A clear explanation of Zen in one sentence: What is the reason why you cannot calm down while meditating?

The past is as dead as yesterday,

The future is not alive yet.

There is no intention for the situation at present,

One thought is clear and empty.

As for meditating, it is hard to sit even if you talk about it. What is the reason why it is hard to sit? The reason why it is hard to sit is that you are not determined to give up. The mind comes to calculate and meditate. Hey, will I reach that result after certain efforts, methods, and processes? It’s like when we go downstairs and take a car, passing through this road, that road, the cloud road, the fog road, and when we reach the end, we will have the fruit of Arahant, there will be liberation, there will be the ultimate fruit of the Tao, and we will definitely realize the fulfillment of this meditation, no must.

So we are so scheming and opportunistic. I have been sitting there for three days and I still have nothing. I have no epiphany or enlightenment, no magical powers, no waves, and no reading. When I arrived at the incense, I didn’t even see the Bodhisattva coming to rub my head. On the fifth day, forget it, I'm not suitable, I'd better leave. When we meditate, we cannot really sit well because of this. What is the reason for not being able to let go of the temptation and being completely determined? Why pretentious?

Student: Have desires and desires.

Teacher: Having desires, seeking, seeking liberation, and seeking the fruits of enlightenment are all virtuous desires. Without the supervision of virtuous desires, we would not embark on this path of cultivation. Therefore, at a certain stage, this desire for good Dharma needs to be encouraged and supported, so it cannot be said to be a problem.

Disciple: eager for quick success.

Teacher: The desire for quick success and instant benefit only refers to the three seals and methodology. Should I use one for one, or one for ten thousand, one for ten thousand, one for thousand, or one for two? It is just a matter of methodology. I am eager for quick success and instant benefit. Not the fundamental problem.

Disciple: ignorance.

Teacher: Ignorance is a purely Buddhist term. If you beat everyone to death, we will no longer be able to talk about it. In fact, it does stem from ignorance. Because ignorance covers the level of cognitive wisdom, we don’t understand what the system of meditation is, what the results of meditation will be, and the ultimate path and fruit. What will happen, so I don’t know. Because we don’t understand, the wisdom without a teacher, the wisdom apart from the teacher, and the wisdom of nature are not present. Wisdom without a teacher means wisdom without a teacher; wisdom without a teacher means self-knowledge without a teacher; natural wisdom arises naturally. When a person meditates to a certain stage, he has no teacher anymore, but he arises naturally. Is there any way to deal with the current problem? It cannot rise, so there are all kinds of motives, confusion, and doubts. So those of us who have participated in Zen Seven will know that our method is to make you understand and make you stupid, right? Neither goals nor thoughts will work, I won’t give you answers, I’ll kill them all. This is called forcing.

We have participated in the meditation practice of Theravada. Like a patient old lady, she will tell you the methods, steps, patience, patience, patience, practice, practice, practice, patience, patience. , Patience, that’s all in the end, so the Southern Tradition is another meditation system. It tells you that all these theories and methods are given to you first, and then what appears in the middle is patience, patience, and the antidote is Anija (impermanence), Anija (impermanence). Is there any problem? I feel confused and can’t sleep because meditating causes hiccups. I tell you impermanence, impermanence, Anija, Anija, I tell you impermanence, impermanence. Don’t take it seriously. It has only one method.

Then the Tibetan tradition is more interesting. The Tibetan tradition will not tell you these things, but will give you a pile of seven bottles and eight treasures. If you want this, you want that, and then they will add them to you. Jia Jia, so we Buddhist practitioners have something called "poor Zen and rich tantra". Do you know what it means? Zen Hezi is a poor man, he just wears clothes and is fine. Wherever he goes, he sits cross-legged and is called poor Zen. Fumi, I can’t do it any more. I have to offer incense, flowers, lamps, and fruits in the morning. That’s not all. It’s just for food. Then, in terms of utensils, gold, silver, clams, glazed agate..., and then the food should be made into various patterns, and then the food should be sculptured like this, which is used every day. So he tells you, life, add, add, add, add to you, what is it called in psychology, the saturation effect, right? When it reaches a certain level of saturation, click, let it all go, the great round consciousness, so it is called the great At perfection, everything is empty, and we have returned to the level of the poor monk, and to the level of the poor Zen monk, so we reach the same goal through different paths.

