This is an English translation of Nan Huai Jin’s ‘Anapana Lecture Compilation’ book. Please note that my translations are amateur and you need to do your own research, do not believe what I write here and please test it out for yourselves. This is important so that his genuine teachings are preserved. I welcome any corrections if you spot any.

This is Section 3, continued from Section 1  and Section 2.

~ Section 3 ~

Chapter 1

Explanation of Six Wondrous Doors

 

Talking about the cultivation method and theory, now let us talk about the typically popular Six Wondrous Doors: Counting-Xi, Following-Xi, Xi-cessation, Watching/Vipasanya, Returning, Purification. The explanation from later generations have splitted away, becoming different from the original Hinayana Agama Sutra. Talking about the Six Wondrous Doors, now the Chan/Zen sect that is popular in Japan and the entire world, is still revolving around doing gong-fu in the Six Wondrous Doors, still in Counting-Xi, very few have gongfu to actually reach Following-Xi. I do not dare say I have traveled the entire world, but at least I have been to Japan, America and even Europe, this is what I understand to be the majority.

When the Buddha-Dharma talks about cultivation, it firstly talks about starting cultivation with promising method/dharma, this is talking about theory. What is ‘promising method/dharma’? It is using your actual body/life, using the physical world, the physiological aspect, to start to cultivate the chu-ru-xi (exhale-inhale-xi) method. This was passed on to China after Shakyamuni. This Six Wondrous Doors which has been poopular for one or two thousand years, exactly how many people have used this Dharma-Door to attain achievements? From my lifetime’s experience, I am very regretful to tell everyone, I have not seen a single one. As far as it is popular in the entire world, it is the same, especially in Japan’s Zen sect or Soto sect.

This Six Wondrous Doors, Shakyamuni Buddha did not talk about in detail. Who talked about it? It is our sangha-brothers, the 500 Arahants, it is a method that they have raised from their own cultivation experience. When we study it we find out, the Buddha also talked about the Dharma-Door of chu-ru-xi (exhale-inhale-xi), but he did not explain very much on it, because the generation back then was different. I often laugh when you all learn Buddhism and know how to pray to Bodhisattvas, but none of you pray to Arahants, the Arahants are the ones who deserve prayers! Who are the Arahants? They are the refuge monks who have taken refuge in the Three Treasures. These Arahant monks, are all with attainments from leaving their homes. Su Dongpo only prayed to the Arahants, he prayed with such fervor, he really knows his stuff. Arahants are holy/senior monks, monks who leave their homes to attain the Dao, also called sage monks.

The Damo Chan Jing (Dharmatrata Dhyana Sutra) talked about a bit of the Six Wondrous Doors, but it is not the main Dharma-Door; At that time when it was passed down, there was no detailed classification, it was only mentioned a bit. Why? This is the question. Finding the origin, Buddha in the Hinayana scriptures, especially the Agama Sutras, once mentioned this Dharma-Door. Following the original words of the Buddha, Buddha mentioned this Dharma-Door in the Agama Sutra. Following the original words of the Buddha, Buddha, in the Agama Sutras, said “When Xi/breath is long, know it is long; When Xi/breath is short, know it is short; When Xi/breath is cool, know it is cool; When Xi/breath is warm, know it is warm”. This is what he taught his disciples, but he only talked about “long, short, cool and warm” only. At that time the great Arahants and holy monks, and those ancestors, because their wisdom (prajna) was high, they understood easily, not like us who are so stupid.

Chapter 2

Transformation of Rupa-Body

“The Six Wondrous Doors” is the cultivation of the transformation of the rupa (form/se/color) body. It is an extremely basic transformation method for this flesh body that is birthed from our parents. However I am lamenting, it has circulated until now for one or two thousand years, those who have cultivated and really verified through experimentation, there is not a single one in ten thousand people. You might know the theory, but it is all playing with intellect, it is absolutely useless.

Why does cultivation first transform one’s own rupa (form/se/color) body? You must remember Buddha’s last advice in the Surangama Sutra! “Birth because there is consciousness”, when our lives rebirthed, in the 12 nidanas (pratītya-samutpāda-anga), Ignorance (Avidyā/no-brilliance/wu-ming) causes Sankhara (mental-conditioned-formations/xing), Sankhara (mental-conditioned-formations/xing) causes Consciousness. It is the Xin (heart-mind) consciousness and jing-shen that combines with matter/materiality. It is also the combination with the Five elements of earth, water, fire, wind and akasa/space to form the body. The second saying “Death comes from eliminating rupa”, rupa refers to earth, water, fire, wind and space, material physics, matter/materiality, physiology. If you want to cultivate on the path, you must let the body return to the realm-sphere(alambana) of becoming a Buddha, and must transform the flesh-body.

