VOLUME 2
Short Biography of Dhyana Master Hsuan Hua
Dhyana Master Hsuan Hua (Dharma name An Tz’u, also known as Tu Lun) was born on the sixteenth day of the third month, 1908, in Shuang Ch’eng County, Northeast China. His father, Pai Fu-hai, and mother, Hu, had eight children, of which the Master was the youngest. His mother often recited the name of Amita Buddha and in a dream one night shortly before the Master was born she saw Amita Buddha emitting light from between his eyebrows that illumined the entire world system of one billion worlds. When she awoke, her room was filled with a rare fragrance.
His home was located in the countryside where there were few neighbors and not until he was eleven years old did he discover the phenomenon of death. While walking with some friends through a pasture, they came upon the body of a dead baby girl. The Master did not understand why this baby lay so still upon the ground and inquired of his friends, who replied, “She’s dead.”
Puzzled, he returned to his home and asked his mother what exactly was this thing called death. She replied, “All people, whether rich or poor, must die, either from old age, sickness, or through an accident.” The Master further asked, “How does one free oneself from death?” At that time there was a visitor at his home, one who cultivated the Way, and he answered the Master’s question, “It is only through cultivation of the Way, awakening to one’s own mind and seeing one’s fundamental nature, that one can be liberated from birth and death in the continuous cycle of the six paths.”
On hearing this the Master wished to immediately leave the home-life and begin to cultivate, but his mother told him that he must wait, for she needed him to care for her in her old age.
When he was nineteen years old, his mother died. He left the home-life, bowing to the Venerable Master Ch’ang Chih as his teacher, and received the ten precepts of a sramanera, after which he took up the practice of sitting by his mother’s grave, observing a mourning-period of three years. He lived in an A-frame hut made of sorghum stalks, cultivating dhyana samadhi and recitation of the name of Amita Buddha, eating one meal a day, and always sitting, never lying down. Occasionally he would enter samadhi for weeks at a time, never rising from his seat.
One night the residents of the nearby village saw that the Master’s hut was on fire. A brilliant light shot up ten yards into the air, and the area around the hut was as bright as broad daylight. Many people rushed to the grave yard, crying, “The filial son’s hut has caught fire!” and soon there were hundreds of people there to lend assistance with buckets of water. When they arrived, however, they found the hut unburned; the Master was sitting absorbed in meditation.
On one occasion, the Sixth Patriarch, Great Master Hui Neng of the T’ang Dynasty, came to the Master’s hut and told him that in the future he would go to the West where he would meet many people with whom he had affinities and thereby establish the Dharma, causing it to flourish. After the Second World War the Master traveled three thousand miles to Nan Hua Monastery in Canton Province to pay his respects to the Venerable Hsu Yun, who was then one hundred and nine years old.
During his journey he resided at P’u T’ou Mountain, the Bodhimanda of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, where he received the complete Bhikshu Precepts. When he arrived at Nan Hua, the two masters greeted one another; the Venerable Master Hsu Yun recognized the Master’s attainment and transmitted the wonderful mind-seal to him, making him the Ninth Patriarch of the Wei Yang Lineage, and asked him to serve as the Director of the Nan Hua Institute for the Study of the Vinaya.
In 1950 he resigned his post at Nan Hua Monastery and journeyed to Hong Kong, where he lived in a mountainside cave, until the large influx of Sangha members fleeing the mainland required his help in establishing new monasteries and temples throughout Hong Kong. He personally established two temples and a lecture hall and helped to bring about the construction of many others. He dwelt in Hong Kong for twelve years, during which many people were influenced by his arduous cultivation and awesome manner to take refuge with the Triple Jewel and support the propagation of the good Dharma.
In 1962 he carried the Buddha’s Dharma banner farther westward, to the shores of America, where he took up residence in San Francisco and patiently waited for past causes to ripen and bear fruit. In the beginning of the year 1968 the Master declared that the flower of Buddhism would bloom that year in America with five petals; in the summer of that year the Master conducted the Shurangama Sutra Dharma assembly which lasted for 96 days—five of the people who attended that session left the home-life and became bhikshus and bhikshunis under the Master’s tutelage.
Since that time the Master has conducted many Dharma assemblies and delivered lectures on the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, the Sutra ofthe Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, the Great Compassiona Heart Dharani Sutra, and the Dharma Blossom Sutra.
The Master then lectured the Avatamsaka Preface, Prologue, and the entire Sutra over a period of nine years. With such tireless vigor, the Master has firmly planted the roots of Dharma in Western soil so that it can become self-perpetuating. He has spent hours every day explaining the teachings and their application in cultivation, steeping his disciples in the nectar of Dharma that they might carry on the Buddha’s teaching.
The miraculous events that have taken place in the Master’s life are far too numerous to relate. He has freed many from the burdens of disease and other afflictions, and his followers number in the tens of thousands. His steadfast cultivation of bitter practices, the moral prohibitions, and the six paramitas, paired with his unwavering samadhi and profound knowledge of the teachings serve as a model for gods and men throughout the Dharma Realm.
At the age of nineteen, on the anniversary of the enlightenment of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the Master made eighteen vows before the Buddha, saying, “Bowing in obeisance to the Buddhas of the ten directions, the three divisions of the Dharma, and the venerable sages of past and present, I call upon them to bear witness as I, disciple Tu Lun, Shih An Tz’u, resolve to not seek blessings among gods and men, the vehicles of sound-hearers, those enlightened to conditions, and so forth, up to and including all of the Bodhisattvas of the provisional teaching, but only for the sake of the most supreme vehicle resolve my mind on Bodhi, in the wish that I and all living beings of the Dharma Realm simultaneously obtain the utmost, equal, and right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single Bodhisattva in the three periods of time throughout the ten directions of the Dharma Realm, to the very end of empty space, who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single Pratyeka Buddha in the three periods of time throughout the ten directions of the Dharma Realm, to the very end of empty space, who has not attained Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single Shravaka in the three periods of time throughout the ten directions of the Dharma Realm, to the very end of empty space, who has not attained Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single god who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single human who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single asura who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single animal who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single hungry ghost who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as long as there is a single hell-dweller who has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow that as longas there is a single god, immortal, man, asura, air-bound or water-bound creature, animate or inanimate object, or a single dragon, beast, ghost, or spirit, etc., of the spiritual realm that has taken refuge with me and has not accomplished Buddhahood, I too will not attain the right enlightenment.
I vow to fully dedicate all blessings and bliss which I ought to receive and enjoy myself to all living beings of the Dharma Realm.
I vow to fully take upon myself all sufferings and hardships of all the living beings in the Dharma Realm.
I vow to manifest innumerable bodies as a means to gain access into the minds of living beings throughout the universe who do not believe in the Buddhadharma, causing them to corret their faults and tend toward wholesomeness, repent of their errors and start anew, taking refuge in the Triple Jewel and ultimately accomplishing Buddhahood.
I vow that all living beings who see my face or ever hear my voice will fix their thoughts on Bodhi and quickly accomplish the Buddha-Way.
I vow to respectfully observe the Buddha’s instructions and cultivate the practice of eating only one meal a day.
I vow to enlighten all sentient beings, universally responding to the multitude of differing potentials.
I vow to obtain the five eyes, six spiritual penetrations, and the freedom of being able to fly in this very life.
I vow that all of my vows will certainly be fulfilled.”
Wonderful Sound, Kuan Shih Yin
From limitless kalpas until the present we’ve been born and we have died. After dying, we’ve passed through interminable hundreds of thousands of millions of aeons without ever encountering a Dharma assembly honoring Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. We have failed to decrease our bad habits and faults in the slightest, and every day our ignorance and afflictions increase.
To now be able to encounter a Dharma assembly dedicated to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva means that at this particular time, good roots which you have amassed throughout limitless kalpas past until the present have ripened, and come to maturity. That is the reason you are now able to participate in this extremely subtle, wonderful, and inconceivable Dharma assembly.
It’s also possible that if you yourself haven’t planted good roots, that your parents have virtuous conduct, and they have encouraged you to attend this most wonderful Dharma assembly. But, in general, anyone anywhere in the entire ten directions who has not planted good roots and amassed virtuous conduct will not be able to attend this Dharma assembly. This should be sufficient reason for you to refrain from false thinking during these seven days. You shouldn’t let the time pass by in vain. If you simply immerse yourself in false thinking, then although you’re attending this session, it’s just as if you weren’t here at all, and you won’t obtain any particular advantage.
Now I know that although this Dharma assembly started only two days ago, already some people have seen Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, light, lotuses, and other extremely inconceivable states. There are some among you who are just about to open your Five Eyes.
The rest of you who haven’t obtained any advantage should be ashamed. You shouldn’t think because nothing’s happened with you, that it’s the same with everyone else; that’s not the case. We’re now in this great foundry—Gold Mountain Monastery’s Buddhahall—where we are smelting gold, silver, copper, and iron, to see which can withstand the test of fire. It’s said, “real gold doesn’t fear the fire of the smelting furnace.” When true gold goes into the furnace of the foundry, the more it smelts, the more brilliant it becomes and the clearer the color grows.
Silver, has a little less clarity, copper has even less, and iron obviously has a lot less. At Gold Mountain Monastery, we pan for gold. Among the grains of sand, we sift out the gold. Whoever is really cultivating will not want to leave Gold Mountain. If you leave Gold Mountain in search of a place to cultivate, you’re going to have a hard time finding it. Here at Gold Mountain, all the people are resolved in the Way. No matter how difficult it is, they want to stay here and cultivate.
There are eighty-four thousand Dharma doors for cultivating the Way, and you should understand each kind of Dharma door. You don’t want to just concentrate on one. You want to at least be familiar with the others, so that eventually you can come to understand all Dharmas. If you concentrate solely on one Dharma door, then you’re not going to understand the ocean-like state of a Buddha; you will be as if looking at the sky through a telescope, and deciding that the sky is only as big as the amount you can see through the telescope. However, if you put down the telescope, and take a look, you will see how vast the sky is. So when you’re studying the Buddhadharma, you don’t want to limit yourself to a single aspect, but penetrate all dharmas; understand all dharmas.
A Kuan Yin recitation session, is one aspect of the Buddhadharma. If you’ve never cultivated this Dharma, then you should try it out. You don’t want to pass judgment on it before you’ve even tried it, and not even attempt to cultivate it. If you can go from the first day through the seventh day, and finish the whole thing, then it definitely will have a good effect on both your body and your mind. I hope you won’t fail to realize this.
Bodhisattvas cultivate the Six Perfections and myriad practices. The first of the Six Perfections is giving. When you give, you don’t want others to give to you. It doesn’t mean, “give, give, give to me, but I won’t give to you!” That’s not the idea. If you are able, then give.
The second Perfection is patience. This Kuan Yin recitation session is a period to test your patience. If you can be patient, then you will finish the entire session. If you can’t be patient, then from morning until night you’ll have false thinking. You’ll be thinking about what your friends are doing, or be imagining yourself walking into a restaurant and ordering a steak, or pork chops, or making some Chop Su’ey. You might even start thinking, “Well, what use is it for me to be here anyway? It’s a lot of nonsense! I’m ‘splittin’”. These sorts of false thoughts indicate a lack of patience. People without patience are not going to be able to cultivate the Way. Because if you’re a real cultivator, then you will take delight in investigating Ch’an, or you will be happy to recite the Buddha’s name, and you’ll feel joy when reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name—considering them all equally fine Dharma doors, and not making distinctions among them.
If you have patience, you can succeed at whatever Dharma door you happen to be cultivating. But if you don’t have patience, then you won’t be able to cultivate any Dharma door. That’s because if you lack patience, then you’ll keep thinking, “This is wrong, and that’s not good.” Nothing will satisfy you. If you are like that, how are you going to be able to cultivate?
In cultivating the Way, you must not have a view of self. You want to be without a self. You don’t want to have that attachment. If you have an attachment to a self, you’re never going to be able to cultivate. “I want to investigate Ch’an,” you insist. Well, if you’re going to investigate Ch’an, you must have a lot of patience. Then, after being patient, you have to hold the precepts. Do not do any evil, and offer up all good conduct.
Then you have to be vigorous, not lax or lazy. Don’t slack off. Finally, you have to develop Ch’an Samadhi. When we’re reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, we’re beseeching Kuan Yin bodhisattva to help us. What are we asking him to help us with? Our Ch’an samadhi. When we’re not reciting the Bodhisattva’s name, we cultivate Ch’an. Once you have Ch’an samadhi you can give rise to wisdom. That is the relationship which the Six Perfections bear to one another.
You still persist, saying that you are totally infatuated with the idea of cultivating Ch’an. Fine. Then I’m going to talk to you about a method of Ch’an cultivation.
People who really cultivate Ch’an go into the Ch’an Hall, and once everybody has gone in, NOBODY GETS OUT—NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!! “What if I get sick?” you ask. You still have to investigate Ch’an. “Well, what if I die?!” you wonder. You still are not removed from the Ch’an Hall. When somebody dies in the Ch’an Hall, they are just thrown under a bench. If you notice an empty spot and a bench that was formerly occupied, you can guess what has happened. Even if the corpse begins to decompose, and smell bad, it still stays there. NOBODY GOES OUTSIDE!
“That’s like being in jail, isn’t it?” It’s like jail. You think you’re not in jail now? Everyone is in jail; it’s just that you don’t realize you’re in jail. Your self-nature tries to get out, but it can’t. On the other hand, it can’t get back in either. If it’s out, it can’t get back in, and if it’s in, it can’t get out. Is that freedom? Everybody’s body is a jail, but you haven’t realized it. That’s the way a Ch’an Hall is run. The door is closed, and that’s it. You’re in and you can’t get out. If you try to leave, you’re going to get beaten on the head and the back with the incense board. We call it, “Striking up a session!” Well, that’s just what it’s all about; you actually can get beaten. Beaten to death? That’s one method for striking up a session.
Kuan Yin recitation sessions work the same way. You can’t get out of the Ch’an Hall without getting beaten. Who asked you to come here anyway? “You announced it,” you counter. But you came! We never said in the announcement that once you came you could leave. You can go; it’s okay, you can go. But if you leave, you have to provide for everybody else’s food for the week, otherwise you can’t leave.
Stop and think about it. We’re cultivating together. If you go, others will notice your absence, and start false thinking, “Oh, that guy is splitting; I’m going to leave too.” In this way it will “snow-ball,” and pretty soon everyone will be going. That’s called “breaking up the Bodhimanda.” Since breaking up the Bodhimanda is a serious offense, I feel you should pay for everybody’s food for the entire session to help counteract that bad influence. If you don’t have that much money, then don’t leave. “That’s just a made-up rule.” Well, if you don’t go, then we don’t have to resort to the rule.
The affinities you people have with one another have brought you to Gold Mountain Monastery. If you didn’t have affinities, you wouldn’t even be able to get inside the door of Gold Mountain. Since you have affinities, obviously you are friends in this Dharma assembly honoring Kuan Yin Bodhisatva. You should all join hands and step forward together. Where will you be going? You’re going to go where each of you wants to go. It’s your choice as long as you cherish the desire to help other people.
I have spoken rather severely today, because I’m afraid that you might take a wrong path. I’m afraid for you, because the minute you step out of Gold Mountain, things get very dangerous.
One of my disciples came to this session, and left after just a few days. He left in the middle before it was over, but when he went outside, he couldn’t take that so he’s come back. My impulse is to beat him—beat him out of here! It’s been a long time since I ever beat anyone. Maybe the time will come, and I’ll try it out. I’ll beat him, and see if he still dares to remain here.
The things I’ve said here today, are for the good of you all.
You’ve all recited the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva for a day, but do you know what “Kuan Shih Yin” means? Maybe you don’t even know, especially if you are a Westerner who is not familiar with the sounds of Chung Wen. Those who understand Chung Wen know what’s being said, but for those who don’t understand the language it’s just as if they were reciting a mantra.
The word “Kuan” means “contemplate.” The word “Shih” means “world.” The word “Yin” means “sounds.” So the name means “Contemplate the World’s Sounds.” This Bodhisattva, having nothing to do, wants to find something to do. The “Kuan” also means “look,” but in this case it’s the opposite of the kind of “looking” you do. It is to look within, to look into the hearts of living beings. It doesn’t mean looking at external things. It means looking to see which living beings don’t have any false thinking in their minds; which living beings’ minds are empty; which are enlightened.
The verse in honor of this session says:
From the ten directions,
We gather in an assembly
Of good men and faithful women,
To study together the unconditioned.
Reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is an unconditioned dharma. It’s neither conditioned nor unconditioned. It is an unconditioned dharma that can teach you not to have false thinking. When you recite, “Namo Kuan Shih Yin Pu Sa,” you are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is mindful of you. You are mutually mindful of one another. This is just like thinking of a relative, when at the same time the relative is thinking of you. We have been in the Dharma retinue of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva for limitless, limitless aeons. We are related by means of the Dharma to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Our forefather is Amitabha Buddha, the teaching host in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. That Buddha is the teacher of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva helps Amitaba Buddha propagate the Dharma in the Pure Land.
Therefore, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is like an older brother to us all. That makes us very close relatives. The older brother watches over the younger brother. “Do we dare say we are the younger brothers of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva?” you wonder, “isn’t that setting ourselves up pretty high?” No, indeed it isn’t. Not only does Kuan Yin Bodhisattva consider you his younger brothers, he considers all living beings to be his younger brothers. If it weren’t that way, then why would he manifest and save people from suffering? Why would he always be there to help all living beings when they have some difficulty? He just looks upon all living beings as he would his own hands and feet, his own flesh and blood. That’s why he doesn’t fear any difficulty or suffering in order to save all the living beings in the Saha world.
So, you should never forget about your brother. If you are mindful of Kuan yin Bodhisattva while you are here, then Kuan Yin Bodhisattva will be mindful of you. Our appeal to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is one of brother to brother. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva refers to those of us now, who are future Bodhisattvas and future Buddhas, as his younger brothers. If you look at it this way, then you should be even more sincere, respectful and true-hearted in your recitation—as thoughtful as you would be of your own brother. Younger brothers often ask their older brothers to play with them, but here, the “play” doesn’t mean going to movies, going skiing, or playing golf. What we do is sit in a Lotus Flower and become transformationally born out of that Lotus Flower. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to sit inside of a Lotus Flower? Now that you’ve met up with the Dharma door of reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisttva, don’t waste your time. Be particularly sincere.
When you’re mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you should not walk around with your head down; hold your head up high. Show some courageous and vigorous spirit! Don’t act defeated and morose! When Kuan Yin Bodhisattva sees how vigorous you are and how much spirit you have, he’ll take you by the hand and say, “Come along with me.” Then step-by-step eventually you’ll get to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. While I was saying all this, one of my disciples had a false thought. “You always say that Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is looking, looking, looking. Why is it that you tell me I can’t look, look, and look?” Well, I’m going to tell you that there’s a difference between the way you look and look and the way Kuan Yin Bodhisattva looks and looks. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is looking inside and you’re looking outside.
Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is contemplating his self-nature and its connection with that of all other beings. This connection is like radar. He checks the radar in his own self-nature as it reflects what is going on in other beings’ self-natures, and then he knows how to respond to them.
For instance, he knows whatever particular false thoughts living beings are having, because he’s looking inside. Of course there are a lot of living beings, many of whom are great distances away from him. So, although he has a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, he still has to look at limitless, boundless numbers of living beings. Since even a thousand of each doesn’t go far enough to serve him, he continues to turn back the light and illumine within. He looks into his own self-nature. He looks at the living beings within his own self-nature. He looks at the living being within his own self-nature. He sees what kinds of suffering they’re undergoing and saves each particular living being.
When you look, however, you look outside. You forget about your inherent wisdom. That is why I say that the way Kuan Yin Bodhisattva looks is quite different from the way you look.
That answers that disciple’s question. There’s another person who is thinking, “Dharma Master, you’ve explained all these things, but I don’t believe any of them. For instance, you say that we are brothers of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and that Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is a sage. But we’re just ordinary people. So, how can common people and sages be related as brothers? It’s not logical. So I can’t believe it.” Fine. You don’t believe it. What you say has a lot of reason to it. But the problem is, your logic is limited to an ordinary person’s way of thinking, and you are not using your ocean-like wisdom. You should remember that passage we heard a few days ago in the AVATAMSAKA SUTRA which said,
Bodhisattvas throughout time without beginning have
been brothers, have been husbands and wives, have been
sisters, have been parents and children.
Since that’s the way the AVATAMSAKA SUTRA explains it, how can Bodhisattvas not be that way? So, when you say you don’t believe this, it’s because you don’t understand the principles of the AVATAMSAKA SUTRA. That passage continues:
Not only do Bodhisattvas look upon us as brothers,
after they become enlightened and become Buddhas,
they regard all men as their former fathers.
You may say that you believe this even less, wondering how Buddhas can have so many fathers. Not only that, they have that many mothers as well. The Buddhas look upon all women as their former mothers. So, you see, if Buddhas look upon all men and women as their former fathers and mothers, then for me to say that Kuan Yin Bodhisattva looks upon us as brothers and sisters doesn’t seem to be illogical, does it? So, your lack of faith is a lack of understanding. To put it another way, you haven’t yet seen enough and you don’t yet know enough, and so you make stupid judgments like this. No matter what I say, you don’t believe it.
Why does a Buddha want to save living beings? Because, since he regards every woman as his former mother, and every man as his former father, when he sees them suffering and writhing in pain in the six paths of rebirth, he can’t help but come and try to save them. He hopes to enable his fathers and mothers to separate themselves from suffering and obtain bliss.
Every day we are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisttva and bow to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. But when Kuan Yin Bodhisattva manifests and comes to see you, you don’t even recognize him. Living beings are really in a pathetic state of affairs. When you’re mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, then you want to practice being like Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva possesses great kindness and great compassion, and has great vows and great strength. We should work to be like this.
If anybody does anything to us that is not nice, we should not move our minds. We must be patient no matter who scolds us. We must bear it no matter who strikes us. You should think, “In past lives if I hadn’t harmed this person, then he wouldn’t be coming to harm me now. If in the past I hadn’t scolded this person, he wouldn’t be coming to scold me now. If in the past I hadn’t struck other people, they wouldn’t be coming to strike me now. So why is this person scolding me, striking me, and harming me? It’s just because in the past when I was stupid, I did the same to him.” All we’re doing now is paying back our debts. Our very admitting that we have these debts is seeing Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. It is having a definite, genuine connection with the Dharma-retinue of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
Everyday we are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, but then we look around and start noticing other people’s faults. As long as you look at others’ faults, the roots of your own suffering are not cut off. We should all understand this, and return the light to illumine within—getting to the very roots of it all. When you study the Buddhadharma, you have to be able to apply it to yourself. If you can’t use it, then no matter how long you study it, the Buddhadharma will still be Buddhadharma, and you will still be you. But if you can use it, then you unite with the Buddhadharma, and you cannot be separated from the Buddhadharma.
Patience is extremely important. Patience is applied when you encounter a situation you don’t like, and feel you can’t bear. For instance, if you don’t like to be scolded, you apply patience and decide, “If someone scolds me, I’m going to be happy about it.” The same applies to being beaten or harmed in other ways. The person who is disturbing you becomes your genuine Good and Wise Advisor. When you study the Buddhadharma, that’s how you have to turn things around. When you cultivate the Way, you have to turn things around. You have to want the things you don’t want. You have to be able to yield to others the things you want yourself.
If you decide to cultivate the Way but continue to be like most people who can’t see through things or put them down, so that you can’t make your attachment to self become empty, you can’t make your attachment to dharmas become empty, and you also have a view of people, a view of a self, of living beings, and of a lifespan, then you’re in for a lot of trouble. If you can always yield—take a step back—then you’ll get through all situations. When you study the Buddhadharma, you have to know how to use it. You have to know how to make it function. This is very important.
If you study the Buddhadharma but you can’t use it, then you are, “swallowing a date whole,” as it were—you don’t have any idea how sweet the date is. But if you know how to use the Buddhadharma, it’s like chewing up a date and eating it slowly to savour the sweetness. When you study the Buddhadharma, you don’t have to look in lofty places, because the Way is found in the ordinary state of mind.
The straight mind is the Bodhimanda. If you cultivate with a straight mind, then when you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you won’t have any greed. You won’t think, “If I’m mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, then I’ll get rich.” That’s not really possible. But if you don’t have that kind of greed, it might be possible. It works like this: if you are greedy, then you probably won’t get the object of your desire. If you’re not greedy, then you quite likely will.
Nor will you think, “I’m going to recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and when I’m done, I’m going to let everyone know what I’ve done. Having spent a whole week reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, I’ll be better than all of them. They will be beneath me.” If you have a straight mind, you won’t have this attitude either. Nor will you be greedy for fame or pleasure. You keep your mind really even and ordinary when you recite. You won’t want to be seeking for anything. You won’t think things like, “I don’t have a son, so I’ll recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and seek a son.” Nor will you recite in hopes of getting a daughter. Nor will young men recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva seeking a beautiful girlfriend. Nor will young women do it to find a boyfriend.
When you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you want to get rid of these defiling thoughts. Don’t have thoughts of greed, thoughts of hatred, or stupid thoughts. Don’t pay attention to whether the clothes you wear are good or not. They’ll do as long as they keep you from getting cold. Don’t say, “If I recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, then I’ll get some good things to eat.” You can’t do that. Just eat your fill. That should be sufficient. Don’t be greedy for flavors. If you’ve got that on your mind, then you’re not really truly reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. If you are really mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, how can you still be thinking of good things to eat, nice things to wear, or a good place to live? Forget everything. When you forget everything, then you can become one with Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is in the heart of each living being. It’s just because there’s a Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in your heart that you’re now able to be mindful of him. What you’re really being mindful of is the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in your own mind. You should do this to the point that you don’t even have a mind anymore. Once you don’t have a mind at all, then you don’t even need to recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, because you just ARE Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. That’s because Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is without a mind. That is, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t have any false thinking. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t have any greed, any hatred, or any stupidity.
Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t make plans about what good things he’s going to eat today, or what good offerings he’s going to be able to muster up. He doesn’t think about things like that. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t think about whether he’s gotten enough sleep or not. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t think about anything at all! Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is without any attachments, and doesn’t seek for anything. What Kuan Yin Bodhisattva does is take living beings across. He wants to be able to help living being leave suffering and obtain bliss, to put an end to birth, cast off death, and quickly accomplish the Buddha path.
That is the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva Way. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva doesn’t seek anything from any living being. The one hope that Kuan Yin Bodhisattva has, is that all living beings will really understand and not be greedy.
If You Just Keep Reciting
I see that people are not very clear about the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name, and so they do the reciting very sloppily and don’t perfect their skill. In cultivation, investigating Ch’an is just mindfulness of the Buddha, and mindfulness of the Buddha is investigating Ch’an. People who are able to investigate Ch’an are the ones who are able to be mindful of the Buddha, and being able to be mindful of the Buddha gives you the ability to investigate Ch’an.
People who are mindful of the Buddha are the Buddha, whereas that cannot yet be said of those who investigate Ch’an. The reason is that when you are reciting the Buddha’s name, “Namo Amita Buddha, Namo Amita Buddha,” then the only thing in your mind is a Buddha, and eventually you will become a Buddha. The reason Amita Buddha comes to guide living beings is that living beings have already turned into Buddhas, and so he leads their true nature to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and then:
The flower opens and one sees the Buddha.
But those who investigate Ch’an are still looking for the Buddha, wondering, “Who’s reciting the Buddha’s name?” They are searching, and don’t dare admit they are the Buddha they are mindful of. Instead, they look into, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” “Who is able to be mindful of the Buddha?” “Reciting the Buddha’s name is who?” They keep looking and looking, running outside.
But when you are mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha comes back into your nature and you don’t have to search outside. Buddha recitations are held so that for an entire week you don’t have any other false thoughts—you’re just mindful of the Buddha, and then you can become one with the Buddha. If you can do that, then you are sure to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. So the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name is especially fine.
“Well, what about investigating Ch’an?” you may ask. It’s good too. But when you investigate Ch’an you have to suffer. First, there is the pain to put up with, and then you have to make sure at all times you’re not having false thoughts. If you compare the two, Ch’an is harder than reciting Buddha which you can do any time and anywhere: “Namo Amita Buddha, Namo Amita Buddha.”
If you are mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha will be mindful of you, and when the two mindfulnesses merge, you become a Buddha. This is a very wonderful Dharma-door! You haven’t looked into it carefully, so you don’t know its good points, and very few people attended when we held the session. It ended today, and now I’ll tell you: You really missed a good chance. You missed it this year, but I hope that next year—this—year—you’ll retrieve the chance and decide, “If there’s another Buddha recitation session, no matter what, I’ll take time off, however busy I am, and come recite ‘Namo Amita Buddha.’”
I’ll tell you something else that is the absolute truth: What I like most is reciting Amita Buddha’s name. When I’m asleep I recite, “Namo Amita Buddha,” and I recite it in my dreams. When I’m walking or if I’m standing, I’m reciting, “Namo Amita Buddha.” Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all done reciting, “Namo Amita Buddha.” Amita Buddha is standing all around me, because Amita Buddha wants to become one with me so there is no difference between us. Would you say that was wonderful or not? Is there anything that could be more wonderful?
Reciting the Buddha’s name is the most wonderful of Dharma-doors. You haven’t recited to the point that you have skill, so you don’t know what I’m talking about. But when you get to that point, then to the exhaustion of empty space and the Dharma realm everything turns into “Namo Amita Buddha.”
You may say, “What use is there in that?”
Well, what use is there in your not reciting? There’s nothing better than to be able to be with the Buddha every day. I’m not trying to give you regrets by saying this, but this year it’s really too sad that you missed the opportunity. Why do I say that? Several millions of years have gone by without ever encountering a Dharma assembly for reciting the Buddha’s name, but this life we have managed to meet that wonderful Dharma and the conditions were about to ripen.
All of you think it over; in this country how many places are there where Buddha recitation sessions are held? Not just in America, but in the entire Western hemisphere, there are very few such places—for I’m constantly looking into history, and there aren’t any. But now that we have had the chance, we’ve missed it. So, next year if there’s another Buddha recitation session held, no matter what, don’t miss your chance! Cultivation has to be actually practiced, you really have to do it!
In investigating Ch’an, not only do you yourself fail to become a Buddha, you even lose yourself! See how you wonder, “Who recites the Buddha’s name?” Basically you’re the one reciting, but you fail to recognize who you are and wonder “Who?” What’s the point in losing yourself? That’s not so important, but you even lose the Buddha! For you have to look for the Buddha outside. You investigate, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” Without it occurring to you to ask, “Who is it who is the Buddha?” “Who is being Buddha?” “Who becomes the Buddha?” Even if someone does investigate, “Who becomes a Buddha?” they are likely to figure, “Oh, it’s him; it isn’t me,” and get it wrong too. It’s very easy to take the wrong road, which is why Ch’an Master Yung-Min-Shou said:
With Ch’an and with Pure Land,
One is like a tiger wearing horns.
This life a teacher of people,
In the future a Buddha—Patriarch.
With Ch’an but without Pure Land,
Nine out of ten take the wrong road.
That happens because you start to have doubts like, “Oh, it’s not me who becomes a Buddha. I can’t become a Buddha.” Yet, even though it’s easy to go astray, there are lots of people who cultivate Ch’an, for if no one cultivate it, that Dharma won’t exist. I, too, investigate Ch’an, and I’ve been looking for a long time for who’s reciting the Buddha’s name, all over the place. Have I had any luck? Well, I’m not looking anymore. Why not? It’s because now I’m learning to be lazy, and smart. I’m not as dense as I was before.
You may say, “Oh, we can do that too!”
You can try if you want—it will work if you are able not to have any false thinking. But if you still have false thinking, you have to keep on looking. You have to employ the Dharma to stop false thinking. But once you’ve stopped the false thoughts, you no longer need to use the Dharma.
By saying this I’m causing people to have lots of false thoughts, such as, “It’s not my fault that I missed the chance to do the Buddha recitation session this year. It’s because the Abbot didn’t tell us clearly. If I had known before, I would have made sure not to miss the chance.”
I did tell you clearly, several million years ago; but you didn’t pay attention and forgot. So now I’ve told you again. There were people I caused to miss the chance, since they wanted to go home and visit their parents instead of doing the session and I said okay.
Now you may wonder, “How can the Abbot do that, and make them miss such a chance? I have my reason. I thought, “It’s also a good thing for them to be filial. They can practice filial piety first, and cultivate afterwards.” So it was my fault. I know that if I had said, “No! No one is allowed to go on vacation! Everyone has to stay and do the session,” that lots of people would have participated. But I didn’t say that, though a time may come when I do. Actually, though, you can do what you want, and “everything’s okay!”
ENDLESS DHARMA DOORS
The Ch’an School Dharma is apart from words and speech, and so it is not established from language—yet it is not really apart from words. Even the name, “Ch’an School,” involves language. We who cultivate the Way should be cultivating non-attachment, whether it be to good and evil, fine or ugly, right or wrong, slight or important, great or small—none of that should be attached to. And we should cultivate and practice all 84,000 Dharma doors, for each is foremost. There aren’t 84,000 second-rate ones or, for that matter, 84,000 important ones or unimportant ones. So when you cultivate the Way, if you cultivate even the seemingly most insignificant Dharma door to accomplishment, then it counts, and again it’s your cultivation of it that counts if the Dharma door is as big as Mount Sumeru. It’s not the case that the slight one is not important, while the one huge as Mount Sumeru is.
From the small comes the great,
The near becomes the far,
Starting near goes to far,
That’s how one has success in cultivation. It’s not to say, for example, “I’m not going to eat things I don’t like the taste of, and I’ll eat more of those foods that appeal to me more.” People who cultivate the Way have to be heroically vigorous in cultivating whatever Dharma they are involved in. Although it may seem to be the most insignificant Dharma door, but if you are able to cultivate it, you can accomplish your Way karma. And it may be the most important Dharma, but if you can’t cultivate it, your Way karma won’t be accomplished.
If you fail to recognize an important Dharma, it becomes unimportant; an unimportant Dharma, if recognized, becomes important. It all depends on whether you recognize it or not. For example, when you eat, do you know what the things you eat taste like? If you do, then you’ll have feelings about whether they taste good or bad. But if you aren’t aware of what they taste like, you won’t know if they taste good or bad or what. As it is said:
In the door of Buddha’s work
Not one dharma is rejected.
In the substance of True Suchness,
Not one speck of dust is set.
You can take any Dharma and cultivate it to accomplish Buddhahood. But in the self-nature of True Thusness, not even a dustmote can remain, which is why its light is all-pervasive.
The reason that one sits to cultivate the Dharma of investigating Ch’an is so one won’t have any thoughts. It specified before that if only a single thought is not produced, that is called the Buddha. But can you go without producing a single thought? As you sit there you think of all sorts of things you don’t ordinarily think of, and remember a lot of long-forgotten circumstances that suddenly pop up again. Historical events from 700 and 800 years back now return to mind. Is that having a single thought arise? Of course not. How can you get there then?
I’ll tell you straight today: there isn’t any way. There isn’t any way to keep a single thought from arising—but you can get so that a single thought is not destroyed. For if it’s destroyed, it can be produced, and if produced, it can be destroyed. But if you prevent its destruction you’ll keep it from arising. How can you do it thought? Well, take for example the one thought, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” you can keep that “Who?” going non-stop. “Who?” it’s searching for the “who,” not reciting “who?” As long as you keep searching, that single thought isn’t destroyed, and therefore it won’t be produced. A single thought not being produced is the Buddha.
That’s what the doctrine of the Ch’an School is all about. If you can be such that not one thought is produced or destroyed, then the light of your wisdom will appear.
It’s not that you sit there and grit your teeth, square your eyes, and press all thoughts down with your fists so they can’t get up. The more you try to do that, the more trouble you will have. Tell them not to arise and they’ll insist on arising. You’ll be holding mother thought down, but father thought will arise. Or father thought will stop, but older brother thought will come along, with younger brother holding up the rear. Pretty soon the whole family of six types of relations will be grabbing at you—seventh and eighth—the whole “kit and caboodle.”
“Seventh” is the seventh consciousness which will pull at you, and the eighth consciousness will drag you from the other side, a tug-of-war with you in the middle. The six types of close relatives are consciousnesses one through six. You’ll be sitting there trying to investigate dhyana, and this one will want to chat with you, another to investigate a certain question. The eyes have visual questions, the ears auditory questions, the nose its nose questions and the tongue its tongue questions, the body has body questions, and the mind mental ones.
The eyes will say to you, “Have you forgotten that beautiful form we saw today? So pretty! Did you like it or not?” The ears will say, “The music we heard today sounded so good, let’s go listen to it again tomorrow.” The nose will pose the question, “Evening in Paris smells so good, wouldn’t you like to smell it again?”
The tongue will propose, “There’s not much point in just smelling the aroma of the best-tasting food. Only if it is tasted and eaten are its advantages obtained.” The body will say, “I get the advantage, not you!” The mind will says, “The feeling is entirely with me. None of the rest of you count.” Those six types of relations hold a debate, and the seventh and eighth work at their tug-of-war. That really messes people up when they try to investigate Ch’an.
Her Universal Door Rescues All
As we begin this Kuan Yin Bodhisattva Recitation Session, everyone should bring forth a resolve for the Way; don’t let the time pass by in vain. The best would be not to talk to each other, not to take phone calls, not to read letters or look at the newspaper, because any of these activities can scatter your concentration. You won’t be able to get your essence and energy gathered together. If that happens, then even though you are participating in the Kuan Yin Session, you won’t get any genuine benefit, and that will be a real shame. So, this time, as we participate in the Kuan Yin Session, everyone should have true and actual regard for the Way.
