The teacher mentioned in the partial stanza above refers to Sakyamuni Buddha. Dipankara is a Buddha who lived innumerable eons ago. Before Sakyamuni became a Buddha, he was a Bodhisattva for countless lifetimes. He was killed time and again, sometimes in brutal ways. In one lifetime, people tortured him by peeling off his skin little by little. He even fell ill after attaining Supreme Enlightenment; yet, throughout all these lifetimes, he never felt fear. Milarepa also experienced illness and was poisoned once. Although Buddha and Milarepa experienced pain, they had no fear in their minds. There are numerous stories of saints and sages who experienced horrible torments and illnesses, yet they never felt that they were suffering. Such people have truly realized Ch'an. To use the technical Buddhist term, they have achieved the conviction of the non-arising of dharmas, or phenomena.

As I said earlier, Ch'an is everywhere, in everything. One would experience this if one could genuinely realize that all dharmas are non-arising. Ch'an practice is called the sudden method because it leads to the instantaneous perception that phenomena do not arise. However, this experience may only be fleeting. A fleeting experience is but a momentary flash, and, after a period of time, the feeling fades away, leaving only a distorted memory.

I tell people who have had a small experience practicing Ch'an: "You probably think that you are free now, and that you have attained liberation, but you are wrong. In fact, your practice is only beginning. It is far too early to speak of liberation." Many practitioners who attain the first stage of practice want to move on and quickly attain the second experience. Before attaining the second experience, they are already looking ahead to the third level. People with this attitude may practice for years and feel they are not making any progress. They may even give up, saying, "Practice is endless. I'll never get anywhere. I've stopped progressing."

Often, the problem is that the person has grown complacent and has stopped working strenuously after his first experience. Of course, if he acts in this manner he will not progress. In addition to complacency, many other obstructions can creep into the practice. People who have had experiences on past retreats should forget them. They are over and done with. Remembering them and aspiring to achieve them again are serious obstructions.