Buddha’s Light Newsletter

April 2010 Issue 32

I.B.P.S. at Chicago / 佛光山芝加哥禪淨中心 1 www.ibpschicago.org 9S043 State Route 53, Naperville, IL 60565 Email : bliachicago@yahoo.com TEL: 630-910-1243 FAX: 630-910-1244

HHHsssiiinnnggg YYYuuunnn’’’sss CCChhh’’’aaannn TTTaaalllkkk

Looking at you with blinking eyes Ch’an Master Yang-shan was trying to test Ch’an Master Chih-hsien’s understanding of Ch’an. Hence, he said to him, “Dharma brother, what have you gained from meditation lately?”

Chih-hsien answered, “Last year, I was poor but was not really poor. This year, I am poor and am really poor. Last year, I was poor, but I still had somewhere to stand. This year, I am so poor that I don’t even have anywhere to stand.”

Yang-shan said to him in reply, “Dharma brother, I admit that you have already penetrated into Tathagata’s Ch’an, but you have not yet entered the door of the Patriarchs’ Ch’an.”

In reply, Chih-hsien recited a verse:

I have a teaching,

Looking at you with blinking eyes.

If you don’t understand,

Don’t call yourself a student of the Path. Yang-shan was very content with Chih-hsien’s progress and went to report the incident to their teacher, Ch’an Master Kuei-shan. Yang-shan said, “How exciting! Dharma brother Chih-hsien has already entered the Patriarch’s Ch’an.”

Both Chih-hsien and Yang-shan were disciples of Ch’an Master Pai-chang.

During the T’ang dynasty, after the time of the Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, Ch’an underwent great changes. The first major change was initiated by Ch’an Master Ma-tsu Tao-i, who established forest monasteries to accept Ch’an practitioners from the ten directions so that they could practice as a community.

Later, Ch’an Master Pai-chang Huai-hai established the “Pure Rules” so that the

monastic community could dwell in harmony. His disciples disseminated his teachings and taught that one should not depend on written or spoken language, but instead, rely on the everyday mind, which was the Path to Buddhahood.

Hitting and shouting became accepted methods of teaching. The exchanges between teacher and student were concise and quick. These became the essence of the Chinese Patriarch’s Ch’an, which differed considerably from the Tathagata’s Ch’an of India.

“I am so poor that I don’t even have anywhere to stand” simply implies the non-clinging to the Tathagata’s Ch’an, while “Looking at you with blinking eyes” would be a representation of the Patriarch’s Ch’an.

Buddha’s Light Newsletter

April 2010 Issue 32

I.B.P.S. at Chicago / 佛光山芝加哥禪淨中心 2 www.ibpschicago.org 9S043 State Route 53, Naperville, IL 60565 Email : bliachicago@yahoo.com TEL: 630-910-1243 FAX: 630-910-1244

Fo Guang Shan Temple Visit -- Chris My visit to the Fo Guang Shan Temple was an illuminating experience that only deepened my admiration for Buddhism. Seeing Buddhism as it exists in the real world was an enormously valuable experience, and significantly contributed to my

grasp of one of its most important traditions. Reading about the practice of Amitabha Buddhism and seeing it in person are two completely different things, and as in any academic pursuit entering the field and experiencing the object of study firsthand is enormously useful in truly understanding it. There were several intriguing and occasionally perplexing aspects of this temple visit that deserve further elaboration, most of which exist in respect to my personal understanding of Buddhism.

I've had a fairly intense interest in eastern philosophy for the past few years, but in my continuing exploration of Buddhism no tradition has eluded me more than the Pure Land sect. Among Buddhism's many forms even the more esoteric variations are somehow easier to grasp than aspects of Amitabha Buddhism. This stems from the fact that in many ways it seems to directly contradict a significant portion of the Buddha's actual teachings.

The emphasis on faith, the idolization of the Buddha, rituals, prayer, and even the service itself seemed too far removed from the entire point of what the Buddha taught. Much of what I saw at the service initially enhanced my perception of this tradition as somehow having lost sight of the important truths of Buddhism. However between the fascinating video we watched in class the day prior to visiting the Temple and the service itself, I suspect that there is much more to this tradition than I initially gave it credit for.

