THE MASTER'S ROD, THE PRESENCE AND LETTING GO

The student, of course, is not constantly in the presence of a master. He will therefore need to conduct his life in a way that allows him or her to continue upon the path without impediments. It is clear then that he must continue with diligence while still following the path correctly. 

We will assume that the student has benefited from the master's presence and has experienced one or more events of importance that will have aided his contemplations:

       1.  A direct confrontation with the Identity which observes. 

2.  A disrobing the student of his or her cognitive mantle of words.

3.  The illusion of self and the truth of no-self have been completed and annulled. 

4.  That all phenomena are in perfect harmony as one, and that all things animate and inanimate are expressions of the mind, unified with contemplative understanding.

5.  Change is what change does, and that there is no difference between what is considered internal and external.

6.  All sensory phenomena are just experiences. Only the "truth of sensing with observing happening without content" is all that is retained.

On his own now he must conduct his daily life carrying with him the presence of the direct experiences of:

1. Vacuity

2.  Unity of all phenomena

3.  Impermanence

4.  Moments of Clear Comprehension

5.  The Life Force Drive

But he is not yet complete, for he must also carry with his presence:

1.   True Gladness

2.   True Compassion

3.   Benevolent Affect

4.   True Equanimity

You will agree it is a difficult task if the person has been teaching himself without a guide.

But now we come to the actual working state when he must be applying a vigilance that is as complete as possible, depending upon the Master with whom he has been working.

                               "Unity of All the Apparent Different Senses"

With Zongmi he must be continually conscious of the "Unity of all the apparent different senses" that may be impinged, understanding their unity not separating them for a moment. Buddha himself referred to this when he spoke in the Fire Sermon, including the actual organs as being on fire... One fire, not separate fires.

                                 "Interdependence and Interpenetration"

With Fayan he must be continually conscious of the "interdependence and Interpenetration" of all things... He must generate the difficult penetration of the idea that all is within the one and that the one contains the whole.

                                    "Matching the Square and the Round"

With Guiyang he must generate what is termed "matching the square and the round", which is a genuine penetration of the Homogeneity and Sharpness of all phenomena.

                             "Containing, Covering and Cutting Off the Flow"

With Yunmen he must pay strict attention to the presence of his own Identity in even the smallest thought. This is called "Containing, covering and cutting off the flow".

                                                       "Interchange"

With Linji it s "Interchange" which must be his focus, in which he must continually be conscious of the erroneous relationship he is generating between Identity and Words. In and of themselves words are not the problem. Words are in themselves just sustaining the illusions, one part of the two Truths.

                                              "Knocking and Calling Out"

With the Caodong model his task is called "knocking and calling out". What this means is that "knocking on the door", which is an objective event, really performs the function of "calling out". He must see then all phenomena not in terms of their appearance but only their function. A glass, for example, must be seen as only "containing".

Remember that each of these is more than a simple Cognitive exercise.