Ebook - Buddhism - Fundamentals of Meditation

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Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.

The Fundamentals

of Meditation Practice

By Ting Chen, tr. by Dharma Master Lok To

The Fundamentals

Meditation Practice

by Ting Chen

Translated by Dharma Master Lok To

Edited by Sam Landberg & Dr. Frank G. French

Transfer-of-Merit Vow (Parinamana)

For All Donors

May all the merit and grace gained from adorning

Buddha’s Pure Land, from loving our parents, from

serving our country and from respecting all sen-

tient beings be transformed and transferred for the

benefit and salvation of all suffering sentient be-

ings on the three evil paths. Furthermore, may we

who read and hear this Buddhadharma and, there-

after, generate our Bodhi Minds be reborn, at the

end of our lives, in the Pure Land.

Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada,

1999 — website: http://www.ymba.org/freebooks_main.html

Acknowledgments We respectfully acknowledge the assistance,

support and cooperation of the following advisors, without whom

this book could not have been produced: Dayi Shi; Chuanbai Shi;

Dr. John Chen; Amado Li; Cherry Li; Hoi-Sang Yu; Tsai Ping Chiang;

Vera Man; Way Zen; Jack Lin; Tony Aromando; and Ling Wang.

They are all to be thanked for editing and clarifying the text,

sharpening the translation and preparing the manuscript for

publication. Their devotion to and concentration on the completion

of this project, on a voluntary basis, are highly appreciated.

Contents

• Translator’s Introduction...................... 5

• The Foundation of Meditation Practice.. 9

• The Levels of Buddhist Discipline......... 16

• Preparing For Meditation...................... 19

• Regulating The Mind............................ 56

• Counting The Breath............................ 74

• Varieties of Ch’an................................ 81

• Glossary............................................... 89

Translator’s Introduction

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Originally, one’s own mind and nature are pure, and

there is nothing to accept and nothing to refuse; there

is neither existence nor non-existence; there is only

clear understanding without attachment and with no

dwelling. One who wants to know the no-attachment,

no-dwelling mind can find it through meditation,

because it is only then that the mind does not think of

right and wrong, of good and evil or of self and others.

If this seems obscure, then consider the following: The

past is already gone; when you do not think of it, the

thought of the past is gone, too. Then, there is no past

nor any thought of the past. Furthermore, the future

has yet not arrived. If you do not wish for nor seek

after it, the thought regarding the future vanishes.

Then, there is no future nor any thought about the

future. Finally, the present is already present. Without

grasping at it or dwelling upon it and without there

being any thought about it, the thought of the present

disappears, and there is no present nor any thought of

the present. The mind that does not dwell on anything

whatsoever is known as the True Mind or Original

Nature.

The non-dwelling mind is the mind of the Buddha, it is

the mind of liberation, it is the mind of Bodhi, and it is

the mind of non-birth. So, if you really want medita-

tion to come about, sit properly erect and close your

eyes. Then purify your mind, lay down everything and

think of neither good nor evil. Just observe your

thoughts. As you look for their place of origin, you

discover that they suddenly rise up and just as sud-

denly disappear, and that this process goes on and on.

Be patient and continue to observe them, and you will,

in time, know the thoughts to be devoid of any self-

nature; also you will, thereby, know original empti-

ness. Do not attempt to follow the thoughts, to trace

them in any way or have any intention of getting rid of

them, and, in time, awareness will manifest as your

mind illumines a thought. Then, there will suddenly be

a stillness that becomes suchness. At some point,

another thought will arise, and you will observe it in

the same way.

Do this at least once a day, sitting from fifteen minutes

to an hour. As your concentration deepens, your

thoughts slow down and diminish in number, and your

power of illumination increases until you eventually

find out that not a single thought arises. Then, there is

only stillness and voidness, for then the mind is clear

and pure. This is your self-nature as known directly

through wisdom (Prajna).

The subject of wisdom is Prajna, and the opposite of

Prajna is ignorance. Prajna illuminates the delusion

that is ignorance. With continued exposure to Prajna,

ignorance wears away bit by bit until there is a return

to self-nature, or pure mind. It is in this situation that

Right Thought manifests. There is no longer the dual-

ity of subject/object. This state is also known as no-

thought or suchness and is also referred to as the

inconceivable. When the mind is illumined and a

thought, as one ordinarily knows it to be, arises, it

dissolves instantly. Continue to practice in this way on

a daily basis, and you will notice your self-nature

getting steadily clearer and purer. Then there will be

no longer any need to observe, nor will there be any

purpose to observe. Indeed, there will be no longer any

need of any kind. It will be realized that mind is no-

mind, that no-mind is pure mind and that pure mind is

the true mind. At that time, the sound of discussion

and the role of thought will be finished. It cannot be

expressed in words, and yet it is as simple as drinking

water and knowing whether it is cold or warm. It is

called Sudden Enlightenment.

It is my express wish that this guide, based on the

meditation manual of Ting Chen, will prove helpful in

imparting the Dharma to its readers. In helping me

reach this goal, I wish to thank Sam Langberg and Dr.

Frank G. French, without whose help regarding fine

points in the translation and without whose editorial

acuteness this task might have proved too difficult.

May this work, then, help everyone to generate the

Bodhi Mind and never to regress.

Dharma Master Lok To

Young Men’s Buddhist Association of America

Bronx, New York

May 1999

(Buddhist Year: 2543)

The Foundation Of

Meditation Practice

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Why Meditate?

When you are caught up in the emotional upheaval of

greed, anger and delusion, you may find yourself

succumbing to some very real physical ailments; and

when you are ill, the world may seem to be a very

dismal place. That is not to say, however, that all of

our illnesses are due to extreme emotions. Exposure to

substances to which you may be allergic can alter

everything about you. It can cause violent mood

swings, depression, hallucinations and all sorts of

physical effects, including actual tissue damage. What-

ever the cause, disease is most often accompanied by

an assortment of disruptive emotions. Programs that

have been designed to make therapeutic use of relaxa-

tion methods and meditation have proved to be effec-

tive in curbing both the physical effects and the emo-

tions which accompany them. Yet, as beneficial as

they may be, such methods can take one only so far.

In the Buddhist tradition, meditation is used to defuse

the source of all the trouble-the illusion of self and

other. In Ch’an (or Zen), the aim is to overcome

thought and defilement. Having done this, and with

thoughts no longer stirring, the real substance of mind

becomes evident. Without thoughts and without the

illusion of self and other, greed, anger and hatred have

no place to arise; and the energy that was tied up by

those illusions becomes available, helping to provide

an overall improvement in health. That is why medita-

tion is called The Fundamental Practice.

The Psychophysiological Effects Of Meditation

The Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936),

emphasized the role that the cerebrum plays in physi-

ology. At first glance, one might assume this to be

merely a statement of fact, because that part of the

brain is usually thought to involve little else other than

thinking. Actually, it takes part in the production of

many hormones, both directly and indirectly. Every

aspect of a person is interrelated, and that is how and

why thoughts and emotions can have such far-reaching

effects. That is, however, also why meditation and

calm-inducing thoughts can be so stabilizing and so

healthy. One can safely assume, then, that most of

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