Chan Buddhism teaching. Chan Buddhism - Encyclopedia of Buddhism

State educational institution of higher professional education

Vladimir State University

them. Alexander Grigorievich and Nikolai Grigorievich Stoletov

Essay

on the topic of:

"Zen (Chan) as a direction of Buddhism"

Subject: Religious Studies

Completed by: student of group ZPIud-110

Pudova O. A.,

specialty 080801

Checked by: Markova N.M.

Vladimir

zen buddhism

Introduction

What is Zen? His ideological principles

Brief essence of the teaching

Zen's influence on the modern world

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature.

Introduction

Zen, zen, (from Chinese - chan, cor. - s?n) - a movement in Buddhism of the Mahayana tradition, which originated in China in the Shaolin monastery, where Bodhidharma brought it and spread in the Far East (Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan ). In a narrower sense, Zen is understood as the direction of Japanese Buddhism, brought to Japan from China in the 12th century. Subsequently, the traditions of Japanese Zen and Chinese Chan developed largely independently - and now, while maintaining a single essence, they have acquired their own characteristic features.

Chan Buddhism is one of the most interesting phenomena not only in the Eastern, but also in the world religious tradition. Chan is a Chinese name, although the Japanese reading of the hieroglyph denoting this direction of Buddhism, Zen, has turned out to be more widespread in the world.

In the history of religion, Zen is unique in many ways. His doctrines in theoretical form may seem strange, to say the least. But they are presented in such a way that only initiates, through long training, who have truly achieved insight on this path, can understand their true meaning. For those who have not gained this insight of knowledge, i.e. for those who do not experience Zen in daily activities, its teachings, or rather its sayings, take on an incomprehensible and even mysterious meaning.

Many consider Zen to be completely absurd and meaningless, or deliberately confusing in order to hide its profound truths from the uninitiated. However, Zen followers say that its apparent paradoxes arise because human language is a poor vehicle for expressing the deepest truths. These truths cannot be turned into an object that fits into the narrow framework of logic. They must be experienced in the bottomless depths of the soul, after which they will become meaningful for the first time.

Most of the difficulties that arise in the study of Zen Buddhism are mainly due to ignorance of Chinese thinking. There is a widespread belief that the “Eastern mentality” is something mystical, irrational and incomprehensible. However, the English researcher R.H. Bliss showed that the basic insights of Zen are universal.

The fundamental influence of Zen on the culture of Japan, one of the most developed countries in the world today, and the growth of its influence on the culture of other countries makes us recognize the importance and relevance of studying the ideas of Zen Buddhism for understanding the paths of development philosophical thought.

The purpose of this work is to consider the basic ideological principles of Zen Buddhism, to characterize its influence on Japanese national culture, characterized by deep symbolism, and also show the importance of the philosophy of Zen Buddhism for European culture in modern world.

1. What is Zen? His ideological principles

Zen (Zen, Chan) is the Japanese name for one of the schools of Mahayana Buddhism, mainly formed in medieval China. In China this school is called Chan. Zen originated in India thanks to the work of the monk Bodhidharma.

The basis of the Zen concept is the position about the impossibility of expressing the truth in human language and images, about the meaninglessness of words, actions and intellectual efforts in achieving enlightenment. According to Zen, the state of enlightenment can be achieved suddenly, spontaneously, solely through inner experience. To achieve a state of such an experience, Zen uses almost the entire range of traditional Buddhist techniques. The achievement of enlightenment can also be influenced by external stimuli - for example, a sharp cry, a blow, etc.

This is not a religion in the popular sense, since in Zen there is no god to worship, there are also no ceremonial rites, no promised land for the departed, and, finally, in Zen there is also no such concept as the soul, about well-being which must be cared for by someone else, and whose immortality worries some people so much. Zen is free from all these dogmatic religious entanglements.

Just because there is no God in Zen does not mean that Zen denies the existence of God. Zen deals neither with affirmation nor with negation. When something is denied, the negation itself already includes the opposite element. The same can be said about affirmation. In logic this is inevitable. Zen strives to rise above logic and to find the highest affirmation that has no antithesis. Zen is neither a religion nor a philosophy.

We can say that Zen is abstract, but on the other hand, it brings great benefits to a person and determines his morality. When Zen is expressed in our daily practical life, we sometimes forget about its abstractness, and then its real value is most clearly revealed, since Zen finds an inexpressibly deep thought even in such simple things as a raised finger or a simple greeting addressed to meeting each other by chance on the street. In Zen, the most real is the most abstract and vice versa.

D. T. Suzuki wrote: “Zen is mystical, and it cannot be otherwise, since Zen is the basis of Eastern culture. It is this mysticism that often prevents the West from measuring the depth of the Eastern mind due to the fact that by its nature mysticism denies logical analysis, and logic is the main feature of the Western mind. The Eastern mind is synthetic, it does not attach too much importance to non-existent details, but rather strives for an intuitive comprehension of the whole.

Zen is a systematization, or rather a crystallization, of the entire philosophy, religion, and life itself of the Far East, and especially of Japan.”

Zen Buddhism is a way of life and an outlook on life that cannot be reduced to any formal category of modern Western thought. This is not religion or philosophy, not psychology or science.

Historically, Zen is the result of the development of two ancient cultures: China and India, although in essence it is more Chinese than Indian in character. After the end of the persecution of Buddhism in 848. Zen remained for some time in China not only the predominant form of Buddhism, but also the most powerful spiritual force influencing the development of Chinese culture. This influence was strongest during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), and at this time Zen monasteries became the main centers of Chinese learning. Secular scholars, Taoists, and Confucians studied there for a long time, and Zen monks, in turn, became acquainted with Chinese classical culture. Since writing and poetry were one of the main occupations of Chinese scientists, and Chinese painting is very close to calligraphy, the specialties of the scientist, artist and poet were not too strongly differentiated. And the Chinese nobleman-scientist was not a professional, and the monk, in accordance with the spirit of Zen, did not limit the range of his interests purely religious questions. The result was a remarkable cross-fertilization of philosophical, scientific and artistic pursuits, in which the predominant note was Zen and Taoist feeling naturalness . Since the 12th century, Zen took deep roots in Japan and received truly creative development there. As the product of these great cultures, as a unique and highly instructive example of the Eastern "path of liberation", Zen represents Asia's most valuable gift to the world.

Since the time of Bodhidharma, who came to China from the west, that is, from Northern India, undergoing a quiet and systematic development for more than two centuries, Zen Buddhism has firmly established itself in the land of Confucianism and Taoism in the form of a teaching that claims to:

special revelation without the mediation of St. Scriptures;

independence from words and letters;

direct contact with the spiritual essence of a person;

understanding the innermost nature of man and achieving the perfection of Buddha.

Zen has been described as: “A special teaching without sacred texts, without words and letters, which teaches about the essence of the human mind, penetrating directly into its nature, and leads to enlightenment.”

The most significant figure in the history of Zen is Eno, who is traditionally called the Sixth Patriarch of Zen in China. He actually created Zen Buddhism, unlike other Buddhist sects that existed in China at that time. The following quatrain reflects the standard he established for the true expression of faith in Zen:

There is no tree of wisdom (Bodhi),

And there is no mirror surface;

From the beginning there is nothing

So what can be covered in dust?

The Zen custom of self-knowledge through meditation for the realization of the real nature of man, with its disdain for formalism, with its demand for self-discipline and simplicity of life, ultimately won the support of the nobility and ruling circles of Japan and the deep respect of all sectors of the philosophical life of the East.

Most of the difficulties and mystifications encountered by students of Zen in the West are due to their ignorance of the Chinese way of thinking, which differs significantly from ours. That is why, if we want to think critically about our own ideas, it is of particular interest to us. The difficulty here is not so much in mastering some new ideas that differ from ours, as, for example, as the philosophy of Kant differs from the philosophy of Descartes or the views of Calvinists from the views of Catholics. The task is to grasp and appreciate the difference in the basic premises of thought and in the method of thinking itself. Since this is what is often ignored, our interpretation of Chinese philosophy for the most part turns out to be a projection of purely European ideas dressed in the clothes of Chinese terminology. This is the inevitable defect of studying Asian philosophy within the framework of the Western school, with the help of words, and nothing more. In fact, the word becomes a means of communication only when the interlocutors draw on similar experiences.

The reason why Zen and Taoism seem at first glance to be a mystery to the European mind is because of the limitations of our conception of human knowledge. We consider to be knowledge only what a Taoist would call conventional knowledge: we do not feel that we know something until we can define it in words or in some other traditional sign system - for example, in mathematics or musical symbols. Such knowledge is called conventional, conditional, because it is the subject of a social agreement (convention), an agreement regarding the means of communication. Just as people speaking the same language have a tacit agreement about which word denotes which object, in the same way members of any society and any culture are united by bonds of communication based on various kinds of agreements regarding the classification and evaluation of objects and actions.

The Zen spirit has come to mean not only an understanding of the world, but also dedication to art and work, richness of content, openness to intuition, expression of innate beauty, and the elusive charm of imperfection. Zen has many meanings, but none of them is completely defined. If they were defined, it would not be Zen.

They say that if there is Zen in life, then there is no fear, doubt, passion, or excessive feelings. Neither intolerance nor selfish desires disturb this person.

The study of Zen, the flowering of human nature, is not easy at any age and for any civilization. Many teachers, real and false, have set out to help others understand Zen.

The truth of the following story is one of the countless and authentic experiences of Zen.

A CUP OF TEA

Nan-in, a Japanese Zen teacher who lived during the Meiji era (1868-1912), hosted a university professor who came to learn what Zen was.

Nan-in invited him to tea. He poured the guest's cup to the top and continued pouring further.

The professor watched as the cup overflowed, and finally could not stand it: “It’s overflowing. It won’t come in again.”

“Just like this cup,” said Nan-in, “you are full of your own opinions and reflections. How can I show you Zen if you have not emptied your cup first?”

True Zen manifests itself in everyday life; it is CONSCIOUSNESS in action. More than any limited knowledge, it opens all the inner gates of our limitless nature. The mind is instantly freed. And insincere, feigned and harmful to consciousness Zen is invented by priests and businessmen for petty trade.

You can look at it all like this - from the inside out and from the outside in: the all-encompassing CONSCIOUSNESS flowing through us is everywhere.

It is very clearly shown what Zen is in the Indian fairy tale told by Inayat Khan. The tale is about a fish who swam to the queen of fish and asked: “I always hear about the sea, but what is this sea? Where is it?"

The Queen of the Fishes replied, “You live, move and have your being in the sea. The sea is inside you and outside, from the sea you were created and in the sea you will die. The sea surrounds you like your own essence.”

The central and highest goal of religious practice in the Zen tradition is satori. Satori is the soul of Zen, and without it there is no Zen,” writes D.T. Suzuki. In the meditative practice of Zen, it is believed that one can achieve the state of satori, in addition to meditative practice, through trivial, ordinary events and objects. Satori has some essential features :

irrationality, inexplicability, incommunicability;

intuitive insight into the essence of nature;

a feeling of unusualness of the state of satori;

experiencing a feeling of delight as a result of the realization of something unconscious;

brevity, suddenness, instantaneity of satori.

In Zen, much attention is paid to the problems of psychotraining, for which, first of all, the practices of zazen and koan are used. Koans are stories from the lives of Zen patriarchs, which the teacher offered to the student as intellectual tasks, containing, as a rule, elements of paradox and questioning the possibility of rational thinking. The human mind, according to Zen Buddhists, will replace sudden insight, which can be expressed in words, but without a corresponding meaning, since this meaning is understandable only to the most enlightened one.

* Zen does not recognize the existence of a universal Buddha; it is believed that he exists in every individual.

Before learning Zen, for a person, mountains are mountains and water is water. When the truth of Zen shines forth for him, thanks to the instructions of a good master, mountains for him are no longer mountains and water is no longer water; later, however, when he actually reaches satori, the mountains become mountains again and the water becomes water.

2. Brief essence of the teaching

It is believed that Zen cannot be taught. We can only suggest a way to achieve personal enlightenment. Zen is a way to experience your natural nature, the flow and desires of your soul. Becoming yourself to be yourself every day is the goal of effort. Every person has abilities given to him by nature at birth. This is not necessarily an ability for some profession or the ability to do something in the usual sense. This may be the ability to feel, understand and absorb, which, without understanding one’s own nature, a person does not want to show when living a life that is someone else’s.

More precisely, there is no such thing as enlightenment that can be possessed as some kind of stable state every day. Therefore, Zen teachers (“masters”) often say not “to achieve enlightenment”, but “to see one’s own nature.” Enlightenment is not a state. This is the ability to experience what the soul is born to experience. This feeling is very individual and cannot be formulated in any way. Words immediately distort the feelings that we are trying to express or convey to another person. In addition, the path to seeing one’s own nature is different for everyone, since everyone is in their own conditions, with their own baggage of experience and ideas. That is why they say that in Zen there is no definite path, there is no one definite entrance. These words should help the Zen practitioner not to replace his nature with the mechanical execution of some practice or idea. That is why you can only learn from nature, and not from books or teachers. Teachers and books are only an opportunity to compare your experience with the experience of other people, but under no circumstances can they be the highest authority.

It is believed that a Zen teacher must see his own nature, because then he can correctly see the state of the “student” and give him instructions or a push that is suitable for him. At different stages of practice, the “student” may be given different, “opposite” advice, for example:

“meditate to calm the mind; try harder”;

“don’t try to achieve enlightenment, but just let go of everything that happens”...

