Just meditate, review of five days of meditation in Qingcheng Mountain

In the past two years, I have become more and more interested in Buddhism. After a yoga class at the beginning of the year, I chatted about Buddhism with Coach Meng Meng, and I immediately felt that I hit it off. I had just read the book "The Monk and the Philosopher". The dialogue between the philosopher's father and the monk's son in the book gave me a systematic understanding of Tibetan Buddhism. It was like planting a seed in my heart. I want to explore more about Buddhism. Meng Meng also had indescribable joy on this topic. When she talked about "just meditating" and "Teacher Hong Wenliang", her eyes glowed. This was the first time I heard about "just meditate" and the first time I heard Teacher Hong's name. Before leaving, she said: There will be a meditation activity in Qingcheng Mountain in April. Teacher Hong will come. If you are interested, you can apply to participate.

I was really interested, so I searched for the "Just Meditate" website according to the information shared by Meng Meng, and looked at the information one by one, from the historical context of Caodong Sect to the guidance knowledge of sitting meditation, as well as Teacher Hong's lectures audio-visual information. After reading this information, I decided to sign up anyway.

The schedule in April is quite busy. Two days before leaving for Chengdu, I had just finished a week-long business trip in Guizhou. With a rich feeling that has not yet settled and a tired body, I embarked on the long-awaited meditation journey. Just because I was sleepy, I jumped on the bus from the airport and started to sleep. It wasn't until the senior brother next to me woke me up and said, "We're here," that the greenery of Qingcheng Mountain came into my eyes.

The wind in the mountains is extremely cool and refreshing. The architecture of Puzhao Temple is simple and unique, giving people a quiet and lofty feeling. I was looking around when I saw an old man with silver hair slowly getting out of a car in front of me. I took a closer look and saw that he was energetic and bright with bright eyes. Somehow, I felt a sense of respect in my heart, just like the feeling I had when I saw the cover photo of Krishnamurti or Gurdjieff for the first time on the shelf of a bookstore. I didn’t know who they were at that time, and I just took a look. I started reading their books from then on. Well, I also have a close affinity with Teacher Hong.

Without further ado, let’s get into our meditation schedule. This meditation lasts for 5 days, with a strict schedule every day. Several senior brothers who have practiced meditation for many years serve as volunteers and arrange everyone's schedule activities in an orderly manner. They will also help guide fellow Taoists who participate in meditation for the first time. Get up at 4:40 every morning, and arrange 12 incense sticks from 5 a.m. to 22 o'clock in the evening. 11 incense sticks are meditation time, and each incense stick lasts for 45 minutes. The other time for burning incense is arranged by Teacher Hong on the same day. I will give you a lecture in the afternoon. Each Taoist fellow will receive a handout during the report, which is an excerpt from Zen Master Eihei Hōroku's Dharma. Teacher Hong will teach Buddhism based on the text. Zen Master Dogen is the founder of the Soto Sect of Japanese Buddhism. During the Song Dynasty, he came to China to study Buddhism, visited famous teachers, and finally obtained the Dharma from Zen Master Rujing of Tiantai Temple in Zhejiang. After returning to Japan, he went through many hardships and promoted the Soto Sect's Buddhism, and was honored by later generations as the founder of the Soto Sect in Japan. It is through him that the dharma lineage of "just meditate" can be passed down and will not be lost.

At four o'clock in the morning, it was still dark, and the temple was hidden in the jungle of the mountains. Then the long morning bell rang in the night, and a new day in the temple began. Together with other fellow Taoists in the dormitory, I got up and walked to the meditation hall. Wrapped in my coat and walking in the quiet and cool night, I could see the stars when I looked up, and several loud peacock cries came from the forest. There is the smell of incense ash in the air, the singing of monks and nuns, and the music of ritual instruments surround the entire temple, making it even more tranquil and making people disappear from all secular thoughts.

The meditation hall is very large, with more than 150 meditation friends sitting there. After a sound of silence, I began to meditate for a while while burning incense. As a first-time Zen practitioner, I think the first three days of adaptation are the most difficult. After sitting for a while, I started to feel drowsy and sleepy, and my sitting posture was out of shape unconsciously. At this time, there was always a senior patrolman who gently helped me straighten my posture, and then quietly walked away. So I took a few deep breaths, awakened my consciousness, and re-aware of the physical sensations in the sitting posture.

After a while, I either feel pain in my waist and legs, and want to move or loosen my legs; or there is unbearable itching in a certain part of my body, and I want to scratch it a few times. At this time, I always have distracting thoughts, and I am quite anxiously waiting for the end of the process. There was no sound, but the more this happened, the more time seemed to be unbearable: Why isn't it over yet?

