New Year Reflection by Gilbert Gutierrez

Gilbert Gutierrez, one of 5 Western Dharma heirs of Ven. Chan Master Shengyen, sent the following New Year letter to his friends and students.  Special thanks to Gilbert for allowing this to be posted on Chan Dao, The Way of Chan blog, but especially for his steadfast dedication to helping others. Gilbert's website is at dharmatalks.riversidechan.org.

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Hello To  All Bodhisatvas,

   In the closing of this year it is a proper time for reflection on the events that occurred and the hopes for the future.

  These mind reflections should not be filled with regrets, or thoughts of what we might have gained or lost. We utilize our training in Buddha Dharma to understand causes and conditions. In this way we illuminate the mind and set a proper environment for fulfilling Buddha Dharma in the coming year.

  In these troubled economic times a great strain is placed on us, our loved ones, coworkers and everyone around us. Life is not easy if we give in to the self.  Self love leads to self suffering. We are all peas in the same pod- the human realm. Let us strive to make this pod better through body, speech, and mind. Be mindful of our actions and produce only wholesome actions. Create a fertile environment for spreading Buddha Dharma and an infertile environment to spread vexations. Do not abandon your training in the face of adverse circumstances. Remember everything changes. When faced with adverse circumstances this is when you must practice all the more so.

  We must give great gratitude to our teachers and carry their training forward. If not you then who? Do not reflect on what you have done, but contemplate what you are capable of doing in this lifetime. Shifu said, “ To vow to deliver others before one’s self is the initial generation of the Bodhi heart of a Bodhisatva.”

  Learn to forgive those who we feel have caused us suffering and reflect upon the suffering we caused to others. Repent these actions. Do not get discouraged when you have strayed from the path. Shifu Said, “ Those with a vow to break are Bodhisatvas, Those without a vow to break are non practitioners”

   So for the coming year set the course with renewed vigor to practice and spread Buddha Dharma.  Forgive our so called enemies. The true enemy is the self. Conquer this enemy and one will have no enemies. Conquer self and the tranquility and peace of the true nature will radiate with wisdom and compassion naturally arising. Burn the self up in the present moment and mind functions perfectly. Have faith in this. Renew your vows. Preparing yourself for the coming year in this manner will set your mind compass to the proper path. Then one will realize freedom and ease of Body and Mind.

Lastly, as Shifu was so good at doing, give a smile to everyone.

Namo Amituofo,

Your humble servant,

Gilbert

A Christmas Reflection and Wish

At this time of year, I can't help but reflect and be fascinated by the parallels between the nativity stories of Buddha and Jesus!

Five hundred years before the Annunciation of the archangel Gabriel to Mary, Queen Maya dreamed that a lotus bearing white elephant entered her through her side. Queen Maya soon found she was with child, fulfilling the prophecy by holy men that she would give birth to a great prince destined to either conquer the world or become a fully awakened one, a Buddha. Traveling back to Devadaha, her birthplace, from the King's capital, Kapilavathhu in the foothills of the Himalayas, Queen Maya gave birth to Siddhartha, the future Buddha, in the flowering Lumbini Grove.  How strangely familiar and wonderful this story is to those of us that grew up as Christians!

There are so many other profound parallels between the lives and teachings of Buddha and Christ.  For example, the Buddha's first sermon was The Four Noble Truths, that of suffering, it's cause, it's cessation, and the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to liberation from suffering.  Buddha proclaimed that liberation from suffering could be attained in this very life by putting his teaching to practice through holding moral precepts and practicing methods to quiet the mind to gain insight into one's own nature and the true nature of the phenomenal world.  Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and can be revealed by retreating to reflect and pray in solitude.  Buddha's first teaching of the Noble Eightfold path is the teaching of Right View, that our actions have repercussions, the law of karma.  Jesus strongly emphasized the law of cause and effect stating, "As you sow, so shall you reap".  

Buddha withdrew to the forest for six years practicing many austerities to find the way to liberation from suffering. Jesus retreated to the desert where he prayed and fasted for forty days and nights.  

Buddha was tempted by the king of demons, Mara, just before his enlightenment.  Jesus was tempted by Satan just before beginning his ministry.  Buddha was transformed under the Bodhi tree.  Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, as Moses was transfigured before the burning bush.  Buddha saw past lives upon his awakening and the cycle of birth and death of all living beings.  Jesus saw Elijah and Moses.