During these seven days, at the very least you should see Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, or see light, or see flowers, or smell a rare fragrance; you should be able to obtain such special responses as these. The most important point is to talk as little as possible. As soon as you talk your mind becomes scattered. Once that happens, you cannot accomplish the samadhi of being mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
In the past, every year we had sessions reciting Kuan Yin bodhisattva’s name, or Amitabha Buddha’s name, or Earth Store Bodhisattva’s name, or perhaps a session where we recited a specific mantra. However, nobody has really achieved any tremendous benefit from it. Their attainments have been few and small in terms of benefit. Why haven’t we achieved great benefit? Because we haven’t been really vigorous. On the one hand we recite the name of Kuan Yin bodhisattva, and on the other hand we have false thinking. So, there has not been a response. Or, we recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva when it’s time to recite, but as soon as there’s a spare second, we want to talk with somebody. Now that’s a cause for obstruction in the Way, and because of it, there won’t be any big response.
On the one hand we may be reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name, and on the other hand we are wondering when it’s going to be time to eat. Or, you think, “I’m really thirsty, I’m going to have a cup of tea,” and you strike up all kinds of false thinking. So, people recite, and you recite along with them; people walk, and you walk along with them; you follow along with the crowd, you’re just going through the motions, because you don’t have any genuine vigor, or a true mind.
So this time, unless there’s something absolutely essential, you should not talk. In the Buddha-hall especially, or in the place where the toilets are. Don’t congregate at the door to the toilet, or the kitchen; don’t hold meetings at the tea table in each others’ ears, or walk with each other, or stare at one another. If you do any of these things, there won’t be any response. There won’t be any response on your part. You won’t be able to recite to the point where there is single mindedness with no scattered thinking.
When you reach the point when your mind is single and unconfused, then inside there is no self and outside there are no people. People and self are both gone. Above you don’t know there’s heaven, below you don’t know there’s earth, and in between you’re not aware of people. You can see everything as empty. That’s when you get a big response. So, during this Kuan Yin Session let’s be particularly vigorous. Let’s not be sloppy about it as we have been in the past, and just have a lot of false thinking about eating, drinking tea, and sleeping. For so many years now we’ve been at it; we should really be ashamed, recognize our past mistakes and painfully change for the better. You certainly must know your own mistakes, and at all times turn the light around and look in on yourself. You can’t gossip with your mouth; absolutely not!
The person who cultivates the Way who can’t even control himself is hard put to be able to cultivate. At all times don’t be greedy for fame, don’t be greedy for profit, don’t be greedy for wealth, for food, or for sleep.
At all times turn back the light and look within, and figure out who you are. If you aren’t able to figure out your own mistakes, then you are really wasting your time, and that’s really sad. In the past we’ve made a lot of mistakes. After this, I hope that day by day we’ll change for the better and do things right.
At Gold Mountain Monastery, one of our biggest mistakes is when people come from the outside, nobody pays any attention to them. No one tells them where to stand, or to sit. When visitors first come they look upon people who are already here as being like wood or mud. This is because when it’s time to talk, they don’t talk. Of course, when it’s not time to talk, I don’t know how much they talk; they’ve got a lot to say then.
As for newcomers, if it’s a man or a Bhikshu, then the men should take care of him; tell him where to stand and where to sit. You don’t have to get into a long rap with him. Just point to where he’s supposed to be, and he’ll understand. There’s no need to get all involved in a conversation about a lot of useless things. Just tell him where to stand and let it go at that.
If it’s a woman or a Bhikshuni, then a Bhikshuni should tell her where to stand and sit. The first time someone comes, they basically don’t know how we do things here; if you people act like sticks or stones, and don’t tell anyone what to do, it’s a big mistake, because it cause visitors to feel like they’ve gone into, “Never-Never land.” Now, if a layman comes, then a layman should help him. The laypeople who have been here longer should tell them where to stand and sit; talk to him about whatever they might need to know. If a laywoman comes, the women should take care of her; tell her where to stand and sit.
When people first come, they don’t know how to do these things. If you all act like you’re dead, and don’t pay attention to anything, then what use are you to the Bodhimanda? You’re supposed to be protecting it, and you don’t even pay attention to newcomers. The things you ought to say, you don’t say, and the things you shouldn’t say, you say a lot of!
Also, whenever there’s a Ch’an session or a recitation session, it’s like nobody has any interest; nobody has a mind on the Way; nobody wants to participate. If you keep this up, then before the Proper Dharma is even established, the Dharma Ending Age has arrived. So, after this you should realize that having come to the Bodhimanda, you need to help it grow, and then you’re called a Dharma protector. Cultivating the Way is teaching and transforming living beings. It’s not being a self-ending Arhat, being selfish after your own interests.
Now, you should look very deeply into the things I’ve said today. You people who are Dharma Protectors and Buddhist disciples, what have you done to help out? Ask yourselves.
Everyone should bring forth a resolve for the Way, and not let the time pass in vain. The very best would be not to speak at all, not to take phone calls, not to read letters, and not to read the newspaper, lest you get distracted and allow your energy to scatter.
During these seven days, at the very least, you should all see Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, or see light, or see lotus Flowers, or perceive a rare fragrance, or have some other kind of special response. Most important is to talk less! As soon as you speak, your mind scatters; once your mind scatters, you can’t bring to perfection the Samadhi of reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name. If you can’t avoid talking altogether, at least speak less; don’t talk so much.
Whoever talks should punish themselves, either by kneeling before the Buddhas or standing in front of the Buddhas, and not sitting. We should make rules for ourselves. Don’t start talking as soon as you have finished eating, or look for opportunities to chat with one another; don’t look for opportunities to bother other people. This is extremely important.
Next time when we light the incense, everybody ought to race to be first; fight not to be last, to be behind. Don’t be the last one in line; be in front. Be courageous and vigorous; you want to go in front of other people. I see a lot of people who are always holding back.
So, during this Kuan Yin Session, we should be very vigorous, and not be turned by other people. After we eat and we’ve done what we have to do, we should immediately light the incense and begin. Don’t wait around and give people an opportunity to chat.
When reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, we should think of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva as always surrounding us on our left, right, above and below, that we’re never apart from Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Contemplating her in this way, we’ll obtain a response. However, whoever isn’t sincere won’t get a response. In the period of this session we should all set our minds on what we are doing. Walking becomes Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, sitting becomes Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, standing becomes Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and lying down becomes Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. In walking, standing, sitting and lying down, we never renounce the thought of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
If you turn your mind to one, then it’s efficacious. If your mind is scattered, then there’s no response. If you really are singleminded in your recitation of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, then everything will be in accord with your wishes. Whatever you want will come to pass, depending on how sincere you are, but you can’t just follow along with others and recite when they recite, and not recite when they don’t recite. Be mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva absolutely every second. Hold Kuan Yin Bodhisattva right there in your heart, and never forget her. If you can be like that, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva will certainly come and anoint your crown with Sweet Dew. The willow branch will brush your body, and aid you. Then you can very quickly bring forth great wisdom.
It’s explained clearly in the Universal Door chapter¹ of the DHARMA FLOWER SUTRA, “IF THERE ARE LIVING BEINGS WITH A LOT OF DESIRE, THEY WILL BE SEPARATED FROM THEIR DESIRE.” If you are a person who is greedy, and has desire either for sex, wealth, fame, food or sleep, but you are constantly mindful of and respectful toward Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, your desire will disappear.
“IF THERE ARE LIVING BEINGS WITH A LOT OF ANGER WHO CAN CONSTANTLY REVERE KUAN YIN BODHISATTVA, THEY’LL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE FROM THEIR ANGER.” This is referring to people who have bad tempers. It’s said,
The fire of ignorance and a tiger-like spirit,
Are roots of offenses from former lives.
People who have big tempers have heavy karmic obstacles. They have big tempers because their karmic obstacles urge them on. However, there is a way to handle this. You shouldn’t worry. It’s a very simple method. Be constantly mindful of and respectful toward Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and you’ll be able to get rid of your anger. It will just go away. The Sutra also says,
“IF A PERSON IS REALLY STUPID AND IS CONSTANTLY MINDFUL AND RESPECTFUL TOWARD KUAN YIN BODHISATTVA, THEY CAN SEPARATE FROM THEIR STUPIDITY.”
So, you can see the power of reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name is inconceivable. The virtue is unthinkable! What you can accomplish is also unbelievable! The very best is to always be mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in every second—every second, and every moment. When you’re reading, you’re reciting Kuan Yin’s name. When you’re putting on clothes, you’re reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name; when you’re sleeping, you’re still reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name.
Your recitation just fuses together with whatever it is you’re doing, to the point that even if you thought not to recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name, you wouldn’t be able to stop. At that point, you have achieved the Samadhi of reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name, and from that you can come to open great and perfect understanding.
Patience and Vigor
We’ve come together to have a Kuan Yin Recitation session. Usually when people have a Kuan Yin session, for instance in Hong Kong or Taiwan, they recite the Buddha’s name for a while and then they rest for half an hour before they go on with their recitation. But at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas we start in the morning and we go through to the evening without any rest periods. But you should realize that our not resting is not necessarily correct, and that people who rest are not necessarily wrong. What’s the principle involved here? It’s that early on, we didn’t cultivate and so now we have to increase our vigor in order to catch up with those who are ahead of us. So, it’s not that we do it right.
Perhaps those people who sit in Ch’an for a while or recite the Buddha’s or Bodhisattva’s name for a while and then rest have already been developing their skill for a long time, and are already well on their way to perfecting their skill to the point that whether they recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name or not, they are without false thinking. In that sense, their “resting” is more vigorous than our not resting. That’s why we can’t say that if someone is resting it’s not right. If we get arrogant and think, “We are vigorous, and they are lax and lazy,” we wipe out all our own merit and virtue with that one thought. That’s because a thought like that is arrogant and self-satisfied.
So we must understand that if someone is resting while we are cultivating, that person may have been cultivating for limitless kalpas and is resting now just waiting for us to catch up with him. If you can think like that you will get a response from the effort you apply. There’s a way to develop your skill and there are ways to obstruct yourself in developing your skill. Self-satisfaction and arrogance obstruct your seeds of Bodhi.
People who work at cultivation must understand this point. No matter what’s happening, you can’t get arrogant or be self-satisfied; nor can you be selfish or out for self-benefit. You absolutely must see that “all dharmas are level and equal with no high or low.” As we just begin to develop our skill we have to maintain a proper attitude. If your attitude is not proper, then no matter what skill you use, you’ll get a demon. If your mind is proper, then regardless of the kind of skill you apply, you can become a Buddha. The difference between Buddhas and demons is just a single thought.
Now we are being mindful of Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva. Why are we doing this? It is because Kuan Yin Bodhisattva has great affinities with living beings in the Saha World. He follows the sounds to rescue those who are suffering. Someone may say, “Then we should wait until we are suffering to recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name. Since we are not suffering, why should we recite?” You think we’re not suffering? We are in the Saha World immersed in the five turbidities: the kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity and the life turbidity. You don’t think that’s suffering?
Every day your false thinking never stops. Your false thinking consists of never being satisfied, or being endlessly greedy; you’re always thinking of what you can get and of how to benefit yourself. You may realize your expectations, but then you can’t sleep at night. If you don’t get what you seek you can’t digest your food. Isn’t this suffering?
Since we are being mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, we should first know what the words in the Bodhisattva’s name mean. KUAN means “contemplate.” This refers to the Wonderful Contemplative Wisdom. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva has this kind of wisdom. Since he has Wonderful Contemplative Wisdom, no sound in the world is able to cheat him. Good sounds, bad sounds, wholesome sounds, destructive sounds, selfish sounds, sounds of self benefit, sounds of greed, sounds of fighting, sounds of seeking, are all retained in your eighth consciousness.
So, when you seek for Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva to protect you, to help you, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva has to contemplate clearly to see if you really have a true mind when you recite his name. Is greed mixed in with your recitation? Is contention mixed in with your recitation? Is a mind of seeking fame and benefit mixed with it? Is selfishness and self-benefit mixed in with your recitation? Are limitless and boundless views and knowledge mixed in with your recitation? If you have these faults, then even if you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, it’s not for sure you will get a response.
Your mind must be totally pure when you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Your mind should be vast and great when you are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Use the unconditioned mind to recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. “In reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, I make transference to all living beings in the world; I do it so that all living beings can leave suffering and obtain bliss, end birth and cast off death. As long as there are beings who have not left suffering and obtained bliss, who have not cast off birth and ended death, I will continue to sincerely recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, beseeching the Bodhisattva to eradicate disasters and dispel the difficulties of living beings in the evil world of the five turbidities, and cause their offenses not to rise again.”
One does not just do it for oneself; whether you yourself are getting along all right or not is not a big problem. Rather, it is our vow that all beings in the entire world obtain benefit, and they are blessed by Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. If everyone maintained this thought as we recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, the response with the Way would certainly be inconceivable. You who recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva should understand the method of recitation used by a Bodhisattva who vows, “All living beings and I will accomplish Buddhahood together.”
When you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you should also be mindful of the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in your own self-nature. In cultivation, whatever is going on outside is also going on inside. If Kuan Yin bodhisattva is external to you, he is also internal. So, when we are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, we must recite until inside and outside are of a single suchness. Self and others are non-dual. Our self-nature is replete with the virtue of the nature of Buddhas as limitless as sands in the Ganges.
When your mouth recites the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, your mind must be pure and sincere and must not give rise to any extraneous thoughts. One doesn’t give rise to false thinking, but becomes single-minded in one’s concentration. There’s no need to be seeking anything or to be greedy for anything. There’s also no reason to question why we are reciting Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva. Reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name is exactly what our self-nature should be doing. When we recite to the point that we are reciting and yet not reciting, not reciting and yet reciting, then the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva of our self-nature will appear. We recite until everything comes together. We forget about people and also have no self, and so what affliction or ignorance is there?
At that time we are at ease and unobstructed and the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom spontaneously appears. The Wisdom of the Equality of the Nature spontaneously appears. The Wonderful Contemplative Wisdom spontaneously appears. The Wisdom of Accomplishing What Should Be Done also spontaneously appears. The first appearance of these Wisdoms is only the initial stage, because of course the Four Wisdoms have a myriad variations and degrees. It’s not that their initial appearance means that you have accomplished the Four Wisdoms of a Buddha. Every level of accomplishment, every step of the way, has variations and degrees. That is why if you are off by a hair in the beginning of your cultivation you’ll be off by a thousand miles in the end. Keep your mind on what you’re doing and apply yourself with vigor.
Don’t fall into the deviant knowledge and deviant views of side doors and outside ways. Always maintain proper knowledge and proper views. Keep proper thought before you when you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. You must be mindful of your own Kuan Yin Bodhisattvas: don’t pay attention to other people’s Kuan Yin Bodhisattvas. What do I mean by “your own” Kuan Yin Bodhisattva? I mean that you recite until you become the same as Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, in that you are kind, compassionate, joyful and giving. You develop Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s ability to help those in the seven difficulties and those with the two types of seeking. You develop the fourteen fearlessnesses, the nineteen ways of speaking Dharma, and the thirty-two response bodies—that is what is meant by being mindful of your own Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
When you are mindful of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you must also learn to be like Kuan Yin Bodhisattva; you learn to have the great wisdom and great knowledge, the great vows and great strength, the great kindness and great compassion, the great joy and great giving of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. You have to do this truly, not superficially.
For instance, now there are some who say that they are practicing the Bodhisattva Way, but actually, they are just putting on a front. No matter what they do, in every move they make, they are just doing it for others to see. They don’t dare take a look at themselves. They don’t look at themselves and evaluate to see if the Dharma they are cultivating, and the skill they are applying is appropriate or not. They don’t ask themselves if they should be doing what they are doing. They don’t question themselves to see if they are simply involved in superficial aspects.
Those who are just putting on a show, and who, in all they do are just showing off for others, have let go of the root and are grasping at the branches; they have forgotten the source. They have forgotten what they should be doing. In cultivating, you should be looking at yourself. “Looking,” means returning the light and looking within. You’re supposed to turn the light in, not shine it outside. You are not supposed to emit your light so that people will recognize you. You may get other people’s attention, but by letting it out like that, you lose your light. That’s because your light is still not sufficient. You haven’t perfected your cultivation.
When you haven’t cultivated enough, then your light is really young. Young light is not the same as time-tested light. Young light cannot stand up against the wind and waves. Wait until your light is perfected, wait until it’s exactly right—not too much, and not too little—then you can let it out.
But now, while in the midst of cultivating, don’t be thinking about emitting your light. In studying you first go through elementary school, then high school, and then college, and then eventually obtain a Ph.D. It happens step-by-step. Cultivation is the same way.
Someone protests, “In the Ch’an school, they talk about sudden enlightenment.” But sudden enlightenment is in regard to the principle—the noumenon. The specifics—the phenomena—must be cultivated gradually. What is more, the person who experiences sudden enlightenment doesn’t do it upon first beginning to cultivate; his cultivation began limitless kalpas ago when he first planted the seed. After that, he watered and weeded it until it finally came to maturity. It’s certainly not the case that having never cultivated before, he became accomplished upon first beginning to cultivate. It doesn’t happen like that.
Although one suddenly enlightens to the principle,
The specifics must be gradually cultivated.
In this Kuan Yin Session we should get hold of our vigor and be energetic. One cannot be lazy and look for opportunities to take it easy. If you are like that, then you are letting the time go by in vain. That’s really a shame. Everyone works together in a session—exerting all their effort in applying their skill. This is a Dharma assembly which is extremely difficult to encounter.
Actually we should always recite the Buddha’s name or the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva just as if we were in a continual session. But since it’s to be feared that we don’t apply our effort under normal circumstances, we set aside a special time so we can come together and participate in the Kuan Yin Session. This is called, “Setting aside a time to seek for certification.”
In these seven days we will put aside the myriad conditions, and not give rise to a single thought. With a single straightforward mind uphold and be mindful of the name Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. When you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva you should be apart from deviant knowledge, and maintain proper knowledge and proper views. Don’t be competitive when you recite, or get involved in making comparisons. Those are the attitudes of people in the mundane world. People who cultivate the Way don’t compare themselves with other people. They don’t fight with anyone or compete.
Everyone works together and when people do well it is the same as if you yourself had done well. However, this doesn’t mean you can use that as an excuse for not working on your own skill. You can’t think, “Well if others working well is the same as myself working well, then they can do the work and I don’t have to. I can rest.” That is an example of deviant knowledge and deviant views.
People who cultivate the Way cannot try to get off cheap. They can’t enjoy relaxation and despise toil. At all times you should be vigorous—in every moment, in every thought. With one part vigor you have one part response; with ten parts vigor you have ten parts response. Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva is there in empty space just waiting to see which of us is truly reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. He will aid and bless those who are sincere. He will help them open their wisdom, and increase their good roots. All their evil deeds will be eradicated and their obstacles will be wiped away. He can help us get rid of our karmic obstacles, retribution obstacles, and our obstacles of affliction. All our evil karma can be wiped clean.
So when we recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva we must do it with a sincere mind, a true mind. Whoever has a genuine true and sincere mind will obtain benefit. But if your mind is not true and you just go through the motions of walking, sitting, and reciting, without ever being able to do it for real, then there won’t be a response. A “true mind” is one devoid of false thinking, without seeking for anything, without any greed, without any contention, any selfishness or any seeking for self-benefit. If your mind is true, then real things will happen, and your karmic obstacles can be melted away. If your mind is not true, then your karmic obstacles will continually pursue you. It is best during a Kuan Yin Session to speak less and recite more.
Say one less sentence,
And recite one more sound of the Buddha’s name.
Beat your thoughts to death,
And your Dharma-body comes to life.
But if your mind is not true, your karmic obstacles will hand around you and bother you. They will cause you to be so stupid you won’t have any wisdom. They will make it so you cannot apply effort to develop your skill. But even if you do have a true mind, your karmic obstacles still follow you. They still want to give you trouble. They still want to find a way to keep you from doing your work; do you realize that? But if you have a true mind, and proper knowledge and views, although the karmic obstacles try to make trouble for you, you recognize them as karmic obstacles. Then you are able to avoid being turned by the state, and instead you can turn the state around. If you have true knowledge, proper views, and great wisdom, then you can illumine all dharmas. That’s why it’s said,
When the Buddha comes, slice through the Buddha.
When the demon comes, slice through the demon.
You are able to not be moved by external states, and not be confused by internal states. Everything inside and outside is very clear and manifest. That’s the advantage of using proper knowledge and views, your genuine Bodhi resolve, in your cultivation. People who cultivate the Way, should know that we are doing it for the sake of ending birth and death, and taking living beings across. We’re not doing it because we seek a response.
It’s not that we cultivate so that if we want clothing, clothing will come, or if we want something special to eat, it will appear for us. It’s not that we do it so that whatever we think of we can have. That may be the way it is in the heavens, but if you seek responses here, you’re planting the causes to become a heavenly demon. The heavenly demons are afraid their retinue will dwindle so they come to the world and go all over recruiting for their army. They get human beings to cross over into their demonic retinue. So, if you’re not true when you cultivate the Way, there won’t be any demons, but the truer you are, the more demons there will be.
For instance, if you’re a left home person, but you don’t really want to be a genuine disciple of the Buddha, if you just do it half-heartedly, then no one is going to get jealous of you. They’ll all think you’re just a good old soul. If you want to become an outstanding person, and be a genuine disciple of the Buddha, then people who just go along with the crowd are going to be upset with you; they will be jealous of you. That’s the way it is in the world, regardless of whether it’s among ordinary people or members of the Sangha. If you are better than someone else, he is jealous of you. If you don’t match up to someone else, that person looks down on you. Everyone has this problem. If a person leaves home and cultivates for a while and figures he’s got something going, he gets arrogant. This is another case of deviant knowledge and deviant views.
People who really cultivate the Way don’t have false thoughts about clothing, or about food and drink, or about name and fame, or about profit and benefit. All false thinking stops. Why? Because cultivation is not for the sake of these worldly advantages. It is for the sake of ending birth and death. How can one expect to end birth and death, and at the same time be striking up such worthless false thoughts? If you have worthless false thoughts, in the future you will reap a worthless fruit. We must bear what others cannot bear, yield where others cannot yield. We must eat what others cannot eat and undergo what others cannot undergo.
All food and drink should be regarded as a single flavor. When you eat don’t be greedy for flavors which appeal to you and eat more of them, while avoiding food which is not as tasty. That’s a trick of the discriminating mind. You should know that the good-tasting food, and the food which is not good to eat are both simply medicine. We eat them to cure our sicknesses. Some of us are always sick with one sort of illness or another. If it isn’t the sickness of greed, it’s the sickness of anger; these illnesses are incurable. Why? Because you keep getting turned by those states.
You’re greedy for flavors; when that happens you’re turned by defiling flavors. If you’re greedy for forms, you’re turned by the defiling objects of form. If you are greedy for sounds you’re turned by the defiling objects of sound. If you’re greedy for scents you’re turned by the defiling objects of scents. If you are greedy for touch, then you are turned by the defiling objects of touch.
If you are greedy for dharmas, then you are turned by the defiling objects of dharmas. It’s in the very minutest places that you have to genuinely apply your skill. You can’t be lax or negligent in the least. If you have false thoughts about food, that’s being lax. The same is true if you have false thoughts about fame, reputation, fine clothing, etc. You are not in control of your six thieves. Your six sense organs play tricks on you and you can’t keep it together. If you’re like that you can cultivate to the ends of future time, and still you won’t have any accomplishment.
So cultivating the Way is not that easy. This is especially true in the West where we are just breaking the ground. It’s very difficult to get Buddhism started in a country that is predominately Catholic and Protestant. Those religions can do as they please, but in Buddhism we cannot cheat ourselves. We cannot seek the blessings of gods and humans. We cannot just take it easy. We can’t just make it on a false name and a phoney reputation. To do it that way will always bring barren flowers and no fruit.
At all times seek the true. No matter what Dharma door it is, we must actually put it into practice. We must make sacrifices and be reliable in doing the work. It won’t work to cheat yourself and cheat other people as well, not to speak of trying to cheat the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, which basically can’t be done.
Here in America things are peaceful and uneventful compared to the way it is in the refugee camps. If you have to go through the experience of being a refugee, then you will know how bitter and difficult it is. Don’t be the kind of person who ordinarily doesn’t even bother to light incense, but when something happens you run and hug the Buddha’s feet. Don’t wait until it rains to patch the roof, or until you’re thirsty to dig a well.
We are reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva as a prayer on behalf of all the refugees in the whole world. We hope that all refugees will be able to separate from suffering and obtain bliss; may they all escape danger. That is why the Kuan Yin Session has a direct connection with the lives of everyone in the world. If we are sincere we’ll be able to save more people. If we are not sincere, fewer people will be rescued.
At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, our aim is to rescue all the suffering beings in the world. We recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva with the hope that the Bodhisattva’s thousand eyes will shine on them and see them, that his thousand ears will hear them from afar, and that his thousand hands will protect and support all living beings.
In this session period everyone should strive to be first and fear to fall back. No one should be lazy. If you don’t have Way virtue, if you lack merit and virtue, if you don’t have the thought to benefit yourself and benefit others, then this will have a direct reflection on the level you achieve.
Now we are cultivating the Great Vehicle Dharma which means we renounce ourselves for the sake of others. We act as models for living beings; we seek peace on behalf of all living beings. We pray that living beings will be able to leave suffering and obtain bliss. We are not reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva for the sake of ourselves. We are doing it for the sake of all beings in the world, and because we are doing it this way, it is certain that our recitation of the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva will bring a tremendous response.
Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is truly a savior; he truly follows the sounds and rescues beings. So don’t be lazy in the midst of this session. You should realize that every person who recites adds that much more strength to the recitation. With more strength to the recitation, more of the world will become peaceful. So it is extremely important. We don’t seek for ourselves but pray for all beings in the world. In that way there is no selfishness or self-benefit involved. In addition, there is no selfish seeking, greed, or contention. You should nourish the thought of renouncing yourself for the sake of others, and put it into practice. With Great Vehicle thinking like that you will certainly obtain the protection of the Bodhisattvas.
I remember a long time ago there was a man who wasn’t white, black, yellow, or red—a misfit of some sort. He was about 5’ 4” and very thin. He came to Gold Mountain Monastery, but he didn’t come in the door. He sat in meditation outside the door. It was raining, but he sat right through the rain for three or four days. He didn’t talk to anyone. He didn’t talk to himself either. One day one of the laywomen felt sorry for him and invited him into Gold Mountain Monastery, but he didn’t come in. He kept on sitting outside. If anyone went and tried to talk to him, he wouldn’t speak to them. Then I went out and he talked to me. I asked him what his surname was and he said, “Stone.” His name, he said, was “Man.” So he was called Stone Man. I asked where he came from, and he said, “The mountains.” When I asked what he’d come for, he said, “To seek Dharma.” I said, “I haven’t any Dharma here to seek, so you’ve come and now you’re disappointed.” He said he was not disappointed.
So we told him to come into Gold Mountain Monastery, but he didn’t eat or drink or relieve himself. Every day he sat in meditation. It seemed as if he might be a hippy and be smoking dope, so the monks checked him out. The clothes he wore were filthy. He wore jeans, jacket and pants, and the only thing he was carrying was a piece of charcoal. When asked what it was for, he said it kept him warm. He stayed in the temple for several days like that. He would meditate all day in the Buddhahall along with everyone else and when it was time to sleep he would go up to a room.
People were afraid he would steal things at night, so they had someone guard him at night. The guard would sleep inside the room with him, leaning against the door from the inside; if the stone man tried to leave the room he would certainly wake up the guard. They could guard him in this way, because since he didn’t relieve himself, he wouldn’t need to leave the room for that reason. However, even thought they kept him under guard like this, one day the stone man simply disappeared.
Why do I tell you about him? A stone man can come to Gold Mountain Monastery seeking the Dharma, but we people who are the most adroit of all creatures still don’t cultivate to the best of our ability. Isn’t that a pity? During that period at Gold Mountain Monastery, a lot of people came. There was another one that came and no one could figure out if the person was male or female. He was dressed in flashy clothes, but when asked his name, he said it was “Ghost.” When he ate, “Ghost” consumed large quantities. He would finish up everything that was served. He lived for several days at Gold Mountain Monastery, and then that ghost left for parts unknown. He no doubt was a hungry ghost. That happened several years ago.
All through those years at Gold Mountain Monastery, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva protected us, and now that we are at the City of Ten thousand Buddhas, you should realize that those who are sick will get well if they recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. If someone who has had an operation and who has been told by the doctors that there is no hope of getting better recites the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva with sincerity, that person can get well.
If people get poisoned, like the layman who ate the poison mushrooms, and they recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, they can get well, just as he did. The poison won’t be able to kill them. The power of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is inconceivable! We shouldn’t fail to recognize Kuan Yin Bodhisattva when face to face with him. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is right within our Bodhimanda, and yet when we have a Kuan Yin Session, we are still so lazy. We don’t use our vigor but just do enough to get by. We steal off for some rest and relaxation and have a sunbath. Some go outside to catch a tan and don’t follow along and recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. It’s really a pity, really stupid, and it shows a total lack of regard for Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva.
I’ll tell you something else; Kuan Yin Bodhisattva takes you by the ear and gives it a pull as he tells you to cultivate well, and you still wonder who’s doing it. You still fail to catch on to who it is. Instead you react by saying, “What are you doing looking after my affairs? Mind your own business! Who are you anyway? What’s it to you whether I cultivate or not?” Such people even scold Kuan Yin Bodhisattva himself! It’s really a shame. That’s just missing your chance when it is right at hand, and turning your back on a good opportunity.
However, what’s past is past. Let’s look to the future with renewed vigor. From now on you certainly shouldn’t miss the opportunity to participate in a Kuan Yin Session, or any other Dharma assembly. No one can just go off on their own and not take part. That’s impermissible! If you do that, you are wrecking your own future. Such a rare opportunity and it only lasts for seven days, and yet you let it go by in vain. If you have something more important to do, then it’s alright to do it if it’s protecting the Bodhimanda, but if you don’t have something more important to do, you shouldn’t run away and not do the session.
Reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is just a way of cleaning up the garbage. For every phrase of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name you recite, you should have one less false thought. Two phrases means two less false thoughts. Reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name three times means three less false thoughts. A hundred phrases, a thousand phrases, ten thousand phrases, and you have correspondingly less false thinking. You protest, “Dharma Master, you’re wrong. At the same time I am reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva I’m having false thoughts. I have more false thoughts than I do recitations of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name, by far.” Well, you are a person with inconceivable talent.
If you recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name on the one hand, and have false thoughts on the other, then you are basically not reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name at all! Your mind is not on your words. You look but do not see, listen but do not hear. Then although you are following along with the assembly in reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you are not really attentive to Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. Since you are not attentive to the Bodhisattva, your false thoughts come forth in profusion.
When that happens, although you are saying “Kuan Yin Bodhisattva” with your mouth, your mind is in a state of total confusion. You get caught up in the false thought. Pretty soon it gets so bad that you totally forget you are reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and become completely absorbed in the false thoughts you are having. That’s called neglecting your responsibility and doing things in a half-hearted way. You’re not really reciting Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name; you’re just going along with the crowd. So there’s no response to your recitation, and no power behind it
When you recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, your eyes should constantly contemplate the Bodhisattva as being right there in front of you. His thousand eyes shine down upon you and his thousand ears hear you. His thousand hands protect and support you. When your mouth recites, your ears should hear the sound very clearly, “Namo Kuan Shih Yin P’u Sa.” Send that sound to your heart. Your heart then invites the Bodhisattva in. When the mouth recites clearly and the mind remembers clearly, then at the gates of the six sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—you are mindful of Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva. This is called gathering in the six sense organs and deeply entering through one door. As Great Strength Bodhisattva put it, “Gathering in the six organs through continuous pure mindfulness to obtain samadhi, is the foremost method.”
¹ That’s what he said in describing his method of perfect penetration of the six organs. We use the same method in reciting the name of Kuan Shih Yin Bodhisattva as we use in reciting the Buddha’s name. “Gathering in the six sense organs” means keeping them from becoming scattered.
We get them under control. We make them obey our instructions. We turn the six thieves into six Dharma protectors. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are called the six thieves, and also the six gates; they become six Dharma protectors if you can gather them in. That means you simply do not allow the six thieves to play any more tricks. You train them until they are extremely compliant and reliable.
If you find you cannot recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, but that you are constantly having false thoughts, ask yourself why. It’s just because you have not been able to gather in the six sense organs. You can’t get a rein on them. If you are able to gather them in and to be continuously mindful, with pure thoughts one after the other—thoughts of mindfulness of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva—so that the sound never stops, then eventually you will enter samadhi. You will obtain proper concentration, and proper reception. You will have the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha or of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. This is the foremost method.
If you can obtain the samadhi of mindfulness of Kuan Yin, then you can be considered someone who is participating in the Kuan Yin Session. If you can’t obtain that samadhi, then you aren’t really participating in the Kuan Yin Session. You may argue, “But in the past I’ve participated in so many Kuan Yin sessions.” Well, were they efficacious for you? Did you enter samadhi or not? When you are in the samadhi, from the moment you arise in the morning until the time you retire in the evening, your mouth continuously recites the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. You are unaware of the passage of time. You are unaware of what time it is right now; you are unaware of the coming of time. Past, present, and future time simply do not exist for you when you enter samadhi.
When reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, you don’t remember whether or not you have eaten. Why not? Because you are singlemindedly reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. You don’t recall putting on your clothes. Why not? Because you are reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and have forgotten everything else. You forget about sleeping as well for the same reason. When those details fall by the wayside, then your proper concentration and proper samadhi have manifested. When proper concentration appears, you don’t have any affliction in your mind. You have no ignorance. Your recitation of the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is pure and immaculate, and it makes you happy and joyful.
Reciting is more comfortable than anything else you might do; it is better than any other activity. You say you are sick, but if you recite like this, you will forget your sickness. You say you don’t get enough to eat, but if you recite like this you will forget your hunger. You’ll forget everything else. That includes the manifestation of “states,” such as having someone or something talk to you while you are in meditation; that’s a demonic state, not samadhi. People who cultivate the Way must vow to cross over the living beings of their own self-nature. They vow to study the Dharma doors of their own self-nature, and to accomplish the Buddha Way of their own self-nature. If you don’t recognize your own self-nature, and instead go adding a head on top of a head, and invent some “spirit” or “Bodhisattva” or something else, you’re making a mistake.
In cultivating, one must return the light and illumine within. Do not seek outside; everything is to be found within your own self-nature. Ask yourself if you have any skill in your cultivation. If you don’t have greed, you have some skill. That’s an essential point. Ask yourself if you have any anger. If someone slapped your face for no reason, would you lose your temper? If you say you would, then you don’t have any skill in your cultivation. If you wouldn’t get angry, then although we cannot say your attachment to self is completely cut off, it is significantly diminished.
If you have to admit that in your mind you still get upset, afflicted, or want to get angry, then you don’t have any cultivation. That’s also a case of not being empty. If you’re empty, who gets angry? Who gets afflicted? Who’s making all the fuss? If you still have these things, you don’t have any cultivation. Even if you don’t have these things, you can’t say, “My cultivation is stupendous!” All it means is that you have the slightest bit of skill, that you’ve taken the first steps in cultivation, nothing more.
You can’t get arrogant and haughty and say things like, “Look at me, I’m the foremost cultivator in the entire world!” That’s the talk of someone with an overweening view of the self. It’s the talk of a great demon king. You must not think like that. As soon as you give rise to thoughts like that, you are engaging in deviant knowledge and deviant views. Again, ask yourself, do you have any stupid thoughts? “Is it the case that I can penetrate one thing and understand all things from it? Is it the case that I am clear about everything, and don’t have any obstacles?”
Even if it really is that way for you, that is still just the beginning of cultivation. You can’t stop there, and be satisfied. If you say, “I’ve got it all! I’ve perfected everything!” then you are just a person who has the arrogance of one who’s insane. You’re someone who’s crazy about himself!
In True Emptiness there is no self and others.
In the Great Way there is no form or appearance.
When you reach True Emptiness, how can there be people and a self? If you’re always thinking about getting a chance to drink some juice or some tea, or some other beverage, then you don’t have any concentration. You have not obtained any samadhi. When you enter samadhi you drink the tea of nature which is sweet dew. If you still need to be seeking outside for this and that, then you are still caught up in what is phoney. In cultivation you can’t put on a false face. You can’t just hang out a sign professing to be a cultivator when in fact you’re, “hanging out a sheep’s head and selling dog’s meat.” You can’t engage in activities whichare not in accord with the Dharma.
If you have really obtained samadhi and are really cultivating, then in the winter you won’t be cold, and in the summer you won’t be hot. Why not? You won’t have that kind of discrimination in your mind. You will no longer know hunger or thirst. How could you possibly go about stealing things to eat and drink, and stealthily engaging in all kinds of activities which are violations of the precepts? You simply wouldn’t do such things. The determination as to whether you have skill or not, or whether you can pass the test or not, can only be made by an expert.
If you aren’t experienced and yet pretend to be experience, you’re telling a big lie. That will lead you to the hells in the future. So, when we cultivate we want to do it truly and actually. You actually do it, and don’t just invent a phoney name for yourself and be satisfied with that. “Although the mention of plums can cure one’s thirst, a painting of a cake will never satisfy one’s hunger.”
It’s been a long time since I transmitted any essential teaching to you, so I’ll do so now. For those of you who feel tired, who feel like the session is too much suffering, you should contemplate in this way:
“I’m about to die. This is my last breath. So, in this last moment before I die, I am going to give my all in reciting the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.” For instance, you’re in an airplane and it is about to crash; if you don’t recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name for all you’re worth, your life hasn’t got a millionth of a chance—the danger is that grave! Or you can imagine you’re in a train and it jumps its rails; it’s being rolled over the ground, and if you don’t recite Kuan Yin Bodhisattva’s name and ask to be saved, it’s for sure that everyone in the train will die. They’ve got no insurance.