Below it says “Sudden realization of the principle, awakening held fast (乘悟并销)” (T/N: unsure how to translate this), these principles must rely on sudden awakening, suddenly understanding; After you understand then you can hold fast to awakening (乘悟并销). Just now a student said, Amitabha is empty. It is as if he understood the principle, but in reality not the slightest bit. Below two sayings, “matters are not suddenly eliminated”, gong-fu is step-by-step, matters refer to gong-fu. It is not that you understand the principle and the rupa (form/se/color) body can be emptied. Can you empty it? Therefore it is not reached just by knowing. “Because sequence to greatest extent”, it is cultivated step-by-step, the rupa (form/se/color) body must also be step-by-step cultivated before it can be transformed.

Chapter 3

The Secret of Counting Xi

Regarding the Counting-Xi of the Six Wondrous Doors, there is a secret, I will now tell you all the secret. Towards you all, I am just generously giving you Dharma, if you learn from the Esoteric Sect it will be desperate, you need to kowtow so many times, make many offerings, and still require so many standards; Eventually they only tell you after a year or half. I am not like this, whatever I know, are what the ancestors left for us, it is for all humans under the skies. If I know anything, I will definitely publicise it without apology. I do not like holding back and not passing to people, I believe it is immoral. You must pay attention to this type of spirit, wanting to benefit other people, this is the objective of cultivating the Dao.

Buddha has a secret, when you are counting-xi, what are you counting? At what time do you count? Due to people’s greed and selfishness, many count “one” when the breath is coming in, this is doing qigong, not cultivating the Dao. Buddha told you that genuinely cultivating the Dao is counting the exhalation, paying attention to the out-breath, I have now told you this secret. The secret Buddha revealed, everyone who reads the sutra cannot understand, but I easily see it. Seeing this saying, at that time I prostrated to the Buddha, saying, you have already advised the later generation of people, however the later generations do not cultivate, then there is nothing that can be done.

Cultivating Nirvana/Nibbana is paying attention to the out-breath. How to count the out-breath? When the Qi/air enters and leaves, you must take everything, even your life, all frustrations, pains and things, and release it together with the out-breath. Especially if you catch a cold and are sick today, or your body has a tumor or cancer, just let them all follow the out-breath, when they exit they are all emptied. If you count Xi like this, immediately the body will become relaxed. Try this for a minute before I continue.

This is not theory, try it yourself, you need not necessarily sit in lotus-pose, any posture is possible. Afterall, you originally have exhaling-and-inhaling. Pay attention to the out-breath, and let thoughts follow the breath naturally out, all frustrations and pains, all karmic hindrances, when they are exhaled they disappear. After exhaling, what comes in is pure, when it enters inside of you it then becomes dirty, oxygen that enters becomes carbon dioxide, then exhale the carbon dioxide, and all sicknesses disappear. Therefore, you must pay attention to the out-breath, not the in-breath.

Those who typically cultivate qigong, when preparing to train, inhale and shut the breath inside, this is courting death! Those who practice martial arts have this habit even worse, I see a lot of Shaolin martial arts with this habit. Eventually it must still go out anyway. Eventually “Hey!”, Qi exits and then you can generate power. Because the typical person doesn’t understand, they struggle to inhale air and shut it in. The real power of “emptiness” is even bigger than the power of “having”. Poor people are even more ruthless than rich people, isn’t it? Therefore it is wrong when you try to retain the breath when it comes in. Now you should know the basic step of Counting-Xi.

Chapter 4

Restrict Your Thought Yi-Consciousness

When cultivating sitting meditation, why do you bother about your qi/breath? I ask you to first recognize your own exhaling-and-inhaling, one entering one leaving, matching the Xin (heart-mind) and exhaling-and-inhaling. Thoughts and exhaling-and-inhaling are two different things! When life rebirthed, they split apart. You see people living to 50 years old, becoming old. They are regularly breathing, but yet do not even know what exhaling-and-inhaling is! Not to even mention knowing the relationship between exhaling-and-inhaling and your thoughts. You do not bother about it, only your Yi-consciousness with thoughts is messily running about, isn’t it like that? Buddhism has a saying, which is taking that Xin (heart-mind) which gallops and seeks externally, using the Qi of our own body, the Wind Element, as a rope, to pull back the recklessly-running Xin (heart-mind), so as to match with the Qi.