Buddha taught the importance of letting go of what is unwholesome and replacing it with what is wholesome, letting go of greed, hatred, delusion and ignorance and finding loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy for the success and well being of others, and complete equanimity.  How reminiscent this is of the Sermon on the Mount!  

The Buddha taught that one has to put down the very notion of one's self to be awakened to one's true nature.  Jesus taught dying to one's self to be reborn in spirit.  Christ himself died only to be resurrected, having conquered human suffering and death.  The notion of rebirth was not foreign to people in Palestine at that time.  There were those that believed Jesus was Elijah reborn.

With Mahayana Buddhism, the parallels are even stronger.  The ideal of the Bodhisattva is emphasized, teaching aspiring Bodhisattva's to awaken Bodhicitta, the Wisdom Consciousness that removes the separation of self and other, enabling the Bodhisattva to spontaneously act for the welfare and liberation of all sentient beings.  From the Mahayana Buddhist perspective, Jesus is a great Bodhisattva, living a totally selfless existence, healing the sick, feeding the poor, forgiving the most wretched in society for their sins, and giving hope for salvation.  He has truly been a light of the world as has Buddha.

Given the many parallels between the lives and teachings of Jesus and Buddha, it is small wonder that many Buddhists also celebrate Christmas as the coming of light that removes the darkness of ignorance and have special reverence for Jesus during this time.  Many prominent Buddhist leaders such as the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh do not recommend that Christians convert from their faith to become Buddhists, but rather ask that they become the best Christians they can be, truly following the example of Christ and doing for others as self.  When Christians see the face of Jesus in even their enemies faces and when Buddhist see even terrorists as future Buddhas, the world can't help but be blessed.  No enemies can continue to be born under such conditions. As the Buddha said, "Hatred can never be conquered by hatred -- this is an ancient law."

At this time of year, whether you are Buddhist or Christian, Hindu, Jew, or Muslim, let us all rededicate ourselves to the highest ideals of our faiths, living with loving-kindness and compassion for others and being good stewards of this precious Earth.  Then, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Pure Land, or Paradise will truly be at hand for all of us and our children.

Merry Christmas and may the light of wisdom give rise to great compassion in us all!

On Vacation What Are We Seeking?

I find it ironic that we spend the entire year looking forward to traveling for a week or two to some other place that we hope will bring us enough pleasure to make all our work worthwhile. Or perhaps we need a rest after working so hard and just want to go somewhere and take it easy. Or maybe we have a genuine interest in something that really makes us feel alive and we travel to participate with others in something that adds meaning. But, what is this pleasure, this rest, this meaning that we seek if only for 1/52nd or 1/26th of our year? Wouldn't it be nice to just naturally experience this pleasure, ease, and meaning the other 51 or 52 weeks a year? What are we seeking and how can we live it?

I like to travel. I like spiritual journeys. Pilgrimages. I want to experience something that is irrevocably life changing in the most positive way. I want to be completely and forever transformed by my journey. But, no matter where I have ever been, after returning, slowly but surely life returns to the way it was before the journey. I've traveled to famous churches, to monasteries, to temples in several countries. But the effect was short lived. I've been to wonderful resorts. I've laid out all night on beaches and backpacked to high mountain lakes. Some of these trips made a deeper impression than others, but none transformed me the way I was wanting to be transformed. When I returned, the same problems I had left were still there. I still had the same cravings and aversions, though they may have been diminished for a time. I was no kinder, no more virtuous, no more wise a few weeks after I returned than I was before I left. What I was seeking was so incredibly short lived!

A few years ago, I decided to start going on retreats again after not being on one for many years. Chan retreats. Vipassana retreats. These are silent retreats. You aren't allowed to use a computer, use a cell phone, or talk to anyone for the entire time you are there. But, they are life transforming. Once the chatter and commentary in your head stops, you can see clearer than you might have known was possible! This is the ultimate vacation! There is nothing like journeying to a state of equanimity and experiencing life millisecond by millisecond. How rich the world is if we have eyes to see and ears to hear! At such times, there is no inner or outer. There is only perfection, suchness, in every passing second.

Where is there to go when right here right now is perfect in every respect? What could be more pleasurable, restful, or meaningful that being fully awake in this very moment? Once the chattering stops, the music begins. The grand symphony of life. Everything sings in response to everything else, infinitely correlated, infinitely inter-responding in a perfectly frictionless, fluid, natural harmony. Isn't this what we were always seeking, to be fully awake, at ease in body and mind, and perfectly content to just experience things just as they are without judgment, commentary, or any associations? Just bare, clear awareness of what really is? Having experienced this, we may wonder how it is that this was ever hidden from us.

