Description
 
Commentary on the Dharma of Timeless Zen (from The Principal Book of Won Buddhism)
 
In the broad sense, Timeless Zen is a compound term that refers to Zen when we do and do not have activities, and thus is a concept that encompasses all Zen. It is a dharma of Zen that embraces not only action and rest but also walking, abiding, sitting, lying, speaking, and silence, and because Timeless Zen is a general term for the Zen dharmas performed at any time or place, all Zen dharmas ultimately converge on this dharma of Timeless Zen. In other words, the concept of this dharma of Timeless Zen includes senses of both seated meditation and placeless Zen. The spirit of the Timeless Zen dharma is, at its core, about consistent practice of Zen, without being bound by concepts of time or space. This greater principle must underlie our Zen practice from the beginning.
 
 
 
Preface
 
I was visited one day by a younger Won-Buddhist who asked me to do a commentary on the "Dharma of Timeless Zen," something along the same lines as my Commentary on the Methods of Seated Meditation. "Isn't most of that already contained in Class of the Mind?" I asked. But what this person was asking for was a commentary focused specifically on the text.
 
After seeing him off, I thought about it for a while before deciding that I could not very well turn down a rare request like that from one of my juniors. I spent a few days pondering and reverently reading the text of the dharma instruction, and I finally saw the need for a commentary and began to write. Though the text might seem ordinary in content, it contained a condensed version of everything from the beginnings of Zen to the ultimate stage. It gave only the broadest principles of the methods of Timeless Zen, so it seemed that I needed to explain at least some of the different related cases. And so it was this that I began writing.
 
In my efforts to avoid as much as possible going beyond the scope of the text, I attempted merely to flesh out a bit some of the interconnected elements and methodological practicalities.
 
Yet if you are seeking to approach the essence of this practice, I believe that you may be able to easily grasp the path of practice when you combine the Dharma of Fixed-Term Training and Dharma of Daily Training given in the Principal Book of Won-Buddhism with the Dharma of Keeping a Diary. As such, I decided simply to add some minor explanations in the hopes that readers would consult the training dharma portions of the Principal Book's "Practice" chapter for the specifics.
 
I hope that this commentary serves as a guide to beginners who are looking for the path of practice, and I hope that countless companions with the unequaled power of great enlightenment, as well as countless gifted and great bodhisattvas of the Way without form, can be produced through this, our dharma of self-cultivation.
 
 
 
Contents
 
 
Preface   •   6
 
<Text of the Dharma of Timeless Zen by Section>  •   8
 
Introduction  •  14
 
Chapter 1
Commentary on the Text  •  19
    I. The Purpose of Zen  •  20
   II. The Dharma of Mahāyāna Meditation  •  30
  III. When and Where We Can Practice Zen  •  40
  IV. The Reality of Zen  •  44
   V. The Results of Zen Practice  •  57
  VI. Prejudices Regarding Zen  •  66
 VII. The Main Principles of Zen  •  73
 
Chapter 2
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and the Nine Articles of the Essential Dharmas of Daily Practice  •  99
 
Chapter 3
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and Fixed-Term Training  •  109
 
Chapter 4
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and the Items of Heedfulness in Daily Applications  •  117
 
Chapter 5
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and the Items of Heedfulness Regarding Temple Visits  •  131
 
Chapter 6
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and the Quickest Expedient to Attaining the Three Great Powers in Both Action and Rest  •  137
 
Chapter 7
The Dharma of Timeless Zen and Internal and External Purity and Quiescence  •  141
 
Chapter 8
Timeless Zen and the Transmission Verses on Cultivating the Mind  •  147
 
Chapter 9
Timeless Zen and Resting in the Elixir Field  •  153
 
Conclusion  •  156