Nan Huai Chin - Working Toward Enlightenment

Master Nan Huai-Chin

The Cultivation of Practice

Master Nan Huai-Chin

SAMUEL WEISER, INC. York Beach, Maine

First published in 1993 by Samuel Weiser, Inc. Box6l2 York Beach, Maine 03910 Copyright© 1993 Master Nan Huai-Chin All rights reserved. No part of this pubUcation may b e reproduced in any form o r b y any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, without permission in writing from Samuel Weiser, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nan, Huai-chin Worl:ing toward enlightenment : tlhe cultivation of praclice I J-Tuai- Chin Nan. em. P· Includes index.

1. Spiritual life-Buddhism.

2. Buddhism--Doctrines.

l. Title.

8()4302�36

1993

294.3'444-dc20

93-13536 OP

ISBN 0-87728-776-7 EB

Translated by J. C. Geary Cover art is titled "Seeking the Tao in the Autumn Mountains,'' attributed to Chu-ja:n, Five Dynasties. Used by kind permission of the National Pala,ce Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Typeset in 10 point Palatino Printed in the United States of America

oF CoNTENTS

TABLE

introduction ........................................................., ................................. vii 1

The Path of Cultivating Enlightenment ...................................... 1

2

Mind and External Form

3

The Five Skandhas

4

Liberation from the Skandhas ..................................................... 57

5

A Talk

6

Further Lessons from The Lotus St/tra . .. . . ..

7

Cultivation through Refining the Breath

8

The Cultivation Path of Mindfulness ...................................... 131

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10 11

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T/1e Lotus Sutra

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Breathing and Various

Ranks of Cultivation A ttainmen t ............................................. 145 Refining the Vital Energy . . .

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Teachi n gs of the

Zen Patriarchs as a Basis for CuJtivation ................................ 179 12

Correctly Contemplating Mind

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Stories of Zen Enligh tenment ................................................... 223

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True and False Emptiness

·works Cited .

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Index

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279 283

SCANNED BY:

lNTRODUCTlON

Over the past few years, many books have appeared on Zen, Taoism,

yoga, Buddhism and the Tanbic teachings from Tibet. While many are

written by authentic practitioners, most have been written by dab­

blers, theoreticians, or simply reporters who know little of the great matter of mind-body transformation.

For instance, many of the materials presently available on the

Zen school treat Zen as i.f it were a collection of psyd1ological puzzles that need to be solved. While most authors on Zen greatly appreciate

the legacy of artistic refinement that has resulted from the influence oi Zen, they remain ob1lvious to the road of practice that constitutes

the heart of Zen, as well as the fundamental principles that form the

bedrock of Zen cultivation. You can hardly pick up ·a modern day work on Zen without being led astray.

Quite a few English translations of Taoist and Esoteric Buddhjst

classics have recently appeared as we.ll, but many of these give one the

feeling that cultivating the physical body and its esoteric energy struc­

tures is the path to enlightenment when this is only a means of laying

the foundation for approaching realization through investigating the

world of form. Unfortunately, the New Age movement prevalent

today has greatly misinterpreted these works. This has resulted in many people being led dow n false cultivation paths that go nowhere.

As to the classics left to us by Confucius and Mencius, even schol­

ars have trouble recognizing that these spend a great deal of time

disclosing the spiritual cultivation path to enlightenment, and were not simply philosophical works or manuals for moral behavior. They go into the actual details on methods of self-cultivation and the stages

of pract-ice involved in allaining realization. 1n these cases, most

Westerners have false pre-biases of these works and are antag011istic

to the idea of even investigating these oriental classics. Just hearing th.e

name of Confucius is enough; to go beyond tbls is a daunting task.

