The mind is the Buddha, the Buddha is the awakening, the enlightenment is the illumination, and the illumination is the concentration. There is no fixed phase, dress and eat. - Zu Daoying
Meditation with the mind as the door is the core content of Buddhist practice.
The method of practicing meditation can be summarized into three gates, namely, the door of rest, the door of color, and the door of the heart. There are no three ways to practice.
Xidao Temple
The "Meditation of the Path" is the foundation, and all the methods of cultivation must be based on the "Meditation of the Path" as the basic condition for cultivation. Because our human body has various physiological and psychological phenomena, the most closely related to our life phenomena is our breathing. Breathing has not stopped every minute, every second, every moment, once the breathing stops, then the breath does not come out, and it enters a state of shock or death, and life has to undergo a big transformation. Therefore, breath is most closely related to our human life, and we can feel it all the time.
Usually, we move freely, we will feel that the breathing is very stable, as soon as there is a strenuous activity, or more energetic activities, the breathing will sometimes be more urgent, especially the elderly, it is no problem to go up to the next floor, go up to two floors, I feel a little nervous breathing, three floors are reluctant, up to the sixth floor, it is very laborious, that is, old and weak, young people are young and vigorous. The difference between young and old, of course, there are many phenomena, you can judge whether it is the old or the young, the most important point is the qi, whether it is the qi or the qi.
Those who practice and those who do not, those who have a good physical and mental cultivation, and those who have a relatively poor physical and mental cultivation, can clearly be judged in terms of breathing. For example, when we practice meditation every day, one of the most important things in meditation is to adjust the breath to just right. Therefore, the three gates of Zen meditation are based on the "view of the path of rest".
Impure contemplation
"Impure view" is cultivated from the color gate. "Impure view" is mainly aimed at monks and cultivators, because greed is not easy to eliminate, and impure view is used as a cure. The so-called greed has a certain stage in a person's life, when to be greedy for something. It is human nature for children to be playful and greedy, and when they are about 20 years old, boys want to be with girls, and girls want to be with boys. So, as a monk, do you have this kind of thought, do you have this phenomenon? This is also very natural. If this kind of greed is very strong, then there is no way to practice, and if you can't enter meditation, you have to cultivate "impure view" to deal with it.
"Impure contemplation" means that we see our body from head to toe, from the inside out, from birth to death, that there is no place at all clean. No matter how beautiful a boy looks or how beautiful a girl is, if you look at it from the perspective of "impurity", it is nothing more than flesh and blood wrapped in a skin, and it is nothing more than a bunch of foul things wrapped in a skin. "Impurity" is to start by observing the impurities inside and outside the human body. If you look at a person's body from head to toe, see through the skin, see the heart, liver, five organs, and see a good body, and slowly grow sores, suppurate, rot, and stink, can your greed still be born? After a person's body is rotten to the core, it becomes a pile of white bones, and everyone is just a pile of white bones, a skull shell, through such observation, can greed still be born?
Therefore, "impure contemplation" is the most effective way to cure greed. Starting from observing one's own body, that is, contemplating the impurity of one's body in the four minds, observing oneself and other bodies, all beings on the earth, none of one's flesh and blood is clean. From this point of view, the fire of greed will gradually subside, and the supreme coolness will appear at the moment, and at this time, you will be able to gradually enter meditation. There are many specific steps and methods for "impure viewing", but what has been said above is only the most basic way to view impure body. "Impure contemplation" is the best way for young monks to cure the obstacle of greed. Among the practices taught by the Buddha are the five meditations, namely the view of counting breaths, the view of impurity, the view of compassion, the view of karma, and the view of reciting the Buddha. Each of these five methods has its own countermeasures: those who are scattered and have a heavy mind should practice the concept of counting and breathing, those who are greedy and heavy should cultivate the concept of impurity, those who have a heavy hatred and hatred should cultivate the concept of compassion, those who are stupid and serious should cultivate the concept of karma, and those who have serious karma should practice the concept of reciting Buddha. Among the five methods, the concept of counting and the view of impurity are the focus, and the adaptability is relatively extensive. As lay people, cultivating the concept of compassion, reciting the Buddha, and karma is more suitable for the living environment of the lay people.
The above is a brief introduction to the Gate of Breath and the Gate of Color, and the content of practicing meditation with the mind as the door is quite extensive. Because Buddhism is based on the heart, and cultivation is also based on the heart. Whether it is the cultivation of the "Meditation of the Dao" or the cultivation of the "Impure Meditation", it all comes down to the Dharma, which is the process of adjusting the mind. Therefore, the practice of meditation with the mind as the door is the core content of Buddhist practice.
(Source: This article is excerpted from "True Zen Words" on January 8, 2006)