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THE BEAUTY OF AN-HSIANG [I.
What is An-hsiang? ]
[II. How to Attain An-hsiang? ][III.
The Beauty of An-hsiang ][IV. Why Does
one Lose An-Hsiang?
]
“The Beauty of An-Hsiang”interprets the beauty of An-Hsiang (peace and benignity), and surely includes the praises of An-Hsiang. Firstly, we would like to verify what An-Hsiang is.
We can interpret it by the following points: (1). An-Hsiang is the Direct Inference of the Dharma. What is the direct inference of the Dharma? The Dharma can be attained through the direct or the comparative inferences. The comparative inference is a form resulted from thoughts, words, and logic; namely, to realize and interpret the Dharma by means of deliberation and verification. However, if we do not go through those two processes, and can instantly present the Dharma, and directly perceive it, that is the direct inference. How can we assure that An-Hsiang is the direct inference of the Dharma? It is because that“the Dharma transcends languages and written words.”Indeed, the Dharma surpasses both of them. Well, what is the Dharma that transcends both languages and written words? It is the original self and body of the Dharma, and is the true essence of the Dharma that sublimates from languages, written words, deliberation and verification. Therefore, we realize that it is very difficult to understand the so-called“Dharma”. What is the Dharma? Everyone says it is the truth. What is the truth? The truth is original. Then, what is the original state? Originally, 40,000 galaxies had not been discovered, nor were the solar systems, the earth, creatures, and human beings. Before the formation of the universe, the original Dharma has been there, which is the true Dharma. What is the Dharma that transcends both languages and written words? Its true essence is An-Hsiang. Why do we say that the Dharma transcends all the languages and written words? It is because all the languages and written words at most can only describe something similar, but they are not totally identical to the Dharma. There is a simile in the Buddhist sutra saying that people's understanding of the Dharma is exactly like the blind feeling an elephant. Some touched its ears and thought it was a fan; some others touched its belly and thought it was a big wok. As for people who touched its legs, they said it was a pole. Their perceptions were all different, and none of them could view the whole picture.
(2) An-Hsiang is the Life of Ch'an The Dharma is original, and An-Hsiang is the direct inference of the Dharma. Therefore, An-Hsiang is the life of Ch'an. Ancient practitioners traveled through hundreds of towns and crossed over hundreds of rivers to search for the Dharma and practice it. As a saying goes,“Hiking through the clouds over the peak of mountains, one wore out one's straw-made shoes.”They endured endless and hard journeys to search for the truth of the Dharma. After all, what kind of Dharma were they searching for? It is absolutely not a theory. That which is original is true. Originally, there is no theory at all. What one can attain is nothing but the mentality of An-Hsiang. Consequently, An-Hsiang is actually the life of Ch'an. In the Ch'an scriptures we read, the most crucial dialogue between Bodhidharma and the second Patriarch was that the second Patriarch begged Master Bodhidharma to settle his restless mind for him. Master Bodhidharma said,“Give me your mind, I'll settle it for you!”The second Patriarch was stunned for a while and said,“I can't even find my mind!”Master Bodhidharma then replied,“If it is so, I've already settled it for you.” As far as the Ch'an School is concerned, this dialogue is very important. Why do people search for the Dharma? Their basic objective is to search for a clear conscience. Regardless of whether one's material life is sufficient or deficient, one can live happily when one's mind is full of An-Hsiang. Conversely, no matter what social status or lifestyle one has, if one's mind is restless, one's life is not different to a torture. In the Ch'an scriptures we read, the Sixth Patriarch tied a stone around his waist to make himself heavy enough to push the rice grinder. (Now the traditional grinder can only be found in the countryside; instead, there are mills in the city.) In addition, some people even spent quite a few decades on hard practice. What were they searching for? Definitely, it is not for a mystery. It is because the truth is general. As it is general, so it is common. As it is common; therefore, it is not special. Consequently, we can conclude that a mystery is definitely not the truth. If one does not pursue a mystery or a theory, then, what can it be? It is nothing but the mentality of An-Hsiang People, who are conscious of the perception of An-Hsiang, can claim that they have attained the true joy of life, so that they can truly enjoy their lives. Consequently, the An-Hsiang in one's mind is solely the most invaluable and rarest treasure to possess, and that is what all the Ch'an practitioners are searching for with their full strength and energy. Once they attain it, they should maintain it in every moment and nurture it even during their breaks.
(3). An-Hsiang is the True Verification of Genuine Perception What is Genuine Perception? It is a term from the Buddhist Sutras. In our general language, it means the correct sensation. In fact, almost 99 percent of all our sensations are incorrect. That is the reason why our minds are restless and our lives are full of conflicts, regrets, confusions and pains. Why are most of our sensations incorrect? The so-called“sensation”is derived from our senses; namely, eyes, ears, noses, tongues, bodies and minds. We use our senses to sense Six Dusts, which are forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches and consciousness. Therefore, in this fantastic and delusive world, what we realize and observe is nothing realistic. Some are kind of fantasy; some are like past clouds, and some are distorted forms caused by our negative mentality. As a result, we are not living with correct sensations, and surely can never attain the true benefit of life. If a practitioner has persisted with his practice for decades, but still cannot attain the true benefit of life, isn't it wasteful and frustrating? When we read“Pointing-Moon Record”, we found a Ch'an master named Hsiang-Lin-Yuan. While he was falling into decay, he happily said,“I, an old monk, after forty years of hard practice, finally have attained it!”In other words, after forty years of hard practice, he eventually attained the true benefit of life. What is the true benefit? It never refers to having a limousine to drive, neither a houseful of electronic appliances to use, nor a non-stop supply of banquets to enjoy every day. It definitely does not refer to any of these. No matter how rich you are, if I give you two pieces of twelve-ounce steak, I believe you cannot finish them. If you do, you need to rush