Hành Trình Vô Ngã by
Vô Ngã Vô Ưu
Transcript of Thich Nhat Hanh English Dharma Talks
11 The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness
Mindfulness Of Objects of Mind - Part 3
Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh
on February 26, 1998 in Plum Village, France.
Today is the 26th of
February, 1998. We’re in the new Hamlet, in the Winter Retreat. Today is the
last dharma talk of this retreat, and after that we will be lazy for twelve,
thirteen, or fourteen days. We will meet again on Thursday the 12th of March,
and we will continue with the teachings of the Winter Retreat, which was
called, "The Retreat on the Opening of the Lotus with a Thousand
Petals". We will call the Spring Retreat the same.
When we practice
looking deeply in order to offer guidance to another practitioner we need time,
because our practice of this is not yet solid. As we continue to practice we
shall improve, and our practice of offering guidance will be very good. When we
sit at ease and we offer guidance to a brother or a sister, at the same time we
are shining light on ourselves. As we offer guidance we need to be aware that
the person to whom we are offering guidance is our sister or brother. We have
to give all our love in order to practise that kind of offering guidance. We
have to learn, because we are not good at it yet. We are just learning how to
do it, we have only been learning for a couple of years. The more we practice
the better we do it. We know that tomorrow we have the Pavarana ceremony and we
will practise it according to the ancient tradition. We touch the earth before
a monk or a nun, and we ask them to shine light (on our practice). In this
ceremony we will not be able to go deeply into guiding each other as we might
on another occasion. We continue to practise this ceremony as a way of
continuing the outer form of the practice given to us by the Buddha. The
Invitation Ceremony is a very important practice for us to do but it will not
give us an opportunity to go deeply into our deep looking before offering
guidance. So we will have to use another opportunity to do it more deeply, and
it will help us all. If we can practice offering guidance for a year, then we
will be good at shining light on others, and our own person will make progress
because we will be shining light on ourselves at the same time.
Today we are going to
learn more about the Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. We are
talking about mindfulness of the objects of mind in the objects of mind. First
of all there are the objects of mind that I talked about in regard to the Five
Hindrances, nivarana (Skt.), the Five Aggregates, the Twelve Ayatanas and the
Seven Factors of Awakening. In the Agama of the Chinese canon, there are the
five nivaranas, the Five Aggregates and the Seven Factors of Awakening. And in
another sutra in the Chinese canon it just talks about the Seven Factors of
Awakening as objects of mind.
We know that the
objects of mind are also called dharmas, the objects of our perception. Dharma
here also means the teaching of the Buddha. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment,
the Four Noble Truths, and the teachings of the Buddha are objects of mind, it
is true; but in fact, "observing dharmas in dharmas means observing
objects of mind. Thus the objects of mind are above all the objects of
perception, that is, the Five Aggregates and the twelve ayatanas, which are the
six organs of sense and the six objects of our senses. We know that the Seven
Factors of Enlightenment have been added because the monks who transmitted this
sutra thought that we should have some teachings of the Buddha in here. This is
not an obstacle. But we should remember that dharmas here means the reality,
the objects of our mind, not the teachings of the Buddha, such as the Seven
Factors of Awakening, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eight-fold Path.
In the Pali version,
objects of mind are first of all the Five Obstacles, which we studied last
Sunday, and then the Five Aggregates, the twelve Ayatanas (the six organs of
sense and the six objects of sense) the Seven Factors of Awakening, and finally
the Four Noble Truths. Therefore, following the way of looking which we have
had from the beginning, the objects of mind are in fact authentically the Five
Aggregates, and the twelve Ayatanas. The obstacles also lie within these
things. The Seven Factors of Awakening and the Four Noble Truths are teachings
of the Buddha. Therefore the center of our observations here is the Five
Aggregates and the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. The version we are
studying here is taken from the Majjhima Nikaya and the Digha Nikaya. There is
also another version, almost identical, except that it has been further
developed, especially concerning the Four Noble Truths, which are spoken about
at great length. Here they are only spoken about briefly. Therefore we see that
the tendency to add more things is developed in the transmission of the sutras.
