CH'AN PRACTICE FOR THE ELDERLY | Zen Wisdom

QUESTION:
Ch’an meditation methods can be strenuous. In dealign with elderly people who are new to the practice, would you alter your techniques to better suit the practitioner? Also, how do you address the issue of elderly people who are newcomers to the Buddhadharma?

SHIH-FU:
In the beginning, when the Buddha left home and later became enlightened, he was still a young man. Also, most of the Buddha’s original disciples were young. However, there were a few elderly lay and monastic disciples. For instance, Mahakashyapa, one of the Buddha’s greatest disciples, was an old man when he became a monk. Also, a great lay practitioner named Sudhatta was very old when he came in contact with the Buddha’s teachings.

Just before the Buddha’s death, an old man named Subadhra wished to visit the Buddha and hear his words. Subadhra was already past eighty. He knew that time was short, both for himself and for the Buddha, who was about to enter nirvana. The Buddha’s disciples tried to turn him away, saying, “You are already so old, what good would the teachings be for you? The Buddha’s time is too precious to waste on you.”

The Buddha heard this and told his disciples to let Subadhra in, saying, “It is precisely because he is so old that he should hear these words.” Subadhra entered the group and listened, and after hearing only a few phrases he attained arhatship. He was the last man to be ordained a monk in the Buddha’s lifetime.

In the Ch’an sect. Master Chao-chou (778-897), who is famous for the kung-an, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature?” was eighty years old when he had an enlightenment experience. Only after that did he venture out to find a master to have his experience certified. He did not become a master himself until his eighties.

Buddhism makes no distinction based on age. Karma can ripen at any time, and if one acquires the urge to practice, no matter what the age, that person should start practicing immediately and diligently. When one is old, it is even more urgent, because there is that much less time to practice.

There are some physical differences. Usually, younger people will have greater endurance, strength and energy. Older people have already expended a great deal of life energy and will be weaker in terms of the physical demands of practice.

However, the younger people have some disadvantages. They are usually attracted by many things in the environment. They are usually much more ambitious, wanting to accomplish things, and so their energy is scattered. Older people, on the other hand, are usually not as ambitious or caught up in the world. They are more stable and may find it easier to approach the practice with greater single-mindedness.

STUDENT:
What about people who have been practicing Buddhism and are now older? Should there be a difference in their approach to practice?

SHIH-FU:
As long-time practitioners get older, their practice should become more stable. There were likely many diversions when the practitioners were younger, making their practice inconsistent. There would have been times when practitioners had to put the practice aside to attend to other things. But as they get older, there are fewer things to attend to. Assuming practitioners have a solid foundation, practice should become more stable, with fewer interruptions. It is likely they will not stray from the practice.

Of course, these are generalizations. There are exceptions. As some get older, situations change in ways that make practice more difficult. For example, a person may get physically ill or exceedingly weak. On the other hand, some people get more energetic and high-spirited with age. Or, the environment may change and disrupt the practice.

Also, as people get older, they usually retire from their jobs. If a person has practiced Buddhism as a hobby all along, he or she may continue to view it that way after retirement, and keep it secondary while filling his or her spare time with a new primary interest.

Some people may have the wrong view of the Dharma right from the start. Some people think that practicing necessitates having some kind of experience. These people are not well grounded in Buddhadharma. As they get older, they might think, “This is for young people. I haven’t had an experience yet, so it’s ridiculous at my age to continue looking for one.”

Remember, practice is not limited to this lifetime. It continues, life after life, until one attains Buddhahood. Even after Buddhahood, one is always working hard, to benefit one’s own practice and to benefit other sentient beings. The Buddha continued after his enlightenment for another forty years, working hard, helping sentient beings.

STUDENT:
Isn’t it also true that the proper attitude toward practice is not to be goal-oriented, not to view meditation as a means to experience something? But rather, to view practice as a process? It is meditation itself that is worthwhile. In other words, the goal of meditation is meditation.

SHIH-FU:
That is correct. We see this in the great practitioners of the past, none of whom had the attitude of practicing with the desire to experience something. They just practiced. One never knows when karmic obstructions will fall away. One person can practice for decades and not experience the dropping of karmic obstructions. Others, like Subadhra, only need to hear a few words for obstructions to disappear. You cannot predict such things, so you should just practice.

STUDENT:
What attitude, then, should an older person have toward Buddhism and the practice?

SHIH-FU:
There is no set method or answer. Some people maintain or increase vigor as they get older. Others

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