e
BU
DDHANET'SBOOK LIBRA
RY
E-mail: bdea@buddhanet.net
Web site: www.buddhanet.net
Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.
by Ting Chen
Translated by Dharma Master Lok To
The Fundamentals of
Meditation Practice
l
2
The Fundamentals
of
Meditation Practice
by Ting Chen
Translated by Dharma Master Lok To
Edited by Sam Landberg & Dr. Frank G. French
3
Transfer-of-Merit Vow (Parinamana)
For All Donors
May all the merit and grace gained from adorning
Buddha’s Pure Land, from loving our parents, from
serving our country and from respecting all sen-
tient beings be transformed and transferred for the
benefit and salvation of all suffering sentient be-
ings on the three evil paths. Furthermore, may we
who read and hear this Buddhadharma and, there-
after, generate our Bodhi Minds be reborn, at the
end of our lives, in the Pure Land.
Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada,
1999 — website: http://www.ymba.org/freebooks_main.html
Acknowledgments We respectfully acknowledge the assistance,
support and cooperation of the following advisors, without whom
this book could not have been produced: Dayi Shi; Chuanbai Shi;
Dr. John Chen; Amado Li; Cherry Li; Hoi-Sang Yu; Tsai Ping Chiang;
Vera Man; Way Zen; Jack Lin; Tony Aromando; and Ling Wang.
They are all to be thanked for editing and clarifying the text,
sharpening the translation and preparing the manuscript for
publication. Their devotion to and concentration on the completion
of this project, on a voluntary basis, are highly appreciated.
4
Contents
• Translator’s Introduction...................... 5
• The Foundation of Meditation Practice.. 9
• The Levels of Buddhist Discipline......... 16
• Preparing For Meditation ...................... 19
• Regulating The Mind............................ 56
• Counting The Breath ............................ 74
• Varieties of Ch’an ................................ 81
• Glossary...............................................