Sarvajnata सर्वज्ञात

Yoga and Zen

2011-02-27T13:33:00.001-08:00

According Patanjali, "Yoga is freedom from mental disturbances." (The yoga sutras of Patanjali 1.2) Yoga is defined as union of the self with the super-self. When in union, the self is one with the universal consciousness. Hence, Yoga is a process by which a practitioner purifies the self physically, mentally and spiritually until such union is attained. In such a state of union, the consciousness is no longer fragmented, but is pure, devoid of subject and object. It is devoid of differentiation and the oneness is experienced as pure bliss.

In Zen, this state of freedom from mental disturbances is known as "the original look before father and mother were born." Other descriptions include original nature, ultimate reality, suchness, essence of reality, emptiness, and Sarvajnata. The Zen Buddhist eliminates his mental attachments, detaches the self until the "I", the meditator, and the object of meditation disappear. The most common methods of meditation are anapanasati, vipassana, and Zen, all of which pay particular attention to the control of breathing in their practice.

In the Heart Sutra, the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in deep prajna meditation saw that his five skandhas were all empty and so he was freed from all suffering. This state of emptiness pervades the whole universe and is the universal consciousness, the origin of all life forms and phenomena, the Creator, or God. Avalokitesvara was thus liberated from Samsara and became super-ordinary, i.e. a saint. Such realization and union with the universal consciousness has led Saint Avalokitesvara into Moksha.

In Christianity, this universal consciousness or being is called God and the hope of all Christians is to return to Heaven to be with God through the sacrifice and deliverance of Jesus Christ the Savior. When God created Adam and Eve, He breathed into his mouth and gave him life. This is the source of life and in Yoga it is known as prana. The life span of a human being is determined by the number of breaths he has in his life time. Therefore in yoga, the yogi trains his prana and harnesses the spiritual energy he can get from each prana, which technique is known as pranayama, the fourth limb of ashtanga yoga.

In Taoism, the origin of all life forms and phenomena is nothingness. From nothingness came Taichi or One, from Taichi came Yin and Yang, the female and male principles, from Yin and Yang came the four cardinal divisions of the Blue Dragon Qinglong in the east, the White Tiger Baihu in the west, the Red Phoenix Zhuque in the south, and the Grand Turtle Yuanwu in the north, and finally from the four divisions came the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes, and thus the whole universe was formed. The Taoist practitioner practices Taichi or Qigong in order to harness his Chi or breath. He knows that as the Chi pervades the whole universe it also runs in his nadis. He has to run it through each and every energy nodes in his body. This Chi or breath in Yoga is known as prana, the source and sustenance of life. Because the number of breaths a human being has is determined, whether in Qigong, Taichi, or Yoga, the practitioner never wastes each breath.

From the above, I can safely conclude that Yoga is Zen without its Koans and Huatous, and Zen is Yoga without its asanas, pranayamas and dhautis because both share the same goal and should share the same practical methods. In China, Japan and Korea where Zen is practiced, the methods of training have been reshaped by culture such that each country has its own forms. The original need for purification of the body through Yoga is neglected and their methods tend to be metaphysical. Over time, the historical methods of Yoga have been lost and only doctrinal Yogacara remains. The Yogacara doctrines have become too difficult for modern Buddhists to understand much less to practice. Therefore, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Zen or Ch'an Buddhists must now look to India, and find a guru who can illumine them on the practical methods of Yoga, and that Great Guru, the last real Great Guru of our time, is Swami Rajarshi Muni.

In 629 defying imperial proscription by Emperor Tai-Chung 唐太宗 of the T'ang Dynasty, the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang 玄奘 secretly set out on foot on his epochal journey to the land of the Buddha from Chang'an 長安 (then capital of China) to learn Yoga and brought back to China many Yoga and other scriptures.

1381 years thereafter in 2010, once again an accomplished Chinese Buddhist monk, Master Sea Cloud 海雲繼夢法師 of the Da Huayen Monastery 大華嚴寺 (Great Floral Garland Monastery) Taiwan, came to India to learn Yoga from Sri Swami Rajarshi Muni 惹查西牟尼, Founder of the Lakulish International Fellowship's Enlightenment Mission 拉克魯希神國際覺明傳道會(LIFE Mission 生命傳道會). Like Master Hsuan Tsang the first Chinese Buddhist Yogi, he is the second Chinese Buddhist Yogi in Chinese history to humbly learn from an Indian Guru. People like Master Hsuan Tsang and Master Sea Cloud only come once in a millennium. In this age, these people are few and far between. Why Yoga?

