Content Summary
Chan is not necessarily any one thing, nor does Chan affirm or deny anything. However, whatever you need, Chan gives to you.
For regular meditators, this book provides basic sitting meditation techniques. Exceptionally busy people are advised to try and use the Chan cultivation methods in this book to harmonize themselves, and dissolve their attachment to “self.” From relaxing the body and mind for as little as three minutes to attending to body and mind throughout daily life, these methods show the simplicity and practicality of expedient Chan methods.
–Master Sheng Yen
About the Author
Master Sheng Yen (1930-2009)
Master Sheng Yen was born in 1930 and became a monk in 1943. He conducted a six-year solitary retreat, after which he went to Japan for further study and obtained a doctorate in Buddhist literature at Rissho University. In 1975, he began sharing the Dharma in the US, and in 1989, founded the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Buddhism.
He authored more than 100 publications in Chinese, English, and Japanese, and received the Sun Yat-sen Art and Literary Award, the Sun Yat-sen Academic Award, and the Presidential Cultural Award, among other honorary awards.
He proposed the vision of “uplifting the character of humanity and building a pure land on earth,” founded the Chung Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Dharma Drum Sangha University, and Dharma Drum University. Experienced in Chan using correct approaches, he guided practice in both the West and East. Popularizing the Dharma in modern language, the Master initiated movements including Protecting the Spiritual Environment, Four Kinds of Environmentalism, the Fivefold Spiritual Renaissance Campaign, and the Six Ethics of the Mind. He shared the Dharma globally with a broadminded perspective, winning him worldwide recognition.
Table of Content
Preface
Basic Methods for Chan Sitting Meditation
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Daily Life
The Evolution of Chan Practice Methods
What is Chan?
Chan Wisdom
Wisdom and Blessings
Chan: Uplifting the Self
Chan: Dissolving the Self
Chan and Life
Chan and Daily Life
The Chan of Protecting the Spiritual Environment
Chan: Understanding and Practice
Chan and the Arts
Harmonizing Life
Life, Time, and Space
Reason and Emotion
The Ability to Take Things On and Let Things Go
Taking Things On, Letting Things Go
Impermanence and Non-self
Uplifting the Character of Humanity
A Positive View of Life
Contemporary Buddhism, Contemporary Life
Today’s Young Buddhists and the Proper Outlook on Life
Pure Minds, Pure Environments
Green the Globe, Purify the World
Our Living Environment: A Buddhist Perspective
A Pure Land on Earth
Appendix
