Chan Zen I The Buddha Siddhattha Gautama 563

Chan 禪 (Zen) I. The Buddha Siddhattha Gautama, 563 -483 B. C. Prince of the Sakya clan Renunciation of luxury life at 29, followed by 6 years of searching. Enlightenment

II. The Four Noble Truths 1. The truth of suffering 2. The truth of the cause of suffering (cravings) Karma Anatman 3. The truth of cessation of suffering – Nirvana 4. The truth of the eightfold path to the cessation of suffering Right views Wisdom aspiration speech action Conduct livelihood effort mindfulness Mental discipline concentration

III. Chan (Zen) The tradition from wordless teaching to meditation practice, to an extended understanding of meditation Budhidharma 達摩 (5 th century) Hui-neng 惠能 (635 -713) The Platform Sutra 壇經

IV. Sudden and Gradual Enlightenment n The difference between the two verses (pp. 119, 120) n The problem of gradual enlightenment – Traditional formula: discipline 戒, calmness 定, wisdom 慧 – Constant “cleaning of the mirror” only creates a better karma, but not to enlightenment. – The desire for having no desire is itself a desire. Forced meditation defeats its own purpose, hence the paradox of Chan – school of meditation that is opposed to (forced) meditation. (Become consistent with family duties) – No-self is not an entity to be attached. No one is saved, so no need for egoism. The ideal of a Bodhisattva. – Everyone has Buddha nature, even sinners, and can reach nirvana right away. – Reading scriptures is unnecessary and if not done properly, can be harmful. Calmness is the substance of wisdom, and wisdom is the function of calmness. – Daoist influence: Wu wei (non-action) and be natural, spontaneous. n Enlightenment can be sudden and has to be sudden

V. The method of Chan n n “Never tell too plainly” – (1) one has to come to her own realization, (2) words cannot convey truth. The finger only points to the moon. Since delusion often comes from intellectualization, of going to the opposite extreme, some therapeutic methods of shocking one out of their reasoning should be used. “Mountain, no-mountain, and mountain again” process. Examples of shocking statements and Gong An 公案 (Koan): – “The Buddha is a dried piece of dung of the barbarians” – “Nirvana and Bodhi are dead stumps to tie your donkeys to” – fan? n Acting most naturally – Chan art, tea ceremony, etc.

n Daily One-minute Paper 1. What is the big point you learned in class today? 2. What is the main, unanswered question you leave class with today?