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The Great Calm-Observation
Volume 1, Part 11
Calm-Observation, clear and still2...
Those of earlier generations did not hear the teaching of The Wise One3. It began on the twenty-sixth day of the fourth month, during the fourteenth year of the reign of K'ai Huang of the Great Sui Dynasty4. At the Jade Spring Monastery in the Prefecture of Thorns5, the summer was in full bloom. Twice a day there was a merciful rain6.
Although his eloquence was without bounds, upon reaching the section on ‘The Sphere of Views’, the Wheel of the Dharma stopped turning7 and the rest was left unspoken8.
And so we search for the source of the current we drew from, and we seek the origin of the fragrance.
The
Great Discourse says:
"I
practiced without the guarantee of a teacher."
The
Sutra on the Auspicious Appearance of Prince Siddhartha says:
"Sakyamuni
received the planted seed of his prophecy from the Buddha Steady Shining
Lamp9."
The
Writings of Confucius say:
"Those
bearing knowledge are best. Those that study and come to know are next
best."
The Door to the Dharma10 is vast and wonderful. Although the heavenly truth from above is the only illumination, its blue may be extracted from the indigo plant11.
When those that practice listen12, the Treasury of the Dharma will be transmitted to them as they come to know its founder, the Great Enlightened World Honored One13. Over many lifetimes14 his practice matured. After fording the stream for six years, undertaking the ascetic practices and reconciling the different points of view15, he pointed one finger and vanquished the devil16. The beginning was at Deer Park17 - the middle at Vulture's Peak18 - and the end in the Crane Forest19.
Footnotes:
1. Beginning of the Introduction by Kuan Ting
2. ‘Clear’ describes Observation and ‘still’ describes Calm.
3. Wise One (Chi-Che): An honorific name given to Chih-I by Prince Yang Kuang of the Sui Dynasty in 591 CE
4. Probably 594 CE
5. Jade Spring Monastery (Yu-Chuan Ssu): Originally called the Temple of the Single Sound (I-Yin Ssu), founded by Chih-I in 591 CE. Prefecture of Thorns: Ching-Chou, in Hupei province
6. Merciful Rain: Symbolizing the twice daily lecture by Chih-I of his highest teaching (“in full bloom”)
7. Turning the Wheel of the Dharma: The Dharma is the Teaching of the Buddha and the spiritual reality or truth that the Buddha realized. The Wheel of the Dharma specifically refers to the teaching that is Twelvefold Wheel that is Dependence on Origination (the second of the four truths), but as an expression Turning the Wheel of the Dharma often was used to generally describe the act of teaching about the Dharma, as here. The expression the Wheel of the Dharma stopped turning refers to the fact that Chih-I discontinued the lectures.
8. The lectures were never completed, and hence The Great Calm-Observation ends after the section on The Sphere of Views; that is, the work stops short of the point at which it is outlined to end.
9. Buddha Steady Shining Lamp: (S.Dipamkara) According to Buddhist lore, a Buddha of the remote past & the 24th predecessor to Sakyamuni. In Sakyamuni’s previous incarnation as the Bodhisattva Learned Youth, he offered five lotus blossoms to Dipamkara. In response to this gesture, Dipankara prophesized His future enlightenment. ‘Steady’ refers to Calm (Serenity), ‘Shining’ refers to Observation (Illumination), and the Lamp refers to the work of the Buddha, lighting the way for all living beings.
10. Door to the Dharma: The means to attaining enlightenment. The teaching and practice of Buddhism.
11. This sentence and the three quotations preceding it refer to the aspects of direct revelation of the Dharma (from the heavenly truth above) vs. its transmission through the lineage of master and disciple or other man-made means such as the spoken or written word (such as through the blue ink that is extracted from the indigo plant below).
12. Listen: Hear with faith
13. World Honored One: One of the Ten Titles of the Buddha, here referring to the historical Buddha Sakyamuni
14. Lifetimes: (S. Kalpas) Aeons. Referring to the many lives of spiritual quest that led up to the Buddha’s enlightenment.
15. Six Years: The Buddha was born as Siddhartha, a prince of the Gautama family, leaders of the Sakya tribe in north-central India. He was raised in wealth and privilege, and was protected from the sufferings of the outside world. However, after experiencing the realities of suffering, sickness, old age & death, He decided to give up his worldly life and leave home on a spiritual quest to find the answer to the riddle of human existence. He roamed for six years practicing all means of ascetic practices and meditations and studying all different philosophical points of view in this quest before attaining enlightenment.
16. Vanquishing the Devil (S. Mara) – The act that directly preceded the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh-Gaya.
17. Deer Park: (S. Mrigadava) Now called Sarnath or Saragnatha, a park NE of Benares (modern Varanasi) where Sakyamuni is said to have first taught the Dharma and the Four Noble Truths, and the Agama period of His teachings (the earliest period, related to the Small Vehicle and the ideal of the Arhat & the Two Vehicles)
18. Vulture Peak (Mt. Gridaukuta): Near Rajagriha (modern Rajgir), where the Buddha Sakyamuni is said to have taught his highest teaching, The Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma (Saddharma Pundarika Sutra).
19. Crane Forest: Near Kusinagara, where the Buddha is said to have made his final teaching and then passed into Nirvana (extinction). This refers to the period of the teaching The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.
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Since July 9, 2001