According to general Buddhist ideas, there are three root poisons from which all suffering and delusion arise:

ignorance of one's nature (cloudness of mind, dullness, confusion, restlessness),

disgust (to the “unpleasant”, the idea of ​​something as an independent “evil”, generally rigid views),

attachment (to something pleasant - unquenchable thirst, clinging)…

Therefore, awakening is promoted by:

calming the mind (that is, not “stopping thinking” as some kind of effort, but allowing oneself a pure vision of things, without mixing it with mental constructions and interpretations).

liberation from rigid views

liberation from attachments.

The two main types of regular Zen practice are sitting meditation and simple physical labor. They are aimed at calming and unifying the mind. When self-churning stops, the “dregs settle,” ignorance and anxiety decrease. A cleared mind can more easily see its nature.

Many Zen masters argue that practice can be “gradual” or “sudden,” but awakening itself is always sudden—or rather, not gradual. It is simply throwing away what is unnecessary and seeing what is. Since it is simply dropping, it cannot be said to be achieved in any way. Or that there are “disciples” and “mentors” in this. Masters can transmit the Dharma teachings - that is, the ideas and methods of Zen. The Dharma of Mind, that is, the essence of enlightenment, is already present. She doesn't need any achievements.

So, the practice and teaching of Zen are aimed at calming the soul, freeing the mind from secondary desires, liberation from rigid views and the extinction of unnecessary attachments. This makes it easier to see one’s own nature, which itself is beyond all practice and all paths.

In general, the same is true for other Buddhist traditions; The school - Zen - is aimed at maximum simplicity and flexibility of methods and concepts.

Zen Buddhism denies the superiority of the intellect over pure experience, considering the latter, together with intuition, to be faithful assistants. In Zen, the method of OBSERVING both oneself (meditation) and the surrounding things is widespread. The main thing is that observation is carried out without judgment; pure witnessing allows you to discard illusions and see the true nature.

1 The main difference between Zen and other branches of Buddhism

In Zen, the main attention on the path to achieving satori is paid not only (and not so much) to the Holy Scriptures and sutras, but to direct comprehension of reality based on intuitive insight into one’s own nature. Actually, following one’s own nature in Zen is the implementation of the main principles of Buddhism. If the cause of suffering is unfulfilled desires, then you need to fulfill your desires, and thereby get rid of internal tension, because it is this tension, like dissatisfaction with the fact that what you wanted did not come true, that is suffering. But since no one can fulfill all his desires, it is necessary to separate those desires that can be fulfilled from those that cannot be fulfilled, or at least very difficult. This is the suppression of desires in Zen: not all, but only “problematic” ones. This is a simple and clear idea: “problematic” desires must either be fulfilled or get rid of them. There is no other path to inner liberation, understood as liberation from all states of dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety and confusion. Zen does not require the renunciation of all desires, leaving to its followers the fullness of living, natural being. When all “problematic” desires are removed, that happy state of constant peace will come, which, in turn, will free the soul’s strength for “satori”. This path can easily be expressed with the phrase: “Calm down - and everything will come.”

According to Zen, anyone can achieve satori.

Four Key Distinctions of Zen:

A special teaching without sacred texts.

Transmission by direct reference to reality - in a special way from heart to heart.

The need to awaken through awareness of one's own true nature.

Zen has discarded all rituals and teachings, leaving behind pure truth. Leaving behind Buddhist doctrines. It is considered the most perfect method of finding yourself.

According to legend, the beginning of the Zen tradition was laid by the founder of Buddhism himself - Buddha Shakyamuni (5th century BC), who once raised a flower in front of his students and smiled (“Buddha’s Flower Sermon”).

No one, however, except one person - Mahakasyapa - understood the meaning of this gesture of the Buddha. Mahakashyapa answered the Buddha, also raising a flower and smiling. At that moment, he experienced awakening: the state of awakening was transmitted to him by the Buddha directly, without instructions in oral or written form.

One day Buddha stood before a crowd of people on Vulture Peak. All the people were waiting for him to start teaching awakening (dharma), but the Buddha was silent. Quite a long time had passed, and he had not yet uttered a single word; he had a flower in his hand. The eyes of all the people in the crowd were turned to him, but no one understood anything. Then one monk looked at Buddha with shining eyes and smiled. And the Buddha said: “I have the treasure of the vision of perfect Dharma, the magical spirit of nirvana, free from the impurity of reality, and I have transmitted this treasure to Mahakashyap.” This smiling monk turned out to be Mahakasyapa, one of the Buddha’s great disciples. The moment of Mahakashyapa's awakening happened when Buddha raised a flower above his head. The monk saw the flower for what it was and received the “seal of the heart,” to use Zen terminology. The Buddha transmitted his deep understanding from heart to heart. He took the seal of his heart and made an impression with it on the heart of Mahakasyapa. Mahakashyapa was awakened by the flower and his deep perception.

Thus, according to Zen, the tradition of direct (“heart to heart”) transmission of awakening from teacher to student began. In India, this is how awakening was passed on for twenty-eight generations of mentors from Mahakashyapa to Bodhidharma himself - the 28th patriarch of the Buddhist school of contemplation in India and the first patriarch of the Chan Buddhist school in China.

Bodhidharma said, “The Buddha directly transmitted Zen, which has nothing to do with the scriptures and doctrines you study.” So, according to Zen, the true meaning of Buddhism is comprehended only through intense self-contemplation - “look into your nature and you will become a Buddha” (and not through the study of doctrinal and philosophical texts), and also “from heart to heart” - thanks to the tradition of transmission from teacher to student.

To emphasize the principle of the immediacy of this transmission and to eradicate from students attachment to the letter, image, symbol, many Chan mentors of the early period demonstratively burned sutra texts and sacred images. One could not even talk about teaching Zen because it cannot be taught through symbols. Zen passes directly from master to student, from “mind to mind,” from “heart to heart.” Zen itself is a kind of “seal of the mind (heart)” that cannot be found in scriptures, since it is “not based on letters and words” - A special transmission of awakened consciousness from the heart of the teacher to the heart of the student without relying on written signs - transmission in a different way of what cannot be expressed by speech - “direct indication”, some non-verbal method of communication , without which the Buddhist experience could never pass from generation to generation.

3. The influence of Zen on the modern world

About the originality of Zen, A. Watts said: “The complexity and mystery that Zen represents for Western researchers is mainly the result of ignorance of the principles of thinking of the Chinese, principles that are strikingly different from ours and which precisely for this reason have special value for us, because they allow us to take a critical look on our own ideas. This problem is not as simple as if we were trying to understand how, say, the teaching of Kant differs from the theory of Descartes, or the Calvinists from the Catholics. The task is to realize the difference in the basic premises, the very way of thinking, and this is precisely what is most often not taken into account. And therefore, our interpretation of Chinese philosophy is nothing more than a transfer of typically Western ideas into Chinese terminology.”

Of course, it cannot be argued that a language as rich and flexible as English is simply incapable of expressing Chinese ideas. On the contrary, it can be used to express them to a much greater extent than it seemed to some Chinese and Japanese specialists in Zen and Taoism, whose familiarity with English leaves much to be desired. The difficulty lies not so much in the language as in the clichés of thinking that have hitherto been identified with the academic, scientific way of looking at things. The inconsistency of these clichés with such subjects as Taoism and Zen gives rise to the false idea that the so-called “Eastern mind” is something incomprehensible, irrational, mystical.

Echoes and influence of Zen can be found in modern literature, art, and cinema. Since the influence of medieval mysticism began to disappear, spiritual world Europe began to lack teachings based not on reason or will, but on intuition and nature. Neither the mysticism of romanticism nor symbolism could completely occupy this “niche.” That is why Zen, with its cult of inner freedom and the triumph of intuition over reason, became so popular among the European intelligentsia. As always, it is only by the naturalness of intonation that one can distinguish fashionable Zen from genuine Zen. In turn, only those for whom Zen is close to their soul from birth can feel which intonations are natural and which are not. Moreover, in the work of each artist who is carried away by Zen, Zen is refracted in its own way, so that it is possible to create a single picture here only, again, on Zen terms - allowing for a huge variety of intonations and forms.

The influence of Zen can be clearly seen in the works of G. Hesse, J. Salinger, J. Kerouac, Alan Watts, R. Zelazny, V. Pelevin, in the poetry of G. Snyder, A. Ginsberg and many haiku authors, in the paintings of W. Van Gogh and A. Matisse, in the music of G. Mahler and J. Cage, in the philosophy of A. Schweitzer, in the works on psychology of C. G. Jung and E. Fromm. In the 60s The "Zen boom" swept many American universities.

Conclusion

Zen Buddhism is not a religion. The Zen teaching about special ways to penetrate into the essence of the world is not fundamentally oriented towards its real knowledge, but gives the cognitive process itself a mystical character.

It can also be said that Zen Buddhism, while not a logical philosophical system, attempts to explain all aspects of life, and also offers a way to achieve what it considers to be the highest values ​​in accordance with its concept of reality.

Zen had a strong influence on many areas of Japanese culture and is reflected in such national arts as monochrome painting, the tea ceremony, the art of gardening, various types of martial arts, and Japanese poetry.

In the modern world, Zen is not only a national teaching. It has become quite widespread in the West. With the spread of Zen, people come to Japan to see Zen masters to learn the essence of the teaching from them.

Simplicity, naturalness, spontaneity and harmony - these aesthetic principles not only became integral features of Japanese art, but also largely determined the attitude to life for the Japanese.

Zen Buddhism is multicolored and infinitely varied, like human life itself. Enlightenment - always expected and yet always unexpected - was born not only from long sessions of “sitting meditation”, but also from a special mystical experience of life. The type of occupation is not important here, since the state of a person’s consciousness is important. If this state is found correctly, then all life should turn into a work of art.

List of sources and literature used

1. Reps P., Nyogen Senzaki, Flesh and Bone of Zen, Kaliningrad, 1993.

Buddhism: four noble truths, Suzuki D., Introduction to Zen Buddhism, Kharkov, 1999. P. 362.

One Hundred and One Stories of Zen, Rider and Co., 1939.

Maidanov A. S. Koans of Chan Buddhism as paradoxes // Opposites and paradoxes. M., 2008.

I. E. Harry. The Zen Buddhist worldview of Eihei Dogen. M.: Publishing company "Oriental Literature" RAS, 2003

. //www.history.rin.ru

Tutoring

Need help studying a topic?

Our specialists will advise or provide tutoring services on topics that interest you.
Submit your application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

This movement arose in the form of an esoteric sect. The name “chan” comes from the Sanskrit “dhyana” (concentration, meditation). The ancient Buddhist school - the Dhyana school - called on its followers to more often renounce outside world and, following the ancient Indian traditions, immerse yourself, concentrate your thoughts and feelings on one thing, concentrate and go into the endless depths of existence and the mysterious. The goal of Dhyana was to achieve trance in the process of meditation, because it was believed that it was in a state of trance that a person could reach hidden depths and find insight, truth, as happened with Gautama Shakyamuni himself under the Bo tree.

The Dhyana Sutras were translated into Chinese by Dao-an. Subsequently, they became widely known in Chinese Buddhist monasteries. Legend tells that Chan Buddhism arose in China after it moved there from India at the beginning of the 6th century. the famous patriarch of Indian Buddhism, Bodhidharma. When asked by the famous patron of Buddhism, Emperor Wu Di of the Liang dynasty, who received him, how his merits would be assessed (building monasteries and temples, copying sutras, providing benefits and donations to Buddhists), Bodhidharma allegedly replied that all these deeds are worthless, all they are dust and vanity. After this, the patriarch left Wu-di, who was disappointed in him, retired with a group of followers and laid the foundation for a new sect - Chan.

This legendary legend is usually questioned, considering that the early stage of the history of the sect is lost in the centuries, while its true and documented history began in the 7th century, when, after the death of the fifth patriarch, who had over 500 followers, the sect split into northern and southern branches. The title of the sixth patriarch began to be disputed by two people - Shen-hsiu, who was a supporter of the traditional point of view, according to which enlightenment is a natural result of prolonged effort and intense thought in the process of meditation, and Hui-neng, who opposed this canonical thesis with the idea of ​​​​sudden insight as a result of an intuitive impulse . Soon the more canonical northern branch fell into decline and practically died out, and the ideas of Hui-neng, reflected in the famous “Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch,” became the basis for the subsequent development of the sect in the Chinese (Chan) and Japanese (Zen) versions.

Chan Buddhism was the origin of China, so many authorities consider it a Chinese reaction to Indian Buddhism. Indeed, the teachings of Chan were characterized by the sobriety and rationalism of the Chinese, which were layered on the deepest mysticism of Indo-Buddhism. To begin with, Chan Buddhism overthrew all canonical Buddhist values. One should not strive for a foggy nirvana, he taught, it is unlikely that anything tempting awaits anyone there, and indeed in the future. Is it worth limiting yourself always and in everything for the sake of the uncertain prospect of becoming a Buddha or a bodysattva? And why is all this, for what?! You need to turn your attention to life, learn to live, and live right now, today, while you are alive, while you can take from life what is in it.

