Hangzhou Lingyin Temple has been seven in the winter of December 15th, the monks of the temple gathered in the Praruo Hall, Wanyuan let go, and worked hard. So what exactly is Zen Qi, when did this practice originate, and what is everyone doing during the Seven Days?
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Zazen with playing seven
In many people's minds, meditation seems to be very relaxed and free-flowing, eating, drinking tea, and sleeping are all Zen. Since ancient times, there have been many great masters of Zen Buddhism who have had epiphanies in their daily lives, so why do monks maintain such a strict way of practice?
In fact, for practitioners, walking, living, sitting, and lying down can all practice meditation, but among the four, sitting posture is the most suitable for beginners, so it is often said "sitting meditation", and Xi meditation to practice meditation is also abbreviated as "meditation". With regard to the method of zazen, it is stated in the sutra that one should sit in meditation at any time at four times, with a comfortable bed, a soft cushion, a quiet free place, and the knowledge of good knowledge to practice together. These are all external conditions, and the practitioner himself should be good at observing his own thoughts, being able to subdue his body and mind, and so on. In addition, the Tiantai sage master also discussed the method of zazen meditation in books such as "The Essentials of Meditation on the Cultivation of Xi and Meditation" and "The Method of Explaining the Stages of Meditation Paramita". The Buddhist circles in Japan and Korea also attach great importance to zazen.
Zen Seven is a special practice method of Zen Buddhism in China, which is an intensive practice over seven days, also known as Dazen Qi. During these seven days, practitioners are not allowed to leave the ashram to deal with personal affairs, but must abide by the rules of the meditation hall, cooperate with the meditation hall routine, and concentrate on their practice. Because it is limited to seven days, the period of evidence is obtained, so it is called "Zen seven".
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The origin of Zen Seven
Regarding the origin of Zen seven, it is necessary to start from the Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Shakyamuni Buddha failed to realize the path after six years of asceticism, bathed in the Nilian Zen River, and then accepted the offering of the shepherdess's chyle, and then made a vow under the Bodhi tree: "If I don't prove it today, the supreme Bodhi, I would rather break this body than never get this seat." After 7749 days, he finally became enlightened and became a Buddha when the star came out on the eighth day of the lunar month, which is the origin of the seven-day practice cycle in later generations.
After the popularity of Zen Buddhism, Zen Buddhism pursued clear insight, so in the jungle dojo with the tradition of "winter ginseng and summer learning", "Zen seven" ranging from one to ten was held every winter, so as to help the practice of the public masters, so that everyone can concentrate on their efforts and become enlightened as soon as possible.
There have been many enlightened patriarchs in Zen Seven throughout the ages, and there are even more people who have benefited from Zen Qi. For example, the old monk of modern Zen Buddhism, he became a monk at the age of 19, first lived in a cave in Gushan, Fujian, did miscellaneous labor, cultivated good fortune, and then studied Xi in Tiantai Mountain for 5 years. In order to repay his mother's kindness, he took three steps and worshiped from Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, worshiped to Wutai Mountain, and walked all over the north and south of the river, as far as India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and other places. Even with such a foundation of cultivation, the old monk Xuyun did not become enlightened until he was 56 years old when he was playing meditation in Gaomin Temple in Yangzhou for seven years, because he was accidentally splashed with boiling water when he was making tea in the meditation hall, and the teacup fell down.
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Words and suspicions
Meditation 7 is very hard, and for beginners, just crossing your legs is a huge test. The main purpose of meditation is not to exercise leg skills, but to participate in meditation, that is, to participate in the conversation. The so-called beginning of the conversation is the time when a thought is not born, and a thought is born, and it has become the end of the conversation. It can start with a sentence, such as "Who is chanting Buddha?" -- ask yourself, who is this "me" who is meditating and meditating? There are other questions, such as "Who is dragging the dead body" -- who is the "me" dragging this body, bones, flesh and blood? or "When your parents were not born, where were you when you were not born? These are all words that can be used for reference.
To use a metaphor, it is like when we are drifting on the sea, it is better to hold on to a piece of driftwood so that we can have the strength to survive. It's the same with Zen meditation, you can't just wander around aimlessly, but you have to have a conversation and let it help you become enlightened. The function of the head of the conversation is not to let you use your mind and consciousness to guess the answer, but to generate "doubts" from it.
The so-called suspicion is still based on the example of "who is the Buddha", we put the word "I" on our lips every day, but we may not seriously think about who "I" is. Some people say that "I" is this body, but if we lose our arms, legs and feet in an accident, is there also a "me" in the residual limbs? Obviously not. It can be seen that the body is just an aggregation of some natural material elements, born by the harmony of fate, and returned to nature after death. Some people say that "I" is a collection of senses such as eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, so is it true that blind and hearing-impaired people have no self? Some people say that "I" is the inner thought, but these thoughts are constantly coming and going, and most of them are not even aware of themselves, and once they have passed, they are impossible to find, which one is the real "me"?
This state of wanting to find out "who is chanting Buddha" but not finding it, and not forgetting it, is suspicion. For example, if we lose something very important, then when we eat and sleep, we will think about this thing and don't care about other things. When you have doubts, you concentrate on what you are talking about. And when we are really able to answer this question, we are aware of our true nature.