A Commentary Literature on ‘Faith in Mind’
Chapter 7: Neither Welcome Nor Repel
Stop activity and return to stillness,
And that stillness will be even more active
Commentary by Paramartha
This is the 7th portion of the Chan Poem ‘Faith in Mind’ composed by the 3rd Chinese Chan Patriarch, Seng Chan (6th -7th century C.E). The entire poem is a crystallization of the the authentic Word of the Śākyamuni Buddha. Sengcan was instaneously enlightened by the Chinese second Chan Patriarch, Hui-ko (487-593 C.E). Bodhidharma (470-543 C.E), the 28th Dhyāna Patriarch of India and the first Chan Patriarch of China transmitted the message of Chan through mind-heart to mind-heart to Hui-ko in the lineage of Chan transmission in ancient China.
This verse of the Chan Poem of Chan Master Sengcan can be better comprehended in the context of mindfulness meditation. When the mind of a meditator is still not concentrated, wandering thoughts arise and perish. If the meditator makes deliberate attempts to eliminate the wandering thoughts which arise and perish from time to time, more wandering thoughts will arise and perish. Any attempt to eliminate a wandering thought is a wandering thought itself. Consequently, instead of reducing the number of wandering thoughts, the number of the wandering thoughts is, in fact, doubled. When a thought x arises, another thought y arises to eliminate x. x and y become two wandering thoughts.
Therefore, each attempt of eliminating a wandering thought produces an extra wandering thought thus increasing the number of instants of attachments. When a misguided youth buys a destructive good, such as a harmful drug for evoking a state of ecstasy , there are both the loss of money and health. The meditation masters normally advise their disciples to ignore each wandering thought or to note it mindfully and with clear awareness until it vanishes. All wandering thoughts are not to be welcome nor to be repelled. When there are ripples appearing on the surface of water, one should not blow over the surface of water to calm it. Only then can one progress according to the sequence: scattered mind, concentrated mind, one mind and no mind.
In the daily life, a Chan practitioner is expected to still his mind while in mobility. All changes in the external environment are to be perceived calmly by the practitioner who should remain unperturbed, tranquil and composed in the midst of all activities in all places at al times. This is the pragmatic value of Chan practice. |