So as far as I am concerned the real objects of mind are just the Five
Aggregates and the twelve Ayatanas. And after that, the monks who were
transmitting the sutra thought they would add some more things: the Five
Obstacles, the Seven Factors of Awakening, and the Four Noble Truths. It
doesn’t do any harm, it just makes the sutra longer. In the Digha Nikaya, the
Four Noble Truths are developed even more. So let’s call this Version One.
And here is Version
Two. This is the version in the Madhyama Agama in Chinese. It talks about only
the Five Obstacles, the Twelve Ayatanas, and the Seven Factors of Awakening,
and nothing about the Five Aggregates and the Four Noble Truths. We know that
this version belongs to theSarvastivada. The Third Version belongs to the
Mahasanghika school. It does not talk about the Five Obstacles. They have
already been addressed in an earlier part of the sutra. It also does not talk
about the Five Aggregates or the Twelve Ayatanas, it only talks about the Seven
Factors of Awakening.
In the First Version
we see that the objects of mind are presented as the Five Obstacles and then as
the Five Aggregates: form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and
consciousness. This is how it talks about the Five Aggregates: Such is form,
such is the arising of form, such is the disappearance of form. (Form in
Sanskrit is rupa.) Such is feeling, such is the arising of feeling, such is the
disappearance of feeling. So there is nothing very special, just: here is the
form, here is the feeling, here is the perception, here is the end of that
form, here is the end of that feeling, here is the end of that perception. So
that is the content of the five skandhas. There is nothing very special about
that. And then there are the Twelve Ayatanas, the six sense organs and the six
sense objects: here are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. This is
the arising of eyes, the arising of ears, this is the disappearance of eyes,
the disappearance of ears, etc. We see in the field of these Twelve Ayatanas
there is nothing very special, there’s just recognizing the Twelve Ayatanas.
After that there are the Seven Factors of Awakening: "When the factor of
awakening called mindfulness is present in the practitioner, he is aware that
mindfulness is present. When mindfulness is not present, he is aware
mindfulness is not present. He is aware when not yet born mindfulness is being
born, and when already born mindfulness is perfectly developed." He is
aware when mindfulness is present. When mindfulness is not present, he is aware
mindfulness is not present. When am I am not mindful, and I am aware that I am
not mindful, then I am mindful already. This approach is used for all the other
factors of awakening: investigation of dharmas, energy, joy, ease,
concentration, and letting go. Then he meditates on the Four Noble Truths: He
is aware this is suffering as it arises, this is the cause of suffering as it
arises, this is the end of suffering as it arises, this is the path which leads
to the end of suffering as it arises.
These are the Four
Noble Truths: suffering, the making of suffering, the end of suffering, and the
path which leads to the end of suffering. Then there is the concluding
paragraph, which is just the same as the concluding paragraph in observation of
the objects of mind in the objects of mind with regard to the Four Noble
Truths: Observation of the objects of mind from inside the objects of mind or
outside the objects of mind, or observation of the objects of mind from both
the inside and the outside. He remains established in the observation of the
process of coming-to-be in the objects of mind, or the process of dissolution
in the objects of mind, or both in the process of coming-to-be and the process
of dissolution. Or he is mindful of the fact, ‘There is an object of mind
here,’ until understanding and full awareness come about. He remains
established in the observation, free, not caught up in any worldly
consideration. That is how to practice the observation of the objects of mind
in the objects of mind. The version which we have in the new Chanting Book is a
shortened version. We didn’t want it to be too long, but all the ideas, all the
phrases of the sutra which are necessary are present in this version. We have
taken out only the repetitions. Therefore, in this sutra there is nothing
missing as far as the ideas are concerned.
Now we use the light
of the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing to shine light on this section.