The idea of the Pure Land in general is somewhat troubling to me, not only in its heaven-like qualities but in its tacit acceptance of some kind of transpersonal soul, both of which the Buddha clearly maintained did not exist. A significant portion of Buddhism's original attraction for me arises from its absence of faith-based beliefs, something I've personally never had much use for, though those at the Temple clearly disagree. We were instructed on the typical ways on which you may enter the Pure Land with a mixture of the usual teachings about repeating the Amitabha Buddha's name and avoiding extremely negative behavior.

While the adoption of these religious staples in Buddhism is certainly not unique to the Pure Land sect and is seen in numerous offshoots of Mahayana, at first glance this tradition seems particularly intent on them. However the more I learn about this particular tradition, and the more closely I really examined the service at the temple, the less confident I became about their actual belief in the Pure Land. The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra was prominently displayed in their book of chants, which seems to basically indicate that nothing exists. This was alongside warnings against accepting dogma in general, both of which quite

Buddha’s Light Newsletter

April 2010 Issue 32

I.B.P.S. at Chicago / 佛光山芝加哥禪淨中心 3 www.ibpschicago.org 9S043 State Route 53, Naperville, IL 60565 Email : bliachicago@yahoo.com TEL: 630-910-1243 FAX: 630-910-1244

directly defied my perception of the Pure Land as a sort of dogmatic belief.

I would have loved to really interview the laymen and the nuns about their literal belief in a heavenly place in which one can be reincarnated. The video we watched seemed to indicate to me that while the laymen may accept this literally like similar beliefs in other religions, the monks had a much more complex view of the Pure Land bordering on metaphor. Although I couldn't question the nuns at the temple about this, I wonder if they share this view. I couldn't stay for lunch and probably would have been too nervous to ask, though they seemed like extremely friendly and very approachable people. It's hard to imagine attending a religious service in this country without constant proselytizing, but they were clearly not trying to convert anyone. I have no doubt they would be entirely open to friendly conversation with nonbelievers, and they seemed generally happy to have us there.

The way the Venerable Manpou addressed the crowd was somewhat conversational in general, and initially reminded me of a typical church service, though it quickly gave way to something distinctly different: complex and lengthy chanting and singing. The extremely monotonous chanting of “namo Amitabha” became increasingly hypnotic. Just listening to it seemed to induce a trance state that somehow felt distinctly related to meditation. However this is to say nothing of the impressive minutes the entire temple spent in meditation. It's amazing to see dozens of people sit in complete disciplined silence for extended periods of time, particularly in any group setting. I imagine my reaction to this part of the service was similar to those around me, which is really a testament to the type of society we live in.

Despite my initial reservations about these deviations from traditional Buddhism, the temple service clearly had enormous value for both the

students and practitioners. It's remarkable how much Buddhism has evolved in the millennia since its creation, constantly evolving as it has spread around the world, picking up countless cultural and religious influences. It has clearly morphed into something quite different, and though perhaps Fo Guang Shan may seem somewhat removed from the Buddha's original teachings they were still fascinating to observe. With deeper reflection I've come to think this tradition maintains the true meaning of Buddhism through a different path. I suspect that if there's one thing the Buddha would oppose, it would be dogmatic adherence to even his own unaltered teachings. In this sense I've come to believe that the Pure Land sect is culturally updated version of Buddhism that is still compatible with the original Buddhist tradition. Truly striving to end suffering is what really matters, regardless of names and idiosyncratic beliefs.

Buddha’s Light Newsletter

April 2010 Issue 32

I.B.P.S. at Chicago / 佛光山芝加哥禪淨中心 4 www.ibpschicago.org 9S043 State Route 53, Naperville, IL 60565 Email : bliachicago@yahoo.com TEL: 630-910-1243 FAX: 630-910-1244

2010 Calendar April

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1

2

3 9am Yuan-Ji Dance

10am Kung Fu Class2pm Chinese for Kids

4 10:00am

Ching-Ming Memorial Service

5

6 7:30pm

Meditation

7

8 7:30pm

Dharma Study

(English)

9

10 9am Yuan-Ji Dance

10am Kung Fu Class2pm Chinese for Kids

11 10:30am Chanting Service

1:30pm BLIA Chicago

Choir

12

13

14 15

16

17

9am Yuan-Ji Dance10am Kung Fu Class

2pm Chinese for Kids

18 10:30am Chanting Service

1:30pm BLIA Chicago

Choir

19

20 7:30pm

Meditation

21 22

23

24 9am Yuan-Ji Dance

10am Kung Fu Class2pm Chinese for Kids

25 10:30am

Chanting Service Movie Time

2:00 pm Dharma Lecture

26

27

28 29

30

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