Master Xu Yun’s (Empty Cloud’s) teaching on Chan mediation
Master Empty Cloud's teaching on Chan mediation
"While there are many methods of practice, all Buddhas and patriarchs consider Chan (Zen) meditation to be the supreme and wondrous gate. In the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha instructed Manjushri Bodhisattva to evaluate the methods of perfect penetration, and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva's method of perfect penetration through the organ of hearing was designated as the foremost. Turning our hearing inward to listen to our own true nature is exactly what Chan meditation is. Since we are in the Chan hall, this is the very method we should discuss and practice."
In our daily routines and ordinary activities, we are always walking the Path; where is not a place of practice (bodhimanda)? Originally, there was no need for any meditation hall, nor is sitting the only way to practice Zen. The so-called meditation hall and sitting meditation (zazen) are merely established for sentient beings like us in this Dharma-ending Age, whose karmic obstructions are deep and whose wisdom is shallow.
When practicing sitting meditation, one must know how to properly regulate and care for one's body and mind. If not regulated skillfully, minor mistakes will lead to illness, while major ones can lead to demonic deviation (makyo), which is truly a great pity. The purpose of walking and sitting meditation in the meditation hall is precisely to harmonize the body and mind. There are many other methods for this, and I will now select the essential ones to briefly explain.
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