Faith Mind Inscription

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Description: Hello, everyone, welcome to the course: “Faith Mind Inscription: Study the language and wisdom of sacred Zen Buddhist text”. Faith Mind Inscription was written by the third patriarch of Zen Buddhist school, Sengcan. It has been much beloved by Chan (Zen) practitioners for over a thousand years. It is still well studied in Western Zen circles. “Xinxin" has commonly been interpreted as "faith" or "trust." It is regarded as a departure from the traditional view of seeking refuge in the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It is a declaration and poetic polemic of the Chan (Zen) school written as a response to the increasingly popular movement of faith in Amitaba Buddha known as Pure Land Buddhism. From the Chan/Zen point of view, Buddha and Mind are one (即心即佛) (see the Platform Sutra of Six Patriarch (六祖壇經)), as expressed in Mazu’s famous dictum "Mind is Buddha". Thus, faith in outward Buddhas is contrary to the goal of Buddhism, because the goal of Zen Buddhism is the direct experience of enlightenment. This can only be attained by having faith in Mind Buddha himself did. Another reading of the text allows that Xinxin could be understood as the Truthful Mind, which is always ready and perfect, implying that there is no need to further "perfect" it. From the Chan/Zen view, the true mind is perfect as it is and only false views obscure the true mind's inherent perfection. As the text states, "Any degeneration of your previous practice on emptiness arises because of false perspectives. There is really no need to go after the Truth but there is indeed a need to extinguish biased views." (前空轉變皆由妄見不用求真唯須息見) Moreover, the passage explicitly warns against losing the original, true mind (失心): "Do not dwell in the two biased views. Make sure you do not pursue. The moment you think about right and wrong, that moment you unwittingly lose your true mind." (二見不住慎勿追尋才有是非紛然失心) <p
Category: Teaching & Academics > Language Learning > Buddhism
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Price: 19.99
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Source: Impact
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