to a doctor. We then realize that material satisfaction can never fill up the emptiness of one's life. Obviously, it is not the goal for the pursuit of the Dharma. The real goal is to attain the true benefit, and it is Genuine Perception. Well, what is Genuine Perception? It is a harmonious and unified state of mind, and is free from worries, fears, desires, flattery and conflicts, and also deviates from all the attachments and contrasts. It is exactly the true benefit an authentic practitioner attains. It is extremely difficult to unify and harmonize one's mind. If our mind is inharmonious and restless, even we are in a very pleasant environment, we are unable to appreciate and enjoy it. Therefore,“the unification of one's mind”should be the fundamental goal of our practice. Why? It is because, generally, none of us has a unified mind, unless we have thoroughly completed the process of self-realization and have reached the very origin of all matters, reasons and sentient beings. Otherwise, we are unable to realize that our minds are not unified. You think your mind is unified and your personality is integrated. In fact, our personalities are broken, our minds are divided, and our consciousness is multiple. Well, how to interpret it? For example, you originally planned to do something, but a few minutes later, you decided not to do it. You were simply against yourself! Your second thought opposed to your first one. Your reason told you it was right to do so, but your emotion told you not to. Furthermore, your reason told you that it was wrong to approach this person; however, your emotion encouraged you, forced you, seduced you and pushed you to get close to the person. Similarly, a moment ago, we were very happy; a moment later, we turned to be upset. All these make us realize that our minds have never been truly unified. All the great works in the world have been accomplished with a unified mind. If we cannot have our minds unified, we are unlikely to develop the potential power of our lives. That failing to develop the power of one's potential equates to personally burying oneself. In most of time and cases, you are not limited by others, but simply buried by yourself. Consequently, An-Hsiang is the state of a unified mind, and is the“Genuine Perception”as stated in Buddhist Sutras. Genuine Perception can be interpreted as“a unified and harmonious state of mind”; meanwhile, it can also be defined as“one's mental sensation after one has broken through one's karma.” What is karma? It refers to the entire accumulation of one's thoughts and behaviors from one's birth to the present. Buddha said,“All beings have the nature of Buddha.”Why can't we see it? Truth is everywhere, even Chuang-Tzu said,“Tao is in dung and urine.”It emphasizes that truth will not disappear even when there is dung and urine. If it is so common and obvious, why can't we see it? It is because we are blocked by a barrier. What is the barrier? It is karma. We cannot judge karma as good or bad; we can only say it is a fact. It is the accumulation of your entire life, behaviors, and thoughts, from your birth to the present. How is karma formed? It is formed because of“one's identification to the external world”, and“the association with the elements of the consciousness.”Moreover, it is“the revelation of all the negative and destructive emotions emerging from the self.”As its essence is different from that of truth, so it makes one unable to see truth again. As the whole karma is made of falseness; therefore, it is impossible to view truth through falseness. The only possibility to see truth is to break through the barrier of karma. Consequently, we often say that“people should be always reflecting upon themselves”. Only by doing it, can one realize how one's personalities have been formed and likely to break through one's karma. We can clearly and completely see the truth of life, when we have broken through the barrier of the karma. Then, we can attain its true benefit, which is An-Hsiang.
(4). An-Hsiang is the greatest art of life Any and every knowledge or law, when deviating from the human life, is no longer meaningful. Though An-Hsiang is the life of Ch'an and the true verification of the Dharma, and so is the greatest art of life. Speaking of art, its highest state is trueness, goodness and beauty. Let us think about this question,“What is the truest thing in this universe?”We cannot find its answer when we try to find it outwardly. Speaking of trueness, it cannot be separated from purity. The so-called“pure trueness;”is it anywhere on earth? Yes, it is. If we do mean to pursue it, we cannot find it outwardly. Only by searching within oneself, can one attain it. When we have harmonized and unified our minds to be free from all the conflicts and dual concepts, and also have abandoned the karma-formed self; at the moment, our minds have absolutely been in An-Hsiang. A mind of absolute An-Hsiang is the truest, because it is free from any falseness, duality and bias. It transcends everything. If we must describe it, it is,“I am aware; therefore, I am.”Consequently, only the mentality of An-Hsiang can be claimed as the purest trueness and the ultimate trueness. Moreover, it also is the ultimate goodness that deviates from all the contrasts. We think“goodness is good,”and the ultimate goodness is the best goodness. Well, what is the best goodness? After having abandoned the concepts of all the conflicts and duality to have the mentality of An-Hsiang revealed, one then can claim to have reached the best goodness. The mentality of An-Hsiang is the ultimate beauty. We can analyze it in two aspects: [1] The beauty of feeling: When one's mind is constantly in the state of An-Hsiang and free from any imagination, worries and contrasts, and even surpassing time and space, one must feel very content and joyful. It equates to the state of“Eternity, Joy, Self and Purity”as stated in the grand Nirvana Sutra. It is the eternal beauty, eternal purity, eternal self-awareness and eternal An-Hsiang. [2] The beauty of sensation: Some people are mentally ill, and they see everything gloomy, ugly and dark because of their shadowy minds. However, once they have harmonized their minds to be extremely An-Hsiang, they will then discover and realize that“Originally, everything is great!”They can not only see the world through a grain of sand, but also see Bodhi everywhere; namely, whatever they see is true and beautiful. Being in this mundane world with the mind of the truest trueness, best goodness and ultimate beauty, we are surely living a life of the greatest art. If we can live as so, our lives will be fully joyful and we can truly enjoy our lives. Besides, living is no longer a punishment to one's life. Conversely, if one lives without An-Hsiang, and one's life is full of frustration, helplessness, suspicion, fear and worry, one's living undoubtedly equates to a punishment. Therefore, only by living in the state of An-Hsiang, can we truly enjoy our lives.