Photo of Master Sea Cloud with Sri Swami Satyanand of LIFE Mission
Sakya M. Longyen
Huayen on Indra's Net
http://newhuayen.com

Anapanna-sati and Vipassana

2011-02-21T05:57:00.000-08:00

It should be noted that in any form of meditation, the body should be fully relaxed and not hindered. Whether full lotus, half lotus, or just crossed-legged is a matter of personal preference. A picture of Pa Auk Bhikkhu in meditative sitting posture is given here: http://www.paauk.org/images/PaAukPhotoAlbum/slides/Pa-Auk%20Sayadaw%20when%20young.html.

For example, in Myanmar sarong-clad practitioners would sit with their legs folded to their side because the sarong would hinder sitting in any lotus postures.

A picture of me training in anapanna is given here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101913446508183&set=t.100000685852482&theater.

In Padmasan on solar eclipse 2010 over the Holy Narnada River, Asha Yogashram:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101914353174759&set=a.101455126554015.3318.100000685852482&theater.

Further reading: A Revision of Meditation Methods by Bhante Seng is given here: http://fccheonghome.com/center/Q%20&%20A.htm.

Sakya Longyen
Huayen on Indra's Net
http://newhuayen.com

Realizing Huayen Buddhism

2011-02-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

Your original nature, the nature of the Buddha, of Tathagata, the nature of all existence, of emptiness, and of totality are just the same. When you can appreciate the beauty of a single flower, your whole life would change. At that moment, look into your own nature to see who is appreciating the wondrous beauty. Then, even the sound of a thunderclap, the flash of a lightning, the sight of a distant star, the full moon, a cup of tea, a mud puddle, the wind of a hurricane, or even landslide are no more beautiful or ugly, because they are what they are. They are both many and one, and this is holistic harmony. This is the realization of Huayen Buddhism in the Dharma Realm and in real life.

Sakya Longyen
Indra's Net

Realizing Huayen Buddhism

2011-02-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

You original nature, the nature of the Buddha, of Tathagata, the nature of all existence, of emptiness, and of totality are just the same. When you can appreciate the beauty of a single flower, your whole life would change. At that moment, look into your own nature to see who is appreciating beauty. Then, even the sound of a thunderclap, the sight of a distant star, the full moon, a cup of tea, a mud puddle, the wind of a hurricane, or even landslide are no more beautiful or ugly, because they are what they are. This is the realization of Huayen Buddhism in the Dharma realm and in real life.

Sakya Longyen
Indra's Net

Practicing Huayen Buddhism

2011-02-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

A brief introduction into the practice of Huayen Buddhism is given at http://newhuayen.com/page24.html.

Thomas Cleary's Flower Ornament Scripture is the best translation available. The appendices are especially helpful in giving a correct perspective. His style is both original and creative. A comparison of a more verbatim translation (incomplete) can be found at http://www.cttbusa.org/avatamsaka/avatamsaka_contents.asp.

As regard the influence of Neo Taoist thoughts on Huayen Buddhism, I rather think that it was the Chinese Huayen masters who utilized Taoist terms to gain a foothold in Chinese soil. Both my guru Venerable Haiyun Jimeng and I agreed with Ch'eng-kuan that though the terms may be the same the meanings are totally different.

T'an-luan (476–542). Early Chinese Pure Land thinker and popularizer. He began his monastic career as a scholar, and was in the middle of composing a massive commentary on the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra (Chin., Ta-chi ching) when he came down with a serious illness. He left his monastery and sought out a renowned Taoist alchemist to receive the teachings on immortality. After receiving from him ten scrolls of Taoist scripture, he set out for home. However, on his way back he reportedly ran into the Indian monk Bodhiruci. T'an-luan asked him if there were any Indian Buddhist sūtras better than Taoist works on immortality. At this Bodhiruci is said to have become very angry and spat on the ground, saying that one cannot find the secret of immortality in any Chinese book. Taoism may prolong your life for a while, but by means of its teaching one cannot escape.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Tan-luan.aspx.