It would seem that this is rationalistic egoism, hedonism, which has nothing at all to do with religious thought and ethical ideals. But no! We are not talking about sensual pleasures, which, by the way, are rejected by both Buddhism and Confucianism. Chan Buddhism called for something different. As if resurrecting the ideas of early philosophical Taoism in Chinese thought and many times enriching these ideas due to the inexhaustible depths of Indian mysticism, he urged his followers not to strive forward, not to seek the Truth and not to try to achieve nirvana or become a Buddha. All this is dust and vanity. The main thing is that Truth and Buddha are always with you, they are around you, you just need to be able to find, see, recognize and understand them. Truth and Buddha are around and in everything - in the singing of birds, in the gentle rustling of leaves, in the wondrous beauty of mountain ranges, in the peaceful silence of the lake, in the fabulous severity of nature, in the reasonable restraint of ceremony, in the cleansing and enlightening power of meditation, and finally, in the joy of work , in the humble grandeur of simple physical work. Whoever does not see the Buddha and the Truth in all this will not be able to find them either in heaven or in paradise, neither today nor in the distant future. In a word, you need to be able to live, experience life, enjoy it, perceive it in all its richness, diversity and beauty.

Chan Buddhism placed at the center of its attention a person free from duties and attachments, ready to renounce worldly concerns and devote himself entirely to the ability and art of living, but to live only for himself (in this the Indian tradition in Chan Buddhism decisively triumphed over the Chinese). It was not easy to learn the truths of Chan Buddhism and accept its principles; this required special long-term preparation. Preparation and initiation usually began with paradoxes. The first of them was a decisive denial of knowledge, especially bookish and canonical knowledge. One of the main doctrines of Chan stated that intellectual analysis based on written dogmas does not penetrate into the essence of a phenomenon and does not contribute to success in comprehending the Truth. Why strain your mind, much less load it with bookish wisdom, when you can give full scope to intuition and self-expression and completely reject canons and authorities?! This is exactly how one should understand the testament of the famous master of Chan Buddhism, Yi-hsuan (9th century), which has become a textbook:

“Kill everyone who stands in your way! If you meet Buddha, kill Buddha; if you meet the patriarch, kill the patriarch!” In other words, nothing is sacred in the face of the individual’s great concentration and his sudden insight and enlightenment, his comprehension of the Truth.

How to comprehend the Truth? Chan Buddhism solved this eternal question of thinkers in a surprisingly simple and paradoxical way. Truth is insight. It descends on you suddenly, like an intuitive impulse, like inner enlightenment, like something that cannot be expressed in words and images. You need to prepare to comprehend and accept this insight. However, even a prepared person is not guaranteed to comprehend the Truth. He must wait patiently for his time. Just yesterday, just a minute ago, he was painfully thinking and tormented, trying to comprehend the incomprehensible, but suddenly something visited him - and he immediately understood everything, comprehended the Truth.

In the practice of Chan and Zen Buddhism, they usually used various methods of artificially stimulating sudden insight - sharp shouts, pushes, even blows, which unexpectedly fell on a person immersed in a trance and thoughtful, withdrawn into himself. It was believed that at this moment a person should react especially sharply to external irritation and that it was at this moment that he could receive an intuitive push, insight and enlightenment could descend on him.

As a means of stimulating thought, search, and intense brain work, Chan Buddhism widely used the practice of riddles (gun'an, Japanese koan). It is impossible to comprehend the meaning of a koan through logical analysis. Here’s an example: “A two-handed strike is a clap, but what is a one-palm clap?” Meanwhile, the absurdity and absurdity of such koans for Chan Buddhists was only apparent, purely external. Behind this external one one had to look for a deep inner meaning, to find the most successful, often paradoxical answer, which sometimes took beginners many years, during which the student’s skills were honed. In preparation for initiation into a master, he had to be able to quickly uncover complex logical intricacies.

Another important and paradoxical method of searching for Truth and preparing the initiate for illumination, for an intuitive impulse, was the wenda dialogues (Japanese mon-do) between the master and his student. During this dialogue, when both sides exchanged only short remarks with each other, often outwardly almost meaningless, it was not so much the words themselves that mattered, but the general context, even the internal subtext of the dialogue. The master and student first seemed to tune in to a common wave with the help of random mutual signals, and then, having set each other the tone and code of the conversation, they began a dialogue. Its purpose is to evoke certain associations and resonance in the mind of the student tuned to the wave of the master, which in turn served to prepare the student for the perception of an intuitive impulse, insight, enlightenment.

Chan Buddhism had a huge influence on the development of Chinese, Japanese and all Far Eastern culture. Many outstanding masters of literature and art were brought up on the paradoxes, koans and ideas of this sect. However, for all its enormous importance in the life of China, Chan Buddhism has always remained a relatively small esoteric sect, with only a few well-known monastery centers. Moreover, over time, Chinese Chan Buddhism gradually lost its original originality and extravagance. Submitting general style monastic life, Buddhist monasteries-schools of Chan in late medieval China tightened disciplinary norms and sought to more strictly regulate the lifestyle of Chan monks, which ultimately brought Chan noticeably closer to other sects-schools of Buddhism operating in China.

The truth is hidden outside of writing,

The Law cannot be conveyed in signs and words.

Turn to your heart, inward and backwards,

So that, having comprehended myself. Become a Buddha!

Bodhidharma (6th century)

With this motto, a man arrived from India to China, whose name is associated with the formation of Buddhist schools of Wu-shu of the “external” direction and the creation of a strong esoteric tradition. This man was Bodhidharma (in Chinese Puti Damo, in Japanese Bodai-Daruma, or Daruma) - the twenty-eighth Buddhist patriarch according to the official reckoning, and the founder of the well-known Chan sect (Japanese Zen).

Developing a universal self-defense system was probably never considered by Bodhidharma as a primary goal. Unlike a whole host of students and followers, he taught wrestling and fist fighting only as an elective discipline in the general course philosophical sciences. Comparing individual facts of the patriarch’s biography, we can confidently assume that Bodhidharma valued the tea ceremony he invented no less than all the secret techniques of wushu combined.

Information about the life of Bodhidharma is contained in two authentic sources. The first, rather stingy and colorless, entitled “Lives of Great Monks,” dates back to the middle of the 7th century. The second, written by the monk Tao-Yun, “Records of the Ching-te years on the transfer of the lamp,” is dated 1004. Its title echoes Bodhidharma’s famous treatise “On the Lamp and Light” (“Deng Dian Ji”). From the biography it is clear that Bodhidharma was the third eldest son of the ruling South Indian Raja Sugandha, who belonged to the Brahmin caste (and not Kshatriya warriors, which is very significant for the future fate of the young man). The real name of the patriarch is unknown. He took the pseudonym Bodhidharma (“Enlightened by the Teaching”) already in adulthood. Growing up in the princely palace, the son of the ruler studied, along with traditional martial arts, including fist fighting, the ancient Vedas and Buddhist sutras. He loved sports and devoted a lot of time to physical exercise, remembering that Buddha Sidhartha Gautama himself won the heart of Princess Yasudara only after he defeated his opponents in stone throwing, fencing, fist fighting and other types of competitions.

Bodhidharma had versatile talents, but from an early age his interests were directed towards the field of theosophy. Wanting to become familiar with the hidden truths of Buddhism, he joined the Yogacara sect and became a zealous advocate of dhyana (Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen), that is, in-depth self-contemplation. However, contrary to the widespread custom in India, he did not want to be an ascetic, continuing to be keenly interested in events in the world around him. Damo was a missionary by calling. He dreamed of bringing the light of Mahayana Buddhist doctrines to the most remote corners of the earth and was determined to crush all obstacles in his path. From two Chinese monks who were apprenticed to him, Bodhidharma heard about the difficulties that the “true faith” was supposedly undergoing in China, and decided to personally correct the situation. In 520, with a small group of followers, he sailed to the shores of China in the hope of setting the rulers of the Celestial Empire on the true path.

In fact, Buddhism in China was not going through very difficult times at the time of Bodhidharma's arrival. In the Celestial Empire, there were 47 monasteries that received support from the state treasury, 8 monasteries that existed on the private investments of wealthy families, and 30 thousand Buddhist temples, provided by donations from parishioners. And yet, some rulers were reluctant to introduce into their domains a “foreign” religion that had appeared in the Middle Empire only four centuries ago. In addition, Buddhist postulates ran counter to some traditions and customs. For example, a Buddhist monk had to shave his head, and Confucianism forbade deforming the natural human appearance. Buddhist monk took a vow of celibacy, and in China, where the cult of ancestors and large families flourished, the absence of offspring was considered a heavenly punishment, celibacy was considered almost as infanticide. Nevertheless, Buddhism gradually took root, but the relationship of the monastery and temple clergy with the authorities in the 6th century. remained generally tense.

What the Indian missionary expected to see in China, no one knows. It is possible that he dreamed of a semi-wild country, thirsty for an enlightened word. In any case, he hardly expected to see the land of ancient culture, magnificent palaces and temples, lazy and sometimes despised, but well-fed monks. It seemed that no one in the Celestial Empire particularly needed additional preaching of the word of the Buddha. As luck would have it, the first of the powers that be with whom Bodhidharma had a chance to meet in China turned out to be Wu, the ruler of the kingdom of Northern Wei, the patron of Buddhism known throughout the Celestial Empire. Of course, the complacent sovereign asked the opinion of the overseas guest about his country, abundant Buddhist monasteries and temples, where hundreds of monks worked day and night on correspondence holy books. Bodhidharma, who hated pompous ritual and idle vanity, snapped in his hearts that the emperor’s efforts to plant Buddhism were not worth a penny and that all this was vanity of vanities (more precisely, in Damo’s own words, “the emptiness of emptiness”).

After such a dialogue, it became clear that plans for the rapid and painless conversion of millions of Chinese to true faith not destined to come true. Western and Eastern researchers tried in different ways to explain Bodhidharma’s defiant behavior at the audience: by the characteristics of the patriarch’s character, the specifics of the Chan school of spiritual and material values, and the expectation of a possible “illumination” of the interlocutor. But isn’t it natural, first of all, to assume that this was just the irritated reaction of a disappointed, well-intentioned Indian patriarch? The traditional contempt of the inhabitants of the Middle Empire for foreigners, even those marked with the seal of grace, must have severely wounded the pride of a man who put his life and honor on the line for the sake of a lofty idea. It is unlikely that at that time he enjoyed the playful nickname Bearded Barbarian, received from loving students, but at first used in its literal meaning.

Be that as it may, having abandoned global plans to reorganize the religious life of China, Bodhidharma retired to the small Shaolin monastery, located on the outskirts of the country, in Henan province. So, not recognized by the authorities and the pillars of the Buddhist church, he began to preach a new teaching, which was destined for a great future.

An impartial biographer reports that in Shaolin the patriarch spent many years teaching the word of the Buddha in various ways. Instructing converts, Bodhidharma spoke about the single essence of existence, about the inseparability of subject and object in the perception of the world. He put forward the theory of “insight” (Chinese y, Japanese satori), which can be achieved in two ways - with the help of rational constructs or through actions filled with virtue. Let us note, by the way, that the thesis about the involuntary nature of insight, independent of spiritual and physical exercises, came to Chan Buddhism much later, only under the sixth patriarch - Hui-neng. Bodhidharma himself represented in China the yoga-chara sect, popular at that time among Indian Buddhists, whose distinctive feature has been since the 3rd century. AD seated meditation was considered.

Brought up by examples of zealous asceticism, Bodhidharma believed that “insight” was impossible without long and difficult trials for body and spirit.

Tradition tells that, not content with oral instructions, the patriarch sat for nine years in complete immobility in a mountain grotto near the monastery, staring at the wall, indulging in meditation without sleep or rest. According to popular belief (however, not confirmed by facts), after this his legs were paralyzed. In Japan you can still see a toy - a legless Daruma in the form of a tumbler. Subsequently, the version of the nine-year contemplation of the wall was disputed more than once, although, if we discard some exaggerations, there is nothing impossible in it. Let us remember the European “pillars” or monks who voluntarily spent decades in a cold stone bag.

“One can comprehend the incomparable teaching of the Buddha only after a long and severe test, having endured what is most difficult to endure, doing what is most difficult to do.” In response to this call from Bodhidharma, the legend continues, his successor Hui-ke pulled out a sword and cut off his left hand to prove the teacher's dedication. However, another version of the legend says that the second patriarch, a soldier by profession, who had seen a lot in his life, lost his hand in a fight with robbers. One way or another, Chan's preaching began to bear fruit...

Having sowed the seeds of a new teaching and instilled in the Shaolin monks an indomitable spirit of self-improvement, Bodhidharma decided to disappear. The disciples announced his death, and many mourned the patriarch until they met him on the way to India. When rumors of the resurrection reached the Son of Heaven, he ordered the remains of the holy ascetic to be removed from the ground, but instead of a body, only an old sandal was found in the grave. The authorities decided that Bodhidharma went home with one shoe on, hence his nickname, the One-Shoe Saint. Legend has it that he was seen riding a tiger in the jungles of India, wandering along the roads of Japan...

Wherever Bodhidharma ended his days, one cannot fail to note his contribution to the development of Chan Buddhism and monastic wushu. Combining Chinese religious and philosophical theory with the practice of yoga, he, following the Taoists, proclaimed the indissoluble interdependence of spirit and body. Countless Chan military-applied disciplines, supported by the entire body of Buddhist Law, rightfully originate from Bodhidharma.

Bodhidharma's teaching as a whole was distinguished by its flexibility, liberality and breadth of views in comparison with orthodox Buddhism, as well as the ability to quickly adapt to any environment. Chan came into especially close contact with the Taoist doctrines about the Great Emptiness, or the Absolute, about the unity of substance, body and spirit, about achieving fusion with nature. Mahayana Buddhism underwent a strange transformation in Chan philosophy, absorbing elements of the spontaneous dialectics of the Book of Changes, flavored with the mysticism of Taoist materialism and Confucian ritual. It was a new chapter in the “science of life.”