(5). An-Hsiang is the inexhaustible spring of bliss What is the true bliss? It is when one's mind is settled with ease, and one can face both Heaven and the earth without feeling any guilt. Indeed, if one can feel guiltless to both Heaven and the earth, live with a clear conscience, live realistically, perceive An-Hsiang in every second, live in the state of the truest trueness, best goodness, and ultimate beauty, throughout one's whole life, one can claim that one is living a life of the greatest bliss. When one's mind is restless, one cannot build up one's bliss. In“Tso-Chuan”, there was a feudal lord, Chu-Wu Ching-Shih, he told his wife, Teng-Man:“My mind has recently been very disturbed that I cannot settle it to stop worrying.”His wife responded,“If your mind is restless, your social status is about to vanish. Since you have lost the mind of An-Hsiang, you are going to lose everything you have owned shortly.”As being told, the lord of Chu-Wu passed away shortly. Therefore, only by living with An-Hsiang in mind, can one claim having the true bliss. If one can live with the mentality of An-Hsiang, one surely has possessed the inexhaustible spring of bliss, and the bliss will be with one forever. Referring to all the above, we then realize: An-Hsiang is Genuine Perception; An-Hsiang is Samadhi. An-Hsiang is the True Origin; An-Hsiang is the direct inference of the original mind. An-Hsiang is the revelation of Mahaprajna (the Great Wisdom). Why didn't we apply these Buddhist terms in the very beginning? It is because we know the most troublesome fact of researching the Dharma is the confusion of those terms. They block our views to see their true meanings. After having realized what An-Hsiang is, now we can further discuss it:
(1). To Solely Pursue a Clear Conscience Everyone has his own principle of living. Shu-Sun-Pao advocated three forms of immortality:“the achievement of one's virtues, feats and speeches”, which was his principle of life. As for Li-Pai, he longed for strolling at night with candlelight. Some people chase after material pleasures; some pursue immortal feats; and some others live a corruptive and devastating life and unknowingly lose themselves. To these people, whether they aim for great feats or pleasures, they are unlikely to attain An-Hsiang because of their dualistic and contrasting minds. That to abandon one's personal desires, fames and benefits, and fully focus on pursuing a clear conscience is the correct concept of pursuing liberation. If you do not pursue a clear conscience, how can you attain An-Hsiang? How to attain a clear conscience? It is essential that one can“Make efforts but not for one's own benefits, and do good things but not for one's own sake.” What does“Make efforts but not for one's own benefits”mean? Everyone should work hard and keep a regular job. Therefore, we are working hard for a sound production. However, we should not feel disappointed when our hard work is not correspondingly rewarded. As stated in the chapter of Li-Yun,“Being upset for failing to contribute one's efforts, and that being willing to contribute one's efforts is not for one's own benefits.”What we should pursue is the opportunities of self-contribution, but not to emphasize self-assertion and pursue personal fame and benefits. If we can work with this attitude, we are“making efforts, but not for our own benefits.”We persist with creating, but not for attaining more benefits for our own sakes. Then, what does“do good things but not for one's own sake”mean? When we have done something perfectly, we should not feel overly proud of ourselves. In addition, when we have achieved something that others cannot do, we do not feel superior to others. If we can behave so, we can live easily without feeling any regrets and guilt. Therefore, we can attain the mind of An-Hsiang. Many people are full of dissatisfaction and complaints in their minds, when their contributions have not been correspondingly rewarded. That jeopardizes the balance of their minds. Moreover, some outstanding and brilliant people are always feeling being forgotten, neglected and denied, when they are not valued. Chu-Yuan, an ancient poet, was a typical example. This kind of persons, they hardly can survive, because they live with a mentality of self-pity. How miserable it is! When they can no longer struggle to survive, they eventually will destroy themselves. Therefore, if we want to attain An-Hsiang, first, we need to have this principle and attitude of life, which is“to solely pursue a clear conscience.”
(2). To Govern One's Senses and to Punish and Moderate One's Desires Why do we have to govern our senses? Why are we lost? In fact, the process of our growth equates to a journey of our getting lost. How to interpret it? During the process of growing, we have been gradually deepening our identification toward the external world, and are constantly dominated by our senses. Therefore, we get excited when seeing something beautiful, but feel disgusted when seeing something annoying. We feel happy with a pleasant environment, but become angry, pessimistic, or even depressed with an unpleasant environment. All these show us how we are manipulated by our senses. Indeed, we desperately look for food, because we have digestive organs. To look for food is legitimate, as it is our instinctive nature. However, besides having food, one also expects to enjoy endless feasts, and eventually corrupts oneself to be enslaved by one's senses. No matter the economic situation is prosperous or recessive; we see many restaurants on the streets of Taipei are almost constantly full. If you do not make a reservation in advance, and just turn up during meal time, you mostly will be rejected by“Sorry, please come earlier tomorrow!”The flooding of our material desires has completely reflected the poverty of our spiritual lives and the drowning of our minds. This is a very terrible and sad phenomenon, which definitely causes us to be worried. What does“to punish and moderate one's desires”mean? One's legitimate desires are the motive forces to accelerate the human evolution. I often say:“If our ancestors had been satisfied with living in the caves or trees, and wearing the skins of animals, we would probably remain the same as in those old days. It was because they had intended to improve their lives, so that the quality of human lives can be gradually upgraded from generation to generation.”Though having reasonable desires is not sinful, to overly expand one's personal desires definitely is. By reading the history, we have seen the collapse of a dynasty, the destruction of a country, the corruption of a society, and also the demolition of a few pre-historical civilizations. How were they destroyed? It was caused by nothing else but personal desires. Personal desires can not only pollute a whole society, but also corrupt a country. When it expands to the extreme, it will destroy the whole human completely. Personal desires include the desires of possession, dominance, leadership and self-preservation. The extreme development of personal desires will make one be afraid of man in the day and ghosts at night. To live as so is truly miserable; however, most of those historic heroes were like this kind of cowards. It is not sinful to own the senses, as they are necessary tools for our everyday life and should be subject to us. We have to govern and dominate them, but not vice versa. As the saying goes,“Do not look at it, listen to it, speak about it, or put it into action, if it is against courtesy.”Being able to achieve it, you will be like what Wang-Yang-Ming described,“With heavenly composure, your whole body is completely submissive.”If you possess the senses and allow them to dominate you, you must be living a miserable life. Moreover, you can never live freely and relaxingly, nor can you attain An-Hsiang. Desires seem to be a bottomless valley that can never be fully filled. With regards to power, material, and vanity, they are unreal and impermanent. They can only pollute, torture, and punish your life to make you lost and insane. Therefore, you must govern them to make yourself living within reasonable desires. That is to say,“When we are hungry, we have food to eat. When it is cold, we have clothes to wear. We also have a house as a shelter when it is rainy or windy. That should be enough.”Then, we should think further about“How to make our lives worthy, but not wasteful?”Indeed, do not waste our precious lives! How to reflect on oneself, to purify oneself and to precisely recognize oneself? All these are the second requisite for attaining An-Hsiang.
