Category



General Information

Locality: Rancho Cordova, California



Address: 10923 Progress Ct, # 1756 95741-1756 Rancho Cordova, CA, US

Likes: 34

Reviews

Add review

Facebook Blog





Xian Chan Dao 14.11.2020

Dear friends to save time and consolidate FB pages we will be shutting down this FB page in a month. You can go to the following page where we will be posting. https://www.facebook.com/Golden-Flower-Dharma-Center-377// thank you

Xian Chan Dao 11.11.2020

1.) This Dhamma is for reducing desire, not for increasing desire. 2.) This Dhamma is for increasing contentment, not for increasing discontentment.... 3.) This Dhamma is for cultivating seclusion, not for becoming sociable. 4.) This Dhamma is for becoming energetic, not for becoming lazy. 5.) This Dhamma is for developing mindfulness, not developing unmindfulness. 6.) This Dhamma is for developing composure, not for making restlessness. 7.) This Dhamma is for increasing wisdom, not for decreasing wisdom. 8.) This Dhamma is for delighting in freedom from impediments, not for delighting in impediments. Eight Great Noble Thoughts, Aha-Mah-Purisa Vitakka, Dhamma, Part Three: Additional Readings, p. 93, https://wisdomexperience.org//buddhist-suttas-for-recitat/

Xian Chan Dao 04.11.2020

A politician came to the Old Master and asked, "Master, how can we make society more peaceful and do away with violence, crime, bigotry and hatred?" The Old Mas...ter responded, "How is it that having not fully mastered and perfected oneself, you inquire as to how to master and perfect others?" -Tian Xin.

Xian Chan Dao 29.10.2020

Nothing can be gotten without paying a price and there is no success without effort. This is the first principle of the universe. Everything itself is Buddha so... there can be no fixed rules or basic organization for teachers. Buddhism needs to be taught with patience, step by step according to circumstances. The theory of Mind-only in Buddhism is not the opposite of materialism. Mind- only refers to the original Mind (true nature) where mind and matter are not two. Space (true nature) gives birth to mind; mind gives birth to personality, which gives birth to action. - Zen Master Mangong, Teachings

Xian Chan Dao 21.10.2020

'We Are Pro-life Women' is looking for a female Buddhist who is pro-life to interview and feature for their diversity of faith feature. They asked us if we kne...w of one. So I am putting this out to everyone. If you are a pro-life Female Buddhist please contact https://www.facebook.com/WeAreProlifeWomen/ Update: they are looking for all women of various faiths and color/race as well. Thank you

Xian Chan Dao 03.10.2020

Within the expanse of empty mind ~ Padmasambhava https://justdharma.com/s/ujbhz Within the sky-like empty mind, habitual tendencies and disturbing emotions are ...just like clouds and mist. When they appear, they appear within the expanse of empty mind. When they remain, they remain within the expanse of empty mind. And when they dissolve, they dissolve in that same expanse of empty mind. Padmasambhava from the book "Treasures from Juniper Ridge: The Profound Instructions of Padmasambhava to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal" ISBN: 978-9627341628 - https://amzn.to/2GWTSY0

Xian Chan Dao 27.09.2020

True Privilege in Buddhism, The Privilege to be born Human, The Privilege to hear the Dharma, The Privilege of having stalwart companions, ... The Privilege to have enlightened teachers, The Privilege to awaken, The Privilege to Practice compassion on behalf of all sentient creatures. -Tian Xin.

Xian Chan Dao 17.09.2020

This old one has 170 pages of Zen Buddhist aphorisms that have been posted here on FB over the last few years. Anyone interested in a new book containing them all? -Tian Xin

Xian Chan Dao 07.09.2020

When one thinks that Buddhism is a philosophy, One tries to use one's intellect to grasp it. When one thinks that Buddhism is a practice, One tries to use one...'s body to experience it. When one thinks that Buddhism is a Path, One tries to use one's feet to walk it. When one thinks that Buddhism is noble emotions, One tries to use one's heart to contain it. When one thinks that Buddhism is nothing (and one doesn't have to "do" nothing), One stagnates in relative emptiness. -Tian Xin.

Xian Chan Dao 18.08.2020

You've spent decades trying to love yourself... You've spent years trying to bolster your self esteem... You've been told countless times that you have to learn... to like yourself... Your therapist and friends say you have to be honest with yourself and express your feelings... Failure after failure after failure, Pain after pain after pain... Adding more and more weight to the stack on one's shoulders, When will the Atlassian struggle end? Zen's answer, "Upon first kensho one simply shrugs. after all what self was there to begin with?" Now free of self-no burden. -Tian Xin.

