The Six Subtle Dharma Gates of the Sublime.
Master
Zhiyi and Norman Fischer.
(Maintain a
light touch. Never harsh. Six compassionate helpers).
1. Counting. Count exhales up to ten. Until the numbers seem a
little crude and bothersome to the subtlety of the breath. (Shu: Quietly counting the breath from one to ten to stabilize a restless,
wandering mind).
2.
Following. Be with the breath in the belly. Which
results in stopping. (Sui:
Dropping the numbers to closely trace the physical sensation of the breath
moving inside and outside the body).
3.
Stopping. The mind is very quiet, peaceful, deep. (Zhi: Moving
from active focus to complete stillness (Samadhi), where the mind rests calmly
in a state of tranquil concentration).
4.
Contemplating. Recognize that the mind has become too
tranquilized. Enquire with a koan, or a phrase. Or investigate every part of
the breath. Or investigate the body very carefully in detail. Is there any such thing as this body at all.
Is there any experience that remains. Is the body separate from the rest of the
environment or not. How long does the experience of the body last. Enquiring
with deep curiosity. Notice finally that the body is not you, is not a discreet object, but is a flow of impermanence.
You then let go of that practice and then take up the next practice which is
called returning. (Guan: Observing
the breath and mind to realize that everything is impermanent, conditioned, and
empty of a permanent self).
5.
Returning. It’s a little more subtle because when you are
contemplating you have something to contemplate - the phrase, the breath, the
body. But now you stop looking at any object and instead you turn the mind
around and Look at the mind that is looking: Take the backward step, turn the
mind around, follow the stream back to the source. So really, you are trying to
see directly what is mind, what is consciousness itself, who is sitting here
doing this practice. Everything that we think and understand and suffer in our
lives are all based on a completely unexamined set of assumptions, about who we
think we are and what we think the world is. The point of this subtle dharma
gate is to directly, experientially, confront all those assumptions. Remember as a kind of understanding
point, that we are making these assumptions and that all our suffering is built
on these assumptions and that these assumptions may be untrue. There is literally no way to do it and nothing to do. There is no
mind. The essence of this practice is illustrated in the story of Bodhidharma
and his disciple Huike. (Huan:
Turning the awareness backward to inspect the mind that is doing the
contemplating, moving beyond the illusion of a separate observer).
6.
Purity. This is like
the 3rd (stopping) in that it’s
not a practice that we do, it’s a marker for the fruition of the 5th
subtle dharma gate and it’s called purification. It’s not something we do, it’s
just something that arises when we make the effort to practice investigation of
the nature of mind. The mind is purified, the mind is healed, the mind is pure.
Our life is okay, at least for a moment. (Jing: The
ultimate dissolution of all concepts, entering a state of unconditioned
awareness or Nirvana (which master Zhiyi defines as "the sublime").
The
text outlines six progressive steps or "gates" centred around breath
awareness (anapanasati) and calming-and-insight (samatha-vipasyana):
- Counting (數 Shu): Using the breath as an anchor by counting
inhalations and exhalations to quiet the scattered mind.
- Following (隨 Sui): Letting go of numbers and simply tracking the
natural flow of the breath as it enters and leaves the body.
- Stopping (止 Zhi): Reaching a state of mental stillness,
settling the mind and letting distractions drop away.
- Observing (觀 Guan): Developing clear insight into the
impermanent, conditioned nature of thoughts, body, and phenomena.
- Turning Around (還 Huan): Turning awareness back upon itself,
recognizing that the observer and the observed are not separate.
- Purifying/Reaching the
Absolute (淨 Jing): Ultimate liberation, freedom from
defilements, and resting in sublime awakening.
The Six Dharma Gates To the Sublime by Sramana
Zhiyi (Chih-i) (538-597CE).
https://everydayzen.org/teachings/invitation-of-the-patriarch-book-of-serenity-case-3/
