Nirvana cloud: "The person who is nirvana in Sanskrit is called liberation."
The name of liberation is also called Nirvana. Nirvana mentioned in the theory of self-awareness has four levels, which are described as follows:
First of all, it's not just Nie Yi.
Second, there is nothing to follow.
Third, there is no place to live.
Fourth, this comes from sexual purity.
The principle of liberation is emptiness, and the purpose of liberation is selflessness. As for the realm of liberation, it is not just an armchair strategist. Because theory is one thing and demonstration is another, just like a history, although it records the ancient state of things, the historical record itself is by no means equal to the ancient state of things; For example, the word "America" refers to that country of America, but the word "America" is by no means that country of America. Therefore, it is not too difficult to talk about liberation, but it is very difficult to demonstrate liberation. Therefore, although most people talk eloquently about the truth, if their physical and mental behavior is just another face, it is only a theory of selling knowledge, which has not been verified in practice and has not gained experience or efficacy from practice.
Then, how should the Buddhist liberation method be verified?
Buddhism calls the practice of liberation from the Tao "practice" and attaches great importance to practice. If you don't practice hard, you can't show the realm of liberation; If we do not demonstrate the realm of liberation, we will eventually fall into the realm of life and death and cannot be independent of life and death; People who can't live and die independently, even if they study Buddhism, even if they become monks, even if they think they are bodhisattvas, they will only plant some seeds of liberation and wait for the maturity in the future. After all, their current state is still ordinary. If you are an ordinary person, you are not a real bodhisattva. Although you are a bodhisattva, it is human nature.
Therefore, Master Taixu said, "Without the throne of ancestors, Mahayana cannot be truly promoted." The so-called ancestral position is the six net positions, which is the candidate who is about to enter the bodhisattva's holy position. It can be seen that for those of us who study Buddhism, it is meaningless to extract some wisdom from ancient sages and sages in words and sentences as a show-off capital if we do not pay attention to practice and seek liberation.
When it comes to spiritual liberation, there are countless ways. For example, in Hua Yan Jing, many bodhisattvas have their own ways to escape. Manjusri Bodhisattva and Pu Xian, two great bodhisattvas, each have countless ways of liberation.
However, the practice of liberation has one of the biggest principles, namely, "abstinence, stability and wisdom". From these three paths, we can enter the realm of liberation from life and death, so it is called "three no omissions" Leakage is the worry of life and death, and it is a hole to get rid of the ship leakage. Now, let's introduce the practice of "three don't let go".
(1) discipline
The definition of words and deeds is what can't be done and what can't be done. To sum up, it is Kaye Buddha in the first volume of Agama, which is also commonly known as seven buddha's general precept: "All evils should be avoided, all good should be pursued, and self-purification is all Buddhism." This is the common commandment of seven buddha which is closest to the present in the past. If we do meet this requirement, we are a standard pure Buddha. In fact, this is catchy for a three-year-old child, but it is not easy for an 80-year-old man to get it right. There are strict requirements in simplicity. Which ordinary person can do it completely?
Therefore, there are different levels of precepts in the lessons of Buddha Sakyamuni: popular five precepts and ten virtues, semi-popular eight precepts, shaman precepts and foot precepts, and Bodhisattva precepts to save the world after China's entry into WTO. The content of these commandments is limited by space and cannot be widely introduced in this paper. If you are interested, you can read the book "Subject Outline".
Here can only introduce the five commandments and ten good deeds that are popular now. In fact, the five commandments and ten good deeds are the basis of all commandments. If you can keep the five commandments and ten good deeds well, other commandments will be easy to keep. The so-called five commandments and ten good deeds are among the ten good deeds. When you understand the ten good deeds, you will understand the five commandments. The content of ten good deeds can be divided into three categories: 1. There are three kinds of manual labor: no killing, no stealing, no fornication; 2. There are four oral occupations: no two tongues, no bad words, no obscene words and no scattered words; 3。 There are three types of careers: no greed, no resentment and no Jaken. Cultivating ten virtues is called three industries clean. If the three behaviors of body, mouth and mind can't be brought into the right track and kept clean, then don't say that practice is free, even a basic personality is flawed. Therefore, the practice of Buddhism is based on the practice of precepts. Don't lead an honest and clean life at first, and don't be discouraged. As long as you persevere, it will gradually become a habit, and it will naturally be clean after a long time; If you are afraid of breaking the precepts and don't keep them, or even oppose them, it won't do.
