zen, daoism, and other eastern philosophies

[prana]

also pointing out the differences between Chan and the meditation I use.

Please correct me as you wish...from what I have been hearing from you guys...

Chan is about learning the meditation of the mind, and attaining the purity through discovering via the experienced level and to act as a way of wisdom, the now. This is very much a training of the mind, disciplined et al.

Which is vastly different from the techniques I use. By remaining conscious of the body and thoughts, and learning to remain equanimous (Annapanna-Sati and Vipasyana), one quietens the mind. After realisation of the mind, and prana and the flow of prana in the central channels, one begins energy training yogas. These yogas (which I can't deal in with too much detail here) teach of the processes of death and dream. And through yoga, experiencing the death and dream states and attaining the Buddha mind.

perhaps I should better summarise.

I am learning how to die, but by learning to die, one may achieve enlightenment also through being alive.

You are learning how to live. And by learning to live, one is also preparing for the process of death.


Does that sound about right to you ?

hahaha I sure hope so, else this is just blank empty words.... :)

Recognise the vivid blue lights of Lord Vairochana.
Recognise the blinding white lights of Lord Aksobhya.
Recognise the brilliant yellow lights of Lord Ratnasambhava.
Recognise the fiery red lights of Lord Amithaba.
Recognise the pure green lights of Lord Amoghasiddhi.

[Scott R. Brown]

Prana,

Thank you for the kind words.

It is not the statue that has the power to “remove bad kamma at the bardo of between death and birth..” It is your belief that it has the power that gives it the power. In other words your belief in the icon gives you the ability to remove the “bad kamma at the bardo of between death and birth” for yourself. We generally do not believe we have this power, so we assign the power to a deity to do it for us, but since we are all Buddha we are really doing it ourselves.

Your path is your path not mine or Nexus’s. You are responsible for your own growth. If you are sincere and persist in your journey, we will all come together at the meeting place where all is One. I will be looking for you when I arrive.

Sincerely,

Scott

[Scott R. Brown]

I am off to drive home, about 400 miles. I will try to reply to your last post tomorrow sometime.

Sincerely,

Scott

[prana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> It is not the statue that has the power to “remove bad kamma at the bardo of between death and birth..” It is your belief that it has the power that gives it the power. In other words your belief in the icon gives you the ability to remove the “bad kamma at the bardo of between death and birth” for yourself. We generally do not believe we have this power, so we assign the power to a deity to do it for us, but since we are all Buddha we are really doing it ourselves.

[/quote]

Please don't take my words too literally. I have zilch skill at explaining things the way I want to explain them, but you have got the idea.

Drive safe!

Recognise the vivid blue lights of Lord Vairochana.
Recognise the blinding white lights of Lord Aksobhya.
Recognise the brilliant yellow lights of Lord Ratnasambhava.
Recognise the fiery red lights of Lord Amithaba.
Recognise the pure green lights of Lord Amoghasiddhi.

[Nexus]

A story of the Chan, where a Zen master peers quizically into your eyes, and you think to yourself, 'Oh no, he is reading my thoughts, seeing my flaws, knowing my truths' where in fact he is saying to himself, 'Come out Shiva, Come out.'

Heard of such a story Scott?

Freedom is what you do with what is done to you. - Sartres

[Scott R. Brown]

Prana,

There are a number of different sects of Chan Buddhism. Some focus on meditation others use question and answer sessions with the Master. The Master will ask the aspirant a conundrum like “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “Show me your true face”. The student will contemplate the question and when he believes he has an answer, he will seek an audience with the Master and try it out. If he succeeds in demonstrating insight, he is given another question. Neither of these methods is true to original Chan. Originally Chan was meant to guide the student to see the truth directly through pointing to it. It would be like if you and I was looking at a picture of an optical illusion. I can see it and you cannot. I say, Look here, see? This is where the horses head is?’ You look and cannot see it. So, I continue to point out parts of the horse and parts of the background to enable you to draw distinctions between the two. After a time you would eventually be able to see the horse hidden in the picture for yourself. That would be your “Aha” experience. Now you can see the horse directly and you no longer have to take my word for it that it is there. The true reality is exactly like an optical illusion. It is right there in front of our face. We just have not developed the ability to see it. The “Suddenness” of the realization of the horse is the same experience as the “Suddenness” of the realization of the true reality. This “Aha” experience is why Chan (Zen) is called the “Sudden” school.

