An online community sharing the study and practice of Chan Buddhism

Translated by Upasaka Fa Jin

sprouting seed
Nakon što smo čvrsto uspostavili mogućnost da budu svjesni našeg disanja i svjesno izmjenjujemo ritam i dubinu našeg disanja, napravili smo prvi korak prema meditaciji. Važno je da ne prelazimo na ovu vježbu dok nismo savladali prvi korak. Kad sam prvi put počeo učiti meditirati prije više od 30 godina, nisam bio u stanju sjediti više od dvije minute. Biti sam sa svojim mislima bilo je mučenje. Naime, nakon tog jednog iskustva nisam se mogao natjerati da opet pokušam kroz slijedećih 5 godina! Biti psihički, mentalno i fizički spreman za svaki sljedeću vježbu je bitno za uspjeh, dok pokušavanje skakanja naprijed prije nego smo spremni, sabotirati će naše napore. 

 

Kad usredotočimo svoj um na nešto, to "nešto" se zove sjeme. Sjeme počinje kao nešto vrlo malo, ali kako ga njegujemo - zalijevamo, dobiva izdanke i pretvara se u nešto posve drugačije od sjemena od kojeg je rođeno. Fokusirajući se na disanje, na sjeme, um postaje svjestan sjemena. To je bio prvi korak.

 

Drugi korak je da potaknemo sjeme da niče, a za to ćemo nastaviti raditi s disanjem, pomoću pranayama vježbom pod nazivom Iscjeljujući dah. Pojam pranayama dolazi od sanskrtskog značenja produljenje disanja.  Tako ćemo uzeti naše sjeme i produžiti ga dok ne počne davati izdanke. Iscjeljujući Dah / Healing nreath/ se izvodi u tri dijela u pažljivo reguliranom uzorku, ili omjeru, u "1: 4: 2" redoslijedu: jedan udisaj (bojiš 1), držiš dah (brojiš do 4), i izdahneš (brojiš do 2). To znači da se disanje se zadržava za četiri puta dulje vrijeme od potrebnog za obavljanje udisanja, a za je potrebno dva puta dulje vrijeme od udisanja. Kada smo prvi put pokrenuli vježbu, počinjemo u omjeru koji slijedi 4: 16: 8, gdje svaki broj  traje oko jedne sekunde. Tada, kako dah postaje jači i izdržljiviji, možemo se premjestiti na omjer 6:24:12  a zatim i na 8:32:16, itd.

 

Kako vježbano s Iscjeljujućim dahom, postupno povećavamo brojeve u omjeru  na dulje i dulje trajanje, održavajući isti omjer i interval od jedne sekunde. Ako ste pušač teže ćete prolaziti vrijeme s većim omjerom sekvenci, ali ne dopustite da vas to odvratiti od savjladavanja kraćih slijedova. 

 

Zvučni sat se može koristiti za "klik-off" vrijeme u razmacima od jedne sekunde, ili, ako se može osjetiti ili čuti rad srca, to se može koristiti umjesto. Kada se vježba, kontinuirano fokusirana koncentracija na brojanje je bitna. 

 

U roku od nekoliko dana ili tjedana, suptilne promjene u raspoloženju i fizičke energije će postati očito. Vježbajte ovu vježbu sve dok ne budete u mogućnosti ponoviti slijed neprekidno petnaest ili više minuta.

Sutras and Shastras

Since there is no difference between the Shakti and the one who embodies her, nor between substance and object, the Shakti is identical to the Self. The energy of the flames is nothing but the fire. All distinction is but a prelude to the path of true knowledge. The one who reaches the Shakti grasps the non-distinction between Shiva and Shakti and enters the door to the divine. As space is ...

Thus have I heard. One morning, when the Buddha was staying near Shravasti in the jeta grove of Anathapindika's estate, He and His company of twelve hundred and fifty monks went into the city to beg for their breakfast; and after they returned and finished their meal, they put away their robes and bowls and washed their feet. Then the Buddha took His seat and the others sat down before Him.

