Tu An Zen Temple welcomes everyone who has been practicing huatou meditation or begun to learn the practice to join and share your experience with us via Zoom.
The Zoom session, led by Zen Master Thich Minh Ngoc, begins with sitting and walking meditation, a short dharma talk in English and Vietnamese, and concludes with questions and answers.
How to meditate:
PICK ONE HUATOU QUESTION FROM THE LIST SHOWN BELOW:
1. Before heaven and earth came into existence, what was I?
2. All things return to the One, to where does the One return?
3. Before my parents were born, what did my Original Face look like?
4. From where did I come to this life, and to where will I go after death?
5. It is not the mind, not the Buddha, not things. What is it?
Choose one Huatou question you feel that you really want to know but couldn’t know. Keep asking it again and again. Do not let your mind search for an answer, because the purpose of asking the Huatou question is to awaken the feeling of ‘Doubt’.
The state of ‘Doubt’ is the method to sweep away all other thoughts. Other thought in Ch’an also called one thought of ignorance. Because of ignorance we keep creating so many more thoughts after one other thought, and so we suffered. This method is to keep asking the Huatou question over again and again to maitain ‘Doubt’. The ‘Doubt’ will automacticly sweeps away all others thoughts, until we get to the state of before thought, and one more step over, where we will be awaken from this opened eye dream and be free from suffering of the circle of birth and death.
FEEL FREE TO BRING YOUR QUESTIONS UP TO THE MASTER
Any question about your pratice and the experience of how you practice, and so on…
Daily Schedule:
Morning
Pacific Standard Time (PST Los Angeles time) is :
5AM -6:30AM. Sitting and walking meditation
6:30AM – 7AM. Dharma TALK and Q&A
11AM-12AM. Dharma Talk and Q&A
In the afternoon:
PST (Los Angeles time) :
2PM-5PM. Sitting and walking meditation
4PM – 5PM Additional dharma talk, Q&A on Saturday
Click the link below to download and to join in
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/75442158886
Pass:123
Guildelines for all Participants:
For the sake of maintaining a peace and harmornious environment, please join in the class with your kindness and full respectful attitude — no criticizing nor judging others. Be compassionate when sharing your opinions to others, so we can learn and help each other to go deeper in the practice and sooner we’re all be free from suffering. Your attendance is the most supportive motivation for us. We’re grateful and look forward to praticting with you all. Thank you and wish you all the best!
-Tu An Zen Temple-
Direct contact to the master:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000009169684&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Email: thichminhngoc@yahoo.com
Daily Teaching on Zoom & Youtube
Practice Meditation Focused in Mind to Maintain Doubt
Practicing Meditation Focus on the Doubt…..
The Scriptures, Dharma Talks are just an Aid
Practice Meditation is Just Practice
Practice Meditation…..
The Seventh Day of 7 Day Retreat….
The Sixth Day of 7 Day Retreat…….
The Fifth Day of 7 Day Retreat….
The Third Day of 7 Day Retreat….
The Second Day of 7 Day Retreat……
First Day of 7 Day Retreat in June, 2023
Doubt is Indiscriminate
Practice Meditation, Avoid Engaging in Thoughts
Knowlege is the door to Disaster
Pratice Meditation, Object is the Huatou
The Magnitude of Life and Death…..
Always Maintain a Steadfast Mind Preserve the Original Vow(p.2)
Always Maintain a steadfast mind….
The patriarchs encouraged Cha’n practitioners to remember our initial vow when we confront to any obstacles which obstructs us from practicing…..Always remind ourselves to come back to the huatou question to maintain doubt. And keep practicing until we attain Buddhahood 
During meditation always raising doubt
Doubt means no attachments
Keep asking the huatou question to maintain doubt !
Knowledge does not help one liberate from suffering
Finding the Counter Part is still self-ego
From Doubt to Enlightenment
Primary goodness,….(2)
Primary Goodness,…..
Even the explanation of the doubt is also an explanation, not the practice.
If we just believe in the explanation without practicing, we are still stuck in self-attachment and ignorance.
In the platform sutra or in the Diamond sutra
The Buddha and the sixth Patriarch provided three essential key principles in their teaching in different ways to help practitioners to practice step by step to go from self-attachment to non self-attachment:
The first one: We see the universe is the universe. And we see this body belongs to ourselves and what we have said belongs to ourselves, too.
The second: We see everything is not real
The third: Everything is just a name, not even gaining in the name either. This means the complete sweeping up of self-attachments.