The concept of the naturalness of human behavior and condition, the naturalness acquired in training that is supernatural in intensity - this was the core of Chan ontology and what was a direct continuation of the teachings of Le Tzu and Lao Tzu about the essence of earthly existence. Many of Chan's postulates from the field of epistemology and logic also have clear correspondences in ancient Taoist treatises. Over the several decades spent within the walls of Shaolin, the Indian patriarch had enough time to learn the language, familiarize himself with the works of Chinese classics and find application for them in his preaching.

The Chan teachings, which emerged from a fusion of various cultural traditions, went beyond religious scholasticism, stepped beyond the boundaries of random empirical observation and formulated the basic principles of the “science of adaptation and survival.” The optimal combination at this stage objective idealism and pragmatism, the thesis about the presence of the Absolute in the phenomena of surrounding reality and the relative accessibility of the path to comprehending the Highest Truth contributed to the gradual spread of Chan both among the nobility and the Buddhist clergy, and among the broad masses. In literature and painting, in architecture and garden art, in religious ritual and everyday life practice, starting from the 6th century, the influence of Chan began to manifest itself more and more clearly. But the most fertile environment for the flourishing of Chan philosophy turned out to be, oddly enough, the sphere of martial arts.

In contrast to classical Buddhism, which was developing in all countries of the East as a religion of compassion and all-salvation, the Chan sect, which called for strengthening the body and spirit, answered the deepest aspirations of the medieval warrior. Giving preference to intuition over the intellect and strong-willed qualities of a person - over the ability for strict rational thinking, Chan demanded fortitude, determination, and selfless determination. That is why Bodhidharma began preaching Chan in the monastic community of Shaolin not with the odious “contemplation of the wall”, but with teaching Wu-shu.

Actually, Bodhidharma probably borrowed the idea of ​​​​the possibility of transforming the monastic schema into persistent psychophysical training from Indian yoga, but he also had before his eyes living examples of Taoist hermits who devoted their entire life to studying the secrets of the human body in the hope of achieving immortality. In addition, there were good reasons that prompted monks to master the art of self-defense.

In the time of Bodhidharma, the roads of the East were teeming with wandering monks who lived exclusively on alms and sometimes collected (for themselves or for their temple) considerable sums of money. These adherents of the Buddha's teachings became easy prey for highway robbers, soldier patrols, and sometimes just two or three hooligans from the nearest village. It was just as unsafe for a monk with an alms bowl, in which silver bars and bundles of copper coins jingled, to move around the country as a prospector with bags of gold dust somewhere in the remote regions of the Klondike.

Robbers armed with a sword, ax or dagger, and the poorer ones with an ordinary club, attacked lonely travelers, robbed them and killed them at the slightest resistance. If merchant caravans were usually well guarded, and their safety was largely ensured by the diligence of the local administration, then the monks had nothing to hope for. The robbers generally preferred to deal with harmless shaven-headed shepherds rather than with obstinate laymen, among whom some famous swordsman or wrestler might happen to be. Over time, however, the situation changed, and the knights of the high road were ready to fight a detachment of soldiers rather than face one of the Shaolin's pupils.

Chan Buddhists, like Taoists, consider the fundamental principle of the world to be the Great Emptiness, Non-existence, and Illusion. The visible world is always in motion, the invisible, true world is always at rest. Everything in the world consists of dharmas, immaterial, invisible elements that enter into instantaneous combinations - inexhaustible and unknowable. The flow of dharmas shapes a person’s personality and implements the law of karma, according to which the endless series of rebirths of a living being are determined by his actions in previous births. Accordingly, future rebirths depend on the present life. The ultimate goal of earthly existence for a Buddhist is to escape the circle of sachsara. (earthly existence, the vale of suffering) and achieving nirvana (the abode of peace) through self-improvement and taming passions. The path of self-improvement is not unique, although in any case, its initial prerequisites are moral cleansing and the eradication of harmful temptations in the soul, comprehension of the unreality of the world. This could be the path of a monk, the path of a hermit, the path of a sage, the path of a warrior, the path of an artist, and so on.

At the same time, realizing the illusory world as the “body of Buddha,” a person must comprehend the truly existing not beyond the boundaries of earthly existence, but in the surrounding reality itself, identify the “essence of Buddha” in a flower, in a blade of grass, in the moon and stars, in the call of a deer and in the roar of a tiger, and most importantly - in yourself. It was self-knowledge that became the core of monastic practice in Buddhism, filling painting, sculpture, flower arranging, landscape design and classical martial arts in all their diversity with the highest spiritual meaning.

The idea of ​​“the emptiness of the enlightened heart (spirit)” serves as the core of both Taoist and Buddhist teachings on knowledge. Laozi, in his treatise on Tao and its manifestation, De calls the return to the Void the ideal of human knowledge. “Emptiness, peace - freshness, silence of the abyss, zero action - all this is the world of heaven, earth and the apogee of Tao-Te,” he writes. Chuang Tzu echoes him, asserting that “peace is enlightenment, enlightenment is emptiness, emptiness is inaction.”

A centuries-old tradition defines the human heart, his spirit-mind (xin) as a pure mirror, initially capable of perceiving knowledge, like an unclouded surface of water, reflecting all that exists:

“The body is the stand of a light mirror, The light mirror is originally pure...”

These words belong to the Chan patriarch Hui-neng.

Chan is training the body and spirit in the name of comprehending the highest truths. Based on the classical " Diamond Sutra"The teachings of Chan are reflected in the emblem, which has become a symbol of the Shaolin school, decorating the walls of many gyms in China and Japan today. This is an image of a circle with two intersecting curved lines, where the circle serves as an allegory of the existence of the universe and man, and the lobes are outlined by arcuate curves personify the interchangeable principles of Yin-Yang, the whirlwind metamorphoses of the five elements.The magic circle contains the credo of Chan philosophy, which proclaimed conscious existence as the only way to achieve bliss in the present and future births.

Deprived of the support and protection of divine providence, man in a changing world had to rely only on his own strength, knowledge and experience. However, he could draw his strength and knowledge, courage, and love of life from the springs of great nature, having comprehended in insight the true meaning of reality. Insight, the fruit of persistent spiritual and physical exercises, revealed to man the unity of Yin and Yang in their eternal confrontation. The masculine principle, intelligence and strength, merged with the feminine - compassion. The spark had to flare up in a person, just as it arises in a voltaic arc from the interaction of the positive and negative poles. One has only to turn off one of the poles, and the spark will go out. Harmony external and internal, confidence in one's thoughts, feelings, and actions became the key to a state of permanent contentment and happiness for Bodhidharma's followers.Improvement of the body and the utmost development of physical abilities during wushu classes was supposed to contribute to spiritual purification, clarity of thought, education of humanity, fearlessness and determination .

One day, the famous Japanese military leader and poet Date Masamune (XVI - XVII centuries) decided to find a new abbot for the family Zen temple. The candidacy was soon presented to him. Masamune invited a monk named Rinan to his castle. When the monk appeared, no one came to meet him. Completely alone, he walked through the halls and corridors, finally pushed the last closed door - and saw the owner. Prince Masamune stood on the threshold, raising his sword over the monk.

What do you say at this moment between life and death? - the prince asked menacingly.

Wasting no time, the monk dove under Masamune's arm, grabbed him around the waist and shook him so hard that he lowered his sword in surprise and pain.

“You’re making dangerous jokes,” Masamune remarked, slightly recovering from his shock. "

Oh, this pride of yours! - answered the monk, loosening his death grip.

Zen monks not only served as confessors to famous commanders, and sometimes as wushu mentors, but also actively participated in military operations during times of internecine unrest, setting an example of fearlessness and contempt for death.

As legend has it, in 1582, the troops of the unifier of Japan Oda Nobunaga besieged the Erin-ji monastery in Kai province, where the rebel supporters of Prince Takeda Shingen took refuge. The abbot of Kaisen Monastery refused to hand over the fugitives. When the last defenders of the monastery gathered in the gate tower and the besiegers set fire to the first floor, the abbot turned to the brethren: “So, we are surrounded by flames. How are you going to turn the Wheel of the Buddha Law in this decisive world?”

The monks calmly answered how they imagine the transition to Non-existence. Before all the participants in the conversation experienced the “fiery epiphany,” Kaisen composed the following verses:

There is no need to retire to the solitude of mountains and waters,
To indulge in peaceful self-contemplation.
If the spirit-mind is peaceful.
Even the flame will seem cool and refreshing.

The ultimate goal of Chan practice, as in other dietary teachings of the East and West, is determined by the comprehension of oneself and merging with the absolute. However, if in orthodox Buddhism a righteous person who has comprehended the highest truth breaks the chain of earthly rebirths and enters nirvana, the abode of inexpressible bliss, then Chan calls for something else. Having achieved sudden intuitive insight through meditation or under the influence of an external stimulus, a person does not fall out of real life, but only acquires a different vision of reality, at the highest level. Having realized his place in the world, having comprehended the unity of all things, the relativity of good and evil, a person finds mental balance and peace, which no storms or thunderstorms can shake. Considering that the laws of life have been comprehended, the enlightened Chan adept refuses the thought of changing these laws: he is only concerned with correctly following the natural course of things. When a student asked a Chan master what the meaning of the Great Path - Tao was, he answered: “In everyday common sense. When I’m hungry, I eat, when I’m tired, I sleep.”

But don't all people do the same? - asked the student.

No, the mentor answered, most are never present in what they do.

So, Chan calls for feeling, experiencing every moment of earthly existence, perceiving everything around us as a manifestation of the “essence of Buddha.”

A prerequisite for a correct understanding and perception of the world is the purification of the “spirit-mind” (xin) from superficial life experience, the fruits of the work of the intellect and the constructions of formal logic. Intuitive knowledge comes to the fore here. Thanks to Non-Action (a principle borrowed from the philosophy of Taoism), a person avoids unnecessary actions that can muddy the purity of the spirit-mind, and thus comes to the state of “anti-mind” (wu-xin). In such a state, the “spirit-mind,” freed from the habitual clichés and prejudices of thinking that paralyze it, becomes extremely receptive. A person, accordingly, is able to adequately give an instant reaction to any surprise, for example to a sudden attack. It is this feature of Chan psychotraining that still attracts martial arts masters to it.

Chan psychotechnics contains many intricate techniques for restructuring the intellectual, spiritual, and also physical structure of the human body: topics for reflection on outwardly similar situations, dialogues with a mentor, stimulating actions like shock therapy, and finally, the practice of wushu. All of them are aimed at awakening the higher mind, irrational insight. A symbolic prototype of such insight is an episode from the life of Buddha Shakya-yamuni. When Buddha once silently showed a flower to his disciples, no one understood him; only the elder Maha-Kashyapa responded with a smile: he understood that Buddha wanted to indicate with his gesture the transmission of the teaching “from heart to heart.” Truth, according to Chan theory, is always beyond words, it cannot be conveyed in a book. To use Lao Tzu's expression, "he who knows does not speak, he who speaks does not know." That is why the mentor does not read sermons to his students, but only seeks to direct their own minds on the path of purification and insight.

However, in Chan monasteries, of course, the classical sutras of the Buddhist canon, carefully recorded teachings of the patriarchs, and treatises on martial arts were studied. Book knowledge was not denied as a whole - only its decisive role in achieving insight was denied. The path to insight in Chan philosophy lies through Contemplation and Action. Contemplation of nature, people and yourself. Action... It can be of any nature: poetry, painting, sculpture, calligraphy, gardening, martial arts. It is only important that awareness of one’s Path be achieved through intuitive insight and remain valid for the entire duration of human life.

Chan Buddhism has developed the principles of natural self-regulation, allowing a person to spontaneously choose the optimal course of action - be it in a mortal duel or in a banal life collision. Chan psychophysical training is aimed at one hundred percent mobilization of the capabilities of the human brain, at a sharp aggravation of all five senses, at improving mental processes such as memory, imagery, and thinking. As in Taoism, which became an organic part of Chan culture, the goal of all Chan practice is to awaken the natural principle in a person, to remove numerous mental blockers introduced by civilization. Hence, by the way, numerous anecdotes about the riotous and hooligan behavior of the “enlightened”, and the concept of “Chan disease”, which characterizes the mental shifts of ascetics.

The Chan patriarchs persistently denied the difficulties on the path to insight, arguing that it is available to anyone who sincerely believes in their “Buddha nature”, trusts nature and follows its dictates.

“A person who sees his true nature is free always and everywhere, in any situation... He acts in accordance with the situation and answers in accordance with the question,” taught Hui-neng.

For all that, although many Chan authorities did not recognize the need for meditation or other types of special training to achieve insight, others insisted on such training, and they probably practiced it without exception - although in different forms.

Psychophysical training was the only real path to the implementation of specific tasks of human activity, onto which the Chan philosophy of life was projected and which, of course, required willpower, strength of character, and the ability to make the right decisions. And therefore, just a metaphysical “breakthrough” into the area of ​​the unconscious in order to achieve blissful euphoria was clearly not enough for a Chan adept. If any person in the Chan image system acts as an artist of his own life, then such an artist must have good professional training, otherwise his painting will remain a pitiful amateurism.

The objectives of Chan psychotraining come down to the awareness of the Great Emptiness, the achievement of a state of detachment (“not-self”), to merging with the universe, to the comprehension of the inseparability, non-duality of being and the relativity of subjective assessments, to the interpenetration of the subject (person) and the object to which his reflection is directed or action.

