..續本文上一頁 Now alayavijnana is another term for citta. So the Lankavatara-sutra statement that the tathatagarbha is ”luminous by nature” and ”pure by nature” and that it is ”defiled by adventitious defilements” is tantamount to saying that citta (mind) is ”luminous by nature” and ”pure by nature”, and that it is ”defiled by adventitious defilements”. It is obvious then that the concept of the ”Ox-herding Pictures” is derived from Pali and Sanskrit sutras as well as from the ancient commentaries and that it was later elaborated into a set of graphic drawings.
The fundamental principle of Zen is evidently based on Satipatthana (Skt. Smrtyupasthana) common to both Theravada and Mahayana systems. The main purpose of zazen in Zen is the same as that of anapanasati in Satipatthana. In anapanasati one sits cross-legged and concentrates one”s mind on breathing in and out. At the first stage of its development in jhana (Skt. dhyana), passionate desires and some impure thoughts are dispelled and feelings of joy and happiness remain along with certain mental activities. In the second stage, all intellectual activities are suppressed, tranquillity and one-pointedness of mind developed, and the feelings of joy and happiness still remain. In the third stage, the feeling of joy, which is an active sensation, disappears too, while the disposition of happiness still remains in addition to mindful equanimity. In the fourth stage, all sensations such as happiness and unhappiness, joy and sorrow disappear, only pure equanimity and awareness remaining. Thus in the end the mind becomes completely free from any kind of thought or sensation or sentiment. Similarly, the principle of zazen is to sit cross-legged and concentrate one”s mind and to empty it till it becomes completely free from any kind of thought or sensation or sentiment.
A very significant point always emphasised as characteristic in Zen discipline is that one should live in the act, live in the moment itself, without worrying and disturbing oneself with thoughts of the past and future. A distinguished Zen teacher, questioned as to how he disciplined himself in the truth, simply said: ”When I am hungry I eat; when tired I sleep.” The questioner remarked that this was what everybody did and asked whether they could be considered as practising the discipline as he did. The teacher replied: ”No; because when they eat they do not eat, but are thinking of various other things thereby allowing themselves to be disturbed; when they sleep they do not sleep, but dream of a thousand and one things. This is why they are not like myself.”
This is precisely what one section of the Satipatthana Sutta called sampajana-pabha (mindfulness with clear comprehension) teaches. According to it, whether you walk, stand, sit, lie down or sleep, whether you stretch or bend your limbs, whether you look round, whether you put on your clothes, whether you talk or keep silence, whether you or drink, even when you answer the calls of nature - in all these and other activities - you should be fully aware and mindful of the act you perform at that moment. That is to say: you should live in the moment itself, in the present action, and should not be disturbed uselessly by thoughts about the past and the future. ( It should be remembered that in addition to this, the Satipatthana Sutta deals with many other forms of meditation constituting a complete system based on mindfulness.) Elsewhere, the Buddha when asked why his disciples were so radiant, he replied: ”They do not repent the past, nor do they brood over the future. They live in the present. Therefore they are radiant. By brooding over the future and repenting the past, fools dry up like green reeds cut down (in the sun).”
The origin of Zen is related in a delightful little…
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