How to pull it? You of course do not know how to pull, that is why you must firstly “count Xi”, firstly counting your own exhaling-and-inhaling, qi/breath coming in and going out, count one, then two… actually at this moment you are using three Xin (heart-mind). You know that “counting” is the projection of Xin (heart-mind), when the Xin (heart-mind) is matched as one with the Qi/breath, this is one Xin (heart-mind) in use; At the side there is still a shadow (Xin) which is checking whether the count is done right, the second Xin, which is done by oneself; Then the third Xin is a function of supervision. At this moment you do not have any messy thoughts, and are correctly counting. Look at how powerful your Xin (heart-mind) is! Therefore in the temple statues of Bodhisattvas they have four faces, showing that they are able to see four directions. The Buddha statue represents your Xin (heart-mind), the capability of our Xin (heart-mind) is simultaneously seeing in all four directions.

Taoists understand Shakyamuni’s cultivation of the chu-ru-xi (exhale-inhale-xi) Dharma-Door. There is an analogy called “Vanquishing Dragons and Tigers”, which is to tie-up the thoughts. Thoughts are like the flying birds, chaotically flying about, and you cannot control it yourself. When thoughts come you don’t know where they come from, and you don’t know where they go to; If you place your attention focused on the exhaling-and-inhaling, then thoughts will be pulled back by you.

However do not intentionally do exhaling-and-inhaling, the coming and going of the exhaling-and-inhaling in our nose, you do not normally notice it. Now when you sit in meditation you do not need to bother about anything, if you can hear it that’s even better. If you cannot hear then you can feel the exhaling-and-inhaling’s coming in and going out, coming in and going out. Feel it a bit, feeling is second. When thoughts run off, you know that the Xin (heart-mind) and the qi/breath has separated, and quickly pull the Xin (heart-mind) back. Therefore Taoists use the comparison of the integration of male and female, dual cultivation of Yin and Yang, tantamount to a male and female joining together. Taoists say Yin and Yang match together, and in the middle there is a matchmaker, the matchmaker is “Yi (6th sense)”; It is that Yi-consciousness which pulls the exhaling-and-inhaling and thoughts together. However do not be overly focused, exhaling-and-inhaling naturally comes and goes by itself. Once you sit in meditation do not care about anything else, and your Yi-consciousness just notices this exhaling-and-inhaling. Thoughts and exhaling-and-inhaling join together and will not chaotically run around, the method is very simple.

Chapter 5

How to Count Xi

Many typical people cannot do it, that si why Buddha asks you to “Count”. How to count? You know exhaling-and-inhaling is going out, you notice that it has went out, and then came back. One entry and one exit is called one Xi/breath, so you count ‘one’; Again it enters and exits, count ‘two’; Again it enters and exits, count ‘three’; Remember this count. If the exhaling-and-inhaling enters and exits, one, two, three, four… ten, reaching ten, there is still a method, if you cannot count further, on another breath count ‘nine’, then ‘eight’ and so on. If you count until ‘three’, but suddenly think of something else, then it is not counted, and you need to restart. If you count to ‘six’, and again there is another thought, not counted, restart the count, this is the Dharma-Door of Counting-Xi.

However if you think about it, our exhaling-and-inhaling is originally entering and exiting since we were born, it is originally there, isn’t it? At the same time we also have another function, feeling whether or not we are noticing the exhaling-and-inhaling. Aiyo! “Not right, another distraction!” There is this function, isn’t that right? This Xin (heart-mind) has three functions. Therefore when we reprimand people using the saying “Don’t have three minds (Xin) and two yi (intentions)”, when three minds join with two yi it becomes five. Five Xin (heart-mind) return back to one. You just have to pay attention to exhaling-and-inhaling, without using too much exertion, naturally relaxed, wherever the exhaling-and-inhaling goes you do not bother, however you will feel it. If thoughts follow the exhaling-and-inhaling down to the stomach area, or to other places, these are all distractions/delusions, because the Xin (heart-mind) is not matched as one with the breath.

Some Chan samadhi books tell you “Eyes watch nose, nose watches Xin (heart-mind)”. Those who follow this cultivation then place their eyes on the nose tip, lowering their heads, this is wrong, because it will lead to mental illness, the Qi to the brain is blocked. Actually it is just telling you not to watch externally, just pay attention to the exhaling-and-inhaling at the nostrils. The beginning step of exhaling-and-inhaling is exiting and entering at the nostrils, matching together with the Xin (heart-mind), this is called “Eyes watch nose, nose watches Xin (heart-mind)”. It is not abiding at that area, it is matching with the Xin (heart-mind) to become tranquil. When this becomes tranquil you will have feelings.

