Zen

Question 1

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Answer 1

In wonderful techniques are created more wonderful techniques.
Upon marvellous force is revealed further marvellous force.

Question 2

Force trg is superior to _____. Train _____. Strengthen ______.

Let mind be _____ and the heart ____.

Answer 2

Punches and kicks
Hands, legs, body, footwork, eyes
Bones, muscles, and all body parts 
Fresh 
Relaxed

Question 3

Circulation of chi is ____
Application of chi is _____
Moving forward the breath ____
Moving back _____

What’s the secret of this marvellous skill? ________

Answer 3

Circulation of chi is graceful and gentle
Application of chi is forceful and fast
Moving forward the breath shoots out
Moving back in comes the breath

What’s the secret of this marvellous skill? Correct breathing and being inwardly still

Question 4

How does one be compassionate in fighting?

Answer 4

Effectively put the opponent out of Action but without hurting him permanently

Question 5

To accomplish great attainments necessitates …

Answer 5

Great sacrifice

Question 6

Creativity and success all start…

Answer 6

With my first step

Question 7

Cleanse the dirt from your heart, _____

Only in the happiness of other people can you _____

Answer 7

Cleanse the dirt from your heart, the whole body becomes light and happy

Only in the happiness of other people can you find your greatest happiness

Question 8

How is Buddhism regarded?

Answer 8

Not as a religion.

It’s the highest teaching open to all people

Question 9

The supreme aim of Buddhism is attaining Nirvana. What is it and how can one get there?

Answer 9

Nirvana = enlightenment. when we experience reality as it really is, when, as illusion has disappeared, we become one with Reality.
Nirvana is not produced or achieved. It only means the disappearance of the fabrication of discursive thought.

The essential path is meditation

Question 10

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Answer 10

The cosmos is a body of chi. Chi has yin and yang. When it disperses it permeates all things; when it unites it becomes nebulous. When this settles into form it becomes matter. When it disintegrated it returns to its original state.

Question 11

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Answer 11

Everything in the cosmos is me; I am everything in the cosmos.

Question 12

Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. What was his answer?

Answer 12

“The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.”

Question 13

Saint Teresa: God establishes himself in ______ in such a way, that when she returns to herself, it is wholly impossible for her to ______… All that I know is that I tell the truth.

Answer 13

God establishes himself in the interior of this soul in such a way, that when she returns to herself, it is wholly impossible for her to Doubt that she has been in God, and God in her… All that I know is that I tell the truth.

Question 14

Every scripture and every prophet from the first have said the same thing:

Answer 14

We are created by a wise and loving Creator, and the special purpose of our existence is to endeavour to work our way back to Him. Our objective in life is to regain union with God.

Question 15

For the next 45 years the Buddha spread his dharma to liberated people from suffering. What do the records show he did?

Answer 15

Never uttered a harsh word
Treated all people, kings or homeless, equally and respectfully
Practise what he preached
No one could find a fault with which to condemn him

Question 16

How did the Buddha die?

Answer 16

Age 80, a devotee unknowingly offered him poisonous food. Buddha knew it was poisonous but rather than hurting the unwitting devotee, he ate it. Then went into meditation and parts away peacefully, entering the final nirvana

Question 17

What were the Buddha’s parting words to his disciples?

Answer 17

Life is transient (short); work hard for liberation.

Question 18

How is the Buddha‘a teaching beautifully summarised in his own words?

Answer 18

Avoid doing evil,
Do good,
And purify the mind.

Question 19

What is purifying the mind?

Answer 19

Not accepting on faith alone, but to the best of my knowledge and experience.

This means, at the highest level, upon attaining liberation, it is not because my teacher says so, but because I personally experience it.

Question 20

What is karma ?

Answer 20

Wherever we are now, is the result of our past thoughts, speech, and actions. We are, therefore, responsible for our own destiny

Question 21

When we are enlightened, we know that there is vast expanse of ‘empty space’ amidst _________, and that literally millions of ________ each time we breathe in and out.

We appreciate these truths not because modern science tells us so, but because we realise them when we are in deep meditation.

Answer 21

When we are enlightened, we know that there is vast expanse of ‘empty space’ amidst the atomic particles that make up the chair, and that literally millions of individual cells in our body are destroyed and created each time we breathe in and out.

We appreciate these truths not because modern science tells us so, but because we realise them when we are in deep meditation.

Question 22

To be born a human is an extremely rare opportunity, an effect is meritorious deeds done in past lives. So what?

Answer 22

So we ,as humans, must make previous use of this rare opportunity to liberate ourselves from karma and samsara, to attain nirvana, which is everlasting bliss.

This can be done through practical tools, like mudra, mantra, and mandala

Question 23

What is a mudra?

Answer 23

A particular position of the body, especially the way of holding the fingers, and is mystically related to one’s consciousness in meditation

Question 24

What is a mantra?

Answer 24

A special way of intoning, silently or aloud, a particular combination of sounds with mystical powers.

