Buddhism, Blue Cliff Record, Meditation, Koan

1. Buddhist Association of Canada Cham Shan Temple 加拿大佛教會 湛山精舍 禪修學佛入門 Introduction to Buddhism and Meditation 2011/03/19

2. Buddhist Association of Canada Cham Shan Temple ná mó fó tuó 南 無 佛 陀 Namo Buddha ná mó dá mó 南 無 達 摩 Namo Dharma ná mó sēng qié 南 無 僧 伽 Namo Sangha

3. Meditation禪修 Towards a Liberated and Enlightened Life 煩惱輕智慧長

4. Walking to See Treasure Walking to search for peace Violet bamboo and yellow flowers are none other than the Dharma treasure, white clouds and the moon display the whole truth. When spring comes, a thousand flowers celebrate and the golden bird signs in the green willow tree. In Pure Land, the song of birds becomes the voice of the Dharma. On earth too, the singing of birds is revealing our truth nature.

5. Walking to Sense Suffering Walking to enter the world of Pure Land Understand Four Noble Truths. Aware of the presence of suffering on the path It is the awareness of suffering that generates compassion. Compassion and wisdom are one. If you do not see clearly on suffering during walking, then your love is not yet love.

6. Walking to Cultivate Compassion Practicing walking meditation helps us to open our eyes to wonders in the universe. It helps us to let sorrow and worry fall away. It helps us to be peaceful and tranquil. It helps us to gain wisdom. More importantly, it helps us to see clearly suffering of others. If you can’t see what’s happening in front of and around you, how could you expect to see your own truth nature? In order to see completely your whole Dharma treasure during walking, you have to open your eyes to the real situation in the world. Once you are awake, you will not hesitate to walk onto those paths and exercise compassion like an awakening one.

8. Do not think about your work, your family, your commitments, your history, …during meditation.

9. You become someone who has no history during the time that you meditate.

10. When any thought hits the wall of the 'padded cell', it does not bounce back again.

11. The reality of the “silent now” becomes magnificent and awesome.

13. Sitting with Silent Awareness of the Present Moment When you are perfectly in the moment with every experience, every thought that comes in your mind, then you just do not have the space for inner speech. You cannot chatter to yourself because you are completely taken up with mindfully greeting everything just as it arrives in your mind. This is refined present moment awareness to the level that it becomes silent awareness of the present in every moment.

14. Silent Present Moment Awareness of Breath The first obstacles in sitting meditation is the mind's tendency to go off into the past or future. The second obstacle is the inner speech. Overcome these two obstacles before going further. Choosing to fix one's attention on breath is letting go of diversity. As the mind begins to unify, sustaining attention on just breathing, the experience of peace, bliss and power increases significantly. A common problem at this stage is the tendency to control the breathing, and this makes the breathing uncomfortable. When you know the breath going in and the breath going out, for one hundred breaths in a row, not missing one, then you have achieved what is called the third stage of this meditation, `sustained attention on the breath'.

15. CHINA’S BUDDHIST FOUR HOLY MOUNTAINS Chinese believe that Bodhisatvas, or Buddhist disciples who have reached nirvana but come back to earth to help mortals on their own paths to enlightenment, dwell in four sacred mountains. These mountains represent the most sacred in Chinese Buddhist beliefs. The Four Holy Mountains: Wu Tai Shan (north) Jiu Hua Shan (south) Pu Tuo Shan (east) Emei Shan (west)

16. WU TAI SHAN 五台山 Located in Wutai County of Shanxi Province, 240 kilometers from the provincial capital of Taiyuan. The mountain is a cluster of five terrace-like peaks - East Terrace, West Terrace, South Terrace, North Terrace and Central Terrance, hence the name Wutai (Five Terraces). Its cool and pleasant summer climate has also given rise to another name: Qingliang or “Cool and Pleasant” or “cool platform” Mountain. It has been regarded as an ideal place for escaping summer heat since ancient times Wutai is the home of Manjusri (or WenshuPusa大智文殊菩薩), the Bodhisattva of Wisdom and Virtue, once lived and taught Buddhism. As the most trusted aide of Sakyamuni, he drew emperors from various dynasties here on pilgrimage.

17. WU TAI SHAN 五台山 Wutai was identified on the basis of a passage in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Huayan Jing 華嚴经) which describes the abodes of many Bodhisattvas. Monasteries and temples were established over 2,000 years ago. It is the only holy mountain where both Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Lamaism are practiced . During Tang Dynasty, Wutai attracted believers at home and abroad such as India, Japan, Mongolia, Korea, Nepal & Sri Lanka. Wutai’s cultural heritage consist of 53 sacred monasteries and they were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heirtage Site in 2009. The Big White Pagoda for Buddha’s Sarira is the symbol of the Wutai . Inside the pagoda, there is small India-made iron stupa, where some remains of Sakyamuni are kept.

