For more information on Chan:    www.cthouston.org      

ZEN MEDITATION:  Find serenity, true happiness and wisdom through a calm and peaceful mind.  I am frequently asked by those who have known me for years, “What are you doing, you seem to be at such peace?”   I share that I am a student of Zen at the Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston and the meditation has helped me tremendously.  I have been asked to share with others this method of meditation.   

Meditation allows the body to relax.  When the body is relaxed, it can heal itself.  Also it allows the mind to become still from wandering thoughts and become clear.  When meditating the person can actually feel the body relax.  When the body relaxes, the body clears out all the tension built up and allows the energy to flow smoothly. 

As the body relaxes and the mind clears, we learn to be the master of our own thoughts.  Realizing which thought is a wandering thought and which is our own thought.  This is called Mindfulness. When we control our thoughts we will react in a controlled manner and not in a responsive manner.  Meaning, we will have control of how we react to situations. 

Chan is widely known as Zen in the west. In the general impressions of the West, Chan is mysterious, philosophically profound, and a mind-twisting riddle.  Yet, to the minds of the awakened, an ordinary mind is the mind of Chan, nothing special or mysterious. Just like the verse on the doorway of the Chan Hall at Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston, "Chan is ordinary. Drinking tea or eating a cake all manifests the Old Way.  Teaching ought to be on the mark. Uttering words or applying a staff all carries the ultimate message."

Chan is about seeing the true nature of one’s own mind and being the master in all conditions.  Grand Master Wei Chueh once explained, "No matter how much external circumstances change, if one can see through the outer manifestation and let go of vexations, delusions, and attachments, with the mind always in equanimity and suchness, having clarity and true understanding, then that is Chan."

Ordinary people do not have ordinary minds, for ordinary people have too many confusions, worries, and afflictions in their minds.  Even when conducting daily activities, the minds of ordinary people are not in equanimity and suchness because of self-centered judgments and unneeded discriminations.  A disturbed, confused mind is not the tranquil, pure mind of Chan.

When learning to realize the equanimity and suchness of the Chan mind, one learns to handle problems and difficulties in life in accordance with Reality and with the transcendence of the Middle Way.  As a result, one comes to understand that Chan is deeply rooted in daily life, and indeed Chan is the essence of life; Chan is everything and everything is Chan.