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On the Method of Practicing Concentration and Contemplation

Chi Ki (Chik I)

A Monk of Shuzenji (Hsiutanszu) Monastery of Tendai (Tient’ai) Moutain

Translated by Kakuso Okakura

with a Prefatory Note by William Sturgis Bigelow

Originally published, Harvard Theological Review, Volume XVI, April 1923

This work is in the public domain, and may be copied, printed, altered and shared without restriction.

Prefatory Note

Kakuso Okakura died in Japan September 2, 1913. He was an “Admirable Crichton” in his way, a man of vast learning which covered both sides of the world. He was graduated from the Tokyo University in 1880 with honors in philosophy and English literature, to which he might have added honors in Oriental philosophy and literature had not the drive of education in Japan at that time been all in the direction of the Occident. He always kept in close touch with the Occidental world, and was for ten years the head of the Department of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Okakura was the greatest scholar of most original writer of modern times on Oriental art. But this was far from being his only interest; his mind was encyclopaedic. It seemed impossible to ask him a question which he could not answer, not only in regard to art and poetry, but in regard to history or philosophy or religion in Japan, China or India. He was a great traveller. He had been around the world repeatedly. He had been in China many times and travelled all over that country. He spent nearly two years in India, with which he was equally familiar, notably in respect to art, religion, and philosophy. His grasp of our Western literature and fine arts was extraordinary. I always enjoyed going to him to see pictures or hear music. His appreciation was keen. He liked Raphael and detested Rubens. After a Beethoven symphony at one of our concerts here, he said to me, “Ah! This is the only art in which the West has gone farther than the East.” On the other hand, I remember his characterizing a modern comic opera, with its loud orchestra and chorus, and its stage crowed with tinsel and color, as an “iridescent nightmare.” When I showed him some photographs from the Cubist exhibition, he looked them over slowly, one by one, and then said, as he handed them back, “I stretch out my mind towards them; I can touch nothing.” He was past-master in those refinements of Japanese civilization which are part of the education of a gentleman, in writing poetry and arranging flowers, in the formal tea-ceremony and jiu-jitsu. All of these were facets of the many-sided character which the world knew; but what the world did not know was his intimate relation with the Buddhist church. His familiarity with its history and philosophy was wide and thorough; he had received the sacraments of the Tendai and Shingon sects, and had practiced for some thirty years the so-called “Interior System,” the system which deals with states of consciousness reached through the will and not through the senses. Of this system the document which is here presented is the foundation. It was written by Chisho Daishi (St. Chisho), a Chinese monk who came to Japan in the ninth century and founded a Buddhist sect, which he named Tendai after the mountain on which stood the monastery from which he came. There were two of these monks. The other was Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect in Japan. Both sects exist and flourish today, a thousand years later.

It is interesting to note that although these priests of the ninth century were companions and close friends–a relation maintained by the head priests of the two sects to this day–and although the ritual is practically identical in both sects, nevertheless the Shingon is Shojo (“Lesser Vehicle”), while the Tendai is Daijo (“Greater Vehicle”). These systems are supposed to be opposite and contradictory, but when the head of the Tendai, Okakura’s first teacher, died, he referred his pupil to the head of the Shingon to continue his studies.

The present document has never before, so far as I know, been translated into any Western language. Okakura’s translation is given substantially as he left it. It embodies complete and detailed directions for reaching or acquiring the state of consciousness called Samaji, for which there is no word in English except ‘ecstasy,’ and this only in its etymological sense of ‘a state outside of the body,’ that condition of consciousness in which the sense of personal identity is preserved and the will is in condition of free activity, while at the same time the ordinary relations with the material universe through the five senses are cut off.

Broadly speaking, in the East men have studied themselves; in the West, what is outside themselves—that is to day, the material world, included their own physical bodies. Both in the East and the West men have recognized the fact that there is an inside and an outside, and have tended to state the part of the subject which they were not studying in terms of the part which they were. In the West the tendency has been to regard the body as the man, and the phenomena of consciousness as a somewhat irregular and unclassifiable by-product, the most definite statement about it being that made thirty or forty years ago that the brain secretes consciousness as the liver secretes bile. Just now we speak of consciousness as an epiphenomenon or parallel phenomenon. The latter term is perhaps the better, for the sensory consciousness of an object is parole with the object in the same sense as the reflection in a mirror. In the East, on the other hand, they say that the organism is consciousness, and that the physical body is only an item in the total of that consciousness, and a small one at that; that it is a small fragment of matter, of the existence of which consciousness takes cognizance as it does of any other portion of matter, from a pebble to a fixed star, or the receiver and transmitter of a telephone. As it is understood in the East, therefor, the study of self is the study of consciousness. There as here this study is systematic and scientific, but it differs in the name on the two sides of the world. In the West it is called psychology. In the East it is called religion.

The forms of consciousness are classified in the East in various ways for various purposes. The classification which concerns us in connection with this document is a division into two parts of very unequal size, the one actual and very small, the other latent and indefinitely great. We might call them by the terms applied to energy by Tyndall, dynamic and potential, or by the terms of modern psychology, the conscious and subconscious. The division is basic and fundamental in the East, and is the starting point for the study of nature as they study it. In the West we rank organisms by the complexity of their physical structure. In the East they rank them by the complexity of their consciousness. This generalization is true both in the comparison of contemporaneous organisms and in the process of evolution. In the lower forms of organic life, that is organisms lower than man, evolution affects preponderantly the metal part of the organism and thereby the psychical part. The organism in its advance is guided by its environment along a straight and narrow path, a misstep on one side or the other of which involves prompt extermination. As long as evolution is acting in this way on the material environment, the advances made are mainly in perfection of material structure. The psychical advances are relatively trifling in extent and variety. The intellect of the lower animals is much the same. It is concentrated on the three points of safety, nutrition, and reproduction, under penalty of death. But with man the case is different. To a large extent he creates his own environment and thus determine the conditions of his own evolution. He is no longer passive to nature as he finds it. It is nature that is now passive in relation to him, and he reconstructs it to suit himself, and then attempt to live up to the conditions which he himself has created. His survival depends mainly not on how he deals with the environment he finds, but on what sort of environment he constructs.