Or you can imagine you’re in a car and the car goes out of control and catapults through space and heads for a deep ravine. If that happens, your body will be smashed to smithereens. And there won’t be any remains. Not to speak of resting, you won’t be fit to ever do anything again! At those crucial moments you want to recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, and you should regard every moment of the session as being just that crucial. Just think that your death is imminent; in that moment before death, you would certainly recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, seeking to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. You should recite as if your life depended on it.
But this is just an analogy; of course you don’t want to scream, “Namo Kuan Shih Yin P’u Sa!” and then fall onto the bench cracking your skull in two in the process. That’s just being stupid. The analogy is used to help you realize how intense you should be about it. You should be that concerned, and should consider it that important. If everyone recites the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva like that, not even one of you will fail to become accomplished.
Why are you unsuccessful? It’s because when your legs hurt you can’t take it. When your back aches you can’t stand it. You have to go rest and lie down for a while. When you act like that, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva takes a look and knows that you’re washed up! Finished. If you recite with that attitude, then even if you recite until your throat is sore, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva will pay you no heed, because you don’t really place any importance on mindfulness of Kuan Yin; you don’t give it all you’ve got.
If you imagine that King Yama and the ghost of impermanence are standing right there before you ready to invite you for tea, and then decide that instead you will stay here and do what you have to do—if you can regard what you’re doing as that important—then a single recitation of the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva transcends millions of half-hearted recitations. It’s just because you’re not in a tight spot right now that you’re not reciting sincerely. If you could recite, right here, with the same kind of sincerity which one of the refugees recited while on a flimsy boat that was being battered by the wind and waves, knowing that if she didn’t recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva there was no hope at all, then you’d have some success. So, why is it you want to rest now that you’re safe and sound? It’s because you’re out of danger. Actually, though,
This day has already passed, and our lives are that much shorter.
We are like fish in an ever-shrinking pool; what bliss is there in this?
Great assembly! You should go forth with diligence
and vigor as if you were trying to save your own head!
Be mindful only of impermanence, and be careful not to be lax!
After you die, you’ll have no opportunity to recite the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, even if you want to.
The Story of the Venerable Master
Hsu Yun’s Enlightenment
When the ancients applied their effort they would renounce death and forget about life. They weren’t afraid of toil. Every time they had a session, they weren’t willing to allow even a single second go by in vain, not to speak of letting a whole hour or two-hour sit go by in vain. They wouldn’t allow even a second to be wasted. When in the Way place they would only concentrate their minds, work hard, and hope that by using their effort in the right way they could one day recognize their original face and obliterate the wheel of birth and death.
The life of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun is a popular topic for discussion these days. Today I’ll talk a little bit about the incidents surrounding the enlightenment of the Venerable Master.
When the Venerable Hsu Yun was residing in a thatched hut on Chung Nan Mountain, he heard that the cultivators at Kao Min Monastery were going to hold ten consecutive Ch’an Sessions. They were to begin on July 19 th. So he concentrated his mind and left for Kao Min Monastery for the sake of ending birth and death. While he was descending Chou Hua Mountain, it began to rain, and it rained so hard that the roads were all submerged in water.
He remembered that along the road there was a bridge but he didn’t know that it had been wiped out by the torrential rain, and as he walked along that particular road, because the bridge had been wiped out, he slipped and fell into the river. For a day and a night—24 hours—he was tossed by the waves and bobbed up and down in the current. Now, think about this, everyone. Being in the water for a day and a night should certainly have drowned him; there’s no way that he should have made it out alive. He had made the resolve to renounce death and forget about life, and was on his way to participate in a ten-week Ch’an Session when he almost drowned. You should all ponder this: wasn’t that really a case of taking a loss?
It so happened that there was a fisherman working along the river at that time who chanced upon the Venerable Hsu Yun, caught him in his net and pulled him out of the river. At first the fisherman thought that he’d caught a huge fish, but as soon as he pulled him out and took a closer look he realized that this was, in fact, a monk! The fisherman observed that the monk had taken in a lot of water, so he lifted him onto a large rock and proceeded to empty the water out of his lungs.
Now it’s reasonable to suppose that after being submerged in water for 24 hours like that, one could not possibly have survived. But the Venerable Hsu Yun came back to life. The fisherman next went to a local temple and told a monk there, “I caught a monk in my net while fishing,” and the monk from the temple returned with the fisherman to the scene of the accident to take a look. When he saw the Venerable Master he exclaimed, “Oh, this is the Venerable Te Ch’ing!” So he took Venerable Hsu Yun back to his temple to rest there for a few days.
If the Venerable Master had been a person with no mind for the Way, he would have thought, “Oh, I was on my way to the session and just about drowned in the river, so I’m not going to that session now. I’m going to retreat. I’m going back to the mountain and stay there in my thatched hut.” But he wasn’t like that. He maintained his resolve to go on and participate in the session.
So he went off to Kao Min Monastery after a few days and registered as a participant. Because he had been in the water for a day and a night he was seriously ill. In what way was he ill? His nine orifices constantly flowed with blood—his nose, his eyes, his ears, his mouth all constantly bled. And even his anus and urinary tracts flowed with blood and essence. But even though he was so sick, he still didn’t retreat and say, “I’m resigning from this session!” He went to Kao Min Monastery, determined to do the session.
Now no one at Kao Min Monastery was aware of the Venerable Master’s condition, or that he had almost been drowned in the river. Nor did the Master bother to tell anyone. He was prepared to go into the Ch’an Hall to strike up the session. A preparatory session was held on July 15, and the actual session itself was to begin on October 15. Since the Abbot of Kao Min Monastery himself wanted to participate in the session, he requested that the Venerable Hsu Yun act as Abbot in his place so that he would be able to attend the session without having to be distracted by temple affairs. But Hsu Yun wouldn’t agree to this. And so, according to the tradition of the Ch’an Hall, the Abbot had him beaten with an incense board and scolded him, saying things like, “You haven’t brought forth the resolve of a Bodhisattva!” and gave him a big harangue.
By that time, the Venerable Hsu Yun was like a living dead person, to the extent that even when people beat him he didn’t feel that it was painful. When people scolded him, he didn’t even hear it. He endured insult in that way. He was able to endure it all. Shortly after that, the Abbot of the local temple where Hsu Yun had stayed after his accident showed up at Kao Min Monastery, and he explained to everyone there, “The Venerable High Monk, Te Ch’ing, descended Chou Hua Mountain and on his way to this session he fell into the river and remained for a day and a night—24 hours—and then he was fished out and revived—he came back to life.” On hearing this bit of news, everyone knew that the Venerable Hsu Yun was one who had truly forsaken death and forgotten about life, in order to participate in this session. Then everyone got together and discussed it among themselves.
It was the custom that those who participated in a session took turns taking the incense board and going on meditation patrol. While everyone else was sitting, the one on meditation patrol would carry the incense board around the hall to see who was sleeping, and whoever was sleeping would get hit with the incense board. But because the Venerable Hsu Yun had forsaken death and forgotten about life in order to attend the session, everyone felt sympathetic toward his resolve and they all agreed among themselves and said to him, “You nearly drowned and you’re really sick, so you needn’t take a turn on the meditation patrol.”
Thus, he was relieved of his turn on the meditation patrol. Not having to do that, he was able to single-mindedly work hard. He concentrated with a single focus, day and night, without ever interrupting his effort. But his illness still raged. His nine orifices kept on bleeding and his essence flowed, even from his urinary tract. But in spite of that he didn’t rest; he still worked hard just as always.
One evening, during the session, it came time for tea. Because Hsu Yun was wrapped up in investigating his hua t’ou (meditation topic), his eyes were closed. As he held out his cup—maybe the tea server was sleepy—the tea server accidentally poured hot tea all over Hsu Yun’s hand and scalded it, causing him to release the cup and let it drop to the floor. The cup fell to the floor with a crash and the sound prompted in him an instantaneous enlightenment. It was a far-reaching and profound awakening. At that moment, Hsu Yun wrote this verse:
The cup crashed to the floor
With a sound crisp and clear.
Empty space broke apart,
And the mad mind immediately came to a halt.
When the cup smashed to the floor, his ignorance was smashed to bits, and he found his original face. He understood everything and immediately became enlightened; becoming enlightened, he immediately understood everything.
Everyone should ponder over this. The Venerable Hsu Yun was such a high and lofty Sanghan. He worked very hard and subsequently was able to open enlightenment.
What class of people are we? If we are casual and sloppy and plan to open enlightenment and certify to the fruition that way—that’s something which simply can’t be done. During a session do we go off to the toilet though we don’t really need to and pretend that we are taking care of business when actually we are just taking a rest? Is it the case that we don’t really need to drink tea but then run off and have some tea? I believe that the set-up here now is not as bad as it was in the past.
Before, on both the women’s and men’s sides there were provisions made for fixing up coffee and tea, and this and that. It was like a businessmen’s luncheon. If people wanted to eat some of this they’d eat some of this; if they wanted to drink some of that, they’d drink some of that.
In Chung Kuo, Ch’an Sessions were held in the winter and so the phrase was coined, “investigating in the winter and studying in the summer.” This is because the heat is unbearable in the summer, and if people try to meditate then they find it difficult to enter Samadhi. But when it’s cold, people have to work really hard in order to get over their fear of the cold. If they didn’t work hard they’d get so cold that they wouldn’t be able to take it. So in Chung Kuo in the winter they investigated Ch’an, and in the summer they investigated the teachings. This was called, “Ch’an in winter and study in summer.”
There are those of you here now who are thinking, “During this session I haven’t obtained a single advantage.” Well you should return the light and illumine within and ask yourself if you have been constantly thinking about ways to be extremely lazy and of ways to get off cheap; in that case how could you possibly get enlightened?
If you can’t renounce death, you will never obtain life.
If you can’t renounce the false, you won’t obtain the true.
If you can’t renounce suffering, you won’t obtain bliss.
If you can’t give up what’s false, you will never obtain what’s true. True appearance has no marks. But you must first get rid of your false appearance.
The session is ending tonight, and it is well if any one of you has obtained the benefits of Ch’an. If you haven’t obtained any benefits, it won’t hurt to wait for a future opportunity. There’s ample time ahead; your day has not yet come. It’s only to be feared that you won’t actually produce the resolve for Bodhi and be vigorous and concentrate and work hard.
But, if you are able to do that, you will certainly accomplish the four kinds of wisdom: The Great, Perfect Mirror Wisdom; the Wonderful Contemplative Wisdom; the Wisdom of Success in What You Do; and the Level and Equal-Nature Wisdom. The Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, the Three Bodies and Four Wisdoms, don’t come from outside. They are something that you must personally work hard for and then you will arrive at that level of accomplishment. It isn’t such an easy thing to become enlightened.
So, this session is ending tonight. When I told the public record of the Venerable Hsu Yun, some of you felt very regretful. You thought, “The Venerable Hsu Yun was so energetic in that session, but in this session I wasted my time and didn’t really work hard. I have truly lost a good opportunity by not working hard. Why didn’t you tell us about the Venerable Hsu Yun on the very first day of the session, and then I wouldn’t have been so lazy, and so remorseful now.”
If I’d told you about this on the first day in order to “entice” you to work hard, it wouldn’t have been purely your own idea. If I were to try to coerce you into working hard, to forsake death and forget about life, then it wouldn’t be you yourself that would be working hard, it’d be because I was influencing you to work hard. However, you should know that becoming enlightened is returning to one’s own home, rediscovering one’s inherent scenery. It doesn’t come from outside. I am only explaining the principles to you. Whether or not you bring forth the resolve is up to you.
You should never cheat yourself. Although this session is over now, you can continue to work hard. You can apply your effort at all times and in all places. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, don’t separate from this. If you separate from this, it is a mistake. What’s “this”? “This” is just the effort you are using. No matter whether you investigate Ch’an or recite the Buddha’s name, or hold the precepts, or study the teachings—they are all fine, but you have to concentrate and not be scattered. Therefore, it’s said, “When one is concentrated it’s efficacious, but when one is scattered it just won’t work.”
It really counts when you can concentrate and prod yourself on, exhort yourself to not be so lazy and muddled and produce the resolve for the Way. If you haven’t obtained any benefits from this session, then it’ll count as a practice session. After this, if you have another opportunity, then you should really work hard.
Don’t be as scattered as you were before and so unwilling to work hard, thinking that you could get off cheap. It’s not the case that you can get off cheap. If you’re really lazy just now, it’s not so important, but because you have been like this for limitless kalpas in the past, you have fallen. You’ve fallen in the past simply because you liked to be lazy and never liked to take a loss. You always wanted to get off cheap. As a result you’ve taken an even greater loss: you have lost your inherent true gems and haven’t been able to find them.
There’s still a bit of time left to this session and then it will be over. Although this session is about to end soon, the true session is always going on, whether one is walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. One can always apply effort, and that means to do no false thinking.
I’ll tell you a bit more about my own experiences. I never false think at all. Why don’t I have any false thinking? Because I’ve seen through the five desires of wealth, fame, food, sex, and sleep to the point that I regard them as all empty. I’m not greedy for wealth, I am not greedy for sex, I am not greedy for fame, I am not greedy for good things to eat, nor am I greedy for sleep. If it was the case that I was greedy for wealth, then I wouldn’t take the offerings made to me and give them away for the use of the great assembly. But since I’m not greedy, when people give me money, I just give it away to everyone to use.
Some might think that this is taking a great loss, but it doesn’t matter to me. With regard to sex, everyone probably knows that I don’t even have the slightest false thoughts with regard to sex. I wouldn’t dare actually claim that I’ve cut off thoughts of sexual desire, but they have, nevertheless, disappeared. With regard to fame, I don’t want it at all. When I write essays I sign them “ant.” Take a look. How good a name is “ant”? Basically, it’s not even a name. I basically feel that I am the same as mosquitoes and ants. I don’t feel arrogant toward even them, not to mention people. I don’t want a good name or a good reputation at all.
And as for food—everyone here is aware that recently I’ve wanted to go on a raw foods diet and eat only things like raw greens and fruit, but the bowing Monks requested that I eat some cooked food, so I’ve granted their wish. Therefore, now I eat some plain boiled vegetables, but I don’t use salt or oil on them. Why don’t I eat salt or oil? Is it the case that I can’t eat them? Is it the case that if I were to eat them I would die? No. Even if that were the case, if I still wanted to eat them, I’d eat them anyway. But that’s not the case at all. The truth is I don’t want to enjoy tasty flavors. You shouldn’t weep when you hear that I don’t eat oil and salt, feeling that I’m taking a great loss. For, it’s just because I am this way that I can merit being your teacher.
Tonight, when you all return home, you should no longer be greedy for good flavors. You shouldn’t spend your whole day long being greedy to eat good things and then guzzle and carouse to your heart’s content playing Ma Chong and gambling. You should abstain from all those things. If you don’t gamble or go to see plays and movies, you can take the money you would have wasted to create some meritorious works instead. And then that will be enough. So those of you who gamble should abstain from it. Those who like to eat but are lazy about working should not be so gluttonous. You should correct your faults and change all of your bad habits. Change them. You can believe in what I’m telling you now. When I tell you that I don’t eat good things, I just consider that my basic duty as a cultivator.
I’m not greedy for sleep, either. I can go a few days without sleep. But when I sleep, I can sleep for a few days, or even months, being in a constant state of sleep! I am able to do that, too. Or, I can go a few months without sleep; I can do that, too. That’s how I am. You’re thinking, “Dharma Master, are you telling the truth or is this all false talk?” If you think I am cheating you, then I am; but then you should understand the reason for my cheating you. If I really wanted to cheat you, I could use other methods, so why should I do the dumb things I’ve been doing in order to cheat you? Why am I like this? It’s because I don’t have any false thinking.
So whether I sleep or don’t sleep, it’s all the same to me. Being asleep is just the same as being awake. And when I’m awake, it’s as if I were asleep. Even to the point that when I’m awake yet sleeping I can get even more work done!
And so you ask, “What do you do there while you’re sleeping? Get rid of mosquitoes and drive out ants?” Some people are thinking, “This talk is just too far from the truth.” Well, then go off and find someone who is talking honest talk and listen to that!
Now I’ve told you how I regard wealth, fame, sex, food and sleep. Name and wealth are just like clouds in the sky to me. Because of this, although I have established the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, I don’t false think about it. I just let it take its own natural course in developing. I never use tricks on people in order to get them to do this and that. Now that I’ve told you the public record of the Venerable Hsu Lao, you can investigate it deeply. Those who truly want to end birth and death should study it, and then afterwards use it as a mirror. Then you will no longer be lazy. If you didn’t make a victory at this session, don’t feel too bad. Maybe next time will prove successful for you. I’ve composed a gatha for the end of this session:
On this day, at this time, we are ending this session.
We should all continue to work hard.
Vigor, vigor—be vigorous! And don’t have any doubts.
Cast away fox doubts.
Just wait until a future time
When the opportunity ripens.
And then, Mahaprajnaparamita!
Don’t Push for Speed
No matter what method you use in applying your effort at cultivating the Way—whether it be reciting the buddha’s name, holding mantras, studying the teachings, holding precepts, meditation, cultivating the pure Land School, the Teachings School, and so on—you shouldn’t be greedy for quick results. If you are greedy for a quick accomplishment you will make a mistake. Greed for speedy success still boils down to having a greed-mind, and that will obstruct your wisdom on the causal ground. It will also obstruct the light of your self-nature, because the light of your self-nature doesn’t have any greed in it.
Never has there been an efficacious response founded on greed. If you retain a greed mind while you cultivate the Way, it’s like having a piece of gold and covering it up with dirt. So, don’t be greedy for quantity or speed, don’t try to get off easy without doing the requisite work. If you don’t have a greed mind, you can put things down; if you can put things down, you can obtain samadhi, and only after obtaining samadhi can you open great wisdom. All of you should very deeply understand this. Don’t be greedy for speed. If you are crazed over the idea of getting there quickly, you won’t arrive at your destination.
For instance, if you want to go to new York and wish to get there fast but don’t do the necessary things to get there—such as taking a plane, or a train, or a bus—but just figure, “I’ll get there on my own two legs, and I’ll get there quickly!” then you’ll rush on and die of fatigue and not get there at all. Cultivating the Way is also like that. You do everything very naturally. You should apply your effort very naturally and you shouldn’t think about whether or not it’s being effective or whether you are obtaining any good results. Don’t think about anything at all. Just go forward in applying your effort—continue with your hard work.
Moreover, every day you should change your faults—this is really important. If in any single day you don’t find any faults to correct, then for that day you won’t have made any progress. People who want to work hard at their cultivation shouldn’t think, “I have been reciting Earth Store Bodhisattva’s name and petitioning him to do something for me.” On the contrary, you should recite for everyone in the world so that the world won’t have any calamities or disasters. You don’t need to be reciting for yourself.
Don’t be like an opium smoker, greedy for the quick high so he smokes opium. Then, after he gets high, he comes down again and wants another fix. People can develop a similarly unhealthy attitude toward cultivating the Way. But if you don’t have a greedy mind for results, just that is the manifestation of proper mindfulness, in which case you will truly be able to apply effort.
Proper mindfulness is just the proper thought for cultivation—not having any greed. Not being greedy for the slightest ease in cultivation means not trying to get off cheap. You shouldn’t have the thought that today you are going to cultivate the Way and tomorrow you will become a Buddha, because that principle doesn’t exist anywhere. You can’t dig a well in a single thrust.
The “Zero”
Among those of you who investigate Ch’an, there are some who already know how to use their skill and are already on the road. But then for those who have just started out, you need some direction in the beginning. For those of you who already have an inkling of what Ch’an is, everything that is said is false. “Whatever can be spoken doesn’t have any actual meaning.”
But for those of you who have newly arrived, a few words must be spoken. It’s like using a key to unlock a door. These words open the lock inside of your mind. In applying skill, the first thing is that your thoughts must be brought to a single focus—you must be concentrated. So it’s said, “With concentration there is efficacy; once scattered, everything is ruined.” Regarding the One,
When Heaven attains the One, it becomes pure;
When Earth gains the One, it becomes peaceful;
When a person attains the One he becomes a sage;
When the ten thousand things attain the One,
they all abide in their destiny.
The “One” is very important. It’s the beginning of the myriad things. It’s the mother substance. “If you attain the One, the ten thousand things are all accomplished.” But if one has an attachment to the One, it’s very easy to fall into two or three—that is, one still becomes attached to shape and form and numbers. If there’s still a form to attach to, it’s not true emptiness. Well, what is true emptiness? True emptiness is just the Zero. This Zero is a numerical “0”, and it is also a circle. This Zero is not big nor small, it has no inside or outside, no past or present, it’s not positive and it’s not negative. It doesn’t fall into the sphere of numbers and yet no number is apart from the Zero. Zero is the original substance of the One. Once the Zero is broken apart, it becomes a One. In cultivation we want to cultivate back from the One to the Zero.
“Well, it’s said that within the Zero there is nothing at all,” you say. That’s right, but there still is a Zero and right within that Zero boundless transformations occur. That Zero is true emptiness; it’s also wonderful existence:
True emptiness does not obstruct wonderful existence,
Wonderful existence does not obstruct true emptiness.
True emptiness isn’t empty;
Wonderful existence doesn’t exist.
Because true emptiness isn’t empty,
it is therefore called wonderful existence;
Wonderful existence doesn’t exist, and so
it’s called true emptiness.
That’s the foremost thing one must know when cultivating. What are we cultivating? We are just cultivating the Zero. Although it’s said that when you attain the One, the ten thousand things are accomplished; when you attain the Zero there’s not a single thing. Then, not a single Dharma is set up and the ten thousand thoughts are emptied. If you want to understand that principle, you must first concentrate your mind; that means to not have any false thinking. If you can manage to not have false thoughts, you will have a response. So when it says that with concentration there is efficacy, the efficacy is just a response, as in “the response and the Way intertwine.”
First of all, you must focus your mind into a single concentration, and that’s not easy. And from the single concentration, to return to the Zero is even more difficult. But is it the case that since it’s not easy we won’t try? If you don’t try, then you’ll never get anywhere. Therefore we have to use effort in sitting in Ch’an. In sitting Ch’an the very first thing one must do is train oneself to sit still. If you have really stiff legs you can just sit in a way that is comfortable for you. But after you feel a bit more at ease and comfortable, then you should go on to half lotus. When you can sit in half lotus without it hurting any more then you can go on to full lotus. Only when you have trained yourself to the point that even when sitting in full lotus you no longer have any pain can you be considered to be truly investigating Ch’an.
Investigating Ch’an is basically having nothing to do and finding something to do. You haven’t got any work to do but you look for some work to do. And so it’s a case of cultivators having some fun, playfully roaming in the human realm. You say “I don’t want to play!” Then don’t play. When you investigate Ch’an you look into a meditation topic, a word-head. “Word-head” means the head of a topic, before anything is even articulated, before the first stirring of the mind. It’s like a prelude—before a single thought has arisen. Just when you are about to engage in a thought and before you have actually done so, right at that moment, is where you investigate the word-head. To do that you must have a topic to look into. For instance, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?”
To investigate means to drill into the topic as if you were using a chisel. It’s like using a vajra drill, drilling into iron, to bore a hole. The investigating is just that process of drilling and boring a hole. When you bring up this topic, you say “Who” is mindful of the Buddha? It’s the “Who” that you look into, savoring its flavor and looking deeper and deeper into it. You bore deeper and deeper in until you get a clue, and once you get an inkling of who it is, you get an enlightenment.
But you can’t get to know this by using the ordinary thinking processes. You can’t say, “I’ll just take a guess at it.” That’s not it, either. It isn’t something that you can arrive at through cognition, nor is it a matter of making a hypothesis. It’s none of those. It belongs to a realm that you have never considered before. When you hit that point, suddenly you become enlightened. You smash through empty space and the five skandhas are all emptied. And that’s what’s meant when it says in the Heart Sutra,
When the Bodhisattva, Avalokiteshavra, was coursing in deep wisdom, he illuminated the five skandhas and saw that they are all empty…
Once you empty the five skandhas, you continue on to the next step: that is where Shariputra had his success, because he saw that form is not different from emptiness and emptiness is not different from form. Form is just emptiness, and emptiness is just form. Feeling, thought and consciousness are just the same way. When you can empty the five skandhas, you will not be defiled by the six sense objects. That is the first step toward realizing Buddhahood. Then it could be said that you have “stepped beyond the threshold of the Buddha’s household.” But you need to put in quite a bit of effort in order to reach this stage.
This time at Gold Mountain there were some laypeople from Malaysia. When they heard about investigating Ch’an—looking into the “Who” that is mindful of the Buddha over and over again, they thought it was the same as reciting “Namo Amita Fwo,” as if one’s life depended on it. But when investigating Ch’an you don’t do it in a frenzy. In order to investigate you must slow down and be very deliberate about it. You must take your time and maintain a calm and balanced state of mind. Then you can go on to investigate to enlightenment. The two words, “investigate-enlighten” make a compound. To “investigate” is just to become “enlightened.” To become “enlightened” is just to “investigate.” And so pondering over “Who” is mindful of the Buddha, and really going at it, is investigating Ch’an.
To have the thought “Who?” is still having a false thought. But this is a case of using poison to counteract poison. You use a single false thought to get rid of all the myriad other false thoughts. People who want to apply effort must understand this point first. Because if you don’t understand this point, then no matter how hard you work, it will be a waste of your time.
Now, back to the Zero. The Zero is just a “0”. You could say that people are equal to the Zero and that the Zero is just people. The “0” is the path to Buddhahood, the path to enlightenment. If you want to become enlightened, you have to understand the principle of the Zero. If you want to become a Buddha, you have to understand the principle of the Zero. At the level of common people, it’s the Zero; but when we become Buddhas, the Zero turns into the Great, Perfect Mirror Wisdom: the Great Treasury of Bright Light. The Zero can give rise to all dharmas; it can also sweep away all dharmas. So you say, “0,” “0,” “0,” and there still isn’t anything much happening,” But right within that “not anything much happening,” you find true emptiness.
But people seek outside and so they lose the fundamental, intrinsic Buddha-nature; they lose the original scenery of their mind ground and their inherent treasures. Instead, they forsake the root and grasp at the branches, they flow along with the current of birth and death and forget to return. They are unable to go against the flow of the six sense objects and return to the origin and go back to the source. If you want to return to the origin and go back to the source, you must begin at the place where there is absolutely nothing.
If you want to become a Buddha, you have to start from the Zero, where there’s nothing at all. If you understand the Zero, then you can count as someone who understands the Dharma. If you don’t understand the Zero, then you don’t understand the Dharma. Because “all dharmas are not apart from the Zero and all dharmas come into being from the Zero and return to the Zero. As it is said,
One root extends to ten thousand ramifications,
And ten thousand ramifications return to the one root.
But because we don’t understand the principle of true emptiness, we forsake what is near and run after what is far away and grab for things outside and look for trouble. We add a head on top of a head. It’s like riding in a car and looking for a car, riding in a plane and looking for a plane, riding in a rocket and looking for the rocket. That’s really upside down, living as if drunk and dying as if in a dream, going against the Tao—and it’s all because of having forgotten the Zero.
So you shouldn’t think that this type of Dharma that has been discussed tonight is a small condition, because what I am telling you now is something that startles heaven and earth and makes the ghosts and spirits wail. I am basically disclosing to you the secrets of heaven and earth—bringing forth the original source of all Buddhas that has not been brought forth. After you hear it, if you understand, you can just use this method to go on and become Buddhas; but if you don’t understand, then you will still fall into the hells.
Why do we say that if you understand the Zero you can become a Buddha—why is it so simple? And why do we say that if you don’t understand the Zero you will fall into the hells? It’s because becoming a Buddha comes from the Zero, and falling into hell is just because of not understanding Zero. Heavenly demons and those of outside ways come about because they don’t understand the Zero, too. Freaks and demonic creeps are that way because they don’t understand the Zero. Also, fox spirits and weasel spirits, mountain essences and water freaks—whether it is a thing or a non-thing—all of that comes about from not understanding the Zero, and as a result a myriad shapes and forms materialize—they are all transformed from non-understanding.
Although their shapes and forms are different, fundamentally they are just one—they are the same. That’s why the Buddha said that all living beings have the Buddha-nature, and all living beings can become Buddhas. Whether it’s a mountain essence or a water freak or any type of weird creature, li mei and wang liang ghosts, and so forth, it’s just because they don’t understand the Zero that they are the way they are. But all they have to do is return to the source and go back to the Zero, and instantaneously they will realize Buddhahood.
In studying the Buddhadharma, the most important thing is to cut off one’s bad habits and faults. It doesn’t matter how many Sutras you have heard or how long you have studied the Buddhadharma, if you can’t get rid of your bad habits and faults, it’s of no help to you. So I tell you quite often, “It’s easy to get by, but it’s hard to get rid of one’s anger.” It’s hard to transform your anger. You should get to the point where you don’t get angry, that is, you don’t get angry inside or outside. There are some who don’t get angry on the outside, but they hold it in and get angry on the inside; there are others who don’t hold it inside, but get angry on the outside. Here I am referring to not getting angry inside or outside, and that is to “obtain the priceless jewel.”
You don’t vex others, or go around blaming heaven and faulting other people—you don’t bother others—and if things don’t work out for you you look for the reason within yourself. If something doesn’t go your way, return the light and look within and seek the fullness within yourself. Don’t seek outside. Instead you should study being modest and you should strive to ascend. And if you don’t blame others and have no bad feelings toward others, then no matter what happens it’ll be okay.
At all times you should cut off afflictions—as in the Bodhisattva vow, “Afflictions are inexhaustible, I vow to cut them off.” Basically, there are no afflictions that can’t be cut off; if you don’t produce them in the first place, what’s there to be cut off? Why do you have afflictions? Because you have bad feelings. It’s the karma from the bad feelings and ill-will you have that causes you to give rise to afflictions. So the verse says, “If afflictions are never brought forth, where can one find the offenses of bad feelings?” In that case, everything will be pure—the pure, original, wonderful, true Thus nature will appear.
“If you are always looking at others’ faults, then you haven’t put an end to your own suffering.” If you aren’t looking for one person’s faults, then you’re looking for another person’s faults. And if you don’t feel that this isn’t good, then you think that something else isn’t quite right. If you are looking for other people’s faults, you haven’t put an end to your own suffering. But if you can keep from being that way, you will be truly studying the Buddhadharma.
What counts is truly practicing the Buddhadharma—really doing it, being sincere and straightforward, not just talking about it. If you can really practice, you are a true disciple of the Buddha and you will be truly propagating the Buddhadharma. If you can’t really, truly practice and you just flap your mouth and just drivel on with intellectual Ch’an “rap,” but you yourself still can’t do it, it’s totally useless.
No matter what Dharma you cultivate, if you cultivate it to the extreme, just that is the Pure Land. Reciting the Buddha’s name is fine; reciting mantras is effective, too. If you can clean up your mind, then even if you don’t want to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, you will still be born there. So whatever Dharma you cultivate, if you can single-mindedly cultivate it until it becomes magical, then you will have a response just the same.
Question: If one is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, even though they have offenses, is it the case that they have to return to the Saha World to exhaust those offenses, or are those offenses taken care of in the Pure Land?
Answer: Someone who gets reborn there is eternally apart from the Three Realms. One who is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss has already exhausted his karma. If you want to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, you must purify and cast out your emotions. When emotion is empty, just that is the Pure Land. When one’s karma is made light, that is the Land of Ultimate Bliss, but when one’s karma is confused, that’s the Saha World.
Question: Of the forty-eight vast vows of Amita Buddha, one is that whoever recites Amita’s name will be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss; so why is it that there are still so many people who haven’t been born there?
Answer: Is it the case that everyone has recited the Buddha’s name? Can you make everyone recite the Buddha’s name? If you can’t do that, then why ask such a question? Can you teach everyone to recite the Buddha’s name? If you can teach all people to recite the Buddha’s name, can you teach all the gods to recite the Buddha’s name? If you can teach all the gods, then can you teach all the animals to recite the Buddha’s name? How about the hell beings? Can you cause hungry ghosts to become happy? How about the asuras? It’s impossible! Since there are so few who recite the Buddha’s name, there are equally few who are reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. There are so many trillions upon trillions of living beings in the Saha World. Not to mention all those who have not recited the Buddha’s name, there are many who haven’t even heard of the Buddha’s name. Do you understand?
Everyone should look within and investigate themselves. See what you are. Today someone asked what kind of a thing he was. This may sound like a meaningless question, but in fact that’s the way it is. You can’t really say that you are some kind of “thing.” What kind of “thing” can pervade empty space to the ends of the Dharma Realm? It’s our original wisdom, the Buddhanature. If you can recognize your own Buddhanature, then why would you want to seek outside for things? There’s no up or down, no self, others, living beings, or a lifespan. So what “thing” can you find?
So you can’t say that people evolved from apes. The theory of evolution claims that people came from apes. Well, then, what did apes come from? You could say that apes came from mice. Is that right or not? Or maybe apes came from rabbits. Is there any principle to that? Rabbits can’t change into apes, so how is it the case that apes can become people? Well, even if I grant you that people came from apes, then why is it that in the present time there isn’t a single case of an ape that is changing into a person? Who now has seen an ape turning into a person? There is no foundation for this type of theory.
You say, “People were created by God.” Well, if people came from God, then who created God? You say, “God has always existed.” But, if God has always existed, then why is it that people haven’t always existed? What proof do you have that God has always existed? What proof do you have that in the beginning there weren’t any people? If there’s a God, then there are people; if there is no God, then there are no people. Why is that? It’s because people gave God his name. It isn’t that God said, “Well, I am God.” That would be like you yourself saying you are God. He would be a phoney, trumped-up god.
And so there is this God who says, “Whoever believes in me can’t become a god. I’m the only one who can be God. I am always going to be God. Every day I’m the only God.” At all times you are God, but since you are always God, why do you need people to believe in you? In that case, whether or not they believe in you you would still be God, so why do you need people to believe in you if that’s the case? Isn’t that totally lacking principle? Look into it. Why am I saying this? Because people are just too superstitious.
Now back to the theory of evolution which says that people descended from apes. What’s the basis for this theory? Well, you say, “There’s historical proof.” That’s your kind of evidence, but I don’t see it that way. Why? Because I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, so I don’t accept it. It’s a figment of the imagination, a groundless theory that is a product of fantasizing. It’s like writing a science fiction novel.
Ultimately, what’s it all about? People come from the Buddha-nature. Not only do people come from the Buddha-nature, but all living beings come from the Buddha-nature, and all can become Buddhas. Every living being can become a Buddha. It’s all equal. It’s not to say that only one person can be the Buddha. The Buddha is not the only one Buddha. And he doesn’t say, “As long as you believe in me, it doesn’t matter whether you have created offenses, you can still be born in the heavens.” If that were the case, then God could excuse everyone of their offenses. God would be like a harborer of criminals, because they wouldn’t have had other places to go to hide and so he helped them out. And then he said, “If you don’t believe in me, even if you do good, you will still fall into the hells.” This doesn’t contain any public principle, so as a theory it doesn’t hold up.
People come from the Buddha nature. And people make a further transformation and become animals. Animals come from people. That’s the truth. That just doesn’t mean that during the life of a person he suddenly turns into an animal or any other kind of being. It happens after death. After one dies, if one has merit and virtue one can be born in the heavens or become an asura, or maybe a person again. People can go up and be autocrats and kings or they can go down and become beggars. It’s just a matter of one’s own merit and virtue and how many offenses one has made. If one creates offenses, one must fall. Maybe one falls into the hells, or becomes a hungry ghost or maybe one will become an animal. It’s not fixed.
Someone asked me, “Are there such things as ghosts?” and my answer was, “Are there people?” If you think there are people, why would you think there weren’t any Ghosts? Ghosts just come from people. People fall and become ghosts. If people rise they become spirits or immortals, and if they go even higher, they become Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. So Buddhism and Taoism start out the same, but Buddhism is ultimate and gets to the very basis. It reaches to the ultimate point. Taoism stops about half way. That also goes for Catholicism and Protestantism, Mohammedanism, and so on. They are all just stops along the Way. If someone doesn’t have any perseverance he just goes as far as finishing high school and doesn’t go on to college.
Cultivation is the same way. Taoists and so forth are those who just don’t wish to go on to college. Confucianism is comparable to elementary school, Taoism to high school, and Buddhism to college. That’s a very simple analogy. You can’t say that high school students aren’t really students, nor that elementary school students aren’t really students, and that only college students are really students. They are all students and they are all in the process of study. Those who study the Buddhadharma are likened to those who graduate from high school and go on to college to further study.
But we can’t look down upon high school students. Those in high school can’t look down upon those in elementary school, either, because that’s just being arrogant. We want to encompass the ten thousand things, and with a compassionate and kind heart attract all and bring them all in.
Here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas we want to become Buddhas. If you want to repay the kindness of the four-fold assembly, just don’t get angry. The slightest bit of anger can burn up all your merit and virtue. So here’s a Ch’an verse for this session:
Within the Way place of the Ten Thousand Buddhas,
We select the ten thousand Buddhas.
The Mahayana is proclaimed all around, above and below.
With one thought not produced, the entire substance manifests.
But if the six organs move, then one is covered by clouds.
Everyone, investigate those four lines. Don’t spend your time and effort involved in the six sense organs. Work on your mind ground. Don’t renounce the root and go for the branches. You need to settle the basic question, the question of birth and death.
Dreaming within a Dream
Now I will speak some crazy words, which are not in accord with any rules or regulations. What sort of crazy words? We are all living in a dream, we are all talking in dream-talk!
You run off to the east, you run off to the west, you run off to the south, you run off to the north, you run off to the upper direction, you run off to the lower direction—to the point that you run all over empty space and the Dharma Realm, seeking for what you believe you want. However, from the day of your birth to the moment of your death, whatever you may have sought after, whether or not you obtained it, is of no significance—you have just wasted your time.