(3). To Search for the Origin of All Reasons, and to Recognize One's Mind to Reach the Origin What does“to search for the origin of all reasons”mean? If you search for truth like a crab walking sideways, you will find many reasons. When you are about to die with your eyes closed, you still cannot figure out what the reason is and will remain as a puzzled ghost. Therefore, if you want to find the reason, you must search for its origin. Where is it from? Water comes from a fountain, and a tree grows from its root, then, where is the reason's origin? You must keep searching until you reach the utmost origin of all the matters and reasons, then you can claim you have done the task.“The wise are never puzzled.”If you want to clear your confusion, you must clarify what the reason is. To achieve this, you not only have to find the reason, but also need to find the very“Patriarch”of all the reasons to possibly clarify it. When one has clarified the confusion, one will never be confused, doubtful, or ignorant again. Therefore, his mind is settled with ease and composure.“When one's mind is settled, one is auspicious.”Then, one has been An-Hsiang. Why do we have to“recognize one's mind to reach the origin”? We must know that everyone has a mind, but the mind always has multiple intentions. It is like a carriage driven by many horses, so that it conflicts with itself and also restrains itself. Under the circumstances, the mind cannot be united to fully focus on developing the potential of life to present its own value. Eventually, your whole life will be completely buried unconsciously and worthlessly. What is“your original mind”? Why do we have to“recognize one's mind to reach the origin”? It is because all the knowledge of reason commonly acknowledges:“That, which is true, is original.”Only your original mind is the true mind, and the eternal self. Therefore, you must persist with“recognizing yourself”. If you do not even recognize yourself, it is useless to recognize others. A lost person can never succeed, so that one firstly needs to recognize oneself. It means one should recognize the true essence of life, and that is one's“mind”. The mind does not refer to our superficial consciousness, which is the layer of the Dharma dust accumulated from how our senses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mental consciousness feel about the external sight, sound, smell, tastes, feelings and thoughts. If you regard the differentiating mind as yourself, you simply mistake a thief as your son. It ends up being impermanent. If you say your superficial consciousness is not you, you are denying yourself. The issue is very thorny. If you say your superficial consciousness is not you, then, where does it come from? Waves arise because of blowing wind. What does it depend on to exist?“Worries equate to Bodhi.”Without Bodhi, you even cannot be conscious of worries. Can a rock be conscious of worries? It must be your awareness that makes you perceive worries. Therefore, if you are searching for the“self”; first, you need to recognize yourself. In other words, you need to know your own mind, which is the original true mind possessed by the uncontaminated“Holy self”. If you can achieve it, you surely can attain An-Hsiang. In order to explain the condition of recognizing one's self is necessary and sufficient, I would like to tell you:“many people think an enlightened person must have realized a set of great theories. Moreover, they think the theories are the truth that can meet the worldwide standard and even sages of hundreds of generations later will never doubt it.”In fact, there is nothing like that. If someone can lecture a lengthy chapter of a great theory because of having been enlightened, he must be psychopathic. Some people say that this fellow is enlightened; therefore, he must possess some magical superpower. Let me tell you:“That, which is true, is original. Originally, there is no human being, no God, no Buddha. Then, where is the magical superpower from? Even the magical superpower is not true.” Then, with regards to an enlightened person, what does he actually realize? It is very simple! The so-called“enlightenment”is that“one has searched for the origin of all reasons and has recognized one's true mind to reach the origin”. In other words, all the issues and doubts have completely vanished, and all the worries and karma have also totally disappeared. At the very moment, what one possesses is nothing but two words:“An-Hsiang.”If it is not as so, one's enlightenment is not true. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have many delusions arising in your mind while doing sitting meditation, and finally figure out a lengthy chapter of great theories, then you slap on your laps and jump up to claim,“I am enlightened.”I think you have to be careful, because you may be obsessed. What can you actually attain from a grand enlightenment? It is nothing but“An-Hsiang”. Then, how can one reach the state of“search for the origin of all reasons and recognize the true mind to reach the origin?”It seems easy to say, but one needs to find the right methods to achieve it. Otherwise, it will not work. Then, how to achieve it? Here are two statements: first,“to be the utmost unrealistic and to maintain the absolute tranquility,”second, ‘to keep one's true mind”. What does“to be the utmost unrealistic”mean? We think whatever we see is real; a mountain is a mountain and a river is a river. All are real. Since we identify with everything we see, we can only live relatively so that our absolute mind is surely oppressed. We simply have to live very unrealistically, and even extremely unrealistically. For example, when you are walking, you feel like walking on a sponge. (It is the feeling one will perceive right before attaining one's enlightenment.) Regarding extreme tranquility, one needs to be extremely tranquil, not just tranquil. Otherwise, it is as described,“All laws are in order; it is only you who are disturbed by yourself.” Some people criticize the statements as attaching. Look,“be and keep”are both verbs! It is the methodology of action and is attaching. If you see them as so, you simply do not understand what the Dharma is. The Dharma does not dwell on inaction, neither attach to action. When one does not attach to one's action, one's action is truly inaction. However, if one attaches to inaction, one is actually doing action. Consequently, only people who believe in this can practice Ch'an. If you can be unrealistic, try to be in its extremes. When you were disturbed by someone in your deep sitting meditation, you immediately lost your temper. It proves that the external world is completely real in your mind. Therefore, the world and you are dual. However, the Dharma is the methodology of non-duality. If your mind is always dualistic or multiple, your practice definitely cannot correspond to the Dharma. That“to close the external door to make the internal door open”is the major point of practicing“retreating in the darkness”of the Esoteric School. Consequently, practitioners must not only be unrealistic, but also be extremely unrealistic. Meanwhile, they have to be tranquil and even more tranquil than tranquil; so that they can correspond to the Dharma more easily. What does“to keep one's true mind”mean? In“The Supreme Mahayanism”, the Fifth Patriarch, Master Hung-Jen, repeatedly mentioned the words of“To keep one's true mind”. Some new practitioners like to speak highly of being relaxing, easy and selfless. In fact, those witty words and fancy talks are totally useless! When they meet Pluto, their talks cannot help them at all. When they encounter all sorts of difficulties and become trapped in agonies, they simply feel helpless. Therefore, from Master Bodhidharma to the Fifth Patriarch, they all advocated for monitoring one's mind. Although later on the application of the phrase of monitoring one's mind is seldom seen; basically, the essence of practice does not deviate from it. There are three stages of monitoring one's mind. The first stage is to monitor one's mind by introspecting oneself. To practice the Dharma, one must begin from introspecting oneself. No matter what school of Buddhism you are practicing, you have to begin by introspecting yourself. Otherwise, the negative karma cannot be removed so that you will fail to correspond to the Dharma. Monitoring one's mind during the process of self-introspection will help you realize yourself. What kind of person are you? I believe that we all regard ourselves as good people. We are integrated and complete. We are gracious