute the experience of a given personality. The representatives of eighteen classes (dhatu) of elements combine together to produce this interconnected stream.

There is a special force, called prapti, which holds these elements combined. It operates only within the limits of a single stream and not beyond. This stream of elements kept together, and not limited to present life, but having its roots in past existences and its continuation in future ones - is the Buddhist counterpart of the Soul or the Self of other systems.

From Theodore Stcherbatsky in 'The Central Conception of Buddhism and the Meaning of the Word "Dharma".'

 

Bodhidharma's "Outline of Practice"

For various reasons, I have a personal affection for Bodhidharma: he left his country to come teach in another one, and he founded Shaolin Kung Fu and designed the Chi Gong Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing exercises.

We know little things about him. He is very much a legendary figure. But aren't legends and myth often based on reality (Which reality ?). 

Let us say that sometimes around 475 AD, an Indian Buddhist Master came from India to China to teach the Dhyana school of Buddhism. 

Bodhidharma left us a few short texts  - they are likely transcriptions of his teachings as it is doubtful that he could write Chinese. Today I would like to share with you the most known of these texts, entitled "Outline of Practice" 

It is the text of a translation by Red Pine. If you are interested in the other texts, I suggest you purchase the book The Zen teachings of Bodhidharma

 

Outline of Practice

‘Many roads lead to the Way, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. 

To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion. Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who meditate on walls, the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by sutras are completely in accord and unspoken agreement with reason. Without moving, without effort, they enter, we say, by reason’.

To enter by practise refers to four all-inclusive practices: suffering injustice, adapting to conditions, seeking nothing, and practising the Dharma.’

‘First, suffering injustice. When those who search for a path encounter adversity, they should think to themselves ‘In countless ages gone by I’ve turned from the essential to the trivial and wandered through all manner of existences, often angry without cause and guilty of numberless transgressions. Now, though I do no wrong, I’m punished by my past. Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear it’s fruit. I accept it with an open heart and without complaint of injustice’. The sutra says ‘When you meet with adversity don’t be upset, because it makes sense’. With such understanding you’re in harmony with reason. And by suffering injustice you enter the path.’

‘Second, adapting to conditions. As mortals we’re ruled by conditions not by ourselves. All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past. When conditions change, it ends. Why delight in its existence? But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes. Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the path.’

‘Third, seeking nothing. People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring. ‘Calamity forever alternates with Prosperity’. To dwell in the three realms is to dwell in a burning house. To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imaging or seeking anything. The sutra says ‘To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss’. When you seek nothing, you’re on the path.’

‘Fourth, practising the Dharma. The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure. By this truth, all appearances are empty. Defilement and attachment, subject and object don’t exist. The sutra says ‘ The Dharma includes no being because it’s free from the impurity of being, and the Dharma includes no self because it’s free from the impurity of self’. Those wise enough to believe and understand these truth are bound to practise according to the Dharma. And since that which is real includes nothing that is worth begrudging, they give their body, life, and property in charity, without regret, without the vanity of the giver, gift, or recipient, and without bias or attachment. And to eliminate impurity they teach others, but without being attached to form. Thus, through their own practise they’re able to help others and glorify the Way of Enlightenment. And as with charity, they also practise the other virtues to eliminate delusion, they practise nothing at all. This is what’s meant by practising the Dharma.’

Please read and consider carefully. And if you don't agree try to figure out why some guy travelled thousands of miles from India to China 1500 years ago to teach this.

With the help of other masters, we will later try to get more insight in this important text.

Zazen to the end of the year

Last night we sat for 4 hours to celebrate the end of the year. This was part of a joint effort of different members of the Mokurai - Silent Thunder Order - founded by Michael Elliston Roshi, Abbott of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center.

Wherever they were, members of the Sangha sat in Zazen til the end of the year, then celebrated. As there are different time zones, it lasted a while I suppose. 

