Fa Chan’s Zen Discourse XIII

2025/02/24

• Zen Master Linji once said:
  
  “It is only because emotions separate wisdom and thoughts and body forms are different that we reincarnate in the three realms and suffer all kinds of pain.”
  
  From this we can deeply realize that the biggest difference between us and the ancestors and Buddhas is that we have all kinds of “emotional attachments” and “delusions”, while the ancestors and Buddhas do not, that’s all.
  
  Among all these kinds of attachments and delusions, the most fundamental one is that we all mistakenly regard the four elements as our own form, and the six sense objects as our own mind. In short, we mistakenly regard the body and mind composed of the four elements and five aggregates as our self.
  
  Therefore, we will continue to cycle through life and death in the three realms and six paths, suffering from constant worries and distress. But as long as we no longer mistakenly recognize or cling to the body and mind consisting of the four elements and five aggregates as our self, the problem will naturally be solved.
  
  Therefore, the Diamond Sutra requires us to be free from the four aspects of self, person, living being, and life, and the Heart Sutra requires us to see that the five aggregates are empty. If we always live in the confusion of the four elements and five aggregates, it will be impossible to return to our original mind or nature.
  
  
• “Life” can be defined as the self-attachment of the five aggregates of body and mind. However, if you do this, you will live a very troubled and painful life, won’t you? But you can also return “life” to the one and selfless body. In this way, “life” will appear to be extremely peaceful, comfortable and free from worries! Of course, you must first allow this mind to reach the state of being free of the four phases, realizing the three minds, and always being in a state of spiritual transcendence that is unmoved. That’s correct.
  
• In the sect’s teachings, we have to use subtraction or division, that is, to subtract and divide again and again, and finally, “life” will have the possibility to return to its origin, the nature. Therefore, the ancestors once said: “If you can stop your mind from pursuing things, you will be no different from the ancestors and Buddhas.” It is also said: “There is no need to make any effort in Buddhism. It is just a matter of doing nothing.” Isn’t it extremely convenient to put it this way? That’s why we say, “Nothing is wrong, letting go is the best.” This is our motto for you.
  
• In the group, there are many fellow Taoists who are in their middle and old age.
  We need to share with you some of the health-preserving exercises that we often practice. Today we are going to talk about two techniques that were taught by an old Taoist priest in Keelung Bat Cave when I was young.
  
  One is the Qi Sinking into Dantian exercise, which is also the exercise of guarding Dantian internally. The key to the exercise is to relax the whole body as much as possible, either sitting or lying down, close your eyes lightly, overlap your palms, with the left one for men and the right one for women, and place them lightly on the lower dantian, which is four fingers below the navel.
  
  Then focus your mind on the lower dantian. At the beginning, your mind may often wander, but just bring it back. According to our experience, the lower dantian will start to heat up in about ten minutes at the beginning, and after another three to five minutes, the heat will fill the whole body, making you feel extremely comfortable. In the chapter on training essence in Daoshu it also says: “Let the mind always stay in the lower dantian. After a long time, the spirit and energy will naturally be settled and all diseases will not occur.” This is of course equivalent to what is said in the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine: “If the spirit is kept within, disease will never come.” Isn’t it?
  
• The second is to focus your mind on the perineum. The perineum is between the anus and genitals. You can sit or lie down. Try to relax your whole body as much as possible, and then focus your mind on your perineum for about fifteen to twenty minutes. This is an important accupoint for longevity in the human body. Once this acupoint is opened, all the acupoints will be opened, qi and blood will flow smoothly, and life will be prolonged. Both of these exercises are very simple. Due to our long-term practice, our Qi and blood flow smoothly, our whole body is warm all year round, and we never have cold hands and feet.
  
  When we give you individual blessings, you should all know that our hands are warm, right? If you have reached middle or old age, we do not want you to go to the hospital frequently. Instead, practice the health-preserving and quiet exercises we talked about at home. Your body will tell you how effective they are. Of course, this requires long-term practice with perseverance and determination to see its effectiveness.

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