and hardly make any serious mistakes in both our speech and conduct. In fact, it is absolutely not true. If you undertake a thorough self-introspection, you will discover that you are not even qualified to be human. If you can admit whatever you did and thought in the past were not human and almost like unevolved animals, and bravely face yourself, then, you can truly repent to attain a realistic progress. Conversely, if you fail to bravely face yourself and always sustain a hypocritical fake image, no one can ever save you. Consequently, the first step is to observe“who I actually am”. The second stage is not to miss any thought. Whenever a thought arises, one should be able to immediately perceive it. Moreover, one must always judge one's thoughts with the most subjective attitude. If the thought is too negative and gloomy, one should slap oneself for having it. Even when one is talking or working, one needs to constantly observe one's thoughts, and do not allow them to act freely. If we need to think of something for a purpose, we should fully focus on thinking of it. That is called“right intention”. If we do not need to think for a purpose, we should monitor our minds to forbid them running as freely as a horse given the reins. Otherwise, our minds definitely will be disturbed. The third stage is to observe where thoughts come from. When one realizes where thoughts are from, one may possibly find one's own thoughtless true mind. After having found the thoughtless original mind, one has to“keep”it so that one will not lose oneself between delusions and identifications. Which is the thoughtless original mind? I remember that was more than a decade ago while I was serving on the island of Tung-Yin, I attained a few verses in my meditation. (Why did I say I attained them? It was because I did not find them from books, neither were they my own creation.) These verses are, “With your mind, you are conscious of your awareness, With your awareness, you are conscious of your mind. The awareness is the mind, The mind is self-aware. When the awareness and the mind are not dual, To be claimed is the authentic awareness.” These few verses are extremely ultimate; then, what do they inspire me? Referring to“The awareness is the mind; the mind is self-aware”, I realize that it is not to be aware of the outside, nor to be aware from the outside. Let me refer to Rene Descartes' verse and claim that I am“aware”; therefore, I am. When one has been monitoring one's mind to the final stage, it is the state that“I am aware; therefore, I am;”and also the state of“keeping one's true mind.”Indeed, you are keeping your mind, so that it will not run freely. Keeping your true mind equates to keeping the original mind; it is because“That, which is true, is original.”In other words, you are keeping the“true origin”. In the later time, the descendants of the Ch'an School thought the word of“keeping”is too clumsy. In fact, the clumsiness is the great wisdom. If you can keep your true mind, you are virtually keeping the Mahaprajna (the great wisdom). In fact, it exactly means“maintaining”, that we are using now. The words are different, but their implications are identical. I think that“to keep the true mind”is more explicit and active.
(4). To Persist with One's Practice by the Dharma “By the Dharma”means to follow the methods described in the Buddhist Sutras as well as the instructions taught by one's master. Then,what does“to persist with one's practice”mean? It means to be focused, but not diverge, and to move forward instead of retreating. Do not apply all sorts of methodologies to practice at the same time; one should be fully focused with a single mind. As the Buddha said,“Being single-minded, one can succeed in every aspect.”Indeed, you have to persist with your practice, because it is the solely great task to do. As ancient folks said:“Before attaining the enlightenment, one feels like having lost one's parents, and after attaining the enlightenment, one also feels like having lost one's parents.”It sounds truly interesting. Though you realize it, you cannot verbally express it. Therefore, you need to persist with your practice. An-Hsiang is derived from a clear and guiltless mind. An-Hsiang is derived from maintaining legitimate, but not indulgent desires. An-Hsiang is derived from the verification of the truth of the life and the universe. Therefore, after having attained An-Hsiang, we can live realistically, cheerfully, freely and guiltlessly. We just now talked about“What is An-Hsiang? How to attain and possess An-Hsiang? ”Now, we want to talk about“What is An-Hsiang for? What are its benefits?”That is to say, now we are going to discuss about“the beauty of An-Hsiang”.
(1). An-Hsiang Can Make One Full of Energy A person possessing An-Hsiang in mind is naturally healthy, seldom sick and looks decent (beautiful and sacred.) To those successful Ch'an practitioners, their features have even been transformed. You can observe one another among your old friends, and will find some people have already revealed their internal beauty of An-Hsiang on their appearances. It makes them elegant and extraordinary. Undoubtedly, their lives are full of bliss and harmony, and they also become very amicable and reliable. No wonder their lives go smooth and obstacles are naturally lessened. All their reasonable desires can be satisfied and positive efforts can be rewarded. In addition, thousands of disasters will vanish and hundreds of hardship will be eliminated before occurring. Every disaster has its cause to happen. If there is no cause of a disaster, there will be no effect of it. Therefore, to a person constantly with An-Hsiang in mind, thousands of disasters will not come to him, nor will hundreds of hardship occur to him. He can simply enjoy a carefree, cheerful and blissful life.
(2). An-Hsiang Can Make Unpayable Favors Payable A person constantly with An-Hsiang in mind can radiate the shine of his life in every second to constitute a magnetic field of his life. Anyone entering his magnetic field can simultaneously be conscious of An-Hsiang; therefore, a restless person becomes calm, an angry person becomes warm, a worried person feels relieved, and a depressed person feels greatly encouraged. As a result, within the radius of his activities in this lifetime, he can always radiate his mental light to spread An-Hsiang and the spirit of harmony. Although he does not intend to apply the methodology of action to repay the four great favors; realistically, he has already repaid them. This exactly means“to make unpayable favors payable.”One does not mean to repay them, but has realistically done it. If everyone of us can spread An-Hsiang, our society will become a harmonious society. When everyone is spreading An-Hsiang, our country will become so wealthy, powerful, healthy and joyful that all the evil forces cannot invade. If we want to repay our favors to our parents, country, the heaven and the earth and sentient beings, we have to maintain An-Hsiang in our minds. When we have firmly formed An-Hsiang in our minds, we can benefit seven generations of our ancestors to be upgraded. Since An-Hsiang is so good that we must strive to pursue, attain, and possess it with all our strengths.
(3). An-Hsiang Can Make One Dedicated and Enjoy One's Life A person with An-Hsiang always has a unified and focused mind. When he is engaged in“right intention”, he is incredibly sharp and highly creative. When one has mentally reached the state of An-Hsiang, one can shortly find a brand new answer to one's question. It is because one can constantly deliberate the question with the mind of An-Hsiang. Consequently, he can always make a great contribution to his country, people and society, and will not become a burden to the society, nor bring any negative value to it. He lives with An-Hsiang in every second, and does not have any dissatisfaction, suspicion, jealousy, grumbles, complaints, anger and fear. He definitely feels content with his life, and enjoys his life.
IV. Why Does One Lose An-Hsiang? Coming to this point, we would like to discuss about:“Why do so many people lose their An-Hsiang?” (1) To be Confused by the Senses and Drowned by Chasing Forms We are chasing those external illusions and drowning ourselves in them; therefore, we lose ourselves. When we are lost, we are seduced by worldly illusions and manipulated by the perceptions of our senses. We are not free at all; then, how can we remain in An-Hsiang? Even to those who have already attained An-Hsiang, they also may lose it if they are manipulated by their senses.