In this first series of lectures originally presented to students,

Master Nan Huai-Chin corrects many of these mistaken j10tions and

viii

I

Master Nan Huai-Cizin

actually explains how to follow these schools to cultivate toward enlightenment. In a step-by-step fashion, he moves from topic to topic, pulling together a wide variety of seemingly unrelated mater­ ial to expose the road of self-cultivation. Clearly delineated are the three stages of preparatory study, practice and realization that are essential for anyone treading the path to self-realization. Furthermore, in welding together the information from a wide variety of cultivation schools, Master Nan separates fact from fiction and corrects many of the mistaken notions in fashion today-especially the idea that culti­ vation is simply a psychological phenomenon. He discusses the proper method of cultivating the breath, cultivating the energy chan­ nels of the physical body, surmounting sexual desire, contemplating mind, surmounting the barriers to realization, studying the ancient records, matching one's experiences with modern science, examin­ ing one's behavior, understanding the Zen school, and so on. The material within is tremendous in its scope and application-much of it has never been seen before. Because of its breadth and clarity, no work of this kind has ever appeared before in the Chinese or English language. However new or strange it may seem to the seasoned reader of Zen material, they must recognize that this is Zen! Master Nan offers a priceless guide to anyone who really wants to understand Zen and Buddhism, and begin the task of mind-body transformation. The journey toward realization is the undertaking of a great task which entails more than just sitting in a room learning how to meditate silently or solve some ancient meditation koan. Master Nan points out that this pathway of study, effort and achieve­ ment is never apart from accumulating merit and striving to recover one's inherent wisdom. Although what is revealed may at first star­ tle one like thunder, the pathways he exposes are like arrows in flight sure to hit their mark. Nan Huai-Chin is a well-known teacher in Taiwan and in main­ land China, and some people consider him to be a modern Manjusri or Tsong-kapa. Master Nan is still relatively unknown in the West because his many published works have not been translated into English. He was first introduced in Tao and Longevity, a book trans­ lated by Dr. Wen Kuan Chu. This book was well-received by serious students of the subject, and is now available in German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The present vo lume, Working Toward Enlightenment, was first presented in Chinese as a series of lectures and was so enthusiastically received that students asked that this

WORKING TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT / ix

material be made available to a wider audience. The more advanced lectures are soon to be published as To Realize Enlightenment and will take students on to the next stages of cultivation. Master Nan Huai-Chin has studied the Chinese classics, mod­ ern science, military strategy, and medicine. Some consider him to be China's only remaining Zen master, as well as a recognized mas­ t�r of Taoism and Esoteric Buddhism. He is an individual whose first principle has always been to test and prove all that dare speak about cultivation, including the claims of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, yoga, or the Tibetan schools, and so his words carry the weight of personal experience. The information presented here constitutes the result of his lifelong search for verification of cultivation claims. Thanks go out to the many individuals who participated in the arduous task of recording and editing Master Nan's original lectures in such a way that they could be produced in book form. In this regard, special thanks must go to the Lee family who supported this project and to J. C. Cleary, who had the task of translating this work. Producing translations of this type of material is always difficult at best and we are grateful for his wonderful efforts. Bill Bodri Hong Kong, 1993

1

THE PATH OF CULTIVATING ENLIGH TENMENT There is a story behind this book. An old friend, Mr. Xiao, came to see me. As he was about to leave, he asked me a question: "Shakyamuni Buddha left home when he was 18, and finally-much later, after years of effort-lifted his head, saw a bright star, and was enlight­ ened. What was it that he was enlightened to?" If it had been someone else who had asked this question, it would not have had any great importance. But Mr. Xiao has been studying Buddhism for many years, so when he raised this question, it was no ordinary matter. According to what is recorded in the scriptures and the tradi­ tional accounts, as soon as Shakyamuni Buddha was born, he was already equipped with an extraordinary natural endowment. Because he had cultivated enlightenment practices through past lifetimes over many eons1 as soon as he was born in this life, various kinds of aus­ picious things happened. He renounced his princely position and left home, and for twelve years he sought enlightenment. Everyone should pay attention to these twelve years, because it is very easy to pass over them lightly. At the moment, we will emphasize the twelve years when Shakyamuni Buddha cultivated various religious practices. At that time th�re were many Indian religious sects that had been in exis­ tence for quite a while, each with its own methods of cultivating prac­ tice. Shakyamuni Buddha fully studied the various kinds of ascetic practices and used various methods to cultivate and refine himself. He was not like present-day students who study Buddhism and who vacillate back and forth, paying homage to one teacher after another, going from one conventional formulation to the next. Every time Shakyamuni took up a method of practice, he would study with com­ plete sincerity and dedication, and do the necessary work.1

1 The Chinese word kung-fu, translated here as "work," is a general term for many methods of self-cultivation and religious effort. It will often be trans­ lated here as "meditation work."

