Saturday, February 07, 2009

Protecting The Spiritual Environment and setteling our lives.



Following the death of Venerable Master Sheng Yen on Tuesday, I have included the transcriptof a video "Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives". The link for which is at the bottom of the artical. Along with Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Ajan Chan, Ven. Master Sheng Yen is one of the most inspirational Buddhist teachers of the 20th cenury.



Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives.

Vexaion and Disquiet
In life we always long for happiness, but is mere longing enough to bring us true happiness? Each time a loved one leaves us our heart breaks, each time we fall ill we suffer so much that sometimes we may no longer want to live. In every disaster the faces of speechless victims helplessly beseeching the heavens bring us heartache.

They say that at death we are just taking leave of this world but few can remain calm at that moment and those of us left behind carry scars not easily healed. And even on days when we don’t face such daunting tests it seems difficult to relax and cheer up.

When we want more than we can afford, when our mind is disorientated by desire can we calmly accept the frustration of not getting what we want? Even if we can be satisfied for the moment, once our thoughts turn elsewhere that instant desire may easily become a burden, or perhaps our triumph is so short lived that we are soon consumed again by worry and burning desire oppressed by such burning afflictions do we really have no right to happiness?

Taiming the mind from perception to action
In reality whether vexations or disquiet if we scrutinise them closely they always result from the mischief of the unsettled mind when we think of past pleasures our reveries wont make them reappear. When we are stricken by memories of hard times those sufferings are actually long gone. When we want to put trust in an unknown future we can’t be sure that we’ll always get what we want. Only one thing is sure, the unsettled mind accustomed to distraction drowsiness and self-indulgence continues to jump between past and future, reality and imaginings, uncontrollably disturbing our thoughts and moods. Our environment may be beyond our control but fortunately we’re absolutely free to regulate our own minds and Chan practice is an ideal tool to hone our concentration and balance our minds the most important thing about Chan practice is that allows us to attain a goal.

What is that goal? It’s to let go. But how can we let go? What do we let go of? At first we don’t know what to let go of. So we start by practicing relation we try to relax our body and mind. But our mind is extremely abstract
So we start by relaxing the body, when our body is relaxed our mind will calm down. When our mind is calm our whole being will also relax. Science tells us that meditation not only strengthens our immune system, but also fosters an optimistic outlook and has experiments have shown if we want to enhance our concentration; the best choice is meditation, an excellent gift from the Buddha. Once we are relaxed Chan practice can lead from collecting the mind, concentrating the mind, to settling the mind and finally attaining no mind.

Most people’s minds are scattered, by focusing the scattered mind on an object, such as feeling the breath mindfully, we can gradually transform the scattered mind into a more concentrated or even unified mind. If we don’t take the unified mind as the self we may attain the state of no mind or the wisdom of no self.

Weather by sitting on a cushion practicing calm and concentration or by mindfully contemplating through recitation or repentance practice we can always to gradually train the stability of our minds. We can discover that all our experiences such as physical pain itching skin and even fidgeting and inpatients are ever changing and impermanent if we can apply the insight of the Buddha and see that all conditioned phenomena are imperminant and all phenonina are with out self then we wont identify with theose pains or itcheness, we wont say I am hutring or I am itchy. But instead we will think that is hurting or it is itchy. Once we see these sensations and moods objectively rather than seeing them as part of an “I” we can easily be free from them. If we have a clear awareness and inner stability then when outer trouble arises we will be able to face it calmly accept it earnestly deal with it wisely and then let it go. In the midst of turmoil we will gradually sort things out and recover our stability and ease.

Practicing Chan in our daily lives.
To escape the dusty world and retire to a spiritual pure land may remain forever a fantasy Even if one can snatch a rare chance and gain a short respite there could one retain that calm and ease after returning to the everyday world. The patriarchs of the Chan school; recognised this problem long ago. They pointed out that real cultivation is not limited to the Chan hall any where can be a place for practice. All our human interactions all the circumstances of daily life are excellent opportunities for spiritual cultivation. In the workplace you may encounter people or tasks you don’t like. When that happens, if you don’t adopt a Chan attitude to adjust your mind then even though you know how to relax
When you see that person you just can’t relax. By changing our thinking if you can use the attitude and methods of Chan at work, you’ll not only be able to relax in your interaction with other people and at work but your human relationships may also improve.

Master Shang Yen reminds us that a busy intersection is a good place to work on Chan, because as the sixth patriarch Hui-neng told us the Dharma is in the world and not to be realized beyond it. If we want to realize the path of liberation, it must be done where we are, whether on a boisterous street or in a competitive work place we can always use the environment to train the mind. Chan practice is not mysterious or limited to the meditation hall, nor will seated meditation alone bring peace of mind. We hone our practice with seated meditation but in the end we have to return to our daily lives with a more settled, steady and relaxed body and mind we then clearly observe the workings of our mind at every moment and face the problems of our lives head on. Whether afflicted or disquieted in pain or sorrow by nurturing our spirit we can all gradually strengthen our life force.



The Altruistic Bodhisattva spirit
Chan practice awakens us to the impermanence of life and the delusion of self-attachment enabling us to give rise to non discriminatory equanimity. Only after we relax can we let go. Relaxing is self development and self afermation. When you are able to help your self, you affirm the self. Then when you are able to adjust your frame of mind, your developing the self, finally when you are able to let go, that’s the dissolution of the self we no longer cling to status distinctions or care only for ourselves forgetting that we all depend and influence one another.

Protecting the spiritual environment means making our bodies and minds healthy, happy and peaceful and at the same time helping to make other peoples bodies and minds, what, healthy happy and peaceful. Not only do we make ourselves and our families, healthy happy and peaceful, but we also try to make the people around us, our collegues and superiors, customers, subordinates and neighbours and all the others we live with on his small island of Taiwan, all enjoy what? Health, happiness and peace. Even more, what do we hope to bring to the bodies and minds of every one around the world? It is health, happiness and peace. And what is this called? It is “Protecting the spiritual environment”. This is the vision of building a “Pure Land on Earth” put into practice. When our mind is purified our words and deeds are purified when our body and mind are stable we can create a stable environment. One by one a positive chain reaction will lead to purified communities, thus forming a “Pure Land on Earth” Dharma Drum Mountain’s Spiritual leader Master Sheng Yen always reminds us to use the honorific Bodhisattva when addressing each other and more importantly to interact in the spirit of Bodhisattvas so that we can gradually grow in wisdom and compassion. Then as we make our selves happy, well also wish happiness for others and further hope that this flame of compassion and wisdom will be passed on endlessly till all may live together in equality, mutual concern and gratitude. And this is what Chan practice truly means the true foundation for a Pure Land.

An exemplar of protecting the spiritual environment, Master Sheng Yen has lived a life representative of such Bodhisattva practice, faced with many sufferings and hardships. Just like the rest of us he can always combine wisdom and compassion to bring joy and freedom to a distressed mind.

The world in the eyes of Enlightened.
In the eyes of an enlightened Chan practitioner, who sees the world with a pure settled mind that knows no discrimination each flower is a world in miniature and catalysts for enlightenment abound everywhere. For the enlightened no matter what the season every day is a good day and every thing that happens is a blessing.

Amituofo.

Please view the video at:
http://www.dharmadrum.org/watch.aspx?murl=pictures/modules/PDT/PDT060207001/20073210571877475.wmv

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