And we see that the sutra, as it relates to the observation of the objects of
mind in the objects of mind, is very clear. "I am breathing in and I can
see and look deeply into the impermanent nature of all dharmas. I am breathing
out and I can see the impermanent nature of all dharmas." This is taken
from the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. These are the thirteenth and
fourteenth exercises in that sutra. "I am breathing in and I am looking
deeply at the non-desirable nature of all dharmas. I am breathing out and I am
looking at the undesirable nature of all dharmas". It means that things
are not worth our being attached to them, or running after them. It is because
we have a wrong perception about things that we run after them. When we can see
the real nature of these things we will not run after them; this is the
non-desirable nature of dharmas. With the fifteenth breathing: "Breathing
in I can see the cessation of all dharmas, the nirvana nature, the nirodha
nature of all dharmas. I am breathing out and I am able to see the nirvana
nature of all dharmas". That is the nature of not being born and not
dying, not coming and not going, not many and not one, not increasing and not
decreasing. This is the character, the nature of reality. This sixteenth
breathing: "I am breathing in and I am letting go of all ideas I have
concerning reality. I am breathing out and I am letting go of all ideas I have
about reality". hat is called letting go. Because of these four breathings
in the Sutra on the Mindfulness of Breathing, we can understand the section on
looking deeply into objects of mind in objects of mind in the Satipatthana
Sutra.
Why do we look into
dharmas? It is to see the reality of things as they are. We have wrong
perceptions concerning reality, and therefore in our perceptions we cannot see
impermanence, nondesirability, cessation, and letting go with regard to all
objects of mind. The word perception here is important (samjnana). Because of
these wrong perceptions we are not able to see the real nature of reality, and
therefore we are caught in reality and we suffer because of that. When we see
the true faces of all objects of mind then we are able to let go. We should
know that here cessation, or nirvana, nirodha, is the true nature, the true
face of reality as it truly is. That is what nirvana is. Nirvana is reality
which goes beyond ideas of birth and death, exists and does not exist, is still
there and has gone away, comes and goes. That is the birthless, deathless
reality which we are not able to realize because we have wrong perceptions.
When we have laid aside our wrong perceptions we are able to realize nirvana,
that is, the true face of reality. If we want to come to the real face of
reality we have to get rid of our wrong perceptions of birth and death, or of
ourself independent of other things which are not ourself. Therefore the aim of
these last four breathings is the same as in the last section of the
Satipatthana Sutra: to uproot our wrong perception, our afflictions. We uproot
our afflictions by seeing the true nature of reality. That is the aim of
observing objects of mind in objects of mind.
When we look at this
piece of wood we have a perception concerning this piece of wood. This piece of
wood is itself, and we do not really know what it's nature is. We just have an
idea about this piece of wood, we only have an idea. Our perception of this
piece of wood and this piece of wood itself, are very different from each
other. Just as we have an idea of an atom, or we have a perception, an idea,
about an atom. Our perception, our idea about an atom, can be very, very far
from the real nature of the atom, because our idea contains a lot of wrong
perceptions. The true nature of the atom is very different from our perception
of the atom. Only when we practice looking deeply does this division between
our idea and the reality disappear. Then there is only insight, there is only
wisdom, which shows us the thing as it really is. When there is no more
perception, then there is wisdom. When we have realized wisdom, we have put
aside all our ideas and we are in touch with the real world, and all our
afflictions such as attachment, craving, anger and despair are uprooted.
Therefore we are free persons with much happiness.
An atom, for example,
we see it as something very small. Now we talk about a grain of dust. We are
looking at a grain of dust lying on the table, with no life in it. This piece
of wood is the same. We say it is a piece of matter, something which has no
space in it, but in fact it is full of space. The different atoms of the grain
of dust and the atoms of the piece of wood each have a nucleus and there is
energy flowing around this nucleus which we cannot see. We think that these
atoms are just lying there without life in them. But our idea about these atoms
in this piece of wood is very wrong. Physics tells us that our ideas and
perceptions about things are completely wrong.
When looking at the
sun setting we have the idea that the sun which is setting is the real sun. But
in fact our idea of the sun is very different from the reality we see as a ball
of fire. We don’t see the waves of fire in the sun, just as we cannot see the
waves on the ocean from afar. Sometimes there are waves of fire in the sun
which are hundreds of kilometers high. Our idea of the sun is very different
from the reality of the sun. Just as our ideas about a grain of dust are very
different from the grain of dust, and our perceptions of the sun are wrong
perceptions, our idea of the sun is a wrong idea and we live our whole lives
with these wrong ideas. That is why we suffer. Our suffering is so great
because of our wrong perceptions. So we have to look at the dharmas in the
dharmas and then we will see their true nature, and our wrong perceptions
concerning them will dissolve. At that point our afflictions will be uprooted.
