After His Holiness Vairocana Xing Wu came out of prison on February 2010, he initiated and launched two campaigns, the “Fasting for Charity”, and “A Nice Deed Each Day”.
Since then, His Holiness´ students all around world have built up Fasting and Charity groups spontaneously. Thousands of people have joined to practice and disseminate these two benefit actions.
However, the two benefit actions, were illegal in some parts of mainland of china. At the risk of fasting and doing for charity, many of His Holiness´s students have endured harassment, detention, and/or arrest by the local police force.
We publish some of two benefit actions have been done in mainland. In order to protect the safety of the participants, we did not open their details information.
Arcanum of Fasting
His Holiness Vairocana Xing Wu
19th September,2553 in the Buddhism Calendar (26th,October,2011in AD )
Fasting is very important for a meditator. Among the foods taken every month, a large portion of them are unhealthy. This causes the accumulating of hidden toxin inside the body. So pure Qi and clean Meridians are vital a meditator to obtain Chan-Ding. It will be a hindrance to obtain Chan-Ding, if Qi and Meridians are not pure enough. Since the Chan-Ding is not obtained, further meditation improvement, including the wisdom and the supernatural power, cannot be mentioned. So for a meditator, especially for a person who practices Zen, you need to do fasting at least 3 days a month. By doing so, the toxin will be cleansed out of the body and the QI and meridians will be purified. Thus it will benefit the Chan-Ding.
For a secular person, because foods taken every day are mostly fish and meat, much more hidden toxin will accumulate inside the body. If he/she fast one day a month, toxin will be cleared away and excreted, and organs of the body will stay away from harm of the toxin. In this case, he/she becomes healthier. This is the first significance.
The second significance is that fasting or living without food, can avoid killing the livings directly and indirectly.
To avoid killing has three benefits: firstly, it could save nature resources and energy, thus improve the global ecosystem. And it is valuable to correct the emotional imbalance caused by accumulated toxins from the food intake. The psychological problems and disharmony among people could be improved. If 20% of global population fast one day each month, there will be one day without killing and we will be closer to ecological balance. Secondly, as we know, fasting can save resource and energy. We can use the resources and energy saved to assist the people who are suffering in disaster and difficulties. Thirdly, fasting has immeasurable effect on promoting physical and psychological health.
All in all, Fasting for charity is beneficial to people, society, and nature, without harmful consequence. In other words, it is a matter of boundless beneficence.
The period of fasting can be 1 day, 3 days or 6 days. With the practice, the period can be prolonged. Why don’t people feel hunger during fasting period, instead, they tend to be healthier? Even more particularly, thin people could gain weight, whereas overweighed people could lose weight during this process. The reason behind these is that, human body can adjust itself naturally during fasting period, so that the body and mind tends to regain natural balance.
When fasting, there is a unique method in Hua Zhang Dharma. Now I will demonstrate the Arcanum of Fasting step by step.
Firstly, when you are fasting, you should drink plenty of water, if you are not having seclusion training. The water you drink will help you to get rid of the toxins accumulated in body, and help accelerate the digestion.
Secondly, you may have a little bit fruits.
Thirdly, the stomach and gastrointestinal function is still working and the gastrointestinal tract is in movement, so you may experience the feeling of hunger and fatigue. There is a method to adjust hunger and fatigue, which is called Arcanum of Fasting.
The method is as follow: First, keep your feet parallel like the number “11”, with the feet at the shoulder width. Put your hands naturally on the side of your body, with both palms facing each other. Lift up your arms slowly, at the same time breathe in.Remember, the inhaling must be deep, slow, and long
I will demonstrate. With the first inhaling, lift the arms to this level. With the deep, slow and long inhaling, imagine that Qi is lifted up from Yongquan point under the foot blades.
And the next step is to stretch out the arms and extend the chest and abdomen with the second inhaling.
Well, the body is full at the end of the second inhaling. And then take a little pause.
Collect your arms while breathing out through your mouth. Don’t exhale through your nose.
When returned to the first decomposed movement, turn your hands, with palm facing the ground. Drop them naturally. This is the second exhaling.
It should be emphasized here is that you should breathe in very slowly from Yongquan point, until the body is full. Do not contemplate in the process of exhaling, and breathe out slowly with your mouth.
Repeat this set of movements 6 times. After 6 times, you will feel that you are energetic and refreshed. With the circulation of Qi and Blood being vitalized, the hunger will disappear accordingly.
Then I will do the movements consecutively.
Notice that, I did the actions in one breath. However, if you are a beginner, your breath is not long enough to finish the movements in one breath. In that case, you can divide it into two breaths.
Once again. The first step, the hands are placed vertical naturally, then raise up——This is the first inhaling.
(Stretch out the arms ——) This is the second inhale breath.
After you collected the arms, when you turn the hands down, tilt your hands little bit up. Pay attention at meantime. You will feel your entire palm, especially the fingers will tremble, tingling, and a pulse of electrical current. And then put the arms slowly down.
I hope both meditators and the secular persons can use this method of fasting. Certainly, you should be ascetic in the process of fasting. Fasting is not only good for your meditation practice and physical health, but also invaluable for promoting ecological balance and saving resources and energy.
Before the movements, recite “Vairocana Heart Mantra” 3 times.
The mantra is as follow:
ang shi wa ni hong bi ben ni lou
After the movements, recite” Vairocana abhiṣecana Mantra (prat 3) ”one time.
mo duo wa mi di lan di
rui wa mo ruo bo
shi ni suo lu na lou ong hong
duo po jie
bo fu lou nei ye
glossry:
Chan-Ding
chan is dhyāna, probably a transliteration; ding is an interpretation of samādhi. chan is an element in ding, or samādhi, which covers the whole ground of meditation, concentration, abstraction, reaching to the ultimate beyond emotion or thinking; cf. 禪, for which the two words chan-ding are loosely used.
seclusion
To shut in; to isolate oneself for meditation.
Note: Yongquan point locates on the sole of the foot, at the indentation near the front part, between the second and third metatarsal bones, one-third of the distance from the webs of the toes to the heel.