Chan Meditation –

It is Hard! It is Easy!
Hard! Hard! Hard!
It is like trying to put ten baskets of sesame
seeds on the leaves of a tree in the yard.

That is how Elder Pang described cultivation. He thought it was not easy. If it did not lead to a backache, then it created pain in the legs. Cultivators experience all sorts of pain and suffering that make it hard to be at ease. It is with great difficulty that one manages to make a little progress. What is more, if we ever let down our guard, all our past efforts will be wasted. That was why Mr. Pang described practice as being like trying to balance lots of sesame seeds on the leaves of a tree. Ten baskets is not a small number, and to place the seeds on the leaves so that they stay there and do not fall off is not an easy thing to do. Mr. Pang had a relative who heard this and asked, “If it is that difficult, then is it not impossible to succeed in cultivation?” Mrs. Pang responded,

Easy! Easy! Easy!
The Mind from the West,
the patriarchs’ intent,
Appears right here on the tip
of each blade of grass.
Don’t you see?

She said cultivation is actually very easy. All the mountains, rivers, flowers, grass and trees express the intention of the Patriarch’s coming from the west. So she found it very easy. Not at all difficult. Someone then asked Miss Pang, the daughter, what she thought about cultivation. She said,

It is not easy.
Nor is it hard.
Just eat when hungry
and sleep when you are tired.

The three of them had very different views about the underlying principle of practice. Mr. Pang, Mrs. Pang, and Miss Pang were part of the same family, and yet they had different opinions. Here, people have come from all directions to attend this meditation retreat and similarly, everyone has got his or her own views. The best way to handle that situation is to talk less and apply more effort in your cultivation.