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The Sixth Patriarchs Sutra7:30pm Pacific timeDecember 21, 2012 lecture
as outlined by a Buddhist monkat 1777 Murchison Drive, Burlingame, California 94010, open to public(phone 650-6925912)
(Listen live or recorded audio explanations at
www.wondrousdharma.org)
Q&A Ear organ method is to pay attention to andsilence your own mind
Chapter 6 Repentance and reform the 3 refuges
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Verse for opening a sutra
Na Mwo Fundamental Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (3x)
Homage to the Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra (3x)
The unsurpassed, deep, profound, subtle, wonderful Dharma,
In a hundred thousand million eons, is difficult to encounter,
Now that Ive come to receive and hold it, within my sight andhearing,
I vow to fathom the Thus Come Ones true and actual meaning.
Exhortation to uphold the Dharma: 16
The power of my wisdom, the unlimited illumination of my wisdom is suchthat my l ifespan is one of countless eons, attained through longcultivation and work. Those of you with wisdom, should not havedoubts about this . Cut them off entirely and forever, for the Buddhaswords are real and not false. (The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra)
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Q&A
Question: Is the method of the organ of the ear about listening to
silence, cutting off speech? NO
Answer: The intent of the method of the organ of the ear is about
silencing the mind and not just silencing external sound; in a
quiet forest there is no sound but the mind is noisy.
First, I redirected my hearing inward in order to enter the
current of the sages. Then external sounds disappeared.
External sounds disappeared from the mind just as in the case
of our mind not paying attention to the clock ticking in the room.3
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Q&A
With the direction of my hearing reversed and with sounds
stilled, both sounds and silence cease to arise. (ShurangamaSutra)
In a silent room, you noticed the clock ticking. Why?
Because of the silence, there is sound of clock ticking when you
pay attention to it; but when you pay attention to your random
thoughts, you dont notice the silence and the sound of the
clock ticking.
There is a third internal sound the thoughts in your mind that
block out the silence in the room and the clock ticking.4
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Q&A
Therefore the method of the organ of the ear is not about trying
to listen to silence but disengaging from the external sounds so
that
our minds are not moved by sounds and silence as the Sutra
says,
All that you need to do is not allow your attention (mind) to
be diverted by the twelve conditioned attributes of sound
and silence, contact and separation, flavor and absence offlavor, openness and blockage, coming into being and
perishing, and light and darkness. Next extricate one
faculty by detaching it from its objects. (Shurangama Sutra)
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Q&A
Silence is also an object of distraction; do not attach to the
sound of silence
a deaf person hears silence but his mind is still confused
with random thoughts.
The method of the organ of the ear is to guide you to prajna
emptiness (silence in mind) and not to silence the sound nor
become attached to silence
So it was that, as I gradually progressed, and what I heard
and my awareness of what I heard came to an end.
(Shurangama Sutra)6
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Q&A
To reach a state of emptiness, it is important to note that the
method of the organ of the ear is about the state of our own
mind as
Nevertheless, since beings have allowed their attention to
be drawn to sights and sound and have allowedthemselves to be carried along in their stream of thoughts,
as it has been since time without beginning, they have not
yet awakened and do not yet understand the purity and
wondrousness, and the permanence of their own essential
nature. (Shurangama Sutra)
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Q&A
Instead of attending to what is everlasting (emptiness), they
attend to what comes into being and perishes (the interaction of
sounds and silence) and hold fast to what is true and everlasting
(the state of emptiness in which even emptiness is emptied), then the light ofeverlasting will appear(inherent prajna wisdom will appear) and as a
result the faculties, their objects and the sense
consciousness will fade away and disappear.(Shurangama
Sutra)
The Buddha told the common example of a man who is asleep
yet he is able to use his true mind to listen to the sound ofbeating of clothes but mistaken it to be the sound of the drum
because his conscious mind misinterpret it as the sound of the
beating of a drum.8
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Q&A
The true mind listens but it is covered up and confused by the
interpretation of the sixth conscious mind.
Because we have not put down ignorance, all of our thoughts
are tainted with the appearance of self and others, love and
hate.
Because of initial thought, more thoughts and emotions appear
in our mind 9
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Q&A
By entirely disengaging yourself from two impurities
defiled mental processes and defiled emotional attachment
to those processes your Dharma eye will become clear
and bright. How could you fail to go on to realize asupreme understanding and awakening? (Shurangama Sutra)
If you think of plums, your mouth waters; if you dont think ofplums, your mouth doesnt water.
Ultimately the method of the organ of the ear is to lead you to
cut off false thinking from the conscious mind and attachment to
appearances; this is the state of initial prajna emptiness similar
to the Stage of Patience in the Four Additional Practices 10
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Q&A
Their minds and the minds of the Buddhas had been
separate, but now they have become one. They gain true
understanding of the Middle Way. They are like someone
who endures something that cannot be repressed and yetcannot be expressed. This is called the Stage of Patience.
