Saving ourselves

Happiness depends on yourself

What to believe?

words on how to change the world

Words of wisdom from Dalai Lama

Some times it takes courage to try something new. 

Listen with an open heart, and you may learn something new! 

[Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian’s Book of wisdom] Mind And Spirit Reformation

[悟覺妙天禪師開示集]心靈改革

修行印心禪法淨化心靈，就是心靈改革最直接，最迅速、最有效的方法。

每位同修從心裏淨化自己，對於社會、人與人之間多付出愛心，關懷多餘責備，讚美多於批評，與人無爭多禮讓，與世無爭多寬容，無忌妒人之心，無仇恨人之心，無報復人之心。凡事少感情用事，多理性思考;多培養慈悲心、公德心，多遵守社會秩序和法治，不因個人過度自由去侵犯別人應有的自由，時時多尊重別人，處處多接受別人的建言，萬事退後一步想海闊天空，多給人留餘地，多給人留空間。給人留餘地、空間，就是給自己留餘地、空間，這就是「心靈改革」！

文字出處：http://www.zen.org.tw/web/teachings_detail.php?id=327

圖片出處：http://www.bp123.cn/qq/QQdaima/20078558.html

Practicing Heart Chan Dharma is the most effective way in reforming our mind and spirit. Each practitioner purifies him/herself from heart by  the practice of purification in daily life; though being benevolent, respectful, and open-minded toward others and the society. Being rational rather than being emotional, praise more than criticize. No jealousy, hatred, and revenge. Being thoughtful of others as leaving more space for oneself. This is the reformation of our minds.

Content: http://www.zen.org.tw/web/teachings_detail.php?id=3276

Picture: http://www.bp123.cn/qq/QQdaima/20078558.html

Who's to blame?

search for the solutions within! Lets stop evaluation other people and evaluate ourselves! 

God has no religion

Things to think about! 

What is religion? 

What is God?

Have you found your way?  

How is the egg broken?

Find our inner potential by "focusing on within"! 

Only though meditation can we cultivate and break our shell from an inside force! 

喜歡與愛有什麼區別？The difference between love and like

有人問了佛 Someone asked the Buddha 
喜歡”與“愛”有什麼區別呢？ How to distinguish "like" from "love"

佛指了指一個孩子，只見孩子站在花前，久久不肯離開，最後孩子被花的美丽迷醉，不由的伸出手把花摘下來。
The Buddha pointed at a child. The child was standing in front of a flower. The child was memorised by the flower and stood there for a long time, unconsciously the the child held out his hand to pick the flower. 

佛說：這就是喜歡。
Buddha: This is like.

接着，佛指了指另一個孩子，只見孩子滿頭大汗的在給花澆水，担心花被烈日晒着……自己站在花前。 
Next the child pointed at another child. This child's forehead was covered with sweat. The child was watered the flower while standing in front of the flower was blocking the strong sun from shining on the flower. 

佛說：這就是爱。 Buddha: This is love.  
喜歡是為了得到 Like is to take (receive something)

而愛却是為了付出，這就是最本質的區别。Yet love is to give. 
That is the fundamental difference. 

花若盛開，蝴蝶自來！
When the flowers bloom, the butterflies will gather. 

你若精彩，天自安排！

If you have depth, the heavens will give way.

[Translations] Overcome Hard Times with Wisdom 用修行的智慧克服低潮

用修行的智慧克服低潮

【悟覺妙天禪師開示集】用修行的智慧克服低潮
人一生不是都很順利的，有時候，受挫折得很厲害，被人家打擊，事業失敗，感情被摧殘，如果你有修行，你可以看得開，放得下，你知道這是無常，人間本來就是這樣。
人心的這一面是黑暗的；人性的那一面是光明的。如何讓人心通達人性？能夠讓人心的黑暗接受到心性的光明，那才是真正的福報。
修行就是這樣，養成定力之後，有辨別是非的能力，過了若干年後，你會發現自己在某一方面比一般人要強很多，你的意志力，你的生命力，你的見解力，你的計劃，你的工作能力，各方面的表現，超人一等，這個力量是從智慧產生的，不受環境左右。

                                                       

English Translation:

Life is not always smooth. Sometimes, there are setbacks, defamation, failure in business or relationships, but if you have a spiritual practice, you can get over it and let go because you know everything in life is impermanent, and that’s the way life is.

One side of the human heart is dark and the other bright. How do we connect our heart to humanity? Being able to have the brightness in humanity shine on the dark side of human heart is the real blessing. 