Therefore the Buddha taught that all of our suffering comes from ignorance.
Ignorance is the inability to see the reality of things as they are.
There is something
which we should know in the Third Version of the Satipatthana Sutra. Although
it only talks about the Seven Factors of Awakening as objects of mind, in the
third version there is still the basis which we see in the Anapanasati Sutra.
Therefore the comparative study of different sutras is very important. When the
practitioner practises the first factor of awakening, mindfulness, he relies on
the initial application of thought in destroying the unwholesome mind and
abandoning the unwholesome dharmas. When he practices the other six factors of
awakening: investigation of dharmas, energy, joy, ease, concentration and
letting go, he also relies on applied thought, and relies on no craving. So
when we come to this part, we don’t need to study much anymore. We just need to
revise it. First of all, as far as the Five Aggregates and the Twelve Ayatanas
are concerned (as form, feelings, perceptions, eyes, ears, nose, etc.), we have
to look at them and see their non-permanent nature. Once we see their
impermanent nature we begin to see the no-self nature, then we see the
interdependent nature, and once we see the interdependent nature, we see the
Buddha. Because the Buddha said: "The person who sees interdependent
arising is the person who can see me."
We look into a flower
and we see the flower is made of the sky, the clouds, the earth, space and
time. And when we see that, we see the Buddha. We see ourselves, and we see we
are made of our teacher, our father, our mother, our ancestors, our brothers,
sisters, our vegetables, water, and all those things. When we see them in the
light of interdependence, we see the Buddha. We see that we do not have a
separate self. Therefore, we do not have permanence. When we see our
interdependence we see interbeing, the empty nature that is the emptiness of a
reality which is separate, and when we can see the basis of our reality, we see
clearly that these aspects of reality are not the same as our wrong
perceptions. Therefore our wrong perceptions disappear. We are no longer
attached to things, we are no longer caught in things.
Suppose we are
thirsty, and we see a pink glass of liquid. We are very thirsty and we want to
drink it. People say: "Don’t drink that, it’s a very dangerous thing, it’s
not good water, you will get sick if you drink that water." But we aren’t
able to see why we should get sick from drinking this water, why this water
will not relieve our thirst, but make us suffer. The other person has seen
clearly that there has been poison put in this water, and they have seen people
drink this water already, and that they have writhed around on the floor and
died. And we hear that, but we have not seen those things. So we have to look
deeply in order to see that this water has poison in it, and if we drink it we
will die. Once we see that clearly, then we can let go of our desire to drink
that water. If not, we will say, "Oh, this is good water, why can’t we
drink it?" That is because we do not see the true nature of the water. The
five objects of desire are the same; they make us suffer, they make us come
into misfortune, they can lead us to death. So, it’s not enough to forbid
ourselves to touch these things. We have to see their true nature and then we
won’t want to touch them. So once we have seen impermanence, no-self,
interbeing, then quite naturally we see the nondesirable nature of things; it’s
not worth being attached to them. Then we can practice dwelling peacefully and
happily in the present moment and not run after objects of desire.
Nirvana is to see
that all things are not born and do not die. They are not existing and they are
not non-existing. When we look into reality with the wrong perceptions that we
have, we see birth and we see death, we see that things are or are not, and
these ideas make us afraid because we desire them. Then we suffer because of
our fear and our desiring. And now we look into all objects of mind, and we see
that they are not born and they do not die. They do not really exist and they
do not really not exist. They go beyond ideas of birth and death, existing and
not existing. If we do not look deeply, we will see: "That is born, that
dies, that really exists, that really doesn’t exist." But when we look
deeply we see they dwell in nirvana, they are not really born, they do not
really die; they just manifest and then lie latent. We have wrong ideas of
birth and death, come and go; and we suffer because we have those ideas.