These three key principles that the Buddha taught to guide practitioners to detach from self-attachment and be free from suffering.
All of this teaching is just an explanation. When we are still in explanation, we are still in dualism. We need to practice by asking the huatou question to maintain doubt. The doubt will lead us from dualism to non-dualism and from self-attachment to non self-attachment and discover our Buddha-nature/self-nature.
No self-attachment means that the basics of ignorance will be destroyed and we are free from samsara. “
Believing in Non-duality is the Right belief
To believe in our own mind is to believe in our Self Nature mind. This Self Nature mind has no self attachment nor ignorance. When we strongly believe in our own mind, we will be sincere in our practice. When we have a strong belief in our own mind, we will have a feeling of coming back home — the home of Self Nature. Knowing our true Self Nature as instinctively pure, we just want to come back to this Self Nature.
We don’t want to waste time in chasing after other objective or subjective things outside of our own mind. Thus, we will practice diligently and continuously until we attain Buddhahood.
The second point is to maintain doubt. Why maintaining doubt is the most important point requiring the practitioners to keep in mind? Because if we are just learning and understanding the Buddha Dharma without practicing, we will be stuck deep in the sea of ignorance.
An intellectual understanding is not the key to help us releasing self attachment. Intellectual understanding is the real obstruction for our practice because it just makes us gain more self attachment. Consequently, we will be buried in that knowledge. It will be hard for us to keep practicing continuously.
The Buddha said to Ananda that even if Ananda has intellectually learned so much about the Buddha Dharma for many many lives, it isn’t worth the same as a single day that he practices. Because practicing is the only way to lead us onto the right path in releasing self attachment and be free of samsara.
For these reasons, Chan practitioners need to make a vow to ourselves to practice until we become awaken. We have to strictly committed ourselves to follow this vow. If in three years we don’t attain Buddhahood, we will commit another three years or thirty years, or even until our last breath of this live and to continuously practicing the next live until we attain Buddhahood.
If we don’t make a vow to ourselves to keep on practicing, we won’t be able to come back to the practice when facing some difficult circumstances. At that time, we may lose the practice and come back to our negative habits. As a result, we will continue to suffer with the self attachment and ignorance.
The practice is very simple, but it is challenging for practitioners to keep on practicing because we tend to believe in dualism and self attachment. We don’t believe in our own mind. Consequently, it takes a great effort for us to deal with our inner self in overcoming our own conflicts.
If we strongly believe in our own mind, we will be able to keep on the practice and see the unrealistic thoughts that keep on arising in the mind. By asking the question and maintaining doubt, the doubt will help us not to follow illusive thoughts which can burn ourselves with the flames of greed, hatred, and desires.
If we remember to come back to the Huatou question in maintaining doubt, wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, we will eventually arrive at the target of attaining enlightenment.
Keep on practicing by asking the Huatou question clearly and continuously to maintain doubt!”
Studying and Understanding a lot is not Equivalent to a Day of Diligent Practice
“Dharma friends,
The Buddhadharma is just a supportive idea to help practitioners to strengthen the faith in our own mind and practice to attain Buddhahood.
Any idea or description words in all the sutra about enlightenment , prajna, or Buddha are not just for understanding. Even if we understand exactly what the Buddha meant in his teaching without practicing, we won’t be able to know how phenomenal Buddha nature is.
If we understand and have a strong belief in our own mind and practice, we are actually starting heading to the gate of the prajna. Soon or later, we will be entering to Buddhahood. In another word, we will become enlightened.
Therefore, Chan Partitioners should be aware of what we learn and keep on the practice. Don’t just spend our time on learning without practicing because the knowledge of the Buddha’s teaching is just like a finger pointing to the moon.
We don’t look at the finger and count on that and think we are there. Finger pointing to the moon: the finger represents Buddha-dharma and the moon represents the self-nature or Buddha-nature.
From this illustration, we rely on the Buddha teaching and practice to attain enlightenment. We don’t want to just understand the Buddha teaching and think that we have attained Buddhahood.
We should keep practicing!”
Rescue Mind
Need to Maintain Doubt
Practice meditation
Doubt is the Most Importance of Meditation
Doubt is Precepts
Practice Meditation
Doubt is the only door to get out of Birth and Death
Dharma talk in the 13th day of March
Need to Maintain Doubt
Practice Meditation is always Maintain Doubt
It seem to very easy but it actually isn’t because of self attachment and ignorance always distract us. We’re always attached in dualistic thoughts and let go of the practice. That is why it is not Easy. It is because we don’t strong believe in our own mind , we believe in other thoughts/illusion thoughts. That’s why we lose the practice and we’re suffered. That is the problem in our own mind.