If exhaling-and-inhaling comes in, it is as if it cannot go down, only stopping at the lung area. Or wherever it is uncomfortable, it will have a lot of problems. We will slowly discuss this, firstly understand what is Counting-Xi, in total there are six points. Counting-Xi is first, Following-Xi is second, Xi-cessation is third, Watching/Vipasanya is fourth, it is not Watching Xi. Cessation, Watching, Returning and Purification… Actually we should say Counting-Xi, Following-Xi, Xi-cessation, Watching/Vipasanya of Xi, Returning of Xi, Purification of Xi. However he removed the ‘Xi’ word behind, this became a problem.

Chapter 6

Counting and Following

I will repeat the objective of Counting-Xi, when you sit in meditation to count Xi, one two three, why do you count? What can count is the Xin (heart-mind), the exhaling-and-inhaling does not care whether you count it or not, it has absolutely no relationship with the counting. However you borrow this exhaling-and-inhaling to help pull the Xin (heart-mind) back, to match with the exhaling-and-inhaling. Everyone who cultivates the Dao, are struggling to count Xi, I ask if learning Buddhism is learning how to do accounting? Exhaling-and-inhaling is birth-and-death Dharma, it comes in and goes out, when it goes out it is definitely empty, so why would you count what is empty? But why did the Buddha ask you to use Counting-Xi? Because your Xin (heart-mind) cannot be pulled back, therefore you use the coming and going of exhaling-and-inhaling as a tool, to pull the Xin (heart-mind) back. When the Xin (heart-mind) is pulled back you no longer have to count! After counting what do you do? Follow.

The second step is Following-Xi. You already know the coming in and going out of the exhaling-and-inhaling. When coming in, know that it is coming in; When it is going out, know that it is going out. Those thoughts at the side, you do not have to care about them. It is like the saying by a Chan sect Patriarch “Dragon holds the pearl, swimming fishes do not care”. Understood? As long as the Xin (heart-mind) is one-pointed/single, you do not need to bother about the thoughts/distractions at the side. “Dragon holds the pearl, swimming fishes do not care” – this saying, you can borrow it for the initial step. Are you one-pointed? Once you are one-pointed you then Follow Xi. When qi/breath comes in, the Xin (heart-mind) knows that the breath has come in. Why even care where it goes to? You will have a feeling of it though.

When this qi/breath enters, Chuang-Tze said: “Most people’s breath reach the throat”. Normal people’s exhaling-and-inhaling only reach the chest and lung areas, or if the body is not good it only reaches the throat. “The real human’s Xi reaches the heels”, those who attain the Tao, with gong-fu, when the breath comes in, it goes down to the soles. To honestly relate to you an experience, when doing exhaling-and-inhaling, i do not feel that my body has exhaling-and-inhaling, however the soles and toes have the breath, at all the four limbs. If the qi/breath is long then life will be long, if the qi/breath is short then life will be short. This is called Following-Xi. When you see Beijing Opera singing Kunqu opera, the lady and the scholar, arrive together; Coming together, this is Following-Xi. No need to use effort/exert, do not bother about a few false-thoughts/distractions, these you already know they are there anyway! Once you know about them then they have already disappeared, therefore you only care about the Xi/breath, and that’s it. This should be understandable! This is the second of the Six Wondrous Doors, Following-Xi. Today I revealed another secret, when you count Xi in cultivating Six Wondrous Doors, I often tell you all not to count anymore, just directly follow Xi and it is okay.

Chapter 7

The State of Xi-Cessation (Shamatha)

In what way is it considered as Xi-cessation? When you see other people’s exhaling-and-inhaling, just now I talked to you all about sleeping, when you are careless, there will be exhaling-and-inhaling. This body is so mysterious, when you sit in lotus pose, not caring about anything, just like the fish is in the water exhaling-and-inhaling, sucking in through the mouth, pushing out from the two fins from the sides. You see these fishes pushing and pushing (through fins), but somtimes you see the mouth does not move, not pushing water anymore. We are also the same, when the exhaling-and-inhaling enters and exits through the nose, when it reaches tranquil one-pointedness, exhaling-and-inhaling does not move anymore, it is as if there is no exhaling-and-inhaling, this is Xi-cessation.

