Master Xuyun: The Way Is Never Apart from Walking, Standing, Sitting, and Lying
you plant grain, which sprouts into seedlings, then transplant those seedlings to grow rice stalks, harvest the stalks for grain, and cook that grain into a meal. Buddha-nature is like a seed: the fundamental nature of all sentient being...
Practicing the Way is like tending a rice field: you plant grain, which sprouts into seedlings, then transplant those seedlings to grow rice stalks, harvest the stalks for grain, and cook that grain into a meal. Buddha-nature is like a seed: the fundamental nature of all sentient beings is no different from the Buddha’s, since your own mind is the Buddha—that is why it is called Buddha-nature. This seed may seem far removed from the seedlings, stalks, grain, and cooked meal, but don’t assume it’s too distant to ever become that meal.
To attain Buddhahood, you first need faith—this is like placing the seed in the earth and waiting for it to sprout into seedlings. Along the way, you have to guard against scorched sprouts and ruined seeds: a warning not to waste time or miss your window. You must follow the Mahayana path, and not stray into the Hinayana path that will hinder your ultimate liberation. After transplanting the seedlings, you have to pull weeds, just as you have to root out habitual tendencies and flaws in your practice. You must let go of all seven emotions and six desires, the ten bonds and ten afflictions, the three poisons and ten evil actions, and every trace of deluded affliction. Then the seed of wisdom and spiritual sprout will grow unhindered, all the way to bearing fruit.
True practice happens in the midst of daily life—you don’t have to sit in formal meditation with your eyes closed for it to count. You can practice in all four dignified postures—walking, standing, sitting, lying down—using the threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom to cut through the three poisons of greed, aversion, and delusion. You have to restrain your six senses the way a cowherd tends his herd, so they don’t trample the seedlings of your practice. When a beautiful woman stands before you, a worldly person sees a blooming flower, while a Chan practitioner sees her as a spirit that clouds the mind and leads one astray. If your eyes can remain unmoved by the sensory dust of form, the other five senses will stay steady too: you won’t salivate at pleasant scents, nor turn up your nose at foul ones. You won’t fuss over superficial trivialities like long eyebrows, short teeth, or even generic placeholder names like Zhang San and Li Si, nor get caught up in arguments over self and other, right and wrong.
The verse of the Bodhisattva Maitreya passed down by Great Being Shide reads:
This old fool wears a tattered cotton robe, Simple meals fill my belly to the full. Patched clothes keep out the cold, I let all things resolve as they come. If someone scolds this old fool, I say they are right. If someone beats this old fool, I just lie down and sleep. Spittle lands on my face, I let it dry on its own— I save my strength, and they have no troubles to bear. This kind of pāramitā is a precious treasure beyond all wonders. If you grasp this truth, why worry that the Way will not be complete?
I argue over no right or wrong, I tend to no household affairs, I fight over no self or other, I don’t bother playing the tough hero. I leap out of the blazing fiery pit, And become a cool, unafflicted being. I awaken to the eternal truth of life, And keep the sun and moon as my closest companions. This is practicing the Way in every place; the Way is not confined to the meditation cushion alone. If you only seek the Way on your meditation cushion, you will fall right into the trap warned of in the fourfold criteria: “When a false karmic realm appears before you, you will follow it away in an instant.”
As someone living in this world, you will inevitably hear praise and criticism from others in your dealings with people. If you can break through this barrier, you’ll be free of all affliction. When people praise you, if you let yourself get carried away with joy, you’ll be deluded by the demon of joy. Three compliments can carry you all the way to old age; when people criticize you, they are your good spiritual friends: they help you see your faults, inspire you to correct them, and spur you to abandon unwholesome actions and do good. Food, clothing, shelter—none of it is separate from the Way. Walking, standing, sitting, lying down: every action is the Way. All eighty thousand fine, detailed practices are contained within these four dignified postures.
—1955, 17th day of the fourth lunar month Dharma talk given by Master Xuyun at Mount Yunju