If you follow the phenomena created by yourself, you join the reincarnation.  This is a stream and water is falling down.  If you catch one drop of water, you will be flushed down and you are following the phenomena.  The moment of a drop there is the moment the drop disappearance.  It is just like that we attach to the phenomena which are created by ourselves.  The moment we attach to the phenomena is like to catch the flowing water.  When you attach to phenomena, you create chaos.  If you only realize, utilize, and let go of the phenomena simultaneously, every single moment is the present moment and every single moment is nirvana. 

In everyday life, we try to hold something.  We try to create happiness and we are pursuing happiness.  But somehow the thought we try to hold the happiness; the thought will change.  The physical body we try to use to pursue or hold the happiness will change.  Something we try to hold will keep changing?  What can you hold?   You cannot even hold your thoughts.   How can you use your thoughts and try to utilize your physical body to hold something? 

 ~ Sharing from Master Miao Tsan’s teaching ~

But, if you realize the true meaning of impermanence, the situation is going to be totally different.  Every single moment is changing, which means that you have a chance to change yourself in every single moment. If we can live with the idea of impermanence, it will be very easy for us to put down, to let go as nothing you can hold on for even one second.  If everything is permanent, we can never change ourselves.  The present moment is the best opportunity you have, so do not postpone any task to yet “tomorrow.”  Seize this opportunity to make a change.

“Most people are afraid that spiritual practice, being a process of withdrawal, will restrict their enjoyment of freedom. But ask yourself: Do you actually have more freedom without spiritual practice? Without spiritual practice are there really fewer limitations in life? If you reflect on this question honestly, it will become apparent that your sense of freedom is simply the delusion of the false self. The false self constantly seeks refuge in external factors that are always in a state of flux, and therefore it repeatedly loses the sense of existence derived from these unstable phenomena.

If you make a genuine effort in your practice, you will benefit in every aspect of life, and your mind will become clear and subtle. To be a great practitioner you must cultivate diligently like a farmer, pay­ing attention to effort and the results of that effort. If the result does not match your expectation, then re-examine your method of cultiva­tion and renew your effort. This is the attitude of someone who takes responsibility for his reality.”

Fa Hwa

“We all judge our experiences through the filter of habitual think­ing. In other words, we are unconsciously driven by how we think, and how we think determines the feelings and opinions we develops toward people, objects and situations. But such opinions and perceptions only distort reality, and unfortunately, we cannot help but interpret reality through self-centered thinking.  For example, when we find ourselves in an unsatisfactory situation, we feel angry. We can’t help it. We characterize the experience as bad.  But each thought we have also presents an opportunity for change, since every thought is independent and rootless, being empty in nature.

Each thought arises and dissolves simultaneously. Regardless of what the prior thought might have been, the potential for the next thought is unlimited: It can turn toward an infinite number of possible direc­tions and destinations, because a free mind does not have to hold onto a particular trajectory in its thought-movement, nor do thoughts have to follow one another in a fixed pattern. Only due to the habitual mental tendency does our mind functioning become set on a certain predeter­mined path. The so-called habitual tendency (or unconscious mode of mind functioning) refers to the fact that the mind becomes preoccupied by certain thoughts. When one of those thoughts appears, it necessarily triggers a set of corresponding reactions. We experience these reactions with strong inertia. Our habitual mental tendency is the direction our thoughts take when we don’t consciously overcome this inertia to free them from the path of least resistance.”

Fa Hwa

“A flexible mind is more adept at absorbing and digesting new concepts, regardless of whether their impact is positive or negative. If the mind is already filled with concepts and beliefs, the habitual tendencies of the mind will attempt to filter and discriminate any new idea that is presented and will trigger reactions as the mind attempts to bridge the old and the new.

Take the following koan: A student paid a visit to an enlightened Zen master and asked, “What does the Mind look like?” The master replied, “If I told you the truth, you would not believe me.” The student said, “Master, of course I would believe you.” So the master said, “The Pure Mind is like a giant beast with three heads, many arms and legs, and extreme ugliness.” The student was very surprised by that response because, according to his understanding of the sutra, the Mind should be formless, all-pervasive in the universe and able to manifest all existence. So, he said to the master, “What you said is the wrong answer!” The master replied, “As I tried to warn you, if I told you the truth, you would not believe me. Beating the drum in front of your face, you still do not see. The question you ought to ask is why you cannot recognize the present reality.”

There is a Zen phrase, “missing what is in plain sight.“ The Zen master tried to give the student a hint of reality based on his direct experiential knowledge of the truth. The master showed him the truth by cutting off his thought so that he could finally turn the mind inward. Unfortunately, the student’s grip on delusion was strong, and he continued to indulge in the falsehood of imagination. An individual who is filled with opinionated thoughts will experience great difficulty illuminating his own nature in order to recognize the truth.”

Fa Hwa

More event pictures can be viewed from the flickr website, http://www.flickr.com/photos/vzmla/

Some wisdom highlights to share as below.

• All learning comes from within.
• By following our thinking pattern, we create a jail for ourselves.
• Use the book, Just Use This Mind, to correct our concepts within, since we are the only person who can create and change our thoughts.
• All materials, books etc, just tell us how to get rid of our attachments within.
• Right practice comes from within.
• Right thought and right action lead to right result.
• Truth is truth. No definition is needed.
• What within will manifest outside.
• We are creating our future unconsciously.  So have good and right seed to begin with is the key.
• Once Karma is created, can not be changed anymore as it has been created.
• In life, how many time we spend to deal with our negative thoughts/emotions.
• With right thought, problems will be at bay.

Fa Hwa

for  conversation and refreshments,

to share ideas for future events, and

to celebrate the official launch of his new book

Just Use This Mind

Date: January 15, 2011, 2:00PM – 4:00PM
Place: Vairocana Zen Monastery, 13735 Yockey Street., Garden Grove, CA 92844

rsvp zen@vzmla.org or 714-894-3658

“Wisdom and merit are the qualities that truly matter in life, as they allow the individual to choose the right path for his life. Therefore, the key to a good life is the cultivation of wisdom and merit.

Using an appropriate method to eliminate habitual tendencies will bring forth mindful awareness. This awareness is wisdom; it is the view of a pure mind, vast without boundary. When we can compose our thoughts, attachments and greed are eliminated, and merits are generated. We must see that wisdom is the root of all existence in the mind, and that in the presence of this wisdom the individual and the Collective merge as one without distinction. The ability to handle situations with wisdom in order to live the life of pure Mind is a merit.”

 Fa Hwa

“Compassion of Zen masters – Generations of Zen masters, after attaining the realization of the Way, have attempted to liberate beings through various skillful means. While some masters employ unusual behaviors and styles of teaching, their con­duct is always for the purpose of teaching all beings the universal truth that they have realized. They are no longer attached to false I-consciousness but are able to express the universal truth in every action.

Take the famous Koan known as “Golden Ox, Rice Bucket.” Each day, just before the noon meal, the monk known as Golden Ox would dance in front of the dining hall with a rice bucket, laughing out loud, “Bodhisattvas! Come eat!” This went on for twenty years. If the purpose was to announce the arrival of meal time, hitting the gong or the wooden fish would suffice, so why bother with the dancing and the spectacle? The skillful means deployed by masters are for no other reason than to help each student take direct responsibility for himself, reminding him of the commitment to seek the realization of the truth of birth and death for himself, in every moment of the day and with each single thought.”

Practice is in every breath, every thought, and every action – just use this mind. Wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Fa Hwa