Therefore, nirvana, when we understand it, is going beyond birth and death. If
we have not truly understood the meaning of birth and death we will not really
understand nirvana. Actually, what it means is not that we go beyond birth and
death, but that we go beyond ideas of birth and death. Everything lies in
nirvana. The plum blossom lies in nirvana, the cloud lies in nirvana. Its real
nature is not born, does not die, is not existing, is not not-existing. In
English we can say everything has been ‘nirvanized’ since the very beginning.
Therefore we hear it said that nirvana, birth and death, are like the flowers
we see in front of our eyes when our eyesight is not good. When we are deeply
in touch with reality we see that even though this flower is very fragile it is
not born and it does not die.
(bell)
All dharmas, all
objects of mind, from time immemorial, have as their nature, their true face,
to dwell permanently in nirvana. They don’t need to enter into nirvana. Nirvana
isn’t something that lies in space, that we can come to, have to wait for.
Everything dwells in nirvana already. All things, from beginningless time, have
always lain in nirvana. The True Nature of everything is nirvana already. So
when we are looking for nirvana, when we say that we will enter nirvana, that
means we do not know how to use the word nirvana. We think that nirvana is
something in space or time, that we will be able to step into, but in our true
nature we are nirvana already. Nirvana is the absence of all ideas, the absence
of the idea: "exists" or does not exist, born or dies. We also have
the phrase "All dharmas are without birth. All dharmas are without
death." You are able to understand this. The Buddhas are always there
before you, if you are able to see that all dharmas are without birth and
without death.
In the beginning we
hear the Buddha say, "Whoever can see the interdependent nature of things
can see me. That person can see the Tathagata." But what is meant by
interdependent origination? Go deep into it and you will see it is also
nirvana. It is the coming together of so many causes and conditions in order to
manifest as something, and when causes and conditions are not sufficient, then
that thing has to lie latent. So all there is is the manifestation and the
latency. There isn’t such a thing as birth and death. It is just the matter of
appearing or failing to appear, not the matter of birth and death. And once you
can see that, you can see interdependence, and at the same time you see
no-birth and no-death. That is why the term "mere manifestation" used
in Buddhist psychology is so useful, because it shows us that ideas of birth
and death are wrong ideas. "Exists" and "does not exist"
are wrong ideas. Therefore Nirvana, the reality and basis of things, means
letting go of ideas: ideas about myself, ideas about my lifespan of sixty,
seventy or eighty years, the idea that before that I did not exist, and then I
existed, and then again I won’t exist. These are all ideas. In the Lotus Sutra
it says that the lifespan of the Buddha is limitless. And when we look deeply
we see that the life-span of a leaf is also limitless, and our own life-span is
also limitless because we are objects of mind, and our basis is without birth,
without death, without existence and without non-existence. When we see that,
all our fears dissolve. Therefore, letting go is a practice. To let go is to
let go of ideas, to let go of wrong perceptions. Our spiritual ancestor, Master
Tang Hoi, used the word "phong-khi"… in talking about letting go. It
means letting go. First of all, let go of the idea that "I am this
body." Then let go of the idea that your life is only eighty or ninety
years. That is to let go of the idea of lifespan.
In the Vajracchedika
Sutra the Buddha tells us to let go of self, person, living being and lifespan.
All other ideas rely on these four basic ideas and we have to let go of all of
them as well. Therefore the last section of the sutra, this method of looking
deeply at dharmas in dharmas, is to be able to discover the basis of reality,
the nature of reality, the nondesirable, the impermanent, the nirvana nature of
reality. When we have discovered that we can let go of all our wrong
perceptions of reality, and then we are free persons. We will no longer suffer.
And that is the highest point of practice.
The monks who
transmitted this sutra added things like the Seven Factors of Awakening and the
Five Obstacles. It isn’t really harmful, but it does mean that the real meaning
of the sutra is somewhat hidden by these other things being brought in. The
last part of the sutra reads: " He who practices the Four Establishments
of Mindfulness for seven years can expect one of two fruits, the highest understanding
in this very life, or if there remains some residue of affliction, he can
attain the fruit of no return." Practising for seven years you can arrive.