Fortunately, Dr. Luo gave us lectures and guidance on the essentials of sitting meditation. What does it mean to just meditate? He said that this is the wonderful method taught by the ancestors of the Buddha. There is no other method other than sitting cross-legged. Just meditating means sitting upright in the present moment. There is no "I" meditating. Meditation is just meditating. Without "I", how can there be "I feel pain", "I feel itchy" and "I want to move". Pain itself is normal. Physiological reaction, only when you think "I" together, you will feel unbearable. Just sitting like this, my thoughts rise and fall, without a "I" to follow. The Buddha said: However, this body is composed of many dharmas. When it arises, only dharmas arise. When it ceases, only dharmas cease. When this dharma arises, don't say "I have arisen"; when this dharma ceases, don't say "I am annihilated". Think about it before and after, and don’t treat each other. Dharma before and after Dharma, Dharma and Dharma are not relative. This is "just meditate."

I could barely survive the first two days of meditation. It was not until the third day that I briefly experienced what Teacher Hong and Dr. Luo said during the meditation: "One transcendence goes straight to the land of the Tathagata." The local scene (i.e. the present moment). On this day, I still have unbearable pain and numbness in my legs. I just pay attention to the feelings of my body and the rise and fall of my thoughts. I no longer want to escape from the pain, but simply feel and accept it. There seems to be no time in this experience. I no longer care when the ending sound sounds, I only care about the moment when I breathe in and out. This experience is truly wonderful!

During the five days of meditation, what I looked forward to most every day was listening to Teacher Hong Wenliang’s lectures. Listening to him teach the Dharma is truly a spiritual pleasure. "Yongping Guanglu French" is completely an ancient text and I really can't understand it. But after the teacher sat down, he selected a passage to start the lecture: "The whole body is what it is. Who cares about the place. The whole body is kind. How can I find the reason? It's more than one sentence. It's hard to work three times. Let go and eat. Turn over and it will be revealed. That's it. The spiritual mountain is broken. After Yan, four or seven have not gained a single bit. Since Shaolin removed the marrow, how can two or three be reduced by one bit..." Then, from the time when the Buddha taught in Lingshan, there were four or seven and twenty-eight. The story of the Patriarch's propagation of Dharma, and even the Patriarch Bodhidharma's face in Shaolin, slowly unfolds and is narrated. There are several Zen koans interspersed in the middle, which are as natural as telling the story of the neighbor's house next door. Each class only lasted for one stick of incense, but we still had a lot to learn. My yoga instructor and fellow practitioner Meng Meng made insightful comments on Teacher Hong’s lectures: When a thought arises, it moves like flowing water, without interruption. I feel the same way myself. His teachings flow like flowing water and go straight to my heart.

I was quite surprised by Master Hong’s Buddhist attainments. Later, I heard from other fellow Taoists in the dormitory that Master Hong was once the proud disciple of Master Nan Huaijin. Later, after he came into contact with the Caodong Buddhism in Japan, he vowed to carry it forward in his life. Just meditate” this dharma lineage. In this case, it's no wonder.

More than 8 months have passed since this meditation experience. I am grateful to all the fellow practitioners, as well as Coach Meng Meng who introduced me to "Just Meditate" and Teacher Hong. I am very grateful to her. Even more grateful. In the past eight months, I have been meditating. Sometimes I am so irritable that I cannot sit still for ten minutes. Sometimes I sit for two sticks of incense. Occasionally, I am busy with work and have interruptions. But I always remind myself: just meditate. !

When I look back at my own state, I realize that although the influence of meditation on me is subtle, I don’t know when I started to become more and more accepting of my physical and mental feelings, and I strive to respond positively with actions and constantly expand myself. I don’t know when I started to become more and more tolerant of the annoyances of the outside world. I learned not to fight or follow my emotions when they arise. I also learned not to avoid or try to suppress external affairs, but just to keep myself. Be aware and connect with the "now".

This year, I have had a very fulfilling life.

In addition to just meditating, I also participated in the BEST Buddhist education course in Thailand, and experienced the growth power brought by "personal transformation" in my own life; and I met the partners of the Soul Freedom Reading Club and read "The Complete Book of Chakras" together. ”, “Tarot Meditation”, let’s share teacher Hu Yinmeng’s content on spiritual growth.

These causes and conditions finally allowed me to say something in the last days of 2016: Time has passed, but I feel at ease! In 2017, continue to "just meditate", continue to read and write, and let your strength grow in silence! grateful!