Being sincere and dedicated is paying back your Dharma obligation

Today on Kuan Yin day , We commemorate 49 days since Master Henry passed away. The immeasurable gift of having met a True Dharma Teacher is beyond words or symbols. In order to honour Master's benevolence and compassion, I left a virtual footprint of this rare meeting. I humbly put together these few pictures , words and scatered thoughts that i gathered over the years. In all honesty I never witnessed Master comitting to writing any teachings related to Ch'an , the simple fact that I did not speak any Mandarin or Cantonese and that english was not our first native language was very helpful to find new dimensions to how we comunicated. I do have a clear memory imprinted when after asked (fortunately because I wrote down on my Journal) a translator said Master was quoting the Wise Patriarchs of past when asked about the Prajnaparamita during Ch'an Retreat : The Perfection of Wisdom What I can tell you is not esoteric. If you turn your light inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within. To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the essence of mind. Those who train themselves for imperturbability should, in their contacts with all types of men, ignore the faults of others. As to the dharma, [teaching, path] this is transmitted from heart to heart, and the recipient must realize it by his own efforts. All depends on self-practice...

Bowing with Respect Jorge

A True Dharma Master from Korea, Master Mangong once said : I have been teaching Ch'an -Zen- Seon students on this mountain for almost forty years. Many people come to visit me thinking they are visiting a Zen Master but they only see my form body, the house where my true nature lives. They don’t see my true nature. That is not a problem but it means that they have not seen their true nature. Because they haven’t seen their true nature, they cannot see their parents, siblings, wife, and children, or anybody. They wander through life in vain, like a crazy person. We have to say that this is truly a world of darkness. Students who receive my teaching must do it with sincerity and dedication, not forgetting the methods I used. Ultimately, being sincere and dedicated is paying back your Dharma obligation, so you will not waste your practice or suffer a mental loss. By Seon - Ch'an - Zen Korean Master *ManGong 1871~1946 *Mangong left behind not a single written work. The only thing left to us were his Seon teachings given to his many disciples. However, his disciples compiled a volume of his dharma talks, and from this we can catch a glimpse of Mangong’s thought. In order to ascertain this "true self," Master Mangong stressed that we must practice Seon-Ch'an, Zen meditation. Therefore, he exerted all of his energy leading his disciples in proper Seon-Ch'an, Zen practice. It is perhaps because of this, and also because of the dangers inherent in the tendency for the meanings of words and letters to become fixed, that Master Mangong left behind no written works. Therefore, he settled upon the "observing the hwadu" Hua Tou method of Seon, Ch'an , Zen, meditation that totally rejects theory and speculation and observes with the spirit of “no discriminating mind,” .

Master Henry passed away suddenly at the Sunshine Ch'an Temple on the Sunshine Coast

All this decay. A Buddha can only point the way. Become a lamp unto yourself. Work out your salvation. Strive on diligently...Growing old is the dharma of all composite things." Buddha Shakyamuni Ashvagosha, 'Buddhacarita,' XXVI, 83-6, 88-106 reads: “Thereupon the Buddha turned to his Disciples, and said to them: 'Everything comes to an end, though it may last for an aeon. The hour of parting is bound to come in the end. Now I have done what I could do, both for myself and for others. To stay here would from now on be without any purpose. I have disciplined, in heaven and on earth, all those whom I could discipline, and I have set them in the stream. Hereafter this my Dharma, 0 monks, shall abide for generations and generations among living beings. Therefore, recognize the true nature of the living world, and do not be anxious; for separation cannot possibly be avoided. Recognize that all that lives is subject to this law; and strive from today onwards that it shall be thus no more ! When the light of gnosis has dispelled the darkness of ignorance, when an existence has been seen as without substance, peace ensues when life draws to an end, which seems to cure a long sickness at last. Everything, whether stationary or moveable, is bound to perish in the end. Be ye therefore mindful and vigilant! The time for my entry into Nirvana has now arrived. These are my last words!' , [Source: Edward Conze, in Conze (ed.), “Buddhist Scriptures” (Penguin Books, 1959), pp. 62-4

Video Master Henry meditating at the top of the Sunshine Cha'n Temple Recording Master Henry playing the conch at the Sunshine Ch'an Temple September 10- 2010