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BSPG News and Meeting (No. 193)
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Edited by Stony Brook Buddhism Study and Practice GroupMeeting
Thursday, 9/12, 7pm to 8:30pm
Room 311, Student Activities Center
Please be on time!Words from the Suttas/Sutras
"Great enlightening beings dedicate those roots of goodness in this way: that minds be unattached, unbound, liberated; that bodies be unattached, unbound, liberated; that speech be unattached, unbound, liberated; that actions be unattached, unbound, liberated; that rewards be unattached, unbound, liberated; that worlds be free from attachment and bondage and be liberated; that buddha-lands be free from attachment and bondage and be liberated; that sentient beings be free from attachment and bondage and be liberated; that laws be free from attachment and bondage and be liberated; that knowledge be free from attachment and bondage and be liberated." --Avatamsaka SutraQuote of the Week
"The Buddha taught us to give up all forms of evil and cultivate virtue. This is the right path.Teaching in this way is like the Buddha picking us up and placing us at the beginning of the path. Having reached the path, whether we walk along it or not is up to us. The Buddha's job is finished right there. He shows the way, that which is right and that which is not right. This much is enough, the rest is up to us."--Ajahn ChahBook Review: The Six Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
Reviewed by D.K."If you wish to cultivate and aspire to Buddhahood,
You won't know where the truth is to be sought
Unless you can see the truth within your own mind,
This truth which is the cause of realizing Buddhahood." -Hui NengThe Sutra of the 6th Patriarch is the only Buddhist sutra that is not an account of a dharma discussion had by Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples. Instead, this text is an account of the teachings of the Chinese Patriarch Hui-Neng and the encounters he had with his students and contemporaries. By categorizing this text as a sutra, we give it great significance, as the words of Hui-Neng are powerful, like those of the Buddha. Without deviating from the heart of the Buddha's teachings, Hui-Neng brings to us the "sudden" teaching, whereby one can instantaneously glimpse one's Buddha-nature, and sow the seed for future Buddhahood. Thus, the Sutra clearly describes the essence of the aim of the Chan, or Dhyana School, which is to directly perceive the fundamental nature of mind, and put aside the "gradual" methods of cultivation, or various methods to calm, concentrate, then contemplate the mind's activities.
Hui-Neng's teaching is the most simple and direct path to enlightenment, that of recognizing one's original mind. This mind is "neither produced nor destroyed" and "neither increases nor decreases", but do we understand this? The great masters say that it is rare to enlighten to our true-nature without the guidance of a teacher. Actually, Hui-Neng was one such rare person whose capacity for wisdom was great. Since we have not awakened ourselves, we need the guidance of a "Good Knowing Advisor". The late Chan master, Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua, the founder of Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, was one such advisor. His lectures and commentaries on the Hui-Neng's teachings have been compiled, translated, edited, and wonderfully presented in The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra.
With great humor, yet measureless depth of insight, Master Hua brings to life Hui-Neng's words by using countless examples and explanations that are relatable to our present states of mind, body, and environment. With an uncanny ability to explain the feelings and intentions of the characters of the sutra, he animates the antique and often rigid text of the sutra. In places where the student of Hui-Neng, Bhikshu Fa Hai, the compiler of the sutra, has shortened, edited, or not fully captured the interaction of the people nor strength of the Patriarch's teaching, Master Hua fills the sutra with clear and understandable explanations of the meaning of the "sudden" teaching, in relation to the needs of the people at that time.
Among many quoted teachings of Hui-Neng, Master Hua elaborates on the meaning of the famous four-line verse in response to Dharma Master Shen-Hsiu:
"Originally, Bodhi has no tree,Do we understand this? This is an expedient teaching, one of many, that Master Hua explains in a clear and cutting manner. Throughout the book, his commentaries continually point to the heart of realizing Buddhahood, ending affliction and cultivating compassion. In explaining the method of such a realization, he explains what "sudden" means, and what we must do with our minds, within our minds, to understand who the Buddha is. "Buddha is Mind," and to understand this mind, he says that we must "turn inwards the light to illuminate the self-nature." Instead of chasing after things in our environment by continually seeking to please the body, by attaching to our dreaming thoughts, topsy-turvy and deluded, we should look inward. "The difference between confusion and enlightenment is just in knowing how to turn...although you are extremely far off, one turn can be sudden enlightenment. Sudden enlightenment is awakening. Awakening is the Buddha."
The bright mirror has no stand,
Originally, there is not a single thing,
Where can dust alight?"The 6th Patriarch Hui-Neng said that ultimately, "Dharma is not sudden or gradual. Rather it is people who are sharp or dull. Hence the terms sudden and gradual." Because we all have different abilities to understand and different obstructions in our minds, great teachers can comment on a sutra in a million different ways, so that we may understand. In The 6th Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, Master Hsuan Hua straightforwardly presents the Dharma so that we may cut off and transform our ignorance and realize Buddhahood right away.
I'm not enlightened yet, so I will gladly read this book again and again. I hope you find benefit from it as well.
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