How can we resolve that? No other way! Only asking the huatou question slowly and continuously, not too fast, not too slow. And continuing practicing diligently to maintain doubt. Slowly, we will replace doubt into other thoughts, and slowly the doubt will sweep away all of illusion and dualism thoughts. Then we will be awaken from the opened eye dream and entering Buddha. So keep practicing!
Right Vision of Meditation
Practicing huatou meditation is to maintain doubt. The right view of the practice is to maintain doubt. Without maintain doubt we are attached in to self and allowing other thoughts arising in our mind, and we will be suffered. During practicing, if we still seeing things of losing and gaining that means we are still seeking to gain more self attachment. If we maintain doubt all the time, we won’t see what we have done. If we keep going we be able to attesting Buddha-hood. Besides of not maintaining doubt, others thoughts keep arising in our mind, those are illusion thoughts. Why we say it is illusion because it is not truth. It keep coming and going in our own mind. When we follow that thought, we will be lost in the circle of birth and death and we will be suffered more and more. If we can maintain doubt, we won’t see or seek for a praise or for a result of what we have done, and we be attached in self. If we letting self attachment thoughts arising in our mind, that mean, we don’t practice a right dharma. The right dharma is non-self-attachment by asking the huatou question and maintain doubt.”
To Meditate Properly one must maintain Doubt
The right practice it to facing back to our own self nature not to facing out to rising more thought of ignorance. The right path is no- no thought doesn’t mean no thinking- no thought meaning that there is not subjective nor objective in any situation we encountered by maintaining doubt . When the doubt get greater enough in our mind, other thoughts/discrimination thoughts won’t have change to arise in our mind. Even if there are discrimination thoughts rising in our mind while we’re asking the huatou question, those thoughts will be disappeared quickly because the doubt automatically sweeps away other thoughts and slowly we will be arrived before thought/Huatou. One more step we will attain enlightenment and freedom from samsara. That’s the correct way of practicing.“
Self Ego
Because all of cog-an and huatou questions have only one purpose is to stir up the feeling of doubt. Only doubt will bring us to the fundamental of ignorance /the basic of ignorance and sweeps away all of self attachment. From there one more step we will attain Buddha hood…..“
Meditation is Practice
So that, we need to keep practicing by asking the question to maintain doubt. When we still noticing that we maintain doubt is still not the right doubt. We need to keep continuing to practice until we don’t know that we are maintaining doubt. That is the right doubt.
The right doubt will bring us to the fundamental of ignorance and attain Buddha hood.
The patriarch said that, “ small doubt->small enlightenment, great doubt->great enlightenment “
Why the patriarch said that? Because the doubt sweep out all of self attachment. Small doubt will sweep small self attachment and the more we let go of self attachment, the better we see our truth self nature .
The great doubt->the less self attachment and from there only one more step to break down the fundamental of self attachment so we will be freedom from samsara. No more suffering!
It is just an explanation to give the practitioners to believe in one’s own mind and practice. Don’t try to search for understanding or the knowledge of the teaching because the knowledge is the big distraction for our practice. The knowledge is another attachment of self. So partitioners should be careful when we learn the practice. Without practicing, we won’t be able to go anywhere out of this samsara.
Keep practicing!”
Non discrimination mind
Huatou Meditation emphasizes the constant effort of practicing. We should keep practicing even when we are struggling in our daily life. The more we practice, the less we suffer from illusive thoughts. Even though it is really hard for us to keep on practicing throughout the day, we still need to keep asking the huatou question to maintain doubt. Eventually we will be able to keep the practice consistently and continuously. The more we practice, the more we are familiar with the practice . And when the practice becomes our habit, the illusive thoughts will become strangers to ourselves.
When the practice becomes our habit, the practice will be stable and solid in our mind. From there, when we encounter any situation which may trigger our conditionings, the practice helps us to break down the source of ignorance; we will attain enlightenment just in a moment!
There is a Koan (story) to prove that if we practice diligently and continuously, sooner or later, we will get there. The story is about the two Dharma brothers who supported each other in practicing. The big brother who was really sincere and serious in the practice, but he was struggling with his self attachment about the responsibility of being a big brother.
