I.                   To establish morality

II.                 To establish merit

III.              To establish speech

IV.              A Ch’an practitioner’s mission

 

 

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen said, “Man is the container for his mind.”  Indeed, man is nothing but a container for his mind.  Man is manipulated by his thoughts and guided by his cognition.  Without the right thoughts and cognition, man cannot behave correctly with decency; moreover, unconscious acts are simply inferior.

 

Nowadays, our society is industrial and commercial; therefore, utilitarianism dominates people’s mind.  Under the circumstances, people tend to be utilitarian so that some of them crave money even at the risk of losing their lives, and others prefer money over their conscience.  As long as there is a chance for gaining money, they would flock together to grasp it, such as gambling, stock trades, Liu-He Lottery, Da-Chia-Le etc., that makes many people unable to survive. Positively, utilitarianism surely accelerates the prosperity and progress of a society.  However, its negative impacts are quite frightening.  Many people are hasty in gaining so that they only care about today but not tomorrow, crave for near gains but forget about harms to come.  Since they do not care, cherish, or expect a more peaceful and better tomorrow, they surely cannot survive tomorrow.

 

I often say that “Worries coexist with mistakes.”  There is a mistake, there must be a worry.  “Crimes coexist with destruction.”  While committing a crime, people are heading to destruction.  That to stop and eliminate the development and flooding of mistakes and crimes all depends on how you work together to spread the authentic Dharma so as to adjust the social values and save the public’s minds.

 

The traditional concept of the Chinese humanism emphasizes “Three Immortalities”: to establish virtue, merit, and speech.  We are Ch’an practitioners so that we are not utilitarian.  Ch’an itself is immortal; the self of life is eternity.  Besides the mind, there is nothing true, eternal or immortal.  Nevertheless, as a Ch’an practitioner, who is sympathetic with all sentient beings living with a supra-mundane and mundane mind, he is comfortable with the concept of “Three Immortalities”.  Consequently, I would like to apply the measurement of the ancient “Three Immortalities” to discuss the personality and living concept of a Ch’an practitioner.

 

 

I.                   To establish morality [back to the top]

Normally, people think the Chinese word “De”, which means “morality”, as the best word, such as addressing someone respectable: “Da De”, or as the saying goes: “Only virtuous people can reassure the minds of the public.”  In fact, “morality” refers to the right or wrong of an action.  The right one is a virtue; the wrong one is a vice.  Therefore, we realize that “morality” refers to a person’s unique characteristic.  From the outstanding revelation of his internal culture and external style, a person constantly displays a unique goodness.  That is the right morality.  Otherwise, if he persists in his vicious behaviors, he is generating vicious morality.  Though Ch’an practitioners are not attached to anything, from the true verification of their Ch’an practice, they are naturally displaying a unique style, which is indescribably “amiable” and unimaginably “assimilating”.

 

The “amiability” and “assimilation” of Ch’an can enable a practitioner to assimilate other’s different mentality to become the same as his own; otherwise, he is not an authentic Ch’an practitioner.  Ch’an practitioners do not have to intentionally establish morality, merit and speech to achieve the mundane “three immortalities”, because Ch’an itself is true and immortal.

 

To look at a Ch’an practitioner from an immortal perspective, we find his morality has its unique style.  He is free from discrimination and mannerism; naturally, he possesses a kind of indescribable spirit and style.  Without having a unique, changeless, and permanent self, one is not eligible to be addressed as “moral”.  “Morality” refers to the permanent and changeless style and characteristic that one possesses.

 

Being an authentic Ch’an practitioner, he does not act, and is also unselfish and selfless.  He “acts but not for his own credits; he does charity but not for his own merits.”  His mind is strong and his tolerance is infinite…., all these denote the “morality” of a Ch’an practitioner.   

 

 

 

II.                 To establish merit [back to the top]

”To establish merit” means to help sentient beings find their wellbeing.  The greatest merit is to save the drowned mind of sentient beings to help them depart from vices to gain blessings, and get away from suffering to attain happiness.

 

Diamond Sutra states, “To guide all sentient beings into Remnantless Nirvana”, also states, “Even having all sentient beings enlightened, Tathagata Buddha was not seen enlightening any of them.”  A true Ch’an practitioner “acts but not for earning his own credits, does good deeds but not for winning personal merits.”  He is naturally sympathetic with all beings, and unconditionally merciful to all beings, too.  It is totally identical to enlighten oneself and to have others enlightened.  Therefore, what merits can one earn?  What real merits can one continually brag about?

 

Ch’an is existent and surreal; mundane and supra-mundane.  Ch’an practitioners live exactly like sentient beings, and can easily blend in with others.  They are guiding those affiliated beings to depart from the bitter ocean of life and death, but none of the thought of guidance arising from their mind.  The Bodhisattvas of great mercy “often function as a boat saving people who are suffering in the ocean of bitterness;” do they intend to earn any merits by doing so?  As the saying goes, “After having gone through hundreds and thousands of kalpas, one’s karma will not perish;” therefore, how can we say that Bodhisattvas are not establishing any merits?  To Ch’an practitioners, “to act but not for earning personal credits” means that “no act equates to acting whenever and wherever necessary.”  We can adopt a modern statement to describe it; namely, “One simply persists in making efforts and never thinks about what to gain.”   