We just have such a long ingrained habit of stirring things up! We stir up our thoughts. We stir up our emotions. By doing so, we miss what is already naturally there. There never was a time when it wasn't there, like the moon that is reflected perfectly once the waters become placid! We miss what we would experience if we would just let go, be still, and let everything flow naturally. Then, our environment is no longer separate from us and we are no longer pinched off in our own little neurotic worlds. It's only our grasping and pushing away that hides the real state of the world from us. Our cravings, lusts, aversions, hatreds dim our perception until we are truly in darkness, barely living, like automatons or zombies pulled onward by hunger and thirst. Or driven by fear.

What if we could go on vacation and come back more alive than we ever previously imagined possible? What if when we returned, we were more in touch with our thoughts and feelings than ever before? What if we, having learned to rest in every breath, in every moment, could easily regenerate energy and move through the day with grace and ease? What if we had the luxury of time to really feel and really think before we speak? How many hurtful things would go unsaid! How many kindnesses would be shared! How valuable such a vacation would be for us individually, but also for our families and for the world! Terrorism and war would be an absurdity in such a world.

The next time you think about going on a vacation, take time to consider what you are truly seeking. Consider whether going to Disneyland, Las Vegas or to the beach compares favorably to taking time out to be completely silent and let everything settle completely. When the mind is completely settled, awareness is sharpest, most expansive, most penetrating. When the mind is completely content, does not grasp or push away, perception is pure and insight naturally occurs. This kind of perception and insight can be life transforming. If enough people have this kind of vacation, we would all live in paradise.

Concept of Soul / Self in the Theistic Religions by Guest Blogger Ng Yeow Foo

Singapore Dharma-buddy, Ng Yeow Foo (a.k.a. Tiger), has contributed the following excellent article. Thank you so much Tiger!

Concept of Soul / Self in the Theistic Religions: Analysis of the Brahmajāla Sutta

Theism or theistic religion is simply defined as a system of belief in the existence of at least one god. As such, there are many flavours of theism, differentiated by the number of god(s) and the nature of god(s) in the respective belief systems: monotheism, the doctrine or belief in a single creator God (e.g., Judaism, Christianity and Islam); polytheism, the belief in more than one god (e.g., the ancient Greek belief system); pantheism, the belief that everything is God, or the whole universe is regarded as manifestation of God (e.g., Vedas of Brahmanism). The conception of God must somehow be treated as analogous or identical with the idea of soul or self. Without soul theory as the ground, be it material or immaterial, it is rather difficult to establish theistic spirituality and the existence of supreme God.

It must be noted that the Buddha was mainly criticizing the soul theories of the Upaniṣadic tradition which are extremely similar to the traditional or contemporary Christian soul theories (Gunapala, 1987; p. 1). This is evidenced in the second half of the Brahmajāla Sutta, where the Buddha lists out sixty-two types of wrong views (micchā diṭṭhi) held by some ascetics and Brahmins at that time, of whom are having fixated ideas about the past or future. As such, the Buddha has intelligently dealt with almost all philosophical or religious thoughts; some of those are still surviving up to the present time, in which most of them center around the idea of SOUL / SELF.

What draws our attention here are the Eternalists, Eternalists and partly Non-Eternalists (partial-eternalists), and Chance-Originationists views which are of speculators about the past, having fixed views about the past, and who put forward various speculative theories about the past. The holder of these views based solely on their memories of last existences obtained upon achieving a certain degree of mental concentration. The eternalists, for example, would proclaim the eternity of self and the world in four ways simply because they fall short of the ability to recall the more distant pasts, perceive this world and the “imaginary” self as permanent and eternal. As for the partial-eternalism, the Sutta rightly describes the origin of the God-as-the-Creator idea as in all theistic religions. The so-called the Creator-God concept is indeed a mistake made by both the “Maha-Brahmā who has lost his memories about his existence in the previous world” and by men’s misunderstanding of this cosmological story (as in the Biblical story), and the subsequent misconstruction via yogic experience (Bodhi, 1978; p. 19-23). Similarly, those who are of chance-originationists view, due to the inability of recalling beyond their last existence, think that the self and the world arise by chance since they speculate that they don’t exist before that. This is the doctrine of fortuitous origination of self and the world.

