Ven. Master Sheng Yen passes

[ZenStatic]

http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/news-...2809d8504e.html

 

 

Amituofo

_/|\_

[forestofsouls]

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha

 

Master Sheng Yen was one of the greats.

[gendao]

Shifu's health had been declining over the past three years. This started in late 2005, when Shifu received surgery to remove a non-functioning kidney, and the remaining kidney's ability to function remained very poor. Since then he endured weekly dialysis and various other treatments, making his body very weak. Over the following two years, his health condition has had ups and downs, and remarkably, in mid to late 2008, Shifu had been noticeably stronger and able to give many lectures and attend many public events. During this time a number of Leaders from WCF visited him in Taiwan and were thus able to meet him personally. In late December, a routine checkup at the hospital revealed a further problem. Yet, Shifu kept on with his agenda, and attended the Year End Charity Event at DDM. Shortly after, he was hospitalized and his health condition deteriorated rapidly. His condition looked grave. Afterwards, the DDM global community began daily prayer vigils in hopes that transferring the merit would help Shifu regain his health. After a few days of this unstable health condition, it took a turn for the better, and there was a visible improvement. Afterwards, Shifu continued to attend meetings and receive guests and also took a leave of absence from the hospital to visit the local Taipei monasteries and centres. Soon afterwards, his health condition again deteriorated, fluctuating between good and bad, and he was unable to attend the Chinese New Year events at DDM.

Condolences, how old was he?

 

Not sure why he had kidney problems, and everyone dies eventually, but I think it may illustrate how being in good spiritual health may not automatically keep you in good physical health. They may be related with some crossover, but I think physical health is something you still have to work on separately as well... Being very spiritual and mental is not necessarily going to optimize you healthwise and physically.

 

This is why Bill Bodri talks a lot about detoxing and and other health practices as a separate but integral part of the ascension path. But lacking these tools, it sounds like Sheng-yen instead relied upon an "odd" combination of spiritual prayer vigils and Western allopathic medicine. Neither of which probably really hit the bull's eye though - as more holistic healing might have.

Edited February 5, 2009 by vortex

[ZenStatic]

Condolences, how old was he?

 

Not sure why he had kidney problems, and everyone dies eventually, but I think it may illustrate how being in good spiritual health may not automatically keep you in good physical health. They may be related with some crossover, but I think physical health is something you still have to work on separately as well... Being very spiritual and mental is not necessarily going to optimize you healthwise and physically.

 

This is why Bill Bodri talks a lot about detoxing and and other health practices as a separate but integral part of the ascension path. But lacking these tools, it sounds like Sheng-yen instead relied upon an "odd" combination of spiritual prayer vigils and Western allopathic medicine. Neither of which probably really hit the bull's eye though - as more holistic healing might have.

 

What? Are you serious? A thread about the passing of one of the great Chan masters of the past few generations, and you talk about some quack trying to hawk bullshit and linking to a "karma calculator"? Has all common senes been thrown out the window here nowadays?

[thelerner]

My condolences, his passing diminishes the world.

 

Here is one of his short Dharma speeches.

 

A Mind like Snow

 

Master Sheng-yen

 

In day to day living, you may find it extremely difficult to settle the mind. It might seem that the only time the mind feels settled is when there is nothing to do. When something happens, either externally or internally, or when you encounter gain or loss, the emotions are encouraged and the mind becomes disturbed.

 

Most of us wish to have peaceful, undisturbed minds and to be able to put down attachments. We may even have ideas on how to accomplish such clarity and offer our advice to others. Yet, when personal adversity strikes, often all this goes out of the window and we cannot settle our minds whatever we do.

 

Recently, I visited Arizona and noticed that much of the vegetation in the desert had needles instead of leaves. Small plants had little needles, big ones had large needles. Even some of the flowers had needles. Someone told me they serve as protection from the heat of the sun by reducing the amount of evaporation suffered by the plants. The primary purpose was not to hurt anyone. I tell you this story because we too have our needles and thorns. We need not think of them as weapons to hurt others but rather as a device to protect or conserve energy.

 

If you become disturbed, unbalanced, vexed or angry every time you encounter adversity you will undoubtedly lose a lot of energy. If you think others are wrong or the situation is wrong and you strive to avoid, reject or fix it, you will become unbalanced or distressed. Yet, before you fix it, you have already hurt yourself. First you are hurt by others, bad enough, but then you hurt yourself more by generating and clinging to negative reactions. So you receive damage twice, or even more often as the cycle repeats.

 

On the other hand, if you maintain a balanced mind then there is only the first level of damage and you no longer add damage on top of damage. Better yet, you may reach a point where you no longer view the situation as bad at all. One of the reasons why we practice is so that we can maintain an undisturbed mind at all times.

People seem to create more problems than they resolve. People who create problems have distressed minds. To them everything is problematic, and in dealing with their problems they inadvertently create even more of them. Notice how, in a traffic jam, some people lean on their horns even though they know it will not make the cars move faster, and then others honk their horns because the first honkers are annoying them. In the end everyone simply adds noise on top of noise. To me, the world often seems like this.

 

Have you noticed how quiet it is when the snow falls? It is because snow absorbs sound. There is much to learn from snow. When you encounter adversity, instead of reacting negatively, allow your mind to absorb and dissolve the problem. In this way you will be undisturbed and at peace. You need to discover how to practice in such a way that any and all problems disappear. This is an excellent method for daily life. Remember the peace that arises in snowfall and "cool it".

 

 

 

M.

[soundhunter]

Thanks for sharing that, lerner, I love the audio imagery of the snow. He was 79.