You may continue to practice Vipassana at home on the basis of what you've learnt. To refresh your memory, a short video is provided here at http://video.server.dhamma.org/video/vipassana/apvip.mov.

Finally thank you for your interest in Huayen Buddhism and your continued support of the Indra's Net at http://newhuayen.com.
__________________________
Bring holistic harmony, peace and love by helping someone cultivate altruism, benevolence, compassion, and keep inner peace.
Sakya Longyen

0 and 1

2011-02-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

All in One in All – Preface to the first Edition

With the exception perhaps of abstract mathematicians, the differentiating ordinary human intellect is accustomed to defining things or beings as units and individuals; such being the case, it is hard for man to see there is no contradiction in the book title, and so I am I, you are you and there is no way to comprehend a circle with no center. The Avatamsaka Buddhist totally reject this individualized cosmic view. To them One includes All and All include One. Hence the title of this book All in One in All.

For example, we are accustomed to counting from 1 to 10; then in the late 60′s and early 70′s when computers first hit the consumer market, we were taught different counting methods, i.e., from 0 to 9 in decimal, from 0 to F in hexadecimal, and from 0 to 1 in the binary system of computing. Human intelligence is not unlike computer intelligence, thinking in either 0 or 1; hence the identity of the self. The computer never asks you why and how you get from 0 to 1 and programmers don’t, or don’t bother to know.

This is why with over 2500 years of western civilisation since Socrates, philosophers, theologians, psychologists, and scientists still cannot explain two fundamental questions in life: 1) Why is every individual selfish? and 2) Why should every individual be good? Answers like God tells me so, or my parents tell me so will not satisfy the fundamental agnostic. The point is they don’t know why and how to get from 0 to 1 and back from 1 to 0 and that 1 and 0 are not mutually exclusive but mutually inclusive. From 0 come 1 and 0 but 0 and 1 must come from 1.

Only an enlightened being or a Buddha knows this truth and the first Sutra that Buddha Sakyamuni spoke to the bodhisattvas and devas of all universes at all times and in all places was the Mahavaipulya Buddha Avatamsaka Sutra in which the very truth that all is in one and one is in all is thoroughly expounded. As long as every man is an island and every circle has its own center, conflicts and wars will continue to plague us.

Some may preach the Armageddon and salvation through Jesus, but Islam or other religions may preach otherwise. The Avatamsaka Buddhist do not argue with anyone for they know the answers to both questions and have been applying them to actualizing their own spiritual growth. May all readers of this book benefit from the insight of the post modern Avatamsaka Buddhist and may there be peace on Earth.

See “All in One in All – The Huayen Buddhist e-Handbook” at http://allisoneisall.blogspot.com/2009/01/table-of-contents.html.

0 y 1
"All in One in All" - Prefacio a la primera edición
de Akira Tomiyama, El Viernes, 11 de Febrero de 2011
Español traducido por Agustin Elizondo

Con la excepción quizá de los matemáticos abstractos, las diferentes inteligencias de la gente común están acostumbradas a definir las cosas y los seres como unidades e individuos; tal es el caso, que es difícil para el hombre el ver que no hay contradicción en el título del libro, por lo que soy, tú eres tú y no hay manera de comprender un círculo sin un centro. El budismo Avatamsaka rechaza totalmente esta visión cósmica individualizada. Para ellos Uno incluye todos y todos son uno. De ahí el título de este libro Todo en Uno en todo.

Por ejemplo, estamos acostumbrados a contar desde uno hasta diez, luego a finales de los años 60 y principios de los 70 cuando las primeras computadoras golpearon el mercado de consumo, se nos enseñó otro método de conteo, es decir, de 0 a 9 en decimal, de 0 a F en hexadecimal, y de 0 a 1 en el sistema binario de la informática. La inteligencia humana no es diferente de la inteligencia computacional por lo de la identidad del yo, pensando en 0 o 1. La computadora nunca se pregunta por qué y cómo llegar de 0 a 1 y los programadores no lo hacen, o no se molestan en saber.