Let alone seven years bhikkhus, whoever practices the Four Establishments of
Mindfulness for six, five, four, three, two years, or one year, or even six,
five, four, three, two months, one month or half a month can also expect one of
two fruits: either the highest understanding or the fruit of no return. So
seven years is time, but people who have great willingness to practice don't
need seven years, it is enough to have half a month. That is why we said that
this path, the path of the Four Grounds of the Establishment of Mindfulness, is
the most wonderful path, which helps beings realize purification, transcend
grief and sorrow, and destroy pain and anxiety. The Bhikkhus were delighted to
hear the teaching of the Buddha. They took it to heart and began to put it into
practice.
We have a great
fortune to be able to study the two sutras, the Anapanasati and the
Satipatthana. These two sutras are the basis. These are sutras you keep under
your pillow, always with you. It is very regrettable that some meditation
practice centers do not allow these sutras to be studied. All places of
practice should have these sutras. These sutras go together. Each shines light
on the other, and they also show us how the monks and nuns and lay people
practised during the time of the Buddha. In the time of the Buddha many people
learned these sutras by heart. In the southern tradition, in the Theravada
school, the monks still learn these two sutras by heart.
We have one more
thing to learn concerning the morning liturgy of Wednesday, we will talk about The
Transition Chant ("We are truly present") when we next meet on
Thursday the twelfth.
I am now going to
read the introductory words of a meditation master, concerning a sesshin in the
Chinese tradition. Sometimes this lasts for 21 days. The way of practice in
this tradition is to practice with koan or with meditation words. So compared
with our sort of retreat it’s very different. I only have to read the
introductory words, which are used when the retreat begins, for you to see the
difference.
"This kind of
Practice is called "the practice with all our self," to practice all
the way. So it means we sit, and we sit with all our being." This retreat
was practiced in the Cam Hung temple in Zhao, in China, and the master who was
in charge was called Li Chu. He passed away in 1942. For meditation the
meditation words (koan) were: "Who is the person reciting the name of the
Buddha? Find that person." That was the subject of the retreat: "Who
is the one who is reciting the name of the Buddha? Who is the one who is
practicing sitting meditation?" This retreat began on the fifteenth of the
tenth month, and ended on the twenty-seventh of the twelfth month. It’s also a
sort of winter retreat. This retreat lasted for seven contiguous weeks in 1942.
Many people had to prepare
for the retreat when many monks would come to practice. There was much busyness
in preparation. When we read this we hear about the spirit of the practice
which was very serious. "Today the temple has opened for the retreat, and
therefore people are very busy, and outside the temple there are many people
who are very, very busy. And this means that not only the people are busy, but
all the dharmapalas and other species are also very busy." Are we busy
before we begin the summer retreat? And the winter retreat? Yes, we are busy,
but although we are busy we have the practice called dwelling peacefully and
happily in the present moment, so our preparation is also a time of enjoyment.
We are taught that we have to dwell in the present moment, and although we have
many things to do when we organize a retreat, our busyness at that time is
different from the busyness of other people. And the master says that,
"not only the people in the temple are busy, but also the bodhisattvas and
the Buddhas and the dharmapalas are also busy."
"So why should
we make so many people busy? Actually the other species, like the dharmapalas,
are even busier than we are. Do you understand what it means to have a retreat
like this? Now you have heard how all the Buddhas, the dharmapalas and the
bodhisattvas are very busy on our behalf. And you who have come here to
practice during this retreat, you are always busy, but now you should work even
harder. You should be even busier during this retreat. So you should understand
that all the ancient monks of ancient times, they also practiced like this.