Man, then, in the Eastern view, consists of consciousness, and in consequence the the difference between one man and another necessarily consists int he extent or quality of that consciousness, or in both. The progress of evolution through successive lives is gauged by the increment of consciousness. Even in the West, the extent of the actual consciousness of daily life is recognized as being only an infinitesimal fraction of the latent consciousness. One German writer has said that the conscious is merely the coughing of the subconscious; and someone else has spoken of the subconscious being the waves on its surface. These two main divisions of consciousness form the basis of the two main divisions in the Eastern church, one of which is concerned with the so-called “normal” consciousness, that is, the actual consciousness of daily life, the other with the subconscious. The branch of the church which deals with the conduct of daily life is called in Japanese kengyo; kyo meaning ‘gospel,’ or ‘doctrine,’ or ‘system,’ and ken, literally, ‘visible,’ that is to say, the system which deals with the visible, or material, relations. The other branch, mikkyo, is the same kyo combined with mitsu or himitsu, meaning ‘invisible,’ or ‘non-apparent,’ in the sense of ‘non-material.’ The former is intended for people who live int eh world, as a general guide to conduct, and consists of a set of rules for unselfish living, such as the ten commandments, by following which expansion of consciousness upward will ensue after death to a greater or less degree. The object of mikkyo, on the other hand, is to accomplish the expansion of consciousness during life. this is the branch of study which Okakura followed. It is pursued usually by priests, more rarely by laymen. It is methodical and systematic. The various stages of growth are accurately recognized, defined, and classified, and the study is pursued as systematically as a course in mathematics or physics or botany.

The subconscious itself may be regarded as a series of concentric zones around the individual as a centre. These zones are accessible, other things being equal, in proportion to their nearness. The nearest ones are those which are most directly connected with the daily life of the individual. Outside of this comes the daily life and interests of his family, associates, and friends. Outside of this, again, the aggregate consciousness of the community in which he habitually lives. And so on. There is no limit to it. It is like a sea, in which the finite consciousness of each individual floats like a crystal of ice, homogeneous with the fluid, but separate from it. This sea of consciousness in which the separate individual consciousness floats, is called ku in Japanese and akasa in Sanskrit. These words are generally translated ‘ether,’ and have naturally give rise to a good deal of discussion which was inevitable until Western science had advanced to the point where it became aware of the existence of the subconscious. Even now the terms are not quantivalent. That is to say, we have only reached the border of the subconscious. We have no idea of its extent. Akasa means all that we mean by the subconscious and vastly more. The lower stages are close to the consciousness of daily life and abound in reflections of material forms; but inasmuch as the main object of the system is to get away from matter and liberate consciousness from the forms imposed on it by the material world, these early stages are necessarily a source of danger, and it is precisely to avoid this danger that the system of instruction is surrounded by so many safeguards. If a man acquires an expansion of consciousness only on the plan of his tail life, he will carry that into that expanded consciousness the pursuits and interests of his daily life, which he will follow with more freedom and more force than he could under ordinary circumstances; and as every action of daily life goes to the building up of character and produces results later, the very increase of power will mean, in the case of such a man, an increase in the strength of the ties which attach hime to the material world; whereas in the Buddhist doctrine, the material world is exactly what from which he wants to get away. These interests of daily material life are the greatest difficulty in the early stages of study. They are a sort of “dweller on the threshold,” to borrow Bulwer-Lytton’s sententious phrase, and are merely more or less involuntary reflections or memories of the daily life and desires of the man himself. Every man is his own dweller on the threshold, and unless his fundamental aims and aspirations are high, he will have to stay there. The more intently he interests himself in his own subconscious, the more he solidifies and crystallizes the immediate interests of his own daily, human, personality, which it is his main object to eliminate. If he has in his mind the idea or conception of something better than himself, he can reach that (“All we have or every hoped or dreamed of good shall exist”); but if he does not, he only intensifies his existing status. Not all have such ideals, and for this reason it is necessary to supply them. This is exactly what a church does. A church has a large subconscious of its own, that is, a latent or potential consciousness, which is common ground for, and accessible to, all the members of that church. Connection with this subconscious is, int he East and in some Western churches, established by certain arbitrary ceremonies called sacraments. The exact nature of these varies greatly in different churches, but the object is in every case the same–namely to establish a subconscious connection with, and to make a common ground of, the beliefs, conceptions, and aspirations of that church; and inasmuch as the subconscious is independent of time, the available material becomes cumulative. That is to say, every member of a church has his own latent consciousness increased by the aggregate latent consciousness of all the members of that church since its foundation, including that of its founder.

The object of all the meditation in all the churches is the inclusion of the latent in the actual consciousness, or, to put it the other way, the extension of the actual consciousness to include the latent. There are documents giving precise instructions as to how this should be done.

I spoke at the beginning of the quality as well as of the extent of consciousness. These two are, to a certain extent, independent of each other. The actual consciousness may be good or bad; the latent consciousness, equals, may be good or bad; and up to a certain point the expansion of consciousness may be in either direction. The question of good and bad involves a course of the question of right and wrong in all its ramifications. The subject looks large, but the Eastern view of it may be stated in a nutshell. It is this. The ideal condition of consciousness, the summum bonum, is compete freedom and self-determination. Anything which hinders such freedom or self-determination is, by definition, bad. Matter, following laws of its own, imposes those laws on consciousness, with which it is in contact through the body, thereby hindering freedom and self-determination. Matter, therefor, from the point of view of consciousness, represents the other extreme. Self-determined consciousness is the highest good. Matter, hindering such self-determination, represents the extreme evil. This is the classification from the highest point of view. From a lower point of view, matter is an essential factor in the evolution and development of organic life. The fundamental characteristics of matter, and consequently of the forms of consciousness based on matter, are limitation and discontinuity and non-identity. On the other hand, the essential characteristics of consciousness are just the opposite–continuity, identity, and the absence of limitation. The consciousness of a man or an animal involves the limitations imposed on it by the matter of his body. It is by and through these limitations that he gets the habit of thinking of himself as a separate entity. The one great lesson to be learned from a material body is the send of personal identity–the ability to say ‘I.’ Once this ability is acquired, the question becomes this–whether the ‘I,’ the sense of personal identity, can be expanded or extended outside and beyond these limitations. The Kengyo teaches how this can be done after death; the Mikkyo how it can be done during life. The method of accomplishing this expansion during life is what is described in this document.

To sum up. The essential conditions of this expansion of consciousness are three. First, it must be absolutely voluntary and under control. Secondly, the expanded consciousness must be continuous with the normal waking consciousness. Thirdly, it must not involve a loss of personal identity, though this identity need not be, and in the higher forms is not, that of the normal waking personality. It is at this point that the matter of double personality attains a definite, practical bearing. A secondary personality may be voluntarily evolved and acquired which is incomparably better and greater than the normal personality of daily consciousness.