Among the ten good deeds, the category of career should be accompanied by drinking and abstinence, the category of body and mouth should be ahead, and the previous categories under temptation include killing, stealing, lewdness and folly, which are the five commandments. Breaking the precepts is mainly based on the established behavior facts, so only the mind breaks the precepts, not the sin. However, among the ten good deeds, dedication is the most dominant. Therefore, the Buddhist spirit of keeping precepts focuses on inner intentions and does not value physical chastity. For example, if you are raped and have no sexual indulgence, it is not a violation. Especially "Jaken" is the chief culprit of Ten Grace. Jaken means that he doesn't believe in good and evil cause and effect. If he doesn't believe in cause and effect, he can't learn Buddhism. If you don't believe in cause and effect, you may not be a villain, but you can even become a good person. However, the biggest villain will definitely not believe in cause and effect. If you don't believe in cause and effect, you won't consider the future problem of karma. Although the problem of karma belongs to the utilitarian vulgar category, it does exist and has the function of restraining evil and promoting good. Since we deny the concept of karma, we can do whatever we want. Therefore, only those who are convinced of cause and effect can keep the discipline clean and the inner peace.
When the ring is clean and the peace of mind is settled, let's talk about learning. Master Taixu once said, "The precepts are based on three times." If you believe in Buddhism and learn from it, if you obey the precepts lightly, you will not learn from it. Even if you practice with a spell, you can understand ghosts and gods. That's just heresy. (Please read my book "Subject Outline")
(2) revision
Meditation is meditation. If abstinence is for good and evil, meditation is for the heart. Therefore, the names of meditation are Zen (meditation or meditation) and samadhi (equal holding). In short, the state of living together is meditation.
Meditation is a requirement of all religions. If you want to gain great benefits from religion, only practicing meditation is the best way. All religions in India-called heresies by Buddhism-have meditation experiences. According to the Buddhist scriptures, there are many external paths in India, and the highest position can be determined in the four empty places of the colorless world. In China, Master Taixu said: "The book of China, only Laozi has this realm." (Introduction to Buddhism) Western Christians often get mysterious experiences in prayer. Although there is no meditation method, it is also a meditation. So some people say that Buddhists can't get religious benefits without meditation, or Christians can't get religious benefits without praying. Although this may not be the absolute truth, it is not unreasonable. This shows that meditation is very important to religious values.
Because of the role of meditation, the negative side can restrain my persistence and my desire; On the positive side, we can freely open the world of our spiritual life. Meditation is a kind of distraction, so it can prevent the overflow of material desires, and even eliminate desires and enter a state of no desire. Meditation is also a fact after desire, so among the three realms (desire, color and colorless), desire for the world is a blessing rather than Zen, and the color realm after desire is the beginning of Zen. Therefore, if you want to prove that there is no self, you must first leave your desire. If you want to leave your desire, you'd better fix it. Meditation can be separated from desire, and then the spiritual realm is naturally the realm of freedom.
However, there are many realms of Zen, which are usually called the Nine Definitions. From the color definitions of the second Yi Chan, the second Zen, the third Zen and the fourth Zen, to the meditation of extinction (also known as extinction), it is the realm of liberation and the realm of arhat. Outsiders only know how to cultivate things, but they don't know that sex is empty, so even at the eighth level, all materials and delusions are empty, and I am not empty, so I can't live and die in the three realms. When their concentration retreats and comes out of the setting, they will return to the whirlpool of life and death!
Meditation is not a simple matter. If you know what is wrong and have delusions, such as meditation, in order to survive in the kingdom of heaven, you will have an emotional belief, and you will hate this and enjoy the other. Therefore, his concentration can only make him live in heaven, and he can only be obsessed with happiness and no longer hope to be free from life and death. This is not what Buddhism wants. What is usually called "possession" is another inferior category, and dreamland is often regarded as a miracle and a fruit. There may have been two phenomena: dreamland and fixed environment. However, dreamland is different from fixed land, and it comes from impure delusion, which is most easily found in people with abnormal nervous system. The dreamland they see is the same as what they think in peacetime, but it is more wonderful; In fact, this is a reflection of their wishful thinking When you are not used to it, your heart is too scattered to be easily noticed. Once let your heart calm down a little, subtle delusions will take the opportunity to appear. In the absence of introspection, you will think it is a miracle. This is very dangerous. Without correct guidance and correction, it is easy to become a mentally ill person with mental disorder. That's too bad!