Being patient, you empty people and empty your thoughts;
essentially the method of the ear organ leads us to listen within
to recognize the false thought and not built upon it because
everything is empty.
What is the Middle Way?...
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Q&A
Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, The self nature is the MiddleWay.
Your true mind is neither right nor wrong, neither true nor false.
In your true mind there are no thoughts of good or evil.
Therefore the Sixth Patriarch asked Hui MingWith nothoughts of good and with no thoughts of evil, at just this
moment, what is the Superior One Hui Mings original face? He
posed this question to reveal that there is neither good nor evil
in the true mind. As they say in philosophy, It has no head or
tail.
Even when that state of mind in which everything hadcome to an end disappeared, I did not rest.
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Q&A
My awareness and the objects of my awareness were
emptied, and when that process of emptying my awareness
was wholly complete, then even that emptying and what
had been emptied vanished.
Coming into being and ceasing to be themselves ceased to
be. Then the ultimate stillness was revealed. (ShurangamaSutra)
Emptiness was pulverized, the mad mind ceased (silenced)-
this is the ultimate intent of the method of the organ of the ear
and certainly it is not about being attached to the object of
silence but about silencing the deluded thoughts within our
minds 13
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Q&A
When all delineations have melted away, these good
people no longer distinguish between confusion and
enlightenment and the Middle Way. This is called the Stage
of Preeminence in the world. (Shurangama Sutra)
When you cease the mad discriminating mind or silenced/quietyour mind then,
One day of practice that relies on a fully effective faculty
is equivalent to an eon of practice that relies on a faculty
that is not fully effective. (Shurangama Sutra)14
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Q&A
Where does the ceasing the mad mind and method of theorgan of the ear converge?
1. You hear and at the same time you hear as if not hearing
because the mind does not pay attention nor register the
sound, without thinking of good or evil,
unless it is directed at you and in this case you should
respond with prajna wisdom of not being deluded at all times.
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Q&A
2. Use your ear to listen within so that you pay attention to your
thoughts, recognize the false thoughts when they arise by not
making further judgment, or accepting nor rejecting or register
in your mind because
All dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are notproduced. Not destroyed. Not defiled, not pure. They
neither increase nor diminish.(Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra)
The mind without false thinking or the concentrated mind is the
original true mind which is empty and still.
Then 16
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Q&A
Every day peaceful; every day happy because random thoughts
have fizzled away!
Next week lecture: Elaborate and apply the principle in the
Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra and the method of the organ ofthe ear.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
From this day forward, we call enlightenment our master
and will never again take refuge with deviant demons or
outside religions. We constantly enlighten ourselves bymeans of the Triple Jewel of our own self-nature.
Comments
Taking refuge with the Three Jewels mean that we want to
transform ourselves from confusion into enlightenment.
What is the Three Jewels of our own self nature?....
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Good Knowing Advisors, I exhort you all to take refuge
with the Triple Jewel of your own nature: the Buddha,
which is enlightenment, the Dharma, which is right, and theSangha, which is pure.
Comments
The Three Jewels of our self nature is to always use our
wisdom nature, always adhere to the teaching that is apart from
desire and defilement.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
When your mind takes refuge with enlightenment, deviant
confusion does not arise. Desire decreases, so that you
know contentment and are able to keep away from wealthand from the opposite sex. That is called the honored, the
doubly complete.
Comments
Our enlightened nature has no confusion; it is our inherent
prajna wisdom.
Our enlightened nature is free of desire in particular emotional
love that causes us to continue in the six destinies; it is our
limitless blessings.20
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Why is our blessings limitless when we are free of desire?
Desire is like a bottomless pit that flows out.
When desire is absent through contentment then there is nooutflow.
Without outflow is to have limitless blessings; the Honored One
apart from desire.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
When your own mind takes refuge with what is right, there
are no deviant views in any of your thoughts. Because
there are no deviant views, there is no self, other,arrogance, greed, love, or attachment. That is called the
honored that is apart from desire.
Comments
The right frame of mind is to be apart from the deviant views
that cling to desire as a result of a false self.
Because there is a self, there is then others as distinguished
from self. 22
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Because there is a self, there is arrogance, the sign of superior
self over others.
Because there is a self, there is greed, love and attachmentsthat benefits the self.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
When your own mind takes refuge with the pure, your
self-nature is not stained by attachment to any state of
defilement, desire or love. That is called the honoredamong the multitudes.
Comments
It is the mind that takes refuge with the pure.
Purity is the absence of defilement and outflowing of desire and
love.