Reaching Xi-cessation, your mind realm-sphere (alambana) will become naturally and especially tranquil. Good, then at this moment you will subconsciously notice sensations; However you do not pay attention to/focus on the sensations! Qi/Breath is originally empty anyway! If you feel that it is too “filling”, then perhaps using the nose or mouth, exhale it out; release it completely, and it is empty, and you do not bother about the body. When the qi/breath is filled, the thoughts will also cease, the internal transformation of the body will be large.

In the past when I led troops, when I went to inspect them at night, I had an experience. Anyone who snores, their exhaling-and-inhaling is verry rough, and he never sleeps well; Even though they have slept, actually their brains are dreaming. Genuinely sleeping well, you will feel that there will not be the slightest exhaling-and-inhaling, not the slightest that you can hear, for approximately one minute, at this moment it was genuine sleep, this is called Xi-cessation. Therefore when people’s brains are quietened to the extreme, the coming and going of exhaling-and-inhaling will seem like it has stopped, this is called Xi-cessation; In the middle of exhalation and inhalation there is a period of Xi-cessation.

Following the study of science, a person sleeps for six to eight hours at night, however they do not genuinely sleep, it is the left and righ brain parts that are resting, inside there are still thoughts. Therefore every person can be said to be dreaming, however they forget when they have woken up. Those who study Dharmalaksana/Yogacara will know, genuinely sleeping for that one ksana (moment of time), without dream or thoughts, is genuine Xi-cessation, and that sleep will not exceed an hour. Therefore people who do sitting meditation, reaching tranquility in mind and body, if there is Xi-cessation for an hour or half and hour, you will not be able to finish the vitality in a day, this is genuine recuperation/rejuvenation.

However the middle of an exit and entry is very short, you cannot differentiate clearly, that period of tranquility is very fast. Taking machine physics as an analogy, it is like the engine is going “ga-la-ga-la-ga-la”, you hear that there is a space between the first and second sound, which is an extremely fast ksana/moment of time; In the middle of an exit and entry of exhaling-and-inhaling, there is a period, which is genuine Xi (Zhen Xi).

There is a female Immortal in Taoism, it is Cao Bin’s granddaughter, she left home to attain the Dao, her name was Female Immortal Chao Wen Yi. She had a song about cultivating the Dao, which can be on an equal par with the Yong Jia master’s “Song of Verifying Dao”, called “Song of Spirit Origin Great Dao”. Inside it talked about the body/life’s foundation, which was very good, “the stem of life is in genuine Xi”. The stem of this life/body, is in the space between an exit and entry, the period of Xi-cessation. This genuine Xi in between one exit and entry, is where the life of all sentient beings is.

Chapter 8

The Six Word Secret

Cultivating the Shamatha-vipasanya of the Six Wondrous Doors, the Six Word Secret is very important: “he” (pronounced ‘her’), “hui” (pronounced “her-way”), “hu” (pronounced “who”), “chui” (pronounced “ch-way”), “xi” (pronounced ‘see’), “ss”ss” (pronounced like a hissing sound). Is this from Buddhism or Taoism? Until now this has not been made clear. This is talking about knowledge. How about its usefulness? Extremely useful, these six word sounds are exceptionally effective.

When saying “he” (pronounced ‘her’), the throat does not make any sound. When you cultivate Anapana, if you feel like your chest and heart area is uncomfortable, use the “he” (pronounced ‘her’) word. This sound comes from the heart…… after you say “he” (pronounced ‘her’), close the mouth, and then the qi/breath will naturally come back in. After doing the “he” (pronounced ‘her’) for a few times, the qi will be opened/unblocked in the chest and heart area, and the sicknesses also are expelled.

The sound of “hui” (pronounced “her-way”) is the combination of “her” and “way”, this is related to the liver.

“hu” (pronounced “who”) is for problems of the spleen and stomach, use the word when digestion is not good. The shape of the mouth while doing this sound, you see how it is done. (Teacher demonstrates)

“chui” (pronounced “ch-way”) is for the kidneys, when the waist here is uncomfortable, the Qi is blocked, then use the “chui” (pronounced “ch-way”) word. But do not make any sound, the mouth is like a wind-instrument or a flute, use one breath to blow out the sicknesses in the waist and kidneys. When you blow it out completely, the mouth closes, and let it naturally breathe. After once or twice, this area relaxes.

What sound is “xi” (pronounced ‘see’)? When people are happy how do they laugh? “see-see, see-see”, it is this sound, which opens up the Triple Burner.