The Buddha points out that these speculative views are always rooted on the past or future. However, the majority of the metaphysical views (44 types) are nested on the post-mortem future, our destiny after death. The first three sets (of the 44 types) are still dealing with eternalism, but they tend to lean towards future and all are of various types of post-mortem consciousness or self’s survival after death. Eternalist is at one end, while annihilationist is at the other end embracing the belief that the destruction of “being” is the end of the individual experience. There are seven ways of proclaiming annihilationism described in the Sutta, only the first one which identifies self with physical body, is purely materialistic. The other six are the more subtle way of defining annihilationism, where the self now is identified with inner principles that reside in the divine world, the fine material realm and the four immaterial planes. Only with the destruction of this self it is said that the final annihilation takes place. Would it not sound like some sort of annihilation in the divinity sense, in other words the “annihilation of the soul in God” as the ultimate destiny of a spiritually perfected sainthood? Finally, the proclaimers of the doctrine of Nibbāna Here and Now seem to commit the fundamental error of identifying concept of permanent self to Nibbānic experience, which is also unrightfully misinterpreted (Bodhi, 1978; p. 27-31).

The Sutta concludes with the Buddha attributing the ground of all the sixty two views to contact of the six sense-bases. It seems that the problem appears upon repeated contact, by which it conditions feelings, and feelings condition craving, craving conditions clinging, and so on as in the paṭicca-samuppāda formula. The interesting point I would like to point out here is the antidote that the Buddha has prescribed: “…when monk understands as they really are the arising and passing away of the six bases of contact, their attraction and peril, and the deliverance from them, he knows that which goes beyond all these views.” Those views, which largely contribute to the emergence of some major religions in the present time are indeed “fused” by the failure to realise the impermanence of six sense-bases that condition contact. Once this is understood, the idea of a metaphysical soul/self will become meaningless.

Gunapala claims that the Buddha maintains that the belief-in-a-soul theory which is so prominent in some ideological systems can be traced to an emotional bias. The so-called ideas about “I” and “self” are considered as “thoughts haunted by craving concerning the inner self”. Additionally, the desire and attachment for the consciousness and its types give rise to dogmas and emotional biases (Gunapala, 1987; p. 9). And this is when one would end up grasping after systems, craving for “identity” which oftentimes creates a wall separating oneself from others who simply hold the different belief systems. Of course, the root of all these is the contact through six sense-bases that conditions the forming of all metaphysical views.

This Sutta is also known as “all-embracing net of views”. Indeed the Buddha has beautifully pointed out the full spectrum of “personal views” (and their problems) during his time which is still applicable until today, and it can be extended to non-religious belief systems as well. It must be noted however that this article is not meant to put down on other religions or belief systems. In my opinion, the Buddha is offering an alternative gateway to the highest attainment of morality and knowledge without utilising the theory of soul/self. It is the attachment to the self idea which blinds the people from seeing things as they truly are, and hence the emergence of violence and terrorism that keep haunting the world today.

Bibliography:
Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views: The Brahmajāla Sutta and Its Commentaries. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1978.

Walshe, Maurice, trans. The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. (Originally published under the title, Thus Have I Heard, 1987.)

Gunalapala, Dharmasiri. A Buddhist Critique of the Christian Concept of God. Singapore: The Buddhist Research Society, 2^nd Ed, 1987.

When Herons Leave the Lake

Ven. Sheng-yen

Some inspire grace and awe. Even in the animal realm, there are those that move through life with such grace that it touches our hearts to behold them. Who is not in awe of giraffes running on open grassland, of blue whales breaching ocean waves, or of herons landing on wetlands? There have been those among us that inspire this same awe as we see them move through life with such a natural ease and grace. Like lotus and herons, they rise above the murky waters of life to witness each moment with ever renewing freshness. Such people give us a vision of how life could be for each of us, how the world could be if we could only be at ease ourselves and see with such clarity!

Last year on February 3rd, my Shifu (師父), Chan Master Sheng-yen, 聖嚴法師, passed from this world. It was like the heron we had long since taken for granted had suddenly taken flight and left the lake. Geese and mallards cannot compare with this graceful, mindful creature! How sorely he is missed!

John Daido Loori

On October 9th, 2009, John Daido Loori spread his wings and lifted off the lake leaving still waters.

Now, last Friday, Robert Aitken Roshi also has spread his wings in flight leaving me to wonder what we do when all the herons have left the lake? Each time a master passes, Buddha's final breath takes on new relevance: "Strive on!" We inherit their vows to live a life of compassion and rededicate ourselves to our daily practice. Masters like Sheng-yen arose out of need, like a high pressure cell naturally flowing into a low pressure cell. On their passing, a new void is created and others must rise to the challenge with renewed vitality.