In wushu, the concept of indivisibility of subject and object plays a crucial role. The fighter perceives his opponent as a part and addition of himself, as the beginning of Yin, which does not exist without Yang. Using special psychotechnics, he adapts to the actions of his enemy partner, taking advantage of his every mistake, noticing all the vulnerable spots, like water filling every hole in a stone.

The same consciousness of indivisibility, achieved through self-hypnosis, allows masters of martial arts to perform seemingly superhuman acts. “The spirit cuts through stones,” says the motto, taken from an ancient Chinese legend. V., from time immemorial, there lived a certain archer. Day and night he practiced archery and gained fame as a great marksman. One dark autumn night, the master, as always, practiced his art in the silence of the mountain forest. Suddenly a shadow moved on the cliff, and in the moonlight the silhouette of a tiger, frozen before leaping, flashed. The master instantly laid an arrow and lowered the bowstring, aiming for the tiger's head. The forest was still silent. The master returned home, and the next day he went for the skin, but did not find the tiger. Looking closely, he saw his arrow pierced deeply into the rocky thickness of the cliff. There was no tiger, the shooter only thought that a predator was hiding in the darkness, but his spirit, all his vitality, all his energy concentrated on the tip of the arrow, which pierced the stone, like the eye of a beast.

The art of concentration, mobilization of will and vital energy, developed by the theorists of Taoist yoga and Chan patriarchs, has become an indispensable tool for Wu Shu masters.

The state of concentration of all vital forces on a single goal is comprehended in wushu, firstly, with the help of meditation, passive and active, secondly, by developing a culture of movement and consolidating clear motor reflexes through many years of training, thirdly, by the ability to control and direct the flow of vital energy qi in the practice of qi gong.

For example, tests for splitting hard objects (boards, beams, bricks, tiles, cobblestones) currently existing in some types of quan-shu and karate are a priori impossible without proper concentration and entering a kind of somnambulistic trance (if, of course, we are talking about difficult tests , and not about thin teaching boards). The force of a blow in wushu has a direct biomechanical explanation - but only to a certain limit. An ordinary brick can be split with a blow of a fist and without much wisdom, but three or four bricks are no longer possible.

This is how a modern master describes the whole process: “I relax, and the center of readiness moves lower - to the torso and legs. I feel the ground, breathe deeply, mentally direct my breath along the torso, legs and arms, imagine the line of the force vector that passes through the legs, then down my arms, along my palm, through the blocks of bricks. I don’t focus my attention on the object... After two or three minutes, objects change their reality, breathing becomes deep and sharp, vision changes, and the pebbles on the path grow to enormous sizes, I I see not small pebbles, but whole blocks. My own body seems solid, but at the same time light and free. Finally I come to the bricks, and if I pay attention to them at all, then they seem light, airy and pliable to me. I make a deep "inhale, hold it a little, then exhale sharply and evenly and, fixing my attention on the vector of force, allow my hand to follow it. My palm passes freely through what used to be bricks. I feel no touch, no recoil, no pain."

The main phases of concentration, in this case Chan, but we can call it yogic in general, come down to the following: relaxation, moving the center of gravity to the Center (dan-tian), deep breathing, creating a mental attitude towards this action and preliminary playing it out in a figurative manner. sensitive level with the connection of all psychophysical mechanisms and preparation of action. In a state of temporary and, very importantly, controlled somnambulistic trance, a change in the visual perception of objects occurs, a change in the sense of space, time, weight and mass, analgesia appears - complete insensitivity to pain. At the moment of the decisive blow, there is also a burst of energy - sometimes with a cry.

Since the practice of mental self-regulation for the purpose of self-improvement occupied a central place in Chan Buddhism, martial arts were viewed primarily as a means of such self-regulation, and not as a way to most effectively display aggressiveness. It is well known that the nervous system, especially in stressful situations, has a great influence on the activity of all body systems - endocrine, vegetative-vascular, muscular. A controlled, “regulated” nervous system, thus, can, under extreme conditions, mobilize all the internal resources of the body for a single action, causing a sharp increase in the energy “power” of the body.

The state of concentration should not leave the fighter during the entire fight, although tension at the time of blows and blocks certainly alternates with relaxation. The mental attitude towards a decisive fight, towards victory is so important that sometimes the outcome of a fight can be decided by just an exchange of glances. Anyone who flashes timidity and indecision in his eyes is doomed to defeat in advance. At the same time, it is important for a fighter to constantly be aware of his “indivisibility” with the enemy, with his body and spirit, the need to organically get used to the process of the fight as a natural process.

If both opponents act based on the same laws, the technically more prepared one wins. Given equal opportunities, the one who has better developed combinatorial thinking and psychoheuristics wins, since only a non-standard technique found in intuitive insight in Chan insight - the fruit of Chan psychotechnics - can bring victory.

Once a Chan monk asked his teacher:

They say that when a lion rushes at an enemy, be it a hare or an elephant, he uses all his strength. What kind of power is this?

The teacher answered:

Spirit of sincerity.

Truthfulness and sincerity as complete dedication and utmost concentration are one of the main commandments of Shaolin Wushu.

Global correspondences with various aspects of Buddhism can be found in the legacy of Shaolin Wu Shu at any level. Even if we assume that some of them are random, and another part is arbitrarily extrapolated, then the remaining part will be enough to understand the complexity and ambiguity of the teaching.

In all schools, sections and sects - branches of Shaolin, there were or should have been systems that embodied the original wisdom, the creation of the great patriarchs of antiquity. Of course, over time, the written treatises were partially lost and partially ceased to serve as an explanation of the technical features of the school. Often, the highest hierarchs took the key to understanding the mandala (a figurative picture of the world) to the grave and thereby cut off the trunk and branches of the Teaching from the roots. The code tables themselves disappeared or became deformed, without which neither mathematical constructions nor meaningful spiritual “ascent” are possible. It is not surprising that many later schools, especially outside China - in Japan, Okinawa, Korea and Vietnam - were often content to study technical techniques in combination with the general moral standards of Buddhism. True, the oral tradition preserved the testaments of the founding fathers, calling for the comprehension of primordial wisdom and cosmic unity, but descendants no longer knew what exactly was meant by “primordial wisdom.”

Pragmatists tried to get rid of burdensome spirituality by turning wushu into the science of killing (as happened in many schools of Japanese jujutsu) or into a profitable sport like the commercial "full contact karate." Enthusiasts and ascetics, on the contrary, sought with all their might the highest truth of wushu, trying to get closer to the origins. In any case, the demarcation of the esoteric and exoteric directions of wushu in the 20th century, in fact, separated secular wushu from the Buddhist tradition, making the latter the property of “closed” schools and monasteries.

Chan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism

The next direction of Buddhism is its Chinese and Japanese varieties - Chan Buddhism And zen buddhism respectively. Main differences Chan Buddhism From other areas, experts name four principles:

· Insight into one’s inner nature by approaching the Buddha, potentially accessible to everyone.

· Be able to directly indicate the essence of human consciousness.

· Do not create written instructions.

· Convey the truth outside of teaching, in a different way.

It must be admitted that the type of Buddhism discussed in this section is attractive in that it gives followers (disciples) the opportunity as if find it yourself " the truth", achieve " enlightenment" And " wisdom", to the state of which their guru only personally lets you down (oversees the process of achieving a certain state of “human consciousness”), and then the student as if"goes on his own." Therefore, Chan Buddhism attracts people striving for perfection " on your own» - On the one side, But, on the other side, those who cannot independently achieve psychological comfort in life, which many people think is a sign of “perfection,” are taught with the help of a guru.

Let's start looking at the differences Tibetan Buddhism based on Mahayana and Vajrayana from Chinese Chan Buddhism (which existed in China several centuries before the formation of Tibetan, but did not have serious government support) using the example of a comparison of the positions of the disputing parties, known to modern experts in Buddhism.

After an exemplary representative of the classical Indian Mahayana preached in Tibet for a long time, Shantarakshita(VIII century), it gradually became clear that between the teaching Tibetan Mahayana and Chinese doctrines ( and some Korean: in Tibet, Teacher Kim, who also adhered to the Chan tradition, was quite famous for his sermons) Kheshanov There are serious, and perhaps irreconcilable, contradictions. Meanwhile, Kamalashila, successor Shantarakshita, and the Chinese monks had their many followers from among the Tibetan aristocracy, court nobility and members of the royal family. Therefore, there was a need to find out which version of Buddhism is true and more consistent with the teachings of the Buddha himself ( an approach quite natural for neophyte Tibetans). It was decided to find out this in the traditional way for India - through a dispute, in which the Indian side was represented by himself Kamalashila , and the Chinese Heshan . This debate took place in the monastery Samye (Its exact date is unknown; the conditional date of the dispute can be considered 790.).

According to traditional Tibetan sources, the dispute ended in complete victory Kamalasily(which even led to suicides among supporters Heshan), after which the king banned the preaching of Chinese Buddhism and Tibet finally and irrevocably turned to classical Indian models. Tibetan sources reduce the subject of discussion to several points.

1. Firstly, Heshan Mahayana taught that awakening and attaining Buddhahood occurs instantly, or suddenly, whereas Kamalashila preached the classical doctrine of the bodhisattva path, ascending through ten stages of improvement over three immeasurable ( asankheya) world cycles thanks to the practice of six perfections - paramita.

2. Secondly, Heshan Mahayana denied the value of the paramitas themselves, considering them worldly virtues ( except prajnaparamita), contributing to the improvement of karma, but having nothing to do with the awakening and realization of Buddha nature. From his point of view, it was necessary to stop all karmic activity in general, because good deeds are also tied to samsara, just like bad ones.

3. Thirdly, Heshan Mahayana unlike Kamalashila, he believed that the main method of improvement is contemplation, aimed at achieving a complete stop of the thought process and achieving a state of “non-thinking” (Chinese at the nannies), in which all differences and mental constructs disappear ( vikalpa; Chinese fenbe), as well as the subject-object dichotomy. Following the cessation of “thinking,” our own nature, which is Buddha nature, reveals itself immediately and spontaneously. Kamalashila however, he did not recognize this method, considering it purely negative and not leading to awakening.

Many researchers believe that the real controversy in Samye was carried out in a broader sense than between Indian and Chinese Buddhism (and not even between the classical Mahayana and the teachings of the Chinese Chan school), as is usually considered. The scope of the controversy in Samye goes far beyond this. This is a polemic between two movements both in Indian Buddhism and in Mahayana Buddhism in general, for the theses put forward by Heshan Mahayana reflected the positions held by many Buddhists in India itself ( especially within the tantric tradition). Its theoretical basis was undoubtedly the theory Tathagatagarbhi(especially the position " your own Mind is Buddha"), while Kamalashila, following his teacher, adhered to the teachings of the syncretic school Madhyamaka Svatantrika Yogachra with her completely different understanding of both the structure of the path and the nature of Buddha nature.

But Chinese Chan Buddhism basically adheres to the principles expressed Kheshan Mahayana, denying much of the “canonical” Buddhist dogma and stages of practice of “perfection”, as if “liberalizing” the course of “enlightenment” for its followers and making it accessible to potentially everyone. From this we can draw a general conclusion: Tibetan way to achieve "enlightenment" was potentially inaccessible to the majority (it was the prerogative of the “spiritual” and powerful upper echelons of society - despite its Mahayana “folk” basis), and Chinese not only declaratively stated that “ There is a piece of Buddha in every person“, but also gave everyone the opportunity to “clean” this “particle of Buddha”, as it were. from worldly attachments"already within one life - " in this body».

Considering a dispute between schools Kheshana And Kamalashila, we must not forget that Tibet was a single state, the ruler and monks of which supported Kamalashila’s side primarily because they needed a religious justification for supporting the hierarchy of management of the Tibetan state crowd-“elitism” ( what we talked about in the previous section), which during the dispute in Samye was just becoming based on Buddhism, taking root only after “ yellow-capped» reforms (XV century). While in China Buddhism did not have the support of state power and was forced to adapt to the status of " religion for the people" From this it is clear that, based on the traditional Mahayana of India, the Buddhists of Tibet, as it were, “involuntarily” reproduced many principles from the forgotten Theravada ( in which the acquisition of “enlightenment” was recognized only for a select few); and Khe Sanh's supporters reproduced the principles of " religion for the people”, which was originally the well-known Mahayana, spreading beyond India. This is the paradox associated with the possibilities of state support for the religious system.

Your beginning Chan Buddhism takes place in the 6th century, when an Indian preacher came to China Bodhidharma(literally " Law of Enlightenment"). It is mythically believed that the founder of Chan Buddhism, like the Buddha, came from a wealthy and noble Hindu family and, like the Buddha, left worldly life and devoted himself to spreading the “true teachings.” The final formation of Chan Buddhism occurred at the turn of the 8th–9th centuries, when the number of its followers increased so much that it was necessary to fix special rules of behavior for monks.

We should not forget that Chan Buddhism originated and developed in the slave-owning class Chinese society, where the ideology of the “great sage of antiquity” was “dominant” Confucius(551–479), who focused special attention on the punctual fulfillment by each representative of the class of his social duties, reduced to the literal observance of about 300 major and 3000 minor rules social ethics upper and middle strata of society. At the same time, for the slaves of the main religious basis remained Taoism.

The Chinese form of Buddhism was strongly influenced by the teachings of Confucius, the social side of which the supporters of Buddhism, who were Firstly, monks. Apparently, this is why the Chan Buddhist monks were apostates from some of the original rules for monks, recorded in Vinaya-Pitaka. It is also possible that this initial forced apostasy (in favor of Confucian discipline) was the reason for the greater “freedom” of Chan Buddhist monasticism: in Chan Buddhist communities, monks could engage in a variety of manual labor, which was considered “ a special type of meditation that trains the consciousness to be fully involved in the work of the body, to merge with it" Since the 9th century, Chan Buddhist communities appeared in neighboring China. Korea, and at the turn of the XII–XIII centuries. this branch of Buddhism penetrated into Japan, where it soon established itself.

