Practice
4 posts
- 1
Vipassana - Sati Once Meant Memory
Not the mindfulness of meditation apps but the sati of the suttas. Starting from the fact that sati originally meant memory: the pairing of samatha and vipassana, the four observations of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and how the Chinese version differs, the simile of the bowl of oil, a misreading of non-judgment, and vipassana's modern revival in Burma and its arrival in Korea.
- 2
Ganhwa Seon - Zhaozhou Answered No
One question Korean meditation halls have carried for nearly a thousand years. What ganhwa seon is, why the Mu koan is built so that it cannot be solved, Dahui's break with silent illumination, the ten ailments that ruin the practice, and what a beginner should know before sitting.
- 3
Pure Land Nianfo - Where a Thought Became a Voice
The nian in nianfo is the same word as sati in vipassana. How a practice of recollecting the Buddha became a practice of calling his name: the eighteenth vow of the Larger Sukhavati Sutra, the last scene of the Contemplation Sutra, how Tanluan and Shandao read the ten nian, Wonhyo's two readings and Huineng's question, and where Chan and Pure Land meet.
- 4
Esoteric Buddhism - The Secret No One Hid
An introduction to esoteric Buddhism that is neither magic nor hidden lore. Where Kūkai drew the line between exoteric and esoteric teaching, his claim that secrecy has two meanings, three lines from the Mahāvairocana Sutra, the three mysteries of body, speech and mind, the two mandalas, and Korea's esoteric tradition from Myeongnang to the Jingak Order.