Description
 
Lectures on Secrets on Cultivate the Mind
 
 
Preface 
 
What you will be studying together is the dharma instruction called Secrets on Cultivating the Mind among The Essential Scriptures of the Buddha and Patriarchs. Master Pojo, the author of Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, was a Korean monk of the Goryeo period, who lived a short life of fifty-two years from 1158 through 1210. Originally named Chǒng, his dharma name was Chinul, while his honorific dharma cognomen was "Moguja (Oxherder)." "Pojo" was his posthumous title.
 
He was known to be in delicate health as a young boy, which often made his parents concerned. One day, a Buddhist monk saw the sickly state of the boy who would become Master Pojo and recommended to the parents that he should be entered into the Buddhist priesthood, as his life could only be sustained if it was dedicated to the Buddha. Hence, he entered the Buddhist priesthood—some say at the age of eight and others at sixteen, although between the two, sixteen is the more widely accepted opinion.
 
It is said that he ardently engaged in meditation and recitation of Buddha’s names and was quite unconcerned with fame and gain. He was also meticulous and strict in character, while spending much of his time with the public. He was particularly outstanding in his studies and wrote many books, the list of which includes Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, Encouraging to Practice: The Compact of the Samādhi and Prajñā Community (Kwǒn su chǒnghye kyǒlsa mun), Straight Talk on the True Mind (Chinsim chiksǒl), The Complete and Sudden Attainment of Buddhahood (Wǒndon sǒngbullon), and Resolving Doubts About Observing the Hwadu (Kanhwa kyǒrǔi ron). The fact that among all of these, the Founding Master selected Secrets on Cultivating the Mind as the reference text for our mind practice is due to him believing that this scripture would be an important guidebook for the dharma companions of the future who would engage in mind practice.
 
There is an anecdote about Master Pojo Chinul that I would like to share. Around the time Chinul was about to enter nirvana, he told his disciples that he may not have much time left to talk to them and asked his attendant what date it was. When the attendant answered, "It’s the twenty-seventh," Chinul responded, "Oh, is it the twenty-seventh?" and changed into neat clothes. Then, he addressed the congregation, saying, "My eyes and my body are not made by the ancestors, but formed by the buddha-nature." He added, "Everyone, if you have questions, ask them now. I believe today will be your last chance."
 
You can imagine that the disciples asked all sorts of questions. One of them asked, "Is your illness different from that of Vimalakirti's in the past?" Master Pojo responded, "Have you only learned of what is different or the same?" He struck the floor three times with the dharma staff and said, "Everything is contained in this."
 
Not only is everything contained in those three strikes of Master Pojo’s dharma staff, but it is also contained in my utterance of the mere sound, "Ahh." Do you understand? I am sure those who know understand what I am trying to say.
 
Cardinal Master Chǒngsan gave a variety of lectures on Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, but among them, I will introduce one dharma word that can be the standard of interpretation: "Take the mind as the head; treat awakening to the mind as the dharma; and regard cultivation as the merit."
 
Secrets on Cultivating the Mind can be simply discussed in terms of three aspects. First is that your mind is the Buddha! What is Buddha? Well, your mind is. Who are you who is listening to this right now? It is your mind. You must be aware that your mind that is listening right now is the buddha.
 
He then goes on to discuss sudden awakening and subsequent gradual cultivation—that is, suddenly awakening to and gradually cultivating the mind. Awakening to the mind can be referred to as "seeing the nature"; he explains how one gradually cultivates the mind after seeing the nature. This idea of sudden awakening and gradual cultivation is Master Pojo Chinul’s central concept, one that any practitioner must know without fail.
 
The next is "maintaining samādhi and prajñā equally." In the realm of self-nature where the two coexist, he said, samādhi and prajñā must be cultivated equally.
 
Secrets on Cultivating the Mind is written in question-and-answer form. The sutra is structured in a format in which Master Pojo asks the questions and answers them himself. Hence, one has only to read the questions closely and study the explanation given in his answers carefully.
 
To help followers understand the doctrine, I have divided Secrets on Cultivating the Mind into five parts. Part One is titled "The Mind Is the Buddha." Part Two deals with how seeing the nature is different from having superpowers. Part Three concerns how to accomplish or practice sudden awakening and gradual cultivation. Part Four centers on how samādhi (concentration) and prajñā (wisdom) are not two separate entities, and Part Five is a section devoted to entrusting.
This is how I have roughly divided the book.
 
I took great pains in dividing the content into these five parts. I labored over what kind of narrative Master Pojo had in mind; suspecting that he probably wrote the book by setting the aforementioned five parts as a blueprint from which his story could unfold, I have decided to present this lecture accordingly.
 
This book is structured in the order of the original text, with a subsequent glossary and interpretation. I will focus on explaining the meaning of the original text, rather than clinging to the words and phrases and taking them apart, so that it could be of some help to the actual practice of awakening and cultivation.
 
 
 
Contents
 
Part One:   The Mind Is the Buddha
Part Two:   Seeing the Nature and Having Superpowers
Part Three:   Sudden Awakening and Gradual Cultivation
Part Four:   Samādhi and Prajñā Are One
Part Five:   An Earnest Request from the Teacher