There are Chan masters that have been notable for their refusal to meditate. Meditation is a tool that can help, but is not necessary to enlightenment. One does not even need to be especially intelligent. It is a manner of perceiving, not intellection or meditation.

Your description of the path you are following is fascinating. I am unfamiliar with the school, but some of the methods I recognize. Keep writing about it and your ability to describe it will improve. It takes practice. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Please continue, as you feel moved to do so.


Nexus,

No, I have never come across that one, but from reading it, I thought the Master was going to say something like, “You know if I look real close I can see that your eyebrows have grown together”. But no, that would be a Taoist master.

Sincerely,

Scott

[Nexus]

Do you follow a particular school/path. (Chan) right?

Can you explain in some greater detail what this entails and if you have a teacher/master as a guide. You may have mentioned this earlier, but I don't know if in great detail.

Thanks,

Nexus.

Freedom is what you do with what is done to you. - Sartres

[Scott R. Brown]

Nexus,

I cannot say that I follow any particular school. What I mean is I did not find a school or way of thought and then decide,” That is the path for me.” To refer back to when I was 15 and had my sort of epiphany, I realized that every religion and every branch of every religion believed they had the truth path. This I found interesting because, if there is only one way and everyone thinks that “their” way is “IT” and everyone else is wrong, it raises the question of. “Who is really right and who is really wrong?” and “How does one distinguish between who is right and who is wrong?” That is a tall order for anyone much less a 15 year old. Well, to begin with I was blessed with a rather intellectually arrogant father. He prided himself on his ability to reason, or should I say argue. Anytime I spoke an opinion, he made me support it with evidence. No matter how mundane the topic was, he would engage me in an intellectual debate. He would never accede to any of my points even if I had formulated a valid argument for the position I was defending. It rose to the level of serious harassment at times. While this was quite aggravating for me, he had inadvertently taught to think clearly, to reason through any problem, and to perceive an opinion from many different angles (perspectives). I applied these skills to my situation.

I reasoned that, if everyone thinks their path is correct and everyone else’s is wrong, then either:

1) Everyone is wrong,
2) Someone is right and everyone else is wrong, or
3) Everyone is a little bit right and a little bit wrong.

Somehow, I concluded that the probability was that, ”Everyone is a little bit right and a little bit wrong”. From there, I had to decide what criterion I was going to use to determine what the truth was. I did not want to waste time attempting to follow a path that would lead me nowhere. I wanted to learn about the “Truth” not what someone else believed the “Truth” to be.

I realized that since everyone believed that their path was the “only” right one, and since I concluded that everyone was a little bit right and a little bit wrong, then there had to be common threads of belief running along most major religions.

I decided to look for those common threads. I began with some assumptions. Assumptions are beliefs that have no rational basis in fact. They cannot be proved true through empirical testing. An example is geometry. In geometry, point, line and plane are assumed to exist. There is no attempt to prove they exist in fact. We just agree that we will treat them as if they truly exist. From here, postulates are made. We say, if point, line and plane exist they must lead to such and such. Once the postulates are enumerated, they are combined to form the theorems of geometry, which are based on rational argument and empirical evidence. The theorems are proved using the postulates that are founded on the assumptions of point, line and plane. Here is the proverbial house built on sand. If it could be proven that, the assumptions of point, line and plane do not exist, the rational arguments of geometry as we know it would collapse.

The assumptions I held to be true based on their commonality to all major religions were:

1) “God exists”. The only major religion that is considered atheist is Buddhism and this is a based on a misunderstanding of what Buddha was trying to accomplish. (But that is another discussion.),

2) “Prayer works”. Every religion has some form of prayer life,

3) “God is knowable’. Every religion believes the truth is knowable; otherwise, there would be no reason for the religion to exist in the first place.