The external world of ordinary consciousness acts as a hindrance and restraint on the action of the will but also as a safeguard. The deeper one goes into the subconscious, the more both the hindrance and safeguard are removed. A man acts, therefor, in the subconscious with more freedom on one hand, but consequently, on the other hand, with more potential good or harm to himself. Hence the manifold precautions with which all religions have surrounded the act of entering the subconscious. We are dealing here with he most delicate portions of the psychical machinery, and everything counts in the result of the experiment, even motives, of those cumulative motives which we call character.

William Sturgis Bigelow
Boston, Massachusetts.

On the Method of Practicing Concentration and Contemplation

The Gatha says:

Not to do evil,
But to promote goodness,
To purify the will,
This is the Teaching of the Buddha

Though the ways of reaching Nirvana are manifold, their essence lies in two Two Laws of Concentration.

Concentration is the preliminary means of clearing away the accumulated trammels of ignorance; contemplation is the right method of attaining wisdom.

Concentration nourishes the mind and the senses; contemplation is the subtle art of bringing into life the spiritual faculties.

Concentration is the high beginning of Zenjo (spiritual insight); contemplation is the environment of true knowledge.

They who practice and accomplishes these two modes of meditation, shall have all the means of benefiting himself and saving others.

Thus the Hokke Sutra says:

The Buddha himself dwells in the Great Vehicle. He is glorified with the power of Concentration and Contemplation, by which he saves all living things.

Know that these two methods are like the two wheels of a chariot, or the two wings of a bird, and that they who pursue one and neglects the other falls into evil ways.

The Sutra says:

They who practice Concentration and seek its bliss, and ignore Contemplation, are called a fool; they who practice Contemplation and discard Concentration and its bliss are worse than a fool.

Though the effects of these mistakes are different in the two cases, yet as regards straying into misleading paths and lingering in the rounds of life the results are equally serious. One-sided growth is incompatible with perfect development.

The sutra says:

The Shomon (Arhats and the followers of the Lesser Vehicle), because of their superior power of Concentration, cannot grass the nature of Buddahhood. The Bodhisattvas, because of their superior power of Contemplation, cannot grasp the nature of Buddhahood. All Buddhas have their power of Concentration and Contemplation developed equally.

Are not these two methods, the main entrance into Nirvana and the Great Result, the highway for practisers to tread, the finger-post to the attainment of the complete virtue, the real form of the highest attainment? Thus the significance of these practices is profound.

In trying to open the path to beginners it is easy to talk but difficult to accomplish. Here, therefore, without entering into deep subtleties, we shall indicate ten points which show to students the first steps of approaching the truth. The student must not underestimate the difficulty of practice because the directions are couched in simple and easy language. If their mind grasp the meaning well, they may within a fortnight attain boundless wisdom; but if they dwell on the surface of the words and follow not the injunctions seriously, years till avail them nothing. Their work will be useless, like the poor man’s pastime of counting their neighbor’s treasure.

Ten points are:

I. Suitable conditions.
II. Control of desires.
III. Discarding encumbrances.
IV. Harmony.
V. Higher wishes.
VI. Practice.
VII. Growth of powers for good.
VIII. Knowing the evil spirits (ma).
IX. Curing disease.
X. The Result.

These ten points are only indications for the beginner, to be followed in a spirit which will enable them to overcome difficulties, and will bring steadfastness and illumination.

I. Suitable Conditions

Those who have made up their minds to practice meditation must establish five suitable conditions.

1. They must keep the Kai1 in their purity. The Sutra says one who keeps the Kai can develop concentration and wisdom. The Bikshu must keep the Kai in all their purity. There are three classes of those who keep the Kai:

a. Those who before becoming followers of the Buddha have not committed the Five Great Crimes and who on meeting a good teacher have become Buddhists and received the three refuges (Sanki) and the Five Injunctions (Go Kai); who when they enter the order receive the Kai of the Shami (acolyte) and eventually the Kai of monk or nun, and keep these in their purity. Such are called Keepers of the Kai of the highest order. For them the practice of meditation is sure of results, even as unsoiled cloth is easily dyed.

b. Those who break the minor Kai, though keeping the major Kai in all their purity. These can by repentance be successful practisers of meditation, even as a soiled cloth may after washing receive the dye.

c. Those who after receiving the Kai break both the major and minor Kai, and are therefore not capable of redemption according to the Lesser Vehicle. Its is the Greater Vehicle which allows repentance in the four major Kai.

The Sutra says:

In Buddhism there are two kinds of healthy beings: those who have never done wrong and those who, having done wrong, repent.

The process of repentance involves ten factors:

1. Recognizing the cause and effect of the bad action.

2. Having great fear.

3. Feeling deep shame.

4. Trying to atone. The Daijo Sutras indicate various modes of atonement to be pursued.

5. Confessing the fault.

6. Avoiding the recurrence of similar thoughts and deeds.

7. Wishing to protect the Faith.

8. Wishing to save all living things.

9. Meditating on the various Buddhas.

10. Contemplating the non-existence [of the nature] of wrong.

If one pursue these ten methods, purify their place of meditation, put on clean robes, burn incense and scatter flowers before the Three Treasures, and repent with sincerity, their crimes shall vanish.

How shall the practicer know that their grave crimes have vanished? When on repenting sincerely they shall find that their mind is at ease and their body light and alert, when they have dreams of good portent, when they see rare and beautiful visions, when they find the growth of goodness in their soul, when in the midst of their meditation they feel their body like a cloud or a shadow, when they shall pass through various stages of meditation and suddenly get an insight into the nature of things, when they shall be so filled with delight in the Law that they shall be relieved of all wrong, then by these tokens they may know that their grave crimes have vanished.

If then after this they keep the Kai in their purity they may acquire the fruit of meditation, even as a torn and soiled cloth, by being sewn together and cleansed thoroughly, may receive the dye.

If the practicer wish to be relieved of the effect of their suit, they may attain the result even without performing the various rites ordained by the Law. they must feel a thorough and deep-seated shame within himself, confess their sins to the Three Treasures, cease from the wish to repeat them, meditate steadily on the non-existence of [the nature of] sin, and dwell on thoughts of the Buddhas, and if on leaving meditation they burn incense and make obeisance to the Buddhas, repeat the Kai, and read the Sutras, they shall be redeemed from their sins. The Myoshojo Sutra says:

When man has committed grave sins, when he has a fear therefrom and wants relief, there is nothing but Meditation (Zenjo) to help him. Such a man must sit in a quiet place and control his mind and read the Sutra, then he shall have redemption and feel himself attain the Sammadhi.