We have all sat down, so just sit down. No matter what questions you have, in fact, all the questions are like the question of whether I will eat three steamed buns or two steamed buns today. Wait until he comes back. If you eat three for five years, eating four is no longer a problem, right? So our practice is the same. It’s what we think is the confusion in practice that we can’t get over, the problems that block us and prevent us from going deeper into meditation. The problem of eating only half a steamed bun today will only be a problem of 0.75 steamed buns tomorrow. So, there is no high or low, no big or small, for the time being it does exist, don’t take it seriously, the antidote is don’t take it seriously. But it does sometimes require adjustment from the physical level, from the psychological level, and from the spiritual level.

Actually, it is the same for everyone, whether you are a monk or a homebody, whether you have been meditating for a long time or you are new to meditation, there is always a question mark.

Twelve-character motto: "Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, enlightenment is pure, greedy, angry, and foolish, precepts, concentration, and wisdom."

The tools we rely on: "body, speech and mind." So what is used as an experiment in meditation? Isn't this like a flask of a chemical experiment? We are all flasks. Whose body, speech and mind should we use? Should we use the Buddha's, others', or our own? It must be based on our own body, speech and mind. The various chemical reactions that occur in our body, speech and mind. What are our original chemical reactions called? Habit! Or habit! What kind of operating mechanism is it? Is this right? What is it called? In Mahayana theory of belief, initial awakening, and original awareness, are they in a state of unconsciousness? This is inherent in us, that is, innate. If we operate completely in such a mode, then this is the time of the secular world. Or in the secular world.

Little apprentice: It’s just normal life.

Teacher: Hey, yes. In such a circle. Then we start, isn’t this unconscious? Then what are we going to do? Through listening, thinking and cultivating, listening can, right, thinking, you can think, and then practice, practice has entered into this, so what is still established at the level of listening and thinking is religious emotion, so it is emphasized Believe, so in this case, you still need to listen and think about the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and want to understand.

But when we are about to enter the stage of cultivation, what level should we start with? It is practical, or experiential, so it enters what Buddhism calls: the practice system, and it enters such a system. So where does the system of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, that is, the system of precepts, concentration, and wisdom enter? If we have practiced the system of practice and witness, how can we do without the system of faith and reconciliation? Therefore, belief and understanding are very similar to hearing and contemplating the Tao. The precepts, concentration, and wisdom are from "unconsciousness" through hearing, hearing, contemplating, and practicing the Three Jewels of Buddhism, Dharma, and Sangha, and then entering into the practice of precepts, concentration, and wisdom. What will happen in the middle? Because what is this experimental vessel? Body, speech and mind. There will be various symptoms and reactions. For example, if you have a long-term illness, then you see a doctor and take medicine, and then the illness comes like a mountain, and the illness goes away like a thread. Isn’t it exactly the same principle? So why can’t you meditate wholeheartedly? If you have been sick for too long, you always think that a god will give you a panacea that will cure your illness immediately. Is this the same mentality?

Anyone, no matter which sect you study, no matter whether you are an Easterner or a Westerner, you all have the same heart, the same heart, the same emotions, the same principles! So there is no need for us to laugh at others for being so stupid or foolish, nor can we look down upon these people. People who are obviously stupid, you can't do that, why? Because after all, we ask our hearts, interrogate our own hearts, study things to gain knowledge, and ask our own hearts. It is still the same at this level. We still want to find a panacea that can quickly cure the disease. However, we never realize it. When you reach enlightenment, you will become enlightened through differentiation. What does differentiation mean? Section by section, so what are all the Buddhist precepts called? Different liberations, one practice each for liberation, one for each and one for each, and the Buddha is the Buddha. The "enlightenment for each individual" or the partial realization of the "ultimate awakening", so the various symptoms and problems that appear in the entire time process are Isn’t it just a problem of meditation and its treatment, so it is a problem of meditation and its treatment.

