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Meditation Book in a Moment
In 15 days, the retreat at Cam Lo Temple (lasting more than two and a half months) will come to an end. During this time, the work The Chapter of the Golden Lion by Dharma Master Fa Zang (56 years old) records his teaching given to Empress Wu Zetian (75 years old), the author of the Opening Verse “The unsurpassed, deep, and wondrous Dharma…”. She had once ordained, supported the Dharma, and together with Fa Zang participated in translating the Avatamsaka Sutra (84 chapters) under the guidance of Siksananda. The teaching included:
- The Ten Mysterious Gates
- The Four Dharma Realms
- The Six Aspects of Interpenetration
When the Empress had not yet fully understood, Fa Zang used the example of the golden lion to illustrate, so that she could deeply grasp the teaching of interdependent origination in its infinite dimensions.
The method of realizing the Dharma does not stop at theory: Fa Zang led Wu Zetian into a “house of mirrors”—with mirrors facing each other on all four sides—so that, through the light and the Buddha statue, an endless chain of reflections was created, helping her to directly perceive “the one contains the all,” transcending space and time. The concept of “the present moment” is related to Heisenberg: the past and the future intersect at a very brief point, the length of which depends on the distance between the observer and the object, and in the realm where there is no longer observer and object, all times merge into one. Zen emphasizes the koan, such as “the sound of one hand clapping,” to cut off discursive thinking, nourish direct intuition, and immediate experience.