This is the way of spiritual practice. After you have cultivated your Ding (Deep focus), you obtain the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and without a few years, you will find yourself a lot stronger than average people in some aspects; your willpower, your vitality, your perspective, your plans, your performances at work, will be comparatively superior. This power is generated from wisdom and un-wavered by ones surroundings.

~Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian 

「若以色見我 以音聲求我 是人行邪道 不能見如來」Witnessing Buddha

                    During yesterday class Shifu explained a famous gatha(verse) of "Diamond Sutra". 

「若以色見我 以音聲求我 是人行邪道 不能見如來」

The rough English translation version of it.....

"Whoever saw me through forms or through sounds are on deviant paths

and will not be able to witness Buddha" -- Buddha

Buddha(Enlightenment) cannot be seen with naked eyes.  

The World of Chan by Chan Master Wujie Miaotien

The World of Chan
By Chan Master Wujie Miaotien
Translated by Zen Meditation (facebook) 
The World of Chan is the world of truth, goodness and beauty. To reach the world of Chan, one must possess the spirit of transcendence to go beyond the afflictions of spirit, material and arrive at the Pure Land of the mind. By the transcendental wisdom, one is freed from all ignorance and surpass all knowledge. After acquiring the power of super-wisdom to transform oneself into the Pure Land of the mind, there is the world of truth, goodness and beauty and the forever rebirth in the land of Buddha and the heaven.

There are three changes in the state of Chan. One is the material world that can be perceived by eyes, like, you can see me and I can see you. The phenomena is the material world. Material world is also the world of physiology that encompasses the activities of the five senses, like sight, hearing, and thoughts. These are the sensations from the material world. Therefore, when one is very emotional, one will insist and be obstinate to the extent of being extremely unreasonable, believing only his or her opinion is right and others are all incorrect. This is the emotional world and is the world of forms.

Second, the world of the mind is the world of knowledge. This world is rational and it belongs to the 7th consciousness, our sub-consciousness. This world of the mind can be acquired through learning and experience. After one acquires the particular knowledge and specialty, one’s spiritual life, quality and state is escalated. This is going from the world of forms, the material world to the formless spiritual world.

3rd is the realm of the spirit, which transcends psychology and is the realm of Chan school that directly points at the heart of a person, the original mind, the purist, ultimate and the original inherent life- the 8th consciousness, the alaya illuminating realm. The 7th consciousness is manas and the 8th consciousness is the world of samadhi, the world of undisturbed, and the world of the spirit. As to the world of the spirit, no matter which religion one follows, as long as one can practice to reach the world of the spirit, one then can control one’s life, know the change of the nature, which enables one to transform oneself, the whole universe, the society, country and even the whole world because one has the ability to predict and has the power that transcends time and space. The world of the spirit is the realm of wisdom- the utmost, non-surpassing world. The world of the spirit shows in meditation, which is the true form, the reality, the truth of the divine nature. This is the world of Chan which is to escalate to the world of the mind from the material world to the world of the spirit. Being from the 6th consciousness, to 7th consciousness, and to the 8th illuminating pure world is from the world of forms, to leaving the forms and to reach the world of formlessness and reality. This is the state of Chan. The one who reaches the state of Chan is very perfect and is a saint who turns from the ordinary and has reached the sainthood, which is the highest state and this person is prophetic, which is very important.

If the world is such, there will be no conflicts, only peace and happiness. It is a world of great perfection, truth, goodness and beauty. So, while one practices, after one knows the meaning of Chan, its categories, and its benefits, one needs to be aware of the direction of practice, to know how to meditate and practice in order to reach bhutatathata realm of Chan.

The Most Important in Practice is whether Or Not One Has Been Awakened

By Chan Master Wujie Miaotien
Translated by Zen Meditation 
If practices all lead to liberation and comfort, thus is to practice with wisdom. Modern people particular need to focus on practicing with wisdom because past and current age are rather different. There is too much pull force from the material world and many conditional changes, which carry all sort of pollutions and if we are not careful enough, our heart will be bound and be polluted. So we have to be especially aware of such a condition.

In practice, first, we should be awakened. First, ask yourself if you are awakened already. Why do you practice? If you come and practice because you are truly aware, you will never stop practicing as you have got what it needs: the correct dharma.