If you get what you seek, temporarily you’ll feel happy and satisfied. But after a certain amount of time, you’ll start growing tired and bored with it, feeling that it has become meaningless and insipid. Huang You-chun, in his Ode in the Orchid Pavilion, put it very distinctly.
People meet, gazing up and looking down
–that’s how they spend their entire lives
Perhaps they will meet in a room and exchange their views.
Due to circumstances, they become very indulgent, devoid of propriety.
When they behold that which they like,
momentarily they are infatuated and content,
And they do not notice the coming of old age.
By-and-by they grow tired, and their
sentiments change with the passing of events.
This causes them great remorse, and then things take an unhappy turn.
They become sour, and many unpleasant situations arise.
Isn’t this worthy of regret?
In the past people have behaved this way; people of the present behave this way; and people of the future will behave in the same way. So it is said,
When those of the future regard the present,
It will be just like us of the present when we regard the past.
When contemplating this, you should ponder: from the time of birth until the time of death, what are people chasing after?” It’s nothing but desire! ! Desire. Some pursue the desire for leadership; some pursue the desire for wealth; some pursue the desire for sex; some pursue the desire for fame, recognition and benefit. To put it in a nut-shell, although their variations may be many, they are all after the same thing.
Do we live in the world only in order to pursue those meaningless things? No! Then what are we living for? Our sole purpose on earth is to wake up from this dream we are in. Don’t dream on within a dream, lingering on in your dream, not willing to let go. You should awaken from it! Not only should you awaken yourself, but you should help everyone else wake from their dreams as well. After you wake up, you will no longer be so upside down. Before you awaken from your dream, if someone were to tell you, “Hey, do you know? You are living in a dream! No matter how much wealth you have, no matter what high official post you may have gained or how successful your career has been, it’s all happened within a dream!” you would certainly not believe that person. But just wait until you wake up from your dream, then you will know, “Oh! Originally it was just a dream!”
What do I mean by “living in a dream”? If you weren’t living in a dream, then why have you forgotten everything about the past? Why can’t you foresee events of the future? Why can’t you make the present remain? You do not have a grasp on any of these things. Tell me, what in this world is ultimately yours?
Someone says, “My body belongs to me.”
Well, if your body really belongs to you, can you keep your eyes from becoming hazy? Can you stop your ears from growing deaf? Can you keep your teeth from falling out?
You say, “I can take care of all of that; no problem. If my eyes grow dim, I can put on a pair of contact lenses, and then I’ll be able to see.”
But that is borrowing from external conditions; they are not your own.
“If my ears grow deaf, I can use a hearing aid.”
That’s also borrowing from external conditions and not using your own resources.
“If my teeth fall out, I can put on dentures.”
That is also borrowing from external conditions; none of those things belong to you. Only people who are spineless borrow from external conditions. People with back-bone stand on their own two feet, they try their best without cease, and they do not rely on outer conditions.
If this body really belongs to you, you will be able to tell your hair not to turn white, tell your feet not to hurt, tell your head not to ache, tell your body not to get sick—only that can be counted as having some control. But since you are not in control, you should realize that the body is just a false combination of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. If it’s all false anyway, why should you become so upside down because of it? Even if you become so upside down over it, in what way will it repay you? Tell me.
Therefore, we in this world should put down all of our attachments. Put down the false, take up the true—only then will our lives have some meaning to them. Do not dream on within a dream, taking your dream as real and not waking up from it.
On Investigating the Hua T’ou (word head)
Now all of us have gathered together to investigate Ch’an. To investigate means to be single-minded. To be single-minded means that your mind does not wander off to one side, but that you concentrate on investigating your hua t’ou. As for the hua t’ou, any principle that can be pursued can be a hua t’ou. Right at the point when you are about to speak, but before you actually do so, is the location of the hua t’ou (literally, “word head”). After you’ve spoken, then it is no longer the word head, it has become the word tail. Before it is spoken, you carefully and exhaustively examine and drill into its principle and concentrate at every moment. Once you penetrate the entire principle, then you will open an enlightenment.
In regard to getting enlightened, there are great enlightenments and small ones, just as there are small pools, lakes, streams, rivers and the great sea. Upon opening a great enlightenment, you can completely understand everything, from how Buddhas are accomplished above to how living beings are brought into being below—you can understand it all. Above you can penetrate measureless kalpas and understand the ten thousand principles; below you can penetrate into the future realms without end, and understand all phenomena. Not only will you be able to comprehend the present, but in regard to the myriad things and principles of the universe, you will be able to read them like the palm of your own hand. At that point, you will not need to research or study, but will simply be able to understand these things naturally. You’ll have become a greatly wise person in the world.
Opening a great enlightenment is called “the Great Disclosure of Perfect Understanding.” It is immense, like the great sea which boundlessly, vastly encompasses all the tiny streams. Opening a small enlightenment is likened to a small pool of water; it is the attainment of some sort of pure state. By applying effort, you can obtain a sort of light ease. However, this light ease only comes about through incessant work and effort.
How does one apply effort? Be like the cat watching over the mousehole. Observe how a cat watches over a mousehole. He uses all his time and patience, waiting for themouse to come out of its hole. As soon as the mouse emerges, the cat springs forward and grabs the mouse, and he never lets go. People who investigate Ch’an should be watchful and alert like that. Or you should be like the mother hen trying to hatch her eggs. The hen firmly believes that her brood will hatch, so she climbs on top of the eggs and sits…and sits…waiting for the chicks to hatch. She won’t leave them even for a second, except sometimes to get a little something to eat or to relieve nature; but even then she’ll go away only for a moment and immediately return to continue brooding on her eggs. At this point she is single-minded, totally focused in the here and now, using every bit of her patience to wait. Once the chicks hatch, the hen’s job is accomplished. People who investigate Ch’an should be that way; you should look into your hua t’ou with just as much perseverance and concentration.
You should also be like the dragon nurturing its pearl. Every dragon has a precious pearl which it nurtures. It devotes its undivided attention to it and eventually the pearl becomes perfected. Therefore, investigators of Ch’an should not fear suffering or difficulty. Don’t fear that your back aches or that your legs hurt. As it is said,
Without enduring the cold that bites to the bone,
How can the plum blossom give off such a heady fragrance?
And further,
If one can endure the suffering within suffering,
Then one will become a superior person.
Investigating Ch’an is just laying down a foundation. After a firm foundation has been laid, a hundred-story skyscraper can be built on it. Skyscrapers start from the ground up, they don’t emerge from empty space. You people who investigate Ch’an should in every moment singularly pick up your hua t’ou and never cease your investigation and drilling into it. “Investigating a hua t’ou” does not refer to the recitation of a phrase, but rather to drilling into it, boring through it, and examining it very closely—perhaps for five minutes, or ten minutes, or perhaps for an hour. If you are concentrated to the ultimate point, even if you investigate for an hour, it will seem like just a second has passed. Why? Because when you are concentrated, time and space are forgotten. If you can truly forget time and space and reach the ultimate point, then suddenly you’ll break through and open a great enlightenment.
AFTER A WHILE IT COMES NATURALLY
Everything in this world has within it the true and the false. Within the true, there’s some falseness and in the falseness, there’s some truth. The same goes with each individual. Each person has some merit as well as some offenses. In the past we created both good and bad karma, and all of this good and bad karma has been stored in the field of our eighth consciousness. It’s possible to either increase your merit or your offenses—there are no fixed dharmas. If you work hard, you earn more merit. If you don’t work hard, you increase your offenses.
If you cultivate vigorously, you don’t need to go about it in any fixed way. Just now, when someone said that sometimes he sits for five minutes, sometimes for an hour, or sometimes not at all, that’s all right, but if you’re just starting out, it’s easy to get lazy. People need to spur themselves on in order to get going and keep going. If you just do what you feel like doing, and don’t discipline yourself, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of advancing one step and retreating two. So there’s a saying,
In the beginning, it feels forced, but after
a while it comes naturally.
When you first start out, you have to force yourself to do it. But after you’ve practiced for a while, you get better at it and it comes more easily and naturally for you. At that time, when you’re walking, you’re not aware of it; when you’re sitting, you are not aware that you’re sitting; when you’re standing, you don’t realize you’re standing; and when you’re reclining, you don’t know you’re reclining. This is because you’ve gained freedom to do whatever you want in every respect. You’re no longer hindered. When this happens, no matter what you do you’ll always be cultivating—whether coming or going. Then, even if you’re talking to people or hosting guests—no matter what you’re doing—you’ll still be working at your cultivation. At the point when everything comes together for you, this will happen.
So, in cultivation you must bear bitterness. I always say, “everything’s okay.” You can say that everything’s okay, but it’s really not easy to be that way. It’s one thing to say it; it’s another to experience it. Cultivation is not always easy; at times you have to force yourself. Things come up that you really can’t see through, and you have to gather in all your energy to put things down, to let go of things. That’s not easy at all; sometimes it’s very, very difficult. In saying, “it’s okay, it’s okay,” sometimes you may think, “Well, everything’s okay,” and it will be okay for a while in a certain respect, but then something else will come up that is not okay. And just when you get that one worked out so it’s okay, something else comes up that’s VERY MUCH not okay.
So it’s very easy to say “everything’s okay,” but it’s very hard to be that way. When you cultivate, you have to be prepared to do so bit-by-bit. And when you do your work, you have to do that bit-by-bit as well. Everything is really “a dream, illusion, bubble, shadow…” It’s not real. You shouldn’t get caught up in it all and take it all too seriously. Because as the Vajra Sutra says,
All conditioned dharmas are like
Dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows,
Like dew and like lightning flashes.
Contemplate them thus.
WHAT NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO DO
The aim of people who cultivate the Way is to become Buddhas.
Though confronted by a thousand demons, they do not waver.
Though faced by ten thousand demons, they do not retreat.
They go forward in this way, all for the sake of the unsurpassed Way. However, when Bodhisattvas get to the point where they could become Buddhas, they refrain from doing so; they choose to continue to accompany us living beings and forever cultivate the Way among us. They do not grasp at Proper Enlightenment. This vow-power of the Bodhisattvas transcends the selfishness of us living beings in infinite ways. Living beings are always looking out for themselves and are totally oblivious to other beings.
Bodhisattvas have exactly the opposite attitude. No one likes to take a loss, but Bodhisattvas do. No one wants to benefit others, but Bodhisattvas do. Everyone wants to become a Buddha a little sooner, but Bodhisattvas want to yield the opportunity to become a Buddha to others. As long as living beings have not become Buddhas, Bodhisattvas do not grasp at Proper Enlightenment. The magnitude of their minds and the power of their vows should make us feel very ashamed. Every move we make is calculated to benefit ourselves. Everything we do is selfish.
We should pay close attention to what we have heard tonight about this magnificent resolve of Bodhisattvas—that they do not grasp at Proper Enlightenment. Kuo Chen (Dharma Master Heng Sure) said that this was a great matter. Indeed, it is. Bodhisattvas want to do what no one else wants to do. Now we are studying the Buddhadharma and learning to be Bodhisattvas, so we should take the Bodhisattvas as models in our cultivation of the Way. With this in mind, go forth and apply effort to your practice of the Way.
But if you don’t change your temper and cut off your afflictions, your cultivation will be of no great benefit. You can’t just try to get out of work and say, “I won’t talk, that way I won’t have to do anything. I can be a self-ending Arhat and pay no attention to others and ignore everything else.” Slow down, slow down—especially since you have just left the home-life. It is said,
Go too fast, and you will trip.
Dally, and you’ll fall behind.
Never rush and never dally
And you’ll get there right on time.
In cultivating,
In the beginning it is easy to be vigorous,
But hard to maintain as you go along.
You need to develop perseverance and become non-retreating.
Question: it is said that in Ch’an it is easy to catch a demon. What about this?
Answer: Some who cultivate are too selfish. Their view of self is too deeply rooted and they never forget themselves. They are always selfish and self-seeking. Selfishness makes it easy to catch a demon. They don’t truly practice the bodhisattva path. Real cultivation of the Bodhisattva Way is done without being anxious. One doesn’t seek for quick ways to get enlightened and become an “instant” Buddha. So those who want to go so “fast” may catch a demon.
Some people who cultivate like to be special. They always want to stand above the crowd and be better than everyone else. They hope to obtain spiritual penetrations or some flashy states to make them stand apart from the herd. So it’s easy for them to catch a demon. In Ch’an meditation, you just investigate Ch’an with one heart and have no other false thinking. If you can be like that, demons won’t be able to get to you. This is because you won’t be having a lot of false thinking or deviant views. People who investigate Ch’an and have no deviant knowledge and deviant views will not get possessed by demons.
If you are public-spirited, open-minded, and unselfish—if you are not in a big hurry and trying to show everyone else up, but just turn your mind to one and work hard—then no demons can get you. It isn’t that Ch’an leads to demonic possession or that it is in itself a dangerous practice. I mean, eating isn’t dangerous, but if you eat way too much it can be. If you are greedy for flavors and over-eat, you can get sick. You abuse the purpose of eating. The same principle applies to Ch’an.
At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas
The states which occur at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are inconceivable, to the point that all the birds and beasts, all the flowers and grasses, all the trees and herbs exemplify the Dharma, speak the Dharma, and practice the Dharma. Although grasses, trees, and flowers don’t actually speak, nonetheless they embody the ineffable wonder of the Buddhadharma. They are,
Apart from the mark of language and speech,
Apart from the mark of the mind’s conditions,
Apart from the mark of the written word.
In all four seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter—they represent the Buddhadharma.
In the spring the white flowers bloom.
In the autumn the yellow leaves fall.
If you can understand the principle behind the myriad transformations of nature, you will become enlightened. That is how Those Enlightened to Conditions awaken to the truth. They contemplate the Twelve Causal Conditions—all of which exemplify the Dharma.
All the creatures here at the City are speaking the Dharma. Black crows caw and white cranes call, each with its own sound. Black crows and white cranes—isn’t that a matched couplet? Then there are the bluejays, who are the thieves of the group. They’re real bullies. Wherever there is something to eat, they just glare so no other birds dare make the first move. They all have to wait until the bluejays make off with the best of the food and only then are they allowed to pick over the remains. This is speaking the dharma of the “survival of the fittest”—those that are weak are eaten by the powerful ones. Is that taking life? Yes, they are speaking the dharma of taking life. The deer speak the dharma of deer, the rabbits speak the dharma of rabbits, the foxes speak the dharma of foxes…
Isn’t it strange that before I made the announcement that everyone should take special care in protecting the wildlife here those foxes seldom showed themselves, but now that I’ve made that announcement, they are seen all the time in the most public places and don’t seem the least bit afraid of people any more. If you walk past them, they will even parade before you. They’ll greet you first! That’s why it is said,
All living beings have the Buddhanature;
All can become Buddhas.
They are here accompanying us in cultivating the Dharma. In every single dust mote here there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cultivating the Way. If you did not have great goodroots from past lives, you wouldn’t get to come and live here. So don’t take it for granted!
When the Nature is in Samadhi,
The Demons are Subdued,
And One is Peaceful Every Day
The “nature” refers to the self-nature inherent in us all. It also refers to the Buddhanature and the kernel of humanity within us all. This kernel undergoes a thousand changes and a myriad transformations. You can’t explain it with just one theory. The nature can also be called “humaneness” The quality of the nature of plant-life is found in what we call its “kernel.” The nature of people is that quality which makes us humane. We refer to this quality in plants as the kernel, because vegetable life has no conscious awareness.
However, people have conscious awareness, and so this quality in people is called “humaneness.” It has the function of continual change and transformation, being the force behind birth and change—the on-going process of life itself. It is that which animates, that which causes everything to undergo birth after death and death after birth. Birth and death is the most major change that human nature undergoes.
Therefore, the couplet begins, When the nature is in samadhi…Why haven’t people become Buddhas? It is just because their natures are not in samadhi. This means that the nature is turned by whatever state it encounters, rather than controlling the state. If you can turn the states that arise, then you have samadhi. If you can’t be in control, then you turn and flow in birth and death. Without samadhi, you are turned by states. This specifically refers to the third of the Three Coarse Marks mentioned in the Shurangama Sutra.
- The Mark of Karma
- The Mark of Manifestation
- The Mark of Turning
When the nature is not in samadhi, then the Mark of Karma gives rise to the Mark of Manifestation and that gives rise to the Mark of Turning. Because the nature is not in samadhi, the mountains, rivers, great earth, and all the things upon it become manifest. Forms and shapes manifest within the unfixed nature. If your nature is in samadhi, then forms are not forms and shapes are not shapes. Basically, it is just this way:
All dharmas are swept away.
All marks are left behind.
When the nature is not in samadhi, you turn in birth and death. When the nature is in samadhi, you enter Nirvana.
A lot can be said about this. If your nature is in samadhi, then the heavenly demons and those of externalist ways, as well as any ghosts, weird beings, demons, li,mei and wang liang are all tamed. The demons are subdued, and one is peacefulevery day. You are always happy.
Why are you so unhappy? It’s because your nature is not in samadhi, and so the demons are not subdued. The demons of birth and death are not subdued, the demons of afflictions are not subdued, the demons of karmic obstructions are not subdued, the heavenly demons and human demons are not subdued. If your nature were in samadhi, then all would be in a state of unmoving Suchness. You would be comfortable and at ease, ultimately clear and always bright. That is the meaning of the first line of the couplet. Let’s see how you match it.
IF YOU DON’T MAKE IT THROUGH THE GATE
Today is the beginning of the New Year, so I wish you all “Happy New Year!” Basically this is a worldly custom, and we people who study transcendental dharmas should not continue to have such habits. On the other hand, we are all still here together in this world, and if we separate ourselves too far from the world, then we also become distant from people. So I still will use the worldly custom and wish you a Happy new Year.
New Years is a happy time, and by the same token, we should, in our investigation of Dhyana, obtain the bliss of Dhyana as our food. We should take investigation of Ch’an as our food and drink. So people who truly investigate Ch’an don’t even remember if they have eaten or not. They don’t even remember putting on their clothes. They forget whether they have slept or not. When one investigates Ch’an to the ultimate point, one is not aware of heaven above or the earth below. In the midst of this, one is also unaware of people. One unites with the great void. There are no people, no self, no living beings, and no lifespan. Since that’s how it is, one does not fear the pain in one’s legs or the ache in one’s back.
One applies the skill of patience to all situations. With no self, no people, no living beings, and no lifespan, who hurts? Besides which, you have to pass through the gate of pain. Once you get through the gate, there won’t be any more pain. But if you don’t go through the gate, there will always be pain. Once you’re through that gate, not only is there no pain, there is an exceptional comfort. You are extremely blissful. You feel that there is no Dharma more wonderful than the investigation of Dhyana. It is then that you experience “taking the bliss of Dhyana as one’s food—and being filled with the happiness of Dharma.”
That is why in times past, cultivators would sit for days on end investigating Ch’an. They wouldn’t even get up from their seats. Is it the case that their legs didn’t hurt? No. Their legs hurt just the same. But they knew how to be patient. They could bear what other people could not. They could endure what others could not endure. They had a kind of vigorous strength that propelled them forward and kept them from ever retreating. This is the investment that those who investigate Ch’an must make in order to get enlightened; they have to have the strength of patience. With that kind of capital behind you, your business is bound to prosper. Only with vigor can you get through that gate. Once you’re through it, then,
The mountains are gone and the waters disappear.
There isn’t any road ahead.
That’s what it’s like before you get through the gate.
Beneath the dark willows and the bright flowers,
There is yet another village.
That’s the way it is when you’ve gotten through the gate. In cultivating,
If you can’t give up death,
you can’t exchange it for life.
If you don’t renounce what’s false,
you can’t accomplish what’s true.
If you can’t give up your suffering, you won’t attain bliss. If you can smash through the difficulties, then afterwards you’ll attain some other kind of state. Since that’s how it is, we don’t come here to investigate Ch’an just to pass the time. You have to get hold of some genuine determination and true and actual patience. In this world you can’t get something for nothing, no matter what it is. If you don’t apply any effort at all, you won’t be successful.
When you want to develop some worldly skill, you first have to go through a process of training and study before your ability is perfected. Studying transcendental dharmas is even more difficult than worldly skills. It requires even more effort, hard work and refinement before any success is possible. During a Ch’an session, the most important requisite is patience. This kind of patience is such that we are able to go forth and do things which we really don’t want to. We undergo suffering which is basically unendurable. It follows then that the things we want to do, we should even more want to do. The suffering we are able to endure, should even more so be endured by us. Pay attention to this point.
Before we went to Asia this time, I knew beforehand that there would be a lot of obstacles; there would be a lot of tests by demons. Why? I know that wherever I go, people get jealous of me, and try to obstruct me. But I have control of the situation, because the deviant cannot overcome the proper. The cow-ghosts and snake-spirits can try as they will with their jealousy and obstructiveness, but they cannot get at me. Why not? Because I deeply believe that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will protect my Dharma. Every place we went we encountered tremendous demonic obstacles, and yet no problems actually arose.
Also, the people who wanted to see me every day were people with sicknesses. There are reasons why people get sick. The first is that their karmic obstacles are deep and heavy. If it weren’t for karmic obstacles, they wouldn’t get such weird diseases and strange illnesses. Most of the people who came to see me were afflicted with such weird problems. People who get these kinds of illness are those who in their past lives tried to get off easy. They always looked for a bargain, a way to come out ahead. They never took a loss, but always looked out for themselves at every point. They were selfish and sought for self-benefit. So their karmic obstacles kept getting heavier and heavier until they ended up with strange diseases.
Another reason for their sicknesses is that for the most part, they were people who slandered the Triple Jewel. They slandered the Great Vehicle Sutras and so they fell into the hells. When they finally get out of the hells they become animals—birds or beasts.
After they finish being animals, they have a lot of deficiencies. They may be blind or deaf, or mute, or crippled, or mentally retarded. They totally lack wisdom and have to spend their entire life being unable to understand anything at all. People like this created evil karma in the past and so they now undergo these kinds of retributions. Being in the midst of such retributions, they should bring forth a tremendous sense of shame and do all kinds of meritorious and virtuous deeds. That would be the correct thing for them to do.
But these people who came to see me—who sought me out to cure their illnesses—still were hoping for a bargain. They wanted a free cure. Of course no one said anything about money to them, and no one charged them a fee, so after the healing was done, the most generous among them offered red envelopes. What would you guess was in them? Some had a dollar, some two, the most was four dollars or five—and this was in Malaysian and Singapore money. So there they were, still thinking to get a bargain at the expense of a left-home person.
It apparently never occurred to them how much they would have to pay in fees if they wanted to be cured and went to a regular doctor. And so, since they had come to be healed by a Dharma Master, they should at least have offered the same amount of money as the doctor’s fees would have been. They couldn’t bear to part with that much money and yet they expected to be cured. With karmic retributions like they were undergoing, they still were out to get a bargain.
Why do I bother to tell you this? Because I hope that all of you will be very careful not to create evil karma. Don’t slander the Triple Jewel from the inside. Don’t remain within Buddhism and slander the Great Vehicle Sutras. Don’t harbor fox-like doubts and be continually skeptical. By doing so you will create all kinds of karmic offenses, and in the future will fall so far that I will have no way to help you.
When practicing the Dharma of Ch’an you have to actually go forth and do it. You have to bow your head and shoulder the load. Progress with vigor and never retreat. The first requisite is to have patience. You have to bear what you cannot bear, endure what others cannot endure. When you sit in Ch’an your legs will hurt and your back will ache. It’s something that’s basically impossible to bear, but it’s at that point that you must go ahead and bear it. If you want to become enlightened, and yet you are without patience, it will be impossible for you to do so. Patience includes enduring hunger and thirst, heat and cold, as well as pain. In order to have patience you first must break through your view of self.
Contemplating the mind within,
you find there is no mind.
Contemplating external objects,
you find they too have disappeared.
Contemplating afar the material world,
You find all these things have disappeared as well.
When inside there is no body and mind, and outside there is no world, you are experiencing a kind of emptiness. But you also cannot become attached to that emptiness. As long as you hold on to emptiness, you still have an attachment. You have to dispense with emptiness as well. When there is no emptiness either, then you unite with the Dharma Realm. You become no different from emptiness itself. When you reach the ultimate understanding of the state of emptiness, you gain samadhi. In samadhi, you are not muddled or confused. You are clear and aware. You are in a state of unmoving suchness, and are always lucid and clear. It’s not that you sit in meditation and are greedy for some state or other. Don’t hope for “states.” As the VAJRA SUTRA says,
Everything that has an appearance is empty and false. If you see all appearances as no appearances, then you see the Thus Come One.” So people who investigate Ch’an cannot get attached to any state that might occur. Don’t be greedy for spiritual penetrations, because if you do, you will walk into the fire and enter a demonic state. Don’t be greedy for the flavor of Ch’an either. If you get interested in the flavor of Ch’an and are greedy for it, then you will wind up in the side doors and on the wrong forks of the road—the various heterodox cults and sects.
Why do beings end up as heavenly demons and those of externalist ways? It is because they are greedy. They are greedy to be “number one,” greedy for phoney reputation, greedy for false acclaim, greedy for vain and empty states. So they cultivate, but because of this greed, they end up as part of the retinue of a demon king. Do these people want to become demons? Basically, no, they don’t. But their deviant knowledge and deviant views—their improper views of things—lead them in that direction. That is why people who investigate Ch’an must not be attached to anything or be greedy for anything. So we say,
When the Buddhas come,
slice through them.
When the demons come,
cut them down.
Don’t be greedy for petty states and think that you’ve thereby obtained some skill. During the period of the session, the best is to forget about others and have no self. Forget about time and space as well.
Sweep away all dharmas;
Separate from all appearances.
Don’t be attached to anything at all. If you can be this way, you can reach the Ground of Happiness of Being Apart from Production—the state of the First Dhyana. The First Dhyana represents the breakthrough of living beings’ attachments and the attainment of dhyana bliss as food, so that one is filled with the happiness of Dharma. This is the function derived. In the First Dhyana, one’s pulse stops but this doesn’t mean one is dead. This brings a particular happiness which is unknown to those in the world.
The Second Dhyana is called the Ground of the Happiness of Giving Rise to Samadhi. In this dhyana one enters samadhi and is extremely happy. In the second dhyana, one’s breath stops. There is no detectible breathing in and out, but at that time an inner breath takes over.
The Third Dhyana is the Ground of the Wonderful Joy of Separating from Happiness. One renounces the dhyana bliss as food and the happiness of Dharma that occurs in initial samadhi. One goes beyond that kind of happiness and reaches a sense of wonderful joy. It is something one has never known before, and is inexpressible in its subtlety, and is inconceivable.
At the level of the Third Dhyana, thoughts also stop. There is no active thought process—not a single thought arises.
When not a single thought arises,
The entire substance manifests.
When the six sense organs suddenly move,
There is a covering of clouds.
At the point when not even a single thought arises, the entire substance and great function are in evidence. But once your six sense organs suddenly move, then you are obscured. It just takes a slight movement by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind to cause this to happen. Then one is covered over by the clouds of the five skandhas.
The Fourth Dhyana is called the Pure Ground of Renouncing Thought. In the third dhyana thoughts were stopped—held at bay—but they still had not been renounced altogether. In the heavens of the Fourth Dhyana, not only are thoughts stopped, they are done away with completely. There basically are no more thoughts and considerations. This state is extremely pure, subtlely wonderful, and particularly blissful.
However, reaching the fourth dhyana is simply the most initial expedient state of the investigation fo Ch’an. Having reached this state is of no use at all in itself. It is not certification to sagehood. You shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that reaching these four levels makes you somehow very special. It’s of absolutely no use in and of itself. You’ve only experience a bit of the flavor of Ch’an. Don’t forget the ignorant Bhikshu who mistook the fourth dhyana for the fourth fruition of Arhatship. He later made a gross false claim, and as a result, fell into hell.
People who cultivate the Way must take particular care not to become arrogant. Don’t consider yourself higher than everyone. Don’t think that your cultivation is much better than everyone elses. As soon as you start thinking like that, it’s for sure a crazy demon has taken possession of you. You’ve gone insane. When that happens, you won’t be able to progress with developing your skill.
If you want to genuinely understand the principle of sitting Ch’an, investigate the Fifty Skandha Demon-States described in the SHURANGAMA SUTRA, (Volume VIII, IIIBT, BTTS, 1983). If you make yourself familiar with these fifty states, you can avoid falling into the pits and developing deviant views. You won’t walk into the fire and enter a demonic state. But if you don’t even recognize these states and just make wild guesses about what’s happening to you, thinking yourself to be “out-of-sight,” then you are making a big mistake.
Ch’an is defined as “stilling one’s considerations.” It is also known as “cultivation pertaining to thought.” “Stilling one’s considerations” means constantly wiping clean so that no dust can alight. “Cultivation pertaining to thought” means bringing up your Ch’an topic—your hua t’ou. It means always keeping your mind on what you’re doing, and never ever forgetting your topic. Day and night you stick with it. You apply your effort to yourself. You don’t seek anything external. It’s not that you listen for sounds and voices which send you messages. Sounds and voices like that are external states. They do not arise from your own self-nature. If you are turned by external states, it’s very easy to go down the wrong road.
The Dharma of stilling considerations and cultivating thought is a skill that’s developed invisibly, imperceptibly, and unceasingly. Developing this skill can be likened to a mother hen sitting on her brood of eggs. When the hen is incubating her eggs, she never leaves them. It is the warmth of her body that will hatch the eggs. When she has sat there long enough, the little chicks will hatch. Investigating one’s hua t’ou is the same technique. When the old mother hen is sitting, she gets very upset if she has to leave the nest at all. So, when she eats, she does it in a rush and races right back to her eggs. When she goes to relieve nature, it’s the same way—she hurries right back to the nest. Her whole attention is centered on hatching those eggs. Cultivators must also have this type of sincerity.
Investigating Ch’an is also like a dragon guarding its pearl. The pearl is the dragon’s most valuable possession. A dragon just loves its pearl, and takes care of it in the same way a hen sits on her nest. He’s always got his mind on that pearl and in this way, makes it shinier and shinier, and more and more useful.
Investigating Ch’an is also like a cat stalking a mouse. The old cat sits outside the mousehole and waits. The moment the mouse scats out the hole, the cat is ready to pounce. The Dharma of Ch’an is the same way. You have to be patient and enduring, you have to be firm and constant. You must be firm, sincere, and constant. When you investigate Ch’an don’t think about what’s in it for you. If you spend your time on that idea, you’re just having false thinking, and false thoughts don’t bring about any genuine ability.
That is why people who investigate Ch’an must have patience. This means real patience that gets you through when things are unbearable. If you can be patient, in the future you will certainly accomplish some skill. But if you don’t have patience, and can’t take suffering, and won’t undergo toil so that when you meet with something tough, you give in, then you won’t have any success.
Investigating “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” is a Vajra Jeweled Sword. If you drill in with the word “Who?” investigating unceasingly “Who is mindful of the Buddha,” then after awhile you’ll have Ch’an. It’s said,
When you sit for a long time, you have Ch’an.
When you dwell somewhere for a long time,
you set up conditions.
After you sit for a period of time you will develop Ch’an and your skill will come forth. When that happens you will experience a sense of bliss. At that point, your temper will diminish, your moral character will improve, and your afflictions will decrease. You will understand principle, and have wisdom. All this will come about because of your single minded intent in developing your skill. You will be able to totally clean up your greed, hatred, and stupidity. All that remains will be precepts, samadhi, and wisdom. Ch’an comes from patience. It is gotten in exchange for undergoing suffering. It’s not that when you sit to the point that your legs hurt, you turn back and retreat, or that you admit defeat when you encounter a bit of difficulty. If you’re like that there will never be a response. When you sit to the ultimate point, you attain light. It’s said,
When the stillness is ultimate,
The light is penetrating.
When you become ultimately still, the light of your wisdom shines forth. At that point you have no thoughts of arrogance or pride. You are not overbearing, jealous or obstructive of others. You see that all living beings in the entire world have the Buddha-nature, and can become Buddhas. You don’t obstruct other people in their cultivation. Your wisdom is in evidence at all times. Your stupidity is continually diminished.
When we cultivate here in the Ch’an hall, we are also holding the precepts, cultivating samadhi, and developing wisdom. These three non-outflow studies are perfected in the Ch’an hall. In the Ch’an hall we don’t talk, so we don’t use harsh speech, loose speech nor do we lie or gossip. We shut our mouths, and so there is no way to commit the four evils of the mouth. When in your mind there is no greed, hatred, or stupidity, then the three evils of the mind are also gone. In the Ch’an hall you won’t kill, steal, or commit acts of lust, lie, or take intoxicants, so the five precepts are also held perfectly.
In the Ch’an hall you should cultivate while standing, sitting, walking, and lying down. You practice samadhi all the time. When your samadhi power comes into being, your wisdom power will also appear. So there is samadhi “when the stillness is ultimate,” and there is wisdom when “the light is penetrating.” We must cultivate to the point that we have wisdom. Don’t get turned by the states of demons. Don’t take a thief to be your own son. It’s really no good to cultivate on the one hand, and get greedy on the other. You must free yourself of greed, as well as hatred and stupidity. That is why we cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, and try to become replete with these three non-outflow studies.
This time when we went to Malaysia, we encountered lots of people with weird illnesses. Prior to this I honestly never paid attention, so it never occurred to me that certain people who pass themselves off as Lamas also use ku poisoning to hex people. This time in Malaysia we encountered a lot of people who were victims of these phoney Lamas, who wanted to control their lay disciples by laying hexes on them. They use voodoo on their Dharma protectors so that their own disciples get karmic-obstacle sicknesses. In this way the phoney Lamas control these good men and faithful women. This kind of conduct is atrocious!
I knew that a certain fake Lama in Canada was a very unprincipled person, but it never occurred to me that Asia was also full of phoney Lamas who manipulate people with their deviant tricks. Now I think that these kinds of Lamas are not limited to Asia, but that there are also many of them in America as well. So, in America, there are also many weird illnesses to be found.
One young woman came here to study and before, she had studied under a phoney Lama in America. She kept going insane and could not control herself. I believe now that she also had been hexed to some extent by a deviant trick of that Lama. But as yet, the people in this world still haven’t awakened and figured this out. They get confused and become enamored with the “Secret school,” thinking that because it’s “secret,” there must be some wonderful Dharma which will quickly bring them benefit. But this a mistaken view. Basically I don’t have time to discuss such questions, but if I don’t say something, it’s to be feared that people will wind up in a situation of the blind leading the blind and will end up going down a bad path. The phoney Lamas apply their hexes to people with money. They don’t bother with those who are not wealthy. So anyone who is wealthy should exercise extra precautions.
Our Ch’an session has carried us right into the new year. So today I will speak a New Year’s verse for you
Now we come to 1982.
Those of the ten directions come
together to investigate Ch’an.
Return the light and illumine within,
contemplate you own being.
At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas,
Sages and worthies are selected.
This is 1982 and there are people here from the ten directions who have come together to investigate Ch’an. Each of you should return the light and shine it within to see if you are self-present or not. If you’re “present,” that means you are applying your skill. If you’re “not present,” it means you are here, but are having false thinking that takes you away from here.
In the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, saints and sages are chosen. People who truly cultivate the Way are selected. People who come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, are those with great, good roots. If you didn’t have those good roots, then even if you wanted to come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, it wouldn’t be easy for you to actually get here. Or you’d get here and be unable to take it, so you’d run away. The only Way place in the world right now where people work so hard is the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. These people don’t fear suffering, because they want to obtain some genuine wisdom. Anyone who comes to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has to maintain proper knowledge and proper views.
When the nature is in samadhi,
and the demons are subdued,
everywhere is blissful.
When false thoughts do not arise,
everywhere is peaceful.
When people are unhappy with what’s going on around them, and with their environment in general, it’s because their nature doesn’t have any samadhi. Without samadhi, they seek to the east, seek to the west, seek to the north and south—always seeking outside. These are the tricks that greed plays. If we weren’t greedy we wouldn’t seek for anything. When we don’t seek for anything, our natures are calm and our temperament is compliant. We are happy every day.
But if we are never satisfied, getting upset about his and not being content with that, so that our false thoughts run away with us, and we never feel like we’ve got enough, we are in perpetual suffering and distress. If your nature is in samadhi you can subdue any demon, and every day is blissful for you. This kind of bliss is not external. It does not come from something outside yourself. It arises from within. If you don’t give rise to false thoughts, then wherever you go you will find peace.
If we look at Buddhism in the West, it can be seen that the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is the most proper and comprehensive Bodhimanda to be found. Here, we work hardest at developing our skill and cultivating the Way. So the people within the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas must have virtuous conduct. People without virtuous conduct cannot remain here.
Buddha sessions and Ch’an sessions are like big tests. During those periods we work non-stop without rest, applying effort to develop our skill. Even though the majorities are that way, there are still those who are lazy and steal off for some rest. They like to take it easy. Lazy people are only cheating themselves. They don’t want to get enlightened, they don’t want to have any accomplishment. They think they’ve got a good deal, being lazy, and taking it easy. Actually, they are taking a great loss. It’s like going to a mountain of jewels, and coming back empty-handed. You don’t get anything at all from it.
People who work at their skill have to be patient and endure suffering all the time. They have to work hard and endure the toil. They don’t look for easy ways out. People who try to get off cheap in their cultivation can be said to be thieves among the virtuous. They cause others to feel very pained at heart. If everyone in the Bodhimanda were like these sorts of people, then there would be no way to make Buddhism grow.
We people participating in this session have been lazy in the past throughout limitless kalpas, and that is why we still haven’t accomplished our deeds in the Way. And to this very day we still haven’t changed these bad habits. We haven’t gotten rid ofthis fault. At this rate, how long do you think we’ll have to wait before we can end birth and death? So we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by our own lazy habits. We’re in such a good Way place where it’s so convenient to cultivate, and if we still don’t make the effort and seek the Dharma-door of ending birth and death, then I ask you, how long do you intend to wait?