It was during a war. One day the temple was attacked. His master gave him all of the money of the temple and tell him to leave with his little brother to go find a place to rebuild another temple. He listened to his master and took the money and his little brother to leave. Because of self attachment, he didn’t want to disappoint his master. He held onto the money so tight and kept counting on it every time they were at rest.
The little brother knew there was just a little trigger that could help the big brother to attain enlightenment. So the little brother offered him to carry the money and will keep it safe. When the little brother got the money and passed through the river, suddenly he threw all of the money into the river. The big brother got so upset and asked him “why?” The little brother said, “why do you need to care about that when it is not yours? Even this body is still not yours. What is the purpose for you to keep holding on what is not yours?” Right at that moment, the big brother attained enlightenment and he fell free from all of the sufferings.
In that story, we can see that if without practicing, we couldn’t be able to overcome all abstraction from illusion and ignorance thoughts. If we practice diligently, it will be easy for us to break though the barrier of self attachment and ignorance. And just one trigger, we will attain Buddhahood.
So believe in that and keep on practicing!
Three Dharma Seals(2)
“The three dharma seals are the teaching of Buddha to show all the sentient beings to understand the impermanence. Because of ignorance we keep chasing the unreal self and we suffered. That’s why Buddha created this teaching to guide us to come back to the truth self nature and be freedom from suffering.
All of the teachings of Buddha are to help practitioners to believe in our own mind and practice to attain enlightenment. Practicing is not really enough because of ignorance and self attachment, we can’t see our own false. That’s why practitioners need to stay close with an experience one who can point out our mistakes and guide us to get back on the right path. Or else we may stuck in self attachment and sinking deeper into ignorance sea. And It will be hard for us to see the truth of the self nature/ Buddha nature…”
Doubt will Sweep out all of the thought
“”Before the heaven and the earth came to existence, what was I?”
Practice meditation emphasize practicing. Practice huatou meditation is to ask the question to stir up the feeling of want to know but we don’t know. That is the doubt. The doubt is also one thought of ignorance, but this one thought of ignorance is don’t know , when the don’t know thought hit the knowing thoughts, it will sweep away all other thoughts. And slowly we will go to the fundamental of ignorance and break through the barrier to attain enlightenment. It is just an explanation of the practice to help practitioners to have an idea to practice. It is not the true concept. So that we shouldn’t let our mind to find out what is the doubt because once we look for the doubt we also double up another ignorance thought on top of an ignorance thought and it is also illusion…..””
Doubt without Consciousness
“Hautou meditation practicing is to maintain doubt. That’s the only way to take us out of the four false statements….”
Go To the Forest to Get Tree Cores
”Chan practitioners keep in mind that Huatou meditation is the method of self practicing, not for conceptual understanding about the Buddha’s teaching or patriarchs’ teaching. Because conceptual understanding without practicing won’t bring us back to our self nature/Buddha Nature.
Conceptual understanding without practicing will lead us deeper into samsara. That is why Buddha said ignorant people just chasing for conceptual understanding without practicing and think they have attained Buddha hood.
Wise people learn the method and then put themselves to practice. When they practice, they will experience of what Buddha meant in his teaching.
There is an illustration of Buddha teaching all practitioners why it is important for us to practice not just for conceptual understanding. Buddha said, there were two groups of people who went to the forest to collet the core of the tree for living.
One group, who upon entering to the forest, immediately they cut off some branches of the small forest trees and brought them home. They thought that they could make a lot of money without working hard to find out a big tree to collect it’s core. They thought they could sell the branches as valuable as the whole forest tree. However, by the time they got home all of the branches they had collected went bad and moldy. So they couldn’t make any money on that. So they lost everything. They were just wasting their time.
The second group who went into the forest search for the big tree. When the found the tree, they started working on how to get the core of the tree. First, they cut down the tree. Then, patiently they trimmed off all the branches. Continuously, they kept working hard peeling off the trunk tree layer by layer until they can get to the core of the tree. When they got to the core they brought it home and sold it for a lot of money.
The Buddha said that the second group is the wise one. And the first one is the ignorant one because they accepted their enemy as their own child. In another illustration, when we play bingo or lottery, we want to get the full prize, not only just one or two matching numbers because it would not qualify for the full prize. Similarly, when we are learning the Buddha-dharma, if we don’t practice diligently and continuously until we attain Buddha hood, everything we have learned isn’t valuable for us to get out of samsara.
