This Saturday, March 18, 2023, we finished our discussion of “ta” with a discussion on whether it is possible to attain sudden enlightenment including a discussion of what happened with the sixth patriarch of Chan/Zen tradition, Huineng, as well as Bodhidharma and Master Huike. The Buddha Master told us that “it cannot be said that attaining awakening is equal to ending the cycle of birth and death and results in elimination of karmic hindrances.” We learned that it was wrong to say that there is sudden liberation and why and what must be done after realizing awakening. “Understand that karmic hindrances are originally empty. Those who have not yet understood this must first repay their karmic debts from previous lives.” We also discussed the differences between plain dharmakaya and pure dharmakaya and the various levels of nirvana as well as the five wisdoms and four bodies or kayas of a Buddha. Again the Buddha Master stressed the importance of keeping the two aspects of dhyana and wisdom equal, with neither lacking.
We learned, “Once we know that prajna acts as our guide, ‘ta’ (dhyana) must be used to open up and develop it. Dhyana is then used to open up and develop prajna. Only in this way can we remove obstacles and achieve perfect clarity. Put together, the six characters for prajna-paramita mean relying on supreme wisdom to thoroughly illuminate the power of dhyana, using right dhyana to produce the wisdom of prajna, and, with equality of dhyana and wisdom, reaching the ultimate other shore.”
The last part of this session was spent discussing what the character for heart or mind means in the title of the Heart Sutra. After considering all the things that it is not, the Buddha Master told us that “This mind [heart] that I am talking about is your original nature, or dharmakaya. It is the state of prajna, the state of prajna wisdom illuminating the reality state.” Furthermore He said, “If you want to end your cycle of birth and death, you must let go of the differentiating and deluded mind of the sixth consciousness. That is, if you want to escape from cyclic birth and death, you must let go of the sixth consciousness, the mind consciousness, the differentiating mind, the mind of delusive thoughts. You must rely on contemplative-illumination prajna, using the principles of language prajna to generate the utilization of contemplative-illumination prajna. With the utilization of contemplative-illumination prajna, you illuminate the emptiness of the mind of delusive thoughts. Having illuminated the emptiness of the mind of delusive thoughts, you can then achieve the unborn, imperishable true-mind and can naturally remove karmic obstacles such that all is perfectly clear. Only after you illuminate this emptiness can you attain the true-mind that did not arise and will not perish, and only then can you remove karmic hindrances to be in perfect clarity. At that time, you will know that this mind is neither internal nor external, neither comes nor goes. As soon as you look within and directly understand—boom—you recognize it, like seeing your own mother.
We will study the meaning of “sutra” next week when we meet on ZOOM again at 9:00 am on March 25 and finish this course on April1 with an overview of Master Xuanzang, whose translation of the Heart Sutra is used in this course and a discussion of the doctrines of the three ancient Indian schools we should study to understand emptiness and how the Buddha Master ranks these schools (Middle Way, Other Emptiness, and Consciousness-Only) and why.
The following week I will go to Salt Lake City to transmit the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment. I plan on taking a short personal retreat after that and start our Saturday discussions again with C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice on April 29. CLICK for more information on this class.
Please note that I have added links to all of the 405 questions asked about this section of the sutra Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra (DCB21) and the recordings of class discussions for the Buddhist Studies and Xiuxing Seminary students and links to articles on each of the Zoom sessions in this blog for everyone.
DCB21-Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra: Forwards, Introductions, & Title
You must be enrolled in either the Buddhist Studies or Xiuxing Seminary programs at LFBCS to access the questions covered (in parenthesis) and the class recordings.
April 1, 2023: Lesson 7-Master Xuanzang (379-405)
March 25, 2023: Lesson 6D -Sutra(352-378)
March 18, 2023: Lessons 6B-Ta (328-343) -Part II & 6C-Heart (344-351)and HERE for recording of that class.
March 11, 2023: for article on Lessons 6A-Parami (296-310) and 6B-Ta (311-327) -Part I and HERE for recording of that Class.
March 04, 2023: for article on Lesson 5C (281-295) and HERE for recording of that class.
February 25, 2023: for article on Lesson 5B (254-280) and HERE for recording of that class.
February 18, 2023: for article on Lesson 4E (221-228) and HERE for recording of that class and on Lesson 5A (229-253) and HERE for recording of that class. Lesson 5-Three Types of Prajna-II (229-295)
February 11, 2023: for article on Lesson 4D (199-220) and HERE for recording of that class.
February 04, 2023: for article on Lesson 4C (182-198) and HERE for recording of that class.
January 28, 2023: for article on Lesson 4B (165-181) and HERE for recording of that class.
January 21, 2023: for article on Lesson 4A (157-167) and HERE for recording of that class. Lesson 4-Three Types of Prajna-I (157-228)
January 14, 2023: for article on Lesson 3B (140-156) and HERE for recording of that class.x
January 07, 2023: for article on Lesson 3A (118-139) and HERE for recording of that class. Lesson 3-Prajna (118-156)
December 17, 2022: for article on Lesson 2 (82-117) and HERE for the recording of that class.
December 10, 2022: for article on Lesson 1 (54-81) and HERE for the video recording of that class.
December 03, 2022: for article on Lesson 0B (28-53) and HERE for the video recording of that class.
November 26, 2022: for article on 0A (1-27) and HERE for the video recording of that class. Lesson 0-Introductions/Forwards (1-53)
November 21, 2022: for earlier article introducing Lesson 0A.
CLICK for links to articles and recordings of classes held on course DCB26-How to Realize Prajna.
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