Robert Aitken Roshi

When herons leave the lake, in due season they or others will return. In the meantime, we ourselves must rise above the murky waters and move with mindfulness and grace.

Restlessness During the Practice of Silent Illumination

A friend I met at a Silent Illumination retreat at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center last December wrote, "I have trouble focusing on the present, my mind swings back and forth like a monkey swings on a tree. Last night I meditated using the Silent Illumination method, I couldn't be silent more than 1 minute. I will keep trying....".  How many of you meditators out there have experienced this?  Everyone, I'm sure.  How many meditators that have been practicing more than 5 years still experience this at times?  Unless you are made of special stuff, again, everyone, I'm fairly certain.  Now here is where it really hurts.  How many of you meditators out there that have been practicing for 30 years or longer still have meditations like this occasionally?  No one?  Well, I guess I'm the only one that still has meditations like this at times.

There are many causes of restlessness.  The fact that you choose to sit during a time when you are feeling restless is coincidental.  It's just that you become acutely aware of restlessness during meditation.  So first, lets look at the causes of restlessness and what can be done about them before meditation.  Then, let's look at what we can do about restlessness during meditation.

Causes of Restlessness and Some Possible Remedies

We all have days when we have more energy than usual.  This can be physical or mental energy.  Generally, we like to have positive energy.  It helps us be productive at work, have fun at play, and makes us feel alive!  Positive mental and physical energy is a result of a balanced, healthy and wholesome lifestyle.  When we eat fresh, wholesome, nutritious food, get enough daily exercise, have a good daily routine, don't subject ourselves to unnecessary stress, have a practice that helps us manage stress, and get sufficient sleep, chances are we will have considerably more energy that we would if our lifestyle was not so healthy.  If you are the type that wakes up and feels like jogging, sitting in meditation might be a bit of a struggle at that time.  This is why yogis traditionally did yogasanas before meditating, to improve fitness, circulation, mindfulness, and lower excessive energy.  They also did mindful breathing exercises after yogasanas to reduce inertia and dullness just before meditating.  By the time the yogi sits to meditate, her energy is balanced, her mind is well oxygenated and clear, and she begins meditation in an optimal state.  Even at Chan retreats at DDRC, we do walking meditation, yogasanas and forms of "moving meditation" to balance the practice of sitting meditation.  So, if you have high energy, you might do the Eight Forms Moving Meditation, walking meditation, or yogasanas before sitting meditation (a little pranayama wouldn't hurt either).

Eight Forms Moving Meditation


Sometimes, maybe too often, restlessness can occur because of energy of a more negative quality.This can happen because we are eating foods or drinking beverages that have a stimulating effect on the body and mind.  It can happen because we are worrying, which causes restlessness but can also lead to dullness. Or, we can be restless because we feel uncomfortable about something we have done or said.  Restlessness is a natural byproduct of worry, aversion, fear, anger, and hatred on the one hand, and craving, selfishness, greed, and lust on the other.  This is why, especially in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, yogis are first taught Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pali), or virtue and moral discipline.  You can learn to meditate, but from a practical standpoint if you are doing things that go against the fundamental precepts you are sure to have restlessness in your meditation.  The Five Precepts are:

1. Refraining from killing.
2. Refraining from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).
3. Refraining from sexual misconduct.
4. Refraining from lying or deceiving.
5. Refraining from intoxicants.

By upholding the Five Precepts, we naturally have a clearer conscience and virtue brings an uplifted spirit and brightness to the mind.  This is foundational.

We are also taught to be aware of the Three Poisons: greed, hatred, and ignorance, and be mindful of the Noble Eightfold Path.

Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration


This all makes sense on a very practical level.  If we are not acting in such a way that we are creating conflict and discord, the environment in which we live will be more pleasant, less stressful and our mind will naturally be more settled.

Practicing mindfulness is particularly beneficial because it help us become aware of excessive worrying and put our awareness back on what is at hand.  Cultivating mindfulness over a period of time helps us to become calmer and more balanced.  We may still get surprised, disappointed, and upset, but these feelings are shorter and shorter lived.  We don't harbor ill feelings in our hearts and naturally begin each new day with a blank slate.  Ill feeling harbored in our hearts act like a computer virus in a computer.  Mindfulness is like an anti-virus program that detects and fixes worrisome, fearful, aggressive, or hurtful thoughts.