Therefore, Chan practitioners must consider practicing the Buddha-dharma or else we won’t be able to see both the truth of the practice and the truth of the self nature. We should keep practicing diligently and continuously until we attain Buddha hood.”
Non-Ego Altruism(1)
“Chan practitioners should keep in mind that the right dharma is non-self attachment. Non-self attachment is non-dualism. Non-self attachment creates no suffering or samsara. When there is non-self attachment, wisdom will appear.
Practicing Huatou meditation is the way to help us to sweep out all of self attachment by asking the Huatou question and maintaining doubt…”
None-Ego Altruism(2)
“Practicing Huatou meditation requires one to believe in one’s own mind and practice diligently. The more we practice, the stronger we believe in our own mind.
When we have enough trust in our own mind, we can sweep out all of the self-attachment and ignorance. As a result, compassion will appear and Buddha nature will reveal itself. We don’t need to search outside for our Buddha Nature/self-nature….”
The Practice of Meditation Should follow the Precepts
“We as Chan practitioners should keep on practicing when knowing that we are fortunate to have this body, meet the right Dharma, and practice the right method.
When we practice Huatou meditation and get to the great doubt, we are actually keep all of the Buddhist precepts. However, because we are still in the process of practicing, we might not be able to see our own mistakes. That is why Chan practitioners must strictly uphold the precepts that we have vowed.
Of all of the precepts, Buddha created them to help practitioners not creating any more bad karma — which may result in not being able to get this body, meet, and practice this Dharma again.
Therefore, Chan partitioners should be careful and sincere in practicing and be aware of our actions which may cost us to hell. This is the reason why we should stay close to the experienced ones who can help guilding us onto the right path…”
The Pride of Thinking Oneself, Ego-Infatuation
“Chan practitioners should remember to maintain doubt in our minds — by asking the Huatou question in any situation.
By maintaining doubt, we will still define or recognize all objects of forms which come in from the six sense but we don’t have any discrimination thought arises to distract our mind. Another words, we don’t attach in any object that we encounter to. Without attachment, we will be free from suffering in all circumstances .…”
True Doubt Arises Naturally When One Pratices Correctly
“The method of Huatou meditation is to ask the question in order to maintain doubt. We don’t try to answer the question. Just maintain doubt.
We don’t even need to mentally understand what is the doubt. Because if we could understand the meaning of the doubt, then it is not the right doubt — it becomes an illusory thought.
We just need to keep asking the question continuously and consistently, then automatically the doubt will appear in our mind. This is called the right doubt.
The right doubt will lead to the great doubt. The great doubt is also called the Huatou or before thought. And from the state of before thought, one more step and we will attain Buddhahood.
When we attain Buddhahood, we will be free from samsara.
In order to do so, we need to make the practice as the most important thing in our life. We need to make the practice as the first priority in our journey.
Eventually, the practice will become part of our life. When it becomes part of ourselves, we can then overcome all obstacles encountering along the way. Furthermore , we will be free from the circle of birth and death.
We should keep asking the question, “ Before the heaven and the earth come existence, what was l ?”
Consent of Pure Buddha
“Chan practitioners know that the method is easy to understand intellectually but challenging to practice. Because of self attachment and ignorance, it takes a great effort for us to keep up with the practice.
Why is this the case? Because we don’t believe in our own mind — the Buddha Mind. This is the reason why it is so challenging for us to keep practicing consistently and continuously. However, there is no other way. We have to overcome our illusionary mind to keep up with the practice by asking the huatou clearly and continuously to maintain doubt. It is the only way we overcome any obstacles coming to our mind which distracts us from practicing the right dharma.
Practicing Huatou meditation is the only right medicine to treat the sickness in our mind. The practice is very simple — we simply ask the Huatou question to maintain doubt. The doubt will slowly and automatically sweep away all of self attachment and ignorant thoughts.
When there is no self attachment and ignorant thoughts arising in our mind, we will be able to see our True Self nature-Buddha Nature. As a result, we will be free from suffering and samsara. Chan practitioners should keep on practicing until we find out who we really are! –”
Zen is an Essential Need of Human Being(1)
“Now a day meditation is considered as an essential psychological need for human being. The reason why is because of the sickness of our mind — we habitually chase after subjective and objective things arising from the six senses. As a result, we suffer from their cause and effect.
This is why we need to practice meditation to rescue our mind. If not, we won’t be free from samsara.
