Andrew Campbell wrote in Dharma Connection:

If you look really closely at 'now' there is never a particular moment that is not absolutely unique. This absolute uniqueness of every part of 'now' is very interesting. 'Always fresh' means that each part of 'now' has never arisen before and so each apparent arising is absolutely a unique, never before seen or tasted. Completely new. BUT look even closer at these unique moments and you see that they are so unique they never have time to come into being as 'unique things'. 'Now' is so fresh, so extremely fresh, that it never comes into being as something that is not new or unique and this uniqueness is so acute that 'things' can't get a duration unless we give them a duration. This absolute uniqueness without duration is what is called 'non-arising, unborn' and is also a glimpse at effortless self-liberation. It's also what 'appearing emptiness' is. Seeing this is also the basis of understanding natural non-fixation. This way of seeing is how we bring different meditation approaches of shamatha and vipashyana together. It's also an understanding of equality.
Found this Chinese blog, I guess most of you readers will not be able to read it... it's something for Chinese readers only. This is the first time I found experiential narration of anatta insight in Chinese. The blogger has a very powerful way of expressing his insights in Chinese... something I will never be able to achieve (my command of Chinese is not that good and can't compare with those people in China). Thusness also noted that "IMO, he is the first person I find to be able to express so well the phases of insights with thorough clarity in Chinese version. The more I read, the more I fell in love with the site." He noted that so far he doesn't think he can find such clear expressions elsewhere not only in Chinese but even in English too.

The author's writings before 1st Feb 2012 are all on I AMness, he realized anatta on the 1st Feb 2012 (as far as I can trace). He is now into Anatta, Maha Suchness and Emptiness, and his recent writings often warn against mistaking I AMness/Brahman as Buddha-nature.


圆觉道场 http://blog.sina.com.cn/xnfm

It seems to be a rather popular blog in China, its viewership is almost 20 times higher than this blog. I'm trying to compile all his blog posts currently (300 pages and still not even halfway done!)

Meanwhile, I've translated Thusness 7 stages into Chinese. It still needs much improvement so any suggestions are very appreciated.

Update: completed compiling posts (mainly those from Feb 2012 onwards). doc: https://app.box.com/s/eqqo8f3z71zgjr2j4f2t pdf: https://app.box.com/s/jcscho5o6g1uuaahe8ej

752 pages in total! Printed for my mom.

I appreciate Kyle Dixon for his efforts at putting up many valuable dharma discussions from the facebook group Dharma Connection to the newly created blog: http://dharmaconnectiongroup.blogspot.com.au/

This blog is being updated regularly so check back often.

http://www.dailyzen.com/zen/zen_reading0807.asp

Sermons

Ma-tsu (709-788)

The Patriarch said to the assembly, “All of you should believe that your mind is Buddha, that this mind is identical with Buddha. The great master Bodhidharma came from India to China, and transmitted the One Mind teaching of Mahayana so that it can lead you all to awakening.  Fearing that you will be too confused and will not believe that this One Mind is inherent in all of you, he used the Lankavatara Sutra to seal the sentient beings’ mind-ground.  Therefore, in the Lankavatara Sutra, mind is the essence of all the Buddha’s teachings, no gate is the Dharma-gate.

“Those who seek the Dharma should not seek for anything.  Outside of mind there is no other Buddha, outside of Buddha there is no other mind.  Not attaching to good and not rejecting evil without reliance on either purity or defilement, one realizes that the nature of offence is empty: it cannot be found in each thought because it is without self-nature.  Therefore, the three realms are mind-only and ‘all phenomena in the universe are marked by a single Dharma.’  Whenever we see form, it is just seeing the mind. The mind does not exist by itself; its existence is due to form.

"Whatever you are saying, it is just a phenomenon which is identical with the principle.  They are all without obstruction and the fruit of the way to ‘bodhi’ is also like that.  Whatever arises in the mind is called form; when one knows all forms to be empty, then birth is identical with no-birth.  If one realizes this mind, then one can always wear one’s robes and eat one’s food.  Nourishing the womb of sagehood, one spontaneously passes one’s times: what else is there to do?  Having received my teaching, listen to my verse:

          The mind-ground is always spoken of,

                   Bodhi is also just peace.

              When phenonoma and the principle

                 Are all without obstruction,

              The very birth is identical with no birth.

A monk asked, “What is the cultivation of the Way?”

The Patriarch replied, “The Way does not belong to cultivation.  If one speaks of any attainment through cultivation, whatever is accomplished in that way is still subject to regress.”

The monk also asked, “What kind of understanding should one have in order to comprehend the Way?”