Therefore, a good meditation method is exactly the same as making soup and cooking. People know the heat. Today we sit very carefully. After finishing it, we basically don’t want to get up tomorrow. I am a little tired from sitting today. There happens to be an outer edge that is very irritating, so let’s stop, relax, and then stop. This is the adjustment. Eat something delicious. In the morning, we can sit down happily and refreshed, so we have to so.

Because we are experimenting with our own body, speech and mind, we must know the time, mode and quantity.

Knowing the time, is now a suitable time for meditation? Or is it not a good time to meditate? Take this moment in front of you, is it suitable or not? Suitable! There is no noise, no sun, no strong wind, and it is not very hot. This situation is suitable. Zhijie, we will be in the third quarter later. Are you a little tired now that we are entering the fourth quarter? Regarding the amount of knowledge, even though we have all meditated before, because we haven’t meditated intensively for a long time, you cannot grasp this amount well. If you want to sit, sit with this incense stick for 15 minutes. Hey, you will feel very comfortable when you sit there. If you stop and do other things immediately, you will feel very comfortable again. It is the adjustment. So in the future, you will organize Zen Seven by yourself in the same way. You must know the adjustment. , so that his restless mind will be dissolved before it arises, and his unwholesome dharmas will not arise before they arise, but as soon as they have some signs of irritation, they will not arise before they arise. That's how it is to die quickly, so we say know the time, know the festival, and know the amount.

Then we have a complete understanding of the method of meditation and the ultimate goal of attaining the purity of enlightenment. So this enlightenment of purity is realized by the Buddha for us? Or by listening and thinking about the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, practicing precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and correcting the body, speech, and mind, we can achieve the purity of enlightenment after the revolution of our own body and mind? Right, so it’s not the Buddha who brings us to enlightenment, or the Arahant who enlightens us for us, it’s us who achieve enlightenment ourselves.

So the key one is, "One word of knowledge is the door to all wonders."

Our meditation method is very simple. Sit, right? It doesn’t ask you to sit in a good posture. It doesn’t ask you to keep inhalation or acupoints. It doesn’t ask you to count your breaths. It doesn’t ask you to Anapana does not require you to recite sutras or mantras. There is nothing, so what are you doing? Sitting does not mean sitting stupidly. If it does not mean sitting stupidly, it means you have to have a thought, right? What is this thought for? Therefore, knowing one word is the door to all wonders, so you must know that I am sitting here, but I cannot grasp it. I know that I am sitting, but I cannot grasp it. I have to sit here for 37 minutes. If it is not enough, I will not sit down. Like the Buddha, if the 37 days have not passed, I will not be able to sit down. I will not sit down until the typhoon disappears and comes again, and I will not get up. It is of no use.

So you can’t be attached to it, you still need to know this good tune, tune your body, tune your mind, tune your breath, and master the perfection that reaches the middle level. Then you will know that you feel a little uncomfortable sitting there. , just twist and shake to make myself happy and relax, and then I feel that I can sit for five more minutes, then I can push myself harder and sit for five more minutes.

Sitting for a long time will lead to Zen, which does not necessarily lead to wisdom, but sitting for a long time will definitely lead to Zen. Why? Because all of our habitual reactions are greed, anger and delusion, but after I sit down, if you don’t subdue this habit of greed, anger and delusion, it will naturally fade away, right? If you don't subdue it, then you haven't deliberately cultivated the precepts, concentration, and wisdom. But if you sit here and you haven't deliberately cultivated it, it is natural. If you keep the precepts, it has been integrated into it, and you will slowly cultivate concentration. So It is not certain whether wisdom is opened or not, but precepts and concentration are already in this sitting. Therefore, the six perfections of the Mahayana Bodhisattva, namely generosity, precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and prajna, are the first five already integrated in this sitting? , so we need to understand the very simple meaning of Buddhism, the twelve-character mantra of the most simple meaning.

Little apprentice: It’s easy to say but hard to do.

Teacher: So it is very simple, but it is really difficult. If you really understand this system, it is indeed very simple.

Little apprentice: Even if you understand it, you may not be able to do it.