Xian Chan Dao 15.08.2020

A common spiritual question today is, "What does that mean to you?" It is truly a meaningless question in Zen as, "Nothing that means anything to 'you' has any meaning." -Tian Xin

Xian Chan Dao 03.08.2020

Very powerful words, I find. From Ch'an master Sheng Yen: Stage 2: From the sense of the small ‘I’ [to big I] The first stage only helps to bring concentration... to your confused mind; but when you practise concentration, other scattered thoughts continue to appear in your mind - sometimes many, sometimes a few. The concept of your purpose in practising Ch’an is for mental and physical benefits. This is a stage where your concept is purely self-centred. There is no mention of philosophical ideals or religious experience. When you reach the second stage, it will enable you to liberate yourself from the narrow view of the ‘I’. In the second stage you begin to enter the stage of meditation. When you practise the method of cultivation taught by your teacher, you will enlarge the sphere of the outlook of the small ‘I’ until it coincides with time and space. The small ‘I’ merges into the entire universe, forming a unity. When you look inward, the depth is limitless; when you look outward, the breadth is limitless. Since you have joined and become one with universe, the world of your own body and mind no longer exists. What exists is the universe, which is infinite in depth and breadth. You yourself are not only a part of the universe, but also the totality of it. When you achieve this experience in your Ch’an sitting, you will then understand what is meant in philosophy by principle or basic substance, and also what phenomenal existence is. All phenomena are the floating surface or perceptible layer of basic substance. From the shallow point of view, the phenomena have innumerable distinctions and each has different characteristics; in reality, the differences between the phenomena do not impair the totality of basic substance. For instance, on the planet on which we live, there are countless kinds of animals, plants, minerals, vapours, liquids and solids which incessantly arise, change and perish, constituting the phenomena of the earth. However, seen from another planet, the earth is just one body. When we have the opportunity to free ourselves from the bonds of self or subjective views, to assume the objective standpoint of the whole and observe all phenomena together, we can eliminate opposing and contradictory views. Take a tree as an example. From the standpoint of the individual leaves and branches, they are all distinct from one another, and can also be perceived to rub against one another. However, from the standpoint of the trunk and roots, all parts without exception are of one unified whole. In the course of this second stage, you have realised that you not only have an independent individual existence, but you also have a universal existence together with this limitlessly deep and wide cosmos, and therefore the confrontation between you and the surrounding environment exists no more. Discontent, hatred, love, desire - in other words dispositions of rejecting and grasping disappear naturally, and you sense a feeling of peace and satisfaction. Because you have eliminated the selfish small ‘I’, you are able to look upon all people and all things as if they were phenomena produced from your own substance, and so you will love all people and all things in the same way you loved and watched over your small ‘I’. This is the mind of a great philosopher. Naturally, all great religious figures must have gone through the experiences of this second stage, where they free themselves from the confines of the small ‘I’, and discover that their own basic substance is none other than the existence of the entire universe, and that there is no difference between themselves and everything in the universe. All phenomena are manifestations of their own nature. They have the duty to love and watch over all things, and also have the right to manage them; just as we have the duty to love our own children and the right to manage the property that belongs to us This is the formation of the relationship between the deity and the multitude of things he created. Such people personify the basic substance of the universe which they experience through meditation, and create the belief in God. They substantiate this idea of a large ‘I’ the self-love of God and formulate the mission of being a saviour of the world or an emissary of God. They unify all phenomena and look upon them as objects that were created and are to be saved. Consequently, some religious figures think that the basic nature of their souls is the same as that of the deity, and that they are human incarnations of the deity. In this way, they consider themselves to be saviours of the world. Others think that although the basic nature of their souls is not identical to and inseparable from that of the deity, the phenomenon of their incarnation shows that they were sent to this world by God as messengers to promulgate God’s intention. Generally, when philosophers or religious figures reach the height of the second stage, they feel that their wisdom is unlimited, their power is infinite, and their lives are eternal. When the scope of the ‘I’ enlarges, self-confidence accordingly gets stronger, but this stronger self-confidence is in fact merely the unlimited escalation of a sense of superiority and pride. It is therefore termed large ‘I’, and does not mean that absolute freedom from vexations has been achieved. Stage 3: From the large ‘I’ to no ‘I’ When one reaches the height of the second stage, he realises that the concept of the ‘I’ does not exist. But he has only abandoned the small ‘I’ and has not negated the concept of basic substance or the existence of God; you may call it Truth, the one and only God, the Almighty, the Unchanging Principle, or even the Buddha of Buddhism. If you think that it is real, then you are still in the realm of the big ‘I’ and have not left the sphere of philosophy and religion. I must emphasise that the content of Ch’an does not appear until the third stage. Ch’an is unimaginable. It is neither a concept nor a feeling. It is impossible to describe it in any terms abstract or concrete. Though meditation is ordinarily the proper path leading to Ch’an, once you have arrived at the door of Ch’an, even the method of meditation is rendered useless. It is like using various means of transportation on a long journey. When you reach the final destination, you find a steep cliff standing right in front of you. It is so high you cannot see its top, and so