4) Later I also learned that at their core most religions teach that one must subjugate their ego to the will of the deity. In Taoism, to come into accord with the Tao.

Once I had a set of foundational principals, the rest was research, research, research. I used prayer to ask for guidance. I did not want to find a truth that was just a reflection of my own ego. I wanted to know the “ real truth”. It was clear to me that, if there were so many people who believed their way was the only true way, there was a lot of “ego centered truth” out there. I did not want to be just another idiot lost in the woods pretending they were not lost at all. I wanted to know the truth as it “IS”, not as I wanted it to be.

I would have loved to have a teacher guide me through the morass. I prayed for one, but was never given one. I eventually realized I was on my own. I developed the ability to introspect to help me keep from following the wrong path and to constantly question my understanding in an attempt to keep from falling into the pit of “ego centered truth”. I had to come up with a guide stick to measure whether I was wandering off the path. That is when I discover the “fruits of the spirit “ mentioned in Christianity. It became clear to me that true spiritual development would result in a higher order of thinking and behavior. The “inclusive attitude” I have previously mentioned. I discovered as I grew that I could understand the paths of other people and accept them as a means to the final goal. I had gained an understanding for how it all works, or more precisely, I gained an understanding of the foundational principals of spiritual growth. These principals apply to all who are sincerely on the spiritual path. There will always be a similarity of experiences. That is what I mean when I use the term “inclusive attitudes”. It is not the same as saying everything is okay to do. Clearly some paths lead to deeper delusion. I was able to understand how and why people fell into deeper delusion. I condemned anyone for the unhealthy paths they had chosen, because sometimes we learn the most from the mistakes we make. Eventually everything leads to progress for the sincere seeker. My experiences taught me that the spiritual journey is difficult, we all want the same thing from our religion, comfort, support and release from suffering. Even those who follow unhealthy paths are searching for these. Even those evil cult leaders are looking for these. Their imbalance and ignorance leads them to choose unhealthy, unproductive and harmful means to accomplish their purpose that is all.

I am making no claim whatsoever to enlightenment. But I can claim to have a great deal of knowledge and understanding. That has been the focus of my life and prayers for some 27 years, “To know and understand”. Once we gain knowledge and understanding, we must apply it properly in our life. Knowledge without understanding is like possessing a book and not knowing how to read. Knowledge is useless if you do not understand what it means and how to apply it. Knowledge and understanding” is the “seed”. The decision to utilize it properly is the planting. Applying knowledge and understanding is the watering and weeding. The rest is just patience as the results unfold according to the fullness of time.

My natural leanings have been along the paths of Zen and Taoism. The great masters of every religion have always been mavericks, but Zen and Taoism seem to have the most free thinkers. What I mean by free thinkers are people who are able to think outside the box of the world system. Most Taoist and Zen Masters flout the authority of their own religions. They understand that organizations are artificial structures that eventually end up serving their own best interest instead of the interests of the individual. Not that everyone in an organization is a conformist. Many free thinkers choose to work from within the structure. I choose to work on the outside of (organizational) structures. It is more conducive to my personality and allows me to change directions with out destabilizing the structure.

Hui-Neng, the 6th patriarch of Chan entered a Chan monastery after he experienced a realization. He was an illiterate peasant and the “real” adherents would not have accepted the authority of his insight. The Master of the monastery recognized his superior insight and the state of affairs of the monastery and hid him out in the kitchen pounding rice. When it was time for the Master to pass on the begging bowl and robe of authority, which were handed down from Bodhidharma, he snuck into the kitchen at night and bestowed them on Hui-Neng. Then he helped him escape from the clutches of all those enlightened, spiritually-minded monks. When the monks discovered that Hui-Neng was given the robe of authority, they actually attempted to pursue him, kill him and steal the robe. He had to hide out in the mountains for six or seven years, so much for the benefits of organized religion. Status had become more important than knowing the truth. This is a common pitfall of religious organizations and I choose to stay away from the aggravation.

