Tag: emptiness

Liberating Waverley Abbey! 2024

Meditating & Meandering Through the Beautiful Ruins of Waverley Abbey! (11.5.2024)

This was a place where a group of Cistercian monastics (following the Rule of St Benedict) – also known as “Trappist” monks – spent years in silent contemplation of the Bible and their inner minds. The lifestyle of such a monk is designed to “still” the mind and empty the interior of all desire. Only when the mind and body of the monk is “empty” might God grant “grace” and make himself known – but he might not. Either way, once the monk is empty of all desire – the love of Jesus Christ can shrine view. The monk possesses no opinion and so the cycle of each da peacefully unfolds.

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Venerable Old Master Xu Yun [虚云]: No Difference Between a Monk and a Lay-Person! (14.10.2023)

For instance, by cross-referencing the below May 1955 Dharma-Talk with the text of ‘Empty Cloud’ for that year – a more all-round picture can be built of exactly what was happening and how Master Xu Yun was reacting to it. To be clear, Master Xu Yun was adamant that an ordained Buddhist monastic must follow ALL the rules of the Vinaya Discipline and that a lay-person must follow a least five, eight or ten of the basic vows contained in the Vinaya Discipline. This is a practical distinction Master Xu Yun upheld – as he rejected the Japanese Zen tradition of monks being allowed to eat meat, drink alcohol and get married. Such individuals are ‘lay-people’ and NOT monks. This being the case, what is Master Xu Yun referring to when he states that there is ‘no difference’ between the ordained Sangha and the laity?

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