Teacher: But if you don’t do it, you will never get it right, so you have to go from one minute, five minutes to thirty minutes, to break through forty-five minutes, to break through to one hour, you If you have to sit still, your effort will gradually increase. I haven’t seen the young man for three days. My kung fu is getting longer and longer. Do you know what this sentence means? My kung fu is getting longer and longer. Kung fu is getting longer and longer.

Little apprentice: This lesson is the one I listen to most carefully. Master, you tell this like a story.

Teacher: Yes, in fact, Buddhism is just a story. Buddha passed away more than 2,500 years ago, and we can’t see him in person, so now we just listen to various records and legends. Then we have to understand what Buddha is about, so it’s like telling a story, and then we ourselves become the people in the story, right? If one day we accidentally see someone, there is a group of people, including Shanghai A little boy and a great monk were doing whatever happened in Fo Guang Shan. We became the characters in the story invisibly. It's possible, it's very possible, so you have to be careful.

Little apprentice: Be careful of becoming a legend.

Teacher: Asoka kowtowed to every monk and made offerings to him. The little novice was about six years old. But when it was his turn, he said you were too young and I couldn’t kowtow to you in front of him. He kowtowed to him in public, and he felt a little embarrassed because he was such a great king. Then the young novice said, "Your Majesty, please come with me to the room." The two of them quietly went indoors, and then the young novice said, "Your Majesty, look." When I saw the little novice sitting in the bottle, Asoka said, "Oh, that's great, I'll kowtow to you." The little novice said, "You can't let others see this." Ashoka originally said, I'll kowtow to you. You can't let others see you kowtow. As a result, the little novice is sitting in the bottle. How can he sit in the bottle? Meditate!

In response to your request, let’s see what to do about delusional thoughts?

Let’s look at our own delusions, which part is the most, and which delusion pulls you away the most when you are sitting. It goes without saying that it is the most, regardless of the size, good food, good drink, etc. Fun and enjoyable. The future, the past, envisioning tomorrow, looking forward to the future, remembering the past, remembering the past, envisioning the unknown, basically delusional thoughts, what else is there?

For example, when you came up in the morning and we were sitting, we suddenly heard their big loudspeaker. What is this? In the present, you should climb on whatever is available. This is when your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are pulled away by the present situation. It is called climbing, so it is in. After it is over, we will climb over, so it is called climbing. In your eyes The ears, nose, tongue, and body are deliberately listening. It shouldn't interfere, right? But it does interfere with us, and it's clinging to us.

Thinking, thinking sometimes turns into anxiety and doubt, which manifests itself in various ways, so all delusions are nothing more than thinking, if tomorrow doesn’t come, when will we go, and suddenly want to drink tea? , whether to drink red, green, Tieguanyin or oolong, I started to think about it, it was beautiful, my mouth watered, it was delicious and delicious, and then I thought about it, and made a careful psychological analysis, you want to go there Are there more good aspects, or are there more bad aspects? For adults, the bad ones far outweigh the good ones. For those who have not experienced the world, all they think is good. You understand, so if you can be a child, The heart is like this. If the past you recall is all good, the heart will be soft. So this is really different. We adults think about a lot of bad things. The current situation is It’s not that it’s unpredictable, but what about these, it’s because what we are doing is external, and the thoughts are internal, and there are other things. They are really thoughts that we don’t know where they came from. You It's simply impossible. It's neither memories of the past, nor anxiety about the future, nor current circumstances. It's just that some thoughts happen inexplicably. Those are sometimes karma. There's nothing you can do about it. As soon as you meditate Will give it some weird activation, but that's okay. So where do all these delusions, that is, the remembrance of the past, come from? Memory is a phenomenon. The five aggregates are empty. Color, feeling, thought, and awareness belong to the recollection of the past. Is that right? What aggregate does it belong to? Perception is the aggregate. Color is empty. Emptiness is color. Feeling is empty. Emptiness is... Feeling, thinking is empty, and emptiness is thinking. We just think, but we don’t understand its function. So no matter what happened in the past, why does it still interfere with our current thoughts? It’s like floating up. Well, it will emerge naturally, and what is the name of the one that emerges from us? Our karma will continue to be processed, further studied, and brewed, with its own value judgments and choices. That thing is wrong, this thing is right, what will happen if this person meets again, and what will happen if we don't see him again? In this way, are they all derived from these? You start again, what is reincarnation? Is this what reincarnation is? It has been reincarnated in your thoughts. Sometimes you think about what happened in the past very clearly, class reunions, Very, very profound.