The Patriarch replied, “The self-nature is originally complete.  If one only does not get hindered by either good or evil things, then that is a person who cultivates the Way.  Grasping good and rejecting evil, contemplating sunyata and entering Samadhi-all of these belong to activity. If one seeks outside, one goes away from it.  Just put an end to all mental conceptions in the three realms.  If there is not a single thought, then one eliminates the root of birth and death and obtains the unexcelled treasury of the Dharma king.

“Since limitless kalpas, all worldly false thinking, such as flattery, dishonesty, self-esteem, and arrogance have formed one body.  That is why the sutra says, ‘It is only through the grouping of many dharmas that this body is formed.  When it arises, it is only dharmas arising; when it ceases, it is only dharmas ceasing.  When the dharmas arise, they do not say I arise; when they cease, they do not say, I cease.’

“The previous thought, the following thought, and the present thought, each thought does not wait for the others; each thought is calm and extinct.  This is called Ocean Seal Samadhi.  It contains all dharmas.  Like hundreds and thousands of different streams-when they return to the great ocean, they are all called water of the ocean.  The water of the ocean has one taste which contains all tastes.  In the great ocean all streams are mixed together; when one bathes in the ocean, he uses all waters.

“Some are awakened, and yet still ignorant; the ordinary people are ignorant about awakening.  Many do not know that originally the Holy Mind is without any position, without cause and effect, without stages, mental conceptions, and false thought.  By cultivating causes they attain the fruits and dwell in the Samadhi of emptiness from twenty to eighty thousand kalpas.  Though already awakened, their awakening is the same as ignorance.  All Bodhisattvas view this as suffering of the hells: falling into emptiness, abiding in extinction, unable to see the Buddha-nature.

“There might be someone of superior capacity who meets a virtuous friend and receives instructions from him.  If upon hearing the words he gains understanding, then without passing through the stages, suddenly he is awakened to the original nature.

 “It is in contrast to ignorance that one speaks of awakening.  Since originally there is no ignorance, awakening also need not be established.  All living beings have since limitless kalpas ago been abiding in the Samadhi of the Dharma-nature.  While in the Samadhi of  the Dharma-nature, they wear their clothes, eat their food, talk and respond to things.  Making use of the six senses, all activity is the Dharma-nature.  It is because of not knowing how to return to the source, that they follow names and seek forms, from which confusing emotions and falsehood arise, thereby creating various kinds of karma. When within a single thought one reflects and illuminates within, then everything is the Holy Mind.

“All of you should penetrate your own minds; do not record my words.  Even if principles as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are spoken of, the mind does not increase.  And if nothing is said, the mind does not decrease.  When there is speech, it is just your own mind.  Even if one could produce various transformation bodies, emit rays of light and manifest the eighteen transmutations, that is still not like becoming like dead ashes.



“If one is to speak about all expedient teachings of the tripitaka that the Tathagata has expounded, even after innumerable kalpas one still will not be able to finish them all.  It is like an endless chain.  But if one can awaken to the Holy Mind, then there is nothing else to do.  You have been standing long enough.  Take care!”

Ma-tsu (709-788)


From Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School of Ch'an-translated by Cheng Chien Bhikshu


                                                   *

Some pieces are overwhelming as we try to absorb the depth communicated.  Ma-tsu is delivering a sermon to monks who, just like us, have been practicing for various numbers of years.  Some are beginners; others have been meditating for years, but all are deeply impressed in the presence of such a master.

One key to hearing any teaching is to suspend that part of us that tries so hard to understand.  Just trust that you are receiving many levels of this message at once.  The implications of these ideas are far-reaching.  The discipline in any practice involves not only the commitment to meditation or physical prostrations involved in some practices, but also taking the teaching and staying with it long enough to allow it time to penetrate.

We so quickly feel we know what something means.  It is humbling to realize how superficial our understanding actually is.  This one sentence:

Whenever we see form, it is just seeing the mind. The mind does not exist by itself; its existence is due to form.

One could spend years with this as if it was a koan, which for some people, it truly can be.  Ma-tsu turns our light right back around in saying:

All of you should penetrate your own minds; do not record my words.

In any instant we can open; the key here is to stay awake for this journey.

With Enthusiasm,

Elana

I wrote this in Facebook in reply to a friend Din Robinson to whom Thusness wrote his "7 stages of experience" (originally 6) in 2006:

Din: "as soon as you take any action or any need for training, then you are perpetuating the myth of a "you" that exists in time and space, not that there's any wrong with that!"