Name Chan Buddhism accurately reflects his being. Word chan (short for Channa) is nothing more than a transcription of Sanskrit dhyana (contemplation, meditation). This indicates predominantly yogic, psychopractical orientation this branch of Buddhism. Another, little-known, name of this school is the school “ Buddha Hearts» ( buddha hrdaya; fo xin zong). The fact is that Bodhidharma often considered an incarnation of Buddha. According to traditional legend, it was founded by Buddha Gautama Shakyamuni himself, who once raised a flower in front of his students and smiled (“ Buddha's flower sermon"). No one, however, except Mahakashyapa, did not understand the meaning of this gesture of the Buddha. Mahakashyapa answered the Buddha, also raising a flower and smiling. At that moment, he experienced awakening: the state of awakening was conveyed to him by the Buddha directly, without instructions in oral or written form. Yes, according to Chan , a direct tradition began (“ heart to Heart") transmission of "awakening" ("enlightenment") from teacher to student.

In the 10th–11th centuries Chan turns into one of the leading schools, creates large monasteries and a spiritual hierarchy, which is clearly disharmonious with the original anti-authoritarian and anti-bureaucratic (“popular”) spirit of the early Chan . In the 11th–12th centuries, the process of institutionalization Chan ends. The basic principles of the Chan school remain the following: “ Look into your nature and you will become a Buddha" And " Awakening is transmitted in a special way from heart to heart without relying on written signs».

As you can see, the way to achieve Buddhist “enlightenment” is through slow"neurolinguistics" ( mental training« written characters"); or using direct fast transfer of huge volumes of algorithmically structured information “eye to eye” and through biofield communication (mental preparation « heart to Heart") - techniques subsequent after preparation yogic practice ( regardless of the method of preparation for meditation ) does not save society "enlightened" of varying degrees from crowd-"elitism". On the contrary, the very “enlightened” acquire divine authority, even if they themselves don’t want it: the truth is that their guardians from the authorities and the weak-willed crowd may “wish” this for them, after which they can only support the existing type of crowd “elitism” - they cannot offer anything in return. This is practical proof that "enlightenment" does not equal acquiring the Human type of psyche, and the latter does not happen to anyone even from super "enlightened" guru in any of the varieties of Buddhist schools.

Second ( after the statement about the inner essence of Buddha) position Chan meant that awakening, being the original self and unborn nature of consciousness, (Japanese Zen teacher of the 17th century Bankei I especially emphasized this definition) cannot be caused by any external factors , including the study of canonical texts. It is appropriate here to cite a parable that vividly characterizes anti-canonical Chan and Zen orientation:

“One day, the Chan teacher Yi-hsiu, who lived on Mount Bizhuishan, saw a great crowd of believers ascending to the Bizhuishansi Monastery located on the mountain for a pilgrimage, since the monks were at that time airing Buddhist sutras. And in these places there was a legend that if the wind blows on the sutras, it will also blow away all the troubles and adversities of the believers and increase their wisdom. Therefore, numerous believers continually climbed the mountain in order to receive this blessing brought by the wind. The Chan teacher Yi-hsiu understood this and said:

- I will also air the sutras!

Having said this, Yi-xiu immediately stripped himself to the waist and lay down to sunbathe on the grass. Many believers, looking at this, were surprised and could not understand what was the matter, condemning the inappropriate behavior of the monk. When the monks from the monastery found out about this, they also ran there and began to ask Yixiu not to behave so reprehensibly.

Then Yi-hsiu very patiently explained to them the meaning of what he was doing:

- The sutras that you air are dead, and therefore bookworms infest them, and they cannot do anything with them. The sutra that I ventilate is alive, it can preach, it can perform service, it can eat. And every person endowed with wisdom will perfectly understand which of these two sutras is more valuable!”

Both do not lead to righteousness. “Bookworms” of “canons” who “dead” life by “zombifying” the psyche of students are bad. But “zombification” through “live” communication with a subject whose psyche also contains sutras, but in a much larger volume, is no better. This parable is significant in that the guru I-Xiu called himself sutra (even if not on purpose, but wanting to show students the difference between “canons” and live communication). It's hard to deny the benefits of live communication. But communication for the sake of transmitting to students and followers the methodology of sensing and understanding the Language of Life, and through it, communication with God And communication for the sake of transmitting the methods of Buddhist “enlightenment” to students- Different things. Therefore, the Buddhist guru correctly called himself alive sutra - an information base limited by the capabilities of the egregor, which includes his psyche.

State " awakening ", according to Chan, can be implemented by anyone through "epiphany"» , « enlightenment of consciousness ", which is carried out by an awakened teacher “thanks to” certain methods of influencing the student’s psyche.

“Thanks to” this influence, the teacher, as it were, conveys, broadcasts the “awakening” of his “sober” ( in terms of European translations) consciousness to the student, just as Buddha conveyed his awakening to Mahakashyap.

This idea explains the extreme importance for Ch'an lists continuity of Dharma, containing information about the sequence of transmission of awakening from one teacher to another(it is called " transmission of the lamp" - Chuan Deng). To emphasize the principle of spontaneity, the “unsupportedness” of this transmission and to eradicate among students attachment to letter, image, symbol many early Chan masters demonstratively burned sutra texts and sacred images.

Monk Linji Yi-hsuan even said: " If you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. If you meet the patriarch, kill the patriarch" The meaning of this statement is that one should kill one’s attachment to everything external, to all images and names; Buddha is man himself in his truth, and not some religious authority or teacher of the law. Moreover, this is not an image or text. At the same time, Chan practice presupposed the strictest discipline and the full authority of the teacher for the student, which was enshrined in the 12th–13th centuries in the normative regulations of Chan monasteries (“pure rules” - qing gui), peculiar Ch'an Vinaya.

In my psychopractice school Chan also quite original. Despite the fact that some directions Chan(especially Caodong/Soto) also practiced traditional contemplation in a sitting position with crossed legs ( Zuo Chan/Za Zen), this school did not consider this to be the most perfect, much less the only possible method. Most schools of Ch'an instructed monks to remain in a state of contemplation. in any form of activity, even during physical labor, which was mandatory for all Chan monks (the principle of teacher Bai-chang: “ A day without work is a day without food"). And “advanced” monks had to be able to engage in contemplative practice even in their sleep. Sometimes, to stimulate instant awakening, Chan monks practiced blows with sticks, which fell on unsuspecting students immersed in contemplation.

Therefore, Chan Buddhism does not give preference to strict ascetic restrictions and hermitage, religious and ritual practice detailed by “canons” and is freely consistent with the pursuit of agriculture, literature, painting, and martial arts.

“Zombifying” the psyche with images “ from teacher to student", not amenable to any intelligible awareness on both sides (this type of Buddhism is dominated more than ever by the immense intuitive-figurative component, due, among other things, to the refusal from images letters, images, symbols - from measured images) provides simultaneously reliable protection from external (“canonical” and other linguistic) intrusions into it of everything “unauthorized” - which, apparently, is not completely achieved in other types of Buddhism, which are forced to prohibit monks from many forms of activity permitted in Chan.

The Mahayana tradition, which had a direct impact on the “theoretical” foundations of Chan ( It is wrong to think that there is no theory in Chan Buddhism: there is one, but it is no longer aimed at explaining the mechanism of “enlightenment”, but at explaining the need for mentoring by a guru), regards " Unparalleled Full Awakening "as the highest goal of religious activity, since it is directly " adjacent to nirvana " In teaching Chan It is believed that everyone is capable of realizing such a state in themselves, literally “ Here and now" - by using " act of direct intuitive perception of truth».

Intuitive perception, purely theoretically, of course, can come from God, however, as we already know, God does not push into anyone’s psyche “ awakening here and now": for this you need to work hard yourself, consciously changing your moral life guidelines, which were inherited through family inheritance and/or were acquired through life from birth. According to the changes in the human psyche and the latter’s determination, God will support the activities of such a person in those processes that correspond to righteousness, which indeed, with great success in the movement towards Humanity, can be marked mental peace, apparently similar to the state of “nirvana” in Buddhism. But in Buddhism the way knowledge of truth (only Man can distinguish Truth from delusions and egregorial obsessions in all cases) the other is not Divine.

IN Chan Buddhism it is believed that to realize oneself in a state of “awakening”, after which the “true vision” opens, is possible only “ the human mind, untouched by any thoughts or sensory images" Further - more: this state is compared with “ a pure mirror or a mirror-like surface of water, when a person cannot even distinguish between “I” and “not I”“, only in this case consciousness is able to see the world as it really is - unclouded by subjective thoughts and sensations. In this state, the world is no longer divided into opposites, primarily into good and evil, love and hate, reality and illusion, reality and dream. It is believed that man and the world merge into one. At the same time, Chan Buddhism recognizes that the path to achieving “ Unrivaled Awakening"(close to nirvana) does not represent a uniform leap of consciousness and is most likely after the passage of several “enlightenments”.

At first glance, non-clouding of consciousness (read - psyche), initiated by the guru May be intended for the student to be able to see the world without its egregorial distortion ( the psyche perceives the world through the prism of the algorithms of egregors and its own algorithms) is a very useful thing: why not help a person perceive the world correctly? It seems It’s a good idea to rid the psyche of the subjective division of phenomena into opposites ( consequences of the worldview of Eastern dualism), good and evil, love and hate, etc. However, why such “wisdom” if the crowd-“elite” world in which people live is based on a worldview of opposites: as soon as people leave the state of “ nirvana", they find themselves in this real world, continuing to build their relationships according to the relationships of opposites (as they believe). This means that the merger in “nirvana” occurs not with the world of people - but with the world of religious illusions. But God did not create the world of people in order to escape from it into an artificial psychological “paradise”. Only death, or the ability to be in a state of lifelong “nirvana,” can completely break apart social disorder and the religious ideal. Getting used to ignoring real life problems during the apprenticeship period ( avoidance of seeing the division into opposites, good and evil, etc.- what the psyche of cowardly people who run away from “unpleasant” phenomena does not resist) - deflecting the student’s psyche from natural intuitive “stimuli” associated with conscience, as well as from the “Language of Life”, the phenomena of which allow an attentive person to judge his real righteousness ( approaching the objective criteria of Good-Evil), which is necessary to change social injustice after a person begins to change his own morality. But in Buddhism the latter is completely blocked.

Preparation for “nirvana” comes down to the fact that in the first stages the consciousness, which is accustomed to external concentration of attention ( it is more a function of consciousness), will be able to transfer this skill to internal contemplation of the essence of things. Consequently ( internal concentration abilities) consciousness must be convinced of the “emptiness” of the whole world and thereby emptying oneself.

Since in Buddhism the term " consciousness"in most cases means the entire psyche ( both conscious and unconscious levels) - we are talking about preparation for “nirvana”, which consists in a special way of “cleansing” the psyche of students from the overwhelming majority of its previous inconsistencies with the Buddhist standard “ mirror water surface" This means that since the methods of training students are approximately the same (in any case, their range is limited), then at the end we have subjects with a similar psyche like « mirror» standard: if you look in the mirror " water surface", then you will see your own reflection. This is how Buddhist teachers churn out their own kind from century to century. And the symbolism " mirror water surface" means that teachers and students live in a world that is not affected by any social “elements”. However, in the real world, social “elements” will at least until the entire society acquires the Human type of psyche, since social “elements” are a sign of the movement of a crowd-“elite” society towards Justice, people’s reactions to the Good and Evil phenomena of Life. And if any society manages to limit the psyche of its citizens according to the Buddhist principle (with psychotechnics), then there will definitely be external force, which will sweep away the hopeless regime.

Chan Buddhism teaches:

Even in the life of an ordinary person there are moments that are very reminiscent of some enlightened states of consciousness, to which the ancient Chan masters gave the following names: “The person has disappeared, circumstances remain”; “Circumstances have disappeared, a person remains”;"There is no person, no circumstances."

A person becomes truly free only when he does not even realize that such concepts as “freedom” and “unfreedom” even exist.

The latter is the dream of all crowd-“elite” regional dictators and ancient globalizers: to create a uniform society, stratified according to the labor principle, insensitive to Good and Evil, in which each class (especially slaves) would be content with its position: in Buddhist terms - people felt would be "free", because they didn’t even realize that such concepts as “freedom” and “unfreedom” even existed.

In principle, from this moment we can say that we are gradually starting to consider creatures preparation and implementation of psychotechniques of Buddhism, while relying on the conceptual basis of Chan Buddhism. Let's start with the question of what can prevent people from gaining a sense of “freedom” in a Buddhist way?

- The general answer to it is as follows: some “animal” instincts and reflexes, mental stereotypes ( received in life as a result of the work of intuition - including thanks to information received from God; mind; life observations, not processed by the intellect, but deposited in the psyche as “self-understanding”), egregorial bindings of various kinds ( congenital and acquired under the influence of culture), one's own limited understanding; intuitive information coming from God ( especially in early childhood and adolescence).

All of the above by and large is personal psychological and biofield “foundation” of what in Chan Buddhism is called “ own self" or the connective " person + circumstances.”

