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The door of Ch’an is entered by Wu. When we meditate on Wu we ask “What is Wu?” On entering Wu, we experience emptiness; we are not aware of existence, either ours or the world’s.
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Liberation Through the Gate of No-form | There Is No Suffering
The second gate is no-form, which is sometimes translated as ‘no characteristic.’ Form ( xiang), or characteristic, has many shades of meaning, but in this case we are emphasizing mental constructs. Forms come into being when our mind attaches to, or discriminates between, phenomena. These forms, as creations of the mind, also become obstructions to perceiving things as they really are. This leads away from liberation. Non-attachment, on the other hand, means liberation from form. This is the meaning of no-form. Both the Diamond Sutra and Platform Sutra state these ideas very clearly.
You might say that one can only experience the world through the sixth consciousness; hence there must be attachment. For liberated beings, however, the sixth consciousness has been transformed into functioning wisdom, and there is no attachment when one acts from wisdom.
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Venerable Sheng Yen is a well-known Buddhist monk, Buddhist scholar, and educator. In 1969, he went to Japan for further studies and obtained a doctoral degree from Rissho University in 1975, becoming the first ordained monk in Chinese Buddhism to pursue and successfully complete a Ph.D. in Japan.
Sheng Yen taught in the United States starting in 1975, and established Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York, and its retreat center, Dharma Drum Retreat Center at Pine Bush, New York in 1997. He also visited many countries in Europe, as well as continuing his teaching in several Asian countries, in particular Taiwan.
Sheng Yen taught in the United States starting in 1975, and established Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York, and its retreat center, Dharma Drum Retreat Center at Pine Bush, New York in 1997. He also visited many countries in Europe, as well as continuing his teaching in several Asian countries, in particular Taiwan.
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