2. Concerning dress and food.

Garments may be of three kinds:

a. The first is that of the Himalayan hermit who contents himself with any garment that covers their body. this is possible to those who do not mingle with people and whose power of endurance is strong.

b. The second is like that of Kashiapa, who followed the way of the mendicant, keeping only three garments discarded by men and no other.

c. The third is for cold countries and people ho are not strong and enduring. The Buddha has allowed such to retain one hundred and one articles besides these garments of the mendicants. But the important thing is to know cleanliness, to know proportion, to know contentment, and to shun covetousness and not accumulate things to disturb the mind.

There are four kinds of food:

a. The first is that of the hermit away from the world in the distant hills who feeds himself with the herbs and fruits which nature affords.

b. The second is that of the mendicant who begs food according to the precepts. This, if practiced rightly, leads to the saintly path. There are four evil ways of eating which must be avoided, namely, eating with mouth downward, eating with mouth upward, eating with most shut, eating with mouth squared–these being the evil modes of eating which Saliputra taught Seimoku to avoid.

c. The third is the food offered to the monastery by benefactors.

d. The fourth is the food eaten in the congregation of monks.

These dresses and foods tend to impart tranquillity to the mind.

3. Concerning abode.

It is necessary to secure tranquillity and freedom from disturbance in the abodes of practicers. There are three kinds of quiet abodes:

a. The first is deep in the mountains far from the haunts of men.

b. The second is a monastery in the wilderness, three or for miles distant from villages, where the noise of grazing cattle is not heard.

c. The third is a clean temple not disturbed by laymen.

4. Concerning the abandonment of occupations of the following four kinds:

a. Gainful occupations.

b. Social duties, such as calling on lay friends and relations, and all sorts of mundane intercourse.

c. Artistic and mechanical occupations and worldly skilled work–giving medicine, writing charms, prophesying, and the like.

d. All ordinary study, reading, and hearing discourse.

It is essential that the mind be free and undisturbed by such activities.

5. Concerning the necessity of obtaining good friends. Good friends are of three kinds:

a. The first provides for the student’s external needs, and furnishes them the means of pursuing their practice undisturbed.

b. The second is the student’s associate as companion and helper.

c. The third is the Master, who leads the student through the various gates of the Zenjo.

1. “Kai” means (1) sacrament, (2) commandment.↩

II. Control of Desires

This section relates to the five desires which a student of meditation must restrain and repel. These five desires pertain to perceptions of form, sound, fragrance, taste, and touch, which entral ordinary mortals and absorb their attention. To overcome these desires one must know the nature of the faults involved and avoid them.

1. Desires pertaining to form.

The form of man or woman, beauty of face and figure, clear eyes and long eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, and also blue, yellow, red, purple, and other enticing colors, are a source of delight and desire to foolish minds. Thus Kink Bimbasara was captivated by the wiles of a courtesan, and lost himself in an enemy’s country; and King Udynana, through infatuation for a woman, cut off the hands and feet of five hundred Rishi.

2. Desires pertaining to sounds. The harp, the hautboy, the flute, various sounds of the string and the bamboo, of metal and stone, and also the voices of men and women, singing and chanting–such sounds attract the foolish and betray them into sin. Thus the five hundred Rishi of the Himalaya, on hearing the song of the woman Kandara, lost there power of concentration and became intoxicated with the music.

3. Desires pertaining to fragrance. The aroma of man or woman, of food and drink, and various incenses and perfumes around in the foolish a sense of longing and love.

4. Desires pertaining to touch. Whereas the body of a man and woman, from its smoothness and softness, its coolness in summer and warmth in winter, and its various modes of sweet sensation, is a pitfall to the foolish and ignorant, whereby they are led to commit follies and sins, therefore it is a danger to be well guarded against. Even Ikkaku Rishi, with their supernatural powers, was enticed by a courtesan, who triumphantly put her foot on their neck.

Such are the five desires which ought to be quelled. Alas! the living world, though troubled by these desires, yet longs for them, adding fuel incessantly to the flames. The five desires have really no pleasure in them, only the delight which a dog gets out of gnawing a dry bone. The five desires are a source of discord, a piece of meat for which hungry birds fight. The five desires burn man, like a torch held against the wing of a bird. The are as dangerous as a venomous serpent when trodden on. They are unreal as the content of a dream. They are transitory as a spark struck out of flint. The wise consider them as treacherous enemies, the foolish court them until death, and know not what trouble they bring in later lives.

The five desires are what man has in common with beasts, who are the slaves of desires, and they are enchained thereby to the wheel of painful existences. The student of meditation must understand that desire is destructive and must be repelled. The Gatha says:

That life and death cease not is owing to lust and desire. Man nurses an enemy even in their touch, and this fosters trouble and pain. The nine cavities of the body all exude impurity, this the foolish know not, and take delight in them as worms revel in dung. The wise contemplate the body but are not moved by mundane pleasures. To achieve non-attachment is to achieve non-desire—this is called the true Nirvana. With single-minded practice, according to the teaching of the Buddha, count your breath and meditate. This is the way of the monks.

III. Discarding Encumbrances

There are five kinds of encumbrances which ought to be discarded.

The first encumbrance is that of covetousness. In the former chapter we have talked of the five desires which are external. This relates to the internal desires which need to be discarded. The practicer, the they are entering on the Path, may feel in their inner soul various desires which continually encumber their good thoughts, and it is important that these should be eradicated. It is said of Gipaka that the fire of their inner desires was strong enough to burn their body, and it is possible that the fire will burn the seeds of goodness in the student. The soul that has desires has o way of reaching the goal.

The Gatha says of one who as repented and entered the Path, who holds the begging bowl in order to save mankind:

Why should they linger in the five emotions even like the foolish one who eats what they has vomited? All desires give trouble when we try to satisfy them. They give fear, when once attained, of losing their objects, and produce worry when they are lost. Thus they are not a source of pleasure in any sense. One who gets the real pleasure of meditation is not confounded by such desires.

The second encumbrance is that of anger. Anger is the root of losing the Buddhist law, the means of falling into the evil path, the enemy of spiritual delight, the thief of righteousness, the storehouse of evil tongues. One thinks of the wrong done to them in this life, of the wrong done to one near them, of the delight our enemies have in our discomfiture. These cause in the past, present, and future nine kinds of worry, thereby forcing anger, and through anger hate, and through hate the wish to injure others. Such are the encumbrances arising from anger. It is necessary that they should not be nurtured but speedily discarded.

Daivana once asked of Buddha in the Gatha, “What kills peace and pleasure, and what is the fundamental poison which destroys all good?” The Buddha answered in the Gatha, “By killing anger one gets peace and happiness. Anger is the fundamental poison, anger destroys all goodness.” If one knows clearly they should through benevolence and patience destroy anger and have the pure mind.

