Quietism is Not Silent Illumination

By: Rebecca Li

Incorrect understanding of the practice of Silent Illumination can trap us in quietism. Master Dahui [Ta Hui] was particularly critical of what he called “perverted Silent Illumination,” which considers wordlessness or the absence of thought as the ultimate principle. He was referring to the tendency to associate “silence” with the lack of mental activities. This kind of silence is like the absence of ripples on a pond inside a vacuum. There is no moving air that touches the water surface, nor are there leaves falling or insects alighting on the pond. The pond is quiet. It is also lifeless.

In Silent Illumination, we are fully engaged in life. There is clarity of everything including thoughts and feelings in the present moment while our entrenched habit of reacting with vexations is not activated. This nonreactivity is the “silence” in Silent Illumination.

From: Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method

The Practice of Not Knowing

By: Rebecca Li

In Chan, there is a teaching called the “mind of not knowing.” Some people misunderstand this expression, believing it means not using the mind to think, and thus they consider Chan practice to be about not thinking. That is not what the teaching is about, nor what Silent Illumination is about, and it is not what the Buddha taught. The mind of not knowing doesn’t mean not being discerning, nor does it mean not using our analytical capacity to consider the information we receive to make sound judgments and respond appropriately to situations we encounter in life. What it means is letting go of the unhelpful habit of believing we already know what is still unfolding in the present moment, and what is going to unfold in the next moment. Remember, every moment is the coming together of causes and conditions and is brand-new. This moment has never happened before. We may have experienced similar ones, but we are now a different person, and the exact current conditions are unique. It is an erroneous view to believe that we already know this emerging moment. This belief represents our attachment to conceptual thoughts, and it blocks us from paying close attention and being fully, clearly aware of what is emerging in the present.

From Illumination: A Guide To the Buddhist Method of No-Method

The Clarity of an Autumn Pool

By: Hongzhi Zengjue (translated by Master Sheng-Yen)

Your body should sit silently; your mind should be quiescent and unmoving; and your mouth, so still that moss grows around it and grasses sprout from your tongue. Do this without cease, cleansing the mind until it gains the clarity of an autumn pool and is as bright as the moon illuminating the autumn sky.

From: Hoofprint of the Ox: Principles of the Chan Buddhist Path as Taught by a Modern Chinese Master, by Master Sheng-Yen and Dan Stephenson, and quoted in Rebecca' Li’s Illumination.

The Priceless Pearl

By: Rebecca Li

In the Tathagatagarbha Sutra there is a story of a boy whose parents sewed a priceless pearl inside his coat. Yet, the boy forgot all about it and as he grew older looked for wealth everywhere. Finding none, he could barely survive. All the while he was in possession of a priceless pearl that he could use to benefit all beings. The pearl in the story refers to our buddha-nature—our natural capacity for wisdom and compassion. It is our capacity to see clearly and act with an appropriate response according to conditions, to see the interconnectedness of all beings, and to love them unconditionally as we see clearly that loving others is no different from loving ourselves. In other words, we each have an innate capacity for wisdom and compassion. We are already fully endowed with this capacity; we are each in possession of this priceless pearl. However, our untrained mind is often too confused and agitated to see this fact and instead we keep looking outward, grasping for what we already possess.

From Illumination.

Silent Illumination -- Serene Clarity

By: Rebecca Li

The Chinese words for Silent Illumination can also be translated as "serene clarity."  It is a helpful choice of words because serene does not immediately imply no sound, which tends to be the automatic association most of us make with the word silence.  The word serene evokes tranquil, calm, unflustered, or unagitated.  Letting be.  For example, seeing thoughts and allowing them rather than pushing them away.  Think of Silent Illumination as this practice of allowing.  We can be serene about what is going on and clearly aware that there are thoughts.  We needn't fall into our compulsion to push them away or act on them; instead, we can allow the thought to be here--fully seen, heard and experienced--and move on.

From: Illumination

Silent Illumination (Shikantaza) is an Act of Compassion

By: Rebecca Li

Making the mind anything but just mind as it is, is not Silent Illumination. By just staying continuously with what is going on, with clarity, we are being truly kind to ourselves and cultivating the habit of being unconditionally compassionate to everyone we encounter.

From: Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No Method. Li is a Chan teacher and dharma heir of Simon Child, in the lineage of Master Sheng Yen.