wide that its side cannot be found. At this time a person who has been to the other side of the cliff comes to tell you that on the other side lies the world of Ch’an. When you scale it you will enter Ch’an. And yet, he tells you not to depend on any means of transportation to fly over, bypass, or penetrate through it, because it is infinity itself, and there is no way to scale it. Even an outstanding Ch’an master able to bring his student to this place will find himself unable to help any more. Although he has been to the other side, he cannot take you there with him, just as a mother’s own eating and drinking cannot take the hunger away from the child who refuses to eat or drink. At that time, the only help he can give you is to tell you to discard all your experiences, your knowledge, and all the things and ideas that you think are the most reliable, most magnificent, and most real, even including your hope to get to the world of Ch’an. It is as if you were entering a sacred building. Before you do so, the guard tells you that you must not carry any weapon, that you must take off all your clothes, and that not only must you be completely naked you also have to leave your body and soul behind. Then you can enter. Because Ch’an is a world where there is no self, if there is still any attachment at all in your mind, there is no way you can harmonise with Ch’an. Therefore, Ch’an is the territory of the wise, and the territory of the brave. Not being wise, one would not believe that after he has abandoned all attachments another world could appear before him. Not being brave, one would find it very hard to discard everything he has accumulated in this life - ideals and knowledge, spiritual and material things. You may ask what benefit we would get after making such great sacrifices to enter the world of Ch’an. Let me tell you that you cannot enter the world of Ch’an while this question is still with you. Looking for benefit, either for self or for others, is in the ‘I’-oriented stage. The sixth patriarch of the Ch’an sect in China taught people that the way to enter the enlightenment of the realm of Ch’an is: Neither think of good, nor think of evil. That is, you eliminate such opposing views as self and other, inner and outer, being and non-being, large and small, good and bad, vexation and Bodhi, illusion and enlightenment, false and true, or suffering of birth and death and joy of emancipation. Only then can the realm of Ch’an or enlightenment appear and bring you a new life. This new life you have had all along, and yet you have never discovered it. In the Ch’an sect we call it your original face before you were born. This is not the small ‘I’ of body and mind, nor the large ‘I’ of the world and universe. This is absolute freedom, free from the misery of all vexations and bonds. To enter Ch’an as described above is not easy. Many people have studied and meditated for decades, and still have never gained entrance to the door of Ch’an. It will not be difficult, however, when your causes and conditions are mature, or if you happen to have a good Ch’an master who guides you with full attention. This Master may adopt various attitudes, actions and verbal expressions which may seem ridiculous to you, as indirect means of assisting you to achieve your goal speedily. And when the Master tells you that you have now entered the gate, you will suddenly realise that there is no gate to Ch’an. Before entering, you cannot see where the gate is, and after entering you find the gate non-existent. Otherwise there will be the distinction between inside and outside, the enlightened and the ignorant; and if there are such distinctions, then it is still not Ch’an. When you are in the second stage, although you feel that the ‘I’ does not exist, the basic substance of the universe, or the Supreme Truth, still exists. Although you recognise that all the different phenomena are the extension of this basic substance or Supreme Truth, yet there still exists the opposition of basic substance versus external phenomena. Not until the distinctions of all phenomena disappear, and everything goes back to truth or Heaven, will you have absolute peace and unity. As long as the world of phenomena is still active, you cannot do away with conflict, calamity, suffering and crime. Therefore, although philosophers and religious figures perceive the peace of the original substance, they still have no way to get rid of the confusion of phenomena. One who has entered Ch’an does not see basic substance and phenomena as two things standing in opposition to each other. They cannot even be illustrated as being the back and palm of a hand. This is because phenomena themselves are basic substance, and apart from phenomena there is no basic substance to be found. The reality of basic substance exists right in the unreality of phenomena, which change ceaselessly and have no constant form. This is the Truth. When you experience that phenomena are unreal, you will then be free from the concept of self and other, right and wrong, and free from the vexations of greed, hatred, worry and pride. You will not need to search for peace and purity, and you will not need to detest evil vexations and impurity. Although you live in the world of phenomenal reality, to you, any environment is a Buddha’s Pure Land. To an unenlightened person, you are but an ordinary person. To you, all ordinary people are identical with Buddha. You will feel that your own self-nature is the same as that of all Buddhas, and the self-nature of Buddhas is universal throughout time and space. You will spontaneously apply your wisdom and wealth, giving to all sentient beings everywhere, throughout all time and space. What I have said reveals a small part of the feeling of one who has entered the enlightened realm of Ch’an, and is also the course which one follows in order to depart from the small ‘I’ and arrive at the stage of no ‘I’. Nevertheless, a newly enlightened person who has just entered the realm of Ch’an is still at the starting section of the entire passage of Ch’an. He is like one who has just had his first sip of port. He knows its taste now, but the wine will not remain in his mouth forever. The purpose of Ch’an is not just to let you take one sip, but to have your entire life merge with and dissolve in the wine, even, to the point that you forget the existence of yourself and the wine. After tasting the first sip of egolessness, how much farther must one travel? What kinds of things remain to be seen? I will tell you when I have the chance! http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com//Zen%20Master%20She