The third encumbrance is that of sleep. Sleep is the darkness of the soul. When darkness is on the five senses, it enervates the limbs until it ends in sleep, and thus retards the benefit to be acquired from real knowledge in this world, the changes of being born in Heaven and the pleasure of living in Nirvana. Sleepfulness is the most dangerous of the encumbrances which exist in our conscious state and can be discarded at will. Sleepfulness, clouding the will itself, is difficult to contend with. The Bodhisattvas have admonished their pupils repeatedly in the Gatha, saying:

Arise, do not recline with thine own stinking corpse. Thou hast a heavy sickness which is like an arrow in thy body. Thou art even like the man who is bound and about to be slain. Thou art sleeping with a poisonous serpent in the same chamber. Thou art in battle with swords clashing over thy head. What time hast thou to sleep? Sleep is the great darkness in which thou seest nothing. Thou art bereft of sight by sleep.

If the practicer feels the spirit too heavy on them they should use the whip of Zen in order to drive it off.

The fourth encumbrance is that of restlessness and the remorse thereof. Restlessness is of three kinds. The first kind is the restlessness of the body when one wants to play and sport and does not like quietness. Second is the restlessness of the mouth when one loves singing and chattering, discussing the right and wrong, and indulging in useless gossip. Third is the restlessness of the mind, when one has scattered thoughts, and likes to dwell among the mundane pleasures of literature. All this is an encumbrance to meditation, making the mind like a drunken elephant unchained, or a camel without a nose-ring. Such have to be discarded, but the remorse attendant on discarding is also a source of encumbrance. Remorse is of two kinds—one rising out of the remorse of restlessness, the other our of the great fear which endures with one who has committed grave crimes, even like an arrow which has entered the body and can not be drawn out. The Gatha says:

To do things which ought not to be done, not to do things which ought to be done, and through these faults to be burned in the fire of troubles, is the lot of the foolish man. If one repents of their crimes and after repenting feels no worry again, they are in the way of attaining peace.

The fifth encumbrance is that of doubt. Doubt is the main encumbrance which stopes attainment. One who approaches Buddhism with doubt is like a man who enters a treasure-house without hands. No one who has deep doubts can have true Concentration. Doubts are of three kinds. The first is doubt in himself. When the practicer thinks that their own powers are limited and their faults in the past too grave to attain the truth, with such Concentration will be impossible. The student should not think lightly of himself, because, though they may have shortcomings, their merit in past incarnations may redeem them. The second kind of doubt is doubting the Master, thinking that the Master is imperfect in deportment or knowledge or unfit to teach. The student ought to guard himself against such consideration. The Sutra has said of such teachers that gold has been stored in evil-smelling bags; that one must not discard the precious gift on account of its ugly covering. One should think of the Master even as the Buddha himself. The third kind is the doubt in the law itself. Ordinary men uphold their own standpoint and do not believe in accepting the law, there is no means of the soul being permeated with this essence. The Gatha says:

Even as a man who is on a divided path and knows not which way to go, thus doubt stops a student on their path. All doubt arises out of ignorance. in wickedness and goodness, in life and death, in Nirvana there is a fundamental law which it is dangerous to doubt. One who doubts is like a man in the hand of an executioner, even like the deer in the claws of a lion, and shall have no means of escape.

Belief is the means of entering Buddhism. Those who have no belief shall acquire nothing. By discarding the five encumbrances one gets freed from eighty-four thousand bonno1. They are like one who has paid a heavy debt, or one cured of a serious illness, or a famished person entering into a land of plenty, or a man rescued from a band of robbers. their mind shall be peaceful and calm like the sun and the moon, without a cloud and mist to darken their brightness.

1. “Bonno” means a vice, or bad habit. “Eighty-four thousand” is used to mean ‘a great number,’ ‘thousands.’↩

IV. Harmony

The student, when beginning meditation, shall make a vow to help all living things and to pursue the highest road. Their soul must be hard like the diamond, diligent, courageous up to the point of giving up life. They must not recede a step until all is accomplished. The student on entering Buddhism shall think on the reality of all laws and the various considerations of the good and the non-good and the four sensations of the inner and outer world; of the law and of bonno and the karma of life and death; on the existence of the three worlds in the soul itself; then they shall begin their practice and first obtain harmony. Like the potter, who, before they prepare their utensils, will skillfully knead their clay so that it shall not be too hard nor too soft, that it may roll well on their wheel; or even like a man playing on the harp, who tunes their strings that they may be in sure measure so that beautiful music may be made on them;—so the practicer has to tune their soul in the following five ways. This will bring the samadji to appear sooner, for when the mind is not in tune then there shall be disturbances and the difficulty of accomplishing good results.

First, it is necessary to regulate food. If the food is in excess the breath will be quick, the body full, the mind will be obscured, which will cause unrest. If the food is too scant, the body will be weak, the mind hollow, and the will not strong. These two extremes are two be avoided. If one eats unclean things, it obscures the mind and senses. If one eats unwholesome things, it leads to sickness and makes the four elements at variance to one another. This must be kept in mind at the beginning. The Sutra says:

When the body is peaceful the power is increased. To know the proportion of drink and food gives calmness, and through calmness comes progress.

Secondly, to regulate sleep. Sleep is the shroud of ignorance and must not be allowed to have free play. If one sleeps too much, it dulls the mind to the perception of spiritual things and interferes with good practice. One must regulate sleep to have the spirit in calmness and purity. The Sutra says:

On the first watch and on the last watch do not forget to practise, for through sleep one passes life uselessly and attains no results.

Thirdly, fourthly, and fifthly, to regulate respectively the body, the breath, and the mind. These three should be in unison and there should not be separate instruction for each. There are three stages in meditation: the entrance, the continuance (that is, the meditation itself), and the going out. When one first enters into meditation they shall prepare their body so that all their movements, going, staying, advancing, walking, sitting, and other movements, shall be calm. There shall be no roughness or coarseness in their movements, because thereby the breath would be rough, making their thoughts to be scattered. While sitting the body should be restful. On entering meditation one should choose the right place, and when the bench is chosen they shall see that all is soft and correct, that it shall be a place for long and easy sitting. Then they should look to their legs, and if it is the half seat (half cross), place the left leg over the right, pull it toward the body until the left toe shall be on the same level as the right knee. In case of a full seat place the right leg on the left leg. Then loosen and adjust the garments. Next put your left hand on the palm of your right, place the two hands on your left leg, draw it toward your body and place it near the heart. Next take the right position for your body. Move your body and your limbs backward and forward seven or eight times to feel that they are easily and comfortably in position. After this sit up straight, having the spinal column ben neither forward nor backward. Have your head in position so that the nose and the navel shall be on the same line. Have everything easy and not strained. Next blow out the accumulated breath. In doing this open your mouth and breathe outward, but not in a hurry. Let it be continuous and free. think that al the parts of your organs are ventilated. After this is done shut your mouth and draw in the pure air through the nose. Do it about three times. If you feel that you are in good condition, once will do. Next, in shutting the mouth let the lips and teeth touch each other lightly, the tongue to be toward the roof of the mouth, not touching it. Then shut the eyes to the point of not shutting out the outer light. Then sit like a stone, and do not allow the body or limbs to move. The idea in thus regulating the body is that it may not be too ridge or too relaxed.

