Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

first sila, then samadhi (in the sense of dhyana),
followed by prajna.
Sila is equally important in the Vajrayana where, if after
one gets an initiation (abhiseka, wang) and the Tantric
silas are then broken, then that initiation has lapsed. One
must go to the guru, humbly confess to him, and then
ask him to give that wang again: this is absolutely
necessary.
Chan, if it is accomplished, includes silas. The four
conditions, (see Ch. XIII, Part Two, A, 2, d), given as
the silas of Mahamudra, apply also in Chan, and they
are indeed hard to keep unless one has realized the
Dharmakaya. It is certain that Chan is not a common
meditation—on the contrary, it is the highest
realization—and it therefore includes silas, samadhi and
prajna. In my "Lighthouse in the Ocean of Chan" there
are many stories illustrating renunciation and
impermanence. If one can attain the heights shown by
these stories, then not only will these four conditions be
observed naturally, but all the silas will be kept purely.
It is only false Chan gurus who talk of there being no
need for morality in Chan. This is quite wrong. Chan
silas are not common ones, but include all of them. One
may say that it is not only by keeping silas that one
attains Chan, but that the special silas of Chan include
all silas.
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