By Ernest Heau, Editor, Dharma Drum Publications
Excerpted from Encounter with Master Sheng Yen, IX
Entering the Path of Buddhism
As one who considered himself well-informed and a student of philosophy, I knew a little bit about Zen, which had become popular in the United States. I had a couple of small books by Dr. D.T. Suzuki, and a few popular books about Zen koans. But I had never given it thought as a path for myself, probably because I doubted my own capacity for the discipline and austerity that Zen required. But now Buddhism, or at least the idea of it, was to be my path back to sanity and my task was to find a way to become engaged.
For spiritual seekers New York is a kind of paradise. Anything you desire in the way of spiritual practice, you can find in New York. Thus, I was able to visit some Zen centers to attend meditation sessions, but did not find a teacher of whom I could say, “This is the teacher I am looking for.” On the face of it, this is a strange thing to say: How do you recognize your teacher if and when you meet him or her? At that time, this was not a question I could answer.
Eventually I heard about a Black Hat ceremony that was going to be held in New York by the Sixteenth Karmapa, leader of the Tibetan Kagyu sect, which I attended and was much impressed with. With that bit of inspiration I found – amazingly – a Tibetan practice center called Dharmadhatu, within walking distance from my apartment. It was established by the enigmatic Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche though I never saw him there. As a beginner, my practice was shamatha (following the breath), and I was greatly motivated to practice hard. I also attended my first one-week meditation retreat with that group in Vermont.
One limiting factor I found at Dharmadhatu was that I had no personal access to a teacher with authentic Tibetan training and credentials. My meditation instructor was in fact, a young American who was very nice, though just a few years from beginning Buddhist practice himself. Nor had he completed the preliminaries to be admitted to the full Vajrayana practice. From an admittedly selfish (and somewhat arrogant) point of view, I felt there was not much more I was going to learn from him after two years of steady practice and meeting some nice people.
Now this may sound like a cliché, but at this time I had some small residue of good karma that intervened. I happened to develop a nice friendship with a fellow student at the center, a young lady named Bonnie, who was a student of modern dance. I expressed to her the doubts I had, which she confessed she also had. But then she told me that her calligraphy teacher, a Chinese woman from Taiwan, knew a Chinese Zen master who had recently arrived from Taiwan. And furthermore, that he had a meditation class for Westerners in a temple in the Bronx section of New York! It took me less than ten seconds to ask her to find out how and where I could meet this teacher. Within a week she gave me the name and address of a Master Sheng Yen, who was holding Saturday morning meditation classes at the Temple of Enlightenment in the Bronx section of New York. At that moment, I breathed a deep sigh of relief, and was determined to meet this Chinese master.
Around this time, every Saturday morning I would drive up to a small airport in upstate New York in the foothills of Shawangunk Mountain (on whose other side is now the Dharma Drum Retreat Center!) to take flying lessons – as a sport, not to become a professional pilot. The very next Saturday morning after my flying lesson, I drove to the Bronx and performed a small miracle – I actually found the Temple of Enlightenment! (It is easy to get lost in the Bronx.) It was a small single-story building with a stucco façade, with bold, golden Chinese and English lettering over a wonderful moon gate.
And just as I approached the entrance, a thin bespectacled Chinese monk in a brown robe appeared at the door. Of course I had never been there before, but without a doubt in my mind, I knew this was Master Sheng Yen. He looked directly at me with a friendly, welcoming expression. I introduced myself, offering my hand. He returned the gesture, looking at me directly in the eyes. At that instant, I knew that this was going to be my Buddhism teacher. With that he welcomed me in, and without further ado I joined his class of meditation students.
For about two years, Shifu and his class remained at the Temple of Enlightenment, faithfully following their new and beloved Chan master. My memories of that period are mostly colored by a sense of excitement and adventure, a strongly held belief that this monk from Taiwan was brilliant, authentic and convincing, and that by some miracle, I was not only studying with him but also finding small ways to help him spread the Dharma. It would not at all be demeaning to call this period “lots of fun,” as we were a happy little group. This was something I had never experienced before, and it was a revelation and inspiration that thrives to this day. It is also the way many others felt, and among them are some of my closest friends today. Some Lessons on Practice from Shifu Sheng Yen
In December 1977, while still at the Temple of Enlightenment, Shifu received news that his mentor, Master Dong Chu, had suddenly passed away. This meant that he had to return immediately to Taiwan to take care of the services for his master, but also to ensure an orderly transition for the next abbot of Nong Chan Monastery, himself. Before leaving he wrote a letter to his followers. Now, reading this letter again, I can think of no better summary of what I learned about practice from Shifu, than these few lines excerpted from that letter.
“My physical presence is unimportant; the essential thing is that our minds be in correspondence…My guidance is always with you, as well as my expectations…The most important thing is for our minds to be in harmony with the words…This can only be accomplished through practice…Simply use and practice the method I have taught you and don’t think about how much progress you are making.”