The regulating of the breath is of four kinds: the wind, the sigh, the air, and the breath. The first three kinds are not regular breathing, the last is correct. In the first, there is a noise when the breath goes out and in—a panting. In the “sigh” there is no noise, but the breathing is irregular. The “air” is without noise and yet not delicate. The “breath” is when it is noiseless, delicate: when the exhalation and inhalation are continuous, almost imperceptible. This will help spirituality and there shall be delight in your capacity to do more. If you use the “wind,” your breath will be scattered; if the “sigh,” your thought will be intermittent; if the “air,” you will be tired. If the “breath,” you will have rest.

The way to regulate the mind is of three kinds:

a. Fix the attention on the centre of the body, the solar plexus.

b. Feel the freedom of the body.

c. Think of your breath as passing through all the pores of the body.

The breath should be very slight—the minimum. This is when you enter meditation. The secret of regulating the breath is in making it not too smooth and not too harsh.

The regulation of the mind when you have entered meditation is two-fold. One is to quell all wandering thoughts and not let them float or sink. When the mind is dark and has no remembrance, and the head has a tendency to fall forward, then let your thought be on an imaginary object at the end of the nose. Look at the time of the nose. Floating thoughts come when the body is not perfectly at ease. Then place your thought downward and fix the thought in the neighborhood of the solar plexus.

In the aspect of meditation there are two kinds of faults, excessive laxity and excessive strictness. If one is too zealous, there will be an acute pain felt in the breast. in this event take it easily and think that all your breath flows downward. If there is too much laxity when one enters meditation, the body will fell tired, the mouth will water, and darkness will come over the mind. Then one should concentrate more, and steady their body. The essence of regulating the soul lies in coming to a fineness of focus instead of diffuseness. The way of staying in meditation is three-fold. The first is to know that the body, the breath, and the mind are all regular. One shall see that when the body is in regular position the breath shall be equally regular; and when these two are regular the mind will also be regular, so that all three shall be in tune.

In coming out of meditation one should stop concentration and think of other things. They should open their mouth and freely exhale, with the thought that the breath passes through all the organs of the body; then slowly move the body, then move the shoulders and hands, then move the legs until you feel that they are not stiff. Then with your hands massage all parts of the body. Then rub your hands together to make them warm. Then rub the eyelids before opening the eyes. Wait until the heat of your body ceases. It is time then to cease meditations. The essence of this process is to return to the coarseness after fineness.

The Gatha says that there is an order in going and stopping; the fineness and coarseness must be regulated like the training of a horse, in which there are methods of running and stopping.

V. Utility (Higher Wishes)

Those studying meditation should have five objects in view:

1. The wish to be freed from all mundane misconceptions and falsehood, and to attain true wisdom. This thought constitutes a wish, a prayer, and a pleasure. It is a higher desire for the deeper delights of the law. As Buddha said, “All goodness, even, comes of desire.”

2. Diligence. To keep the Kai, to reject the five impediments, to apply yourself assiduously in the first and last watch in the night, to practice continuously until the truth is attained, even like the driller of fire who continues drilling until the spark is got.

3. To know that the worldly knowledge is to be despised and that only Zenjo is to be valued, that through Zenjo you shall develop higher intelligence and supernatural powers for saving mankind.

4. To know the relative value of spiritual and mundane pleasures. Mundane pleasures are evanescent, affording more pain than joy, whereas the pleasures of the Zenjo are eternal and entirely free from pain.

5. Single-mindedness. When one sees the superiority of the spiritual attainments over the mundane they must set their mind to the single purpose of arriving at them, even as the traveller who has studied the topography of a place, and chooses and pursues the straightest road. The Sutra says: “Without wisdom there is no Zen, without Zen there is no wisdom.”

VI. Practice

The practice of meditation is of two kinds, namely, the sitting meditation and the meditation in various postures and circumstances.

A

Sitting meditation is fruitful of results and is the best way for students. There are five different modes in sitting meditation.

1. To cure the turmoil of the mind at the beginning of sitting. One will feel the mind at unrest when entering meditation. They should practice concentration to conquer unrest. If this does not work, they should practice contemplation. There are three kinds of concentration to stop unrest:

a. The concentration of mind on a spot. This is to focus the mind on the tip of the nose or the navel, etc., as the Sutra say, to chain a playing monkey.

b. To control the mind. When a thought occurs, control it and do not let it run off by itself.

c. Fundamental concentration. TO know the non-reality of things and not to dwell on thoughts, is the way of stopping thoughts.

When the student finds that these are still inadequate to stop restlessness of mind, they should dwell in contemplation and think that existeth not, the present is only transient, and the future not within reach, that all modes of thought in the three tenses are intangible, that things are and are not. They should feel that all perception is the result of the six inner senses acting and reacting on the six sensual worlds, that existence and non-existence is a nominal distinction, that out of the cessation of existence and non-existence the tranquility of the Nirvana is born. To know clearly that all being is in the mind, and that the mind itself is formless, is the way to attain restfulness. If one concentrates too much, there is danger of causing insanity. By contemplation one gradually enters into the regular path, even like a student of archery, who, though they may at first shoot wide of the mark, by practice will hit the bull’s-eye.

There are two kinds of contemplation:

a. The contemplation of antithesis. Such is the contemplation of Impurities, in order to cure covetous desires; the contemplation of Benevolence, in order to cure anger; the contemplation of Equality, in order to cure selfishness; the contemplation of the Breath, in order to cure the ebullition of thoughts.

b. The regular contemplation. This is to contemplate the formlessness of things, which is caused by In-en (cause and environment); to know the unreality of In-en is to arrive at the reality of things.

2. To cure the disease of floating and sinking thoughts. When the student in meditation feels that their mind is not clear, with their memory gone and a tendency to drowsiness, this is the sinking mood. Then they should practice contemplation. If on the other hand they are restless and uneasy, this is the floating mood and they should practice concentration.

3. It may sometimes happen that either of these methods may not be sufficient to produce the desired result; then the student is at liberty to practice either concentration or contemplation as best suits himself. The main object is to get restfulness and cessation of worry.