I hope this has answered your questions. It should be obvious by now I seldom if ever give simple answers. I hope I am not belaboring my points or becoming boring. It seems that the more questions I answer the more questions are raised. That is fine with me. Our discussion benefits me as well.

Until next time,

Sincerely,

Scott

[prana]

I know a very famous Zen master by the name of Master Sheng Yen. I think he is now based in the states.... unsure though cause I do not really practise Zen traditions....
I know have seen many of his books and plenty of websites dedicated to him. I have heard many great things aout his hard work and commitment...

BUT...

There is also another so called grandmaster based also originally in Taiwan, and also with the same name, but I would take his teachings with a grain of salt. He encourages the eating of meat and having sex...beware you dont find the wrong one.

[prana]

Simple teachings...VERY VERY SUMARISED. (THese are NOT instructions, just for your "intellectual", or perhaps, "pass time" reading...)

1. Buddha emphasized at death time the sleeping lion posture. He lies on the right side of his body, and his hands blocking a meridian that connects the impure red meridian which is the cause of illusions.
2. The diamond vajrasattva posture of meditation encourages the flow of prana throughout the energy centers of the body. Legs crossed in the lotus (or half lotus), hands clapped in the front of the navel chakra, thumbs meeting. Back erected and straight. Head balanced and still with chin tucked in, eyes gazing at the tip of the nose, and toungue relaxed, touching at teh ceiling of the mouth, and teeth not clenched. Eyes not neccesarily closed, but not fully opened.
3. Cultivating the compassionate energy of the Buddhas. Imagining the Buddhas in front of you with limitless light balzing from his body. THe bright lights emanate and burns your eyes, and the thunder clap roards. He radiates a bright white light and enters your central channel via the crown chakra, he emanates great red light from his throat and enters your throat chakra and he emanates bright blue lights from his heart and he enters your heartr chakra. These lights purify your kamma caused by bad action, bad speech and bad thoughts. The Buddha then sits in a Diamond posture on your crown chakra and his energy clears the central channel with great light, and pierces through your body shell in all directions through all dimensions.
4. Metta Bharma, one breaths in dark brown smoke from the environment surrounding them, and visualises bright white light replacing the the environment, for the benefit of others. One visualises themselves as the embodiment of Buddhas and practises the Bodddisatva vow of selflesness.

Meditation on death process
1. One meditates that ones flesh is returning into the elements of the creator, rotting flesh, rotting eyes, rotting organs and belnding back into the elemtns of air, fire, water, earth and ether.
2. Meditation on the process of death. One practises the process of death via the melting of ground element into the water element, and learns to recognise it. One then recognises the blending of water into fire. One then recognises the belnding of fire into air. And finally one recognises the blending of air into ether.
One then recognises the white bodhimind (male) returning to the heart chakra. One then recognise the great red bodhimind (female) rising from and meeting at the heart.
One then recognises and stays in this state of Buddha mind.
3. Meditation on consciousness projection. One ensures the rebirth into the 5 Buddhalands via the projection of energy (light) via the crown center. One blocks off the gates to a bad rebirth by blocking the gates with a mantric syllable.

Meditation of sleep.
1. One practises the awareness of sleep process and recognises the process of consciousness dissolving into the central channel. One trians to remain conscious of the mind retracting from the sensations of the skin, sensation of the tongue, the hearing, the seeing.

Meditation on dream
1. One recognises and guides the illusory body of dream state and via this moves the illusory body to become pure by wisdom mind.

Preliminary practises
1. One practises the sharpening of the mind via Annapanna Sati. One remains conscious of the breath.
2.One practises the equanimity by scanning the body, and one practises equanimity by remaining aware and equanimous of thoughts.
3. Breath regulation. One cultivates samadhi via regulation of breath.
4. prana projection - one removes meditative torpor via the movement of prana