Buddhist practices are aimed at cleansing the psyches of their followers-disciples of all that “ own self”, which prevents followers from achieving “freedom” in the Buddhist way. Methods of Buddhist psychotechniques are based on the principle of zeroing out the significance of mental algorithms “ to the mirror surface”, which was organized according to Life due to « natural» ( without targeted teacher intervention) the formation of mental stereotypes, egregorial attachments, a product of one’s own understanding and a product formed as “ self explanatory"after receiving intuitive information from Above. Buddhist practices begin with the fact that everything we highlighted in the previous phrase bold - which does not fit into the spiritual culture of Buddhism - is gradually removed from the psyche (in the sense that the algorithms of this cease to control the thoughts and actions of people), being replaced by the algorithms of the spirituality of Buddhism using the “ fight fire with fire" Therefore, in Chan Buddhism the following principle is announced: “ A person who clings to his “I” lives as if with a constant thorn in his body., A Chan Buddhism is another thorn with the help of which the first one is extracted».

To evoke better feelings on the topic expressed, let’s quote a symbolic parable, known in Zen Buddhism:

A cup of tea

Nan-in, a Japanese Zen teacher who lived during the Meiji era (1868–1912), hosted a university professor who came to learn what Zen was.

Nan-in invited him to tea. He poured the guest's cup to the top and continued pouring further.

The professor watched the cup overflowing, and finally could not stand it: “It’s overflowing. It won’t come in again.”

“Just like this cup,” said Nan-in, “you are full of your own opinions and thoughts. How can I show you Zen if you have not emptied your cup first?”

In other words, Buddhist practices begin with teachers helping students to get rid of almost all of their past psychic (and biofield) heritage - both objectively Good and objectively Evil - indiscriminately, leaving only that which corresponds to Buddhist spirituality. It is clear that the main stereotypes and their corresponding useful ones ( not necessarily righteous but temporarily useful for the cause of society's movement towards social justice) the attachments of the psyche, organized throughout the life of an individual as a result of his intuitive communication with God (or through the “Language of Life”) are cleaned out not least: if this were not so, then the Buddhist society would have taken the path of social Justice earlier than others, since its teachers are fluent in psychotechnics, allowing us to help people get rid of their psychological attachments to unrighteous spiritualities. However, Buddhist teachers themselves do not distinguish between objective Good and Evil, since from ancient times they have been in deep atheistic delusions associated primarily with the goals of the development of civilization, closed in Buddhism to a primitive eastern “cosmogony”.

Naturally, the closer to the Buddhist civilization (to its culture and spirituality) a future follower of Buddhism was born and grew up, the less in his psyche the teacher finds inconsistencies with the spirituality of Buddhism, and the less effort the guru requires to cleanse all “superfluous” from the student’s psyche for preparation the latter to "enlightenment".

The ideal (for Buddhist gurus) is the option when the spirituality of Buddhism is inherited (from father to son) or at least from childhood the guru “works” with students “eye to eye”, passing on huge amounts of “spirituality” - which cannot be conveyed by the method of literature or writing. The latter are always limited by the possibilities of linguistic constructions and the differences in images that the teacher-guru lays down when writing and those that arise in the student when reading.

That is why Chan Buddhism abandoned the transmission of spirituality through “canons”, words and symbols: if the psyche of students is not “cleansed” enough before they begin to read the “canons”, listen to the guru and assimilate symbolism, then the images that will appear in their psyche may be very different from the “needed” ones. And with direct “pumping” of information-images ( which is akin to “zombification” completely bypassing consciousness) - loss of meaning is minimal. The latter can be roughly likened to the influence of cinema and television on people (where images are presented in ready-made form and information in large volumes bypasses consciousness); and the lexical perception of the same information can be likened to reading a novel: as a result of reading the same novel, different people have different images of the characters. But if they all watch a film based on this novel, then the images of the heroes will be almost the same.

But still “cleansing” the psyche ( in the sense of not only information clearing, but most importantly - neutralization of the previous algorithmic dominance) any type of Buddhism gives priority to. Let's look at the example of Chan Buddhism one from understandable methods of clearing previous stereotypes of worldview and worldview from the psyche with the help of “philosophical-lexical” training, which precedes yogic practice in Chan Buddhism. At the same time, we must not forget that the main well-intentioned slogan of Chan Buddhism (as, indeed, other types of Buddhism) is the declaration of non-violent help to the student: “ After all, a teacher cannot teach Chan Buddhism to a student, his task is only to help the student achieve the “innate realization” of his own inner essence" In addition to the latter, Chan Buddhism teaches: “meditative practice does not mean either submission or forced “purification” of consciousness, rather, his “release to freedom.” It fits entirely into the traditions of the “middle path,” aimed at training the organs of sensation and thinking, and not at their volitional subordination, which is what Indian yogis insist on.”

A characteristic feature of Chan Buddhist meditation (or better yet, : deep preparation for meditation) is to reinforce individual and collective meditative exercises with individual conversations with one’s mentor, which usually take place every evening if the student does not need more frequent communication.

Logical paradoxes(in Japanese Zen Buddhism - koans ), of which there are approximately 1700, are questions that have no answer, serve goals of radical change in thinking patterns those who study Chan or Dan and help(as Chan Buddhism teaches) reach " liberation of consciousness up to its complete enlightenment».

These “philosophical” questions introduce the student’s psyche into a state of “stupor”, after which his previous beliefs regarding the topic of discussion are returned. “cleansed” to a state of “insignificance” in its further management and self-government . Compilation methodology koans is such that the student ( Naturally, if his psyche is weak, cowardly, weak-willed, based on the dominance of “animal” instincts, etc.) sees that his previous beliefs on a certain issue under discussion were “schizophrenic”: this is how the questions are organized. Not wanting to continue to remain a schizophrenic, the student makes mental efforts ( the guru monitors the smooth “small-step” change in the psyche; “steps” are positive changes in the student’s psyche after successfully completing the kaon), to get rid of previous “obsessions” ( what does he think now?). Because the koans set, then their coverage allows you to change the student’s psyche according to all possible “interfering” stereotypes. Examples of typical koans are the following:

“If you meet someone on the street who has realized the truth, you cannot pass by in silence and you cannot speak to him. What will you do when you meet?”

“When you clap both your palms, a sound is created. Now listen to one hand clap!”.

By using koans the mind is artificially placed on the brink of absurdity and demonstrates to the student his own helplessness when, out of ingrained habit, the student tries to give “mundane” answers to the questions of the koans. The response to koan questions should be natural and immediate. The student, not accustomed to such a reaction, is at first lost, and the guru answers him like: “ If you cannot answer, you can only wait for the coming of Maitreya and ask him" But as the student learns do not burden your mind with complex logical structures- his answers acquire “free” ease and Buddhist “wit.” The practice of koans is accompanied by means of Buddhist “shock therapy” - incomprehensible commands of the guru to his students, seemingly untimely questions, quotes from “sacred” texts, rude gestures and even unexpected blows with a staff on the occasion that determines the guru. All this is also aimed at ridding the student’s psyche of past stereotypes and attachments.

Many researchers of Buddhism, not blinkered by Buddhist authority, who encounter such training, compare the original Chan Buddhist practice with primitive initiations or “shamanic disease”, as a symbolic personification of the dying and rebirth of a person. But we observed the same thing in “Christian” initiations - baptism is a rite “ death and resurrection”, in which, just like in Buddhism (but less openly and more hidden), the practice of ridding the psyche of the baptized from parts her old stereotypes. But before “Christianity,” such practices prepared the inclusion of the psyche in the corporate egregor of the spiritual system were known for a long time - at the latest in ancient India .

It is not surprising that after some preparation for changing the psyche (“cleaning out” old and “uploading” new binding algorithms by transferring a huge array of ready-made images from guru to student ) the student’s psyche enters period of egregorial “perestroika” (detuning from the old spiritual heritage and connecting to the new - “harmonious and divine”), which is often accompanied by corresponding hallucinations - egregorial obsessions. In terms and concepts of biblical Christianity, the latter are equivalent to " the voice of the living "God"”, which many famous “prophets” heard.

The latter is considered a sign of effortless entry into a state of “enlightenment”: in contrast to artificially achieved “enlightenment,” Chan teaches, intuitive “insight into Buddha nature” is somewhat outwardly similar to creative insight, as it is understood in the West. It embraces the student suddenly, without external effort (and this is preceded by long-term “unforced” preparation of the psyche and the cleansing of everything “unnecessary” under the supervision of the guru) on his part in any place and at any time. Followers of Chan Buddhism who have experienced such a psychological experience usually compare it “to the unexpected dropout of the bottom of a barrel, as a result of which all its contents are out in a few seconds.” Guru Sekida Katsuki describes his feelings at the moment of initiation as follows (footnotes are ours):

“A cool southeast wind blew into the room. and rows of paper lanterns left in the temple by wanderers swayed merrily in the currents of air. With an incredible roar, all the hills, valleys, temple buildings and the sanctuary began to fall into the abyss along with me. Even flying birds fell to the ground with broken wings.

I saw a stone roll along the embankment that blocked access to the surf, its impact split the shore, and hundreds of thousands of tons of water rushed into the streets of the city. The visual vibrations that arose at the sight of the swinging lanterns caused a whirlwind in my brain, an influx of internal tension. The gap reached the very depths, and this made it possible for the influx of internal tension to break freely... And when the consciousness feels its liberation, it is overwhelmed by stunning delight.”

This is about " chaos of consciousness, interruption of established connections with the environment, which is considered equally both by approaching “nirvana” and by real, not symbolic death” - that's what the Buddhists say.

Indeed, turning off the previous life support for an individual can be tantamount to death: imagine this on a computer model. What will happen if you remove from the hard drive all the main programs that previously supported its operation? - The computer will “die” for the user. What needs to be done to “resurrect” him? - You need to “upload” others ( or functionally similar) programs. The difference between a computer and an individual is that a computer can wait as long as it wants in a state of “death,” but another “life” needs to be “pumped” into an individual while it is still “warm.”

Gurus monitor the egregorial restructuring of the psyche. But there is one caveat: if everything “extra” has already been “pumped out” of the student’s psyche ( for the success of Buddhist initiation) past life support - he either has to die or accept what the guru offers: the student, as a rule, chooses the latter, since the weak-willed, devoid of “I” subject ( the student himself gives his last will in favor of initiation) has nowhere to go. As a reward, he receives the opportunity to experience “nirvana.”

But only God knows what is useful and what is harmful that the psyche of a particular person has acquired in Life, therefore only He can be a real Guru for a person, and a person can only with the help of God and the author's own goodwill Vasiliev Leonid Sergeevich

Chan Buddhism (Zen) This movement arose in the form of an esoteric sect. The name “chan” comes from the Sanskrit “dhyana” (concentration, meditation). The ancient Buddhist school - the Dhyana school - called on its followers to more often renounce the outside world and,

From book Folk traditions China author Martyanova Lyudmila Mikhailovna

Buddhism The most ancient and mysterious religion of China. It originates as much as two millennia ago. Buddhism is the fundamental religion of the state. It is divided into Chinese and Tibetan (Lamaism). Buddha Shakyamuni observed his consciousness for several years and

by Thames Richard

Buddhism Tradition claims that in 552 (or 538) the Korean state of Baekje presented the Yamato court with images of Buddha and a collection of manuscripts explaining his teachings. Soon after this, experts appeared knowledgeable in Chinese classics, medicine, music,

From the book Japan: History of the Country by Thames Richard

Buddhism The Importance of BuddhismThe history of Buddhism is longer than the history of Christianity, and the teaching is no less complex in terms of doctrinal disputes and ramifications. Like Christianity, Buddhism has had a serious influence on the culture and traditions of its adherents. Without some

From the book China: Pages of the Past author Sidikhmenov Vasily Yakovlevich

Buddhism One of the most ancient religions on earth, Buddhism arose in India in the 6th century. BC e. and has become widespread in China, Mongolia, Thailand, Burma, Japan, Korea and other countries. Buddhism is the fruit of the richest human imagination, which has created dozens of worlds,

From the book Tibet: The Radiance of Emptiness author Molodtsova Elena Nikolaevna

Bon and Buddhism After this, Padma and the king went to the Samye monastery, the one that Shantirakshita began to build, who was not destined to finish this work. As the attentive reader remembers, Bon adherents sent their evil spirits to the construction site, and during the night they managed to

From the book History and Theory of Religions author Pankin S F

22. Buddhism In the VI century. BC e. Buddhism arose in Northern India, a teaching founded by Siddhartha Gautama. After many years of useless asceticism, he achieves awakening (bodhi), that is, he comprehends the right life path. Buddha means "enlightened one." The rescue

From the book History of World Religions: Lecture Notes author Pankin S F

3. Buddhism Buddhism, the oldest of the world’s religions, “was created by a people distinguished almost from all others by its inexhaustible creativity in the field of religion” (Barthold). In the 6th century. BC e. Buddhism arises in Northern India - a teaching founded by Siddhartha Gautama

From the book History of Religions. Volume 2 author Kryvelev Joseph Aronovich

From the book Essays on the History of Religion and Atheism author Avetisyan Arsen Avetisyanovich

From the book Comparative Theology. Book 6 author Team of authors

3.4.3. Buddhism Buddhism is traditionally considered a "world" religious system, as are "Christianity" and Islam. Mid-1st millennium BC e. - the historical time of formation of many religious systems, which subsequently had a decisive influence on the worldview

From the book History of Political and Legal Doctrines: A Textbook for Universities author Team of authors

author

From the book General History of the World's Religions author Karamazov Voldemar Danilovich

Zen Buddhism (Chan) This branch of Buddhism originated in China. The name "chan" comes from the Sanskrit dhian, which means "concentration" or "meditation". The ancient Buddhist school - the Dhyana school - called on its adherents to more often renounce the external

Chan Buddhism

In 520 (different dates for this event are given -

486, 526, 527) the 28th Patriarch comes to China

Buddhism Bodhidharma, whose name literally meant

The Teaching of Enlightenment. In Chinese his name is trans-

it was written as Putidamo or simply Damo. He

came from South India, presumably from Madra-

sa. Legends say that Damo was the son of god

that Indian prince, however, left secular

affairs and devoted himself to the wheel of dharma - the Buddhist

teaching. What brought the Buddhist patriarch to China?

tai? In his opinion, Buddhism in China is understood

wrong, its essence is subject to distortion,

internal understanding is replaced by purely mechanical

Kim ritual.

