The Principle of Zen Meditation

Author: Song Zhiming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Zen is zero; the Buddha never spoke of Zen because Zen is the life within your life—suchness life, the source of all wisdom and morality. Zen is the nature without nature, the wondrous and subtle essence from which all phenomena arise in reality. Thus, when you have the opportunity to enter Zen, it becomes the main melody of your life. In the heart of the Zen practitioner, it manifests as a subtle wisdom light that illuminates both self and others, embracing all phenomena. Shakyamuni holding the flower, Bodhidharma coming from the West—all unfolds within your smile, within your zazen, opening a new realm of perfect awakening. Zen begins with awakening to life and ends with the perfection of that awakening. Through the expedient pointers after awakening, the dissemination of Zen texts arises—it is the silent yet wondrous speech. Contemplating and penetrating it, the long-standing ignorance suddenly dissolves, and the inherent luminosity becomes fully manifest, revealing the truth never seen before and attaining the wondrous functions never proven before. Like the Pearl of the Maitreya or the dance of the Great Sword T'ao, its application is without flaw, vibrant and free! The book of "The Principles of Zen Practice" presented before you is merely a spontaneous outpouring of the Zen mind amidst various conditions. It concerns how to correctly understand Zen, how to learn the Zen texts, how to study with virtuous teachers, and how to practice and realize enlightenment. It is hoped that it will help those close to the nature of Zen to correctly establish the right faith, aspiration, view, and conduct of Zen, and even to truly realize the truth. May the Zen lamp forever shine, and the Dharmadhatu be perfectly bright!