As for settling down, it is to concentrate the mind on one point, generalize it into one piece, expand it into a ball, and integrate this centralized and scattered heart into the external environment to become the internal environment of the heart. With the depth of concentration, the heart can be expanded and sensed, and the experience is subsidence. Avatar is a performance of concentration and a function of induction. But the boundary is not allowed to be divided, and it can only be understood but not described. Even if I did, it would be different, or it would be a fantasy. If there is a phenomenon in the situation, it is already the embodiment of concentration.
There are many ways to modify it. To sum it up, it is nothing more than the practice and coordination of "stopping", that is, the landing, stability and stillness of the heart, and "stopping" is to think according to the requirements of this stop. If you just stop observing, you will be prone to dryness and drowsiness. If you just observe, you will be distracted by separation. Therefore, if we want to use Zen for production and life and enter a certain realm, we must advocate "equality of observation."
There is a famous saying in China Zen Forest: "Who is chanting Buddha?" It is usually considered as an introduction to meditation. Fixed time, of course, must be based on meditation; The acquisition of a fixed environment does not necessarily depend entirely on meditation. So it is not meditation, but meditation. The word "participation" is an effort to "observe". Who is chanting Buddha? Just look at "Who is chanting Buddha?" Therefore, the occasion of Tiantai Sect's practice is not called meditation hall, but viewing hall, which is the case in Guanzong Temple in Zhejiang.
Buddha chanting is done with heart. Whose heart is it? Of course, I'm thinking about Buddha. The most important moment is above the word "I", poking out of the word "I" and asking "Where am I?" Physical limb is me? Is it me? Take a deep breath. Is it me? Spirit is me? Look for it, where is my body? In the end, I can't get it after all. If you can't find it, your heart will be still. When you reach the end of your soul, you will feel comfortable physically and mentally, and it is not too far from your home. However, the general state of mind is not necessarily meditation. If you don't have time to go home, you will gradually fall into a sleepy state, which is not meditation but dryness, but boredom. It is definitely not a daze, but a diligent and unremitting mentality. So after stopping, if you feel dizzy, you will immediately start to reflect on your thoughts: "Who is chanting Buddha?" If you go on like this, you will be skilled in your work and will naturally introduce centering.
There is also a case-solving: Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor of China Zen Buddhism, taught Huiming to participate in Zen meditation with such an admonition: "Don't think about good and evil. When, is that the true face of the Ming Dynasty? " In other words, when you are in a state of mind that you don't think about good and evil, that is the manifestation of your self. I would like to ask: without all good and evil thoughts, isn't it an empty environment? That is also a manifestation of the realm of no self. Therefore, Zen religious people participate in Zen, and there is a clear motto, which is "centrifugal, intentional, knowing and participating". At this time, what can we leave in our minds? These are all methods of epiphany, and they are all methods that point directly down. Compared with the methods of equal observation, they are more direct and in-depth, and for ordinary people, they are probably useless in a short time. Therefore, it is safer to stop watching.
There are many ways to meditate. According to the classification of Tang Daizong Secret Zen Master, * * has five grades: Taoist Zen, ordinary Zen, Hinayana Zen, Mahayana Zen and Tathagata Zen. They have a lot of content, which is beyond the length of this article. Generally speaking, China's meditation is Tathagata meditation, which is a combination of fixed time and real life. Therefore, the Buddhist scriptures say that "Tathagata is always fixed, and there is no time", while China's Zen master said that "hungry to eat, sleepy to sleep" is a manifestation of meditation. This brought all the meditation Hinayana Zen to life. But there are also disadvantages, because although Tathagata Zen can be integrated into real life, it is not necessary if it is not for the people who take root. Excuse me: How many people can do it? This is a kind of interference, and it is interference with the outside world. Who can do that? See colors, smell smells, hear sounds, and even touch troubles. Can you not be tempted? This is a very difficult achievement. If you just fiddle with a few Zen cases orally, how can it be regarded as practicing Zen? Therefore, a safe review method should start with sitting and watching.
Sitting still is not the same as reviewing; It is best to ask someone who has meditated to teach directly, otherwise problems will easily occur. For example: impure view, compassion view, karma view, implication view and counting interest view. The above is Hinayana's concept of five stops, especially the concept of impurity and the concept of counting interest, which is most valued. These concepts were studied and spread to the south and now Europe and America under the guidance of teachers in Thailand and other places. Learning from books is unreliable.