Question 25

What is a mandala?

Answer 25

A mystic design, usually of geometrical shapes, symbolising certain cosmic forces.

Question 26

In modern quantum theory, what is the empty vacuum of space?

Answer 26

It is seen as the source of all matter and energy in the physical universe.

Question 27

What are the aim of rules for monks?

Answer 27

Not to restrict monks’ freedom but to help them in their spiritual cultivation.

Question 28

🎁

Answer 28

After all, your so called external world is also a creation of your mind - A fundamental Buddhist teaching

Question 29

What is it meant by (in Zen terms) to not mistake the finger that points to the moon, as the moon itself?

Answer 29

Seek to prescient ultimate reality directly, not scriptures.

The supreme way to experience cosmic reality is through meditation.

Question 30

What is the significance of this poem:

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

Answer 30

Students will interpret this figuratively or symbolically. After zen, one realises the poet is describing his mystical experience literally

The tip of the hair, while minute at a human scale, can actually be a cosmos to even smaller beings at the subatomic level.

Time is only a human construct: in ultimate reality an hour is eternity.

Question 31

WhEre is Tao?

Answer 31

Tao is everywhere, that it is found in an ant, a weed, broken pieces of poetry, and a heap of dung!

Question 32

What is the western, scientific view of this:

Tao from the void is both an energy whole
From energy whole yin and yang unfold
Yin and yang combine to become three rings
Three rings regenerate to form myriad things

Answer 32

Tao = Source
Yin and yang = Positive and Negative

3 Rings to form myriad things = Neutrons, Protons, Electrons to form Atoms, as ultimate reality, and the laws governing them as applicable everywhere in the Universe.

Question 33

What is all that is required to achieve enlightenment? What is meditation?

Answer 33

Sit comfortably in a lotus position, close your eyes gently and keep your mind blank!

Question 34

Practising Zen is the easiest approach to enlightenment, or the most difficult - depending on one’s perspective and readiness.

Who is it easy for?

Answer 34

Those who are ready physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually

Question 35

What is spiritual readiness?

Answer 35

Having the urge to seek beyond physical needs, to find out what my origin is and what my destiny will be.

Morality is the basic requirement for all spiritual training.

Question 36

Performing charity is one of the ways to do good. What are the 3 levels?

Answer 36

Lowest = giving material aid (food, money) to the needy. 
Mid = Giving service (tending the sick and saving lives)
Highest = Giving teachings, especially spiritual (allowing lost souls to hear, learn, and be saved)

Question 37

How can one qualify to serve through teachings?

Answer 37

Being familiar with the teaching is the highest teachers. The ideal philosophy of life

Question 38

Why must I use the double lotus , or at-least single lotus for meditation, instead of cross legged or sitting upright?

Answer 38

Many people have achieved high levels, including psychic powers, using the cross or the upright.

But if I aim for the highest, I must use the lotus.

Question 39

What does focusing the mind at the dan tian (energy field at the abdomen) do?

Answer 39

Develops a tremendous amount of jing chi (vital energy). Very good for Kung Fu

Question 40

What does focusing the mind at the yin tang (3rd eye) or at the bai hui (crown of head) do?

Answer 40

Develops shen chi (spiritual energy).

Opening of the 3rd eye means psychic powers are accomplished
Opening of the Crown of the Head means the soul may get liberated from the body and becomes a heavenly saint, attaining immortality.

Question 41

What happens to an immoral person practising methods meant for spiritual development, and acquiring some psychic abilities?

Answer 41

He will inevitably ruin himself. This is a cosmic truth.

Question 42

Why does one increase wisdom, despite not understanding the sutra (or other info)?

Answer 42

The mental vibrations imprinted In one’s mind will always remain, and the wisdom will manifest when the time is ripe later in one’s life or future lives.

Question 43

What’s 1 way to protect ourselves from calamities and evil spirits?

Answer 43

Chanting a mantra

Question 44

How does a mantra work to give protection?

Answer 44

1. A mantra is a powerful concentration of spiritual energy that has been conditioned by the mental vibrations of countries chantings.
2. There are many guardian deities around who had previously benefited and would protect the person changing the mantra
3. Sends help signals to God who would respond in some marvellous ways.

Question 45

An effective method to attain a one-pointed mind involves focusing on the breath. It’s a supportive method to tame the mind, then progress to no mind meditation.

What is the method?

Answer 45

Sit lotus
Keep mind free from all thoughts and breath naturally
Gently Focus on breath in & out
Stay with the breathing
After some time I will find my mind and energy (expresses as breath) will become one unity.

Question 46

How can I deal with any disturbance in meditation?

Answer 46

Immediately tell myself that it will not harm me. Then gently keep my mind intact and continue

Question 47

Throughout the long history of the Shaolin Monastery, where did Shaolin monks spend more of their time: reciting sutras and chanting mantras OR practising Qi Gong and Kung Fu?

Answer 47

Reciting Sutras & Chanting Mantras