Page 18 - Martial Science Magazine Feb/2014 #1

Teachings of the Budha
The Empty Set and the Empty Cloud
Source: http://www.acharia.org/
I had studied zen for a long time, but when
i was ordained in 2001 in the zen buddhist
order of hsu yun, i began to give particular from any practical ideas about functioning
attention to hsu yun’s teachings. “Empty
cloud: the teachings of hsu yun” became
the goad that made me want to deepen
the search for myself, it impressed me
so very much. I read the book, over and
over again to understand the meaning of
‘empty’. It was hard for me to comprehend.
How could i be empty and at the same
time be compassionate? I thought that to
be compassionate i had to be filled with
feelings of love, of kindness and concern
for everything and everyone.
Over and over again i struggled with
the same logical thoughts of how this
could be. Suddenly, after many readings
and meditations, after months of being
puzzled, the answer came to me as a flash.
The answer was right there. I had it all
along during the years that i had spent
teaching mathematics.
I had been a math teacher for nearly all
my life. Not only had i taught math, but
i also held the view that math and life
have great similarities. But i never before
put it all together: zen; empty cloud;
teachings; buddha; amitabha; meditation;
concentration; the law of causality;
the rules of discipline; maintaining an
unshakable faith in the existence of the
buddha self; being determined to succeed
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Rev. Yin Zhi Shakya
in whichever method he chooses. All those
words were for me ideas that were separate
in the world. And suddenly it came to me!
They are the same: perfect demonstrations
of the laws of the universe!
Mathematics is a language, the language
of number and size. Zen is a language, the
language of reality; a language that has
no words, just ideas, perfect ideas to put
into practice as we put mathematics into
practice.
Laying a foundation for technical
knowledge and assisting in the practical
application of knowledge already
possessed, mathematics offers unlimited
advantages for mental training.
And what about zen? Isn’t true that zen offers
unlimited advantages for mental training?
If we lay a foundation of knowledge it will
assist and offer us unlimited advantages
and then we can live our life in a perfect
and balanced existence in reality.
Also, arithmetic consists of the operations
of addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division of a type of numbers represented
by the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4… 9. By using the
above operations or combinations of them,
we are able to solve many problems.
What about zen? Isn’t true that zen
consists in operations that lead us to solve