Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Ch'an Buddhism PDF
Preview Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Ch'an Buddhism
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY a division of Random House, Inc. DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sheng-yen. Subtle wisdom: understanding suffering, cultivating compassion through Ch’an buddhism / Master Sheng-yen. p. cm. 1. Zen Buddhism. 2. Suffering—Religious aspects— Buddhism. 3. Compassion (Buddhism) I. Title. BQ9265.4.S477 1999 294.3’927—dc21 99-21089 eISBN: 978-0-307-78183-3 Copyright © 1999 by Dharma Drum Publications All Rights Reserved v3.1 Thus shall ye think of this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; A flash of lightning in a summer cloud, A flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream. — The Diamond Sutra Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Epigraph Introduction 1. Youthful Questioning 2. Who Was Buddha? What Is Ch’an? 3. Buddhism, Pain, and Suffering 4. Ch’an Training 5. Methods of Practice and Stages of Development in Ch’an 6. Enlightenment? But What Is It? 7. Compassion Glossary Acknowledgments Introduction I would like to take this opportunity to describe the background and development of Ch’an, both for readers who are new to Ch’an and for those who have little or erroneous information. Ch’an cannot be separated from Buddhism. Since the time of Buddha, masters have given “transmission” of his wisdom to their disciples when they demonstrated experience and understanding of the Dharma, the teachings of Buddha. As a result of this form of recognition, lineages have developed and have become separate sects or schools of Buddhism. This does not mean that each sect holds only part of the Buddhadharma. What is transmitted in the Ch’an school is, in fact, the whole of the Dharma. The Dharma is like the ocean. Whether you take water from the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean, it always tastes salty. Likewise, in all the lineages within mainstream Buddhism, the taste of Dharma is the same. The taste is the whole of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching. Who was Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism? Shakyamuni Buddha is not a mythical figure; he was born over twenty-six hundred years ago, the prince of the small kingdom of the Shakya clan in what is now Nepal. At a certain point Prince Shakyamuni was confronted with the inevitability of old age, sickness, and death, and he asked himself why these are inherent parts of the human condition. He was gravely concerned with this question, and his inability to solve it led him to leave his household and become a spiritual seeker in the traditional Indian way. If you know a bit about Indian history and religion you know that the Indian subcontinent has a rich history of spiritual practice, and a supportive atmosphere for such practice. Shakyamuni hoped to realize enlightenment, and through his enlightenment to resolve the questions about the reasons for birth, sickness, old age, and death. For the next six years Shakyamuni mainly cultivated two kinds of practice. The first was samadhi, the practice of meditative concentration and absorption. The second was asceticism. Neither of these resolved his questions about our basic human condition. Even though he was able to reach profound states of mind, he was not enlightened. After six years of practicing samadhi and asceticism, he gave them up. He felt that asceticism, in particular, was not in accordance with wisdom, and later advocated the “Middle Way.”1 Shakyamuni continued to meditate, and one day as he was coming out of meditation quite naturally, with a relaxed and joyful mind, he looked up at the sky and saw the morning star, and his perception was transformed. He realized that originally, intrinsically, the mind is unlimited. All things are just as they are. There is no need to give rise to vexations.2 At that moment he was completely enlightened. Buddhism teaches that although all things are spontaneously, naturally, just as they are, without afflictions and vexations, sentient beings have been unaware of this since time without beginning; that is, their mind ground3 is not luminous and bright. Because of this unawareness, living beings cherish themselves and concern themselves greatly with what they experience and especially with what they like and dislike and whether they gain or lose. Even when we gain something we suffer because we fear losing it. We hold on to objects, experiences, and feelings with great attachment. Out of this attachment we create separateness between ourselves and our environment, and all phenomena. We alienate ourselves into individual “I’s.” Because of this illusory separateness and our attachment to the individual “I,” we go through cycles of birth, sickness, aging, and death; and suffering is the result of this process.
The list of books you might like
