The Chan-7 meditation retreat is similar to the Fo-7 (佛七 fo-qi) recitation retreat in terms of form. In the Fo-7 recitation retreat, participants recite buddhas’ names continuously for seven days. Through this process, they try to reach the state of “one-mind without scatteredness (一心不亂 yi-xin-bu-luan)” and further bring the mind-flower to bloom to see the buddha (花開見佛 hua-kai-jian-fo) and realize the truth of non-arising (悟無生 wu-wu-sheng). By contrast, in the Chan-7 meditation retreat, participants continuously practice Chan meditation in the Chan Hall for seven days. The purpose of the retreat is for participants to awaken themselves and recognize their original face (本來面目 ben-lai-mian-mu). As a result, they awaken their minds and see their true nature; seeing the true nature, they become buddhas.
Chan Master Qingyuan (青原襌師; ca. 10th century) divided the process of realizing enlightenment into three stages. First is the period before enlightenment: during this time, we “see mountains as mountains and water as water.” This is due to our attachments to external, illusory phenomena, regarding them as substantially existent or substantially real (實有 shi-you).
Arriving at the second stage, we find the entrance to our true mind—the door to the truth—through Chan meditation, the Chan inquiry of huatou. At this point, we will “see mountains not as mountains and water not as water.” This is because, through the inquiry into the huatou, we will be able to follow the seeds planted in the eighth consciousness to bring intrinsic awareness back to our true mind. From the emptiness of our original nature, we will realize that the “self” and “the world,” as we once knew them, are actually illusory and provisional (i.e., empty in nature). Thus, we no longer reify them. In other words, we negate the existence of this “self” and “the world” around us. This great negation of not reifying our self and the world is the state of “seeing mountains not as mountains and water not as water.”
The third stage begins at the moment of awakening to the mind, realizing our very mind as the inherent buddha nature. At this time, we clearly see things just as they are, “seeing mountains again as mountains and water again as water.” As we come to truly understand all things are never separate from this very mind, we peacefully and unwaveringly abide in it, wherein we find the place to rest and settle. As the Chan saying states, “Wearing out even iron shoes in searching, we found nothing; when it is actually obtained, we make no effort and spend nothing at all.” This is because this very mind in the here and now is it; there is no need to seek it elsewhere. As The Avatamsaka Sutra teaches, not giving rise to the deluded mind of mundane beings is the way to supreme enlightenment. However, awakening to the mind does not mark the end of our cultivation, for it still pertains to the stage of seeing the Way (見道位 jian-dao-wei). Afterwards, we still have to nurture and maintain this mind of non-abidance (無住心 wu-zhu-xin) at every moment. Then, we enter the stage of cultivating the Way (修道位 xiu-dao-wei), in which we cultivate ourselves in accord with the truth we have realized. When we gradually mature in our cultivation, we will eventually discover the place to rest and settle; here, within one thought lies eons, and eons are found in one single thought.
During the Song dynasty, the great writer Su Dongpo (蘇東坡; 1037-1101) composed three poems to describe the process of cultivation and realization expounded by Chan Master Qingyuan.
The first poem:
From one side a ridge, from another a peak;
Far or near, above or below,
The views are all different.
No one knows the true face of Mount Lu
For we are standing in its midst.
In this poem, Mount Lu serves as an analogy for the first stage, the state of mundane beings. As mundane beings, we are blinded by our self-attachment and the duality of self and others, subject and object. As a result, we develop our own views and prejudices, blinding us to the reality of all phenomena as well as to our own inherent nature.
The second poem:
Mount Lu is famed for its fog and rains;
River Zhe, its tide and waves.
Before seeing them, a thousand yearnings refuse to fade.
Arriving at last, there turns out to be nothing else.
Mount Lu, fog and rain; River Zhe, tide and waves.
What the poem describes is the journey of cultivation as the mind realizes enlightenment; in the end, we “see mountains again as mountains and water again as water.” After enlightenment, we still have to continue with our cultivation of the Way. If we take the mundane mind as the buddha’s mind and do not continue to cultivate the Way, samsaric rebirth is still samsaric rebirth, afflictions are still afflictions, and sentient beings are still sentient beings; we will never become buddhas. Therefore, cultivation after enlightenment becomes even more important: we must continue to nurture the sacred embryo of enlightenment.
Regarding the third poem, it describes the quality of a practitioner who is firmly rooted in the state of enlightenment:
The brook speaks with The Buddha’s broad, long tongue.
The mountains are none other than the pure Dharma body.
Night brings eighty-four thousand verses.
How can they be expressed to others another day?
After awakening to and realizing the Way, we will attain great wisdom, great samadhi, and even miraculous powers. However, the wondrous functions and boundless virtues inherent in this very mind are beyond comprehension and conceptualization. They are inconceivable and inexpressible. So, “how can they be expressed to others another day?” This very mind in the here and now is neither arising nor ceasing, neither coming nor going; in realizing this truth, we are the ones who truly benefit.
Furthermore, why does the Chan-7 take place over seven days? Here, the number seven has two meanings. In the literal sense, it relates to time, the length of the retreat. In terms of the teaching, it refers to the seventh consciousness.
With respect to the first meaning, Chan meditation, like all tasks, can be accomplished in its own good time. In Buddhism, each method of cultivation requires a given duration to practice: some require 120 days, and others, 90 days. Specifically, the aim of the Chan-7 retreat is to attain enlightenment within a certain time frame. For most of us, 120 days is too long, whereas one, two or three days are simply not long enough for us to achieve any results from the practice of Chan meditation. So, we give ourselves seven days and vow to awaken ourselves through the intensive meditation and Chan practice during these seven days. That is, we vow to awaken our mind and see its true nature; seeing the true nature, we become buddhas. This is why the Chan Hall is also known as the “Buddha-Selection Hall.”
As for the second meaning of seven, the seventh consciousness is one of the eight consciousnesses (八識 ba-shi) that we have as sentient beings. The first six relate to our senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (the sixth consciousness), followed by the seventh and the eighth consciousness. Of these eight consciousnesses, the eighth—also called the alaya-vijnana (阿賴耶識 a-lai-ye-shi) or the storage consciousness (含藏識 han-cang-shi)—is like a reservoir which stores infinite karmic seeds from countless kalpas (劫 jie) of our past lives. The seventh consciousness gives rise to our false self, and thus self-attachment. When we have a false self, we create the duality of subject and object, as well as the dichotomy of right and wrong. Consequently, we bring about afflictions. But if we transform this seventh consciousness into the wisdom of perceiving the equality of all things (平等性智 ping-deng-xing-zhi) (through the realization of selflessness), we will then be able to see everything with clarity and lucidity. Therefore, the most important objective of participating in a Chan-7 retreat is to penetrate and break through our seventh consciousness, and transform it into the wisdom of perceiving the equality of all things. At this point, we continue to deepen our realization and further transform the eighth consciousness into the great perfect mirror-like wisdom (大圓鏡智 da-yuan-jing-zhi), which sees everything just as it is. We will then be able to transcend the mundane and enter buddha hood