What to Do about Restlessness During Meditation

Ok, so now you are living a good, wholesome, healthy, virtuous life.  How come there is still restlessness.  First of all, it is the nature of the mind to think thoughts.  There is nothing unnatural about it.  In some forms of meditation, the meditator simply acknowledges the thought that has arisen and then gently redirects the focus back to the method.  So if you are following the breath and the mind has drifted to a thought, you simply let go of the thought, relax, and go back to mindfulness of breathing.

If thoughts still arise and lead to other thoughts, you may need to gently put a bit more effort into staying with the breath.  There are some ways of doing this that seem to work for some people and other ways that work better for others.  One way is to count each exhalation until you get to ten exhalations, and then start all over at one again (count the breaths).  Another way that is to more actively participate in the experience of breathing.  For example, be aware of how the breath begins, the duration, how it ends without controlling the breath.  One that I like is to feel appreciation for the life-giving inhalation and the purifying and relaxing exhalation.  My personal favorite is to focus on totally relaxing into each breath, to fully rest in the breath, totally letting go with each new inhalation and exhalation.  This tends to very quickly settle both the mind and body and can lead to a very relaxed, alert state from which it is good to start practicing Silent Illumination.

Silent Illumination can be difficult to practice if you don't have good methods of dealing with restlessness.  Because you are putting your awareness on the entire body at once, it can be elusive and more difficult to stay with that the breath.  In that case, you might go back to following the breath using one of the techniques I mentioned above to focus and settle the mind.  When the mind is less scattered and more unified, and you are fully present in each breath, then shift the focus to full awareness of the body just sitting.  This will very quickly lead to a state where the boundaries of the body and environment begin to blur and then disappear and you can just be aware of the environment "just sitting".  By this time, the mind will be very settled and you'll be able to continue effortlessly.

Everyone moves through periods of restlessness and drowsiness and everyone learns to deal with them in their own way.  Sometimes one way is more effective and sometimes another.  This is part of the skill of meditating that can only be developed over time.  I still feel very much like a beginner and still have days that seem more problematic than others.  My wife and I separated on April 13th and then on May 7th I was laid off and still haven't found a job. I'm now going through a divorce. These kinds of things can be unsettling.  Practice Metta, Loving Kindness, and Karuna, Compassion, on yourself and on those that are being disagreeable in your life and this will go a long way to making each new day a great new day for practice!

Reading the Sutras as Practice

While reading books on Buddhism by knowledgeable, accomplished masters is valuable, there is nothing like reading Buddhist sutras themselves.   For study, it is particularly useful to read the Nikayas.  Reading the Nikayas is like having Shakaymuni Buddha sitting right in front of you teaching you directly.  But, as a form of meditative practice, reading the Mahayana sutras is quite wonderful.  Lately, I've been reading the Huayen Jing, the Flower Adornment Sutra, before I meditate.  It is especially useful to read it aloud.  Doing so has a great calming effect on the mind and expands the heart.  Reading or reciting the sutras can bring about realizations that could not have happened so easily or quickly any other way.

This is akin to the old Christian practice of Lectio Divina in which one would read the scriptures as a form of meditation, reading from the heart, resting on the words as they are read, sinking in.  Unfortunately, this practice has fallen away in Christianity, like so many of its traditions that could lead modern followers to deeper levels of insight.

Fortunately, Buddhism still sustains the tradition of recitation of sutras, though this practice hasn't taken root in the West like it has in older Buddhist cultures.  Reading aloud the Buddhist sutras is so vital to ones development and is such a great complement to sitting and walking meditation, it's a shame that is it overlooked and neglected in the West.

Try an experiment.  Buy the Flower Adornment Sutra Volume One by Thomas Cleary (you might be able to find a used one on Amazon - new ones are expensive) and read it out loud for about 15 minutes before you meditate and see what affect it has on your meditation.  When you read it, read as practice.  If your mind wonders, gently pull it back to focus on what you are reading.  It's not important to read for understanding, but more for natural visualization.  Just read with focused clarity but don't engage the intellect.  Let yourself rest in the flow of the words in a relaxed but alert way.  This can be a very mind and heart expanding experience, especially with the Flower Adornment Sutra.  My Shifu , Venerable Master Sheng Yen, recommended this sutra to me 25 years ago and I am only just beginning to see why.  I wish I would have made it part of my daily practice so many years ago!  It is really quite wonderful.