3-8-2011 Realization of the Taoist Practice

The Art Of Meditation 

By Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated and published by Lei Zang Si Singapore

This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 45th book, 坐禪通明法.

CHAPTER 21 - Realization of the Taoist Practice

"The ultimate highest realms of both Buddhism and Taoism are in fact associated."
Many students of Buddhism would not hear of Taoism without accusing it of being "heretical".
Is Taoism heretical? My answer is both "yes" and "no".
I have been with many Buddhist masters when they visited the home of their disciples who worship Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, but also worship Saint Mary, and also Na-zha, the god of children. Once, upon seeing all the gods, the master frowned and told his disciple then and there; "We worship Kuan-yin only, not the gods of heresy. Saint Mary and children's gods are gods of heresy. We must not confuse Buddhas with gods." The master did not even prostrate, looking very arrogant and contemptuous to Saint Mary and Na-zha. In front of the gods, he scolded the disciple and told him to worship Kuan-yin and Dharma protectors only, and asked him to leave the rest to other people.
In Nantou (Taiwan), there was also a family who believed in every god. In their house shrine, they worshipped Shakyamuni, the Medicine Buddha, Amitabha, Kuan-yin, and Mahasthanuaprapta; besides, they worshipped the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Taoism), Golden Mother of the Jade Pond, the Supreme Gentleman (Lao Zi-604-531 B.C.-founder of Taoism), the Treasure Heavenly Sage, the Patriarchs of the Eight Diagrams, among others. At the lower tiers, they worshipped the Prince of the Emperor of Wu Fu, the town god, the local god of the land, the tiger god, the seventh god, the eighth god, and other gods. In short, most of the gods that you can name were all there for worship. What was more strange is that they even worshipped spirits from the other world. The worshipped everybody except Jesus Christ and Allah.
One day, a Tantric master visited this family. As soon as he was inside, he let loose a torrent of abuse, shouting at his disciple that all the gods, big and small, from the Jade Emperor to the little spirits, should go away at once, for they did not belong to Buddhism. They must be given away, either to temples, sculpture shops or to friends. The banners, magic drawings, and gods' clothing were, therefore, piled up at the door and set on fire. The master was in a very bad temper, and the motley gods were "sent back to Heaven."
In another home, there was such a collection of scripture that even included affected writings like Collection of Worldly Advice, Supreme Jade Sutra, Goddess of Land Sutra, Supreme Yang Sutra, Supreme Yin Sutra, Gold Mother Sutra, and many magazines and travellogues. All these were burned to ashes by the master. According to him, all these odds and ends were written by "spirits and ghosts", or fabricated by men.
Concerning these two events (and many other similar events), I would make no criticism of the master, nor defend the various gods. What I want to say is this: there are different levels of depth among Taoists. For the profound ones, their theory is mystic and their realm of enlightenment is no trivial matter. The shallow ones are superstitious polytheists who are only after money and wealth.
I have read Flying Voyage Out of Misery by the respected Buddhist He Kan-ru. There is this exchange in the book:
Question: Do students of Buddhism not salute to the Heavenly Gods?
Answer: We human beings have lived in the three realms for a long period of time. We know that the gods of the Five Mountains (Taishan, Hengshan, Huashan in Hunan, Huashan, Hengshan in Shanxi and Songshan), the town god and the kitchen god are all officials in the realm of cause and effect. How is it possible that we don't salute to them! If you meet them, you can salute to them by kowtowing as the ordinary people do; we do the same when we condole our elders. As for the elaborate salutation by prostration, it is used before the Three Sages to show great respect to the Buddhas.
Master Yin Guang had this to say, "Though nobody was present in your secret room, gods and spirits from Heaven and Earth know everything. Though initial thoughts are invisible and blurred, it is as clear as daylight which are sinful and which are meritorious. If one is conscious of that in his cultivation, his deeds will be good and there is no room for evil." I hold that we Buddhist believers should respect gods and spirits. Though we know that they are of a lower rank, we should still put our hands together to pay them respect. At the same time, we make the distinction clear between the Buddhas and gods, and between our ways of worshipping them. There is no need at all to use abusive language.
Nowadays, the gravest misunderstanding of Taoism by the religious circle is the belief that Taoism is a superstitious belief in many gods, a blind practice for good fortune; its believers know nothing but praying for money and wealth, let alone methods of cultivation. So, between men and gods, gods are high above, while men have a blind faith in gods. As a result, some bad believers of ver low level make use of people's blind faith to swindle them out of their money or women. They cheat people by telling their fortune, promising to pray for children or a longer life on their behalf, or promising to eradicate their karma, or any other tomfoolery.
However, apart from all this superstition, Taoists indeed have their methods of cultivation for enlightenment.
For example, in Taoism, the Supreme Gentleman (Lao Zi) and the Pristine Heavenly Sage, the Treasure Heavenly Sage, are like Buddhas of the three times in Buddhism.
Mu Gong (wood) in the east, Gold Mother (gold) in the west, Huo De (fire) in the south, Shui De (water) in the north, and Huang Lo in the center are like the Buddhas of the Five Directions in Buddhism.
In Taoism, there are great teachings on how to end the cycle of birth and death by sending the original spirit to Heaven. However, among the worldly people, there are too many of them with bad conditions and too few of them with food conditions; some Taoist masters and monks are not interested in cultivation, but become swindlers who perform superstitious rituals. They know neither how to practice the Eight Methods for Internal Tranquility. This is why Buddhist believers do not appreciate the Taoist believers and label them all as heretic. We should know that the Taoist "quiet sitting" goes back earlier than Buddhist meditation. There have been more Taoists who have achieved Enlightenment--they will never lower in rank, never return, and never again fall into the cycle of birth and death--just like Buddhas.
So, I would divide Taoism into two parts:
The Heretical Way-superstition that makes use of gods and spirits
The Correct Way-the correct method of true cultivation and ultimate enlightenment.
In his quiet sitting, the Taoist practitioner realizes, in countless breathing cycles, that all the ten thousand gods are in fact residing in his own body. He then directs all his vital energy back to the brow point. When this vital energy condensing at the brow point shows itself, it becomes golden light. By the time the practitioner's mind resides at the brow point, when he has severed all his causations, when all the Consciousnesses are removed and hindrances are all eradicated, he has fully realized. Form the initial sitting quietly for concentration until the appearance of "the Land of Eternal Tranquil Light", the Taoist practice does not differ, in any substantial way, from Buddhism.
The Taoist cultivator is told to keep the precepts, practice whole-heartedly, set the breathing onto one thing, and turn this one thing into nothing. The so-called "doing by not doing" (action by non-action) is the true knack of cultivation Lao Zi wrote about in the Tao Te Ching (Principles of Morality). A tranquil mind and stable breathing is the result of genuine cultivation. In due course, all Buddhas would bless and empower the practitioner, so that the combination of internal power and external power will make the self-nature show itself-that is nothing but "awakening to the One Mind and seeing one's Original Nature.".

