Chan Practice Flourishes in New York: Chan Meditation Center Holds Another 14-Day Silent Illumination Retreat

Following its Seven-Day Young People Retreat, Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in New York held a 14-Day Silent Illumination Retreat from May 31 to June 13 at Bodhi Monastery. More than 50 participants from both Eastern and Western backgrounds traveled from various locations to attend. The retreat was led by Venerable Guo Goang (果廣法師), Vice Abbess of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), who explained Admonition Concerning Sitting-Meditation (坐禪箴) by Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue (宏智正覺) and guided participants in experiencing the essential teachings of Silent Illumination.
 
During her Dharma talks, Venerable Guo Goang emphasized that the key to practice is observing the workings of body and mind as they truly are. When the five sense faculties come into contact with the five sense objects, there is no inherent problem if one simply knows what is happening. However, once the mind begins to embellish and repeatedly dwell on an experience, what was originally a simple experience becomes distorted into an unreal state of suffering.
 
Drawing on Admonition Concerning Sitting-Meditation, Venerable Guo Goang offered an in-depth explanation of the principle of dependent origination, pointing out how the mental faculty becomes attached to external conditions and generates a chain of psychological activities that eventually accumulate into suffering. Many afflictions arise from attachment to the self. When all experiences are interpreted through the lens of “me” and “mine,” dissatisfaction and complaint easily follow. By loosening this attachment to self, afflictions naturally diminish.

Venerable Guo Goang also explained, step by step, the complementary practices of calm abiding (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā). She stressed that calm abiding forms the foundation for both ethical discipline and wisdom. If one can continually bring the “mind king” back to the present moment, a stable foundation for physical and mental well-being can be established, thereby allowing clear awareness and insight to develop.

The “mind king” is a metaphor for the mind as a ruler. Venerable Guo Goang repeatedly reminded participants that when the king remains firmly established within his own kingdom, clarity and stability naturally arise. Otherwise, afflictions enter like thieves and take over the inner world. Although Buddhism contains eighty-four thousand Dharma methods, their differences lie mainly in their objects of contemplation. All methods ultimately accord with the core teachings of dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Threefold Training: morality, concentration and wisdom, as well as the insights into suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Chan practice, she explained, is like an express train that goes directly to the essence of these teachings.

Venerable Guo Goang further noted that most suffering comes from the continuous operation of greed, anger, and ignorance. Protecting one’s wholesome roots means distancing oneself from these afflictions. If wholesome roots are neglected, unwholesome actions and painful consequences will follow. Everyday behaviors such as gossip, divisive speech, and idle talk can diminish one’s store of merit and virtues, thereby creating obstacles to practice. At such times, practitioners should arouse a sense of remorse and repentance to dissolve these hindrances.
 
Throughout the 14-day retreat, participants practiced Silent Illumination in all activities—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Through the method of “knowing without grasping at phenomena and illuminating without becoming entangled in conditions,” they cultivated awareness of the present moment, maintained mindfulness, and continually gathered the mind into a single focus. Gradually, their initial restlessness and distraction gave way to greater calm, stability, and clarity.
 
Before returning to Taiwan, Venerable Guo Guang hoped to help North American practitioners gain a deeper understanding of Silent Illumination and the practices of calm and insight. As a result, many people registered, including participants who traveled from as far away as Vancouver and Shanghai. Due to the large number of attendees and the retreat center’s remote location, limited water resources presented a challenge. In response, participants practiced environmental mindfulness in daily life, by showing mutual consideration, conserving water, and gaining a deeper appreciation for the principle of “remembering the source when drinking water.”

Participants shared that the retreat helped them stop chasing external circumstances and see more clearly the patterns of their own minds. Many reported gaining deeper confidence in the teaching of dependent origination. Many participants expressed gratitude for Venerable Guo Goang’s guidance, which helped them return to the present moment, settle the mind, appreciate favorable conditions, and awaken the innate purity of the heart.

Original text in Chinese and photos: Chan Meditation Center
Translation: Patricia Yang 
Editing: Keith Brown