Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Discussion of meditation in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
Post Reply
User avatar
Queequeg
Former staff member
Posts: 14456
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:24 pm

Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Queequeg »

https://www.amazon.com/Six-Dharma-Gates ... 1935413015

Presently re-reading Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime by Tendai Daishi (Zhiyi), translated by Bikhshu Dharmamitra. Its one of those texts that I have read and re-read several times over the years to the point my copy is well worn, dog eared and stained with coffee. It is one of the best meditation manuals I have read so far.

Its not for a complete beginner - this is not a step by step for the newbie, but with basic instruction under the belt and a little experience, I have found that this is an excellent resource that offers a "road map" from initial stages to the goal (as best as I can fathom the goal) with advice on dealing with the various obstacles that arise in the course of practice and how to proceed and recognize progress. Tendai Daishi's voice sounds clear and present.

Just wanted to share.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Nicholas Weeks
Posts: 4209
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
Location: California

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

To encourage others to ponder on this text, here is the Master's Preface and a couple of chapters:

http://kalavinka.org/book_excerpts/SGS_ ... apters.pdf

Another of the great Master's works, a condensation of his Great Calming & Discerning that Swanson just published:

http://kalavinka.org/book_excerpts/EBM_ ... _Intro.pdf
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
User avatar
SunWuKong
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 11:15 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Contact:

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by SunWuKong »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:52 pm To encourage others to ponder on this text, here is the Master's Preface and a couple of chapters:

http://kalavinka.org/book_excerpts/SGS_ ... apters.pdf

Another of the great Master's works, a condensation of his Great Calming & Discerning that Swanson just published:

http://kalavinka.org/book_excerpts/EBM_ ... _Intro.pdf
Thank you - I've repeatedly been been told that "just breathing" can't do what it has already done! You know the fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows just One Really Big Thing. Just because I know it, doesn't mean i am able to defend it in debate - it is not a knowing in conceptual thought as much as it it like a knowing in the sense of living in it - but this helps. As we can see here it is not "just breathing"
1. Awareness that the breath is entering.
2. Awareness that the breath is exiting.
3. Awareness that the breath is long or short.
4 .Awareness that the breath permeates the body.
5. Relinquishing all physical actions.
6. The mental experience of joy.
7. The mental experience of bliss.
8. The experiencing of all mental actions.
9. The mental production of joy.
10. The mental development of concentration.
11. The mental generation of liberation.
12. The contemplation of impermanence.
13. The contemplation of dispersion.
14. The contemplation of abandonment of desire.
15. The contemplation of cessation.
16. The contemplation of renunciation.
"We are magical animals that roam" ~ Roam
Nicholas Weeks
Posts: 4209
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
Location: California

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Also since the tradition says this is the practice Buddha used under the Bodhi Tree, this method is not to be sniffed at.
Dhyāna Master Zhiyi’s Preface

As for the “six gates to the sublime (praṇīta),” they constitute the
very root of one’s internal practice and the essential route to realization
of the paths of the Three Vehicles. Hence, when Shākyamuni
first arrived at the Bodhi Tree and sat down in lotus posture on the
cushion of grass, “He directed his thought inwardly to ānāpāna:
first, counting (gaṇanā); second, following (anugamaḥ); third, stabilization
(sthānam), fourth, contemplation (upalakṣaṇā); fifth, turning
(vivartanā); and sixth, purification (pariśuddhiḥ).” It was because of
this that the myriad practices opened forth and took effect, resulting
in the subduing of the demons and the realization of the Path.

One should realize that the Buddha is the model for beings. Since
he pointed out his own tracks in this fashion, how then could the
orthodox personages of the Three Vehicles fail to all travel together
along this road?
Here is part of the translator's note on this ancient method:
This six-gate meditation method is not a later-period
Mahāyāna construct, but rather a meditation cultivation
formula rooted in the earliest period of Indian Buddhism. A
closer examination of this formula will help us develop a much more
refined view of traditional Buddhist meditation, one which goes
beyond the very simplistic assumptions generally prevailing in the
West which tend to look upon the tradition as consisting primarily
in a very rudimentary form of ānāpāna (breath) meditation only later
overlaid with doctrinally sophisticated calming-and-insight elaborations
of the same sort as we see in this six-gate schema.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
User avatar
SunWuKong
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 11:15 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Contact:

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by SunWuKong »

"" It is not the case that “nirvāṇa” involves either an instance of “cutting off” or an instance of “permanence.” Though it might be [conceived of as] “existent,” it would thus be a difficult thing to mesh with. Though it might be [conceived of as] “non-existent,” it would thus be more easily realized. Hence it is described as “sublime.” "" - brilliant
"We are magical animals that roam" ~ Roam
Pero
Posts: 2465
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:54 pm

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Pero »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 6:05 pm https://www.amazon.com/Six-Dharma-Gates ... 1935413015

Presently re-reading Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime by Tendai Daishi (Zhiyi), translated by Bikhshu Dharmamitra. Its one of those texts that I have read and re-read several times over the years to the point my copy is well worn, dog eared and stained with coffee. It is one of the best meditation manuals I have read so far.