（– The Chapter on “Parting Words,” Tea Words Volume One )
“The essential thing is that our minds be in correspondence.” This admonition seems to be the heart of the matter when it comes to the relationship between master and disciple. And yet it is not so easy for me to define, other than to suggest that this means one’s aspirations on the path should align with that of the teacher, without the teacher having to point out every step of their common journey together. So while there is unity and affinity between master and disciple, they are still responsible for each other yet independent. At least that would be true when the student reaches a point of maturity where he or she no longer needs to be coaxed or cajoled, or even praised and promoted.
After the Chan Meditation Center was established on Corona Avenue in Queens, Shifu held monthly retreats there. The large hall on the first floor was not ready for retreats to be held there, so Shifu held his retreats on the second floor, just large enough for about twenty participants. His early morning, daytime, and evening lectures were as usual very powerful and even better, he often sat along with us. One evening my concentration was such that I could no longer contain the energy, which rose up my spine and to the top of my skull – just like my Qigong experience – except that this time instead of it being frightening, I felt an expansive love for all beings. When I described my experience to Shifu, he asked me how I had changed. When I told him, he just quietly said, “This one has died,” turned around, and walked away. It was a comfort to learn that I was free to let go of whomever it was that died, without having to mourn him.
Today, the best way I can succinctly summarize the kind of practice I would like to follow is to cite Bodhidharma’s Four Practices: “Accept retribution, accord with conditions, seek nothing, follow the Dharma.” I am certain the Shifu would think this is a good practice which would align with his own thoughts. It would be like two people sharing the same map towards a common destination.
For myself I can only say that I fall woefully short of this standard, given the opportunities I have had since entering the Buddhist path. This is also true insofar as I felt helpless to be of more aid and comfort to Shifu in his final years. Still, I do not believe in feeling sorry for myself, but rather to use my shortcomings as a spur to help in ways I can help, and not to waste time and energy in ways I can’t help.
Perhaps a good way to see this is to imagine oneself as a child at the seashore building a sandcastle, only to have the next wave knock it down, and to laughingly start another sandcastle, knowing it too will be washed away. That would indeed be a good way to think about it.。 Gratitude and Thanks to Shifu Sheng Yen
Like the proverbial blink of an eye, it has been years since Shifu left his mortal body in 2009, to continue his eternal vow to share Buddhadharma with all sentient beings. As I started this essay I felt a moment of sadness, but I know that he did not want his disciples to dwell in sadness, but rather to renew their own vows.
During his life Shifu said, “The universe may one day perish, yet my vows are eternal.” This vow puts him in the assembly of the great sages like Samantabhadra Bodhisattva who said “…as long as beings exists, as long as karma and suffering exist, so long will my vow remain.” Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that through the power of his vows, Shifu’s transition to a next birth would be indeed brief. In his luminous past lives, he already sowed the causal conditions for buddhahood, and we can imagine there is already a young bodhisattva, full of wisdom and grace, who will one day come forward to speak Master Sheng Yen’s Dharma. To this child, we would offer our heartfelt blessings and highest hopes on behalf of a suffering world, for as long as there will be future generations who inherit Master Sheng Yen’s vow, we will not see the Dharma Ending Age.
From the time I met Shifu in front of the moon gate at the Temple of Enlightenment until his transcendence from this life, seems like a long time. But by the measure of karmic destiny, those years were, as the Diamond Sutra says, “…like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dewdrops and a flash of lightning.” Now, all the wonderful things that happened then still generate opportunities for the future of the Dharma. Those times were blessings, and in behalf of his many followers, I thank Shifu for all his kindnesses to all of us. I wish to express profound gratitude for all his gifts to those who had the good fortune, as I did, to encounter him in their lives.
Following is a verse, which I offer in homage to Shifu Sheng Yen and all the accomplished Buddhist sages of the past, present, and future.
Seven Grains of Rice
With Boundless Gratitude to Master Sheng Yen
Ernest Heau
From dawn to dusk, we live amidst illusion.
From moonrise to sunrise, life recedes in dreams.
Minute to minute, second to second,
Reality eludes the absent mind.
The real is there before us, grasp it and it flutters away;
Reach out and it vanishes.
Wiser then to pay attention to the vital breath,
Letting it come and go on its own accord.
Within every human heart there grows a seed:
Call it wisdom, call it compassion;
Never mind the name, never mind how long it takes,
Just nurture it with every breath.
Seek the teacher outside, and you step into a thicket
Sharp with thorns. Be your own teacher
And you step into a nest of hornets.
Better to befriend therefore, the Buddha who lives within.
Seeking the Buddha within, one never finds him.
Seeking the Buddha without, he is not there.
Therefore, seek not the Buddha, seek only to think, speak,
And act as a Buddha would.
Listen to the mentor’s words, and then let them go,
For ideas are like dust in the wind.
Observe instead the teacher’s life, saving the best as a sutra
For growing lotus out of mud, revealing the colors of the Dharma.
The sages speak often of the path to liberation,
Even showing us the way with patience and kindness.
And yet we wander and stumble, looking for this and that,
Not realizing we are already there.