“ss” (pronounced like a hissing sound) is using the sound of Cantonese, Minnan is also okay, the mouth is stretched to the sides widely. This is related to the lungs. These six word sounds are very important, therefore it belongs to the Dharma-Door of Anapana chu-ru-xi (exhale-inhale-xi).

You all rarely see real Buddhist monasteries, the big temples in China, like the Ning-Po Heavenly Child Temple, Ashoka Temple, or the Chang-Zhou Tian-Ning Temple. I do not know if they are still there or not. The real architecture of Buddhist monasteries, represent the methods of cultivation. When you enter the doors, in front there are two generals with “heng” and “ha” in the hall. The “heng” sound is using the nose to make sounds, “ha” is using the mouth to make sounds. Why do you firstly see these two generals when you enter a Buddhist monastery? They refer to Anapana, the function of exhaling-and-inhaling. After these two “heng” and “ha” generals in the hall, deeper inside are the Four Heavenly Kings, representing two eyes and two ears. You can also say they are the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. In the middle there is a big-tummy Maitreya Bodhisattva, laughing heartily. It is hard to laugh in human life, but when you do the entire Qi/breath becomes unblocked, doesn’t it? The Buddhist monasteries cultivated it well, and are completely telling us the cultivation method through the symbols.

Behind Maitreya Bodhisattva is Dharma Protector Wei-tuo Bodhisattva. Further into the big hall is Shakyamuni Buddha, with the three bodies of Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya sitting there. Turning around in the great hall, the back is Guan-shi-yin Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara), entering the world after attaining the Dao, going back into the sea of suffering to save sentient beings. Two rows next to Shakyamuni Buddha are the Eighteen Arahants, or the Four Great Bodhisattvas, as a complete set. Real great Buddhist monasteries, use the Buddhist statues to tell people the cultivation method, the path of cultivation is very clear. Everyone doesn’t understand, they take the statues as idols to respect. In reality it is telling you firstly cultivate Anapana, the two generals of “Heng” and “Ha”.

Chapter 9

Watching/Vipasanya, Returning, Purifying

“Watching/Vipasanya”, what is it? After Xi-cessation, you know that your own exhaling-and-inhaling has quietened. Even though it has not been completely stilled, there is a breath after a long period, while you still know it, but do not bother with it, at this moment this is Watching/Vipasanya. The so-called knowing, is already Watching/Vipasanya, you do not need to try to have another kind of watching. You know your own state, isn’t this already watching? Then what kind of problems will you have? You observe that, why doesn’t the Qi/breath go down past the chest? The back is uncomfortable! This is all watching, you see it. At this moment what should you do? You observe that your own back is painful and sore, as if the liver is uncomfortable, is it that you have gotten an illness? Your doubts and suspicions start to arise. However do not pay attention to them, at this moment it is best to intentionally emphasize, not at the nose anymore. The important part is at the uncomfortable area, and hold steady at that area without moving.

“Returning”, it is following this way of cultivating as above, and when the gong-fu is reached, it is as if the nose’s exhaling-and-inhaling has stopped, and the body internally and completely transforms, where does it return to after transformation? You see that the Six Wondrous Doors has turned towards the direction of the emptiness of prajna (wisdom), watching of emptiness, watching of illusion/fakes, bringing everyone towards that path. Obviously Six Wondrous Doors is a Hinayana cultivation method, it is gong-fu, so where does it return to really? It actually means returning to not exhaling-and-inhaling, which is what Lao Tzu says about being “like an infant”, returning into the mother’s womb, or the exhaling-and-inhaling state when an infant just comes out of the womb, “returning” means going back to that state.

“Purification”, then the exhaling-and-inhaling becomes purified, and the false-thoughts are purified. When false-thoughts are purified, will there be no more thinking? Wrong.

Because your brain already knows, this is called Watching/Vipasanya, it is not using your eyes to see, it is using the Xin (heart-mind) to watch! It is the Yi-consciousness that knows. When it is Returning and Purification, the false-thoughts and delusions are much fewer, the Xin (heart-mind) and qi/breath are one-pointed. Firstly samadhi there, and the transformation of body and mind will be extremely fast. Then when the body’s internals becomes rejuvenated, qi will swell up, this is “returning”. If you hunch your back and are sleepy, then it is wrong.

What we talked about today is the first step of first steps, it is not that I do not tell you all, but because you all do not have the slightest understanding, so how could I talk about it? Now you all can try, you will reach it in a short time. However when you reach it, don’t think that the Buddha-Dharma is just this little bit! This is asking you recognize the first step. However when you reach this first step, your vitality comes, you no longer think of sleeping, at the start your body moves here and there when sitting there, because the body’s qi is not rejuvenated/filled; when you reach this step, the qi is filled, and you do not move just like a mountain.

