True practice redux

One cannot be called a practitioner of Zen if all they do is sit on their arses.  True practice is not about sitting but about clearly seeing into our true nature.  This nature has various names.  According to Korean Zen master Chinul (1158–1210) some of them are:

"In the Bodhisattvashila Sutra it is called the “mind ground” because it produces the myriads of good dharmas.  In the Prajnaparamita Sutras it is referred to as “bodhi” because enlightenment is its essence.  The Avatamsaka Sutra names it the “dharmadhatu” because it interpenetrates and infuses all dharmas.  In the Diamond Sutra it is called “tathagata” because it does not come from anywhere.  In the Prajnaparamitas sutras [sic] it is also referred to as “nirvana” because it is the sanctuary of all the saints.  In the Golden Light Sutra it is said to be “suchness” because it is true, permanent, and immutable.  In the Pure Name Sutra it is named the “dharma-body” because it is the support for the reward and transformation bodies.  In the Awakening of Faith it is termed “true suchness” because it neither arises nor ceases.  In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra it is referred to as “Buddha-nature” because it is the fundamental essence of the three bodies.  In the Complete Enlightenment Sutra it is called the “dharani” because all meritorious qualities flow from it.  In the Srimaladevisimhanada Sutra, it is named “tathagatagarbha” because it conceals and contains all dharmas.  In the definitive sutra [the Complete Enlightenment Sutra] it is named “complete enlightenment” because it destroys darkness and shines solitarily of itself.  As Son [Zen] Master Yen-shou’s Secrets on Mind-Only says, “The one dharma has a thousand names: its appellations are each given in response to different conditions.”  The true mind appears in all the sutras, But I cannot cite all the references” (Robert Buswell, Tracing Back the Radiance, pp. 121–122).

Surprisingly, few Zen practitioners pay attention to such details even to what true practice is about.  They just do what everyone else does at their particular Zen center.  

When it comes to zazen (C., tso-ch’an) they don’t understand that its meaning is symbolic just like a Buddha statue symbolizes awakening.  In The Platform Sutra, “za” means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all external circumstances.  “Zen” means to realize inwardly the essence of Mind which is unmoved.

While it is true to a certain extent that practice is a particular exercise that is repeated many times, Buddhist practice implies that one has already had a glimpse into the absolute.  Every time we see into our true nature is samâdhi.  To give an idea of the samadhis of a Bodhisattva, in the Dashabhumika Sutra, the bodhisattva's charge gets larger by orders of magnitude as he advances from stage to stage.  First he has 1000 samadhis, then 100,000, then 1,000,000 etc.  The Bodhisattva is becoming more of the absolute Mind.  This is his practice.

Comments

[Bodhiratna]

Man, reading this blog gives me that tingling magnetic sensation up and down my spine and around the back of the head LOL. Very soon demons will be too afraid to come here, :)

Bodhiratna