People who are developing their skill hold the Vajra Jeweled Sword at all times. That’s our wisdom sword. The wisdom sword in turn, is just enlightenment. In order to become enlightened, you have to use the skill of contemplating and illuminating. We watch that thought of investigating Ch’an to be sure that it’s functioning at all times. If we find that we are having false thoughts, then we should put those thoughts away. That’s what’s meant by,
When the thought arises, awaken to it.
When you awaken to it, it goes away.
Everybody has false thinking. To be without false thinking is to have your genuine wisdom manifest. Because we have been creating different kinds of karma throughout limitless aeons, the false thoughts which each of us have are accordingly different. What brings about false thinking? It comes from karma made throughout limitless kalpas. We start out like the ocean when it’s calm, when there is no appearance of agitation on its surface. As soon as the false thoughts come upon us, however, it’s just like waves arising on the sea. The waves are caused by the wind, so the first thing we must do is quiet the winds of our karma. In that way, we can decrease our false thinking.
How do we quiet the winds of karma? By not creating any further offenses.
Don’t do any evil.
Offer up all good conduct.
By not doing any evil, you can get rid of the waves of false thinking. By offering up all good conduct, your wisdom will manifest. When our wisdom manifests, we are able to break through all ignorance and false thinking. We can change our habits and get rid of our faults. What is cultivating about? Initially, it is changing our habits and faults. But if you don’t even do that initial work of changing habits and faults, you will never be able to have a response with the Way. If you change your habits and faults you can unite with the Way, unite with Truth, and unite with enlightenment. So, as you cultivate, pay particular attention to changing your faults and stop your bad habits.
On what should we first focus our attention? First, take a look at the questions of food, clothing, and shelter. When we wear clothes are we greedy for pretty ones? Do we like to look nice, and wear beautiful things? If so, it means we still have that habit. When we eat are we always hoping for nourishing things? Do we always like to eat things that taste good? In other words, are we greedy for flavors? If so, that means we still haven’t gotten rid of that habit either.
Our aim is to not enter into forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, and dharmas. As to the place where we live and sleep, some people can’t stand it if they have to go a day without sleep. But people who cultivate the Way learn to get along whether they sleep or not. They aren’t attached to sleep. If you don’t place a lot of importance on it, you will be able to change that habit as well. Someone who can really change their habits regarding food, clothing, and shelter, is truly a “person of the Way with no mind” People in the Ch’an hall are all supposed to be “people of the Way with no minds,” so if you keep on using your mind all the time, then you’re making a mistake.
In the SUTRA OF FORTY-TWO SECTIONS there is a passage which says,
GIVING FOOD TO A HUNDRED BAD PEOPLE DOES NOT EQUAL
GIVING FOOD TO A SINGLE GOOD PERSON. GIVING FOOD TO A
THOUSAND GOOD PEOPLE DOES NOT EQUAL GIVING FOOD TO ONE
PERSON WHO HOLDS THE FIVE PRECEPTS. GIVING FOOD TO TEN
THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO HOLD THE FIVE PRECEPTS DOES NOT
EQUAL GIVING FOOD TO A SINGLE FIRST STAGE ARHAT.
GIVING FOOD TO A MILLION FIRST STAGE ARHATS DOES NOT EQUAL
GIVING FOOD TO A SINGLE SECOND STAGE ARHAT. GIVING FOOD
TO TEN MILLION SECOND STAGE ARHATS DOES NOT EQUAL GIVING
FOOD TO ONE THIRD STAGE ARHAT. GIVING FOOD TO A HUNDRED
MILLION THIRD STAGE ARHAT. GIVING FOOD TO A HUNDRED
MILLION THIRD STAGE ARHATS DOES NOT EQUAL GIVING FOOD TO
A SINGLE FOURTH STAGE ARHAT.
GIVING FOOD TO TEN BILLION—-ARHATS…DOES NOT EQUAL GIVING FOOD TO A SINGLE ONE WHO IS WITHOUT THOUGHTS, WITHOUT DWELLING, WITHOUT CULTIVATION, AND WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHMENT.
That’s also referring to a “person of the Way with no mind.” So we who are in the Ch’an hall certainly should press forward and apply our efforts to cultivation. Don’t let the time go by in vain.
In this country it is not at all easy to propagate the Buddhadharma. It’s like growing a Lotus flower in the fire. It’s as difficult as scaling a high mountain. But although that’s the way it is, I still use all the patience I have and try to break ground in this country for a new Buddhist continent. I want to plant the seeds of the Buddhadharma in this country.
When I was young, prior to thirty years old, no one knew who I was. Wherever I went no one paid any attention to me. Although a lot of people knew about my cultivation of filiality beside my mother’s grave, that was when I was a layperson. But after I left the home-life, no one connected that person with me. Wherever I went I kept my light to myself, besides which, I really didn’t have any light to speak of. I wasn’t like some young people of today who want to get famous and make a name for themselves when they aren’t even out of the cradle yet. I was absolutely the opposite.
In my thirties I went to Hong Kong, made myself a little hut and sat there applying my effort at cultivation. As it is said,
I feel fortunate enough to stay alive
during such times of distress,
And have no wish to seek fame or wealth
among the affluent.
I lived the life of a hermit. After being a recluse in Hong Kong for more than ten years, I came to America. For the first six years I was here, no one knew about me. It’s only been since 1968 that gradually more and more people have come. Even to this day when we went to Asia, and so many people came and listened, it’s certainly not because I lecture well, but rather because I speak the truth. I don’t say phoney things. In everything I do, I do it truly and actually. I use straight words and straight actions. I don’t use any tricks or devices in doing anything.
I can say what I want to say anywhere and at any time. I am not afraid of offending people. If I don’t want to say something, I won’t say it anywhere or at any time. I make a concerted effort to never tell a lie, or cheat anyone else. So we had such a big response in Asia. It could also be that because I live in America now, and was returning for a visit only, that a lot of people were interested.
I learned a lot of things in Asia this time. Before, I had a very favorable impression of Lamas. I thought they were also cultivators, I never would have guessed that there are many people who pretend to be Lamas, and who are capable of hexing people—poisoning them. And now many other so called “Buddhist disciples” also use this technique to confuse people and cause them to lose their common sense. I think this is very, very strange. I’m really taken a-back! People enter into the study of secret dharmas hoping for some advantage, and who would have guessed that they’d end up getting harmed instead.
People enter the study of the Buddhadharma expecting it to be proper knowledge and proper views. Who would have guessed that they’d end up falling into a pit of deviant views. They become confused by these deviant people. This is evidence that the Dharma-ending Age is upon us. Everywhere you turn there are manifestations of the Dharma’s demise. Any Buddhist disciple who looks upon this state of affairs finds it painful indeed! So, in the future we must discriminate carefully about so called Lamas, and “Buddhist disciples” and not just automatically suppose that they have virtue in the Way or Dharma magic. Keep your distance and be very careful.
If we are careful on the cause-ground not to plant bad causes, then in the future we will not have to reap bad results. We should plant pure causes. At all times we should singlemindedly regard the Way and not let ourselves give rise to defiled thoughts. At all times we should accord with the rules. We shouldn’t always be making trouble and trying to stir things up. If you don’t follow the rules while on the cause-ground, in the future when you have to undergo the retribution, it will be full of limitless pain and suffering. You will reap a bitter fruit.
Don’t let the things I’m telling you right now just go in one ear and out the other. Some people have followed me for over ten years and yet they are still muddled and confused. They don’t understand the least bit about cause and effect. They are not afraid of cause and effect. This is very dangerous, to be this way. Those who cultivate the Way must be especially careful. Don’t make mistakes in cause and effect.
If you’re off by a bit in the beginning, you’ll be off by thousands of miles in the end. Don’t be a left-home person on the one hand and yet always be thinking of returning to laylife on the other. On the one hand you think you want to cultivate the Way, but on the other, you cannot renounce the pleasure of the world. This will lead to a bitter future. You have to take stock of what you are doing. You can’t spend day in and day out having unclean false thoughts. If you fail to believe what I’m saying right now, in the future when you regret it, it will be too late!
People in the world gravitate to their own kind.
It’s said,
The good assemble together,
The bad form gangs,
People seek out their own kind.
It’s also said,
People form gangs;
Creatures are divided into species.
People who advocate virtue will not do things which are lacking in virtue. People who pay no regard to virtue will not be able to do virtuous things. So it is said,
Virtue is the root,
Wealth is the branch-tip.
So, people of like types get together in this world. Students get together with students and form close relationships. Farmers have close ties with other farmers. Laborers get together with laborers and make friends. Businessmen make their acquaintances among other businessmen. Government officials make friends with other government officials. That’s the way things go among people. And among creatures? Horses end up with other horses; cows get together in herds; sheep form flocks; dogs run in packs. But the human race is the most efficacious of all the species. People’s wisdom is loftier than any of the animal species. Why is that? It’s because animals have to pass through King Yama’s chemical factory. When that happens their efficacious spirit gets divided. Since their efficacious nature is butchered and maimed, their wisdom decreases significantly.
What kind of division takes place? Let’s start with a person. If that person has to become an animal, it’s not the case that he or she becomes just one animal. One person might end up as ten or even twenty different animals. There’s nothing fixed about it. One criterion that’s considered is how much wisdom that person has.
The more knowledge he is endowed with, the more divisions are possible. But of course the animals that person ends up becoming are not wise at all, because they each possess only a little of that person’s efficacious spirit. People are whole and infinitely capable, whereas other animals are only endowed with partial ability. They may be capable in some ways, but they are deficient in others. They are laden with ignorance. Their wisdom has decreased, but their ignorance is just as heavy. They are obstinate and quick to fight.
Just take chickens for example. When you get two roosters together, they square off, throw back their heads, dip their heads and then they’re off and sparring. They don’t have anything to fight with but their beaks and claws, but they still manage to have a go at it. All you have to do is look at them to know that when they were people—that part of them that was human—they liked to fight. They were always competing with others and so when they become animals they still retain this quarrelsomeness.
Dogs are stingy. So when they are eating if any other dog comes near and tries to get a bite, a fight will break out for sure. Most other animals are the same way. They will fight over food. This just proves that when they were people they were too selfish. So, when they become animals they continue to be just as selfish. There’s nothing else they are capable of getting but food, and so they display their selfishness in regard to food. If we people want to learn to be like the worthies and sages, if we hope to be clear-minded people, the first thing we must learn is to not be selfish or seek for self-benefit. Thieves are out to benefit themselves, and in the process end up harming other people.
We should be free of seeking for things. It’s said that when one reaches the place of not seeking then one’s character is lofty. Don’t seek for anything! Just fulfill your responsibilities as if nothing were going on. If you are also not greedy, then the world will be free of wars. The whole reason there are wars in this world is because people’s greed is too big; they have insatiable greed. When people don’t get what they’re greedy for, they start fighting. So we don’t want to be greedy nor fight with anyone. If you can live like that, you will know genuine bliss. You will gain true and actual understanding. But if you don’t understand this, then you’ll just go along with the crowd, seeking name and profit just like everyone else.
In investigating Ch’an, the first requisite is not to fight. Don’t fight to be number one, thinking, “Oh, my skill is ‘out-of-sight!’ I’m the best cultivator in America!” As soon as you have a thought like that, you wipe out any skill you might have had going. That’s because you’re indulging in arrogance and self-satisfaction. Anyone who is that arrogant is in fact a most stupid person. Such an attitude is not permissible within Buddhism. In Buddhism, we learn to yield and not contend.
Don’t investigate Ch’an only to come up with haughty and overweening pride, thinking yourself pretty special. If you have that kind of thinking you’ll end up special all right—perhaps you’ll end up growing two horns out of your head, because you’ve ended up being a bull. That’s how bulls get to be bulls, you know; they thought they were something special. So be careful, don’t have it end up that you go from being a person to being an animal.
Within Buddhism, it is necessary to become a true, good, and beautiful person. To be “true” means not to see other people’s faults. True cultivators always look after themselves in every move they make. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, they never stray from the present moment. Don’t be like a mirror which is always reflecting other people, but cannot reflect itself. That’s because its reflections are all of external things. It cannot turn the light around and shine on itself. People who investigate Ch’an must shine the light within. Remember, it’s the third line of the Ch’an verse,
Return the light and illumine within,
contemplate your own being.
In investigating Ch’an we turn the light back and illumine within. We do not seek outside. Contemplate your own being. Are you in the ‘here and now’ or not? If you’re here, you’re not false thinking. If you’re not here, it is because you’re having false thinking. False thinking is not a state of comfort and ease. It’s very simple. So, are you really investigating Ch’an here? Investigating Ch’an is just turning the light back to illumine within. If you don’t have false thinking, then you are contemplating with comfort and ease. Whoever is able to return the light and illumine within will be selected as a worthy or a sage. Such a person will enter the flow of sagehood. But it takes real skill, it’s not just something you talk about. If you have real skill you will have some accomplishment. Without real skill, your vain talk is of no use.
All living beings have the Buddha
nature and can become Buddhas.
But because of false thoughts and
attachments they can’t certify to it.
We all have the Buddha-nature and we all can become Buddhas. But we turn our backs on enlightenment and mix with the dust. So we can’t go home. Therefore we drift and flow within the Saha world of birth and death. We get born, we die and are reborn again. Doing good deeds in this life will bring wealth and honor in the next. If we do bad deeds in this life, the next one will find us poor and lowly. Being a person in this world is much like doing business. Those who know how to do business will make money, while others will take a loss.
What is meant by knowing how to do business? If one knows how to do good, create merit and establish virtue, then one will “make money.” But if one exclusively creates offenses, doing all sorts of evil things, and making all sorts of mistakes, then one will lose one’s capital. This kind of transaction has been going on throughout measureless kalpas. Sometimes we make money, sometimes we lose it. After making a bit of money we feel satisfied and don’t want to work hard. And then we end up losing our money. But once we lose money, if we are very careful about getting our act together again, eventually we will make some more money. Yet when things are good, we don’t want to cultivate. As it’s said,
Those with wealth or in positions of honor
Don’t want to cultivate the Way.
It’s only when things are bad and difficult that people want to cultivate. When one is affluent, one doesn’t wish to cultivate. So sometimes we lose money and sometimes we make a profit. But all of this is just petty business dealings, and we never confront the big issue of birth and death—how to end the long flow of birth and death, how to calm the torrent of the revolving wheel.
Those who come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to sit in meditation come for just this. To cut off the flow of birth and death, and to stop the cycle of the revolving wheel. You should really recognize that this world isn’t ‘fun and games.’ It’s not a very peaceful place. There’s danger at all times, and particularly now in the Nuclear Age. Once nuclear bombs are set off, the lives and wealth of people will be all gone. Why do such things manifest? It’s just to teach us to see through it and put it down. Then we will be at ease and attain self-mastery.
All those who investigate Ch’an wish to see through it. However, the most pathetic and lamentable thing is that people can’t see through it. And because they can’t see through it, they can’t put it down; they still want to run around on the revolving wheel. They’ve forgotten the suffering of birth and death and feel that cultivating the Way doesn’t have much meaning. So those who have left the home life want to return to lay life, and those who are at home are thinking of getting married. Day and night they are having this type of false thinking.
In investigating Ch’an this is what they are investigating, or else they are just lazy and goofing off, not wanting to apply any effort. However, what they don’t realize is that they aren’t cheating others; they are just cheating themselves. They don’t have any self-respect. They themselves are headed for a fall. This is such a good Way place, yet they don’t want to use effort to cultivate well. There are such favorable circumstances here, and yet they don’t know how to cherish their own divine nature—the self-nature.
This Ch’an session has been going on for quite a few days now, and if anyone has had any special states or experiences they can bring them up and give a report to everyone. But be true about it; tell it like it is, and don’t lie.
What is Ch’an Meditation? How Do I Do It?
Of those of you who have come here today, some have already heard the principles of sitting in Ch’an meditation discussed and have practiced meditation, and some of you are just beginners. Therefore, I will begin by explaining the prerequisites for investigating Ch’an for those who have never heard them before.
Three Requisites For Sitting in Ch’an
PATIENCE: What must you be patient with? You must learn to bear the pain in your back and the pain in your legs. When you first begin to sit in Ch’an meditation, you will experience pain in your back and legs because you are unaccustomed to sitting that way. In the beginning this pain may be hard to bear, so you have to be patient.
NO GREED: Those who cultivate the investigation of Ch’an should not hope for enlightenment. If you have the thought of hoping for enlightenment, then even if you were meant to get enlightened, that single thought will cover your enlightenment over and prevent it from happening.
Further, you should not, because of greed, seek speed in your practice. It’s not that you can sit today and get enlightened tomorrow. So many of today’s young people are turned upside down, and although they want to investigate Ch’an and study the Buddhadharma, they take speed, and other dope which they say is a means of bringing them enlightenment fast. This is a grave mistake. Not only will such people not get enlightened, the more they study in this way, the more crazy, depraved and insane they become. Their heads become totally unclear because they are poisoned by the dope they take. All this happens because of greed. Those who resort to hard drugs like opium, end up totally wasting their lives. That kind of conduct is deplorable.
Yet it is sad that some university professors are so lacking in good sense and moral guidelines that they actually encourage young people to take dope, and indulge in wanton emotional love. They profess this to be freedom. They advocate sexual freedom for the young. This is another grave mistake. Such ignorant council is harming young people, and even killing them, and yet they still don’t realize it, and go on thinking, “Oh, this professor is really right.” The young become infected with this “cancer” and cannot see clearly any longer. So they take dope to “get enlightened.”
If that were really the means of enlightenment, then what about Shakyamuni Buddha? He never took any dope. He stayed in the Ice Mountains for six years cultivating asceticism and then sat beneath the Bodhi tree until one night he saw a star and awakened to the Way. If taking dope is a requisite for enlightenment, then it follows that Shakyamuni Buddha shouldn’t have gotten enlightened. Smart people should take care to distinguish right from wrong, and not just follow along with the crowd. Don’t listen to professors who tell you that you can take dope and become enlightened. This current trend of taking dope is ruining young people, and it is extremely painful to witness.
However, those of you who have gathered here today have good roots, and have come to study the genuine principles of cultivation. Therefore, I stress to you: don’t try to get off cheap. Don’t try to do it fast. Don’t think that without putting out any effort you can cash in on welfare. There is nothing of value obtained without doing some work for it.
PERSEVERENCE: You must be constant in your practice of Ch’an. This is the third requisite. The best is to sit in full-lotus. This posture is achieved by placing your left ankle on your right thigh, and then lifting your right ankle onto your left thigh. This posture can subdue demons and can quiet the mind. From it wisdom comes forth. It is another fundamental requisite of meditation. It is your foundation in sitting Ch’an. It is called the Lotus Posture and the Vajra Posture. You should train yourself to sit that way. Some of you protest,
“My legs are stiff and I can’t sit that way.”
Well, then try “half” lotus, which is putting your left ankle on your right thigh.
“But I can’t even do that!” some may say.
Well, then you’ll just have to sit in a cross-legged position—in whatever way is possible for you. But you should be working to get into half-lotus and eventually into full-lotus. Full-lotus is the foundation of sitting in meditation. When you achieve it, then you can give rise to samadhi and from samadhi comes wisdom. Since it is fundamental, you should work to master it. If you try to build a house on the bare ground, the first big rain that comes along will wash it away. The first big wind that blows up will dismantle it. The same is true for meditationwithout a foundation. Full-lotus is the foundation of Buddhahood. If you want to become a Buddha, first master full-lotus.
Once your legs are in full-lotus, you should hold your body erect. Sit up straight and do not lean forward or backward, do not incline to the left or right. Keep your spine absolutely straight. Curl your tongue back against the roof of your mouth. Then if you secrete saliva, you can swallow it into your stomach. Therefore, people who cultivate Ch’an should not smoke cigarettes or dope, because they turn your saliva bitter. By curling the tongue back against the roof of your mouth, you unite the two meridians of ren and du. Originally they are not hooked up, but if you can hook them up, then you can turn the Dharma Wheel. Once you can turn the Dharma Wheel, you can develop samadhi power, and wisdom power.
Your eyes are not necessarily open, and not necessarily closed. If you leave your eyes wide open while meditating, it is very easy to have false thinking about what you see. If you completely close your eyes while sitting, it is very easy to fall asleep. So keeping your eyes half open, and half closed is a good way to counteract both problems. That way you will be inclined to have less false thinking, and will not be as likely to fall asleep.
As to your mind—don’t think of anything. Don’t have any false thoughts. Don’t think about what state you are experiencing or hope to experience, and don’t think about how you want to get enlightened. The affairs of this world are not that simple. A thief who steals others’ money ends up with wealth that is not his own. If you work and earn money then the wealth you accumulate is your own. The same principle applies to Ch’an. Don’t be greedy for speed, hoping to become enlightened fast. Don’t be greedy to get a bargain. If in your cultivation you are greedy for small benefits, then you will never get the big ones.
As to experiencing states—at the level you are, any “state” you experience is simply a result of your false thinking. So don’t get turned by them, and think something special is happening to you.
Ch’an is called a Dharma-door that leads upwards. But one’s practice must be done with an utterly true mind. There are no easy roads to enlightenment. No tricks will work; no drugs will activate it. You have to actually and truly practice and go through the process until eventually you obtain a response with the Way and gain a little skill. I cannot predict what that skill will be for each of you. I can’t tell you in advance what kinds of states you will experience. I don’t know what you will hear, see, and so forth. When it happens to you, you will know. If you use effort, you will have some accomplishment. If you don’t use effort, you won’t.
This month I have given you initial instruction. You can return to your homes and practice sitting. If any special things happen to you during the course of the coming month, you can tell about them next time we have class. Next time I will first ask what states you have experience, and then I will be open to answering your questions. This time, it’s too soon to talk about states, because you have just begun sitting in this class. Anything that happened to you before the beginning of this class is not material for discussion here. When you ask questions, make them brief and to the point. Don’t talk from Pei-ching to Nan-ching, and all the way up Bear’s Ear Mountain to watch them practicing their gung fu as they do Shao lin—in other words, don’t write an essay when you ask a question.
Remember that full-lotus posture is the foundation of your sitting. Train yourself in it. Actually I have a lot I could say, but there’s no use in saying too much right at the beginning, just don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke cigarettes, and don’t take dope. Also it would be best not to eat meat. When you eat meat you get really fat and blubbery. You should realize that there’s no market value on human flesh, so why do you want to accumulate so much of it?
The Method of Ch’an
When you cultivate the Way, you shouldn’t renounce what is near and seek what is far, don’t discard the roots and grasp at the branches.
The Way is near, but one seeks it afar.
Things are basically easy, but one tries
to make them difficult.
People create unnecessary trouble for themselves; so don’t aim for what is lofty and far away, thinking that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are found in some distant faraway places. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can’t end your birth and death for you. You have to end your own birth and death.
You eat to fill yourself.
You end your own birth and death.
Control your rage, your deluded and crazy thoughts, your wild and reckless nature; change your habits! Restrain them so they don’t arise.
In every move, watch over yourself.
In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down,
Don’t ever leave your home.
Apply effort at the entrances of the six sense organs—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and yet don’t be separated from the six organs when you are applying that effort. Your eyes see forms, your ears hear sounds, your nose smells fragrances, your tongue tastes flavors, your body feels sensations, and your mind runs after dharmas.
However, right within those states you should understand the function of the entrances to the six organs. The six sense organs are also called the “six thieves.” Make sure not to let the thieves rob your treasures. If your eyes like to see things, that is an outflow. If your ears like to listen to sounds, that’s an outflow. If your nose likes to smell fragrances, that’s an outflow. If your tongue likes to taste flavors, or your body craves pleasurable sensation, or your mind latches on to thoughts, all of those are outflows. Don’t spin around and around at the six entrances; rather, return the light and illumine within, gather back your light.
There are some people sitting in the Ch’an hall who are not investigating Ch’an (dhyana); they are just giving rise to false thinking. So you can change the word Ch’an to another word; “gluttony,” because they’re thinking about food. People who are meat eaters are thinking about steaks, pork chops, and lamb chops; people who are vegetarians are thinking about dumplings, bread and butter. Their false thoughts are very colorful indeed! Some people forget about eating, drinking, wearing clothes, and sleeping; they even forget about going to the toilet! At this stage,
The wind can’t blow through;
The rain can’t seep in.
They maintain the single thought, “who?” without interruption or the slightest pause. Their concentration is indestructible and solid like vajra. At this time,
Above, they do not know there is heaven;
Below, they do not know there is earth.
And in between they do not know there are people.
They don’t hang on to the four marks: the mark of self, the mark of others, the mark of living beings, and the mark of a lifespan.
Someone says, “If I forget earth, heaven, and people won’t I turn into a piece of wood or a brick?” No! At this stage they have already transcended those realms so that.
All day long they eat their fill,
yet they haven’t tasted a single grain of rice.
All day long they wear clothes,
but they haven’t put on a single thread.
When they become that focused and single minded how will they have time to entertain any false thoughts, such as thinking about drinking some milk, or tea, or having some honey? They won’t have time; they won’t want to waste even a single second.
In cultivating you cannot forget the matter of birth and death for even one moment; you can’t afford to have false thinking even for a second. It says,
Not having understood the great affair,
Is like losing one’s parents.
The great affair refers to ending birth and death. If you haven’t seen through birth and death, that is like losing your father and mother. You have to pour all of your attention and energy into investigating this topic. When you use concentrated effort you will obtain a response; you may even get enlightened. Then,
After having understood the great affair,
It’s even more like losing one’s parents.
What does that mean? After you’ve become enlightened there’s even less time to flit around and waste time! You have to redouble your efforts. You can’t be lazy. Since you know that it’s not right to have false thinking, why do you still indulge in it? You should know that the time during a Ch’an session is very precious. We’ve put everything down in the Way Place to accommodate this session. We don’t do morning and evening recitations, nor the meal offering, or recite before the meals; we skip all of this just so you can apply single-minded, concentrated effort to your meditation and give it everything you’ve got. If you casually wile your time away, and chat and give rise to all kinds of false thinking, that’s just too pathetic!
The space encompassing heaven, earth, and all of creation, is a unified whole. Although that space cannot be divided, each being has its own orbit or path by which it’s energy travels. The situation is like that of electric currents, each of which has its own path. One wholesome or proper thought supplements the wholesome and righteous spirit between heaven and earth.
Conversely, every time a person gets angry or afflicted he increases the toxic and bad vibrations within the universe. Every thought of greed, anger, and stupidity adds to the toxic energy within the universe. If you use greed, anger and stupidity to handle your affairs, the world will become filled with poisonous energy. If you use precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, the auspicious energy in the world will increase. As it is with one person, so it is with many people. For those reasons, at places where evil people congregate, there are disasters and catastrophes. Therefore, all the auspiciousness and misfortune everywhere in the world is inextricably inter-connected with the forces mentioned above.
Now that we’re having a Ch’an session, everyone needs to change from the evil to the good. Be careful not to create evil karma that is mixed up with the good; don’t err in cause and effect. Don’t deliberately create bad karma, knowing it to be wrong. Produce one good thought, and heaven and earth are auspicious; give rise to one evil thought, and natural or man-made disasters will ensue—phenomena such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and so forth. Therefore, in a country where the citizens uphold the five precepts, it is bound to be peaceful. In countries where people kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, and take intoxicants, there is sure to be much disaster.
Every day we investigate the Buddhadharma, but you have to do it, truly practice it. Investigating Ch’an is just holding the precepts. It is just not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not taking intoxicants. Once you’re investigating Ch’an you won’t have time to do anything else. You should be able to pick up your meditation topic, and put everything else down. Just investigate, “Who?”
When you meditate, you can turn the light around and illumine within. See how many evil thoughts you’ve produced, and how many good thoughts you have produced. If you haven’t yet produced good thoughts, quickly bring forth wholesome thoughts. If you haven’t given rise to evil thoughts, make sure that you don’t; if you have already produced evil thoughts quickly get rid of them. If you’ve given rise to good thoughts, see to it they grow. Don’t waste your time casually, and squander your life away. As to the false thoughts you’re striking up, are they worth anything? Even if your false thoughts had some value to them, if you don’t bring them to accomplishment, they’re useless. People who are intent to cultivating and meditating apply their effort. What does this mean?
Amitabha! Each one for himself!
Mahasattva! Don’t pay attention to the other person.
The five Skandhas, that is—form, feeling, thought, activity, and consciousness—are like floating clouds that course about in the sky.
The Five Skandhas are like clouds that
float back and forth in empty space.
The Three Poisons are like bubbles in the ocean.
Cultivators have to break through these five skandhas; treat them like clouds passing by in the sky, let them come and go on their own, and don’t pay attention to them. The Three Poisons are greed, anger,and stupidity; they are like bubbles in the ocean. They don’t have any true substance. They don’t belong to our nature; they came later. They are produced on their own, and they are destroyed on their own. If you aren’t attached to them you won’t have any problems. So, Great Master Yung Chia of the T’ang Dynasty said in his Song of Enligtenment,
Certify to the actual mark, which is
without people or dharmas,
In a kshana, eradicate offenses of
the Avici Hell.
If I’m lying to cheat living beings,
then I deserve to undergo
The Hell of Pulling Tongues,
throughout as many aeons as there
are grains of dust and sand.
The “Actual Mark” is no mark, yet nothing is not marked by it. Once you’ve certified to this true mark and principle “Sweep away all dharmas, separate from all characteristics,” then that is called, “returning to the origin and going back to the source.” You’ve certified to the pure Dharma-body of your self-nature. In this state, people and dharmas are all seen as empty.
The view of self and others, which is the view of people and dharmas, are both annulled. At that time you won’t have to add a head on top of a head. Then, “In a kshana,” the shortest interval oftime, the karma created from beginningless time meriting the “Avici Hell,” is completely eradicated. Dharma Master Yung Chia says, “If I am lying to you, trying to pull the wool over your eyes, then I’m willing to forever fall into The Hell of Pulling Tongues and stay there for as many aeons as there dust motes and sand grains.”
Cultivators have to apply effort; don’t let your thoughts run off to the north, south, east, and west, and waste your entire life away. You should cultivate the Way very realistically, like drawing silk. If you do it bit-by-bit, then you won’t get the silk strands tangled. Don’t look for scientific methods to become enlightened. If that would work scientists would have long ago become enlightened. Why aren’t they enlightened? Why are they still groping around in the dark, working into the tip of an ox’s horn, hemming themselves into a dead end? Don’t be too smart for yourself, trying to find an easy way out of a short-cut. You say, “My legs and back really hurt! I should find a way where my legs and back won’t have to hurt so much.” There are no such easy methods. Opening enlightenment is not that easy.
During the time of Awesome Sound King Buddha, people became enlightened on the spot and didn’t need to be certified. After the passing of that Buddha, things deteriorated so that whenever people got enlightened they first had to be certified by the Buddhas and then by the Patriarchs. For example, in the Shurangama Sutra there is a section in which each of the Twenty-five Sages describes the individual organ by which he attained perfect penetration.¹ Even before each one talked about his individual Dharma-door, he had already been enlightened, but the Buddha had not yet personally certified his enlightenment. So the act of certification is most important. Certification is the core of the transmission of the Mind-seal Dharma from generation to generation.
The Great Master Yung Chia became enlightened while studying the Nirvana Sutra.Then he wrote the Song of Enlightenment; it contained songs that he sang. Although he had become enlightened, not many people could understand the deep principles he was expounding. Therefore, he put his songs together to describe some of his states. When he heard that the Sixth Patriarch was propagating the Mind Dharma at Ts’ao Hsi Monastery, he went to draw near to the Sixth Patriarch and to ask for his seal and certification. When he first arrived at Ts’ao Hsi, he circumambulated the Patriarch’s seat three times, plunked his tin staff on the ground, and then stood erect to one side. He didn’t even bow to the Patriarch. The Sixth Patriarch said,
“Shramanas adhere to three thousand awesome comportments and 80,000 subtle practices. Today you come in here and give rise to great arrogance. You don’t have the first bit of good manners. What are you trying to prove?”
The Master Yung Chia said, “Birth and death are big affairs; impermanence comes quickly.” He was implying that the matter of birth and death was so important there was no time for things like courtesy.
The Sixth Patriarch said, “Why not embody non-production and understand that which is not quick?” The meaning here was “Why don’t you get to the bottom of this and truly understand the principles of non-production and quickness?”
Dharma Master Yung Chia replied, “The body itself is not produced; fundamentally there is no quickness.” He had quick retorts to the Patriarch’s questions. The Master understood that originally there is no birth and death. If there is not even birth and death how can impermanence come quickly? He had arrived at the attainment wherein all dharmas are seen as neither produced nor destroyed, neither pure nor defiled, neither fast nor slow.
The Sixth Patriarch said, “So it is; so it is!” He couldn’t help praising Master Yung Chia saying, “Right! This is good work!”
Great Master Yung Chia then made obeisance with perfect awesome comportment. A short while later he announced that he was leaving, but the Sixth Patriarch entreated him to stay overnight. From this famous occasion Dharma Master Yung Chia was called, “The One Enlightened Overnight.” This was because he was certified to having obtained the Mind-Seal Dharma during his overnight stay at Ts’ao Hsi Monastery.
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshavra was practicing
the profound prajna paramita,
He illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty,
And went beyond all suffering and difficulty.
The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is called, “One who Contemplates at Ease,” or “One who Contemplates Self-Presence” (Kuan-Tzu-Tsai). This means that you contemplate whether you yourself are present or aware; it doesn’t mean you contemplate whether the other person is there or not. If you are self-present (always in the here and now), you are applying effort in investigating Ch’an. If you are not self-present, you’re having false thinking, and you’re flying off to New York, Italy, Australia, and so forth.
Although your body is seated here in the Ch’an hall, your mind is rambling all over the place—you haven’t subdued your monkey; it latches on to external conditions at every passing moment. If you’renotcontemplating self-presence you’re in the heavens; if you’re not contemplating self-presence you’re in the hells. If you can contemplate self-presence and not run off, you can then “Practice the profound Prajna paramita.” This means to investigate continually and without interruption; that is considered a profound contemplation. “Prajna” is deep and great wisdom. With great wisdom you can arrive at the other shore.
Moreover, you have to contemplate at all times, and not just for a moment. When investigating Ch’an, you have to do it day and night; you must do it today and every day, in order to dwell in the “Profound Prajna paramita.” You can’t hope to savor the flavor of Ch’an in a short period of time; it comes from practice and saturation. When you have this skill you can “illuminate the Five Skandhas and see that they are all empty.” The five skandhas are also called the “five aggregates,” “five heaps,” or the “five shadows.” They cover your light. They are like chains that bind people up. People are not free, because they are fettered by the Four Elements (earth, water, fire, and wind) and the five skandhas. The first skandha is the Form Skandha. Once the Form Skandha is seen through one arrives at the state where,
One contemplates the mind inside,
and there is no mind.
One contemplates objects far away,
and there are no objects.
One contemplates appearances outside,
and there are no appearances.
When the Form Skandha is seen through as empty, inside there is no mind, outside there are no appearances, and afar there are no objects. The Form Skandha takes obstruction as its essence; this includes anything that has shape and physical characteristics. If you haven’t emptied the Form Skandha, whenever you look at forms, you will be confused by the dust of forms. When you hear sounds, you’ll be turned by the dust of sounds. The many colors and shapes of things will confuse you to the point that you will no longer be in control. So, Lao Tzu says,
The five colors blind the eyes.
The five sounds deafen the ears.
The five flavors numb the palate.
Objects that are hard to come by
drive people crazy.
“The five colors blind the eyes.” The five colors refers to all the colorful imagery in the world; it blurs people’s vision so they are as if blind. They can’t tell one form from another; they can’t break through the eighty-eight categories of view delusion. View delusion is when upon seeing a state, one gives rise to greed and love. When you encounter a state, an external appearance of form, you get greedy and crave it. There are eighty-eight grades of this type of delusion.
“The five sounds deafen the ears.” For example, take heavenly music. When you hear musical sounds that the gods play up in the heavens you become drunk and enter the samadhi of music; you forget everything else. When it says “deafen,” it doesn’t mean you are hard of hearing, but rather that when you listen to music you forget everything else. You don’t get hungry even if you don’t eat nor thirsty if you don’t drink. Isn’t that wonderful?
“The five flavors numb the palate.” The five flavors are sour, sweet, bitter, hot, and salty. The mouth feels pleasure from savoring them. That’s why people all crave delicious and tasty foods, but it numbs the palate.
“Objects that are hard to come by drive people crazy.” This refers to objects that are rare and considered valuable, such as antiques, artifacts, objects of art, paintings, and so forth. For example, consider antiques from the Shang and Chou Dynasties; people are driven mad by their greed for those valuable objects.
Once you break through the Form Skandha, “all the mountains, rivers, and great earth are seen as empty.” Basically they aren’t even there. That’s the first skandha.
The second is the Feeling, or Perception, Skandha. A state arises and you perceive it; you feel it’s pleasurable. Eating good things, putting on a fine dress, feeling warm and being greatly delighted—those feelings of contentment, as well as feelings of displeasure and pain, are all grouped under the Feeling Skandha.
The third is the Thought Skandha. Thought refers to consideration, metal activity. From thought arises activity, which is the Fourth Skandha. Activity means that which constantly shifts and flows; it never stops, there is constant motion.
The last is the consciousness Skandha, which takes discrimination as its substance. This is the most subtle and imperceptible skandha. Whenever a state arises your mind immediately starts to discriminate. That’s the function of the Consciousness Skandha.
When you break through all five skandhas, and are no longer deluded by them, you can “cross beyond all suffering.” You can then put an end to all bitterness. So, seeing that the Five Skandhas are all empty is getting rid of the attachment to self. Whereas, crossing beyond all suffering and difficulty is getting rid of the attachment to dharmas. When the attachment to self and dharmas are both emptied, one is truly the Bodhisattva Who Contemplates Self-presence, Who Contemplates at Ease and with Self-mastery.
