Non-Denominational Meditation

The nine levels of Chan meditation

NDM — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:32:37 +0000

Last week I a most profound instructional lectures about Chan’s view on causes and effect and why people suffer. Because it was in Chinese some of the meaning was lost in translation. However I understood enough to capture the gravity of the talk. I made the mistake of thinking about it rather than first capturing the lecture. The end result was much of the lecture has not dissipated from mind, and only the core remains. So not to make the same mistake again, today, I heard from the same Chan teacher about the “Roadmap for Chan”. How I wish this talk was recorded, and later translated into English. The knowledge shared was profound.

Essentially the roadmap identified the reason why people suffer, and how people can eliminate the suffering through nine stages of meditative progression. The part that has me jazzed is the realization that Buddhism and Chan has spent the last 2500 “figuring-out” why people are people. Why people feel suffering, get angry, and any range of negative emotions. It has been my personal belief that life is difficult because everyone who has lived on this planet has been subjected to the law of diminishing natural resources. We all have to fight to survive. Natural resources are limited, and we strive with each other to claim our share of the Earth’s natural resources. Since the planet is not overly abundant, then humans are constantly worried about their lives and of the future–of deprivation, starvation, and competition. It is precisely the wanting of things tangible or intangible/temporal that creates or re-enforces the survival skills we all possess.

Chan meditation is meant to put down those desires in exchange for mental clarity, unobstructed by the “need” to own things. Ever wonder why people are selfish? It is essentially baked into us from birth.

The basis of the nine step program identifies the level one achieves after prolonged meditative practice. In my mind, as the Dharma Drum Mountain teacher started to describe these, I had the distinct feeling that the concept of Truth underlies the entire meditative escalator. Without truth, you cannot have peace in your mind. Truth is essence; power. Lacking truth means you can never improve.

(more to add soon)

Not being liberated from the transmigration of birth and death

NDM — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:15:57 +0000

Not being liberated from the transmigration of birth and death is like dreaming through an eternal night that never turns into day. Some dreams are beautiful, others are dreadful, and some are simply confusing and hazy. Among these many dreams, the good dreams are the fewest.

–an excerpt from “The Life and Heart of Ch’an Practice” by Master Sheng-yen

Dreaming = living, life

Eternal night = obstructed, unenlightened, not seeing true self

Discovering our true selves requires first lifting reflections and obstructions

NDM — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:33:20 +0000

Often I heard people say they are trying to find themselves. What does self-discover mean, and what does it entail, I would ask myself. Used to think it meant trying to understand where our personal motivations came from, the things that our social environment taught us as children that has shaped who we are, what we want out of life, and what makes us “happy”, etc. There is a lot of “nature” versus “nurture” debates. Chan meditation greatly simplify this whole exercise. You no longer look backward to discover who you are or what motivates you. In fact, you do not need to look at all. Instead, you should try to lift the murkiness that is the layer of scattered thoughts and obstructions that prevents you from looking directly at your own self-nature; from understanding yourself. Once you have quieted your mind and it is merely you and mindfulness, you come much cloer to knowing who you really are by directly examining your actions. You are no longer looking at reflections masking as your motivations, those are illusory and are the thoughts and images from before being projected by ego above–and thereby, blocking–your view of self nature.

Day dreaming versus wandering thoughts

NDM — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:18:10 +0000

From a meditation perspective, there is no difference between day dreaming and wandering thoughts. Day dreaming is a wandering thought, mask in a enjoyable mental embrace. While some people may believe that day dreaming relieves suffering by taking your mind on a good journey, to escape from the reality. However, you no longer are aware of mindfulness. Being mindful is the key to living fully and responsibly, and in reality. So what is wrong with living in a dreamlike state for moments through-out the day, escaping reality? For those mements, you rather than helping others, you are only helping yourself. It breeds ego, selfishness, inwardness, and over time, lose precious time from doing your duties that others may depend on.

Hardship is not necessarily bad

NDM — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:51:51 +0000

Hardship is not necessarily bad. We need to recognize suffering and hardship for what they are and view them as opportunities to discipline ouselves. We should remember that the beautiful plum flower only blossoms in the bitter cold of winter. Accepting and working through difficulties will lead us to a better future.