(2). To Indulge Oneself in Personal Desires and Abandon One's Responsibilities and Obligations To indulge oneself in personal desires means that one does whatever one desires to do. Personal desires are endless. The Emperor of the Chin Dynasty, Chin-Shih-Huang, claimed he could pass his throne on for millions of generations. The Han Emperor, Wu-Ti, also thought his empire could be permanent, because he had conquered all those border intruders, who had invaded for thousands of years. However, both emperors died with extreme sadness, disappointment, emptiness and depression; why? It was because even though they had taken so many herbs that assured their permanent longevity, they finally realized that they could not survive as wished. Personal desires symbolize poverty. While we are expanding our personal desires, we are exposing the poverty of our minds. Therefore, when a person is fully focused on pursuing his personal desires, he must be abandoning his own responsibilities and obligations at the same time. How are we supposed to live? We should live with our responsibilities and obligations. Everyone should be fully responsible for his own duties. Only by living with one's responsibilities and obligations, can one live smoothly. Wherever you work, and whatever job you have, if you want to live without gloom, vexation, grievance, and obscurity and feel proud and confident of yourself, you have to fulfill your responsibilities and meet their requirements. As human value can also be evaluated by the economic theory; therefore,“the marginal effect”used in the economics can also be applied to human beings. Whoever most needed by the society is the most important one. People who fail to satisfy the demands of their jobs are no longer needed by the jobs. Therefore, wherever you work, you have to make yourself needed. In other words, your presence can make a team integrated, and your absence will make the team malfunctioned. However, if people see your presence as redundant, and feel relieved of your absence, that is truly miserable! Consequently, people should not abandon their responsibilities and obligations to make their conscience guilty, nor can they harm their dignities for saving some efforts. Man has nothing but responsibilities and obligations. All those greatest people always live with their duties and obligations, such as President Chiang-Ching-Kuo. The burden they bore in mind was absolutely beyond our imagination. They faced all sorts of problems and could not be relieved even for just one day. It was because their disastrous country loaded too much burden on them. Everyone has to live with his responsibilities and obligations, so that he can live smoothly, brightly, honestly and guiltlessly. If one fails to fulfill one's duties and obligations, and expects to live well, the only option is to become a thief or gangster, and surely deserve to be treated as the most shameful and inferior person. Are these people worthy to survive? They are not only a burden to a society, but also polluting the society. To them, living is no difference to a torture, and they surely do not enjoy it. Since“the greatest joy is doing good deeds,”but they are doing evil deeds, will they be happy? Just look at those wanted criminals, murderers and frauds; they do not even look like human beings. Why? It is because“one's conduct tells what is in one's mind.”Obviously, they live bitterly and helplessly. Therefore, only by living guiltlessly with one's responsibilities and obligations, can one avoid losing one's An-Hsiang. If one escapes from one's responsibilities and obligations, one surely will lose An-Hsiang in one's mind. Is it parents' right to raise us? Are we raising our children for our own ageing care? Absolutely not! If so, news reported that the parents of a paralyzed boy and a vegetative girl both have been looking after them for more than twenty years, what for? Man definitely does not live with a utilitarian mind. Instead, man should simply live with their responsibilities and obligations and their sole purpose is to pursue a clear conscience; then they are eligible to possess An-Hsiang. Once they abandon their responsibilities and obligations, they can no longer possess An-Hsiang.
(3). To Deviate from the Authentic Dharma and Keep Distant from the Golden Mean The authentic Dharma is the Golden Mean. To deviate from the Golden Mean and abandon the true and eternal law, one will inevitably lose one's An-Hsiang. Among the factors that make one deviate from the authentic Dharma, the self-attachment and the Dharma-attachment are the most vicious ones. They refer to attaching to one's self and the Dharma. Narrowly speaking, they think there is a truth“that will never change and can meet the worldwide standard, and even sages of hundreds of generations later will never doubt it.”That is the Dharma-attachment. People think there is a true and unchangeable self; in fact, none is there. Speaking of“self”, many people are still confused. Why is“selfless”often mentioned in the Sutras? However, why sometimes are“Eternity, Joy, Self and Purity,”emphasized? We need to know that“the true self is the common form of life as well as the original state of life. The true self is the eternal self, which is totally identical with all the others'. Nevertheless, the false self refers to every individual; you are you and I am me, the difference between us is very obvious.”“The cultivated self”is completely different from“the true self of the selfless”. Our genes, environment, education, and the influence from our parents' social status, friends and teachers are like computer programmed information making us different. Before being loaded with the programmed information, everyone is identical. Once the programmed information has been loaded, everyone becomes completely different. Therefore,“selfless”refers to the self that has not been contaminated by the six dusts, and the“self”refers to the true and eternal self, as quoted,“I am aware; therefore, I am.”We do not lose to mistake“the false self”for“the true self”, nor allow“the true self”to be buried by the six dusts. Consequently, one will become lost if one deviates from the authentic Dharma.
V. The Result of Losing An-Hsiang (1). Life Loses the Origin of its Fountain When one loses An-Hsiang, one will be trapped in a dull and dark life, and live with frustration and regrets. Without An-Hsiang, our life loses its foundation. It is as the saying goes,“Being in the vast sea of karma, one is aimless because of losing one's foundation.”Which is the self? What do we live for? After our death, what remains to possess when we have returned all our six trillion cells to the earth? We must feel helpless and do not know how to deal with it. As we know, a person of no foundation can never go for a right direction, and he inevitably will make a lot of mistakes. Mistakes also equate to worries. No one can live with mistakes and still feel An-Hsiang and free. People living with mistakes must live with worries. If they do not stop erring, they can never eliminate worries. Therefore, a life without An-Hsiang is a life of worries and sins. Making errors must result in worries, and sins eventually bring destruction.