We people are like big bugs. Within our bodies are countless little bugs. The little bugs feed on the big bugs, and the big bugs feed on other forms of life outside such as animals or plants. Within the bodies of the little bugs are limitless tiny organisms. If you think about it, within the body of every single person there are countless, boundless living beings. If you wish to cross over the living beings within your self-nature, it’s not easy.
For example, if you are very greedy, all the little bugs inside your body are also greedy; even the micro-organisms and viruses within your body are infected with greed. They like to eat your flesh and drink your blood. If you are angry, the big and little bugs inside your self-nature all learn to have great tempers; they like to fight and contend.
If your body (the big bug) is full of stupidity, the little bugs all follow suit and become stupid as well. Your greed, anger, and stupidity directly influence the organisms within your self-nature. Moreover, those small organisms multiply into countless other minute organisms; they divide and multiply so that you have thousands of millions of myriads of transformation bodies. They are all replicas and photo copies of you (the big bug).
Therefore, cultivators must watch their every thought and action, and change their bad habits and faults; turn over a new leaf.
A single thought of anger arises and
Eighty-thousand doors open to obstruction.
No matter how long you cultivate, if you don’t cut off your thoughts of rage and hatred, in the future the organisms within your self-nature will transform into poisonous snakes and wild beasts that harm people.
For such reason, cultivators must emulate Shakyamuni Buddha’s kindness and compassion, his conduct and vows, and his patience; then, foster merit and virtue. This means giving good things to other people and saving the bad things for oneself. Merit and virtue are accumulated day-by-day, like saving money. You save money bit-by-bit until there’s a lot. Pay foremost attention to compassion and Way-virtue. No matter how rotten people are to you, be forgiving and don’t fight with them or oppose them. Give yourself up for the sake of others; with a single-minded dedication propagate the Buddhadharma.
Instructions to Participants
in the Buddha Recitation
The Dharma-door of Reciting the Buddha’s name works very directly. You need only to concentrate your mind, and naturally you will attain the Buddha Recitation Samadhi. There is no need to further investigate its meaning, or pile a head on top of a head, looking for business when there’s nothing to do. Reciting to the point of single-mindedness, when the water flows and the wind blows, all are proclaiming the wonderful Dharma of the Mahayana.
Of the mountains, rivers and great earth, none are not our self-nature of True Suchness. The Buddha and I have become one; the Buddha and I were originally not two. When the point is reached of not reciting and yet reciting, reciting and yet not reciting, then inside there is no body or mind and outside there is no world. Empty space is smashed to pieces, the tracks of false thoughts have vanished. In lucid stillness, the pure original source appears. Then one attains great ease and comfort, great liberation, and great calm. One can certify to limitless life and fulfill one’s vows of Bodhi. A verse says,
Concentrate on reciting the Buddha’s name,
in the country of calm dwelling;
With Amitabha’s great vows one goes to the West.
The three levels and nine grades of lotuses manifest;
The six paramitas and the myriad
conducts are perfected in a kshana.
Kuan Yin and Great Strength Bodhisattvas are our companions.
With Manjushri and Universal Worthy,
we sail on the same Dharma boat.
Our compassionate father brings us back to our old village:
Originally, the world of Ultimate Bliss was our homeland.
TALKS FROM AMITABHA RECITATION SESSION
December 31, 1979
People of the Saha World all like happiness and dislike suffering; hell beings like suffering and dislike being happy; hungry ghosts like hatred and dislike compassion; animals like stupidity and dislike wisdom, which is why they are reborn in the path of the animals.
Although we people claim to like being happy and to dislike suffering, we do not know how to get rid of suffering. Heavenly beings also like happiness and dislike suffering.
In the state of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas there is no suffering and no happiness. Both suffering and bliss are forgotten. Living beings are upside down: they take what is right as wrong and what is wrong as right; they mistake black for white and white for black. Do they know that they are upside down? Yes, they do, but although they know it, they still go right ahead and do wrong. Although they know what is illegal, they deliberately set out to do it. And although they know what is right, they won’t do it.
Take for instance taking tea breaks during the Buddha Recitation Session. Now there are special times to drink tea; you just don’t drink tea any time you feel like it. People grow tired after reciting for a while so they go and drink some tea to take a little rest and be lazy. If you are sincerely reciting the Buddha’s name, how can you possibly think of drinking tea? You would have long forgotten about tea, not to mention milk. You would have forgotten everything—even about whether you’ve eaten or not, so how much more would you have forgotten about drinking tea?
Someone says, “Reciting the Buddha’s name is too dangerous; you may even forget whether you’ve eaten or not!” But that’s right where the kung fu (skill) lies! People who really use effort won’t know whether they’ve eaten, whether they’ve been clothed, or whether they’ve slept. They will have forgotten everything. Above, they are not aware of heaven; below, they are not aware of the earth; and, in between they are not aware of people. Everything has become empty. If everything has become empty, how can you possibly think of taking a tea break or drinking milk?!
Some of my disciples dare not drink milk. If they do, their desire thoughts escalate to the point that they cannot control them. Therefore, they go off milk. We eat only in order to support our lives. We take food as medicine. If we do not eat, we will perish, that’s why we must eat a bit of food. We sustain our bodies and keep them from wasting away so that we can use them to cultivate with. You need not concern yourselves with any special kind of nutrition or diet. Once you ingest more nutritious food than you need, you’re in trouble—your thoughts of sexual desire will not stop.
How can those who truly use effort find time to drink tea or milk? They don’t even find time to eat, to sleep, or to put on clothes. In every moment they are concentrating on the Buddha’s name, “NamoAmitabha,” without stopping. You recite when you’re asleep, you recite when you are awake, to the point that this phrase of the six magical syllables, “Namo Amitabha,” becomes indestructible. Stretch it out, you can’t snap it; chop at it, you can’t cut through it; even if you use a sword or knife, you still won’t be able to break it. Its strength is more solid than that of diamonds. There is no way you can destroy this “Namo Amitabha.” That is what’s called the Buddha Recitation Samadhi.
You should recite the Buddha’s name in this way, and you should recite the Sutras in the same way; you should hold mantras in this way, too. In doing so, there is no way you will be able to strike up any false thoughts. Cultivation is not easy. Take a look at Kuo Chen (D.M. Heng Sure of Three Steps One Bow): why has he vowed to not drink milk? Because he knows that milk is something fierce. Once you drink milk, that streak of bull-like nature in you manifests. That bull-like nature which arises is fiercer than a tiger!
Whenever you encounter food that is particularly nutritious, if your body does not need it, if your body is not weak, then you shouldn’t take it. Once you take it, you’ll have a lot of trouble. So it says, “Too much is equal to not enough”; “having too much of something is as bad as not having enough. It is not the Middle Way.
Every word, act, and deed on the part of living beings is not outside of greed, anger and stupidity. They use greed, anger, and stupidity to cultivate worldly dharmas, and they use greed, anger and stupidity to cultivate transcendental Dharmas as well. So when cultivating they are greedy for enlightenment. They sit in Ch’an meditation for two-and-a-half-days, and they want to become enlightened; they cultivate a Dharma for two-and-a-half days, and they want to attain spiritual penetrations; they recite the Buddha’s name for two-and-a-half days and they want to obtain the Buddha Recitation Samadhi! Take a look at that gigantic greed mind. It is no less than the manifestation of the greedy ghosts.
You should consider cultivation your duty; it’s something that you should do. There is no need for you to be greedy; you need only cultivate. And after a while, when your merit and virtue is perfected, you will naturally accomplish Bodhi. There is no need to be greedy. Originally, you were meant to have success, but if you’re too greedy, then you won’t be able to chew well or digest well. For instance, when you’re eating food, you have to eat mouthful by mouthful; you can’t stuff an entire bowl of rice into your mouth at once, to the point that there is no space at all left inside your mouth! Then how will you be able to chew or swallow? Eating is the simplest analogy for this situation. If you are too greedy, you won’t be able to chew your food, much less swallow or digest it.
In cultivating, you should act like nothing is going on. Do not be greedy; don’t be obsessed with the things you wish for—you want to become enlightened, you want attain psychic powers, and on and on. How can things happen so fast? When you plant seeds, they must germinate, and then grow slowly; and even if they sprout and grow, you cannot help the sprouts grow by yanking them out of the earth. When the time comes, naturally they will mature, and your work will be accomplished. The ancients have a saying,
When grinding an iron pillar into a fine sewing needle.
In due time it will be completed.
You can do it, but you shouldn’t be afraid of the time it will take. In cultivation, you need to get rid of your faults. What faults? If you like to drink tea, that is your fault; if you like to drink milk, that is your fault; if you like to false think, that is your fault. If you are greedy for comfort and leisure, then there will be no response from your efforts. In applying effort, you cannot be afraid of suffering, afraid of difficulty, or afraid of getting tired. Then you may have some success.
If you keep on drinking tea and drinking milk, you stuff that stinking skin-bag of yours full, so that it becomes big, fat and robust. What use is there in that? No matter how fat you get, people won’t eat human flesh—you can’t sell it—so why do you want to be so plump?
Now I have to apologize to the people here. Why? Because I like to joke. All of the fat people here upon hearing what I just said, shouldn’t immediately go on a crash diet. If you do so, then it is just piling a head on top of a head and looking for more trouble.
AMITABHA TALKS January 3, 1980
The entire world is filled with natural disasters and calamities; it is covered in blackness and there is no light. This is a sign that the human race is in danger of extinction. The noxious vapors that come from killing are something we’ve never experienced before to such an extent. We are familiar with the atom bomb, the nitrogen bomb, all nuclear weaponry, and now there is the laser, as well. If any of those weapons are used on a grand scale, the entire human race will be wiped out. So the only think we can do now, is to cultivate according to the Buddha’s teaching and invisibly dispel these calamities and disasters.
The world is filled with black energy; black karma envelops us. In any place where there are true cultivators, the disasters in that place will be lessened. If many people come together to cultivate, their collective strength can dispel these disasters and counteract the plunders, and invisibility eradicate this noxious, evil energy and transform it into harmonious and auspicious energy. But first, both feet must be firmly planted on the ground, and then you must realistically cultivate according to the Buddha’s teaching.
Everyone should bring forth his or her true heart in reciting the Buddha’s name. For every time you recite the Buddha’s name a ray of light shines through empty space. If you recite very sincerely, then this light fills up the trichiliochosm, so that the energy of the three-thousand-great-thousand worlds will be auspicious and harmonious and the atmosphere of violence, defilement and disaster will be dispelled and transformed.
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is the brightest place on earth, because the ten thousand Buddhas all emit light that pervades the world. Here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, even if you strike up false thoughts, it has more merit and virtue than doing the most meritorious things in the world outside. Why is this? Because all those who live at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are tending towards the Way of goodness. Even if they have false thinking at times, those false thoughts are all good false thoughts; very rarely are they evil false thoughts. That is why you can say that the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is the sun of the world and the moon of the world—it causes all living beings to become cool and refreshed.
People who live here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas have all planted many good roots and made vows in the past. They wish to change the world for the better, to dispel and eradicate disasters and difficulties. Therefore, those of you who live at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas must go towards the proper in every thought, word and deed; do not flow with the dirt, do not be cheap and common. The people who live here at the City are all good-hearted; evil-natured living being cannot stay here for long. Sooner or later they will bring about their own expulsion.
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has welled up from the earth; eventually it will become the center of World Buddhism, where Buddhist from every country can come and cultivate together to investigate the Buddhadharma and to glorify the Buddha’s teaching. Since you are able to leave the home-life here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, it’s certain that in the future you can become Buddhas. Why? There is a saying,
Pavilions that are closest to the water
Catch the reflection of the moonlight first.
Since you have come here early, you will obtain a lot of merit; those who come later…well, they will have to wait a bit longer.
When some people come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, they find it very difficult to stay put. They feel there is not much going on at the City, that we are pretty uptight and that there isn’t much entertainment. But you should know, if you seek outside for entertainment, you will forfeit the genuine bliss within. In this world, if you want the false, then you will lose the real; if you want the real, you have to first put down the false. You cannot on the one hand wish to cultivate a transcendental Dharma, and on the other hand be unwilling to let go of worldly dharmas; with your feet straddling two boats—one foot wants to go north while the other wants to go south—it isn’t possible.
Right now we are having a Buddha Recitation Session. You should enter deeply through one door. Use your sincere mind, your true mind, your devout mind to cultivate this Dharma-door; don’t waste a moment. You should know that “every inch of time is an inch of life.” If you do not apply effort, you increase your offenses; if you use effort, you can increase your good roots. You should honestly recite the Buddha’s name; then you will not have wasted your time and your life will not have been worthless.
Pure Land Dharma Talks
At the two-week recitation session, during which participants meditated on and recited Amita Buddha’s name from four in the morning until ten in the evening, the Venerable Master gave the following daily instructional talks.
Day #1: December 8, 1972
The Buddha Amita is the great Dharma King.
May his Bodhisattvas guide you to the Western Land.
Morning and night, hold his name, with sincerity recite it;
At all times, in contemplation, think upon it well.
With one heart unconfused, you’ll realize Samadhi;
When all creation’s void, you’ll enter the Lotus Land.
Suddenly awakened to the uncreated, the Buddha appears in person,
And wonderful enlightenment is naturally attained.
This eight-line verse praises the Buddha Amita, the great Dharma King. “Amita” translated from Sanskrit means “limitless light” and describes his unlimited wisdom. He is also name “Amitayus,” which means “limitless life
,” symbolizing his unlimited blessings. Because he is complete with both blessings and wisdom, he is called the Buddha of Limitless Life and Light.
The Buddha has perfected great kindness, compassion, joy, and renunciation. Having attained blessings and wisdom, his unselfish wish is to lead all living beings to attain them. He has vowed that all living beings who recite his name will realize Buddhahood. The two words “Amita Buddha” are inconceivable, and within the Buddhadharma, Amita Buddha is a “great Dharma King.”
Those who recite the Buddha’s name have good roots. All you need to do is recite, and without spending money or effort, you too can attain limitless life and light.
“But isn’t this a bit too much of a bargain?” someone may ask.
The reason this simple method is so efficacious is that in former lives, when Amita Buddha was cultivating the Way, he practiced many methods and underwent thousand of tens of thousands of bitter experiences and found them difficult to bring to accomplishment. Accordingly, he made forty-eight great vows, one of which states that any person who recites his name will be assured of rebirth in the Western Land and the attainment of orthodox enlightenment. Until this vow is fulfilled, Amita Buddha himself will not realize Buddhahood.
Our recitation is like sending a telegram to Amitabha in the West. At the end of our lives, the Bodhisattvas will guide us to rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
Morning and night, in motion and stillness, at all times you can recite. While moving you can recite and change the motion into stillness; when still you can recite and turn the stillness into motion. When there is neither motion nor stillness, your telegram to Amitabha has gotten through and you’ve received his response.
If you maintain your recitation with undivided attention morning and night without stopping, you may recite to the point that you don’t know that you are walking when you walk, you don’t feel thirsty when you are thirsty, and you don’t experience hunger when you are hungry, you don’t know you are cold in freezing weather, and you don’t feel the warmth when you are warm. People and dharmas are empty, and you and Amita Buddha become one. “Amita Buddha is I and I am Amita Buddha.” The two cannot be separated. Recite single-mindedly and sincerely without false thoughts. Pay no attention to worldly concerns. When you don’t know the time and don’t know the day, you may arrive at a miraculous state.
You may ask, “but isn’t that just being stupid?”
In fact, rather than having become stupid, you will have experienced “great wisdom which appears to be stupidity.” Confucius said, “I have spoken with Hui for a whole day and he has not contradicted me, as if he were stupid. But I have examined his actions when he retires from me and found that he puts the teachings into practice. Hui is not stupid.” (Confucian Analects, II., Chapter 9.)
I remember when I was young and first started school I was very dull. I studied over and over again but could not remember my lessons, and if I did manage to learn them, I forgot them when I stood before the teacher to recite. Then suddenly my intelligence opened and I was able to recite a work having read it only once, and could master in an hour what took other students five days to learn. I became arrogant and my teacher said to me, “Who would have thought that such a stupid person could become as intelligent as Yen Hui?”
When I heard this, I shivered in fright: “will I die as young as Yen Hui did?” (Yen Hui, Confucius’s most intelligent disciple, died when he was only thirty-three.) So I quit being arrogant and resolved never to be jealous of another person. I took this as my guiding principle and wished that everyone would surpass me. The better others are than I, the more I like it. At that time I also gave myself the name “Semblance of Stupidity.”
At all times contemplate the bright countenance of Amita Buddha with singleminded concentration. At all times recollect his wonderful realm and don’t think about the matters of the world. With one heart unconfused you may enter dhyana samadhi; all worries and afflictions will completely disappear as you enter the lotus land and enlighten to the unconditioned. This is to understand your own original face. Wonderful enlightenment is just certification to Buddhahood. It’s not enough just to say, “I want to be a Buddha,” and thereby become a Buddha; on the contrary, you must work with great effort to realize Buddhahood.
If you can recite with one unconfused heart, you may arrive at the state where the ten thousand dharmas are empty. You may then let go of everything and obtain independence and purity. So the Dharma-door of Buddha recitation is ineffably wonderful.
When you have recited enough to have gained some skill, not only will you not feel thirsty, but you will feel as if you were drinking sweet dew. Don’t become attached, however, for if you do, your greedy thoughts for sweet dew will cause for the fine state to vanish. You may also recite until you see light, the Buddhas, or lotus flowers. But don’t be greedy for these states, either, or in your delight, they will disappear.
This is the first day of the session and there is still much time in which to obtain a single unconfused heart and experience these fine states. Whatever you do, don’t be lazy and wait around thinking you have a lot of time. You must recite earnestly and not waste your days. In the evening, during the Great Transference of Merit Ceremony, be even more sincere and determined to attain good results. If, instead, you waste your time, you will undergo all this bitterness for nothing. Won’t that be a shame?
Day #2: December 9, 1972
Blowing winds and still water expound the Mahayana;
Flocks of birds sing in choir, elegant and resonant.
With upright faith, upright vows, and with upright practice,
Remember the Buddha, remember the Dharma,
and recollect the Sangha.
With vigor, perfect each of the three levels of no-retreat.
In dhyana you may ascend through each of the nine grades,
And meet in person Amita Buddha, your compassionate father.
Such a reunion with your flesh and blood brings happiness indeed!
In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the blowing breezes and the still waters proclaim the Dharma of the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. White swans, peacocks, kalavinkas, and other birds don’t screech or chatter, but assemble to preach the Dharma with eloquence and grace.
In your practice, it is most important to have right faith and right practice, and to leave deviant faith and practice far behind. Do not make the mistake of becoming attached to minor spiritual powers, which enable you perhaps to see spirits or strange creatures. That is of no great use.
Recollect all the Buddhas of the ten directions, all the Dharmas in the ten directions, and all the holy sages of the ten directions until you attain the splendid state called the “Buddha Recitation Samadhi.” At that time every sound you hear sings “Amitabha.”
Be vigorous and perfect the three levels of no-retreat:
The Three Levels of No-Retreat
- Non-retreating Thought. One does not retreat from the resolve to attain Bodhi and to practice the Bodhisattva Way.
- Non-retreating Position. One does not retreat from right, orthodox thought, nor from the position one has already attained.
- Non-retreating Conduct. One does not retreat but vigorously goes forward, cultivating the Six Perfections and the Ten Thousand Conducts.
Cultivation of both dhyana meditation and the Pure Land recitation leads to ascension through the nine grades of lotuses and to quick certification to Buddhahood.
Amita Buddha is our compassionate father, and if we merely recite his name he will help us eradicate our worst karmic obstacles so that we may be born in the West, taking our residual bad karma with us where we can gradually eradicate all of it. When we are reunited with our father, our own flesh and blood, our happiness will be unspeakably great.
You have already endured three days of bitterness and now you should again bring forth the great Bodhi heart. Don’t fear suffering, don’t fear difficulty, and don’t fear heat or cold. Advance with vigor to the Land of Ultimate Bliss!
Day #3: December 10,1972
Here in the ice-box three days have quickly passed. On the first day, someone thought, “I can’t take it. I am cold because there’s no heater, and hungry because we only eat one meal a day. All day we sit and walk, sit and walk, reciting, “Namo Amita Buddha,” and the more I recite, the colder and hungrier I get. I really can’t take it.”
But for two days he took what he couldn’t take, afraid that the rest of us would call him a coward if he left; and now on the third day, he finds it much easier. “It’s not important if I’m a little chilly, and a little hunger doesn’t matter.” It’s all a test of your fortitude.
You haven’t run off but instead have recited the Buddha’s name, and accordingly your good roots have grown. I know that there are some who already have seen light, flowers, and the Buddha. Some have seen Amita Buddha rub the tops of their heads and transmit predictions of Buddhahood to them.
“Really?” you ask. “Why haven’t I seen this?”
How can you ask such a question! You should ask yourself whether or not you have singlemindedly and sincerely applied effort which would cause such states to manifest.
“Oh,” you say, “it’s too much suffering—suffering so that I think I’m going to die.”
If that’s the case, then give up your life. What do you want your life for anyway? It is said,
If you can’t let go at death you won’t obtain a good rebirth;
If you can’t let go of the false, you won’t obtain the true.
If you only wish to enjoy yourself, you’ll have no share in the transcendental Dharma. If you wish to obtain the transcendental Dharma, to return to the root and go back to the source, then you have to undergo a bit of suffering and view worldly dharmas as less important. Don’t look upon trivial problems as being so weighty. I remember a poem Upasika Phuong wrote when she was at home with nothing to do. She gave herself a job and wrote:
Alone and still I gaze from the balcony
At wave tops capped with flowers of white water
And pounding surf below, startling the gulls.
The water swells into waves and the waves subside
And disappear: defiled conditions cease.
Return to the root; go straight back to the source.
You’re free to roam at will.
Silent, as if entering samadhi, she saw the ocean waves wearing white flower caps and heard the roaring surf which frightened the seagulls into flight. The water swelling into waves is an analogy for afflictions arising in the self-nature, and the waves returning to the water represents our afflictions, however heavy they are, being transformed into the Bodhi self-nature. It is causing the defiled conditions to cease, letting go of all worldly dharmas. At this time you may return to the root, go back to the source, and view your own original face, free to do whatever you wish. But now, before we have returned, we must follow the rules and earnestly recite the Buddha’s name until, with undeviating singlemindedness, we perfect the Buddha Recitation Samadhi. We will then be free to roam at will.
There’s an old saying, “In the coldest weather, the pines are the last to lose their green.” San Francisco has never had such cold weather; it’s been under twenty degrees and most people are staying indoors with their heaters turned up. We aren’t going outside either, but instead of a heater, we have turned on the coolers! Pine trees may be the last to be harmed, but we are proving that we are vajra. Some of you could be comfortable at home, but have chosen to come here to recite the Buddha’s name, cultivate, and endure the bitterness instead. This is very rare and has moved Amita Buddha who will certainly guide you to rebirth in the Western Land.
Here in San Francisco, Amita Buddha has entered the Vajra Samadhi and made the earth firm and solid. We should enter the Vajra Samadhi, too, and cause San Francisco to be as indestructible as vajra. Didn’t I say last night that it wasn’t that there couldn’t be an earthquake, but rather that the earth was not permitted to quake? Amita Buddha is the one who is not permitting the earth to quake because his is the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and any place his name is sincerely recited is a part of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you don’t believe me, wait until the fourth of January and see!
Day #4: December 11, 1972
That you are still pursuing your work so diligently, reciting the Buddha’s name in spite of the cold weather, is a sure sign of your sincerity; if you were not serious you wouldn’t be able to continue in this cold.
Through whirling snow on icy cliffs, whitening the sky,
Red lotuses burst forth today, in bloom all over the earth.
In infinite layers the Buddha’s light illumines all without end;
Each syllable of the Buddha’s name nurtures the Dharma-source.
In a finger snap the work is done just as you had wished,
And disasters wrought in lives gone by in a flash are melted away.
In contemplation, still and pure, find constant happiness;
Superior persons’ accomplishments in the end
are caused to bear their fruit.
Here in the chill of the Great Hall it is we who are the cold cliffs and whirling snowflakes which fill the sky. Although the air is white with snow it is still possible for red lotus flowers to appear, because our recollection of the Buddha’s name causes them to bloom. The flowers are not the small ones we are used to seeing, but they are as large as carriage wheels. Each person who recollects the Buddha will in the future be born within lotus flowers such as these. When the flower opens, one will see the Buddha and awaken to the patience with the non-production of dharmas.
The Buddhas of the ten directions will emit light with which they will give us a physical examination to see if we have any illnesses. The examination takes place because we are filling out immigration papers for entry into the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Whenever you recite the Buddha’s name you plant a seed in the field of the Dharma-nature. Reciting is also like applying fertilizer, for if you recite a lot and are sincere, your lotus will be a superior grade and the fruit will be superb. If your recitation reaches the level of single-minded concentration, then on the verge of death you will be without sickness and pain, just as if you had entered Ch’an samadhi. You will be reborn in the Western Land from within the lotus. You will be reborn in the Western Land from within the lotus which you have nurtured. If you do not recite, the flower will wither from lack of nourishment.
If you continually apply effort, your wish will be fulfilled and you will be reborn in the flick of a wrist. Your karmic obstacles from past lives will instantly melt away so that you obtain the still, bright, pure, and permanent joy. When this happens, the superior person’s job is done, his work perfected, and all his wishes fulfilled.
The most important point of recitation is to melt the drift of false thoughts so that one becomes pure and spotless, like the driven snow. So the verse speaks of “whirling snow on icy cliffs.” The cold cliffs represent one’s false thoughts. When the false thoughts are melted away, one can return to the origin, and be reborn in a red lotus, the lotus reserved for pure, undefiled people.
There is a simple analogy used to describe the Dharma-door of Buddha-recitation: a living being in the three realms is like a worm caught in a section of bamboo who is trying to bore his way out. In the practice of other Dharma-doors, one must crawl out step-by-step.
For example, one must practice dhyana for a long time in order to attain samadhi. In following the Vinaya School, one must memorize volumes of rules and follow them without fail. Those who cultivate the Teaching School must read and recite the Sutras and lecture on the dharma. They have to “divide the doors, discriminate the classes, articulate the schools, apportion the teachings”; and so it is said, “Endlessly discriminating names and marks, like trying to count the grains of sand on the beach, will only hang you up.”
Cultivating the Secret School one must pass through many stages. The step-by-step process is like the progress of the worm who gnaws his way up through section after section of the bamboo. There is, however, another worm in the bamboo who is smart enough to gnaw his way straight through the side of the stalk. The sections of bamboo represent the difficulties encountered as one tries to leap out of the triple realm.
Escaping through the side is like the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name. You get out of the triple realm and gain rebirth in the Western Land, packing your karma from past lives with you. This does not mean, however, that you can continue to create offense-karma and expect to take it with you to the Pure Land. If you continue to create fresh karma, you are considered a hopeless case. Even the greatly compassionate Amitabha Buddha himself has no way to save you.
Day #5: December 12, 1972
Time passes quickly and we are already into the fifth day. How is your skill in recitation developing? Today two people came to ask for instruction. What did they want to discuss? Perhaps they came to report that they had obtained the Buddha Recitation Samadhi! Because the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name has been opened, they can now bring up their questions if they wish, and allow everyone to examine them.
It is the custom in Buddhism that a person who has left the home-life and seeks instruction must first put on his ceremonial robe and sash, go before the Master, bow three times, kneel on both knees, join his palms respectfully, and then ask his question. A layman who has received the precepts may or may not observe this tradition. When these ceremonies have been performed the Master will then answer questions.
Today, when those seeking instruction arrived, I was busy and didn’t have time to speak to them. If they don’t wish to ask their questions publicly, they can come tomorrow after 2:30 and I will talk with them.
When people recite the Buddha’s name they occasionally see light; sometimes they see the Buddha; sometimes they see ghosts or spirits. There are both good and bad states which may arise. What states have all of you experienced? Bring them up and we’ll look into them.
Disciple: “Because of my involvement with the class I am teaching, I have not been able to cultivate much this week. However, whenever I enter the hall I notice that the air around me is clear; it becomes quite pure as I recite the Buddha’s name, as if my eyes could see more to either side, see further around my head. Also at times I have almost seen flowers which are not yet clear since I have not done much work. I can also feel the psychic heat energy when I am sitting in meditation, but again I haven’t worked on it much yet.”
Abbot: These are initial stages in your cultivation. Continue to work hard.
Day #6: December 13, 1972
Today the Buddha recitation session has already reached the sixth day. How is your recitation progressing? Have you reached the level of single-minded concentration? Or do you still experience furious flurries of fantasy? If you can arrive at the state of undistracted, singleminded concentration, then walking, standing, sitting, and lying down you are mindful of the Buddha.
At such times, when your thinking ceases, even in the midst of a storm you are unaware of the blowing wind and oblivious of the beating rain. There is a saying, “The gales of wind can’t penetrate and the driving rain can’t leak in.” Being thus, you are like the Buddha and have entered the state of the Buddha Recitation Samadhi. You have relinquished your mind and body, and the organs and objects have been cast aside. Within, there is no body and mind; outside, there is no world. At that time not only are you unaware of other people, you don’t even know yourself. Everything vanishes.
“What is meant by casting aside the organs and the objects?” one may ask.
The organs refer to the six sense organs: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The objects refer to the six objects of the senses: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, and dharmas. Adding the six consciousnesses which arise between the sense organs and their objects, completes the eighteen realms, while the six organs and six objects alone comprise the twelve sense fields.
The eyes sees forms, while inside there are none;
The ear hears sounds which the heart does not know.
When the six organs are purified and the six objects are undefiled, the organs and objects naturally fall away and as a result the mind and body are free and at ease. When the body is at ease, hunger, thirst, cold, heat, fondness and resentment, sadness and happiness are unknown to it. This is the ability to remain unturned. When the heart is free and at ease then not one thought is produced.
When not a single thought is produced,
the total substance manifests.
When the six organs suddenly move,
one is enveloped by the clouds.
If one can refrain from producing a single thought, the great function of the entire body comes forth. If the six organs move, the wisdom of your self-nature, which basically shines like the sun, becomes shaded by a covering of clouds and you lose your Selective Dharma Eye. Without the Selective Dharma Eye, you cannot see clearly; you cannot distinguish right from wrong, proper from improper. When this happens, no matter which way you turn you are obstructed, and you bump against the east and crash into the west. As if imprisoned in the four walls of a cage, you keep colliding coming and going, and can’t get free.
The Four Walls of a Cage
Intoxicants include cigarettes and drugs as well as alcoholic beverages.
Beautiful Forms include material objects as well as members of opposite sex.
Riches are something everyone enjoys. Day in and day out the main preoccupation of the majority of people is how to get more wealth. Their whole lives are based around the accumulation of money and they race after it in circles. The Chinese character for money ( -ch’ien) is made up of two sounds beside gold. People will fight to the death over gold. Most people bicker over money. Those who know how to use wealth can leap out of the three realms. Those who cannot, find it hard to escape from the karma they create. There is a verse which goes:
Advised to donate to charity, he has no money—
he has it but he won’t use it.
But when an accident occurs he’ll send thousands—
which he may not have but somehow gets.
If one mentions joining a beneficial activity—
he’d go, but he’s too busy.
Yet on the day he dies and enters the grave,
despite his busyness, he has to go!
I had a disciple name Kuo P’ei who had a substantial amount of money in the bank but wouldn’t part with so much as a hair on his head. He said that he didn’t have enough money to support a wife and family and so remained a bachelor. Eventually he developed appendicitis and had an operation, but the attack proved fatal. When he died he couldn’t take a penny with him. The only thing he took along were his karmic obstacles. Isn’t this pitiful and stupid?
Anger is hard to handle. Everyone gets angry. Everyone has a temper and some people even get so mad it kills them. I remember when Dharma Master Le Tu came to visit, accompanied by Layman Li, who tried to make an offering to me. I refused it and the layman said I made him so angry he almost died!
I often recite this verse for you:
Fish in the water jump about,
People in the world clamor.
Knowing they should perform kind acts,
They steel their hearts and continue to create bad karma.
Piling up gold and silver high as a mountain,
They go before King Yama with empty hands,
Weeping with regret.
If you have the Selective Dharma Eye you can discriminate clearly between the good and the bad. By mindfulness of the Buddha, we can select the proper path and avoid the pitfalls which surround us on all sides: intoxicants, beautiful forms, riches, and anger. To be able to do this is very important.
Day #7: December 14, 1972
A Buddhist Sutra says, “Though a great number of beings may cultivate, it is difficult for even one to succeed in the Dharma-ending Age. Only by means of the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha’s name is it easy to succeed in cultivation.” We are presently in the Dharma-ending Age and the method of cultivation we are using in this session is the most appropriate, the most universal. It covers those with all three kinds of roots: sharp, dull, and ordinary.
Not only do intelligent people benefit from reciting the Buddha’s name, but stupid and doubtful people do as well. One who is old and approaching death would do well to recite the Buddha’s name. For one who is in his prime with the promise of a long life ahead it is even more beneficial to recite the Buddha’s name. One who is sick and undergoing great suffering gains benefit by reciting the Buddha’s name. One in good health profits even more from reciting the Buddha’s name. No matter who you are, you can recite the Buddha’s name.
Shakyamuni Buddha spontaneously spoke the Amitabha Sutra to exhort us to recollect the Buddha, and the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra, the King of Sutras, is devoted to inspiring people to be mindful of the Buddha, You should not write off this practice as a Dharma-door for old ladies.
“But what meaning does it have?” one may ask.
What meaning do you want? To recite the Buddha’s name, your mindfulness must separate from all false discursive thought. When you reach this point your skill is perfected and you may return to the Western Land.
At the end of the Dharma-ending Age, all the Sutras will disappear. The Shurangama Sutra will be the first to vanish and so on until eventually the only Sutra left will be the Amitabha Sutra. After a hundred years, it too will disappear, and only the words “Namo Amitabha Buddha” will remain. After another hundred years, these words will dwindle to just “Amitabha Buddha,” a phrase which will take numberless beings across the sea of suffering to enlightenment. When even the words “Amitabha Buddha” finally perish, then the entire world will be annihilated. From creation the world passes through the stages of dwelling, decay, and emptiness; then another world is created, and the process begins again.
People also pass through the same cyclical process. They are born, dwell, decay, and die. Production occurs during the first twenty years of your life during which you grow up and gain an education. For the next twenty years you go to work and undertake various activities. For the next twenty years, you experience decay. Your eyes grow dimmer and dimmer, your hair becomes flecked with gray, and your teeth start falling out.
Your body is like a house. The mouth is the door; the eyes are the windows; the four limbs are the corner posts; the hair is the thatch on the roof. By the time the house begins to fall apart, it is too late to worry about fixing it up. You should have kept up with the repairs all along. When your house deteriorates, you move into another one; when your body decays, you also get another body. You should know that neither the house nor the body is yours.
“If my body is not me,” you may ask, “then what is me?”
Who knows?
The reason you have to be mindful of the Buddha is because you can’t find your “self.” While trying to discover “Who am I?” you are at the same time nourishing your Dharma-nature field. We must plant the seed, tend the sprouts, and reap the fruit. What is the Bodhi-seed? It is recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name. What is the sprout? It is the appearance of your lotus in the Western Land. What is the Bodhi-fruit? It is your rebirth in the Pure Land, when, at the end of your life, the flower opens, you see the Buddha, and awaken to patience with the non-production of dharmas.
During this first seven-day session several people have received benefit. Some have tasted sweet dew, others’ pulses have stopped; some have had their breath stop. Their outer breath ceased and an inner breath was born. Some experienced the cessation of all thought. These are the initial stages of light ease which result from a unified application of effort.
It is said, “If one wishes to escape death, one must first be a living dead man.” Ignore trivial matters. Constantly return the light of your wisdom to illumine within. See it all in yourself. Turn your hearing back to your own nature and carefully examine the sound of your recitation. Is it clear? Is it full? Or are there instead the teeming hordes of false thoughts? There’s a great difference between the two, you know. Recite well and don’t let the time pass in vain.
Day #8: December 15, 1972
Today Kuo Wu wrote a verse:
Amitabha by day; Amitabha by night.
Patient, alert to each sound, “Amitabha.
Amitabha, Amitabha—in the end where is he?
Forgetting yourself you are Amitabha!
Day and night we recite the Buddha’s name and with each sound we think of Amitabha. The phrase Namo means “homage.” To whom are we paying homage? Ultimately, we pay homage to ourselves! On the day when you entirely forget yourself, the Amitabha of your own nature will appear.
I recall that in Hong Kong a bhikshu who smoked cigarettes and didn’t cultivate very much, all of a sudden decided to do a 90-day Standing Buddha Recitation Session. During such a session one walks without stopping for ninety days while being mindful of the Buddha. Since one does not sit or lie down, one’s legs grow sore, one’s feet swell, one’s nerves become exhausted, and one’s energy is drained. But in spite of the bitterness, one must continue to walk, for if one stumbles and falls, the session is over.
When the bhikshu told me he wanted to conduct the session at Ta Yu Mountain, I furnished a room in the temple for him to use. Not long after he began, he saw Amitabha Buddha right before his eyes. Mad with joy, he began racing around the room bellowing the Buddha’s name. Hearing his loud cries, I knew something was wrong and went to see what was happening. As soon as I arrived, I saw what the problem was. He was not seeing Amitabha Buddha, but a huge water buffalo essense, which had been able to disturb his mind, since he didn’t hold the precepts purely.
“How could a water buffalo appear as Amitabha Buddha?” you ask.
Heavenly demons and externalists can manifest in the form of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in order to confuse people. “Don’t be so excited,” I told the bhikshu. “You should relax and quietly recollect the Buddha.” In general, no matter what state occurs in your cultivation, it is essential that you remain detached. If you become attached, you may be attacked by demons. It was fortunate that I went to see what the matter was; if I hadn’t, he would have been caught by the demon.