4. When the student has conquered restlessness and entered into meditation, they will, from the nature of the mind in meditation (Zo), feel an elation and a pleasure. If one dwells too much on this pleasurable state they will nurse a bonno. This is to be cured again either by concentration or contemplation.

5. To develop the power of contemplation and concentration symmetrically. If one enters the Zenzo through concentration, they are apt to lack wisdom; it is known as the foolish Zo. One finds difficulty in rising above himself and is clogged at each step of advancement. Then they should practice contemplation. If one enters the Zenzo through contemplation, they are apt to lack power. It is like a torch, however bright it may be, that flickers in the wind. Then they should practice concentration, and they shall find the flame burning steadily.

B

To practice meditation in varied posture and circumstance. Through sitting is the best posture to practice meditation, one who has no opportunity continuously to practice sitting must not fail to pursue their studies as circumstances permit. These circumstances are of six kinds: 1. Walking; 2. Standing; 3. Resting; 4. Reclining; 5. Working; 6. Talking.

The student when walking should think on the object of the walk, whether or not it is for the sake of bonno and for the purpose of evil. If for bonno and evil they should stop walking. To practice concentration in walking is to dwell on the various bonno and matters of good and bad which arise from the fact of walking, to know that the fact of walking and things pertaining to walking are intangible. This is to stop the rising of restless thought.

To practice contemplation in walking is to think that walking is a motion of the body caused by the will, but that the will itself has no form as walking—that the walker and things pertaining to walking are empty and at rest.

The same is to be practiced in standing, resting, reclining, working, and talking.

Next is the practice of meditation in relation to the senses and the world of senses—the eye and forms; the ear and sound; the nose and smell; the tongue and taste; the body and touch; the mind and law.

a. To concentrate in the case of vision is to think that form is like the reflection of the moon in water and has no reality, not to arouse covetousness on seeing desirable forms, not to arouse anger and worry on seeing undesirable forms, not to arouse wonder and criticism on seeing things neither desirable nor undesirable.

b. To contemplate in the case of vision is to think that all the visual world arises out of aggregation of In-en, which is empty in itself, that it produces the visual sense which leads to mind-sense (perception), thereby causing variety of form and the world of bonno and good and evil, but that the mind itself has no form. The same is to be practised in sound, smell, taste, and touch. Of the mind we have indicated the mode in the instance of first entering meditation. One who can practice concentration and contemplation in their walk, standing, resting, etc., may be said to be a true student of the Great Vehicle. The Taihon Sutra says:

The Buddha said to Subodi, If the Bosatsu when they walk know walking itself, when they sit know sitting itself, even unto the putting on of their garments, and with single-mindedness go in and out of the Zenzo, such a one shall be called the Bosatsu of the Great Vehicle.

They who can practice the Great Vehicle in all places shall be peerless and foremost in the world.

VII. Growth of Powers for Good

The student of meditation who practices successfully shall find that they are purified in body and spirit, and at the same time be conscious of various powers for good awakening in them. Powers for good are of two kinds. The External are the instinct of alms-giving, of keeping the Kai, of reverence to parents and elders, of respect for the Three Treasures, of understanding of the law, and the like. The external interests, if they do not grow out of true practice, are often confounded with developments.

The internal instincts are those related to the Zenzo and are of five kinds:

a. The development of true and good breathing. The student shall find that their mind is at rest and oblivious of the existence of the mind and body. Then, after two or three sittings or after a month or two, a different mode of breathing will come which is almost akin to non-breathing. They shall feel movement in the mind and body, pain, itching, coldness, warmth, lightness, heaviness, stiffness, and hardness over the body, and then if they persist in the Zo, a pleasure will be felt which is impossible to describe. This is the development of the faculty of good breathing. The student shall know the length and shortness of their exhalation and inhalation, and feel that the pores of their skin are open. Then with their mind’s eye they will see thirty-six objects inside their body, even as one seems the grains opening a granary. They will be greatly astonished and delighted.

b. The faculty of seeing impurity is developed when one sees the uncleanness of their own flesh and the bones inside their body. They may also see the impurity in the fowls, beasts, garments, food, houses, and landscapes around them.

c. The faculty of benevolence is developed when the student feels indescribable pleasure when their friends are pleased, which may even be in case of indifferent persons, enemies, and all moving creatures. Their face on arising from a meditation shall be sweet and tender.

d. The faculty of contemplating In-en is developed when the student suddenly gets an insight into the past life, and is able to judge what was the fault in past actions, and feels a delight in this knowledge.

e. The faculty of contemplating the various Buddhas is developed when the student suddenly sees the various Buddhas in their glory and power, and delights in the vision of such helpers to mankind. The student shall feel a pure and restful pleasure, and when they arise from meditation they shall feel their body light and free, and their demeanor shall be such as to inspire love and respect in others.

The development of such faculty is to be distinguished from the false or evil developments. If in any of these developments the student feels that their body sways to and fro, or that the body is heavy as if pressed down, or even light as if able to fly, or when they feel as if they were bound by chords, when they feel shivery cold or excessive heat, when they feel excitement and delirious pleasure, or sinks into sorrow and despondency, when they feel frightened, so as to have their hair stand on end, or great joy like intoxication, such are the symptoms of the false Zo. If one stays in such conditions they are liable to become insane. The demons take advantage of their weakness and lend their powers to manifest the evil of Zo, evil wisdom, and evil miraculous powers. The foolish mistake these demoniacal powers for the true fruits of the Path and believe in them. This is demonolatry and such practicers eternally separate themselves from Buddha and fall into the way of demons. The student must guard himself from such, and must not give attention to miraculous manifestations. The development of true faculty is clear, pure, a quiet joy in the inner soul, without desire for worldly things, and marked by freedom and ease in going out of or entering meditation.

VIII. Knowing the Evil Spirits (MA)

The ma attempt to destroy the good faculties of living things, and let them roll on the wheel of Life and Death. Thus the higher a man attains the more they shall feel the strength of the ma. There are various kinds of ma, of which the chief consists of the demons.

Demons are of three kinds:

1. Demons of the hours. The demons that preside over the twelve hours change themselves into many forms—a young maiden, a venerable man, etc., to the confusion of the student. They are the spirits of these twelve beasts: the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the serpent, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the cock, the dog, the boar, the rat, the ox. They may be driven away by recognizing them and calling on their names.

2. The meddling demons. These are like stinging insects which annoy the practicer at all times and tempt them to break the Kai. If the student be firm enough to dwell in the Kai, they will vanish easily.

