Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Chapter XV
IS CHAN A MEDITATION?
Mr. Chen was still in his hermitage, but only one
monk entered his door (the listener had a tooth-ache
and was confined to his room where cold winds
could not aggravate it). The transcriber was greeted
cheerfully by Mr. Chen.
Mr. Chen first insisted upon wrapping the writer's
knees with a thick, yellow towel which he used
himself during meditation. He began:
Is Chan a meditation? No! It is the highest realization of
the Buddha-entity-body (the three Buddha-bodies
(kayas) identified as one).
Again it was asked, "Why are there so many
mistakes made on this subject?" Mr. Chen answered,
"It is because people do not know the essence of
Chan."
Chan must be imparted by a fully-accomplished guru,
and without one, there is no Chan. When the teacher is
himself Fully Enlightened, then his disciple may receive
a realization of the Truth. No instruction, no realization,
no meditation, neither samatha nor samapatti—there are
none of these things in Chan. For these reasons one
cannot treat it as a common meditation. It is itself the
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