Por ello, con más de 2500 años de civilización occidental desde Sócrates, los filósofos, teólogos, psicólogos y los científicos todavía no pueden explicar dos cuestiones fundamentales en la vida: 1) ¿Por qué todas las personas son egoístas? y 2) ¿Por qué cada individuo es bueno? Respuestas como, Dios me lo dice, o mis padres me dicen , lo que no se cumple en los fundamentos agnósticos. El punto es que no sé por qué y cómo llegar de 0 a 1 y vuelta de 1 a 0 y 1 y 0 que no son mutuamente excluyentes, sino que se incluyen mutuamente.

Sólo un ser iluminado o un Buda conoce esta verdad y el Sutra del Buda Shakyamuni por primera vez habló con los bodhisattvas y los devas de todos los universos, en todo momento y en todos los lugares fue el Mahavaipulya Buda Sutra Avatamsaka en el que la misma verdad que todo está en uno y uno está en todo es expuesto completamente. Siempre y cuando cada hombre sea una isla y cada círculo tenga su propio centro, los conflictos y las guerras nos seguirán como una plaga.

Algunos pueden predicar el Armagedón y la salvación por medio de Jesús, por el Islam u otras religiones que pueden predicar lo contrario. El budista Avatamsaka no discute con nadie, porque conocen las respuestas a ambas preguntas y las han estado aplicando para actualizar su propio crecimiento espiritual. Que todos los lectores de este libro se beneficien de la visión del post-moderno budismo Avatamsaka y puedan tener paz en la Tierra.

Consulte "All in One in All" - El budista Huayen e-Manual" en http://allisoneisall.blogspot.com/2009/01/table-of-contents.html.

Are there things in the physical world?

2010-04-04T12:29:00.001-07:00

A thing is a noun. A noun isn't a part of nature it's a part of speech. There are no nouns in the physical world, but are there things in the physical world?

Let's just say that from the smallest thing like an atom or the biggest thing like a star and everything in between, living or not living, everything is made up of matter. We can see matter that takes forms. Matter can be transformed into energy because E=MC square. Like electricity.

Human beings and animals have three bodies, a gross body made up of matter, a subtle body and a causal body. The gross body by definition is gross. It is made up of the food the being eats and it is subject to aging, disease and death. The subtle and the causal bodies move on to take up new form after death and the soul is reborn. This is Samsara. Ghosts don't have gross bodies and they sometimes possess people to achieve certain good or bad
aims.

A spiritual person knows how to make good use of her gross body and use it as the instrument for spiritual practice and therefore eventually leads to liberation from Samsara. The dogs around you have chosen to stay with you because they have a strong affinity with you. In Buddhist and Hindu beliefs we say that you and they knew one another in former life times and there were unfinished business. Therefore in this life, you and they come together again. And so is your marriage and so are your children and so are your parents whom you chose to take up your form in this life.

Non-living things get trashed when their useful lives expire. The earth on which we live has an expiration date and therefore we need to love it. It doesn't have unlimited regenerative power. And so are our natural resources. And so I call for global reduction in demands starting with me. Do not buy a new X when you can still use your old X. Don't listen to ads of any sorts and be your own Lord when it comes to needs and wants and buying things. And this is how we should relate to things. For development of natural resources is limited whereas development of spiritual and humanity resources is unlimited. Transform all economies based on consumerism and therefore physical resource exploitation into economies based on development of spiritual and humanity resources. No more statistics on GNPs, GDPs, profit margins but instead statistics on how much spiritual progress the human race as a whole has made.

Floral Garland Meal Time Dharma

2010-03-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

Floral Garland Meal Time Dharma
Saying Grace Before a Meal

We offer this meal to the Ocean Assemblies of Enlightening Beings in the Floral Garland Repository Oceans of Worlds.
We offer this meal to the Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipulyasūtra.
This food is light, pure and prepared according to the Dharma. It contains all six tastes and we offer it to the Buddhas and the Sangha. We wish all sentient beings in the Dharma realm universally partake of it.
When we eat, we wish that all sentient beings take meditative joy as their food and feel joyful of the Dharma.

