The purpose of Chan inquiry is to first eradicate attachment in order to achieve enlightenment, which is the illumination of the mind and the witnessing of its true nature, and then follow that with the practice of protecting and nurturing the enlightened state until its attainment as reality. By attainment, we do not mean how many decades one has kept monastic vows, how many thousands or tens of thousands of scriptural recitations one has done, or how many hundred thousand times some mantra chanting and visualizations were performed. Real attainment means that the primordial pure mind has finally matured, and its innate merits and functions are fully revealed. In concrete terms, the minimal attainment is that of Sotapanna, which is the common standard across all sects of the teaching. Today, when people say: “That person’s practice has reached attainment”, it is mostly a form of praise, not a true reflection of spiritual attainment. Even many of today’s widely recognized Mahayana masters, Vajracana’s living Buddhas, or Theravada saints do not necessarily attain the state of Sotapanna. But real attainment must be that of Sotapanna, Sakadagamin, Anagami, Arahant, or a liberated state of fruition on the Bodhisattva Path.
Another related understanding of attainment is the degree of liberation; true attainment means one has at the minimum entered the path leading to the door of liberation. Having attained Sotapanna is, to some extent, considered liberation because according to the scripture one who has attained Sotapanna will certainly attain Arahantship within seven lifetimes spent in human and heavenly realms. The goal of spiritual practice is liberation – this statement is perhaps more fitting for the monastics since they have entirely committed their mind-body to spiritual work while lay practitioners tend to lean toward offering effort and funds as ways of supporting the Dharma. Of course, all beings possess Buddha nature, therefore sooner or later they will embark on the path of liberation. If one is not on the path of liberation, re-incarnation will continue. Even for a lay practitioner, there should be the intention to seek liberation and concrete actions that follow through on cultivation and enlightenment.
When teaching monastics and lay practitioners, I am stricter with monastics in terms of practice and rules but equal in terms of views and understanding – what is taught to monastics is taught to lay practitioners. One’s attainment depends solely on one’s own effort, as the saying goes, “A teacher can lead you into the door, but cultivation is up to you.” How much you improve is determined by how much effort you make. Cultivation is not some kind of bargain. A lay person must consider oneself as a spiritual practitioner to avoid laxity and complacency. Do not set the bar low, thinking: I am just a lay person in this life, so I will take it easy with my practice. If you think this way, the door of liberation will not open for you. A practitioner should neither be self-deprecating nor conceited. Prior to taking monastic vows, a monastic has been a lay person too; similarly, a lay person could have been a monastic in past lives or future lives. Even though the conditions are not present for you to become a monastic now, never forget about practice. If you see yourself as an amateur practitioner and let your practice in daily life take a backseat to your karmic circumstances – you have no genuine desire to cultivate in order to reveal the true nature of your primordial mind – then progress will be very hard to come by.
On the spiritual path, one measure of effort begets one measure of achievement. Spiritual understanding must be grounded by concrete practice. Whether you practice Chan, Vajrayana, or Pureland, without enlightenment, your understanding will not find a solid foundation in reality. The practice of turning back the light of awareness and illuminating inwardly to reflect upon the self-nature, which I have taught you, must be utilized. A Chan practitioner who is yet to achieve enlightenment should at least cultivate by familiarization upon the view and understanding of enlightenment and dive deeply into it. I have given lectures to most of you in Chinese, and there are many Chinese scriptures and literature available. Westerner practitioners can only listen to simple dharma talks I give in English. Practitioners from Mexico require further translation from English to Spanish, yet they can all very directly grasp and understand the teaching because English is a simple and direct language. By directly conveying my own experience, without using many spiritual terminologies, it is perhaps the reason why they are able to grasp the concept directly. I teach Chinese practitioners to turn back the light and illuminate inwardly, and I also taught Westerner students to turn back the light and illuminate inwardly – both are the same method for Chan inquiry. As long as you are willing to commit to practicing the method, enlightenment is only a matter of time. The only fear is that you remain uncommitted – keep looking back and listening to various other concepts – then enlightenment will be difficult.
To be continued, stay tuned.
~ Miao Tsan