We are reciting the Buddha’s name like members of a family working together; we criticize one another and offer one another our support. It is a matter of principle that I never reject anyone who wants to come here, and never detain anyone who wants to leave. If you don’t believe it, it doesn’t matter, because, with me, everything is okay.
This past year many people have requested permission to leave the home-life under me. I always instruct them to first return home and cultivate on their own until their work blossoms into some attainment, for then their time will be ripe and it will be right for them to leave home. It is not certain that some of them could make it if they left home. They might not be able to renounce everything.
Today someone came asking to leave home. She has two children, one fourteen and one fifteen. I told her that it would really be better to cultivate at home until she can truly put everything down. If she comes back, there will still be time. I could have told her that it would be better for me to teach her children, because children aren’t burdened with so much false thinking. If a youth can cultivate, it is relatively easy for him to make progress, and I am able to lead him to attain the Way.
When I was in Manchuria I had a fourteen-year old attendant who wanted spiritual penetrations. I told him that if he really wanted them it wouldn’t be difficult, but that he would have to undergo a certain amount of suffering. He believed me and followed me for almost a year, while I led him through all kinds of bitterness. He had to bear the unbearable, eat the inedible. Once I was invited to receive offerings at a layman’s house and I spoke the Dharma for them. We sat in meditation, as was our custom, for two hours before retiring. After an hour, however, the child lay down to sleep. I grabbed the pillow and threw it roughly on the floor. The child never slacked off again, whether I was with him or not.
Once, we were travelling after a heavy rain. About halfway home we came upon a piece of waterlogged pastry lying in the mud. “Master,” he said, “look at that!”
“Eat it,” I replied.
He didn’t follow my instructions and when we got home I said, “It’s a pity you didn’t eat that biscuit we just saw, because if you had, you would have attained your spiritual powers.” When he heard this he began to cry. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, consoling him, “there will be many more chances.” And in fact, not much later he obtained spiritual powers—the heavenly eye and the knowledge of others’ thoughts. He knew former and future events and understood the workings of cause and effect. Why was he able to attain these powers so quickly? Because young children are pure and free of false thoughts it is easy for them to attain the Way.
I had six or seven such disciples in Manchuria who had similar accomplishments and they were a great help to me. We went everywhere rescuing people and spreading the Dharma, relieving living beings of their suffering. These disciples trusted me implicitly and would do whatever I told them to do. In fact, had I told them to jump into a pit of fire or into the ocean, they would have done so without hesitation. Of course, I would never have told them to do such a thing. The point is that they would follow my instructions to the letter.
It is my hope that in this country there will be those who attain the Way. This is why I am so severe with you and exhort you to endure suffering. An ancient said, “Having tasted the bitterness within the bitterness one can become a man above men.” The reason I am constantly urging you on is simply to bring about your enlightenment. The sooner you attain the Way the sooner you can help benefit humankind!
Day #9: December 16, 1972
You recite “Buddha,” so do I.
We both recite “Buddha.” Why?
To end birth and death and transform the Saha;
Everywhere’s blissful—Amitabha!
What is there when there is no you or me?
Stillness; all creation’s void
–contemplate and see.
When ignorance is broken and affliction severed,
Jump out of the three realm’s great river of love.
Why do you and I recite the Buddha’s name? Stupid people say, “To help us gain peace and happiness and good fortune and to free us from affliction, suffering, and hardships.
Others say, “We recite to increase our good fortune and prosperity.” This, too, is the reasoning of the dull.
We recite the Buddha’s name in order to end birth and death. Why do we want to do this? We are ceaselessly revolving in the wheel of birth and death. This life we are named Smith and next life Jones; this life we are the father and next life, the son; this life we are the master and the next life, the disciple. The whole thing is beyond our control. Don’t think that a person is no more than your dearest and most beloved husband or wife. In the past he may have been your benefactor or your enemy. That is why some husbands are devoted while others constantly fight with their wives. Don’t think that someone is only your dearest son or daughter.
In the past, you may have been his debtor or he may have been yours. That is why some sons and daughters are filial and others are not. If you understand the principle, you will have no cause to curse heaven or blame others, and you will no longer wish to continue turning uncontrollably in the false realm of men. You will vow to end birth and death and quickly leap out of the sea of suffering. When you put an end to birth and death you gain control.
This means that if you want to live, you live; if you want to die, you can die anytime. You will know the time of your approaching death and you will not be confused. Your body will be free from disease and your mind will be free of defiling affection. As if entering dhyana samadhi, you will be borne off to the Western Land where you experience bliss. The Saha World will be transformed into a pure, clean land, devoid of afflictions and so the poem says, “Everywhere’s blissful—Amitabha!” Mindfulness of the Buddha should reach the state where “you” and “I” disappear.
“That’s too dangerous,” you say. “If there isn’t anything at all, isn’t that just total emptiness?”
You should only fear that you won’t experience total emptiness, that you won’t discard material concerns, and that you won’t renounce affections. If you can forget everything, you will be liberated, because when you reach the state of “quiet contemplation in which the myriad things disappear of themselves” you will suddenly understand everything in the world. You will know why the pines are straight and the brambles crooked; you will know why the cranes are white and the crows are black. Since you understand everything, your afflictions will be gone and ignorance will be smashed. You will then have jumped right out of the three realms’ great river of love.
The three realms are the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm. It is within these that the huge river of love flows. “He loves her for her beauty and she loves him for his kind heart.” Rising and sinking, confused and muddled, you can’t break it off.
Someone would like to say, “Love and affection are the most meaningful aspects of human life! I don’t want to jump out of the river of love!”
Keep wading around in it, then, but be aware that as long as you do, you won’t be in control. After you are born you will die, and after you die you will be reborn, and running back and forth you will be unable to escape the spinning wheel of birth and death. When you sink to the bottom it’s hard to float back up, for when you have become a tiny ant or a small worm, devoid of wisdom or blessings, you will easily die and quickly be reborn. Each life will be worse than the last and each death worse than the one before.
Someone says, “Buddhism lacks consequence. It’s merely a jumble of superstitions which I cannot accept.” If you don’t believe you can wait and see. However, it’s easy to fall and hard to come up again. Who knows how many great kalpas will pass before things get better? It’s difficult to be born human, difficult to be born in a central (or influential) country, and difficult to meet the Buddhadharma. Although it is hard to obtain a human body, you now have one; although it is hard to meet the Buddhadharma, you have done so. So push on with your work and don’t be lazy.
We welcome everyone who wishes to come and recite, but those who join us must obey the rules, and everyone alike receives the bitter and the sweet. No one is permitted to ignore the rules.
In reciting the Buddha’s name we want to arrive at the point of undistracted, singleminded concentration; therefore, we must follow the rules. Both those who want to recite and those who do not want to recite should be mindful of the Buddha; both the skeptics and the faithful should recite and those who do not want to recite should be mindful of the Buddha; both the skeptics and the faithful should recite. I will now explain the words “confused” and “belief.”
Those who are confused may have faith. What is to be feared is that one may have faith in that which is confused, in a deviant teaching. What is worse is to be confused and unbelieving; it is impossible to save such a one. It is best to have faith and be unconfused. Faith and understanding of the proper Dharma enable one to follow it without attachment and, therefore, without confusion. We should seek our own enlightenment so that we can become free and at ease in body and mind.
Today another disciple wrote a poem:
With six times eight vast vows and three provisions,
His vast compassion saves the simple and dull.
Nine grades are led before the sage and lord.
Limitless life has the Buddha with limitless light.
“Six times eight” refers to Amitabha’s forty-eight great vows, and the “three provisions” refer to faith, vows, and practice. If you believe in the method of mindfulness of the Buddha, you should make a vow to be reborn in the Pure Land and cultivate vigorously.
You will then experience the Buddha’s compassion, which saves all beings regardless of race or nationality. The Buddha teaches the stupid and simple and makes no distinctions between young and old, clever and dull.
The “nine grades” refer to the types of rebirth from lotus flowers in the Pure Land: upper-upper, upper-middle, upper-lower; middle-upper, middle-middle, and middle-lower; lower-upper, lower-middle, and lower-lower. All the categories are led before the “sage and lord Amitabha Buddha” whose name means “Limitless Light” and “Limitless Life.”
This verse is not bad! If you constantly recite it you will be able to see your nature and see the Buddha. If you want to understand your mind and see your nature, you should make obeisance to this verse. I’m not joking! As the Fifth Patriarch told the great assembly, “You should all quickly bow before Shen Hsiu’s verse, which reads:
The body is a Bodhi tree,
The mind like a bright mirror stand;
Time and again brush it clean;
Let no dust alight.
Day #10: December 17, 1972
One sentence less of chatter,
One sentence more of the Buddha’s name;
Recite until your false thoughts die,
And your Dharmabody comes to life.
During a Recitation Session it is best to recite the Buddha’s name and do less talking. The four assemblies have gathered from the ten directions to recite the Buddha’s name and the time is especially precious. Don’t waste this rare opportunity. If you haven’t as yet applied yourself, settle down and seriously recite. Be sure to follow the rules and avoid conversation. If you turn your mind solely to recitation you will receive a response which will enable you to cast out all false thinking and obtain the Buddha Recitation Samadhi.
Recitation is the easiest Dharma to cultivate, for you need only single-mindedly recite Amitabha Buddha’s name and at the end of your life you will be reborn in a lotus flower, hear Amitabha Buddha speak the Dharma every day and in the future you will ascend to the position of Buddhahood.
“Reciting in order to attain rebirth is one thing, but we are nowhere near death; why should we recite?” you may wonder.
That’s a good point. But it is always best to prepared in advance. For example, a tree doesn’t spring up over night; it takes at least ten years to grow to an appreciable size. We recite now so that at the end of our lives we will have undeviating single-mindedness. If we don’t recite now, at death, when the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—scatter, the pain will cause us to forget everything. How will we be able to recite? We recite ahead of time in order to obtain the Buddha Recitation Samadhi. Then walking, standing, sitting, and lying down we will never stop reciting; at the end of our lives we will be without sickness or pain. With undeviating singlemindedness we will certainly be reborn in the Western paradise. One should always prepare in advance. Otherwise, one won’t succeed and all one’s efforts go to waste.
Chu Hsi said, “Don’t wait until it rains to mend the roof; don’t wait until you are thirsty to dig a well.” The same applies to our recitation. If we don’t know our destination in advance, when the time comes we will be all muddled and won’t know where to go. If you are going on a vacation, you make preparations. If you don’t, in the last minute confusion you are sure to forget something.
Day #10: December 17, 1972
Does anyone have any questions?
Disciple: “I was raised a Catholic and what appealed to me about Buddhism was its rational quality, the practice of understanding the Four Noble Truths: suffering, origination, extinction, and the Way. In the Japanese Rinzai Zen and the Tibetan Buddhism which I have studied, the emphasis is placed on searching into one’s own mind and by one’s own efforts, realizing enlightenment in this very life. It is therefore difficult for me to understand the Pure Land practice which seems like a fairy tale of some distant land where, by relying on Amitabha Buddha, our problems will be effortlessly solved. I am most certainly not asking this question out of arrogance, as I have only the greatest respect for the Master and hope that he will clear up my doubts.”
Abbot: Can anyone answer this question?
Disciple: The Sixth Patriarch said that the Pure Land is just one’s own mind when free from afflictions. But I have a similar doubt.
Abbot: When you are reciting the Buddha’s name, do you think or not?
Disciple: “I have been thinking of something ever since I was born.”
Abbot: “Do you want to think or do you not want to think?”
Disciple: “I most emphatically do not want to think.”
Abbot: “Then just recite the Buddha’s name!”
Disciple: “If I could cut off my head without bleeding, I’d do it right now.”
Abbot: “It would be better to cut off your legs; then you couldn’t run away.
Good Knowing Ones, each of us has his own fantasies. While our thoughts to get rich, to become an official, or to obtain a Master’s or Doctor’s degree may be similar, the false thoughts which have accompanied each one of us since birth vary from person to person and are difficult to cast out completely. So this disciple said that if it would put an end to his false thoughts, he would gladly cut off his head. While this would end his false thoughts, it would also violate the precept against killing. In any case, he would simply undergo another rebirth according to his karma, and once again be subject to false thinking.
How can you get rid of your false thinking? By using the method of recitation you can grab your false thinking and chop its head off. We cut off the head of the false thinking thief and display it before the masses, but instead of using a knife, we use the sword of wisdom. As I said last night, “Ignorance broken and affliction severed/Leap out of the three realms’ great river of love.”
As I have told you many times, the Dharma-door of Buddha recitation is false, and so are dhyana meditation, the Teaching School, the Vinaya School, and the Secret School. You need only believe in it, and the false becomes true; if you don’t believe, then the true becomes false. You could also say that whatever is of no benefit is false. So the Avatamsaka Sutra says, “Everything is created from the mind alone.”
Someone wants to object, “Everything the Dharma Master says is false and I don’t believe any of it.”
Fine, then don’t believe. No one is forcing you to believe. Don’t take things as true and don’t be attached to them as false. The Buddhadharma is wonderfully flexible.
When the deviant person practices the orthodox Dharma, the orthodox Dharma becomes deviant; when the orthodox person practices the deviant Dharma, the deviant Dharma becomes orthodox. Buddha recitation is also false. We are using the false to fight the false, fighting poison with poison. There are three poisons:
Greed: I want to be born in the West.
Hate: I insist on being born there!
Stupidity: Will I be born there? I don’t know.
Our minds never stop thinking. We use the poison of Buddha recitation to give our minds something to think about; if they have nothing to think about, they are ill at ease. Reciting the Buddha’s name and seeking rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss is also false thinking, but by using the false to stop the false, we occupy our minds so that they won’t indulge in other forms of false thinking.
Don’t think that merely sitting still is investigation of dhyana. One who recites the Buddha’s name is also investigating dhyana. Walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, one may investigate dhyana. The ancients said,
With both dhyana and the Pure Land
One is like a tiger with horns;
In the present age a teacher of men,
In the future a Buddhist Patriarch.
With dhyana, but without the Pure Land
Nine out of ten will take the wrong road;
Without dhyana and with only the Pure Land,
If ten thousand practice, ten thousand will go.
If ten thousand people cultivate the Pure Land Dharma-door, ten thousand will arrive in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
After the session, we will have a dhyana meditation session, and you can all go down the wrong road. It’s not important; you can always come back again.
Someone is thinking, “The Dharma Master teaches us to take the wrong road. He is certainly not a Good Knowing One.”
I never told you I was a Good Knowing One! But you need not be afraid of going down this wrong road. Who knows how many Sages have taken it and found their way home?! Did anyone tell them to do it? Why did they do it? Did they just want to try it out? Students of the Buddhadharma should understand this principle: Don’t ask whether or not the Master is a Good Knowing Advisor; you’re better off asking that of yourself.
Day #11: December 18, 1972
Time passes quickly and there’s no way to stop it. The first session has passed and only three days of the second remain. You should recite in order to reach the state of undeviating single-mindedness and obtain the Buddha Recitation Samadhi. There’s not much time left; don’t waste it. You must conquer your thoughts and your gang of thieves. Who are in your gang of thieves? Its members are your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. They are called thieves because they steal your essential energy. They rob you of control so that you run around doing their bidding. When your eyes see a beautiful sight or a pretty woman, they relay the message, “What a lot of fun! How beautiful!” They carry you away so that you foget to return. Unaware, you sink into confusion and the energy is stolen from your eyes.
The more your ears hear fine music, the more they want to hear. If you cannot give it up, the energy is stolen from your ears. It’s the same for your nose, tongue, body, and mind. Don’t think that your six senses are so fine and enjoyable. You should know that they can be extremely harmful. If you can use them, you will realize the Way. If you can’t use them, you will fall. If you are not turned by them, you will come to know the nature of the Treasury of the Thus Come One and penetrate the region of the wonderful. Turned by them, you sink into the endless revolutions of the wheel of rebirth. If you use them well you can perfect the three non-outflow studies of morality, concentration, and wisdom. If you do not use them well, you create the three evil karmas of greed, hatred, and stupidity.
We recite, using poison to fight poison, in order to stop our thoughts. We should resolve to reach the highest enlightenment and not confuse ourselves by looking for what is correct or incorrect, true or false. Actually, the Dharma is without distinction between true and false, and if you are attached to truth or falsehood, you fall into the secondary level of truth. It’s important to remember that your successful cultivation reveals truth and your lack of success indicates falsehood.
The self nature is like empty space, fundamentally without truth or falsehood. At the gates of the six sense organs we have, for limitless kalpas, enacted a play. In birth after birth and death after death we have not escaped the turning wheel of the six destinies. Yet we continue to be attached to our bodies as something that belongs to us. How fortunate are those who haven’t escaped the wheel of rebirth and yet have the opportunity to meet the Buddhadharma and receive the counsel of a Good Knowing One!
Recitation must be cultivated single-mindedly. No matter what method you use, if you don’t put your mind to it, you will have no success. Don’t stand with your feet in two different boats. You’ll never get anywhere if you vacillate between north and south. You must turn your whole mind to cultivation of the Way. When your concentration reaches its ultimate point, you will certainly obtain advantage. For example, extreme suffering turns into bliss and extreme poverty into wealth. The affairs of the world revolve in just this way. So we shouldn’t fear poverty, but work with our true hearts without wavering between belief and disbelief. What if you don’t believe? Then just try it out and see. Give up your body and mind, turn your attention to reciting the Buddha’s name, and see what advantage it holds. If your mind is true, you will certainly attain a wonderful state. If you half believe and half disbelieve, you will accomplish nothing.
When the Buddha was in the world, an old man who wanted to leave home went to the Jeta Grove where the Buddha was staying. When he arrived, the Buddha was away receiving offerings of a meal, and the old man was received by the Buddha’s disciples. They looked into his past causes and conditions and saw that during the past eighty thousand kalpas he had not planted a single root of goodness. Consequently, they did not wish to accept him, and they told him to leave.
In his sorrow, the old man thought, “I am so poor and utterly alone, I’d be better off dead!” He went to the Ganges, determined to throw himself in and end it all. Just then the Buddha, who was returning from his meal, came upon him and said, “What are you doing?”
The old man related his plight and the Buddha said, “It’s not important. Come with me. I’ll let you leave home.” The old man wiped his nose and smiled. He returned with the Buddha, who personally ordained him. The old man certified to Arhatship on the spot. All the Arhats were amazed and asked the Buddha, “How could this old man without any good roots certify to the Way right after leaving home?”
The Buddha replied, “As Arhats, your Heavenly Eyes penetrate only the events of the past eighty thousand kalpas. It so happens that more than eighty thousand kalpas ago the old man was a poor firewood gatherer. One day in the mountains he met a tiger. Having nowhere to run, he quickly climbed a tree. When the tiger began to gnaw at the trunk, the man, frightened out of his wits, thought, ‘Only the compassionate Buddha can save me.’ Then he yelled, ‘Namo Buddha! Save me, quick!’
“Hearing the Buddha’s name, the tiger ran off, and the man’s life was spared. After that, although he never again recited the Buddha’s name, that one good root he planted when he recited the Buddha’s name remained. It has now matured and enabled him to certify to the fruit of Arhatship.”
The Lotus Sutra says that anyone who recites “Namo Buddha” once will realize the Buddha Way. We have now recited not just once, but thousands of times. I deeply believe that you are certain to realize Buddhahood. It’s only a question of time. If you don’t, I will descend into the hells.
Day #12: December 19, 1972
Another disciple wrote a verse:
Sweet dew is sprinkled on our crowns,
Our bodies emit an eternal light;
The three realms are viewed as illusion,
and the three periods of time but a dream.
All of creation only the mind—originally unobstructed;
Manifold good deeds amass great virtues,
the heart becomes free.
Defiled conditions cast aside
we obtain our independence,
And soon are reborn in the Western Land
on a purple-golden throne.
Because we recite the Buddha’s name, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva comes to our aid and sprinkles sweet dew on the tops of our heads. Great Strength Bodhisattva’s brilliance illumines us. These two Bodhisattvas are Amitabha Buddha’s disciples and they have both made vows to help him propagate the Dharma.
With one recitation of the Buddha’s name a lotus forms.
“ Then if I recite ten times do ten blossoms come forth?” you may ask. No, but if ten people recite then ten flowers come forth.
“Since one recitation brings forth one flower, why recite more than once?”
The more you recite, the better the flower. One must recite life after life, until the day arrives when one is born in the upper grade of superior lotus.
There are three realms: the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form and the Formless Realm. The Four Heavenly Kings and people reside in the Desire Realms. Their thoughts are deeply imbedded in desire and heavy defilements which weigh on their hearts. In the Formless Realm all form has vanished and one obtains purity, but attachment to self remains because the eighth consciousness remains, keeping one from experiencing genuine emptiness and escaping the Three Realms.
Far from being peaceful, the Three Realms are like a burning house. Because people think and fantasize, they can’t break their attachment to these false states. Don’t think your body is beautiful and charming, for in reality it is nothing but a stinking bag of skin, not something to treat too fondly.
The three times are the past, present, and future. They are like a dream. When dreaming you don’t know the dream is false, but when you wake up, you realize it was all an illusion. You might dream that you have become a great, wealthy official, but when you wake up, you know it was all unreal. If you can wake up and see through the dream, you will cease to hang on to anything.
Every aspect of behavior is not separate from the self nature. One’s self nature contains everything, and thus “manifold good deeds amass virtue.” With no attachment one obtains liberation; if one can give up defiled dharmas he can become free and quickly gain rebirth on the purple-golden lotus throne in the Western Paradise where he will personally behold Amita Buddha.
Day #13: December 20,1972
Does anyone have any questions?
Disciple: “I do not understand the phrase in the Amitabha Sutra which says, ‘Those living beings who hear this should vow, “I wish to be born in that county.”’ I want to end birth and death and get out of the wheel of rebirth, the sooner the better! I don’t understand why one would wish to be reborn in that land.”
Abbot: A very good question. The answer to it can be found by examining Amitabha Buddha’s cultivation in past lives when he was planting the causes to become a Buddha. From the time he began practicing until he attained the Way, he endured uncountable sufferings.
Therefore he made forty-eight vows in which he promised, “I vow that all beings in the ten directions will obtain rebirth in my country, the Land of Ultimate Bliss, if they but recite my name. When the flower opens they will see the Buddha and awaken to patience with the non-production of dharmas. If they do not realize Buddhahood, I myself will not realize Buddhahood.” The fact that Amitabha is already a Buddha proves that his vow is true, that everyone who recites his name will become Buddhas, too. It was these incomparably vast vows that caused Shakyamuni Buddha to speak the Amitabha Sutra without request.
The question is, “What is the good of being reborn in his land?” Birth in his land is not like birth in ours. We are born as a result of the union of our mothers’s blood and our father’s semen, impure substances. When born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, one emerges from a lotus and enters a realm in which one is irreversible with respect to the highest enlightenment—a realm where there is only bliss and no suffering. The blowing wind, and the waves on the shore, and the fragrances of the flowers all expound the Buddhadharma. Here one is able to realize the Buddha Way and put an end to birth and death. A verse runs:
We vow to be born in the Pure Western Land
With nine grades of lotuses for a father and mother;
When the flower blooms, we’ll see the Buddha
and awaken to non-production,
And take irreversible Bodhisattvas as our friends.
Why does one vow to be born in the west, rather than the east, south, or north? Because Amitabha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss is in the West. In the Pure Land you receive a lotus for parents. When the flower opens, your Buddha-nature, which has dwelt within it, emerges. From that time on you are neither born nor do you die, you are neither defiled nor pure, and you are a peer of non-retreating Bodhisattvas.
A few days ago, you mentioned the Sixth Patriarch’s teaching, “Your very body is the enlightenment ground and your mind the Pure Land.” At that time the Patriarch was speaking to those with keen dispositions, who upon hearing it suddenly united with the dhyana source, their bodies becoming that of the Buddhas. But our roots are dull. How can our very bodies become Buddhas? That is why we must depend on our practice to gradually quiet and purify our hearts and cut away our false thoughts. The Pure Land Dharma-door is the easiest method to practice.
Formerly all the Great Bodhisattvas like Kuan Yin and Great Strength Bodhisattva, Universal Worthy and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva praised the benefits of the Dharma-door of mindfulness of the Buddha. The Elder Dhyana Master Yung Ming Shou especially recommended the method of recollecting the Buddha as the most expedient, the most complete, and the easiest to cultivate.
Even if you don’t believe in it, you shouldn’t slander it; not slandering it is just believing in it. The Amitabha Sutra speaks of the Buddhas of the six directions who bring forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue to praise the Pure Land Dharma-door. If it were not good, why would all the Buddhas have praised it? If you don’t want to cultivate mindfulness of the Buddha, you can give it up and practice dhyana meditation instead. But in cultivating dhyana you cannot be afraid of suffering.
The two-week session of mindfulness of the Buddha will soon be over. Immediately following it, a week of dhyana will begin, and you will rise at 2:30 in the morning and rest at midnight. We’ll see if you are up to it. If you’re not, you can run away. If you can take it, then here in our icebox you can light your natural fire, melt the ice-water, and calm the waves of your own nature. Water changes to ice, ice in turn becomes water. This refers to returning to the origin, finding the source, and seeing your own original face. If you can do this then your cultivation in our icebox will have been worthwhile and a lot of people will join us here. If, however, you die doing it, then no one will dare come.
Someone says, “What’s the use of reciting the Buddha’s name?”
What is the use of all your thinking?
Mindfulness of the Buddha is a substitute for your thoughts. When your thinking disappears, your heart is the Pure Land. There are four Pure Lands:
– The Land Where Sages and Common People Dwell. After common people who are full of delusion have dwelt for a long time in the bud of the lotus flower, it opens at last and they see the Buddha.
– The Land With Residue and Expedient Devices. Those of the Two Vehicles are reborn in this land.
– The Land Adorned with Actual Retribution. This is where Bodhisattvas dwell.
– The Land of Eternal Stillness and Light, where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwell.
Just why have we conducted this Buddha Recitation Session and recited the Buddha’s name for fourteen days? It has been in order to sow seeds and cultivate our Dharma fields. The more we recite the better tended they are, and in the future they will certainly mature and bear full and beautiful fruit. It doesn’t matter whether your mind is scattered or concentrated. It is said,
When the clear pearl is thrown in muddy water,
the muddy water becomes clear.
When the Buddha’s name enters the confused mind,
the confused mind attains Bodhi.
This shows that Buddha recitation is inconceivable, for without extraneous false thinking, you nurture the merit and virtue of your own nature. There are four kinds of Buddha recitation:
– Holding-the-Name Buddha Recitation refers to single-minded recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha.
– Contemplating-and-Thinking Buddha Recitation refers to contemplating and thinking about Amitabha Buddha:
Amitabha’s body is the color of gold,
The splendour of his hallmarks has no peer.
The light of his brow shines round a hundred worlds.
Wide as the seas are his eyes pure and clear.
Shining in his brilliance by transformation,
Are countless Bodhisattvas and infinite Buddhas.
His forty-eight vows will be our liberation.
In nine lotus stages we reach the other shore.
– Contemplating-an-Image Buddha Recitation refers to looking at an adorned image of Amitabha Buddha, reciting his name with your mouth, listening with your ears, and thinking upon it in your heart.
– Real-Mark Buddha Recitation refers to sitting in dhyana meditation and investigating, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” We must find out who it is! Don’t lose track. If you do, you’ll get confused and won’t be able to return to your true home and see Amitabha Buddha.
Tomorrow is Amitabha Buddha’s birthday. We should all be sincere in our worship. Someone asked me, “I want to make an offering to the Master, but what shall I give?”
I replied that the best gift would be the recitation of the Buddha’s name. True recitation is a genuine offering; pure recitation is a genuine offering; wise recitation is a genuine offering. To recite the Buddha’s name with these three attitudes, the three non-outflow studies, is the greatest gift there is. If you bring forth a small heart, that’s a small offering. There is no finer offering than to recite the Buddha’s name because more than anything else, I like people to recite the Buddha’s name. But don’t recite my name; that’s useless. Recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha” and you will create inconceivable merit and virtue.
Day #14: December 21, 1972
Are there any questions?
Disciple: “Earlier, the Master said that there are no women in the Pure Land. The guest I brought to the lecture said afterwards that she found the evening interesting and enjoyable except for this one statement. She asked me if the Master was not in advocate of male chauvinism. I, too, don’t thoroughly understand why such a discrimination between sexes would occur in Amitabha Buddha’s paradise. Would the Master please be compassionate and instruct us?”
Are there any other questions?
Disciple: “I also questioned this when I heard it. It seems strange to me that amidst the vast expanse of lotuses in the Pure Land, all the beings who come forth would be male. What is the use of being male in such an environment?”
Why does a person born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss endure no suffering and enjoy every bliss? In that land there is perpetual happiness. Yesterday I said there are no women in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? Today I will say instead that there are no men. Do you think that your Master is confused? No matter what you think, that’s the way it is. My answer suits the occasion.
Everyone should understand that “in the Great Way there is no distinction between men and women.” When a distinction has been made, one falls into the secondary truth. The primary truth is expressed in the Vajra Sutra, which says, “There is no mark of self, no mark of others, no marks of living beings, and no mark of a lifespan.” How can there possibly be the mark of men and women?
Therefore, one can say that either the Land of Ultimate Bliss is inhabited entirely by men, or entirely by women. Regardless of whether they are men or women, they are without emotion and desire. Everyone’s self-nature is pure and blissful.
All living beings possess the Buddha-nature. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is merely a manifestation of the mind. Your own heart is the Pure Land and your nature, Amitabha. The absence of false thoughts is the Pure Land, and freedom from affliction and the destruction of ignorance are Amitabha. You need only ask yourself if you can break through ignorance and cut off affliction and transcend sexual distinctions. If I said the Land of Ultimate Bliss was inhabited by men, the women wouldn’t like it; if I said only women were born there, the men wouldn’t want to go. Distortions of the eighth consciousness bring thoughts into existence and these create distinctions which cause us to suffer because of attachment.
We are now in the field of enlightenment cultivating the Pure Land Dharma. Because we still belong to the realm of living beings, heavy defilements weigh on our hearts, and we must sternly obey the rules until the defilements disappear and our perpetual discrimination ceases. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the realm of the Bodhisattvas. There, neither men nor women have any desire based on emotion and craving. They are born from pure lotus flowers and thus differ from beings in the Saha World who are born from the union of their mothers’ blood and their fathers’ semen, carnal beings whose lives revolve around emotion and love.
You may have doubts about being born in a lotus, but nevertheless, the Buddha himself explained this principle and was praised by all the Buddhas of the six directions as one who does not lie, nor speak foolishly, unlike beings of the Saha World who are always getting involved in sticky conversations.
If you have reservations about the Pure Land, you should take more time to investigate these areas. With more research and study you will slowly understand.
Ch’an Dharma Talks
At the one-week Ch’an Meditation Session, which followed the Recitation Session, participants arose at two-thirty in the morning to begin meditation and meditated without interruption until twelve midnight each day, with the exception of a one-half hour break for a meal at eleven a.m. Many participants remained sitting in the Ch’an Hall during the two and one-half hour rest period in the middle of the night. During this session the Venerable Master gave the following instructional talks.
Opening of Session: December 22, 1972
Hardships and difficulties refine you. Astronauts are now being trained to rocket into space, while we are in training to refine the Vajra Samadhi so that we may enter into the great enlightenment. The Shurangama Sutra says, “The void arises in the great enlightenment like a bubble arising on the sea.” Therefore, enlightenment is vast and boundless.
During a dhyana session time is precious. Be especially attentive and do not waste a single second. If you waste your time, what will be the worth of the bitterness you have already undergone? Those of you who have endured the suffering without running should work hard, and those who couldn’t take it and ran off can now return if they want to. Everyone should work hard.
Because we are conducting this Dhyana Session, the gods and the dragons and the rest of the eight-fold division of ghosts and spirits have come to protect the field of enlightenment and help us accomplish the karma of the Way. So don’t look down on yourselves. Whoever becomes enlightened will end birth and death and perfect his karma of the Way.
Don’t waste your time like you did during the Buddha Recitation Session. Don’t be like one disciple who had false thinking about stealing Ginseng tea. You don’t have to steal it, I will give it to you to get rid of your false thinking. But once you drink it, you must work hard and seek to become enlightened.
That disciple is rather embarrassed that I have mentioned her false thinking, but if she is guilty, everyone should know about it; when everyone knows, she won’t dare have such false thoughts again. Someone else has been thinking about the fourteen-week meditation session several years ago when he thought about eating cottage cheese, and now he thinks it would be fine to have some more. I grant you your wish, and will give you all cottage cheese and Ginseng tea, but you must work hard.
Now, to begin the Dhyana Session, the verse says,
In Gold Mountain Monastery’s Prajna Hall
We gather from the ten directions,
Here where the Buddhas are selected.
Whoever becomes enlightened will know
The face he had before his mother bore him,
And we’ll grant that he is comfortable, clear and cool.
We will sit in meditation for one hour and then walk for twenty-five minutes. The movement stimulates our circulation and the stillness purifies us of our random thoughts. We must reach the genuine stillness, then we will be able to give forth genuine wisdom and liberate ourselves from birth and death. This is the very best Dharma to cultivate, so don’t waste your time.
Day #1: December 23, 1972
If you’ve learned no other talent from your master than that of “I don’t remember,” you’ve done something wonderful! The Way lies simply in forgetting everything. Now, I have a story for you:
At T’ien T’ung Monastery, one of China’s largest, housing over five thousand monks, dhyana meditation is conducted during the winter months. It is said, “Dhyana in the winter and study in the summer.” Why practice dhyana in the winter? The cold weather makes it difficult to sleep and helps you work hard. You have to turn on your own personal heater and fight the cold. Once you have turned on your own internal heater, not only will you not be cold, you’ll perspire. So don’t be afraid of the cold.
At T’ien T’ung Monastery, no one ate after noon. During the dhyana session, however, what with twenty hours of hard work, not eating after noon, and the cold weather, everyone was hungry and began to toy with the idea of stealing food. The deacon, who had spiritual powers, knew this, and while seated in the hall in meditation, would send out a body that would go enter the storeroom, steal the rice crust, and set a piece in each of the meditation monks’ hands. Rice crust is the crisp layer of rice in the bottom of the pan which is saved and cooked with the next day’s rice. When the bell rang at the end of the sitting period, the monks ate their rice crust with surprise and delight and settled down to work with no further thoughts of stealing food. The amount of rice crust, however, decreased daily until, when it was almost gone, the quartermaster and the cook became concerned and began to wonder who the culprit was.
When they reported the losses to the Abbot Mi Tsu, who also had spiritual powers, he passed it off. “Forget it,” he said. “Maybe you’ve got mice in the pantry.” When the Abbot looked into the matter more deeply, he discovered that the deacon had stolen it.
The next day the Abbot went into the dhyana hall to meditate with the assembly, and sure enough, during the early evening sit the deacon went off to steal the rice crust. He didn’t use his physical body, however, he used his spirit. While his spirit was in the storeroom, the Abbot stashed his physical body underneath the meditation bench. When the deacon returned, he couldn’t find his body, and began to look everywhere for it. When he finally discovered it, he had great difficulty getting himself out from under the bench.
“What are you doing?” said the Abbot. “You’re stealing the rice crust again, eh? That’s a violation of the precepts, You’ll have to leave.”
The deacon replied, “I don’t mind leaving, but these people are too hungry to work. I must request that the Master set up provisional regulations allowing them a little something to eat in the evening.”
“That’s none of your concern,” said the Abbot.
“Perhaps not,” said the deacon, “but unless you grant my request, I won’t leave.”
Because of this the Abbot allowed everyone two vegetarian dumplings each evening.
The deacon left T’ien T’ung Monastery and headed for Hangkow. He passed through the bustling city of Nanking where, by means of his spiritual powers, he stopped to watch an opera. Then, using his spiritual powers once again, he went to Hangkow’s Kuei Yuan Monastery for lunch. The Abbot of Kuei Yuan also had spiritual powers. “Today,” he said, “a bhikshu is coming for lunch. We will eat first and then hit the boards.”
When the deacon arrived, he heard the boards being hit to signal lunch and went straight to the dining hall. But when he entered the hall he saw that everyone had already eaten. “Why aren’t you following the rules?” he demanded. “You are supposed to hit the boards first and then eat.”
“And why did you stop off at Nanking to attend the opera?” countered the Abbot.
Speechless, the deacon left. He went directly to Szechwan where he sat beneath two cinnamon trees to meditate. Later he built a monastery there called “Twin Cinnamon Monastery” which is also very well-known. That is the account of the stolen rice crust. We have among us one shameless bhikshuni who wanted to steal some ginseng. Therefore I have given you all ginseng tea to drink in the morning and in the evening, even though originally ginseng is not taken until the fourth day of a dhyana session. I only hope that you will all work hard and seek enlightenment. If you don’t, you’ll disappoint me, and the tea will have gone to waste.
You should all sacrifice your small selves and perfect your great selves, like the deacon who stole food for everyone else, not just for himself. This is sacrificing the small self and perfecting the great. The small self is the physical body; the Buddha-nature is the great self, for it is the total substance with great function. Living beings are a part of the Buddha-nature and so they must return to the root and go back to the source, return the parts to the whole in order to realize the great function. This is to sacrifice the small in order to perfect the great.
There are twenty people attending this Dhyana Session, which is not bad. I hope that you all put forth a great effort, use your time well, and arrive at your aim; return to the root and go back to the source.