 

Throughout human history, saint emperors and sages taught people to cultivate plants, try all sorts of herbs, create words, deal with flood control etc., their contributions were obvious; however, the real cause of suffering came from their minds.  The greatness of Buddha lies in completely relieving and liberating people from the root of their minds and the origin of their lives.  The power of Buddha’s amiability, liberation, and guidance has been deeply spread among the majority of crowds.  As a Ch’an practitioner, he should follow Buddha’s step to take over the Dharma business.  Not only having himself enlightened, but also helping others being enlightened in the grand ocean of awareness, he must exhaustlessly continue the task of spreading enlightenment.

 

 

III.              To establish speech [back to the top]

It is more valuable to establish speech than morality or merit.  Man is manipulated by his thoughts and guided by his cognition.  Therefore, if man’s reason is immortal, the influence of the Dharma can remain.  The distance between pain and joy, virtue and vice, saints and devils, is all decided by the state of one’s mind, and the most effective elements that can directly change and affect one’s mentality are language and words.

 

The influence of language can be overwhelming or minor.  As the saying goes, “A speech may help a country prosper; a speech may destroy a country.”  Indeed, a constructive and proper speech can bring prosperity to a country; on the contrary, a biased or wrong speech may mislead people’s thoughts and recognition so as to make their country chaotic or even totally destroyed.  If Nietzsche’s superman philosophy did not exist, Adolf Hitler possibly would not have appeared.  Why did I say “possibly”?  Because there is nothing permanently unchanged in this world.  If there were no Confucian cultivation, the unique glory of the Chinese culture might not shine.  Consequently, it is extremely valuable to establish speech, the positive one.

 

The most valuable speech to establish is “the speechless speech’, such as the Confucian statement, “Though four seasons are circulating and all creatures are living, does heaven make any speech about them?”  The most valuable language is the origin of all languages.  Where do languages come from?  If you can find the answer, you will realize why Buddha said he did not say even one word after having preached the Dharma for forty-nine years.  It is because the effect of linguistic expression is quite limited.  Only the voiceless speech of the old ancestor of languages and words is overwhelmingly meaningful.

 

Every practitioner has his own vow.  Normally, people wish that the moon is forever full, flowers are always in full bloom, and man can live permanently.  Nevertheless, we wish that everyone can be liberated, feel free with himself, live without any guilt, and lead a bright and joyful life.

 

 

IV.              The mission of a Ch’an practitioner [back to the top]

If we want to be Buddha’s filial descendants, we must take the responsibility of the Dharma business.  We must apply the right thoughts to help sentient beings rectify their biased attachment to get away from their miserable lives caused by mistakes, and live freely and always be with their true self.  This is the basic mission for every practitioner, and also the basic cognition for everyone writing for the Ch’an magazine.  If one only establishes virtue, but not speech, one is merely practicing for one’s own sake.  If one can establish both and detach from any attachment, one is truly achieving the greatest, immortal, pure merit.  If all of you can practice in this direction, you can not only complete your own practice, but also help others complete their practice.  Meanwhile, you can have yourself enlightened, and also enlighten others.

 

As the saying goes, “Harvest results from cultivation; gain comes after pain.”  Therefore, people, who regularly write for the Ch’an magazine and also can “implement what they say”, surely can deepen their authentic perception, and become wiser.  When both authentic view and perception are constantly lifted, one’s practice is almost reaching its perfect success. 

 

Through the publication of the Ch’an magazine, your offer of the Dharma has been widely spread both locally and overseas, its impact and responses are extensively expanding.  It proves that your mission of mind salvation is not in vain, which truly comforts us most.

 

It is not easy for all of you coming from all over Taiwan and giving up your holiday to attend this gathering.  Hopefully you can take this chance to communicate with one another to voice your precious opinions on the edition of the Ch’an magazine to make it more innovative and inspiring.  Then, it can better satisfy the demands of our readers, so as to fully develop the mercy and sympathy of the great awakening Buddha, which is the spirit of saving beings, their minds, and the world.  In this way, your efforts will not be wasted.  Finally, I would like to share with you an inspiring stanza written by ancient sages:  

 

Ten directions flock together:

People come from all over the world to get together here.

 

Everyone is learning not to act:

It is not for learning any skills, but only for learning to let go.

 

This is the venue for Buddha election:

It is not to elect a president, a county head, or a MP; instead, to elect a Buddha.  Who can win the election?

 

A void mind can bring one home:

As long as one can constantly hold the An-Hsiang mentality and remain clear and aware, one is instantaneously enlightened.  It is needless to search from the outside.  What else are you doubtful about?  What else are you looking for?  Even if you have something to gain, that is also untrue!  The sixth Patriarch said, “Leaving the way to search for the other way, one can never find the way.  Having gone through one’s whole life in this way, one eventually will feel disappointed and upset.”  Wishing you all the best!