Sincerity as the highest expression of inner

ritual, purity of heart were criteria for Damo

merit and virtue. Action (wei) as active

human intervention in the naturalness of internal

early message and inner nature of man about

were contrasted with non-action (wuwei) - therefore

the naturally spontaneous course of events. As you say-

was found in Chan Buddhism, the founder of which is considered

Damo hides, “allowing things to manifest themselves in their

coarseness."

Damo taught: “Pacify your heart (soul) in non-

action, and then the external form is naturally after-

blows behind this in its manifestations." And one of the path-

riarchs Chan Huineng (638-713) continued this

thought: “Follow the truth of your heart, not

external manifestations of dharmas."

However, Damo did not understand the paradox and

unaccustomed to your teaching. He walked away from the yard

Emperor Liao, visited the neighboring state of Wei.

In the city of Luoyang, the capital of Wei, his admiration aroused

la pagoda of the monastery of Yunningsa (Eternal Rest). Pos-

After this, Damo retired to the Shaolin Monastery - not-

a large monastery built near Luoyang in

Henan Province on Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng County.

The monks exhausted themselves by reading sutras for a long time before leaving

branching. Insight into one's own nature in its use

tininess was overshadowed by scolding, faith in strangers

words, and not according to the dictates of your own heart.

Damo declared that the goal of Buddhism is to see the heart

Buddha's father, that is, to realize the Buddha within oneself.

Thus, everyone is potentially a Buddha,

you just need to wake him up. It was possible to become a Buddha

"here and now" in the act of direct perception

tiya of truth, freely and fully entering into the unclouded

the profound mind of a Buddhist. Truth is conveyed beyond words

in written instructions, but like a lamp, re-

walking from teacher to student.

The monks did not understand Bodhidharma's instructions, and he

retired to a cave located not far from the mo-

insistently, where he, turning his face to the wall, pro-

led in a pose of sitting contemplation (zuochan) almost de-

five years (according to some chronicles - ten). Pat-

The riarch plunged into a state of deep meditation,

but, as the legend says, only once did he fall asleep.

Waking up, Damo angrily tore out his eyelashes and

threw them to the ground. From them grew bushes of fragrant

of tea that Buddhists drink during the long period of

ditations, invigorating the consciousness.

After nine years of contemplating the wall, the monks

filled with respect for the strength of spirit of Damo and that teaching,

which he preached. But only two people agreed

the stern patriarch tried to take monks as disciples

Daoyu and Huike, to whom he conveyed the truth in those

five years. According to legend, Huike, who became

successor to the first patriarch, cut off his own hand and

placed it in front of Damo, demonstrating the purity of his

thoughts and determination to comprehend the teachings of Chan.

The teaching of "Chan" is one of the movements of Buddhism, widely

which uses the ideas and methods of Indian yoga and ki-

Thai Taoism.

The spiritual teaching preached by Damo expresses

elk with a brief requirement: two occurrences and four

actions. Two occurrences are the achievement of enlightenment

salvation through spiritual internal development and salting

contemplation (spiritual entry) and by doing

practical actions (entry through action).

Thus, an inextricable connection was postulated

external and internal, form and deep image,

physical and mental, phenomenon and its symbol.

Spiritual entry into a state of enlightenment created

knowledge that cannot be touched or contaminated

worldly affairs, mainly based on sedentary

meditation, traditionally performed facing a wall,

as Bodhidharma did. As they said chan-bud-

dists, “the current state of man is false, true

but only a return to one’s own nature.”

According to this teaching, the most important thing

an activity for martial arts practitioners is

internal work on yourself. It leads to achievement

the concept of an “empty heart,” that is, such a state of mind

ha, which is free from everything worldly, filled

which usually takes into account human consciousness. This is not to deny

meaning of real life. Only the identification is rejected

the transformation of what is vitally important (the foundations of being) from life

bustle, the highest manifestations of the spirit with everyday

small things. The human mind is forever in

the bustle of worldly affairs, rushing about in conventions and boundaries

tsakh, determined by himself, sometimes without understanding

their unnaturalness. You only need a little -

to see beyond the routine and monotony of the life of the Great

ky Symbol, having learned the depth of all external forms,

overcome it. Then all things are perceived in

unity, and a person overcomes that invisible tone-

forge, but an extremely dense curtain that prevents him

merge with nature and find

"spontaneity of self-manifestations of the spirit."

Liberation from the everyday hustle and bustle, from everything

what inspires most people leads to

what "Chan" calls "great emptiness" - to absolute

fierce spiritual freedom. And this freedom gives

the ability to know the true essence and meaning of human

ical life, usually hidden by the illusions of thinking.

Intellectually, the “great emptiness” turns out to be

your vision of the world; emotionally - calming the soul -

ha, his serenity, strong-willed independence

depending on the people and circumstances around you.

In other words, adequate comprehension of the deep

the essence of martial arts (what is hidden behind the technical

no one, behind the movements) requires studying the ideas of the Buddha

and restructuring of mental structures of personality method-

dami "chan" in accordance with these ideas. Speech

is about the "four noble truths" discovered

Buddha two and a half thousand years ago. First

the truth is: "There is suffering that is

sits universal character." The second clarifies: "The reason

the suffering of people is in their desires." In other words,

By suffering the Buddha understood stress, mental

tension, which is based on a feeling of passion

ha, inextricably linked with hope (after all, stress

it's not what happens to a person, but how

he reacts to what is happening. The man who lost

All hope is lost along with fear).

Suffering (a fusion of fears and hopes) stems from

various “wants” that always and everywhere cover

chen man. To wish for something, small or big -

it doesn’t matter, strive to get what you want

go, be afraid that you won’t get it or you’ll lose it, and

hope at the same time successful outcome -

this is constant excitement, anxiety, nap-

dressing up, that is, suffering.

The Buddha's third truth states: "Liberation

from suffering lies in the destruction of desires."

The fourth specifies: “The path to liberation from

suffering is the eightfold "middle path"

equally avoiding the extremes of asceticism and sensualism

pleasures." It consists of the correct

understanding, correct thinking, correct

sayings, doing the right thing, doing the right thing

way of life, right efforts, right aspirations

laziness and, finally, proper concentration of spirit

Contemplation. An old oriental poem says

talks about this path like this:

Man is born,

Old age, illness and death.

Therefore he is not free. These

Four drivers use sticks to determine

His way.

If you pray

Or do you perform rituals?

To free yourself -

You are a fool.

Do you want to dive into Nirvana?

Then contemplate

The depths of your spirit...

Human life is like lightning.

It flashed - and she was gone.

The greenest trees

They will also dry out someday.

If you achieve enlightenment through contemplation,

You will be calm forever.

You will understand that the eternal and the transitory,

Blooming and fading

The good and the bad -

Just illusions

your consciousness...

Unlike European thinkers, on different

the frets of those who called for changing environmental conditions for

In order to become happy, Buddha denied dependence

the difference between the state of the spirit and the state of the external world.

He believed that it was necessary to change not the world, but oneself. All

we know that “the rich cry too”, which is possible

have a full set of material benefits, and still

suffer. But the secret of happiness is very simple: you must

learn to understand life correctly, to feel correctly

maintain its rhythm, build your behavior accordingly

without this rhythm, daily plunge into despair

the bottom depths of your subconscious. In other words,

Buddha encouraged people to be happy "here and

now", and not "later", as a result of some external

them events.

Entry through the action prescribed by the first

teacher, provides for four types of actions -

retribution for evil, lack of worldly aspirations,

serving the dharma (that is, the Buddhist teaching), following

giving in to fate. The last type of action allows

exhaust life in all its fullness, since man

the century does not rush around in search of a way out of its own

predestination, but views his life as

implementation of the universal path and the law of all things

cabbage soup - dao.

At the level of practical actions that allow

achieve sustainable changes in mental states

personality, a number of trends arose in Buddhism.

"Chan" is one of them. His practice includes

includes meditation, work with energy, influence

effect on the internal organs of the body and occurring in

there are physiological processes. Collectively, these

three groups of methods are called "inner work".

The purpose of meditation methods is to

by directing the mind, feelings and will to the outside

or internal objects to process the input, pre-

being and going out in relation to certain situations

space-time situations, both real and

and imaginary. At the same time, the first stage of meditation is

tion (contemplation) is performing exercises

(or actions) related to concentration of attention

on breathing, movement, heart function, holding

knowledge of balance, energy circulation, any

an object or its individual quality. Already given

At the next stage, the adept begins to “hear” weak signals

ly emanating from the external and internal world. Ta-

Thus, the key postulate of spiritual entry is

This was the calming of the spirit and the purification of consciousness.

thus regulating your own breathing.

The second stage allows a person to gain community

the melting of “no-mind”, thanks to which it seems to dissolve

expresses his “I” in the natural elements. Having lost the feeling

self-identity, he perceives himself

a particle of the great whole - all of Existence. His consciousness

life is completely freed from all anxiety -

hood, and it implements the principle of “one body”, i.e.

its living creatures: people, animals, plants. Name-

but therefore the martial artist is not just a sense-

any movement of the enemy, but also in advance

anticipates all his plans. After all, he is connected with

him with this “single body”!

Breathing and energy exercises are aimed at

are aimed at mastering the vital energy “qi” and developing

the strength of inner strength. This group of methods gives

the opportunity to learn how to conduct “qi” along three middle

nym and twelve paired channels, accumulate it in

a special center located inside the abdomen. able

“Qi” can control at the right moment as if by choosing

throw it at the enemy through the striking limb,

or use it to protect yourself from his blows. Working with energy

gy allows you to dramatically enhance your own combat

capabilities, increases the ability to tolerate li-

extreme exposures without harm to health

rovya, and also contributes to the achievement of serenity

ness of the spirit.

The system of influence on the internal organs of the body and

physiological processes occurring in it include

embraces poses similar to Indian yoga poses,

impact on biologically active points of the body

self-massage techniques, original breathing

Applications for deep ventilation. It combines-

static and dynamic exercises. However

both are just a shell hiding the main

new - work with energy, concentration,

self-hypnosis. It is through " internal work"

there is a change in the state of the psyche, I gain

overall stable character. In Buddhist terms,

which transition is called “from samsara” (the world of suffering)

niy) “to nirvana” (the world of eternal bliss).

The teaching of Chan, together with its practical methods,

dami, is the quintessence of oriental methods

finding harmony. What is harmony? This is co-

dimension and orderliness of all aspects of existence,

including your own body and your own psyche,

this is the consistency of ends and means, form and co-

holding. It is harmony that opposes chaos in

nature, the human soul and society. Harmo-

nic person - a person who is peaceful, abso-

fiercely devoid of fear, unperturbed, joyfully soulful

ny. This is a man with a “Buddha’s smile”, soft, dignified

stupid, benevolent, disinterested - and at the same time

time unbending, persistent and strong. This is a man

infinitely superior in its physical and spiritual

with the power of ordinary people. After all, his heart is from

covered with Eternity, and the body is filled with the energy of the Cosmos!

Chan Buddhism

INSIGHT IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE...

hidden outside of writing.

In signs and words

do not pass on the Law.

Turn to your heart

inward and backwards

So that, having comprehended myself,

Become a Buddha!"

Bodhidharma (VI century)

The Chan patriarchs stubbornly denied difficulties along the way.

ty to insight, claiming that it is accessible to everyone

mu who sincerely believes in his "Buddha nature"

trusts nature and follows its dictates. Human,

who sees his true nature is free in all

anytime, anywhere, in any situation. He acts in co-

responsibility with the situation and responds in accordance with

question. As in Taoism, the experience of which is multi-

GOM enriched Chan culture, the goal of all Chan

practice is the awakening of the natural beginning

in a person, the removal of numerous mental

pores, mobilization of the capabilities of the human brain

ha, a sharp aggravation of all five senses, capable of

improving such mental processes as

memory, imagery, thinking.

Truth, according to Chan theory, is always beyond words,

it cannot be conveyed in a book. "He who knows does not speak"

rit, the speaker does not know,” says Lao Tzu.

Therefore, the mentor does not read sermons to his students, but

only seeks to direct their own minds towards

the path of Purification and Insight.

Realizing your place in the world, realizing unity

of all things, the relativity of good and evil, man

gains mental balance and peace, shake

which is beyond the power of any storms or thunderstorms. Considering

that the laws of life have been comprehended, enlightened adept

Chan refuses the idea of ​​changing these laws.

new: he is only concerned with the correct adherence to nature

the natural course of things.

When a student asked a Ch'an master,

than the meaning of Tao (Way), he replied:

In a simple, common sense. When I'm hungry, I eat

when I'm tired, I sleep.

But isn't everyone doing the same thing? - asked

No,” the mentor answered, “most don’t.”

feel what they are doing.

So, Chan calls for feeling, experiencing every

moment of earthly existence, to perceive everything around

which is a manifestation of the great Tao.