Day #2: December 24, 1972 (afternoon)
The primary aim of a dhyana session is to unite body and mind. The body must follow the rules when walking, standing, sitting, and reclining. The mind must not fantasize or engage in thoughts of greed, hatred, or stupidity. You must single-mindedly investigate, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” This investigation is like drilling a hole through a piece of wood. Prior to penetrating, there is the daily work of drilling. Our “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” is the drilling, and we must drill until we open enlightenment. Thus we investigate throughout the day, at every moment. When our investigation penetrates, everything which has not yet been understood will become clear.
In your investigation you should be like a cat stalking a mouse. The mouse is like one’s thoughts, and the recitation of “Who is reciting the Buddha’s name” while relentlessly guarding oneself against false thoughts, is like the cat.
Investigation is also like a dragon guarding its pearl. Always attentive to just his most precious possession, the dragon never strays from his gem. Again, investigation is like a hen brooding over her eggs, thinking about them day in and day out, until they finally hatch.
In our investigation of dhyana we must investigate continually without fear of heat or cold. We should be as conscientious as that mother hen. We absolutely must get through to “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” “Who am I?” and find the “Who,” thereby accomplishing our work.
There are many topics which may be used to investigate dhyana. “Who was I before my parents bore me?” is one. “What in the world is not subject to production, dwelling, decay, and extinction?” is another. “Dried excrement,” is another. Don’t laugh and call this a stinking topic, because it’s already dried out and has no odor! Besides, if you can investigate it you’ll come up with something that has a lot of “flavor” to it! Whichever topic you respond to is the best one for you.
From the Ch’ing Dynasty on, the topic most frequently used has been “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” The word “Who?” is most important, since no one knows who is mindful of the Buddha. If you know, you are enlightened.
“But the one mindful of the Buddha is just me!” you may say. “How could I not know who that is?”
When you die and have been cremated to ashes, where have you gone? To find the “you” of your self nature, which is mindful of the Buddha and which does not die, is the spiritual exercise of investigating dhyana. When your investigation reaches the point that the mountains are leveled, the seas disappear, and you doubt that there’s a way at all, then suddenly, there beyond the dark willows and the bright flowers is another village. Although you felt there was no way, there is yet another world, another realm—the realm of light peace. Those who can investigate to the ultimate point can experience freedom, independence, and the bliss of both body and mind—a bliss which is incomparable.
In cultivation one must neither forget the work nor force it, a point which is well-illustrated in the following story:
There was a man from Sung who notice that the sprouts in his fields were growing very slowly. Determined to think of a way to help them grow fast, he went to his field one day and pulled each sprout straight up an inch or two higher than it had been. He then returned home and said to his family, “I’m exhausted! I’ve spent the entire day helping my sprouts grow.” His son, wondering what new scientific method his father had discovered, went to the fields only to find that all the sprouts had withered and died.
Cultivation of the Way is similar. You should not be like the man of Sung who forced his plants to grow. The element of the wonderful enters your cultivation at the point when you neither relax your cultivation nor force it. An ancient has said, “Don’t try to go too fast or you won’t reach your aim. Don’t be satisfied with small gains or you will never accomplish great works.” Don’t be like one of my disciples who, after two years of cultivation wanted to know why she hadn’t become a Buddha. I asked her, “ You lived at home for more than ten years. What advantage did you gain in all that time?”
If it weren’t for the chill that strikes to the bone,
How could the plum blossom be so fragrant?
Plum trees bloom in the bitter cold and so their fragrance is especially sweet.
In investigating dhyana you should not fear pain or cold. Don’t sit during meditation waiting for the bell to ring like one of my disciples did when she first began to meditate. Her brain was clouded with a smog of thoughts then, but over the years she has gotten a little better. Her head is a little clearer, which indicates a bit of progress.
In general, when you first begin to investigate dhyana you will experience pain in your knees, ankles, and back which makes you uncomfortable. When people’s legs hurt, they stretch them out, and when their backs ache, they lean against the wall. But in the dhyana hall, one is beaten for stretching out his legs! And leaning against the wall is a violation of the rules. When there is pain you must be patient. Bear the pain, the hunger, and the fatigue. If Buddhist lay disciples can be like this, even more should those who have left the home life be like this! Resolve to break all pain barriers so that you may gain inner freedom and peace. Investigation of dhyana is basically a battle with the Demon King—birth and death. Since this is a battle of life and death, you should even more be able to resist a little pain. Will it kill you? No! So what is there to fear? One could speak forever about the advantages of investigating dhyana. I have spoken just a little.
During a dhyana session time is extremely valuable. Each second holds the chance to become enlightened. Don’t waste a minute! How do you know that in that very moment that you wasted you wouldn’t have become enlightened?
“Perhaps,” you may say. “But I don’t want to become enlightened. What use is it?”
Then why did you come here to investigate dhyana? If you have that attitude you will leave Gold Mountain empty-handed. Wouldn’t that be a shame?
When I participated in dhyana sessions I never left the dhyana hall except to attend to essential matters. Do you remember two years ago when five of you went to Taiwan to take the complete precepts? In Hong Kong you met Bhikshu Ming Kuan who told you that he and I had sat together for ten consecutive weeks of meditation during which time we sat in the hall both day and night. If he hadn’t mentioned that, I wouldn’t have remembered it. Now, in following me, you are perfecting your ability to forget things. Not bad! Keep it up and you can obtain my robe and bowl and then even be able to forget them!
We have talked enough. We should investigate more. Investigate to the point of no-enlightenment. After all, didn’t someone say earlier that enlightenment was useless?
Day #2 (Evening)
Meditation, like all cultivation, must be practiced daily without interruption.
“But when will I be enlightened?” you ask.
It all depends on how hard you work. If you investigate in the morning and in the evening, while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, your skill will mature and you will certainly become enlightened. For example, you can’t see the trees grow, but everyday they become taller. Meditation is like the wild grass growing in the spring; you can’t see it grow, but daily it becomes more profuse. If you don’t work, you are like a whetstone which decreases imperceptibly day by day.
“But people aren’t stone!” you say. “What decreases?”
What is lost is your inherent wisdom. Don’t think that you will obtain the Way immediately. Of course, everyone wants to become enlightened quickly, but if you don’t work how can you? When you went to school, you passed through grades from elementary school to high school to the University and then perhaps on to take a Master’s or a Doctor’s degree. It’s much less easy to become a Buddha.
Someone has regrets, “Had I known it would be this difficult, I never would have attended the session.” It’s too late now! Since you’ve already joined, you should finish what you began. I’ll tell you frankly that it won’t be a waste. When you attend one dhyana session, your Bodhi sprouts grow just that much taller. attend two sessions and they grow even taller. The day will certainly come when they bear fruit. So have no regrets. Not the slightest effort goes to waste, and the wisdom-life of your Dharma body will grow naturally. Even those who are not attending the session but who have just come to take a look plant good roots. Strive mightily and have no regrets!
When investigating, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” things may get vague. You investigate diligently, but you can’t figure out “who” it is. If you can continue without stopping, however, you will give rise to a “feeling of doubt.” With great doubt there is great enlightenment; with a small doubt there is a small enlightenment; and with no doubt there is no enlightenment.
What is meant by “a feeling of doubt?” Beginning meditators may bring forth thoughts of doubt, but they can only be called “thoughts.” They don’t count as a “feeling” of doubt. They may think, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” Then gradually the ghosts of the mad mind become collected and diminish until you gain control of the questioning thought of “Who?” This is called “investigation,” and is the “feeling of doubt.” When your skill is pure and ripe, even when you are not doubting, you will doubt without interruption. You will investigate the word “Who?” continuously for several hours with great clarity.
At that time you won’t breathe, your pulse will have stopped, your thoughts will have stopped, and you will have attained profound and great enlightenment. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you will be in samadhi, without entering or leaving it. Above there will be no heaven and below no earth; and in between there will be no people. Everything will be empty. Even empty space will have been obliterated. So the Shurangama Sutra says, “The void arises in the great enlightenment like a bubble arising on the sea. When the bubble bursts, emptiness basically does not exist, much less the three realms of existence.”
When empty space has been annihilated, what kind of state remains? When there is no emptiness, what confused thoughts can there be? At that time it is very easy to become enlightened, to return to the root and go back to the source, to understand your mind and see your nature. Understanding your mind and seeing your nature, there are no obstructions anywhere—no worries and no troubles. You are absolutely imperturbable. With samadhi like that, Mount T’ai could collapse in front of you and you wouldn’t be startled. A beautiful woman—or a handsome man—could stand in front of you, but you wouldn’t move at all. That is independence, true independence!
Those who wish to become enlightened must not be lazy; all the Patriarchs and Buddhas of the past were heroically vigorous. Then they were able to realize the Way, perfect the three enlightenments, and complete the ten thousand conducts.
In the Ch’an Hall, the vigorous ones make progress. The Ch’an Hall is called the Prajna Hall and so the verse says,
In Gold Mountain Monastery’s Prajna Hall,
We gather from the ten directions,
Here, where Buddhas are selected.
Whoever becomes enlightened will know
The face he had before his mother bore him,
And we’ll grant that he is comfortable, clear, and cool.
The Prajna Hall has been designed as a place for you to refine your wisdom. You should become smarter the more you study, not stupider.
“It’s too bitter,” you say. “I really can’t take it.”
If you can endure what you can’t endure and conquer all difficulties, you are an extraordinary person. Any person can do common things. You should strive to be one who stands above the crowd. Then you will be a person of honor and ability, one capable of great undertakings.
The Buddhas have gathered here from the ten directions in the hall where the Buddhas are selected. We, too, have assembled from the ten directions to cultivate and train together. Let’s see who can be the first to become enlightened and realize Buddhahood. Whoever can find his original face, the one he had before he was born, will obtain genuine independence, clarity and ease.
I hope that you will be able to find out “who” you were before your mother gave birth to you. Not that face with the blue eyes, but the one you had before you were born—your original face. Search! We must find out “Who?”
Day #3: December 25, 1972 (Evening)
Here in the Buddha-selecting Hall, the assembly is undergoing an examination. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are the certifiers. If you pass the test you become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. If you fail, you have to begin again. The topic is “collecting garbage.” Some time ago I gave one of my disciples the nickname “The Garbage Collector.” I gave him this name because he volunteered to pay the temple’s garbage bills. Now we are collecting the garbage. What garbage? The garbage in our brains—the lust, jealousy, afflictions, greed, anger, and stupidity. Our investigation of dhyana is like using the vajra sword of wisdom to cut off our emotion and desires, ignorance and affliction.
When the Buddha was in the world he had a disciple named “Little Roadside” who had no memory whatsoever. Since he forgot everything, he was unable to cultivate. Shakyamuni Buddha taught him to recite “sweep clean,” and by using this method he finally obtained the Way. Investigating dhyana is like sweeping. The “Who?” of “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” sweeps our minds and clears away all mixed-up thoughts and false notions. If you can investigate the word “Who?” the heavenly demons and outside ways have no way to snare you.
You constantly grasp the wisdom sword to conquer all deviant beings, and use the white whisk to brush away the demons so they can’t find a place to worm their way in. If you forget the word “Who?” you have dropped your sword and whisk and the demons may wriggle their way in. This is why it is essential to maintain single-minded concentration when meditating. Those who truly work are unaware of hunger, thirst, cold, or heat. They reach the point where they know nothing at all and yet understand everything. No matter what, you must push it to the extreme, for it is at the extreme that the change will occur. At the ultimate, stillness is movement and movement is stillness.
Daytime is movement and nighttime is stillness. Arriving at the extremity of stillness, there is movement. When the darkest point of the night is reached, daytime begins. This cyclical pattern occurs over various lengths of time. For example, there is also the movement and stillness of the yearly cycle. The winter solstice is the beginning of yang, which is movement, and the summer solstice is the beginning of yin, which is stillness. In the daily cycle, stillness begins at noon, not at sunset. Movement begins, not at dawn, but at midnight when the first yang energies begin to rise. At noon, the yin energies arise. There are twelve divisions of time:
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Day #3: December 25, 1972 (Evening) continues:
It is at its extreme limit that stagnation brings peace. When we who are meditating feel the pain in our legs, we should let it hurt, for when the pain reaches an extreme point, the pain barrier can be broken. If you sit a half hour and the pain comes you should hold the thought of no pain, and then the pain will subside. After another half hour or so when the pain comes on strong again you must be patient. Grit your teeth and the pain will behave itself. You will have been victorious over yet another barrier, and will attain to a liberation in which there is limitless freedom and comfort. You must not be like a child who cries at the first sign of pain, because this brings no benefit at all. You must be resolute! Embody the three fearlessness: no fear of suffering, no fear of pain, and no fear of difficulty. Only in this way will you break through the barrier.
Day #4: December 26, 1972
Without even realizing it, four days of the Session have passed. Some people have wasted them, others have made progress. Whether or not you’ve progressed, you must follow the rules. When the bell rings to end the sitting period you may go to the toilet, have a drink of water, or a cup of tea. But you must hurry back. The women’s toilet is on the second floor and the men’s on the third. A couple of minutes before each meditation period the proctor should go to the third floor and hit the boards three times to remind everyone to return to the hall. Then he can start the sitting period. Meditators should be responsible and return on time. Don’t make the proctor wait for you.
Once the sit has begun, unless an extremely important matter comes up, no one is allowed to leave the hall. Not to speak of ordinary people, even Wei T’ou Bodhisattva has to stand still and protect the Dharma and isn’t allowed to run around.
We walk for twenty minutes with a brief run at the end, and sit in dhyana for a full hour. The hours between five and seven in the afternoon are rest hours during which time you may relax and doze off. But you must not snore, because that obstructs others. The rest hours are necessary because we begin at 2:30 in the morning and sit until midnight. It would be even better, however, if you didn’t sleep during this time and continued to meditate. Because this period is longer than the others, many people get enlightened during this time.
Dhyana must be practiced for long periods of time. You can’t say that because your legs hurt you don’t want to sit anymore and then just wait for the bell to end the sitting period. With that attitude you won’t accomplish anything. Meditation is also a test to see if you have the strength to break through all obstructions.
When the sitting period ends, we run—and exercise which gets our circulation going. Sitting is cultivation of morality. You may only run in the dhyana hall, however; you can’t run outside. This is not a foot race. If you take it as one you may run to the ends of the earth, but you won’t answer the question, “Who?”
In the big halls in China they run in lines three or five abreast. But our place is smaller and so we should run in a single file. To begin the period of movement, walk slowly for ten to twenty-five minutes at the most and then signal the end of the running, then take a turn or two around the hall at a brisk run. By that time your blood and breath will be stirred up. You don’t have to run until you perspire and are all out of breath; that will only obstruct your work.
When you sit in dhyana, it’s best to sit in the full lotus position, as it is easy to enter samadhi in this position. The gods and dragons and the entire eight-fold division will come to protect you and the heavenly demons won’t dare attack. This is called the Buddha posture. If your legs get too stiff, you can switch to half lotus for a while, but it won’t be as easy to enter samadhi. Haven’t I told you before about the “Ghost Pressured Dhyana Master?” When he was meditating some ghosts came to annoy him. Because he was sitting in full-lotus, they saw him as a golden pagoda and bowed to him instead. When he took one leg down and sat in half-lotus they saw him as a silver pagoda but continued to bow. When he uncrossed his legs altogether, they saw only a mud statue and proceeded to give him trouble.
Once your legs are crossed and you are comfortable, cover up your lap with a heavy cotton robe or a blanket. Your legs may become stiff if they get cold. But don’t cover your head or the upper part of your body. If the upper part of your body is a little chilly it doesn’t matter; it will just make it that much harder to fall asleep. Don’t draw your legs up or stretch them out or let your head hang down in front of you. These are all violations of the rules. You can’t just casually stretch your back, either. How can you cultivate if you do these things? You should be steady at all times, like vajra.
Not one of you is as strong as I am! Having come to America, I find people meditating, but looking like freaks. Basically, I think it’s bad manners to mention this, but you are really extraordinarily peculiar. I have never sat in meditation with a blanket wrapped around my head nor worn a blanket around me when I ran. You might get away with this strange style in the mountains or the desert, but if you are afraid of the cold here, you should simply wear more clothes. In the high mountains of China no matter how cold it gets, meditators never wrap themselves in blankets. They all follow the rules, and at the most this entails wearing a thick cotton robe. They would never act as strangely as you do.
One of my disciples basically is not afraid of the cold, but whenever he sits in meditation he wraps himself up in a blanket so that I can’t even recognize him. I am particularly fond of him though, and so I haven’t said anything. But today I felt that this style doesn’t fit and so I decided to mention it.
I myself am afraid of cold and heat, but in several decades of meditation I have never wrapped myself in a blanket or covered my head. When I was in Hupei for several years, the winters were severely cold and snowy, but I still wore only three layers of cotton clothing. However, I smelled an especially fine and rare fragrance every day, not like anything of this world. But smells are just smells, and I paid no attention. Perhaps the gods took pity on me, a thin-robed bhikshu working in spite of the cold. I endured the cold winter snows in Manchuria for over twenty years, wearing only three layers of cotton clothing and sometimes even went barefoot in the snow.
I had no friends in Hupei. From morning to night no one paid any attention to me; everyone looked down on me as a totally useless individual. Who would have guessed that this useless person would now have come to America? If I had no friends, it was not because I acted aloof. I was always extremely respectful towards everyone and dwelt in harmony with them. I never thought, “How can you supervise me?” Anyone at all could order me around, even the young novices. If a novice told me to pick vegetables, I obeyed, picked them, washed them very carefully, and gave them to him. I worked as the cook, the janitor, and also carried water for them and tended the vegetable garden.
I cleaned the excrement out of the pit toilets as well. We didn’t have flush toilets like you do here in America. Pit toilets must be cleaned out or they stink to high heaven. The worms which live in them, however, think the toilets are not bad at all. As I cleaned the toilets I came to understand that jealousy, selfishness, self-seeking and eating good food without doing any work caused these beings to be reborn in the toilet, where they might really eat well. So I’m warning you not to be jealous, selfish, or self-seeking, because if you are, you will certainly turn into a dung beetle.
You should meditate with a level mind and a quiet air. Your eyes should watch your nose; your nose should watch your mouth, and your mouth should watch over your heart. Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth so that you can swallow your saliva easily. Saliva is also called “the sweet dew of your own home,” or “the medicine of immortality.” It’s called sweet dew because after you meditate for a while your saliva will become sweet. If you drink all of it, your body will be strong and healthy. But this kind of skill can’t be obtained in a few days. You have to continue working for a long time, put everything else aside, and attend more dhyana sessions in order to obtain these advantages.
There are too many rules regarding the dhyana hall to mention them all now, and so I have given you a general description of the subject. I should have told you these things at the beginning of the session, but I thought you were all old-timers, and already knew them all. Now I’ve discovered that you still don’t understand them and so I have brought them up. Although they aren’t major rules, it’s just because you don’t follow the minor rules that you don’t accomplish the great enlightenment.
I know that several people have already reached the realm of no others and no self. This is called “light peace” and is the beginning of concentration. Now you should continue to work very hard and you will obtain genuine advantage. If you want to make progress you must not be lazy! Don’t cheat yourself, cheat others, or cheat on the time. Everyone will say, “Such a lazy ghost! What kind of meditation does he practice, anyway?”
Investigate with a level mind and a light air. Don’t be over-anxious or you’ll get over-heated. Don’t be sloppy or you won’t make progress. Grasp the Doctrine of the Mean:
Go too fast and you’ll trip;
Dally and you’ll fall behind.
Never rush and never dally,
And you’ll get there right on time.
Investigate happily and naturally; be at ease when walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. If you relax, you will make progress. You may not be able to find the “Who?” but nonetheless you won’t be able to lose track of the “Who?” You won’t recognize the “Who?” but you won’t leave it for even a second and will be one with it until you reach the state in which, even when you are eating, you won’t eat a single grain.
“Aren’t you lying?” you ask.
No. Not eating means that you are not attached to eating. When you eat, you eat; when you wear clothes, you wear clothes, but you aren’t attached to anything you do. Walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you are intent on your work. If you’re not attached to eating or wearing clothes, other matters will be even less a problem to you. Is this anything but genuine freedom?
Day #5: December 27, 1972
Are there any questions?
Disciple: “I lost my vajra-indestructible resolve today. When the pain in my legs became severe, although I wanted to continue to work, the false thoughts about the pain kept welling up like waves until finally I lost control.”
Where did your false thoughts come from?
“Perhaps from my pride.”
Why did you cry?
“Because I was suffering too much. I have never undergone so much suffering. I was at once intent on controlling myself and yet unable to do so. My crying was probably a way to release the tension of my unhappy state.”
We investigate “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” so we can break our attachment to “self.” If you are able to make the effort to travel this road vigorously, you will have no other thought than the investigation of the topic, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” and the time will fly. When you apply maximum effort in meditation, you will have no more than sat down when you will hear the bell ring to end the sit.
It is essential, however, not to brood over why you aren’t attaining any tangible results from your work, for with this additional thought, you lose the word, “Who?” Once that happens, there can be no response. Those who truly know how to work do not lose track of the topic, “Who?’ Little by little, slicing through all other thoughts, they ceaselessly examine it, until body, mind and consciousness all vanish. Thoughts such as “My legs hurt,” or “I can’t stand it anymore,” are but distortions of the sixth consciousness. When body, mind and consciousness are smashed you cannot be turned by such thoughts and you will be unaware of pain and will attain genuine freedom and ease.
When a response is obtained, your wisdom will open and you may become enlightened in a flash. In an ancient text is the phrase: “If a person sits quietly for an instant, it is better than building pagodas of the seven jewels as many as the sands of the Ganges River.” Genuine entry into samadhi eradicates limitless kalpas of offenses bound in birth and death in an instant. If you can sit quietly for an instant and experience unity within yourself, if you can use your pure heart to illumine inwardly, you can leap out of the wearisome involvement with the objective world. Your body and mind will be healthy and at peace, free and crystal clear. That is why all the Patriarchs of the past have enjoyed meditating.
It is said that the merit from this work is greater than that derived from building as many pagodas of the seven precious gems as there are sand-grains in the Ganges River. This is because building pagodas and temples is merely making material offerings to the Buddha. Although such offerings can cause living beings who see the temples to give rise to faith in the orthodox Dharma, the merit it brings is, nonetheless, only merit with outflows. If you can sit quietly, in one instant you establish true merit—the merit of the Buddha. Returning to your source you gain the light of wisdom which is genuine merit and virtue, free of outflows.
If the merit from just one instant is that great, think how much greater will be the merit from sitting pure, still, and clear without dozing off for an entire hour! By doing this, although you may not awaken to the Way, you will have truly planted a Bodhi-seed which will one day reach fruition.
When I meditated for ten weeks on K’ung Ch’ing Mountain, when the weeks had passed I felt that they had barely begun. This was because I was single-mindedly concentrated and did not pay attention to trivial matters. I sat in meditation all day without noticing the pain because I had broken the pain barrier. You need only sit for a long time and the pain will settle down and become obedient.
Those who have just begun to work experience all kinds of distress-their legs hurt, their back hurts, and they feel uncomfortable all over. Call on your patience, use your samadhi, and defeat all difficulties; that way you’ll obtain benefit.
When sitting in meditation, it’s best not to be moved by any state that you encounter. If you fantasize and are greedy for a vision of the Buddha, a vision of flowers, or any other vision, then the state is false. If you think about wanting to see something and then see it, it is false. For the state to be true it is essential that there are no thoughts prior to the state itself.
Actually, when you meditate it is best not to have anything at all, only emptiness. Be without fear or joy, because fear and joy expose you to attacks from demons. This is discussed in the Shurangama Sutra in the section about the fifty skandha demons. Do not be turned by states.
It is said, “If the demon comes, beat him away; if the Buddha comes, smash him.” The most important thing is to remain unattached. Don’t become overjoyed upon seeing the Buddha, because that is not true joy. It is also said, “If you are fond of it, it is not genuine; if you are afraid of it, it is not genuine.” If it makes you angry or confused, it is not genuine.” In a state of unmoving suchness, one does not give rise to distinctions or regard states as important.
In this way, one avoids flowing along with them, becoming turned by them. If a state appears, let it be. If no state appears, don’t go looking for one. From limitless kalpas past until the present we have accumulated all kinds of states of mind within the field of our eighth consciousness. Sitting quietly allows these states to come forth in a way that they can be recognized, just like the moon’s reflection in water which is not evident when the water is turbulent and muddied, but appears clearly when the water is allowed to settle.
The clear mind is like the moon in the water;
The mind in samadhi is like the cloudless sky.
Don’t take states of mind as being true or false. Working hard is true. Many people don’t understand this and when they encounter a state they may think that they have become enlightened or have been attacked by demons. Be without fear or joy. Don’t be attached to anything and you will reach a state of real accomplishment.
Day #6: December 28, 1972
If you have any questions you may bring them up.
Disciple: “The Japanese Zen Master, Dogen, said, “All can become Buddhas,” but I have doubts about that. Perhaps other people can become Buddhas, but not me, or at least that’s how I feel sometimes. However, listening to the Master’s instructions and to the events of his experiences while cultivating has moved me greatly and encouraged me to follow him vigorously.
Yesterday the Master said that the merit and virtue obtained from sitting quietly in dhyana samadhi for even an instant surpasses that obtained from building pagodas of the seven gems as many as there are grains of sand in the Granges. When I heard this, I realized that I had been “building pagodas” instead of “building Buddhas,” and so I have not been able to enter samadhi. I wonder if, when my pagoda is finished, the Master will consent to live there?”
The Master continued: The phrase, “All beings can become Buddhas” was spoken by the Buddha, and later by Dhyana Master Dogen. Now, your miraculous thoughts have opened the heavens! Yesterday, when I spoke about the difference between sitting in samadhi and building pagodas, I did not mean that one should not build pagodas. If you want to build them, the more the better. But his does not refer to simply thinking about building them. You must actually do it. Don’t you think that the merit of building gemmed pagodas as many as there are Ganges sands would be inconceivable? Can you do it? However, this is an analogy. If you are truly able to enter samadhi for even an instant, to return the light to shine within, and be a person of the Way without a mind, then your merit and virtue surpasses that obtained from building pagodas. If you really want to build one, of course, the merit will be great. But you must actually do it, not just talk about it.
Today I have a story to tell about “sitting quietly for an instant.” Long ago, in China, on Wei Mountain in Hunan Province, lived a Dhyana Master Wei, “The Old Man of Mount Wei.” He cultivated on the mountain and after several years many people came to pay their respect. When the news reached Minister P’ei Hsiu, he, too, went to call on him and in their first exchange of words P’ei Hsiu felt that they hid it off very well. He believed in the Master and praised him as a lofty Sangha-member of great virtue. When he thought of the broken-down shack the old man lived in he decided to make an offering. “This is really too bitter,” he said. “I should build him a big temple so that he can teach the multitudes,” and he gave the Old Man three hundred ounces of silver. Silver was very valuable at that time—three hundred ounces could build ten temples the size of the one we are in now.
As the Old Man didn’t have closet or truck, P’ei Hsiu set the money outside the hut on the grass and left.
Three years later he returned to call on the Old Man and found him still living in the same shabby hut. Thinking this strange, he asked the Old Man, “Three years ago I gave you three hundred ounces of silver. Why haven’t you built a temple? Just what have you done with the money?”
“Silver?” said the Old Man. “Where did you put it? Go look for it there.”
Sure enough, the three hundred ounces of silver hadn’t moved an inch; they were still sitting in the grass. Pe’i Hsiu admired the Old Man’s lofty virtue even more, and decided to build the temple himself. He began that very day and built a temple big enough to house three thousand monks. When it was completed, many Dhyana Masters went to live there, cultivate, and work hard.
Seeing so many high masters living together, P’ei Hsiu was delighted and instructed his son to bow to the Old Man as his teacher and leave the home-life under him. His son was a Han Lin, a high-ranking scholar, and when he left home the Old Man named him Fa Hai and said, “Since you have just left home you must practice austerities. I appoint you water carrier. You must haul water for us every day.” The boy rose early and carried water all day until late at night without stopping to rest. He did nothing but carry water for several years and had no time to study Sutras or bow to the Buddha. His cultivation consisted solely of carrying water and reciting the Buddha’s name.
One day Fa Hai thought, “I’ve been here for several years, but I’ve still not seen the inside of the meditation hall. I think I’ll go take a look.” It just so happened that when he stole a peek into the hall the monks were taking a nap and snoring up a storm. This made him unhappy. “I’m a Han Lin,” he said, “and I carry water for these people. I thought they were working hard, but they’re only sleeping!”
As soon as he had that thought, the Abbot sent an attendant to get Fa Hai. In all these years he had not seen his teacher, and now the Old Man said, “Pack up your things and get out. We can’t keep you here. You’ll have to move.”
“But what have I done?” Fa Hai said. “Why are you throwing me out?”
The Abbot said, “Did you or did you not have a thought about it being a waste of time to carry water for people who are sleeping in the dhyana hall?”
“Yes,” said Fa Hai, “because I saw that they were all sleeping and weren’t working.”
The Old Man said, “When the Old Monk sits once in meditation he can digest ten thousand pounds of gold. But you, you snob of a Han Lin, what kind of cultivation do you do? You’ll have to get out.”
Fa Hai knelt and begged for forgiveness, saying that he should be pardoned because this was his first offense. But the Old Man refused.
“Then where shall I go?” Fa Hai said.
The Old Man gave him eight and a half cents and said, “Dwell right where you happen to be when you have spent the last of this eight and a half cents.”
Fa Hai went down the mountain, begging for money as he traveled because he didn’t dare use the eight and a half cents. He went straight from Hunan to Nanking. As he crossed the river at Chenkiang, intending to climb the mountain on the other side, the ferryman asked for the fare—exactly eight and a half cents. Fa Hai paid him and went to dwell on the mountain.
The mountain wasn’t called Gold Mountain at the time, but late one night Fa Hai saw light shining out of a cave. In the cave he discovered two crocks full of gold which he used to build Gold Mountain Chiang T’ien Monastery.
All old-time meditators know about “Gold Mountain Legs,” and “Kao Min Incense.” If you want to sit at Gold Mountain, your legs must be well-trained for meditation, for you are not allowed to stretch them out during a sit, no matter how much they hurt. At Kao Min Monastery the sitting periods are measured by the length of time it takes a stick of incense to burn—they were particularly long and precisely timed.
Day #7: December 29, 1972
The Dhyana Session has passed quickly. Those who have had a response from their work should not be pleased with themselves; those who have had no response should not be distressed, but should continue to work hard. You now know the method for meditating, and so you can continue your work on your own. You should be mindful wherever you are. You should be concerned only with maintaining the investigation of your topic.
Become single-minded in your concentration and one day you will become enlightened. If you do not concentrate your efforts, then even if Shakyamuni Buddha came to teach you, you wouldn’t become enlightened. This Dhyana Session has been a good one, and most of you worked very hard. Although some time was wasted after lunch when you did not return to the hall right away, it would be unfair to scold you for it. We are breaking new ground here, and in the beginning there is difficulty. We are digging the foundation of Buddhism now, and this is why you must nourish your Bodhi-seeds well. So I am not too severe with you.
This year several people have obtained some advantages and realized small enlightenments. If you ask who they were, then one of them wasn’t you! If you don’t ask, then perhaps you had a share in it. At any rate, don’t be nervous. There will be more chances in the future. Work well and don’t waste your time. Find your original face, the one you had before your parents gave birth to you. As for right now, you’re still here freezing in the icebox.
Do you have any questions?
Disciple: “May I ask the Master to point out the areas in which we don’t measure up to dhyana sessions as they were conducted in Chinese monasteries?”
There are many differences. However, as Buddhism begins in the West we can retain the good points of Eastern Buddhism and discard the bad ones. This will rid it of all defects. In China, participants in dhyana sessions ate three times a day: rice gruel in the morning, a full meal at noon, and vegetable dumplings in the evening. We don’t measure up here because we only eat one meal a day, before noon.
In China, all the participants got beaten, whether they deserved it or not. If you were good you were beaten, if you were bad you were beaten. The proctors rotated the beatings. The severity of the beatings was in direct proportion to the rigidity of the monastery rules. Kao Min, for instance, was famous for its beatings. Sometimes they even broke the boards during the beatings. This year you haven’t been beaten. This is another difference.
The High Monk at Kao Min struck terror into everyone’s heart. He never smiled. Those who sat in the hall were like mice around a cat—they didn’t dare move a muscle. Not only do I not hit you, but I entertain you all day.
Why should you undergo such suffering as you have this past week? Because this country is reaping the rewards of too many blessings. If you weren’t exposed to a certain amount of bitterness, you wouldn’t be able to make the great resolve to cultivate the Way. You don’t wear fine clothes, eat fine food, or live in a grand house. You have voluntarily given up such things in order to come here and endure suffering. In this way you can free yourself of arrogance and bad habits and truly cultivate in order to end birth and death.
In Chinese meditation halls one is not allowed to stretch out one’s legs. Those who do, get beaten, that’s all there is to it. Even the proctor gets beaten if he breaks the rules. For instance, if he nods off and is discovered by a subordinate, the subordinate must kneel before the proctor with one knee on the ground and then hit him with the incense board. The protocol in beating varies with an individual’s rank.
When tea is served there is a certain way to hold the bowl. Since the bowls don’t have handles, the thumb holds the upper rim and the tips of one’s fingers are placed underneath. Then one extends one’s bowl and the one on duty pours the tea. When finished, one sets the bowls right in front of one and the bowls are then gathered and removed from the hall—all without a sound. Our methods vary a little, but this is not important. Besides, we don’t want to follow the Chinese customs to the letter; we should incorporate the customs of the West as well.
In China, during meditation periods no one left the hall to get tea, take a break, or stand around and talk. After the noon meal they returned to the hall immediately and continued walking, without wasting a second.
(The Master has a disciple in Hong Kong who wrote him a letter. He instructed another disciple to read it to the assembly. An exerpt from it reads: “…because as a lay person I would find myself entertaining and visiting with relatives and friends too much, I have made up my mind to leave the home-life and concentrate on recitation of the Buddha’s name. My son has already agreed to this. Now would the Master consent to let me receive the precepts?”)
The letter was written by my foremost Dharma protector in Hong Kong, Kuo Man. Before she met me she was afraid of monks. She first met me when I was at Fu Jung Mountain in Kuan Yin Cave. She came one day while I was eating noodles and I invited her to join me. She wanted to but didn’t dare. Finally she did eat some and she also drank some of the mountain spring water, which she found extremely sweet. She asked me if I had put sugar in it.
“No,” I replied.
“Then why is it so sweet?” she asked.
“If you think it’s sweet, then drink some more,” I said.
She drank three or four more cups. She also noticed that my clothing was tattered and the next time she came she brought me two sets of sturdy clothing which she had made herself. They could have been worn for ten years without wearing thin. Each time she came she drank a lot of spring water.
After a time I went to Hsi Le Yuan (Western Bliss Gardens) Temple and she searched for me but couldn’t find me. She asked everywhere, but no one would tell her where I was. Finally, after two years she found me and brought her sons and daughters to Hsi Le Yuan to see me. Her whole family took refuge with the Triple Jewel.
Once when she came to attend a Dharma assembly she noticed that one of the trees in the courtyard was covered with bugs. Her two greatest fears were monks and insects. Paralyzed with fear, she said, “I’d really like to come here and bow to the Buddha, but those bugs frighten me out of my wits!”
I said, “When you come tomorrow there won’t be any bugs.” By the time she arrived the next day, the bugs had vanished—every last one of them. No one knew where they had gone. This caused her faith to deepen.
At that time the roof of Hsi Le Yuan leaked so badly that there were seven leaks in my room alone. “How can you stay here?” she said. “It would be better if I bought a flat in Happy Valley. You could move there. Okay?”
I said, “If you want to buy one, buy one.”
She bought a flat there and then I, along with some other disciples, bought an additional flat. When I was at Hsi Le Yuan I was very thin; when I moved to Happy Valley I gained weight. Now, upon coming to America, I’ve gotten skinny again and have lost about twenty pounds.
When it was time to come to America I was ready to sell one of the flats to pay for my passage, but she said, “Don’t sell it to someone else because if you decide to come back again, it will be hard to buy back. Why not let me buy it? Then if you return, I’ll give it to you.” Now I have been in America for more than ten years, and suddenly she writes that she wishes to leave home and receive the precepts from me. She has three sons, all of whom are very filial. Her decision to leave home makes me very happy. Because she works hard reciting the Buddha’s name and does not indulge in false thinking, she will be able to make progress.
The disciple who was told to read the letter asked me after meeting Kuo Man, why Kuo Man didn’t leave home. I told her that when the time was right she would leave home. If the time were not right, even if she did leave home she might regret it, being unable to set aside emotional ties and feelings of love. She is over sixty now and the question of emotional love will not be a problem for her. But there are many children and grandchildren in her family, and her life is one of comfort and wealth; I had thought she wouldn’t be able to leave home.
Once she was stricken with a disease which caused her to fear people and sounds and especially to fear me. She also lost her temper very easily. After being under the care of Western and Chinese doctors for more than two months her condition had still not improved and she finally came to me to express her difficulty. “I had a lot of faith in you,” she said, “Why am I so afraid of you now? And why am I afraid of noise? My heart is heavy and I am always on the verge of losing my temper. What is the matter with me?”
I said, “This is a karmic obstacle. You will soon get better. Be patient.”
She returned after twenty days and I said, “Start bowing to the Buddha and be extremely sincere. Don’t stop until I tell you to.” She bowed for about an hour and then I said, “Kuo Man, your sickness is gone.” She had recovered; her heart had been purified and she was no longer afraid.
This experience deepened her faith and she began to work harder for the Buddhadharma. Her strong point is that she doesn’t use the money her children give her for herself, but always uses it to do good works for the Buddha. She asked me to return to Hong Kong so that she could receive the precepts from me, but I don’t know when I will return. If I don’t go there, she can come to America and I will introduce her to all of you.
The Dhyana Session is now complete. I hope you will continue to work exactly as you have during the session and not slack off.
Source: http://cttbusa.org
Kinh A Hàm