Meeting the True Self – 2023 Passing on the Lamp Two-Day Retreat

On January 28 and 29, the Chan Meditation Center held the Passing on the Lamp Two-Day Retreat in commemoration of the passing of Venerable Master Sheng Yen.  The retreat was led by the Director of CMC, Ven. Chang Hwa. 

I attended the first day of the retreat which was attended by 20 participants. It was my first time participating in a program on-site at CMC since the beginning of Covid.  At the beginning of the retreat, I wore a mask but soon took it off.  I was in room with silent meditators.  Our breathing gradually slowed down; I could hear the hum of the air purifier and felt the air flowing through the back door. The morning schedule included an introduction with instructions on the day's practices, 30-minute sitting meditation sessions, breaks, and 8-form moving meditation. After a vegan lunch, we continued with 45-minute sitting meditation sessions, sitting and standing yoga exercises, breaks, walking meditation, a Dharma talk, and ended with a Q&A. Venerable suggested that if we sit for longer periods at home during the weekends, we should do walking meditation. It is a method that helps us to integrate the stillness of sitting with the stillness of movement. The highest form of samadhi is the samadhi of activity.

Venerable's talk was on the topic of the six types of temperaments as described in The Path of Purification. Venerable stated that understanding the six types of temperaments helped her to understand herself as a practitioner and to understand others. The six temperaments are those of greed (desire), hatred, and ignorance, faith, wisdom, and speculativeness. The temperaments of faith, wisdom, and speculativeness are derived from greed, hatred, and ignorance respectively. When greed is transformed, it becomes faith; hatred can turn to wisdom and ignorance to speculativeness.

The temperaments of greed and anger are represented by the disciples Ananda and Mahakasyapa who are often depicted on either side of the Buddha.  The handsome Ananda exemplifies desire and faith.  When women begged to become nuns during a time when women could not become ordained, Ananda approached the Buddha on their behalf. People whose temperaments are that of greed tend to avoid discord.  They are perfectionists and enjoy beauty and the fineries of life; in previous lives, they probably lived in the heavenly realms. It is recommended that this type of person live and practice in unpleasant environments. A person whose greed becomes transformed into faith can become devout practitioners and have much faith in the teachings of the Buddha and the Pure Land and.

Mahakasyapa, another disciple of the Buddha, personifies the temperaments of hatred and wisdom. Mahakasyapa is depicted as ugly and is known for his strictness and ascetic practice. People whose temperaments are associated with hatred tend to be rule bound and dislike it when others break the rules. They may hyper focus on the faults of others, are often quick-tempered and angry, and may have lived in the hell realms before being reborn as a human. Interestingly, those who have such temperaments and practice diligently are more likely to become enlightened. Mahakasyapa became enlightened before Ananda and was the Buddha's Dharma heir.

The disciple Kshudrapanthaka is associated with the temperament of ignorance or stupidity which is transformed into speculativeness.  Kshudrapanthaka was unable to practice well; his mind was muddled and easily confused. Finally, the Buddha told him to stick with one method, to just sweep the ground of the monastery and repeat to himself that he is sweeping the ground. One day, Kshudrapanthaka asked himself if his mind ground was clean and became an arhat.  People with the temperament of ignorance may find it difficult to understand the teachings and may have been animals in previous lives. They may go to different teachers and try different methods for many years without much progress and in the end give up. These types of people should just stick to one simple method.

Participants were offered gifts of books by Master Sheng Yen, calendars, fruits, chocolates and candies for a "sweet New Year." I look forward to attending more programs in-person at CMC in the near future. Perhaps I will try to watch a little less television and read The Path of Purification.

Article by CJ

Photo by Yin Ting & CMC