Week of Sept 19, 2004 – Manjusri’s teaching: Increasing awareness.
Manjusri is the teacher of seven Buddhas. His distinct virtue is Wisdom. There are two parts to this wisdom: the conceptual aspect and the applied aspect.
The conceptual aspect includes the understanding of the doctrines/concepts/basics of Buddhism. For example: The Four Noble Truths, The Thirty-seven Aids to Enlightenment, The Twelve Dependent Originations, The Six Paramitas and so on. A good practitioner should have a solid grasp of this knowledge and understand it thoroughly. Through reading or studying good Buddhism Books, Sutras and/or encyclopedias, one may be able to gain insight into this aspect. However, one needs the guidance of a good teacher to understand the essence/fundamental nature of these concepts.
The applied aspect is the realization of Emptiness. Realization comes from practice and not from knowledge. How does one gain Wisdom? The keys to the attainment of Wisdom are:
1) Increasing awareness
2) Being wholeheartedly and skillfully mindful
3) Raising of existential doubts
In the Avatamsaka (Huayen) Sutra, Manjusri taught us how to increase our awareness by means of 141 vows. One has to study the sutra to discover the details of the vows. The 141 vows cover the time we wake up in the morning to the time we wake up the next day; for every incident that we encounter we make a positive vow.
For example:
Manjusri is the teacher of seven Buddhas. His distinct virtue is Wisdom. There are two parts to this wisdom: the conceptual aspect and the applied aspect.
The conceptual aspect includes the understanding of the doctrines/concepts/basics of Buddhism. For example: The Four Noble Truths, The Thirty-seven Aids to Enlightenment, The Twelve Dependent Originations, The Six Paramitas and so on. A good practitioner should have a solid grasp of this knowledge and understand it thoroughly. Through reading or studying good Buddhism Books, Sutras and/or encyclopedias, one may be able to gain insight into this aspect. However, one needs the guidance of a good teacher to understand the essence/fundamental nature of these concepts.
The applied aspect is the realization of Emptiness. Realization comes from practice and not from knowledge. How does one gain Wisdom? The keys to the attainment of Wisdom are:
1) Increasing awareness
2) Being wholeheartedly and skillfully mindful
3) Raising of existential doubts
In the Avatamsaka (Huayen) Sutra, Manjusri taught us how to increase our awareness by means of 141 vows. One has to study the sutra to discover the details of the vows. The 141 vows cover the time we wake up in the morning to the time we wake up the next day; for every incident that we encounter we make a positive vow.
For example:
When lowering the feet and resting,
we should wish that all beings attain liberation of mind, resting at peace, undisturbed.
When raising the legs,
When raising the legs,
we should wish that all beings leave the sea of birth and death and fulfill all good qualities.
Seeing happy people,
Seeing happy people,
we should wish that all beings be always peaceful and happy, gladly supporting the Buddhas.
Seeing people suffer,
Seeing people suffer,
we should wish that all beings attain fundamental knowledge and eliminate all misery.
By following this mode of practice, we break our habitual reaction and raise our awareness. Instead of being upset or feeling sorry (habitual reaction) from seeing people suffer, we make a positive wish. Thus we become more aware of our encounter and our response. Gradually we will be able to react according to what should be done under the circumstance instead of out of our biased emotions. Every encounter we have we will bring out the positiveness within ourselves. Also our positive wishes give out positive energy. When we are constantly giving out positive energy, we surround ourselves and our environment with this energy, which is much needed always.
You can do this practice anywhere anytime; it is called Manjusri’s Samadhi Dharma Door. It is the application of concentration and insight in daily life – the applied meditation. This practice is also the preliminary for our actual practice as this Dharma door brings us tremendous merits and resources for enlightenment.
You can do this practice anywhere anytime; it is called Manjusri’s Samadhi Dharma Door. It is the application of concentration and insight in daily life – the applied meditation. This practice is also the preliminary for our actual practice as this Dharma door brings us tremendous merits and resources for enlightenment.
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