Our program was simple : we sat 3 for sessions of 25 minutes each, with 5 minutes kinhin (walking meditation) in between from 8:20 til 9:45 pm. Then we took a short break for tea and cookies. 

After that, we sat back, facing the center of the dojo, and read the   

 

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IPPYAKUHACHI-HOMYOMON

108 Gates of Dharma - Illumination of Master Dogen. Actually, I read part of the introduction to it, and then every minute, each one of the other participants read part of the 108 stanza. As there were 3 of them, each read 36 stanza - well actually, the last one read 37, because there are 109 stanza to the 108 gates... Every minute I would ring the bell, and the stanza would be read, living us one minute to consider its meaning. 

Finally I read the conclusion of Master Dogen's text. 

It was Midnight ! The locals having burnt all of their fireworks between 9:00 and 10:30 pm, it was rather quiet, and we enjoyed Cookies Bubbly and Company !

Picture by Carl Rippe

Happy New Year in Buddha ! 

3 Short Stories

3 short stories on the same theme. Can you figure them out?

Last Monday evening, after Karate class, we sat in Zazen from 8:00 to 8:30. While we were there, a thunderstorm broke up. Before our Dharma discussion, I went outside to close the cars windows. And there, no Mugen (my dog). The furry little bastard (one of his nicknames - another one is Houdini) was gone. Jumped through the window. So, no Dharma discussion that night. We all go out in the dark and rain, trying to find him, no Mugen. I roamed the neighbourhood until 11:00. Still no dog.

Tuesday morning, after a short and agitated night, I asked Gerri to take over the Tai Chi class while I went looking for him.As I had almost given up, my phone rang, he was at the fire station, right beside the Dojo... I went there, thanked the firefighters (great guys) and took him back home with me.

Two monks traveling on a trail arrived at a river. Waters were higher than usual. On the bank, a young woman was hesitating and asked the younger of the two monks to help her cross. He exclaimed, 'Don't you see that I am a monk ? I took a vow of chastity and cannot touch you for women are unclean'

'I require nothing bad from you, but simply to help me to cross this river,' replied the young woman with a little smile.

• "I am sorry. I can do nothing for you," said the embarrassed young monk.
• "Don't worry about the vows" said the elderly monk. "Climb on my back, I'll carry you to the other side".

Having reached the other bank, the old monk put down the young woman and she thanked him with a broad smile. She went her own way, and the monks theirs. 

After a while, the young monk who could not stand it anymore and said, ' How could you dare carry this unclean woman on your back? It's against our rules.'

 'This young woman needed help and I carried her down to the other bank. You didn't carry her at all, but she is still on your back,' replied the older monk.

Once upon a time in Thailand, a Lady saw a Monk sitting in meditation under the sun in the middle of summer. The Monk was very thin, he looked starved and sickly, sunburnt and bitten by mosquitoes and other pests, but there was a saintly aura about him as he sat beautifully and still in the middle of this ordeal.

Impressed by his dedication, the Lady invited the Monk to rest at her house. She served him food and tea and he ate and rested for several days. The Lady and him spent lots of time talking about the teachings and practice of Buddhism, and the Lady was thoroughly enjoying his company

She built for him a small temple and a shed at the top of a hill she owned, so he could practice in decent conditions and would not have to beg his way out in the world. Everyday, a servant would bring him some food. The Monk got better. At times, the Lady would come speak to him and he would preach the Dharma to her.

After several month, the Lady's Granddaughter came to visit her. She was lovely. There was a special bond between the two ladies, they both were beautiful, charming and generous, and deeply loved each other. As she thought the Monk would also enjoy meeting such a charming and lovely young girl, the Lady asked her grand daughter to bring the Monk his food.

That evening, when the Lady visited the hermitage, she asked the Monk how he had felt about her beloved granddaughter.

The Monk answered : "An other walking sack of shit."

The Lady told him : "If are not able to see and appreciate beauty when it is there for you to see, you don't deserve it. Leave now !"

The next day she burnt the hermitage.