19. JIU HUA SHAN 九华山 Jiuhuashan is located in Qingyang County in Anhui province, part of Huang Shan. The original name is Jiuzishan (Nine-Peak) Mountain. The range covers about 100 square km and 99 peaks, the tallest of which is 1341m. Mount Jiuhua consists of ninety-nine peaks, among the most magnificent being Heavenly Terrace (Tiantai), Lotus Flower (Lianhua), Sky Pillar (Tianzhu), and Ten Kings (Shiwang). It has “ Lotus Flower Buddhist country" and “incense and candle is the best in the world” reputation. It is very famous by Jiusishan springs sound and five brooks mountain color.

20. JIU HUA SHAN九华山 Originally revered by Taoists who first built temples in the third century. There are 94 extant temples, with almost 700 Buddist monks and nuns. In 719AD, Jin Qiaojue, a Silla prince (todays’sQingzhou city in South Korea) came to Jiuhuashan , lived as a hermit in a cave on one of the peaks and cultivated himself for 5 years. After he attained nirvana he became revered as the theBodhisatvaKshitigarbha,(DizangBoddhisatva大願地藏菩薩), guardian of the Earth Buddha “God of Earth” At present 78 temples remain, which house thousands of statues and relics such as Buddhist sutras and jade seals. The skeleton of Monk Wu Xia of the Ming Dynasty in a sitting position is well-preserved on the mountain.

22. PU TUO SHAN 普陀山 Putuoshan derives from “Potalaka” meaning beautiful white flower, which is a 12.5 square kilometer narrow island in Zhejiang Province, These islands are in fact the peaks of submerged mountains and so rise steeply from the sea. Mount Putuo's fascinating beauty can be summed up in these words: “the fascination of the sea, the mystery of the mountains and the auspiciousness of the Buddha". The Five Wonders of Mount Putuo are the golden beach, exotic rocks, sound of the pounding waves, and the mirage. During the ninth century, a Japanese monk making his way from China back to Japan carrying a statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, was caught in a storm.

23. PU TUO SHAN普陀山 The Goddess appeared and told him to leave the statue and guided him to safety at Putuoshan. In gratitude , he had built a temple built at Putuoshan to enshrine the statue of the Goddess he was carrying. This is the so-called Bukenqu (Reluctant to Go) Guanyin Temple . Since then, Putuoshan has become the spiritual bodhimandala of Avalokitesvara (Guanyin大悲觀世音菩薩). During the Tang Dynasty, along with the development of sea silk road, Putuoshan became the center of Han Buddhism for Guanyin.

25. EMEI SHAN 峨眉山 Emei Shan literally means "Delicate Eyebrow Mountain" , it derives from two peaks which face each other and look like the delicate eyebrows of a Chinese classic beauty. It is the highest of the four sacred mountains and sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin, 150km southwest from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. Emeishan is located near the county-level Emeishan City, part of the prefecture-level city of Leshan – the famous Leshan Buddha (Giant Budha洛山大佛) was built in the 8th century, 71-meter high. It took 90 years to finish this project. In 1996, it was ranked in “the World Cultural & Natural Heritage” by UNESCO. The four key scenic sites are Baoguo Temple, Qingyin Pavilion, Wannian Temple, and Golden Summit.

26. EMEI SHAN峨眉山 Jinding ( Golden Summit) is the best place to experience the Four Wonders of Emei: the Buddha's Halo (rainbow-like rings that surround and move with your shadow), the Sea of Clouds, the Holy Lamp (or Divine Lights) and the Golden Summit Sunrise. Emei regarded as the capital of fairyland and kingdom of monks. The patron bodhisattva of Emei is Samantabhadra (Puxian大行普賢菩薩). Since the third century Emei has been a Buddhist sanctuary when disciples of the Puxian form of Buddhism came and built temples. Also in 16th and 17th century the practice of martial arts in the monasteries made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing’s place of origin.

28. Chapter EightMaitreya Bodhisattva What is meaning of Maitreya and his first name Ajita? What is reason why he decide to cultivate the Bodhisattva path? Why do people call he “Cloth Bag Monk”? And what does it mean? What is the name of the tree he will attain Buddahood and how many people will follow him? How can you be born and receive Maitreya Bodhisattva’s in Tushita Heaven?

29. Questions and Comments 討論 www.ChamShanTemple.org www.shengguangshi.blogspot.com ShengguangShi@hotmail.com Shengguang Shi 釋聖光 Tom Cheung 張相棠 Kam Cheung 張仁勤 Dennis Yap 葉普智