My reply:

This is not true. This is as ridiculous as saying "as long as you take any action to keep fit, such as going to gym, then you are perpetuating the myth of a "you" that exists in time and space"


or

"as long as you take any action to pass your exams, such as studying hard, then you are perpetuating the myth of a "you" that exists in time and space"

or

"as long as you take any action to survive, such as eating and sleeping, then you are perpetuating the myth of a "you" that exists in time and space"

or

"as long as you take any action to cure your disease, such as seeing the doctor, then you are perpetuating the myth of a "you" that exists in time and space"

No-self/Anatta is not about denying thinking, action, carrying water and chopping wood... and this is the key difference between genuine anatta insight from dualistic conceptual understanding. The very notion that "action" and "intention" implies, or necessitates, an "actor", and therefore for non-action the intentions and actions must also cease, is precisely using dualistic thinking to understanding anatta...

Action never required a self (in fact there never was a self or a doer apart from action to begin with: only a delusion of one), and action does not need to perpetuate the myth of a self. The myth of a self is not exactly dependent on action or lack thereof. Sure, action that arises out of the dualistic sense of actor/act where there is an "I" trying to modify or achieve "that" is a form of action produced by ignorance. But not all actions necessarily arise out of an underlying sense of duality. If all actions arise out of a sense of duality, then after awakening one will just die as he cannot even feed himself.

When one is operating with a dualistic way of understanding, one thinks that action implies a self that is doing an act, and one thinks that non-action implies that the self ends with the action. But genuine insight into non-action is simply the realization that never was there a real actor behind action, so there is always in acting just that action - whole being is only the total exertion of action, and this is always already the case but not realized. That is true non-action - there is no subject (actor) performing an act (object).

Futhermore: The myth of a self is not dependent on practice and lack thereof. (Oh but, 'right practice' and 'contemplation' does a lot to deconstruct that myth!) The myth of a self is however dependent on ignorance, and only wisdom ends that ignorance, just like turning on the lights lead to the natural cessation of irrational fear and thinking of monster in the dark room by a child.

There is always only action without a doer. No doer does not deny action, it denies agency, and realization of such leads to the direct, immediate, experience of total exertion/total action where doer/deed is refined till none in one whole movement. There is nothing passive about non-action. Non-action is simply action without self/Self. All actions performed without sense of self/Self is in fact non-action. Without the subjective pole (actor), the objective pole in contrast to the subject (being acted upon) is also automatically negated. Yet clearly, the total exertion - pure action... goes on.

Dogen calls this practice-enlightenment. You do not practice For enlightenment (as some future goal separated from you). Your very practice of actualizing insight of anatta itself is practice-enlightenment. Sitting down is practice is actualization is Buddha-nature is enlightenment. Shitting too can be practice/actualization and that very act is Buddha-nature is enlightenment. Your very practice/actualization/act of just sitting, hearing the wind blowing, sight of scenery, walking on the street, chop wood carry water (without any delusion of self/Self) - that itself is practice-actualization-enlightenment, that is the total exertion where entire being is just entire sound, entire scenery, entire action.. This is non-dual practice and non-dual action.


Robert Dominik posted something interesting on Hua Yen teachings in my Facebook group "Dharma Connection".
From Garma C.C. Chang's "The Buddhist Teaching of Totality. The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism.":

One day Empress Wu asked Fa Tsang the following question: Reverend Master, I understand that man's knowledge is acquired through two approaches: one is by experience, the direct approach, and the other by inference, the indirect approach. I also understand that the first five consciousnesses and the Alaya only take the direct approach; whereas, the mind, or the sixth consciousness, can take both. Therefore, the findings of the conscious mind are not always trustworthy. The superiority and reliability of direct experience over indirect inference is taught in many scriptures. You have explained the Hwa Yen Doctrine to me with great clarity and ingenuity; sometimes I can almost 'See the vast Dharmadhatu in my mind's eye, and touch a few spots here and there in the great Totality. But all this, I realize, is merely indirect conjecture or guesswork. One cannot really understand Totality in an immediate sense before reaching Enlightenment. With your genius, however, I wonder whether you can give me a demonstration that will reveal the mystery of the Dharmadhatu including such wonders as the "all in one" and the "one in all," the simultaneous arising of all realms, the interpenetration and containment of all dharmas, the Non-Obstruction of space and time, and the like? After taking thought for a while, Fa Tsang said, "I shall try, your Majesty. The demonstration will ·be prepared very soon."

