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Spring - The Recorded Sayings of Linji
Insight is not conceptual knowledge, but is aliveness and freedom in the present moment, which can only be attained through practice and deep looking, not merely through books. Studying the Buddha’s teachings in a monastery is different from studying at a university, in that it is not just about gathering evidence or historical data, but also about applying the teachings to daily life, making use of new discoveries in archaeology and philology to verify and deepen the texts.
The Surangama Sutra exists in two versions:
- The Sanskrit version from India
- The Great Surangama Samadhi version created in China
The purpose of practice is to transform body and mind, to liberate ourselves from afflictions, not to accumulate knowledge, fame, or profit. For example, in daily activities, if we take steps to pick two tomatoes or climb the stairs to fetch a sutra just to obtain an external object, we have missed the main purpose—to live peacefully, at ease, and freely in each step.
The spring retreat at Tu Nghiem Monastery, New Hamlet, has nearly seven hundred participants; every member, from the cooking team and the office team to the teaching team, is wholeheartedly devoted so that each practitioner can experience happiness and transformation day by day. The collective effort and joy in each moment is the common work, a manifestation of the truth of learning and practice.