However you will find a phenomena, high blood pressure, the head swelling, and being unable to sleep, therefore there is a step by step realm-sphere(alambana), and each step has a treatment method. Once you know, improvement will be fast. However, in typical cultivation of Shamatha-vipasanya, cultivating of Anapana exhaling-and-inhaling, you let the exhaling-and-inhaling of the nose subconsciously be led downwards, being directed all the way down. And then you concentrate on the Yi-consciousness, feeling that you no longer have a relation with the nose anymore. (T/N: Master Nan is explaining the wrong way to do it) From the nose to the throat, it is all natural exhaling-and-inhaling, it is not something you use intention to train, be absolutely careful of this.

However, you will have to sit in proper posture, to let the body view (or ‘seeing of the body’) be discarded. Buddha asked you to Nian/be mindful of (sati) Ten Dharma-Doors: Mindfulness of Buddha, Mindfulness of Dharma, Mindfulness of Sangha, Mindfulness of Discipline/Refraining, Mindfulness of Giving, Mindfulness of Heaven, Mindfulness of Anapana, Mindfulness of Resting, Mindfulness of Body, and Mindfulness of Death. You must be clear on this, Buddha placed “Mindfulness of Death” as the last one, but actually once in sitting meditation you see yourself as dead. This flesh-body is still without moving, then you directly enter into Anapana, reaching in just a bit. Why do you still care about this body!

Chapter 10

The Question of the Six Wondrous Doors

I told you the important point at the beginning, which is to cultivate chu-ru-xi (exhale-inhale-xi). I have also told Gu Dao (T/N: a name of a person in the crowd) from Shaolin Temple: Especially Gu Dao, when he was young he went everywhere asking for Dao and seeking from teachers, even shaving his head and eating vegetarian, seeking a lot. For Gu Dao, it is not that he originally did not have diligence in cultivation, he just walked the path of the Tientai Sect to cultivate Dhyana samadhi. The Tientai Sect’s path is the Six Wondrous Doors, the Six methods, the small Shamatha-vipasanya Six Wondrous Doors. Therefore I discussed a specialized class to the ancient-path people, because they do study cultivation. As for people without experience, I do not tell them.

The ancient-path, you all should take notice, the small Shamatha-vipasanya Six Wondrous Doors, is Great Master Zhi Yi extracting out a cultivation method from the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and Damo Chan Jing (Dharmatrata Dhyana Sutra). Tientai Sect was established a little later than the Chan sect, but they are almost in the same period, two aspects separated. Great Master Zhi Yi had cultivation attainments himself, after writing this method out, this small Shamatha-vipasanya Dharma-Door became distributed to the world. Until now, the small Shamatha-vipasanya has turned from Hinayana to Mahayana. I am very blunt when giving critique, this is all extremely harming/misguiding cultivators, causing the people who cultivate the Six Wondrous Doors small Shamatha-vipasanya, to not be able to complete them, not a single person has had an attainment. Gu Dao! Did I say this? Teacher Gu Dao: Yes.

How brazen of me! Only I dared to face Dharma Master Xuanzang’s translation of Dharmalaksana/Yogacara and Great Master Zhi Yi, and publically give critiques, I completely swept him away with critiques. Therefore I say that when you all look at the Tientai Sect, for two to three generations there were only three people who succeeded. Later on, Great Teacher Yong Jia firstly cultivated the Tientai Sect, but after he awakened he walked the path of the Chan sect. After he awakened to Dao he invited the Sixth Patriarch to seal and verify. The “Yong Jia Chan Collection” he wrote, completely revealed the method of the Tientai Sect. He was very outstanding, therefore the genuinely outstanding disciple in the Chan sect is Great Teacher Yong Jia, you can also say he is the number one person.

When I say this Six Wondrous Doors has a problem, did I mean that Great Master Zhi Yi had a wrong? He was not wrong. He had great compassion and mercy, he sorted out the method of Anapana, making it as the cultivation of Samadhi to enter the Dharma-door. However it immediately got changed to Mahayana. Because he was afraid of typical people who solely cultivated Anapana, cultivating until they had siddhis (superpowers), going into outside paths; Having Deva-Eye Siddhi (Clairvoyance), Deva-Ear Siddhi, Telepathy Siddhi, Predestination Siddhi, and even siddhis that allow people to fly up into the sky. When the five siddhis (superpowers) come, the wisdom (prajna) becomes hindered, and you will not achieve supreme enlightenment. Therefore he turned it to Mahayana, making it as three Shamatha steps and three Watching/Vipasanya steps. However after he did this, the attainments of cultivation people became much fewer.