If you haven’t known why and you come because of others’ recommendation, maybe one day when you encounter misfortunes, you will think: I am practicing and why is there still such trouble? In fact, this is because you haven’t practiced till the state of enlightenment and therefore, are not relieved from burdens. Such is the cycle of cause and effect and the manifestation of karmic force.

Even though through practicing, a lot of karmic force can be canceled, one needs to be awakened. How? It is to know why we practice.

The reasons for every individual to practice can be quite different. Some come because of ill-health, and wish to be healed through practice or wish better health. Of course, practice can aid the mal-healthed to obtain health; however, this is not the ultimate goal. One should know to practice is to obtain more supra wisdom. One should never think practicing is being superstitious. Of course, a lot of religions are superstitious and that is not practice. they belong to local customs.

To Practice, Why Must We Meditate?

By Chan Master Wujie Miaotien
Translated by Zen Meditation 
Most people understand practicing at the level of consciousness, which is how most people know about practicing and think it is about cultivating oneself and changing one’s temperament; however, this cannot get one to leave the state as a man, and trailokya (desire, form and the formless realms). One can only be reincarnated within the realms of mortality. This way, by no means, one can ever achieve Buddhahood. The reason why the Honored One founded Buddhism was to enable sentient beings become Buddhas.

How to become a Buddha? According to the sutras, one must undergo three kalpas. It is generally believed that this means billions of years’ uncountable difficulties and it takes millions of lifetimes’ practice. In this case, of course, one can never achieve Buddhahood. And thus, this is the common people’s unenlightened point of view.

Three kalpas do not mean length of time but whether or not you can transcend obstructions physically and mentally instantly. If so, it equals to passing two kalpas. And if you can transcend time and space ( the obstruction from the sub consciousness- past lives), you can see your own Buddha-nature ( also called as self-nature, spirit, or the original mind)

The so called three kalpas refer to obstructions from the realms of immortals, which are the obstructions of the original mind. The realm of desire is the desire from the mind- the consciousness; the form-realm means the state of physiology; as to the formless realm is the sub consciousness after passing through the physical and the conscious.

Sub consciousness is an accumulated consciousness that overlays the illuminating spirit. For example, when you have something in your mind that you cannot let go of or memories from numerous past lives, they will be accumulated here where it is like a warehouse of memories that continues to store memory since the kalpas without beginning till now. Its change starts from the part that is closest to current and then retreats back. These changes cannot be seen or seized. It is called force of karma in Buddhism. And the obstruction it produces is karmic-hindrance.

Our nature is, by nature, a pure and illuminating entity; however, it has been overlaid by the screen of past karma and the original light is hindered. So practicing is to break through the three kalpas- body (physiology), consciousness (psychology) and screen of past karma (sub consciousness) and restore our original face of illumination.

Many practitioners are bound by hindrances of body, mind and the underlying memories (karma) from countless past lives so they cannot achieve bodhi.

How can one overcome the three hindrances? Only through meditation.

In meditation, one can transcend the physical, conscious and subconscious levels and directly enter the spiritual realm of wisdom. That is a world of illumination and cannot be imagined by human brain. Such world will appear only after entering samadhi.

So to practice, one must meditate. The kind of practice that does not involve meditation can only be counted as “cultivating one’s temperament.” Even though this is good, nevertheless, we shall not feel contented by it. We have to transcend this state so we can find our inherent wisdom.

Nowadays, Buddhism is quite popular. Many people learn Buddhism. But those that truly understand the doctrines of Buddhism are few. Most people think “to do no evil, to do only good, and to purify the will, is the doctrine of all Buddhas” means to “ not do bad things, do more good things and purify every thought. Yet, such an explanation is only restricted to the level of “purifying the will,” through which one cannot become a Buddha; thus, this is passive Buddhism.

Besides “doing no evil, doing only good, and purifying the will,” to “achieve bodhi” is essential to active Buddhism. As “the will” is only the activities of the five senses and the mind, which has not gone beyond the three realms of mortality, it therefore is not absolute. One must see bodhi, see one’s original mind in other words; this then is the true teaching of Buddhism. Nonetheless, the traditional method of practice cannot enable one to achieve the absolute. Many people still remain at the stage of following and upholding commandments

In fact, the “three studies” in Buddhism- commandments, meditation and wisdom, have taught us explicitly the importance of meditation and wisdom. Thus, besides following and upholding commandments, one needs to enter meditation, so can one witness wisdom in samadhi.

Why are there many practitioners who have been practicing for a long time but so few of them have achieved enlightenment? That is because they practice with knowledge, with “false-self,” so no matter how hard they practice, it is only knowledge. After the life is over, the Buddha dharma disappears with them. There is no way one can become Buddha through this way.