Its not for a complete beginner - this is not a step by step for the newbie, but with basic instruction under the belt and a little experience, I have found that this is an excellent resource that offers a "road map" from initial stages to the goal (as best as I can fathom the goal) with advice on dealing with the various obstacles that arise in the course of practice and how to proceed and recognize progress. Tendai Daishi's voice sounds clear and present.

Just wanted to share.
Should "The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation" be read first if interested in this?
Although many individuals in this age appear to be merely indulging their worldly desires, one does not have the capacity to judge them, so it is best to train in pure vision.
- Shabkar
User avatar
SunWuKong
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 11:15 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Contact:

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by SunWuKong »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:25 pm Here is part of the translator's note on this ancient method:
This six-gate meditation method is not a later-period
Mahāyāna construct, but rather a meditation cultivation
formula rooted in the earliest period of Indian Buddhism. A
closer examination of this formula will help us develop a much more
refined view of traditional Buddhist meditation, one which goes
beyond the very simplistic assumptions generally prevailing in the
West which tend to look upon the tradition as consisting primarily
in a very rudimentary form of ānāpāna (breath) meditation only later
overlaid with doctrinally sophisticated calming-and-insight elaborations
of the same sort as we see in this six-gate schema.
This is not the only instance of early Indian Buddhist teaching and practice that persists in the East - and if you actually develop the skill to practice it, it is obvious how the Buddhist Tantric perspective is contained within it. It is not mere syncretism.
"We are magical animals that roam" ~ Roam
Nicholas Weeks
Posts: 4209
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
Location: California

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Pero: Should The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation be read first if interested in this?
Yes!
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
User avatar
SunWuKong
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 11:15 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Contact:

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by SunWuKong »

Okay thanks!!
"We are magical animals that roam" ~ Roam
Pero
Posts: 2465
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:54 pm

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Pero »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:18 pm
Pero: Should The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation be read first if interested in this?
Yes!
Thanks!
Although many individuals in this age appear to be merely indulging their worldly desires, one does not have the capacity to judge them, so it is best to train in pure vision.
- Shabkar
User avatar
Leo Rivers
Posts: 498
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 4:52 am
Contact:

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Leo Rivers »

I seem to recall from about 6 years ago, that The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation and the Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime could be seen as "digging deeper texts" on the 10 Stage of Cultivation found in the Yogācārabhūmi- śāstra Chapter Twenty 本地分中修所成地第十二 The Twelfth Main Stage: Stage of Actualization of Cultivation. http://ftp.budaedu.org/ebooks/pdf/CE018.pdf :reading: There seemed to be an implied procedure indicated.

I remember at the time I found there was a reference by Vasubhandhu and Asaṇga,[ re. "6 aspects or stages of the breath"] to these same 6 Gates as a pedagogical tool. But two courses of chemo sidetracked me from following all this up. :oops:

see also: https://media.sbinstitute.com/courses/f ... eathing-2/
User avatar
Queequeg
Former staff member
Posts: 14456
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:24 pm

Re: Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime

Post by Queequeg »

Hi Leo, Nice to "see" you again. I hope the chemo went well. Would be very interested in what you find if you follow this up.
Leo Rivers wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:41 pm I seem to recall from about 6 years ago, that The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation and the Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime could be seen as "digging deeper texts" on the 10 Stage of Cultivation found in the Yogācārabhūmi- śāstra Chapter Twenty 本地分中修所成地第十二 The Twelfth Main Stage: Stage of Actualization of Cultivation. http://ftp.budaedu.org/ebooks/pdf/CE018.pdf :reading: There seemed to be an implied procedure indicated.

I remember at the time I found there was a reference by Vasubhandhu and Asaṇga,[ re. "6 aspects or stages of the breath"] to these same 6 Gates as a pedagogical tool. But two courses of chemo sidetracked me from following all this up. :oops:

see also: https://media.sbinstitute.com/courses/f ... eathing-2/
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Post Reply

Return to “Meditation”