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English | Vietnamese Meditation is for Gathering in the Mind Venerable
Master Hsuan Hua Sitting
in Chan is a road that all cultivators must traverse. What's meant by
Chan? Chan, the Chinese transliteration for the Sanskrit term Dhyana,
means cultivation of reflection, and
stilling of thought. Because the Chinese people liked to abbreviate
foreign terms, they retained only the first word of the term Dhyana (Chan
na), and so the Chinese version reads, Chan. In
observing "da dzwo", sitting in meditation, one is
required to sit. Why does one have to sit? One sits in order to gather
in the mind. When most people first start to sit in meditation, their
bodies may be sitting there, but it's not known where their minds have
gone. The mind runs off with distracting thoughts, suddenly to the
East, suddenly to the West, suddenly to the North, and suddenly to the
South. Without having to buy a ticket, the mind hops on a rocket and
spirals into empty space. It's very difficult to control these random
thoughts that fly off to every direction. Why
is it that people don't have wisdom? Because their thoughts run
outside. Why is it that people age day by day? Because their minds run
after external things. It's like a new car: if you drive it
recklessly, you will expend a lot of gasoline and waste a lot of
gasoline. Not only that, your car will quickly develop many problems,
and you might end up totally wrecking it before long. The same
principle applies to our bodies. If you don't know to discipline and
regulate your body, but instead let it run around, then you end up
expending a lot of gasoline. What is this gasoline? It is your
precious energy. No matter how much gasoline you put into your car,
you end up wasting it if you drive it recklessly. You may eat
nutritious food every day, insisting that it can bolster your energy.
However, if you don't know how to cherish you own life force, then no
matter how much nutritious food you take in, you won't be able to make
up for the energy you squander. For this reason, there is a saying: If
the mind can be brought to a single focus Then
everything will be accomplished. You
must be able to draw back your thoughts, harness them so they remain
in one place. Then you won't be wasting your energy or depleting your
resources. This same principle holds true when driving a car. If you
know how to manage your car, to not have collisions or run into
accidents, then your car will be useful for a very long time. By the
same token, if you know how to regulate your body, then your body
won't age. In fact, it won't die! "I
can't believe that," someone says. "Everyone has to die.
Even Shakyamuni Buddha entered Nirvana. How can you say that our
bodies won't die?" You
should understand that the Buddha entered Nirvana at the end of his
teaching career, but he did not die like ordinary people. He entered a
state that is not subject to production and extinction, a state of
ultimate, perfect quiescence. The Buddha had already opened great
wisdom; he was liberated from birth and death. He was free to come and
go. He wasn't like most ordinary people who die from illnesses. The
Buddha had simply finished everything
he had to do, having saved all the living beings with whom he had
conditions and so he entered Nirvana at the end of his career. Before
he entered Nirvana, the Buddha summoned all the Bodhisattvas, the holy
sangha, arhats, bhishus, gods, humans, and other beings of the ten
directions, to the Dharma Assembly, so they could all say good-bye to
the Buddha. This shows that the Buddha clearly knew of his own comings
and goings. If you wish to know more about the situation, you can
investigate the Nirvana Sutra. The
purpose of sitting in meditation is to gather in our thoughts. It also
is to gather in the body, speech, and mind, so that those three karmic
vehicles are pure. When you sit in Chan, your body does not engage in
killing, theft, and lust; your mouth does not engage in lewd speech,
false speech, harsh speech, and divisive speech; and your mind does
not indulge in greed, anger, and stupidity. If your thoughts no longer
run outside, your mind and body will become peaceful, and that is the
beginning of investigation Chan. The aim of sitting in Chan is to
regulate your body and mind, so that your body will not experience any
illness, your tongue will not engage in unwholesome speech, and your
mind will not fall into fighting, greed, seeking, selfishness, and
seeking of personal advantage. Once the three karmic vehicles are
pure, your wisdom will manifest. Sitting in Chan is going back to the
source and retrieving your original wisdom so that it will emit great,
bright light. All
of you have come here to study the Buddhadharma. You should make time,
despite your busy schedules. Even if you have to go without a meal, or
make less money, still, you need to find time to study the
Buddhadharma. Bring forth your true heart, and then you will obtain a
response. If you consider eating to be more important than the
Buddhadharma, or making money as being more significant than the
Buddhadharma, then you will never manage to learn any Dharma. Instead
you should consider the Buddhadharma to be more vital and important
than any other thing. That is the basic attitude of every Buddhist.
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