However, the reviser had better sit still first. When sitting quietly, we must pay attention to the following matters: first, we must have a quiet environment; Second, we must have a calm mind; Third, we should have a stable sitting posture. Whether you sit cross-legged or cross-legged, the most important thing is to balance your body's center of gravity and keep sitting. If old people can't bend their legs, they can also hang their legs to the ground, but this can't last long. One will fall down, and the other will have bad consequences because of blocked blood circulation. Also, it's best to focus your eyes on a point two or three feet in front of you, don't pay attention to it, and don't give it up, otherwise you will be distracted if you don't faint. If your eyes feel uncomfortable, you can close them temporarily and then open them slightly.
If you don't have a good Zen master's guidance, you can practice according to the meditation method mentioned above, but be careful: don't expect to get any miracles from meditation. If you save some distractions first, you will definitely make mistakes after practice. If there is any illusion of distracting thoughts, you must be alert, return to god and observe where I am. When I can't find it, the dreamland naturally disappears. Or ignore all kinds of pleasant or terrible fantasies that are likely to appear. Normal is self-defeating. Don't think it is effective, and don't be afraid of evil forces.
If some people are not used to sitting still, their mood is too scattered and chaotic to calm down, then they should practice other methods, such as worshipping Buddha, chanting Buddha, repenting and chanting Buddha. This depends on other powers of Buddha and Bodhisattva, and one or several doors with coherent nature should be selected. For example, if we practice Tommy's Pure Land, we should worship Tommy's Buddha statue, recite the Pure Land Sutra and recite Tommy's holy name. As long as you keep practicing seriously, you will get better and better. Therefore, this is also a convenient correction method, and it is a method to choose from the dynamic. For example, in the Amitabha Sutra, the method of chanting Buddha is also seeking no points, which is certain.
To practice, the most important thing is confidence, respect, determination and perseverance; Believe wholeheartedly, sincerely convert to life and respect, go forward and make unremitting efforts to repair. Don't be half-hearted, don't be eager for quick success, practice regularly and regularly every day, and practice calmly will certainly have an effect. Even if you don't practice for a long time, it is not pure work, not to say that Buddhism is invalid. Here, I would like to mention by the way: at present, the chanting classes in general monasteries often only focus on the form of chanting, regardless of the internal cultivation and edification, which really needs to be corrected.
(3) Xiuhui
Wisdom is wisdom. The purpose of practicing Buddhism is to seek liberation. If you only practice precepts without wisdom, you won't be free. The role of abstinence is like a medicine for treating diseases; Fixed function, like a tonic; The function of wisdom is like knowledge guiding life. After treating illness and strengthening the body, you have to have superhuman reason to achieve great things. So wisdom is more important than abstinence.
As for the generation of wisdom, it is also related to precepts. Usually, it is born from precepts, from precepts to wisdom, and then from wisdom to guidance on keeping and practicing precepts. In this way, a spiral state forms a chain, which is on the way to liberation. If you only practice precepts and don't practice wisdom, it is a blind practice that can't get rid of the essentials!
But the growth of wisdom does not necessarily depend on the nourishment of discipline, so the sources of wisdom are usually divided into four categories: Wen Hui, Sihui, Xiuhui and Zheng Hui. The wisdom gained from listening (including reading) is called Wen Hui; The experience gained after thinking from the heart is called thinking wisdom; Then put your own experience into practice, and the experience gained from practice is called cultivating wisdom; If you can personally experience the true essence of this experience, it is Zheng Hui. However, I must point out here that among these four wise men, except Wen Hui, the other three wise men are all related to abstinence, especially to meditation. Therefore, without the mutual application of these three theories, it is impossible to prove liberation from Tao. Some people with high epiphany, although they don't have to go through the rigid meditation practice process, once they are discovered, they have to be freed, but when they are freed, they still have some strength, but they are fast, so they are called electro-optic metaphors. It can be seen that we don't have to criticize people who don't practice meditation, that is, they don't practice. As mentioned above, the Tathagata is "uncertain", and the truly great and deep determination is by no means limited to sitting still. The same is true of the great determination mentioned in the first Shurangama Sutra.
Finishing: China Contemporary Buddhism Network-Buddhist Culture Network