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There is a teaching (dharma) which can awaken in us the root of faith in the Mahayana, and it should therefore be explained. The explanation is divided into five parts. They are (1) the Reasons for Writing; (2) the Outline; (3) the Interpretation; (4) on Faith and Practice; (5) the Encouragement of Practice and the Benefits Thereof. Someone may ask the reasons why I was led to write this ...

This is what should be done By one who is skilled in goodness, And who knows the path of peace: Let them be able and upright, Straightforward and gentle in speech. Humble and not conceited, Contented and easily satisfied. Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways. Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful, Not proud and demanding in nature.

The Buddha's Teaching on Loving-kindness
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Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One together with many of the highest Bodhisattvas and a great company of Bhikshus was staying at Rajagaha on Mt. Gridhrakuta. The Blessed One was sitting apart absorbed in Samadhi Prajna-paramita. The Venerable Sariputra, influenced by the Blessed One absorbed in Samadhi, spoke thus to the Noble Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara:

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The Platform Sutra of Hui Neng became a pivotal treatise in the history of Chan, often used as a distinguishing mark of Souther School Chán.  An important resource for anyone interested in the historical devolopment of Chán Buddhism in China. The Master Hui-neng ascended the high seat at the lecture hall of the Ta-fan Temple and expounded the Dharma of the Great Perfection of Wisdom, and ...

By NA
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita, Perceived that all five skandhas are empty&nbsp And was saved from all suffering and distress. O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; Emptiness does not differ from form. That which is form is emptiness; That which is emptiness form.

The Heart Sutra -- "The Heart of the Perfection of Great Wisdom" Sutra

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By the Buddha

Sayings of the Buddha

Speak not harshly to anyone; those thus spoken to will retort. Vindictive speech begets sorrow, and retaliatory blows may bruise you.
-- Canto X.5

Even though a man be richly attired, if he should live in peace, calm, controlled, assured, leading a holy life, abstaining from inflicting injury upon all creatures, he is truly a brahmana, a recluse, a bhikkhu.
-- Canto X.14

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I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One, on a wandering tour among the Kosalans with a large community of monks, arrived at Kesaputta, a town of the Kalamas. The Kalamas of Kesaputta heard it said, "Gotama the contemplative — the son of the Sakyans, having gone forth from the Sakyan clan — has arrived at Kesaputta. And of that Master Gotama this fine reputation has spread: 'He ...

Death & Dying

By Chuan Zhi

When we recognize that the ego doesn't exist in any real sense but only as an artifice of the mind, there's nothing that needs explaining anymore: the notion of reincarnation is seen as nothing more than an intellectual game. The person, like the raindrop, merges into the sea of the Dharmakaya, a sea where individuality, in any mode of conception, is totally obliterated. Does one molecule of ...

By Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Jung was, and continues to be, a tremendous influence on matters of spiritual consciousness in the western hemisphere. He was deeply interested in the psychological and spiritual underpinnings of Zen Buddhism and other eastern religions and for many years collaborated with Zen scholars and priests such as D. T. Suzuki. Between them, an amalgam of psychology and spirituality took shape that ...
By John Donne
Perchance, he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns ...
By Jalai Al-Din
I died from the plant, and reappeared in an animal; I died from the animal and became a man; Wherefore then should I fear? When did I grow less by dying? Next time I shall die from the man, That I may grow the wings of angels. From the angel, too, must I seek advance; All things shall perish save His face Once more shall I wing my way above the angels; I shall become that which entereth not the ...
By Chuan Zhi

My first encounter with a Zen teacher happened when I was in my late twenties. Zen had been an interest of mine for nearly a decade before this chance encounter with a person of Zen. I had never thought seriously about actually DOING Zen, but I liked reading the philosophies that came from Zen literature. Doing Zen was, well, something I thought I would never be able to do: it required detaching ...

By Michael Gellert
“Death,” Jung wrote in 1945 not long after his heart attack, “is the hardest thing from the outside and as long as we are outside of it. But once inside you taste of such completeness and peace and fulfillment that you don’t want to return.”1 Jung was speaking here of his out-of-body, near-death experience, whose gripping effect indeed made it difficult for him to return to the world of ...