(2). All Diseases Are Originated from One's Mind When one's life loses its live fountain, all sorts of diseases will come to make one's life decaying and gloomy. When one has lost An-Hsiang to make one's life blocked and dull, one will start to constantly complain, grumble, get upset, unsatisfied, jealous, suspicious, indulgent and arbitrary. Therefore, one becomes trapped in a dark and frustrating life, and one's body surely turns unhealthy. Empty talk is useless, and we can find true cases for all these symptoms. While you are listening to me, you can try to recall people who are close to you, including your relatives, friends, classmates or colleagues. You definitely can verify them after having made a comparison. To maintain one's health, one should not only realize the saying that“Illness comes though one's mouth”, but also should not forget the statement that“Most diseases are originated from one's mind”, quoted from the initial statement of the first chapter of“the Huang Emperor's Internal Scripture”passed down by our ancestors. You may look around to find people mostly suffering from sinusitis like to show off, win, and fear to lose. Most of them are subjective and always intend to show off and defeat others. In the long run, these subjective and victory-chasing persons will inevitably be afflicted with sinusitis. Many people were spoiled during their childhood. Except the stars in the sky, they could get almost everything they wanted. Parents always try their best to satisfy their children's desires without thinking whether they deserve them. As long as they ask, they can get almost everything. Later on, they gradually grow up. The older they are, the stronger their personalities become. Yes, their habits remain. In the childhood, they simply asked for a toy, a watermelon, or a guava; however, they want airplanes and cars after becoming adults. It becomes a little harder to achieve. If they want a space shuttle, can you get them one? There are many more similar cases. In short, spoiled children must turn to be arbitrary adults. Then, they will face a great deal of frustration because of being arbitrary. They cannot reveal their negative emotions to anyone, nor can they get angry with anyone. Therefore, they are afflicted with asthma. Too much dissatisfaction hidden in one's mind will eventually make one suffering from asthma. They feel life is cold and bare, and feel upset about life, so that their backs are cold. You can feel the upper back of those asthma sufferers, and find that their backs are cold even in the hot summer. Many people are afflicted with stomach ulcers. Why? It is because of anxiety. In other words, they identify with all the negativity. They always think negatively, and get used to worries. They keep worrying about this and that, and are making a vicious cycle of gloomy association. In a long run, their mental digestion turns deteriorating. It is because something is always bugging their mind, and surely brings them the physical indigestion. We have two kinds of nerves: the motor nerves and the autonomic nerves. The so-called autonomic nerve is a self-regulating nerve. We can raise our hands because we have motor nerves; but we cannot slow down or speed up our heartbeats, or tell our intestines or stomachs to stop functioning, because they are managed by our autonomic nervous system. We thought they were beyond our control or influence; in fact, we still directly affect them. We all left our hometown for quite a long time, and would chat with some good friends about what delicious food it got there. For example, when Mr. Wu came to Taipei and chatted with me about Tainan's sticky-rice-meat dumpling and its basket noodles, our mouths started watering. Why? Even before eating it, we have well prepared to digest it. Indeed, one's mentality absolutely dominates one's physical functions. Regarding some military recruits, when they enter into the combat zone, they start getting diarrhea right after hearing the gunshots. Why? It is because the gunshots make them nervous and stimulate a great deal of bile to emit. The abundant bile will make the intestines move more than usual and causes diarrhea. Therefore, your health and bliss all depend on the state of your mind. Meanwhile, overly greedy people will be afflicted with kidney diseases. Many people are self-conceited and arbitrary. What does it mean by“arbitrary”? It means that one always insists on going one's own way; otherwise, one will get mad. To people like this, first, they will feel dizzy after waking up from a nap. Even after having a whole night of sleep, they do not feel refreshed. When they get older, they mostly tend to lose their personalities. Have you ever seen an old man at the age of sixty or seventy urinating on an electric pole? He does not have any concept of value and also has lost his self-consciousness. Therefore, he even fights with little kids for sweets. This is named“the loss of one's personality”, which is an anti-motive mentality developed from an active motivation. When a person overly exposes his self-consciousness throughout his life, he will become a person of no self-consciousness at all in his old age because of having consumed too much of his mental energy. As the saying goes,“Extremes meet.” Some people are apt to be suspicious; they are always suspicious and guessing that someone is saying bad things against them or blaming them. They tend to think illusively and enjoy associating various thoughts. Therefore, this kind of persons will be afflicted with arthritis. How can they have it? It results from their suspicion, guessing and illusions. Many people always judge others' conducts with their subjective standard and arbitrary attitude; therefore, they often feel disappointed, upset, and blame everyone for their misconduct and turn themselves to be extremely biased, and eventually are afflicted with trigeminal nerve neuralgia. It makes them suffer from cracking headaches, which is very hard to cure. A failed surgery may damage the other nerves to make one paralyzed. In addition, the radiation therapy of cobalt 60 may result in half of one's body, of at least half of one's face paralyzed. Some people indulge their instinctive desires. The so-called instinct refers to eating and lusting. People pick the best food to enjoy and think that is the purpose of being rich? In addition, they think that throughout the history all the celebrities have been lustful, so they unleash their instincts to deeply indulge in drinking and sex. With the combination of the indulgence, the mental stimulus, and a fury caused by jealousy and suspicion, diabetes is then developed. Surely, we cannot simply conclude as is, because there are always some exceptions. It is true that diabetes is a genetic disease and some of its causes are still unknown. Some people enjoy being talkative, which will bring many disadvantages. First, it will make one lost. Originally, one's mind is full of An-Hsiang, but after a long while of non-stop talking, one can no longer find An-Hsiang because it has slipped away. You can try to experience it. Second, if a man talks too much, he tends to get hernia; whereas, a woman talks too much, she will suffer from leucorrhoea. Well, if we keep giving examples, it will never end. Let us stop right here. In general, when you lose An-Hsiang, you will inevitably be afflicted with all kinds of diseases. As the saying goes,“Disasters will arrive on your body”, namely, all the diseases will be around you. It is because when your mind is unbalanced, so are your internal secretions. Indeed, when“one's mind is not with heavenly composure”; surely,“all the cells of one's body cannot be submissive.”Therefore, one will encounter all sorts of hardship to make one's mind and body unbalanced. One does not even look like a normal person. When one is doing business with others or participating in social events, people will be driven to avoid you because of feeling very uncomfortable to be with you. Under these circumstances, will your life go smooth? Can you succeed in handling things? Undoubtedly, you must live with gloom, darkness, frustration and regrets, and living obviously has become a punishment to you. Therefore, when one's life is lack of An-Hsiang, one would rather die than live. Once we lose An-Hsiang, the glory of our lives starts fading away, and we no longer look appealing, or handsome. Our inner beauty completely disappears, and even our external appearances turn ugly. We do not particularly highlight the issue we are talking about; however, you may try to recall some people, especially women. When getting old and alone, one will be mostly sitting and dozing off during the day, and become sleepless during the night. Whenever there is a visitor, one will start grumbling and complaining to say that“I have been so nice to whom and whom, but now they have grown up and fail to be filial to me…..”Anyway, there is full of dissatisfaction. As a result, when this old lady stands up, her legs get sore. If she can realize that everyone has his own attitude toward life, and one's attitude toward others should be fair and needless to mind others' business, she will be relieved from her sore legs and can go mountain-climbing. Consequently, once a person loses his An-Hsiang, the glory of his life will simultaneously disappear. If it is a girl, her face will no longer shine. If it is a boy, his face will become disgusting. Commonly speaking,“this person will look decaying, and show a sign of misfortune. Therefore, if one loses An-Hsiang, one's life will become gloomy and full of conflicts, frustrations and regrets.