–an excerpt from “The Life and Heart of Ch’an Practice” by Master Sheng-yen

Being “mindful” to lessen procrastination

NDM — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:00:51 +0000

A couple months ago, I heard the term “mindful” used during a talk. In the same month, I read about being “mindful” when you practice meditation. It had me thinking exactly what is being “mindful”. Apparently, it is not what I thought or what most people would gleen from a first hearing. Being mindful is being aware of what your mind is doing. So if you are thinking about something, know that you are thinking about something. (If your mind is thinking about eating an apple, you are aware that your mind is thinking about eating an apple.) There involves a tracking process where you keep a tab of what your mind is doing at all times. If you start to day dream, how often do you tell yourself you are day dreaming while it is happening? For example, lets say you are day dreaming that a handsome movie star is kissing you. At that moment, are you telling yourself that “I am day dreaming that a handsome movie star is kissing me” or are you just going for those imaginary lips? Most of us are going for those lips, that is, unless we are being mindful.

Being mindful is a tactic you would use to keep your mind in check, so it is doing what you want it to do, rather than roam around at will. I have a huge problem with procrastination–for at least thirty years. Recently, as I become more “mindful” of what my mind is doing at all times, I am better able to focus on the task at hand. This foucs allows me to manage my time better rather than put things off until the last minute. Have you noticed that when the deadline looms close, all of sudden, your mind focuses intently to get the task done? What if you can have that focus and intensity at your fingertips–ready to appear at your command?

Procrastination is a difficult problem to overcome. I have had this habit for over three decades, so it is not going to be solved in a few weeks. However, I am finding that mindfulness allows me to realize when unwelcome thoughts fill my head and my mind starts to wander away from the task at hand, and thereby allows me to bring it back into focus. It is a wonderful feeling to feel like I can do things early, with the right focus, rather than leave everything to the last minute.

“Negative” thoughts leads to a troubled existence

NDM — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:48:50 +0000

During a talk at DDMBA-LA, one of the teaching elders commented that he read a study that had its subjects track their thoughts over a period of time. The subjects had two choices to categorize each though: “positive” or “negative”. The data showed that 4 out of 5 thoughts were classified as “negative”. Negative thoughts can range from anger to worry, and any thoughts that weighs down your mind. Human existence is hard, which probably explains why we have more negative thoughts than positive. The talk continued that humans process some 15,000 to 20,000 thoughts a day. So that means a person would have about 12,000 to 16,000 negative thoughts per day. If you had that many negative thoughts, do you think you can be a happy person? It would be difficult. Meditation helps you minimize thoughts in general, and also to let-go of negative thoughts as they arise.

The way to combat negativity in your life is not to force false positivism, which can be contrived and shallow. Instead, just minimizing negative thoughts through meditation and letting them go before they consume your mind–whether the conscious or unconscious–will enable you to lighten the load through-out the day.

Wise people always hide their knowledge

NDM — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:13:50 +0000

Wise people always hide their knowledge. Even though their understanding may be deep, they remain as “humble as the valley.” On the other hand, those who know little are always afraid that others will look down on them. Because of their fear, they’re always displaying their talent. No matter how articulate and eloquent they are, however, others recognize their superficiality.

–an excerpt from “The Life and Heart of Ch’an Practice” by Master Sheng-yen

As for drowsiness

NDM — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:22:54 +0000

As for drowsiness, as soon as you feel sleepiness coming on, straighten your back. Do some deep breathing. If deep breathing alone does not work, you can couple it with hunching your shoulders and then relaxing them. You can also stare in front of you with wide-open eyes, until they well with tears. All these techniques help to clear a drowsy mind. If your mind feels lazy, contemplate the transience of life and the rare opportunity to encounter Buddhadharma.

–an excerpt from “The Life and Heart of Ch’an Practice” by Master Sheng-yen

Two great obstructions to cultivating samadhi

NDM — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:19:03 +0000

Two great obstructions to cultivating samadhi are scattered mind and drowsiness. In the early stages of practice, you will ealize that your mind is either agitated and scattered or unclear and drowsy. The cultivation of vipassana cures drowsiness, while the cultivation of samatha cures scattered mind.

–an excerpt from “The Life and Heart of Ch’an Practice” by Master Sheng-yen