Chan and Avatamsaka

Chan and Avatamsaka are oneness in the ultimate sense. The realization of Chan is Avatamsaka. The essence ofAvatamsaka is truthfulness or the original face in Chan. The essence of Avatamsaka is one-mindedness, and one-mindedness can manifest the Realm of Avatamsaka. These two are nondual in nature.

How so? As we read the scripture, the beauty of the words touches our hearts and undo the knots that have confined us for way too long. Then, we'd feel the expanse of our mind that is boundless. The universe is one-mindedness and vice versa. The harmonious integration is the optimal state of life free from dualism. When we come to the realization, the state that manifests is the truth of all. Nondualism is the world of Chan or the manifestation of Avatamsaka.

When we study the Avatamsaka Sutra, we’re unfolding the potential of our mind from nothingness to everything and the other way around. Chan is the state of ungraspable. Within this state, all existences and changes come into the display – this is the "capacity" of the true mind. If the element of "ego" is included, there'd be dualism or conflicts. Yet, for the state of Chan to manifest, "egolessness” is the key. The nature of our mind is notionless that allows all notions to arise unobstructedly in our true mind. That’s the connection between the Avatamsaka state and us beings. We are an entity of interdependency. The mind is none other than the Avatamsaka realm.

 In our course of the Dharma study, we shouldn't remain on the shallow understanding of language. Instead, we are manifesting the realm of Avatamsaka by reading the Avatamsaka Sutra. Let the spirit of Avatamsaka fill our life. The essence of Chan is none other than this very mind. The mind projects all phenomena. Nothing arises if the mind is absent. That being said, with the mind, there come phenomena. As the saying goes, "As hundreds and thousands of doors of Dharma come together, Ganges sand-like and wondrous qualities come from the mind." All points to this very mind. 

Our true mind is like a mirror that is devoid of inherent existence. However, it can project everything around it but not the mirror itself. Likewise, all the displays, changes, and intents arise from reading the Avatamsaka Sutra are none other than the projections of our mind. “One-mindedness is not separated from the state Avatamsaka; and the Avatasamsaka realm is no different from one-mindedness." This is the interplay betweenChan and Avatamsaka.