Chan Magazine Spring 2008

"The best, the genuine Dharma, is unspoken. We may talk about mind, about Buddha, about things, but these are not genuine Dharma. They are just like a finger pointing to the moon. We cannot take the moon from the sky and show it to you, so we use our finger to point to it. The aim is to see the moon and not the finger. So whatever we talk about — Buddha, mind, things — these are not what we are really looking for. And what is it that we are looking for? We can say it is our ‘original nature’ but this again is just like a finger pointing at the moon. But after you have actually seen your original nature, there is nothing to say, no need to say anything, and no way to say anything.

"This original nature of yours actually has never left you and you have never been apart from it. At this very moment, you are already there. If you have not yet discovered it, it is only because you are confused. To be enlightened means to see your original nature at this very moment.

"But it is not that simple to say that you are 'already there,' that not even a single step is needed, especially if you have never practiced. By practice we do not mean taking one step or even many steps. Practice is really the process in which the illusory 'you' of this moment becomes the genuine 'you.'"

From a Dharma talk given by Chan Master Sheng Yen at the original home of the Chan Meditation Center at 90-33 Corona Avenue in the Winter of 1980.

Contents

From the Editor

Chan Comes West
   A selection of Chan Master Sheng Yen’s earliest teachings in America

"Rising Compassion" 
   CMC’s 30th Anniversary Celebration

Walking With the Buddha 
   Photo essay by Rikki Asher

The Past 
   News from the Chan Meditation Center and DDMBA

The Future 
   Retreats, classes, and other upcoming events

Chan Center Affiliates