The goal of practice is to deliver the binds of the spirit. But since spirit is hidden, and intangible, how can one  practice? Only through meditation. Only in meditation can one be rid of the body and consciousness and directly enter the level of spirit.

The Heart- to -Heart Transmission Buddha Method is the practice method that directly points at the inherent nature and by witnessing Buddha nature, one becomes Buddha. It is a special way of transmission, which transmits through intuition rather than through words. It is not the “person” who practices; rather, it is a method of meditation that requires one to enter from mind to spirit.

The Heart Sutra says: Avalokiteshvara Buddhisattva practice deep Prajna Paramita, perceiving five skandhas all empty, which relieves all sufferings. Here, practicing deep Prajna Paramita means meditation, deep meditation. Avalokiteshvara Buddhisattva finds that in deep meditation, while the five scandhas are all empty; it is the time of the non-ego. All worries and pain are relieved. Avalokiteshvara Buddhisattva gains this pure divine wisdom in deep meditation and achieve the accomplishment of ultimate freedom.
To become Buddha, one must find the right method, and one who is a master, supreme master, dharma master, pastor or priest that has achieved buddhahood. As long as the person possesses the same power as Buddha or God, He then can help His followers to relieve all the karma and let His disciples have the power to transcend all kinds of obstacles stemming from the body and mind to furthermore, attain wisdom and let the rooted dusts become purified and be free.
If you can transcend the three realms, the chance of seeing your self-nature is rather big, for at this time, you already have a clear idea of the original mind. So, very soon, you can witness your self-nature. After witnessing the original mind, practitioners need to heed not to be fanned away by the eight winds ( i.e., gain; loss; defamation; eulogy; praise; ridicule; sorrow; joy). One should stay at the level of knowing the unrealities of things and enter even deeper meditation. As only through meditation can one firmly stay in the level of the nature of the Void or else it is very easy for one to recede.
In samadhi, one’s mind is firmer and the wisdom continues to grow. You will discover the light given out from self-nature; you will also know where this light is from, and you will pursue it and at the same time understand that everyone has the same spirit and light, and is all from the same life source. This nature of equality is dharma-nature.
When you witness the dharma nature, a heart of compassion will arise owing to “as being in one corpus; therefore, being compassionate.” At this time, whatever you think and do is that of a supreme bodhisattva. If one truly gets this kind of power and wisdom, it almost equals to half-way to reach the goal of enlightenment and it guarantees that one will achieve complete nirvana in this present life.

The Meaning of Chan(禪）

Quoted from the Book of Wisdom by Chan Master WuJue MiaoTian. 


"Most people think of Chan as 'sitting quietly' or 'sitting meditation.' This however is the external form of chan. The essence of Chan rests in cultivating the absolute wisdom in meditation and witnessing the absolute Truth with the absolute wisdom. "
adapted from "Chan and Its Life for Force," p. 114 




Chan Master Miao Tian's Book of Wisdom

Getting Ready for Meditation

Quoted from the Book of Wisdom by Chan Master WuJue MiaoTian. 

Below are Listed the basics of how to begin meditation.

1. Diet - don't eat that much!
2. Sleep - sleep when you should, and wake when you must.
3. Posture and Movement - "walk like the wind" and "stand line a pine"
4. Mind - focus
5. Breathing and qi - breath like a baby.


With reference to:
Chan Master Miao Tian's Book of Wisdom

Synchronisation through Breathing

Quoted from the Book of Wisdom by Chan Master WuJue MiaoTian. 

If you want to acquire true life force, you need to restructure your physical for first. 

The analogy is like this: if you want to watch TV shows in a foreign country, 

you need to get satellite TV first. 

With reference to:
Chan Master Miao Tian's Book of Wisdom

Anti-aging: Reconnection with Nature

If we can balance and harmonise our body's elements in the similar way that the body harmonises itself, we can slow down the process of ageing and restore the lost functionality of our body."

With reference to:
Chan Master Miao Tian's Book of Wisdom

Chan is the Wisdom of the Universe

Quoted from the Book of Wisdom by Chan Master WuJue MiaoTian. 

" Practicing Chan Meditation can witness this life force and wisdom. Further, Chan meditation can help us harmonise our body- a miniature universe, after all- in a way similar to the big universe harmonising itself.  "

With reference to:
Chan Master Miao Tian's Book of Wisdom