3. The troublesome demons. These annoy the student by assuming various guises such as parents, brothers, Buddha and bodhisattvas, fine men and lovely women, tigers, lions, and other fearful shapes. They create manifold sounds, smells, tastes, etc., to mislead them. If the student will not feel attachment, sorrow, anger, and drowsiness when they come, they are safe. The Gatha says:

Desire is the first battalion of the ma, sorrow the second, thirst and hunger the third, longing the fourth, sleep the fifth, fear the sixth, doubt the seventh, anger the eighth, vanity the ninth, pride the tenth. Such are the army which attack the practicer of the Zenjo.

The ma can be repelled in two ways:

a. By concentration. To know that the world of ma is false, and not to worry nor fear it. To keep the mind unmoved is the way of quelling them.

b. By contemplation. If concentration does not suffice, contemplate the fundamental equality (Byodo) of the world of Buddha and ma, that ma is not to be despised nor to be approved.

4. Express not delight when the ma vanishes. The foolish one attaches importance to their manifestations and often becomes insane. The fault does not lie in the man, but in himself. The essential point is to be sure of yourself and not worry though they may trouble you for months and years. It is therefore necessary that the beginner should have a good instructor to teach them how to deal with the ma and shinbones (dharanis). Otherwise their mind will be maddened, they will worry and rejoice alternately, and become sick and die. They may attain the evil Zenjo and learn the evil mystic charms, to the ultimate confusion of himself and others. To be unmoved and not to notice is important.

IX. Curing Disease

If the student does not know how to regulate and harmonize breath, mind, and body, they will bring out any sickness latent in them. It is important that the student should know the form in which sickness manifests itself and the method of curing it. Though the forms of sickness are manifold, it is mainly due to two causes:

1. Increase or decrease in the four elements. If it be an increase of the earth element, there will be swelling, heaviness, and leanness of the body. If it be increase in the water element, there will be indigestion, pleurisy, colic, dysentery, etc. If it be increase in the fire element, there will be fever, pains in the limbs, foul breath, constipation, etc. If it be increase of the wind element, there will be shivering and pain of the body, trouble of the lungs, vomiting, etc.

2. Disease owing to the disturbing of the five organs. The disturbance of the heart causes coldness and head in the body, headache, and drying of the mouth, etc.; that of the lungs causes swelling of the body, pain in the limbs, closing up of the nostrils, etc.; that of the liver causes melancholia and anger, bad eyesight and dizziness; that of the spleen causes pain on the body and face and loss of appetite; that of the kidneys trouble of the throat, swelling of the abdomen, and deafness in the ear.

There are also external conditions which combine with these internal causes to produce sickness. Sickness may also be caused by the actions of demons and by the result of past incarnations. Sickness ought to be attended to speedily. It is difficult to cure when allowed to remain unattended.

Sickness may be cured by meditation. One master said, Keep your mind one inch under the navel, a place which is called Udana, and sickness will be generally cured. Another master has said, Keep your mind under your feet in walking, sitting and reclining; this will cure sickness. These instructions are owning to the fact that the mind is situate in the higher part of the body and disturbs the equilibrium of the for elements in the lower part of the body.

A master has said, To deny the sickness is a method of curing sickness. This is because keeping the mind at rest is pleasurable and leads to the cessation of pain.

The methods of curing sickness are manifold. It can be accomplished by using different kinds of breathing: (1) the upper breath; (2) the lower breath; (3) the full breath; (4) the continuous breath; (5) the vanishing breath; (6) the hot breath; (7) the cold breath; (8) quick breath; (9) contained breath; (10) harmonious breath.

(1) cures heaviness; (2) cures lightness; (3) leanness; (4) debility; (5) too much vigor; (6) coldness; (7) heat; (8) interruption; (9) shivering; (10) weakness.

The student may also use appropriate medicine (metal, stone, grass, wood) to cure sickness.

Demoniac sickness can be cured by a firm mind with the help of shingon.

Sickness arising from the effects of past incarnation can be cured by repentance ad virtuous actions.

X. The Result

When the student practices meditation, and knows that all things arise out of the mind; that cause and effect evironment are empty and illusory; that because of their emptiness all laws are not real, then they shall see no need to attain Buddhahood nor any desire to save mankind. This strange is called Yegan (Eye of Wisdom). If one dwells in this stage, they fall into the position of Shomon and Arhats. The Sutra says:

All Shomon take pride in saying, I shall not be glad even if I hear the Buddha has appeared and is teaching mankind, for all laws are non-existent, with no birth or death.

Such a one makes nothingness the true standard. They cannot arrive at the spirit of Bodhi by their own power of concentration, nor approach Buddhahood. True Bodhisattvas must not stay there and form attachment and love for emptiness. At this stage they must enter into the contemplation of the illusory, dwelling on the thought that through the mind itself vacant, by relation and opposition it creates things and distinctions, that out of the distinction of things to come the innumerable creatures of the Six Paths which it is desirable to lead to the truth. This is called the Byodo Kan (Contemplation of Equality), and is also called Hogen (Eye of the Law).

These two modes are not ultimate and real. The truth is in knowing that the nature of the soul is neither empty nor illusory, in the Middle Path which contains and at the same time transcends emptiness and illusion.

The Middle Path is the universal knowledge—the eye of the Buddha. Through its power one can clearly see the Buddha and rest in the Great Vehicle. One can sit quietly and yet go fast as the wind, arrive at the abode of Buddha, wear the garment of Buddha, ornament himself with the glory of Buddha. They shall have purity in the six senses and be cognizant of all. They shall be friends with Monju and Fujen and dwell in the body of the Law. They shall appear in the Tusita Heaven, descend into the world, achieve monkhood, attain enlightenment, and reach Nirvana.

The Bosatsu at the first opening of the soul already attains the true enlightenment; the beginning is the end. Buddhahood is the ultimate Contemplation, Nirvana is the ultimate Concentration. In Concentration and Contemplation is the whole of Buddist achievements. The Konkyomoyo Sutra says:

The Buddha at the beginning is a mystery; the Buddha at the middle stage is covered with glory; the Buddha at the later stage is the indestructible.

A Gatha in the Hanshu Same Sutra says:

All Buddhas in their minds have got freedom. The mind of itself is pure and stainless. All paths are clean and have no color and form. The student of this truth attains the Great Road.

The practicer must, however, first divest himself of the five encumbrances. Unless they do this, their efforts will be useless.

eBook Notes

Cover Photo by Robin Schreiner on Unsplash

Minor changes to the source text were made. For the third-person singular pronoun, the translator used he/him, which would have been the proper style at the time. This has been changed the pronouns to they/them to reflect modern style guides. The preface remains unchanged.

version information:

1. 2020-01-05