Again, there is not much difference between Taoism and Buddhism.


To my mind, the essential points in Taoism are as follows:

1. The tongue is put against the hard palate, so that Heaven (upper part) and Earth (lower part) are connected.
2. The eyes are fixed on the tip of the nose, so that the eye is the focusing agent of the original spirit.
3. The breathing gradually gets finer and finer, so that one's vital energy is concentrated.
4. When the only thought is the thought of nothing, the correct thought appears.

If one sits quietly like this, one's original radiance automatically merges and carries all the water and energy to the brow point. When this happens, any fatigue will disappear in a second's tranquility. This is much like some good sleep, after which one feels full of vitality. Of course, sitting quietly is not sleeping; it is a mind-controlling method between sleeping and being awake, between ascending and descending, between separation and unification. Sitting quietly is more on the side of ascending and unification, and is a genuine method of cultivation leading to Buddhahood.
The Buddhist contemplation on emptiness is the Taoist "no thought."
The Buddhist contemplation on emptiness is the Taoist "non-existence."
The Buddha's "Middle Way" is the Taoist "ultimate voidness".
My own experience is: when the mind is absolutely tranquil, everything will start moving by itself. This moving is not visible, but invisible spiritual moving, during which the so-called vitality, energy and spirit all turn back to go to the brow point. When no thought arises, the correct thought appears by itself; the Heavenly Secrets start moving; the Dharma wheel starts moving. This movement brings forth the birth of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. The "action by not acting" finally leads to the great achievement.
The ultimate highest realms of both Buddhism and Taoism are, in fact, associated; the realized Taoist never return to the cycle of birth and death, the same as with Buddhist cultivators. This has been proven in my own practice.

Amituofo

Lotuschef

Pure Karma

True Buddha School