The matter of birth
and death lies in our hands. Your body, your feelings and your mind lie in your
own hands. From now on you don’t have to do anything during the retreat. It’s
not important to join your palms or bow your head to each other. The only thing
you have to do is meditate on the koan. You don’t have to ask each other
anything. You don’t even have to light incense. You don’t even have to
prostrate. These things are not important. The only important thing is to grasp
the koan. And you don’t have to join your palms in front of the head of
practice or in front of the monk or who leads the ceremonies. So if you get
sick can you join your palms to the leader of the practice asking if you can
rest? No, you can’t. If you ask nobody will dare to give you permission to rest
if you are sick. You have to ask me, but I cannot give you permission. So if
you are sick, what do you have to do? You just have to continue the retreat,
you just have to do the sitting, whether you are alive, whether you are dead,
whether you are sick. You have to keep sitting. So it’s okay if you die in this
retreat, then we will take you out and bury you. That is the best way to
resolve your sickness. So if you are sick you have to sit, you have to look
deeply. If you die we will just have to put you in the coffin and leave you
there until the end of the retreat and then we’ll go to bury you. You’re not
allowed to smile, you’re not allowed to turn your head and look at someone else
at any moment. What is more, during this time of retreat, whatever you are
doing, whether you are going to the toilet or anything else, you cannot look at
anyone, you cannot smile. If you do this you'll have to be beaten by the master
of discipline, and if you are beaten many times then you may die, and then we
will leave you until the retreat is finished and then we will bury you. Because
if you are beaten you die during the retreat, we won’t have time to bury you.
In past retreats people have died. So I will say that if you are very sick, and
you feel that you are going to die, you cannot ask to rest. If you die, we will
just leave you to lie there until the end of the retreat and then we will bury
you. If you want to go out you have to ask permission of the leader of the
discipline, and even if you have to go to the toilet we cannot let you go out
of the meditation hall because nobody will open the door for you until the
session is finished. So you have to understand there is nothing more to do than
to go beyond birth and death."
So that is the
introduction to the retreat. The monks practiced all year around, and when they
entered the retreat only then could they hope to have a breakthrough. The
master says if we put all our mind into resolving the koan, then we don’t need
to go to the toilet, we cannot get sick, the only thing that is important is to
give our mind to the koan.
At the beginning of
our winter retreat, on the twenty-sixth of the eleventh month, I sent a message
to the sangha of the four hamlets. Here is the letter to my disciples in the
four hamlets:
"My Dear
Disciples,
Now we have one more
opportunity to live together, and be happy together, in the winter retreat,
1997-1998, to practice every day together for a whole month. We should be
deeply aware of this happiness, and treasure it, knowing that it is not only
our personal happiness, but also the happiness of hundreds of thousands of
people who take refuge in our Sangha. Because of the presence of Chan Duc and
Phap An in the Maple Forest Monastery, thanks to methods of communication which
we have, we can also practice there in a very close way with Thay and the other
members of the sangha. This morning, the twenty-sixth of November, on the first
day of the retreat, the ceremony will be performed here and by Su Co Chan Duc
in the Maple Forest Monastery. So we hope that during this retreat we will be
able to make progress. And if anybody has anything they need to ask, or to
share, please write directly to me, and I will listen deeply and do my best to
find a way to resolve the difficulty. We rely on the Buddhas and the
Bodhisattvas to protect us during this retreat".
When we read these
two different introductions to a retreat it is not to make a comparison, but to
show that every teacher, is different and every teacher has compassion. If you
hear the teachings of Master Lai Qua and you think that he doesn’t have
compassion you are wrong. He has a lot of compassion, it is just that his
method is different. He sees that this is the only opportunity for the monks
who have come, and if they are lazy during that time then it will be lost. So
he wants them to put all their heart into the practice, and although what he
says sounds very harsh, there is compassion in it, so don’t think there is no
compassion and love in his words. There is as much compassion in his words as
there is in the letter that I wrote. The only thing is that our method of
practice is different, because our method of practice here is the practice of
dwelling happily in the present moment. Sometimes I think that I should invite
Master Lai Qua to come here to help me a couple of days. And maybe he should
invite me to go there for a couple of days. Father needs mother, and mother
needs father. And that is why I tell you this, in order for us to be aware that
although our two methods are different, the aim is still the heart of great
compassion.
Today we are about to
close our winter retreat, and tomorrow, according to tradition, we will have
the ceremony of Invitation. After this we will stand up and recite the name of
the Bodhisattvas, in order to show our gratitude to the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas who have given us their protection for the whole of this winter
retreat. I will leave these introductory words of Master Lai Qua behind for you
to re-read. You can post them in the Upper Hamlet, the Lower Hamlet and the New
Hamlet.
12 The Chant on Protecting and Transforming
0 Comments