A few days later Fa Tsang came to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, I am now ready. Please come with me to a place where the demonstration will be given." He then led the Empress into a room lined with mirrors. On the ceiling and floor, on all four walls, and even in the four corners of the room were fixed huge mirrors-all facing one another. Then Fa Tsang produced an image of Buddha and ·placed it in the center of the room with a burning torch beside it. "Oh, how fantastic! How marvelous!" cried the Empress as she gazed at this awe-inspiring panorama of infinite interreflections. Slowly and calmly Fa Tsang addressed her: Your Majesty, this is a demonstration of Totality in the Dharmadhatu. In each and every mirror within this room you will find the reflections of all the other mirrors with the Buddha's image in them. And in each and every reflection of any mirror you will find all the reflections of all the other mirrors, together with the specific Buddha image in each, without omission or misplacement. The principle of interpenetration and containment is clearly shown by this demonstration. Right here we see an example of one in all and all in one-the mystery of realm embracing realm ad infinitum is thus revealed. The principle of the simultaneous arising -of different realms is so obvious here that no explanation is necessary. These infinite reflections of different realms now simultaneously arise without the slightest effort; they just naturally do so in a perfectly harmonious way. . . . As for the principle of the non-obstruction of space, it can be demonstrated in this manner . . . (saying which, he took a crystal ball from his sleeve and placed it in the palm of his hand) . Your Majesty, now we see all the mirrors and their reflections within this small crystal ball. Here we have an example of the small containing the large as well as of the large containing the small. This is a demonstration of the non-obstruction of "sizes," or space. As for the non-obstruction of times, the past entering the future and the future entering the past cannot be shown in this demonstration, because this is, after all, a static one, lacking the dynamic quality of the temporal elements. A demonstration of the non-obstruction of times, and of time and space, is indeed difficult to arrange by ordinary means. One must reach a different level to be capable of witnessing a "demonstration" such as that. But in any case, your Majesty, I hope this simple demonstration has served its purpose to your satisfaction.

.........


Garma C.C. Chang's "The Buddhist Teaching of Totality. The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism.":


"(...)we have found that the Totality and Non-Obstruction of Buddhahood are expressed in these terms:

1. That a universe can be infinitely vast or small depending on the scale of measurement, or the position from which a measurement is made.

2. That the "larger" universes include the "smaller" ones as a solar system contains its planets, or a planet contains its atoms. This system of higher realms embracing the lower ones is pictured in a structure extending ad infinitum in both directions to the infinitely large or the infinitely small. This is called in the Hwa Yen vocabulary the view of realms-embracing-realms.

3. That a "small" universe, (such as an atom) not only contains the infinite "lesser" universes within itself, but also contains the infinite "larger" universes (such as the solar system), thus establishing the genuine Totality of Non-Obstruction.

4. That "time" has lost its meaning as merely a concept for measuring the flow of events in the past, present, and future. It has now become an element of Totality which actualizes the total interpenetration and containment of all the events of past, present, and future in the eternal present.

5. Upon the grand stage of the infinite Dharmadhatu, countless various dramas of religion are being enacted in numerous dimensions of space/time throughout eternity.

........

AEN:

Thusness: Is your experience beingness or maha suchness? (comments: on the term 'maha suchness' see http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-anatta-emptiness-and-spontaneous.html) Then in the most ordinary and mundane activities, every action is fully exerted.

Me: Yes, it is like universe activity... not drop of water dissolved into static beingness but oceanic activity in which drop and ocean is seamlessly arising.

Thusness: No sense of beingness anymore... that is good. Rather it is this maha suchness of total exertion in this immediate moment... yet empty. Mature this experience. Feel this maha suchness... until it becomes as natural as breathing.

Now you know the difference? Tell me the difference between anatta and this experience and what is exactly obscuring the smooth progress to this insight and experience?

Me: The dualistic agent may be gone but maha requires the replacement of inherent view with D.O. so that when you see this, you see that... you see everything as entirely seamless self-arising activity. Not just this but how this arise without self, this is, that is.

Thusness: Well said. First you must be left with only manifestation. Solely that. Then into the general [principle of] D.O. Before that, there is this mini sense of activity but will not be thorough. But you must make this a continuous practice and keep integrating the view of general D.O. to replace dualistic and inherent framework. Till even this view is also forgotten.

p.s. Yesterday a dream of clarity arose in conjunction with Thusness's visions and meditative experiences (due to karmic links this is not the first time it happened) regarding a drop of water placed in an ocean, upon hearing this phrase in the dream there was an immediate shift where dream dawns as non-dual clear light (without the dream dissolving into formless clear light) which is free from subject/object duality, boundless/oceanic, vividly intense, blissful and exhilarating.