[Buddha-l] Pai-chang Huai-hai (was Re: there he goes again(samharris))

[Joy Vriens]

Hi Vicente,

>a very good book in this topic is "Enlightenment By a Single Means 
>(Tibetan Controversies on the Self-Sufficient White Remedy)" 
>David Jackson. Verlag Der Osterreichischen, 1994. 

Yes, an excellent book, with various interesting topics that would require more research.  Of course that "Chinese influence" cab also be partly explained by Gampopa and other's use of texts like the Teaching of Vimalikirti and the Lankavatara, which were very popular in China.  

>I think the Lance Cousins comments are interesting because although 
>one can see  similarities in practical terms, there are differences in 
>the understanding of the process. 
>Chinese Chan observe the existence of a "no-dhyana" which is a final 
>dhyana, and they support this notion by means several Mahayana works 
>like the Vajrasamadhi Sutra.

Or in Pai-chang Huai-hai's case, works like the Teaching of Vimalakirti, form which he quotes elaborately. It's a small step from Vimalakirti to Ch'an.
Pai-chang Huai-hai's definition of Ch'an and of concentration is "non-thought regarding objects" (Par concentration on entend la non-pensée par rapport aux objets), which seems pretty close to Lance's explaanation of guarding the sense doors. 

"I don't think  
this involves trying to suppress the senses. It is spelt out that  
when one sees a visible object with the eye, one should not grasp at  
either the general appearance or at details. Similarly for each of  
the other five senses. There is no suggestion that one should try to  
suppress the operation of the senses altogether."

>They observed this state as something of 
>immediate access, as a "direct door" for the samadhi previous to 
>awakening. The related practice it's more a position to live and 
>understand our immediate reality than the developing of a body-mind 
>technique more related with postures and jhana progression. 

Yes, Huai-hai mentions a sutra called th Sutra of the door to Ch'an, which states that when contemplation is directed inward, awakening is almost immediate.  
 
>In this point, it is when one can find strong similarities with these 
>Theravada comments from some modern masters and several episodes 
>inside Pali Canon. Specially when we read about that Chan previous 
>to the preeminence of the seated meditation in the Sung dinasty. 
>The practice of that people was not mainly focused in seated 
>meditation but their understanding of body and mind in reference to  
>postures, etc... was surprisingly similar of those practical comments 
>of Buddhadhasa or A.Chah. 

There is a direct question on the difference between seated and other forms of meditation and Huai-hai's reply (13th question) is that there is no difference.

Joy