Section 0: The Central Hub
Section 1: The Philosophy of Slow and Painful Practice
Section 2: Clearly Seeing the Effects of Gradual Practices
Section 3: The Consequences of Practice by Stages
Section 4: Elevation to Pre-Zen Practice
Section 6: Pre-Zen Non-Conceptualization
Section 7: The Mind Transmission of Bodhidharma
Section 8: Non-Conceptualization as the Way
Section 11: Complete Unexcelled Enlightenment
Section 13: The Nature of Enlightenment
Section 14: Conclusion and Discussion
Sections will be released every two days between Oct. 5 and Nov. 2
Preface
Those of you who follow me closely may already know that I have made a few sputtering starts at covering Huangbo. Not being satisfied with these attempts, I have decided to do something bigger. This essay, which is spread over 14 sections, covers one aspect of Huangbo in-depth; practice. This will include the other suggestions people made, including quotes on One Mind, and Huangbo's words on complete unexcelled enlightenment.
What this doesn't include is whether or not Huangbo was a Buddhist, or the theme of letting go. I believe these themes speak for themselves, and discussion of them is not a discussion of Huangbo.
Why Study Huangbo?
A brief aside about Huangbo's compassion. There are probably three kinds of people who read Huangbo; the first, people who are seeking to solve this Zen thing; the second, non-practitioners who study Huangbo academically; the third; those who have understood what Huangbo is saying. About their own intention, Huangbo says:
2.21...as to mercy and compassion, if for your sakes I take to thinking things out and studying other people's concepts—in neither case will you have reached a true perception of the real nature of your own Mind from within yourselves.
While Huangbo will say again and again that study is not the way, there is never a reason to not read Huangbo if we are interested in Zen. Whether we are looking for explanations for ourselves, or for others, Huangbo answers all questions.
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to examine the idea of practice in Huangbo's Transmission of Mind. Taking quotes from various parts of the text, I will shape a map that starts with Huangbo's rejection of traditional Buddhist practices, followed by an analysis of how the doctrine of the One Mind leads to a new kind of mental application recommended by Huangbo, which they refer to as "The Way". Finally, the road will end at Bodhi, the complete rejection of all practices, and Zen.
Sections 1-3 will cover Huangbo's arguments against conventional Buddhist practices; referred to, variously, as concentration, accruing merit, commiting virtuous deeds, eliminating phenomena, and studying sutras/the words of the old ones. It will look, first, at the philosophy behind these practices, and why they fail, followed by an analysis on their functional shortcomings. These sections will show a complete rejection of all techniques performed by Buddhist schools outside of Zen.
Section 4 will outline Huangbo's attempts to elevate the student out of these conventional practices to one more expedient in realizing Zen. Following this, section 5 will be a list of quotes from Huangbo on Mind. I will leave it up to the reader to interpret them. This will give us a base from which to enter sections 6-10, which will discuss the philosophy behind, and functionality, of the practice Huangbo gives in lieu of the conventional efforts discussed in the first four sections. These sections will show how the primary practice of the Huangbo school is the effort of putting aside all conceptualization as the way to Bodhi, or final enlightenment.
Continuing our journey to Bodhi, section 11 will be another list of quotes, covering the idea of "supreme, unexcelled enlightenment" (anutarra samyak sambodhi). This will prepare us for the final sections (12-13), which will cover what is beyond Huangbo's practice; where Huangbo is pointing. This is the true Zen of Huangbo's school; beyond all practices.
The purpose of this essay, for the reader and I, will be to grow in our ability to analyze what Huangbo says, as a whole, on the topic of practice. Section 14 will conclude the entire essay, as well as showcase some of the best discussion questions and comments for the community to revisit, and digest.
Bibliography
Huangbo. The Zen Teaching of Huangbo: On the Transmission of Mind. Trans. John Blofeld. Grove Weidenfeld: New York. 1958.
All citations are given as x.x; part.section
Submitted October 05, 2020 at 04:25PM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/2F07ykO
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