Master Xu Yun (in his 82nd year of age) relates the following story in his autobiography: ‘That year (1920/21) Upasaka Zhang Jue-xian took a pair
Master Xu Yun: Purify the Mind and Body
The Ch’an is reliant upon the establishment of moral restraint, the practice of meditation, and the activation of profound wisdom.
Master Xu Yun: Dull Emptiness is Not Enlightenment
Sitting on a high structure is precarious for an individual, because there is the ever-present danger of ‘falling off’. In such a situation, the practitioner responds by ‘gripping’ ever more tightly to the structure, and will not let go. This is an ‘attachment’ to a lesser state of attainment, an attachment which prevents further progression into the true realms of Ch’an enlightenment.
Breaking Through at the Point of Contact
All legitimate Chinese Ch’an practitioners access the empty mind ground from varying socio-economic conditions that boil down to two distinct positions in life; either that
Master Xu Yun: The Importance of Being a Lay-Buddhist
Having established these facts, it is important to understand that a realised monastic is not limited to his or her social role, and that realised members of lay society are equally not limited to their role. There exists enlightened freedom that functions through specific social roles, but which remains completely ‘free’ of any limitations as defined by those roles.
Be Vigilant Against Those who Denigrate Chinese Communism
It is often left-leaning capitalists in the UK that criticise Communist China. This type of bourgeois often supports the Labour Party, and whilst living within, and supporting the capitalist system – openly attack non-European countries that have thrown-off the capitalist yoke. My view is that this is anti-Chinese racism as manifested on the left of the political spectrum.