We have realized how wonderful An-Hsiang is and the way to attain it. We also know how miserable one will become when losing An-Hsiang. Therefore, we should strive to pursue An-Hsiang and maintain it. Then, how can we achieve to maintain it? (1). To Reflect on One's Mind and Have a Right Recognition An-Hsiang is a mentality of harmony, unification, freedom and self-awareness. Now, all of you take a few seconds to reflect on your own minds, aren't you conscious of An-Hsiang? Aren't you free from any illusions? Isn't your mind empty and clear? Isn't it free from any worries, excitement, the past and the future? If it is, that is the mentality of An-Hsiang, and also your original state of mind. As long as you can maintain it, that will save you 100,000 years of efforts in your practice. Why don't we name it“Samadhi”,“Genuine Perception”,“Authentic Awareness”,“Mahaprajna”(great wisdom),“Bhutatathata”(permanent mind),“True Suchness”, or“Original Mind”? Instead, we name it“An-Hsiang”. It is because ancient people counted thirty years as a generation in terms of the cultural differences. Each generation has its own language. If we use the language of one or two thousand years ago, we feel a little awkward and confused. Besides, it will interfere with our search for the truth and our realization of the truth. Therefore, we would rather use the modern language than the old terminology. When we say,“Samadhi”, we feel a bit strange. However, when we say An-Hsiang, we feel more familiar.
(2). To Stop Searching and To Maintain the True Mind Since the essence of Ch'an is An-Hsiang, so that we do not have to search any further. Even you try to keep searching here and there, it is impossible for you to find anything. You should rather“return home to occasionally smell the fragrance of plum blossoms, and appreciate the spring sprouts growing on the branches,”than“wear out your straw-shoes searching on the mountain peaks.”Simply“to maintain one's true mind”in every second; namely, to be fully conscious of one's true mind at any moment, and one's practice will be sufficient. The maintenance of An-Hsiang does not co-exist with one's mistakes and sins. One must rectify all the past mistakes and eliminate all the sins; then, one can possibly possess and maintain An-Hsiang. An-Hsiang can be attained through one's own practice, which needs to take three eons of time to achieve. This is not exaggerated. If your practice has never been failing throughout your lives, you still need to spend about 80,000–100,000 years on practicing it. Therefore,“to attain it through one's own practice”is extremely difficult. However, it is very easy for others to transmit the mentality to you. Unfortunately, people tend to keep things“that are harder to get”, but do not cherish things that“are easier to attain”and lose them easily. Hence, if you do not mean to practice, you may jeopardize the affiliation with the Dharma. Everyone should persist with maintaining An-Hsiang and do not casually forget it or lose it. Although An-Hsiang can be attained through either one's own practice or others' mind transmission, no matter how you attain it, you need to constantly do your practice.“Ch'an practice”is not a mysterious term, nor a specialized term reserved only for the ordained; on the contrary, it is a compulsory subject for everyone to take.
(3). To Abandon Mistakes and Constantly Rectify Oneself To practice means to rectify one's thoughts and behaviors. One should constantly monitor one's own mind to judge, punish, warn, and advise oneself when unjust, wrong, evil, gloomy or hypocritical thoughts arising from one's mind, and never allow them to re-appear. Man mostly lives with more or less mistakes. It is inevitable to make mistakes; however, the same mistakes should not be repeated. Otherwise, one will permanently live in darkness. Besides, stop repeating the crimes; otherwise, one eventually will gain nothing but destruction. We must precisely realize that“if one lives with mistakes, one surely cannot help but live with worries.”The greatest human weakness is to tolerate oneself, but be critical to others. I would ask you to bear it in mind that:“People, who most tend to forgive themselves, are most unlikely forgiven by others, Buddha and Heaven. Conversely, those who are most willing to condemn themselves will be most easily forgiven by others, Buddha and Heaven.” We are not born to watch only others, but not ourselves. Do not live in indulgence, arbitrariness and self-forgiveness, which will form a vicious cycle to decay your life day after day. Now, you do not believe me; when evil fruits turn ripe and you come to beg me to save you, I can only say“I wish I could!”Being even as great as the Buddha Shakyamuni, he could not save his own tribe; nor could the great Lord Jesus Christ save the Jewish. It proves that one can only be saved by oneself. The most effective way of self-saving is to practice - to constantly rectify one's thoughts and behaviors.
(4). To Immediately Fulfill One's Realization and to Make One's Fulfillment Corresponding to One's Realization Finally, I would like to tell all of you the importance of“physical practice”. You have to“immediately fulfill your realization”, and make“your fulfillment corresponding to your realization.”If you just sit here with only“realization”but no“fulfillment”, the“realization”simply becomes useless knowledge as the waste calories in alcohol, and does not help you at all. The more useless knowledge stored in your mind, the more obstacles will be created to interfere with your life and wisdom. Although you know those special terms, and can fully memorize those names, what can they realistically do for you? Many practitioners distort their conducts, though they persist with studying few sutras and wish to attain enlightenment. Eventually, before their deaths, what they can prove is the fact that they are manipulated by the Sutras, but not vice versa.
In conclusion, Deviating from An-Hsiang, practitioners cannot attain the true benefits of the practice; Deviating from An-Hsiang, there is no true life, blood, and pulse of Ch'an; Deviating from An-Hsiang, there is no true Dharma; All the Dharma lives in our everyday life, and deeply roots in our minds. If we do not attentively reflect upon ourselves, nor be determined to eliminate all our mistakes; If we are willing to be manipulated, controlled and restrained by our senses; If we enjoy the association, meditation and illusions; If we are used to identifying with the external objects; If we are used to revealing the destructive and negative emotions, namely, dissatisfaction, complaint, anger, jealousy and defamation; we will never be able to attain An-Hsiang. Thank you! |