Enlightenment is not the acceptance of, or practical experience of rebirth. Enlightenment is not the acceptance of, or practical experience of a ‘soul’ theory. In other words, a fully enlightened and rational mind, is a mind ‘emptied’ of all delusion and irrationality.
Tag: mahayana
Master Xu Yun: Chinese Schools of Buddhism
The Chan doctrine of the Mind was handed down through Mahakasyapa and his successors in India and reached China where it was eventually transmitted to Master Hui-neng, its Sixth (Chinese) Patriarch. This was the Transmission of the Right Dharma which then flourished (all over China).
Ven. Walpola Rahula: Study or Practice?
From meditation, wisdom comes, but from wisdom, understanding arises.
Upali: Attachment to ‘Sila’ is not Enlightenment
Occasionally, the Ch’an Records indicate that monastics on occasion learned from enlightened members of the lay community. Never take on airs and graces, because a vagrant living under a bridge might well be another Vimalakirti.
Master Xu Yun: Dao of Wu Wei
The Buddha clearly taught that ‘rebirth’ only seems to exist in the deluded state, but that in the enlightened state, no such agency exists.
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.