Right in the midst of the hubbub, you mustn’t forget the business of the bamboo chair and reed cushion. Usually you set your mind on a still concentration point, but you must be able to use it right in the midst of the hubbub. If you have no strength amidst commotion, after all it’s as if you never made any effort in stillness.
Dahui is known for his evisceration of “silent illumination,” yet here he outlines the qualities of a meditation practice. The “effort in stillness” seems to translate to connection with the source in the face of stress and distraction.
The Old Barbarian said, “True Thusness does not keep to its own nature, but according to circumstances brings about all phenomenal things.” He also said, “Proceeding to effect according to circumstances, it extends everywhere while always here upon this Seat of Enlightenment.” Would they deceive people? If you consider quietude right and commotion wrong, then this is seeking the real aspect by destroying the worldly aspect, seeking nirvana, the peace of extinction, apart from birth and death. When you like the quiet and hate the hubbub, this is just the time to apply effort. Suddenly when in the midst of hubbub, you topple the scene of quietude—that power surpasses the seat and cushion by a million billion times.
Is this the right practice of meditation? Dahui seemed to think so. Not a belief that sitting in silence is enlightenment itself. Not quieting the mind to a trance-like state. It’s becoming so intimate with mind and its machinations that gale force winds can’t blow us over, and the loudest sounds cannot deafen our ears. It’s toppling the quietude and transcending the hubbub.
Submitted August 07, 2022 at 03:03AM by bcntwo https://ift.tt/ftWNolj
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