Having limitless blessings, one is honored all.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
If you cultivate this practice, you take refuge with
yourself.
Comments
Why do we take refuge with ourselves?
We take refuge with the Buddha within us; our original mind
which is eternally pure but presently covered by confusion.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Because our mind is presently covered with confusion, we take
refuge with the purity within ourselves when:
Our minds ceasing evil ten evil deeds itself is ten good deeds.
Our minds turn overfrom what is deviant to proper.
Our minds turn overfrom jealousy into rejoicing in merit of
others.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Common people do not understand that, and so, from
morning to night, they take the triple-refuge precepts. They
say they take refuge with the Buddha, but where is theBuddha? If they cannot see the Buddha, how can they
return to him? Their talk is absurd.
Comments
Confusion about the original perfect understanding
results in delusion, but this delusion has no essential
nature; it is based on nothing.
One may wish to return to what is real, but to wish for the
real is falsification.27
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
The true nature of the suchness of reality is not a reality
that one can seek to return to.
If one were to try to return to it, one would merely
experience something that does not have the attribute of
reality.(Shurangama Sutra)
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Good Knowing Advisors, each of you examine
yourselves. Do not make wrong use of the mind. The
Avatamsaka Sutra clearly states that you should takerefuge with your own Buddha, not with some other
Buddha. If you do not take refuge with the Buddha in
yourself, there is no one you can rely on.
Comments
Making wrong use of the mind is to go chasing outside yourselfto find the precious pearl that is within our clothing.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Good Knowing Advisors, each of you examine
yourselves. Do not make wrong use of the mind. The
Avatamsaka Sutra clearly states that you should takerefuge with your own Buddha, not with some other
Buddha. If you do not take refuge with the Buddha in
yourself, there is no one you can rely on.
Comments
The Buddha within each and every living being is our originalBuddha nature, our original mind.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Now that you are self-awakened, you should each take
refuge with the Triple Jewel of your own mind.
Comments
Good Knowing Advisors, I exhort you all to take refuge
with the Triple Jewel of your own nature: the Buddha,
which is enlightenment, the Dharma, which is right, and the
Sangha, which is pure.
When your mind takes refuge with enlightenment, deviantconfusion does not arise. Desire decreases, so that you
know contentment and are able to keep away from wealth
and from the opposite sex.31
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
When your mind takes refuge with enlightenment, deviant
confusion does not arise. Desire decreases, so that you
know contentment and are able to keep away from wealth
and from the opposite sex. That is called the honored, thedoubly complete. [the Buddha within yourself]
When your own mind takes refuge with what is right, there
are no deviant views in any of your thoughts. Because
there are no deviant views, there is no self, other,
arrogance, greed, love, or attachment. That is called the
honored that is apart from desire. [the Dharma withinyourself]
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
When your own mind takes refuge with the pure, your
self-nature is not stained by attachment to any state of
defilement, desire or love. That is called the honoredamong the multitudes. - [the Sangha within yourself]
Because within every living being there is the Triple Jewel, we
should then respect every living being
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Within yourself, regulate your mind and nature; outside
yourself, respect others. That is to take refuge with
yourself.
Comments
If you really understand the Buddhadharma, you will respect
not just your relatives and friends, but everyone even people
who dont know. Instead of slapping someone when you see
him and then throwing mud in his face, you must be the most
respectful toward those who act the worst toward you. This isthe fundamental responsibility of students of Buddhism.
(Venerable Master Hsuan Hua)
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
Good Knowing Advisors, now that you have taken refuge
with the Triple Jewel, you should listen carefully while I
explain to you the three bodies of a single substance, theself-nature of the Buddha, so that you may see the three
bodies and become completely enlightened to your own
self-nature. Repeat after me,
Comments
The 3 bodies of a Buddha is the Dharma body, the reward bodyand the transformation body.
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Chapter 6 Repentance and reform
Sutra:
I take refuge with the clear, pure Dharma-body of the
Buddha within my own body.
Comments
The Dharma body within us is the unmoving thusness.
The myriad dharmas appear when the mind moves.
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Dedication of merit
May every living beings,
Our minds as one and radiant with light
Share the fruits of peace, with hearts of goodness
luminous and bright. If people hear and see, how hands and hearts can find in
giving unity
May their minds awake, to great compassion, wisdom
and to joy. May kindness find reward; may all who sorrow leave their
grief and pain;
May this boundless light break the darkness of theirendless night.
Because our hearts are one, this world of pain turns intoparadise;
May all become compassionate and wise (2x)
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Dedication of merit
I vow that merit made from this deed will become,
Adornments for the Pure Land of Bu-ddhas. Repaying the four kinds of kindness above,
And aiding those in three paths below.
May all who see and hear of this deed Bring forth the resolve to reborn
In the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
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