Ending a Meal

namaḥ saptānām samyak-saṃbuddha-koṭīnāṃ tadyathā oṃ cale cule cunde svāhā
A truly giving person will always reaps his rewards. If he gives for happiness, he will reap peace and happiness.
Meal time is over. May all sentient beings complete their tasks according to the teachings of Lord Buddha!
Giving in money or in kind (dharma) is one and the same. It is danparamita, complete and perfect.

華嚴道場　二時臨齋儀

供養　華藏莊嚴世界海　華嚴海會佛菩薩　大方廣佛華嚴經
　三德六味　供佛及僧　法界有情　普同供養
　若飯時時　當願眾生　禪悅為食　法喜充滿

結齋儀
薩多喃　三藐三菩陀　俱胝喃　怛姪他　唵　折隸　主隸　準提　娑婆訶
所謂布施者　必獲其利益　若為樂故施　後必得安樂
飯時已訖　當願眾生　所作皆辦　具諸佛法
財法兩施　等無差別　檀波羅蜜　具足圓滿

Dukkha, Origin of Dukkha, Karma, Arhat

2010-02-18T01:33:00.000-08:00

Dukkha, Origin of Dukkha, Karma, Arhat

In Buddhist philosophy, how is one supposed to do anything? What causes suffering? What's the unattached state?

There is a serious misinterpretation of the first Noble Truth - Life is dukkha or suffering. The author is not alone. In most English texts about Buddhism you will find this formulation of the First Noble Truth. This formulation that life is all about suffering has given Buddhism a bad name, that it is pessimistic and negative. For it is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. Something is definitely lost in translation. True, Buddha says life is dukkha but he did not say that life is only suffering. Dukkha in Pali or Duhkha in Sanskrit is suffering, Dukkha is impermanence, Dukkha is imperfection, Dukkha is emptiness, and Dukkha is Anatta (not-self). There is no English word for Dukkha, and so out of respect it is better not to translate it into suffering.

On the contrary, Buddha taught in the Pali Canon that there can be Sukha (opposite to Dukkha) in life. Sukha can be enjoyed in our material as well as spiritual life. For example, there is Sukha in family life, Sukha in the senses, Sukha in renunciation, Sukha in the physical body, Sukha in spiritual experiences, and Sukha in meditation. Buddha acknowledged these Sukha but he went on to point out that such Sukha is impermanent and eventually leads to Dukkha. He concluded that impermanence is Dukkha.

Next we discuss the second Noble Truth - the origin of Dukkha. Man suffers externally from the limitation of place and from the limitation of time. Man also suffers internally from wants. Wants come in three forms: viz. (i) wanting sensual pleasures, (ii) wanting to live, to continue living, and failing so, to reproduce, (iii) wanting to cease to exist. These three forms of wants constitute the origin of Dukkha. Wants are not limited to physical attachments such as wealth and power, but also it includes wanting to hold on to certain ideas, viewpoints, opinions, concepts, theories and beliefs. All conflicts arise as a result of such wants. Few people can go without food but wanting to eat whale or dolphin meat Sashimi is quite something else. You can easily see that no matter how hard people try to make harmony, it has been futile because of such wants.

How does one supposed to do anything?
Karma is action, deed, or effort performed through thought, speech, and the body. Karma causes experience and experience causes further Karma, forming the Karmic cycle. A person does things out of individual and collective Karma. Individual Karma governs the person alone and collective Karma governs the collective to which the individual belongs. You don't have to know this to do things, but everything you do you do out of Karma.

What is the unattached state?
A person who has become an arhat attained the unattached state. An arhat is someone who is free from all attachments. He does not need to eat, drink, sleep, blink his eyes, or breath and is not bound by gravity, space, and time. He can take a journey within a journey – time travel. He can create a new body, take control of an existing one, or assume a dead one to revive it. He decides when to leaves his gross body and transforms into pure energy to unite with the Supreme Being and when he does so, he will not be born again. He is someone who has truly conquered birth, disease, old age and death.

Universal Oneness

2010-02-17T22:39:00.000-08:00

禪觀趣入三摩地
坐攝真如法性空

Chan guan qu ru san mo di
Zuo she zhen ru fa xing kong.

In Yoga One Realizes Samadhi.
In Samadhi One Attains Oneness
With the Supreme Cosmic Essence.