Suppose when we are sitting, for these thoughts that have passed, if a dead person will still have these things, that is, this is an intention, and it must be intentional, it is an action. Intention, you have to do it in one thought. If a dead person does not have these, the Zen master said: "Yesterday's various things, such as yesterday's death," in the past, such as yesterday's death, there are no such value judgments, such as grudges and grudges. Isn't it just a stroke of a pen, the bicycle mortgage loan contract, the house loan... are all written off in one stroke, so the delusion in the past is the antidote to the thought.

Things in the past, such as death yesterday, and the future has not yet come, does it not exist in the first place? It has not happened in the first place, and if you think about it, is it just random thinking, regardless of your plans? No matter how good the plan is, if it doesn't happen, is it all delusion? So before the future comes, what is it originally? Is it true that there is no birth? Therefore, there is no birth before the future. "The past is just like yesterday's death, and there is no birth before the future!"

What about the current situation? The Six-Character Tantra Sutra says: If If the mind does not have any thoughts about the environment, how to meditate and how to meditate, if the mind is immovable internally and externally to the environment, if the mind does not have immobility thoughts, then no matter what circumstances arise at the moment, they will not interfere with us? Therefore, if the current object does not give birth to the mind, the mind will be dead if there is no living environment, and the state of mind will be empty. Since the delusions from the past, future, and present have all disappeared, your present heart will be empty without your current heart. This death is a death of escape, not a death of death, a death of death. It does not mean death, so now you no longer have this thought, and you no longer have this heart. How can a thought be clear? It appears before you, so to treat delusional thoughts, you don’t need to chant sutras, chant mantras, or count breaths, or any conditioned method. It’s just an intention, which is a thought to stop delusion. Use this intention to stop delusion. Get rid of all these arrogances, and then gradually change the habits formed in the past, like mutton kebabs, delicious food, and then become scattered, from regular troops to guerrilla troops, to stragglers, and then your righteous thoughts strengthen, you Starting from a straggler, mindfulness begins to find a balance. At least both parties are balanced. In the end, this delusion becomes a straggler and is broken by your whole body. Therefore, this meditation method is very unique. If you can use it, it is all a matter of thought. , a matter of a thought.

So to understand this, let's write a limerick, "The past is as dead as yesterday, the future has no life before it comes, the present situation has no intention, and a thought is clear and empty." Right, you This clear thought has an emptiness, so this ethereal emptiness is not empty. Understand this and work hard in this way. Therefore, to deal with the delusional thoughts and lethargy that appear in these meditations, we can deal with them little by little. When there is no more drowsiness and delusion, can it be direct? I cannot say that it can be done directly, but at least it will go deeper and deeper into the core of meditation, so a boring and boring meditation will become flavorful. The taste is empty, just experience it slowly.

So there is no need to recite sutras or mantras. What are those methods called? Substitution and transfer methods, but I really have no choice but to substitute. The Buddha's name is thrown into the chaotic mind, and the chaotic mind has to be calmed. Alum is thrown into the fried dough sticks, and the fried dough sticks have to be rolled. That's how the great patriarch described it. Jewels are thrown into turbid water. , the turbid water has to be purified, the Buddha's name is thrown into the confused mind, and the confused mind has to be clear. Not necessarily, it's still rolling. So this method is to completely annihilate emptiness with emptiness, and annihilate existence with existence. This intention can be said to exist, but it will perish as soon as it arises. You should not deliberately attach to this, right, so this is to annihilate emptiness with emptiness. When Buddha comes and demons come, demons come and demons are killed. Buddhas and demons do not exist. All the ways to eliminate troubles are swept away. This is Zen.