2 I Master Nan Huai-Chin

After Shakyamuni worked his way through all of them, he rec­ ognized that none of these methods was the true, ultimate way to enlightenment.2 At this point, he went into the freezing snow-covered mountains and practiced austerities. After six years, he also recog­ nized that austerities were not the path to enlightenment, and that it ·would be best to leave them behind. After this, he sat in meditation under the bodhi tree on the banks of the Ganges River and made a vow he would not arise unless he achieved supreme perfect enlight­ enment; if not, he would stay there until he died. After all these efforts, he one day looked up to see a bright star and awakened to enlightenment. Certainly everyone knows this story. I have told it again because I want to focus everyone's attention on it: I want everyone to know what Shakyamuni Buddha did during those twelve years, and how he cultivated practice. When we read his biography, we read only that he studied avrha-samadhi, "concentration without thought," for three years, and in the end, "realized it was wrong and abandoned it." We always overlook the fact that during these twelve years he earnestly cultivated practice. Let us first talk about what "concentration without thought" is. This is an ancient Indian method, which also existed in China and in every part of the world where people cultivated realization. It is the stage of "having no false thoughts." People who cultivate the path of enlightenment strive to master this particular state of attainment. For example, when all of us sit in meditation, can we or can we not reach the stage where we draw up our legs and we have no thoughts? We absolutely cannot do this. In fact, we often joke that there are only two kinds of people who can do this-people who have not yet been born, and people who have already died. Apart from these two kinds of people, there is almost no one who can accomplish this. Recently a fellow student from Belgium discussed this question of thinking and not thinking with me. We spoke of how Shakyamuni Buddha, after studying avrha-samadhi for three years, discovered that it was not the path to enlightenment and gave it up. It was not that he

2

The Chinese term

Tao

literally means "Path" or "Way," and is used with

different connotations in Taoism and Confucianism. In Chinese Buddhism, the word Tao can mean the path to enlightenment, or enlightenment itself, accord­ ing to the context.

WORKING TOWARD ENLIGillENMENT / 3

had cultivated it without success, but that after he had successfully cultivated it, he abandoned it. Why? Because it is not the path to enlightenment. Because the text of the sutra is so simple, it is very easy for us to read past this and overlook it. In Buddhism there is a meditative state called the samadhi that is neither thinking nor not thinking. This term is very beautiful. "Not thinking" means that it is not our common customary world of thought. But "nor not thinking'' does not mean that it is thinking. If we must describe it, we might say that it is a kind of spiritual feeling that transcends thinking. At present there is something called "transcen­ dental meditation" but in reality this is by no means the same as this "nor not thinking." The word samadhi has two entirely different meanings; "the samadhi that is neither thinking nor not thinking," and "the samadhi without thinking." The latter means totally obliterating thinking. The term, "neither thinking nor not thinking" means "absolutely with­ out thoughts," but it is not like not knowing anything at all, as in samadhi without thinking. It is not a kind of meditation work that is without awareness and without spiritual feeling. "The samadhi that is neither thinking nor not thinking" was advertised at the time of Shakyamuni as the highest method of cultivation. In three years' time, Shakyamuni Buddha reached this realm, but he discovered that it was not the true path to enlightenment, so he abandoned it. On the whole, these are two very important points in the account given in the scriptural biographies of the course of Buddha's cultivation. Why don't the scriptures mention any other forms of cultiva­ tion? The reason is that the effort and the effects involved in these two kinds of cultivation already include many of the methods of cul­ tivating practice in the world, and these are very important methods. That's why it was not necessary to relate in detail any of the other studies cultivated by Shakyamuni Buddha. For example, before Buddha studied the path to enlightenment, he had attained the lofti­ est levels in his studies of mathematics, martial arts, and literature. After he left home, he perfected his study of these two most lofty methods (the samadhi without thought, and the samadhi that is nei­ ther thinking nor not thinking), but he recognized that these were not the true path to enlightenment. In reality, if you are really able to accomplish these two forms of concentration and remain in them day after day without moving, then even if you are not enlightened, other people will still think that you are, and all kinds of disciples will gather around you.

4 I Master Nan Huai-Chin

Readers should note that Shakyamuni Buddha recognized that these are not the path to enlightenment, and at the time he could not find an enlightened teacher, so all he could do was go by himself into the mountains to practice austerities. Every day he ate only a piece of . dried fruit, so naturally he became emaciated, to the point that he barely looked human any more. By practicing like this, Shakyamuni wanted to find the real truth. But after six years he realized that aus­ terities are not the path to enlightenment either, so he came down out of the mountains. When Shakyamuni Buddha reached the banks of the Ganges River, a shepherd girl offered him some fine milk curds. Because he accepted them, the five attendants sent by his father abandoned him. They left because they thought that Buddha had abandoned his will to cultivate practice. Later on, these five men were the first to be deliv­ ered by Buddha at the Deer Park,3 and became his first great disciples. When Shakyamuni accepted the milk curds from the shepherd girl, everyone thought he had retreated from the path-that he had backed out. The men following him withdrew, because at that time in India everyone thought that one who left home to cultivatl' the path must practice austerities. There is one point that we must pay attention to! Buddlw saw the bright star and awakened to enlightenment only r he had accepted nourishment and recovered his physical slrenglh. This is why I always alert the people around me to pay particular