Dharma Talk on 14/10/93
(Page 81-83 Achievement of Rainbow Light Body Volume seven)
I talked about the transcendence of greed, hatred and ignorance in the last few days. Today I am going to talk about doubt. Doubt is a common ailment among human beings. Zen Buddhism does not dispel doubt, instead it encourages students to have doubt. It is said in Zen Buddhism : "Big doubt - big enlightenment, small doubt - small enlightenment, and no doubt - no enlightenment."
Even so, Zen Buddhism does not encourage its students to have doubts on Buddhadharma. Although doubt is the key to the truth, we should not have any doubt over the Buddhadharma taught by Sakyamuni Buddha, nor our guru.
Zen Koan (Case study) is noted for its questioning techniques to find out the ultimate truth. For instance, "Who is reciting the name of Buddha ?" We will soon reach the question : "I am the one reciting. But who am I really , and where did I come from ?" Through continuous qustioning, the ultimate truth will be found.
Previously Zen masters liked to ask this question : "Where is your heart ?" By looking for our heart, we will eventually find the truth. This is how Zen Buddhism is taught.
Another example. "Who is pulling the corpse ?" By asking questions, we will soon come to ask this question : "Why am I wandering around with my physical body ?" Because of doubt, we ask more questions, eventually we will develop an insight.
In the Tantrayana School of Buddhism, doubt is turned into indestructibility. There should not be any doubt left. As human beings, most of us are full of doubts, changing our minds every now and then . We lose our confidence after a bit of setback. Doubtfulness and indecisiveness are common traits of human beings.
Today we have faith; tomorrow we are doubtful. Day after tomorrow, we regain our confidence, just to change our mind a day later. This is a vicious cycle. We have all kinds of doubt about our teachers, Buddhadharma, the law of cause and effect, and the existence of karma .....
We are taught to fully understand Buddhdharma, so as to have a self mastery of our life in Tantrayana Buddhism. In my view, this is absolutely right. We must have absolute faith in Buddhadharma, and respect our guru who transmitted the lineage to us. If we do so, our penchant for doubt will be eradicated and we will have "Zheng Liang" (Spiritual achievement).
Zen Buddhism uses questions to find the truth. Whereas Tantrayana Buddhism eradicates our doubt by means of spiritual response. When our bodies emit qi (vital energy), our meridians are cleared of blockage, and we will see the brightness. If we are able to uplift our ming-dian (Bright-spot), we will be able to solidify it and soon we will know our spiritual achievement. Once we experience this dharma taste, our confidence will be enhanced.
Using the same logic, those who always have doubts can never have attain a high level of spiritual achievement.
Human beings doubt the law of karma and Buddhadharma. Only saints and Zen practitioners go one step further to analyze the issues, and eventually they become spiritually enlightened.
We must know how to discern the two kinds of doubt:
Commoner's doubt -- cause of itinerant behavior.
Saint's doubt -- the catalyst of truth seeking.