The practice itself is also one of the self attachments. It is also an illusive thought. It is not truth. But because we are living in the illusive world. We believe in whatever arising from the six sense as real — we believe in what we see, hear, taste, feel, smell, and think.
This is why the Buddha created this method in helping us to practice getting out of this illusionary world. Why the Buddha said this is an illusionary world? Because it is not real. It was created by our illusive thoughts. So that Buddha created this fake medicince to treat the illutional sickness. When the mind is pure and clear, the meditation medicine won’t be needed. In other words, meditation is the fake medicine to treat the fake thoughts.
When one strongly believes in one’s own mind and has an emotion free from samsara, he/she will automatically practice the right dharma via the sixth sense without forcing or depending on anything.
We will be really confused if we keep chasing after the words. Only practicing, we can understand what the Buddha really meant in his teaching.
Once we become enlightened, we will see there is not a thing that’s real. It is just an open-eye dream. There is nothing to gain, nothing to seek, and nothing to fear. “
Chan practitioners must believe in our own mind – the mind that Buddha has attained. It’s the mind that has no self attachment nor ignorance. It is the wisdom mind.
We should keep on practicing by asking the Huatou question and maintaining doubt until we attain Buddhahood. Upon attaining Buddhahood, everything will become clear! “
Zen is an Essential Need of Human Being(2)
“There are three difficult things that Buddha can’t do for all sentient beings:
1. Buddha can’t change bad or good karma for any one.
2. Buddha can’t cross over beings who does not have affinity with him
3. Buddha Can’t count the number of all sentient beings
However, if we follow Buddha’s teaching , we can help ourselves to fix our own karma. We can connect ourselves to the Buddha field through applying the his teaching. Through constant practice, we are able to see how the mind proliferate and can drop this proliferation.
When we can observe our own mind and it’s proliferation, we are able to go beyond it. By going beyond the mind’s proliferation, we no longer create any more karma. As a result, we will be free from suffering in the circle of birth and death .
Therefore as Chan Partitioners, we must have strong faith in our own mind. And following the experienced ones, to share our thoughts to the experienced ones. From there, the experienced ones can help us to go on the right path until we attain Buddhahood.
We should keep practicing all the time. Don’t let any grasping to come in and distract our practice because time is not waiting for us. Impermanence may come to us anytime. And if we lose this body, we don’t know if we can come back to have this body again, and to able to practice the right Dharma again.
Chan practitioners should be considered about this and be devoted to our current life. If we are not sincere with the practice and not keep practicing diligently, we won’t be able to receive the true meaning of Buddha’s teaching.
If we have a strong inspiration to be free from samsara and have a strong faith in our own mind, we will prioritize the practice as an urgent matter for ourselves. Simultaneously, we will practice diligently and continuously until we attain Buddhahood and be free from suffering in the circle of birth and death!”
Misguided Beliefs about Dharma and Mind
There is a point of concern about Buddhist practitioners to be aware of when we practice the teachings of the Buddha. That is the point of superstition.
Because of self-grasping and ignorance, we tend to believe in something outside of our own mind. It is caused by self-grasping and ignorance. That’s why we’re always looking for something outside our own minds; we try to achieve something outside our own mind; and we fear losing something we have built up in this illusory life.
This is the reason why we become superstitious — the tendency to pray for the Buddha outside of our own mind. Or we rely on something else that is outside of our own mind. It is a concerned point for Buddhist practitioners when we don’t believe in our inherent Self nature — the Buddha Nature.
When we don’t believe in our own mind – Buddha mind, we become superstitious in the face of any obstacle in life.
It is urgent for chan practitioners that if we don’t make the practice familiar to us or become part of us right now, we can let go of the practice and return to our routine. our negative habits when we are stressed.
And so we will drown in the sea of ignorance and continue to suffer with the cause and effect of samsara.
So that Chan practitioner should be aware of this and be sincere in practicing all the time until we attain Buddha hood.
The practice is pretty easy- just asking the huatou, “ Before The Heaven and the earth came to existence, what was I?” To maintain doubt.
When we can maintain doubt through out days and nights, we will be able to strengthening our mind with any changes in the law of cause and effect. And we will be free from suffering even though we have not attained enlightenment, yet.
Therefore, We should Keep practicing and maintaining doubt all the time!
Don’t let time pass in vain. Take our time to practice and practice diligently and continuously. It is the only path that takes us beyond samsara.”