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BSPG News and Meeting (No. 185)
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Edited by Stony Brook Buddhism Study and Practice Group

News
We will meet at room 304 of the Student Activities Center from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Meeting
6/13, 7pm to 8:30pm
Room 304, Student Activities Center
Please be on time!

Words from the Suttas/Sutras
"There are three attachments that are especially deep-seated in the minds of all: greed, anger and infatuation, which are based on lust, fear and pride. Back to these lies discrimination and desire which is procreative and is accompanied with excitement and avariciousness and love of comfort and desire for eternal life; and, following, is a succesion of rebirths on the five paths of existence and a continuation of attachments. But if these attachments are broken off, no signs of attachment nor of detachment will remain because they are based on things that are non-existent; when this truth is clearly understood the net of attachment is cleared away." --The Lankavatara Sutra

Quote of the Week
"Letting go does not mean abandoning one thing in order to seek something else. It means giving up every comparison, seeing that there is nothing to be removed and nothing to be added, and that the boundary between ourselves and others is not real. We need not give up our human condition in order to become a buddha. We seek buddhahood in our very human condition, giving up nothing and seeking nothing. That is the meaning of apranihita, 'aimlessness,' sometimes translated as 'wishlessness.'" --Thich Nhat-Hanh

Book Review: "Illuminating Silence" by Chan Master Sheng-yen (editor: John Crook)
by D.K.

"The field is vacant and wide open.  It is something one has had from the very beginning.  You must purify and correct it; clean it off; get rid of all deluded conditioning and illusory habits.  You will naturally arrive at a place that is clean and pure, full and bright." -- Hongzhi Zhenjue,  excerpt from "The Boundless Field", p. 136

Have you heard of the term 'Silent Illumination', or in Chinese, 'mozhao'?  As taught by Master Sheng-yen, this term can refer to the enlightened state-of-mind or to a specific meditation practice.  Sometimes referred to as 'the gate of no-gate' or 'the method of no-method', Silent Illumination is the heart of meditative insight and the foundational practice of the Caodong Chan tradition.  In essence, the realization of the nature of mind is not separate from the practice of Silent Illumination.  Practice in this way, is a continuing knowledge of our originally enlightened state.

Little has been written in English about this practice, and few traditional texts that highlight this method have been translated from the original Chinese.  However, Master Sheng-yen has been teaching this method for years to his students, and many have found this method to be beneficial.

One such student is Dr. John Crook, who received Dharma transmission from the venerable teacher, and who heads the Western Chan Fellowship in Britian.  After years of training and study with Venerable Sheng-yen, he has been given permission to teach the Buddhadharma, and so has been sponsoring retreats and organizing Buddhist practice and study in Europe and the US.  With the creation of this book, Dr. Crook has edited and organized some very intimate and profound teachings on meditation and Buddhist understanding, that have emerged from his encounters and training with Master Sheng-yen.  Illuminating Silence thus contains explanations of Chan practice, with emphasis on the method of Silent Illumination, presented in a manner of great clarity and maturity, due to the wisdom and knowledge of both teachers.  Dr. Crook's understanding of the practice, his openness with his past experiences and tribulations, and his literary grasp of the English language, flower into a book that splendidly portrays Master Sheng-yen's teachings.

The contents of the book consist of Master Sheng-yen's lectures on seven-day retreats, that revolve around his commentary on traditional Chinese Chan texts, such as the poem "Calming the Mind" by Wang Ming, and "The Lancet of Sitting Chan" and other significant expressions of meditation practice and realization by Master Hongzhi Zhenjue.  Half of the book is dedicated to the elaboration of Silent Illumination, named by Master Hongzhi, as being the focus of practice and realization in the Caodong tradition.  Master Sheng-yen clarifies the often cryptic writings of Hongzhi and relates them to sitting meditation and daily life in an intimate and accessible way.  Thus, he provides a solid conceptual background for practice-a framework that he says is essential for all practitioners to have.  With a firm faith in the conceptual grasp of the method, one can have a clearer understanding of the purpose of meditation, the path that one must follow, and of the obstacles that may arise during practice.

Amidst these wonderful elucidations of Chan practice and the Buddhist attitude towards life, Dr. John Crook has filled in the spaces where our questions to Ven. Sheng-yen may arise... 'What is the difference between shikantaza (in Japanese, 'just sitting')  and Silent Illumination?  Are there similarities to the efforts one uses with koan or huatou methods?  What does this mind of no-thought entail?  Do enlightened beings have no thoughts at all-what have they gained, or what have they lost?  Before our own enlightenment, can we function in everyday life without an ego, without discriminating thoughts?  Of what use is an experience of enlightenment?  After an initial experience of seeing the nature of mind, are we finished practicing-are we forever in a bliss and peace of enlightenement?'

Within Illuminating Silence, the core practice of Mozhao is made clear, and auxiliary practices such as direct contemplation and repentance prostrations appear as activities that can strengthen our faith and determination, while maturing our humility.

Silent Illumination at first glance, may seem like a name for a magical act of meditation.  However, we learn that it is only a term for our most natural and inherently clear state of mind.  Free from any prejudgment or opinion, detached from the objects of the environment, always there, immutable, this mind is the life-root and realization of all buddhas.  Yet, it is the source of all ordinary sentient beings as well.  To cloud over its brightness and openness with vexation is to remain an ordinary sentient being; to stabilize its presence and to liberate all beings with its function is to realize Buddhahood.

We can begin as ordinary people, with all our troubles and vexations, to practice meditation and to realize wisdom.  However, it takes great effort and correct guidance.  This book can provide the initial direction for those who wish to embody the compassion and freedom of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.  Using the teachings within Illuminating Silence, we can dispel our doubts about the practice, and by utilizing the correct concepts, correct attitude, and correct method, we can realize our most intimate and subtle nature.
 

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