Now the Six Wondrous Doors should not be touched, why did I write a book called “Tao and Longevity”? This was to disrupt those who cling onto the Six Wondrous Doors, breaking the clinging of the meditation methods of “Yin-Shi-Zi” and “Gang-Tian”, because typical people have all walked the wrong path, I wrote that book because of compassion and mercy for them.

Now what I talk about is to break the Six Wondrous Doors. The Six Wondrous Doors is correct, however it is used wrongly, if you look and reflect on the Six Wondrous Doors then you will know. Therefore the Chan sect today that is global, I ask them, what are they doing? They are all cultivating Shamatha-vipasanya, cultivating Counting-Xi, sitting in meditation. Not just them! Many ancient people also fall under this. Many famous people, if you open the poem collection to look, Su Dongpo, Lu Fangweng and Bai Ju Yi, they are all learners of Chan and Dao. Lu Fangweng’s poem of “one sit counting a thousand breaths”, sat himself to count one exhale and inhale, every sit counting a few thousand breaths, tantamount to chanting a mantra for thousands of times. If you check Lu Fangweng’s poem, I laughed when I saw it, Lu Fangweng was learning how to do accounting, what is the use! Okay, now I will tell you all the Six Wondrous Doors, slowly.

Why use this method? Actually the Six Wondrous Doors is just one door, in principle there is one method, which is utilizing your Wind Element. Our body/life is all Qi, this Qi has been talked about in detail many times, so let’s first talk about the Six Wondrous Doors. When you sit in meditation, your thoughts are flying all about, and you are unable to collect them back. Why can’t the thoughts purify? The fan and air-conditioner in your body has not been switched off; In other words, your exhaling-and-inhaling is still moving. In yet other words, the thoughts and exhaling-and-inhaling are moving, Xin (heart-mind) and xi/breath has not been combined together.

We Chinese people have a way to scold people, “not having an exhale”, these are Taoist words, saying that your exhaling-and-inhaling is incorrect, not exhaling, holding it inside and becoming stupid. You must have exhalation, then it is correct. What people do not have exhalation? These words are poisonous, only dead people do not have exhalation, because dead people do not have exhaling-and-inhaling. Therefore this xi/breath is very important.

Now I tell you, why do thoughts not quieten when sitting down in meditation, why can’t the thoughts purify? Because exhaling-and-inhaling is coming and going, Wind (feng) is moving, Sankhara (mental-conditioned-formations/xing) Skandha. Why does the exhaling-and-inhaling come and go? Because your thoughts are not stilled. Out of these two (T/N: thoughts and xi/breath), which is the leader and which is secondary? Actually both are equal, like on a balance scale. If your exhaling-and-inhaling is quietened, then your thoughts are quietened, the balance scale is equal and stable, it is not the problem of whether Xin (heart-mind) or breath is first.

I gave critique to the ancestors of Tientai Sect, so I am apologetic and can only repent and kowtow. It is not his mistake, the cultivation method he raised was completely correct, it was the later generation that got it wrong. The “Counting” and “Following” of Six Wondrous Doors are not counted as anything outstanding, it is just a method of cultivating, the important point in all of the Buddha-Dharma is in cultivating Shamatha-vipasanya. Shamatha/Cessation is Samadhi, Watching/Vipasanya is Wisdom.

Therefore Chan master Yongjia, he turned to the Chan sect from the Tientai sect, with three conclusions: Dharmakaya, Prajna/Wisdom, Liberation. There are three bodies in becoming a Buddha. Dharmakaya is the original body, unborn and undestroyed, not empty or not having/being, eternal. After seeing one’s nature, verifying one’s gong-fu, then it is the attainment of Dharmakaya. Nirmanakaya: The Buddhas of ten directions and us sentient beings in samsara, are all the Dharmakaya’s Nirmanakaya (bodies of transformation). Sambhogakaya: For example Shakyamuni Buddha’s life/body, his flesh body is Sambhogakaya, coming from karma, according to the needs of sentient beings. Therefore Buddha used a major nidana to become born, using the Nirmanakaya, in order to guide sentient beings.

Section 3 Fully Translated from: http://www.quanxue.cn/ct_NanHuaijin/HuXiIndex.html