CHAN: The Essence of All Buddhas

　　Lectures by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

　　Edited and Translated by the Editorial Committee of the

　　Buddhist Text Translation Society

　　In Memory of the First Anniversary of the Nirvana of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

　　and the Twentieth Anniversary of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

　　Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society, Dharma Realm Buddhist University,

　　Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 1996.

　　--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　When spring returns to the earth, the myriad things are born.

　　Smashing empty space to pieces, one is free and at ease.

　　One will never again become attached to self or others.

　　Although the Dharma Realm is vast, one can encompass it all.

　　Springtime is here, and our holding a Chan session is like when spring comes to the earth. The myriad things are born means you have the opportunity to become enlightened. The light shining forth from your own nature is compared to the myriad things growing in the spring. Smashing empty space to pieces, empty space has no shape or form; it is gone. At that point, one is free and at ease. You are truly free and independent. Never again will you become attached to self or others. There won”t be any people and there won”t be any dharmas; people and dharmas will both be empty. The attributes of self and others will both be gone. Although the Dharma Realm may be vast, but you can contain it entirely within yourself. One can encompass it all.

　　Now wouldn”t you call that great

　　 This is truly the demeanor of a great hero.

　　With Empty Space Shattered, the Mind Is Understood.

　　The phrase "Who is mindful of the Buddha" is a regal, precious vajra sword. It is also the phrase "sweeping broom" recited by Kshudrapanthaka. Someone may say, "Why is it called both a regal, precious vajra sword and a sweeping broom

　　 Since it is a regal, precious vajra sword, it can”t be a broom. Since it is a broom, it can”t be a regal, precious vajra sword." It depends which end you use. One end is a regal, precious vajra sword and the other end is a broom. One end, the regal, precious vajra sword, which can slice through gold and cut through jade, cuts through your emotions and severs your love. Being able to cut off ignorance and afflictions makes it a regal, precious vajra sword. The broom end is like your mindfulness of "Who is mindful of the Buddha

　　" Just as each time you sweep the floor it gets a little cleaner, so too, sweeping with "who" sweeps away a lot of your lust. What the vajra sword cuts through is lust and what the broom sweeps away is also lust. It”s your thoughts of desire, your emotional love, and other such problems. You can use the vajra sword to cut through all these unsolvable problems. As soon as you investigate "who

　　"¡Xthe heavenly demons and externalists cannot do anything to you. There”s no crack for them to slip through. That”s because you are holding aloft the wisdom sword that subdues the ten great demonic armies. All the various demonic armies in this world will be conquered. None of the demons has any way to deal with your "who

　　" If you forget to be mindful of "who

　　" then there is a hole where the demons can wriggle their way in. That can happen because you put down your regal, precious vajra sword and give rise to ignorance.

　　When you investigate "Who is mindful of the Buddha

　　" things may get vague. You keep on investigating, but you can”t find out "who

　　" Unable to find the "who," you give rise to a "feeling of doubt." Once this feeling of doubt arises, great doubt will bring great enlightenment. Small doubt will bring small enlightenment. No doubt will bring no enlightenment. Continual doubt will bring continual enlightenment. Brief doubt will bring brief enli…

《CHAN: The Essence of All Buddhas》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…