Sunday Open Meditation: The Practice of Wonderment with Guest Teacher Guo Gu

Nalandabodhi Seattle is delighted to be hosting guest teacher, Guo Gu, for a special Sunday including a public dharma talk on *Chan: The Practice of Wonderment* and a related half-day retreat based on the practice of Silent Illumination (默照 mòzhào). What is Chan? Chan is freedom, expressed through wisdom and compassion. Chan is also a school within East Asian Buddhism, with a history dating back to 7th century CE in China. Later this form of Buddhism was transmitted to Japan as “Zen” in the 13th century. SILENT ILLUMINATION & WONDERMENT Silent Illumination For Guo Gu, the two components of the term point to the nature of mind itself. “Silence” refers to the fact that we are originally free from all narratives and constructs of self — our true nature is intrinsically empty and undisturbed, even in the midst of vexations. “Illumination” refers to the natural, dynamic functioning of the mind in its openness, which in Chan is called wisdom or prajñā. Silent Illumination is therefore a metaphor for the inseparability of the mind’s empty nature and its function. Technically, Silent Illumination is not a method of practice so much as the state of awakening itself — our true nature. Practice is still necessary, but only to remove the obscurations that conceal it. The correct view underlying the practice is that we already lack nothing and are originally free. Wonderment Guo Gu’s treatment of wonderment centers on the Chan practice of huatou — the “critical phrase” method of meditation. The genius of the premodern Chan masters was in their realization that the existential wonderment underlying deep questions (such as “Does a dog have buddhanature?”) could be leveraged as a method of practice. Chan masters realized that this energy of questioning — or wonderment — was more valuable than constructed explanations or answers. When this wonderment culminates and bursts, one is freed and liberated. Wonderment (yiqing) is nonconceptual yet potent and…