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On Reincarnation and Emptiness
The importance of the idea of reincarnation was brought to me one afternoon in a small Sherpa village in Nepal near Mt. Everest. The village had a small Buddhist temple and it contained Tibetan texts that interested me. When I asked if I could look at the texts that were housed in the shrine room, the guardian of the temple said they were being kept for the Lama and were not available to others. I asked if I could meet the Lama, expecting to hear that he was on a trip and away. Instead, the person said, “You can. He is just over there in that house” and he pointed to it nearby. I walked over and was greeted by a woman holding a young child. They were both very beautiful and their resemblance noticeable. As you may guess, the child in her arms was the Lama. She explained, looking at the boy with a mix of pride, reverence, and sadness: “This Lama has come to me and I must care for him until he is ready to be trained again.” She was aware that by the time he was five or six, he would be taken from her to live his life as a Lama.
Three Dimensions of the Humanistic Spirit of Oxhead Chan as Expressed in the Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition
Venerable Master Hsing Yun has often pointed out that traditional Chan Buddhism contains within it the rich and profound spirit of Humanistic Buddhism. Modern Humanistic Buddhism should also draw from the ideas of traditional Chan Buddhism. The humanistic principles contained within Oxhead Chan2 are worthy of our attention and application. This paper explores the spirit of Oxhead Chan through analyzes of various versions of the Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition, an essential text of Oxhead Chan. Three main concepts will be analyzed: “emptiness is the basis of the way,” “there is nothing other than knowing the foundation of the original mind,” and “traveling no path is the way to enlightenment.”
Humanistic Buddhism: Holding True to the Original Intents of Buddha-Chapter Three: The Core Concepts of Humanistic Buddhism
When the Buddha taught, he constantly acknowledged the different aptitudes of his disciples and amended his approach. Yet, he always taught according to the same set of core concepts. For example, the teachings of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and selflessness are commonly recognized as the earliest Buddhist teachings. In later periods, Buddhists were encouraged to practice the Six Paramitas, aspire for the Four Immeasurable States of Mind, and realize the Four Universal Vows.
Chinese Interpretations of Indian Buddhism: From the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Upadeśa’s “Three Samādhis” to Zhiyi’s “Threefold Contemplation”
This study examines the early Mahāyāna commentary, the Upadeśa through the doctrinal and practical aspects of the three samādhis and how it has influenced the thoughts and practices of Zhiyi’s threefold contemplation. The approach on examining Zhiyi’s relation to the Upadeśa through our position in the historical and textual context of the Upadeśa and of Zhiyi has opened up to a strong implication and verification of their connection. In addition, our brief study on the citation of the Upadeśa in Zhiyi’s extant textual exegeses indicated his frequent usages of the commentary both in his early and later works.
一水貫通五湖四海
一水貫通五湖四海 One water flows through all rivers and seas.
一念忘時便道空
一念忘時便道空 When a Thought is Forgotten, the Way Also Becomes Empty
