Let not yourself be affected
by being criticized and abused,
Those,
who lift torches to burn Heaven,
just tire themselves!
I listen to them, and it is nectar
I am then able to instantly enter
the realm beyond conception.
Commentary:
‘Do not be averse towards criticism and abuse’ was the advice of Enlightened One, Yung Chia. The perfection of wisdom of patience or endurance, which is one the Six Perfections (Pāramitās), ought to be exercised to absorb the emotional attacks or strikes. The slanderous remarks, insults, criticisms,and abuses ought to be endured continuously in order to practise the Dharma and to discern the light of Truth.
Evil people commit evil kammas which will burn off their own future heavens. Those, who burn their future heavens, will be eventually be exhausted. Chan master Yung Chia admitted that when he listened to criticisms and abuses mindfully, he still maintained his equanimity or the silence of the mind. The stillness of the mind brought joy to him. He was emotionally composed and unperturbed by the negative stimuli. Thus, he entered the door of Chan or non-duality as he had obliterated the self-centred ego. Self-centred ego is the root of vexation or suffering. Its obliteration is the soteriological goal of all religious practices.
The house of Chan, in which his Heart dwelt, was the state of pure and infinite consciousness. Such released consciousness was empty of false conceptualizations and the resultant mental obsessions. His mind was completely appeased by dwelling in the Heart. He dwelt in the state of no-mind. ‘No-mind’ connotes ‘No false mind’ or ‘No ordinary consciousness’. It does not mean that the mind is lost or dead. It is shift of human consciousness from the mind (left brain) to the Heart (right brain).
No-mind is the enlightened state of non-attachment and non-aversion in which the false self or ego has been obliterated. The power of equanimity ensues from no-mind. No-mind is non-dwelling mind. Non-dwelling mind is the pure mind of non-grasping upon the five aggregates and privatizing them. For a liberated one who is able to maintain his Chan wisdom (perfection of wisdom), even negative remarks, criticism or any character assassination are still like nectars to him. He is akin to a giant rock unmoved by the wind of cyclone or tornado. At this juncture, it makes me reminiscent of man went surfing under the Golden gate of California. The weather was very bad and the sea was stormy and yet he enjoyed going surfing passing through the Golden gate dancing through storming sea waves. He was composed and totally calm and was able to overcome the odds. He reminded me of Chan or Zen and the superb preaching of Śākyamuni Buddha – the Sūtras redeem our Heart. Likewise, a genuine Chan or Zen practioner is composed, serene and imperturbable to confront all adversities of life. His sanctuary of life is the perfection of wisdom of Chan or Zen.
A true Chan practioner is active socially and yet his mind is imperturbable. All his activities are non-action of all actions resulted from the will of willlessness. The will of willingness is the mind of the Perfect Man called Bodhisattva in which the illusive self or ego has been annihilated. The Perfect Man, which is the microcosm, is the synopsis of macrocosm.
