H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Dharma
LEARNING FROM BUDDHA: A Supreme Dharma Treasure–It Will Be Difficult to Attain Accomplishment Without Learning This Dharma
Translated from Chinese by the True Dharma Translation Group
Table of Contents
Explanation by the Publisher
Explanation by United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters
Translation Notes
1. Learning from Buddha (Part 1 of 3, Lesson 1) – If You Learn Dharma but Do Not Cultivate Yourself, You Cannot Attain Accomplishment
2. Learning from Buddha (Part 2 of 3, Lesson 2) – If You Cultivate Yourself but Do Not Learn Dharma, You Cannot Generate Realization Powers
3. Learning from Buddha (Part 3 of 3, Lesson 3) — If You Do Not Put into Practice the Lessons You Have Heard on Cultivation and Dharma, It Will Be Like Trying to Scoop up the Reflection of the Moon on Water
Explanation by the Publisher
Before you respectfully read the book Learning from Buddha, we would first like to let you know the origin and background of His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III and our purpose in publishing this book.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the true incarnation of the Primordial Sambhogakaya Buddha, Dorje Chang Buddha. This is not a self-proclaimed or a self-conferred status. Rather, the status of His Holiness the Buddha is universally recognized by leaders, regent Dharma kings, and great rinpoches of all the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism through the issuance of official recognition documents. They include Great Dharma King Dodrupchen, the world-wide reigning lineage-holder of the great Rainbow Body Dharma and the guru of Jigme Phuntok; Great Dharma King Achuk; Great Dharma King Penor; Great Dharma King Jigme Dorje; Great Dharma King Trulshik; Great Dharma King Taklung Tsetrul; Dharma King Gongbao Dumu Qujie; Regent Dharma King Shamarpa; Great Holy Guru Tangtong Gyalpo; and other top leaders of Buddhism. They issued official written documents universally recognizing the status of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Moreover, based on the outcome of the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma (金剛法曼擇決),[1] the recognitions issued by those top leaders of Buddhism were conclusively determined to be valid, affirming that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the true incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha, the Primordial Buddha!
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the only one in the history of Buddhism to have received such a large number of recognitions and to be recognized with such supreme status. Thus, as you can well imagine, the Dharma imparted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has naturally become a marvelous treasure that is the highest Buddha Dharma. The Dharma imparted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is rooted in the truth and suites the spiritual capacity of different people. The Dharma principles are clear, incisive, and with the appropriate degree of depth. Dharma impartations of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are the best Buddhist sutras. They are supreme, wonderful treasures that best suit all cultivators in their quest to learn Buddha Dharma, enabling them to quickly become accomplished.
This book, Learning from Buddha, is a Dharma that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III openly imparted in Miami, Florida for disciples who accompanied Him on that trip. It is also a most important Dharma treasure that all Buddhist disciples must study and put into practice in order to attain accomplishment and liberation. When this Dharma was being imparted, a gigantic leaf of a Western bodhi tree fell from the air in front of all who were there. That occurrence added a holy miracle to this Dharma treasure.
Our purpose in publishing this Buddhist text at this time is to make it convenient for people to study the teachings of His Holiness the Buddha, implement such teachings in both cultivation and Dharma practice, and thereby walk the path of benefiting living beings, bringing peace to the world, experiencing bliss, and becoming accomplished and liberated. It is our honor as well as our duty to learn the teachings of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and do all we can to further the good actions and welfare of living beings.
Dharma Voice Publishing, LLC
Please see the further explanation of these two contrasting photos of H.H. Dorje Change Buddha III starting on the next page.
Explanation by United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters
The blue text below is a complete transcript of the words spoken by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III regarding the publication of the photos. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said:
United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters[2] has requested permission to publish and distribute these two photos of me and asked me to say a few words. First of all, I will not accept any money from the sale of the photos. However, your Headquarters should set a low price for those who purchase them. The name on the photos is Dorje Chang Buddha III. Whether I agree or not, this will be the way the name is written. This is my name, which was recognized and corroborated in official documents issued by leaders of many Buddhist sects throughout the world! It was legally affirmed by the government! It is not a name I conferred upon myself. Although the title of Buddha has been legally affirmed in my name, nevertheless, I am very humbled, and this title means nothing to me. I am not a Bodhisattva, not an Arhat, not a venerable one, not a Dharma king, and not a rinpoche. I am not a holy person. I am one with a heart of humility. When your Headquarters publishes the photos, do not add “Namo” to my name. I am not qualified to be honored with the title “Namo.”
I previously vowed to bear karma on behalf of living beings. My physical strength greatly weakened. I quickly became exhausted, and an aged appearance emerged. Rather than saying I bore karma on behalf of living beings, it would be better to say that my humble body was weak and sickly. Recently, United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters insisted on using my photo to perform the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma. Regardless of what selection method you use to determine my status, I will not accept it. That is because I am just an ordinary person. The photo of my youthful appearance was the result of having washed my face with medicine given to me by an elder virtuous one. Actually, more cosmetic treatment methods already exist in the field of medicine nowadays. I do not know the Buddha Dharma to reverse old age and return to a youthful appearance. As time goes on, I will gradually become old again. This is because I am a person who is just like you, with no ability to stop the process of impermanence. However, I have one thing that is different from you! I have what Buddhists need, the highest-level great Dharma of the Tathagatas to attain perfect liberation and accomplishment. This is also the same Dharma possessed by all Buddhas in the ten directions:
Stay far away from feudal superstition, strange or heretically induced phenomena, evil masters, deceivers, non-Buddhists under the guise of Buddhism, cults, evil teachings, and evil books. Strictly abide by the precepts and disciplinary rules of Buddhism. Establish great compassion as your foundation. Do not do anything that is evil. Do all things that are good. Give up self-interests and benefit others. Patiently endure humiliation and adversity. Practice humility. Purify the mind. When encountering living beings, regardless of whether they are handicapped, deficient, sick, or healthy, treat them all equally as family members. Know that all phenomena are governed by causality. With good causes, you receive good retributions. Good retributions yield good fruits. Good fruits enable you to receive the true Dharma. Relying on the Dharma, you can achieve perfect good fortune and wisdom. Then you can step into the state of accomplishment, break away from the sufferings that living beings experience, cease transmigrating in the cycle of birth and death, and accomplish the perfect enlightenment of a Buddha!
These are the teachings and precepts that I practice and uphold. I say without the slightest ambiguity that the Buddha Dharma I impart is absolutely the true Dharma of the Tathagatas possessed by all Buddhas in the ten directions! I cannot be modest about this. Why? I must speak true words. Otherwise, I would mislead practitioners. If you truly practice the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation; thoroughly comprehend Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra; often listen to my audio-recorded Dharma discourses that have not been altered or spoken in my stead by other people and, best of all, read published books that record the Dharma I imparted; and if you are truly devout toward all Buddhas, then I, Dorje Chang Buddha III, guarantee that you will learn great Dharma to achieve perfect good fortune and wisdom and will attain accomplishment in your current lifetime!
If you are a master with disciples, you must at least study in depth some sutras and commentaries as a foundation, such as the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Suramgama Sutra, the Agama Sutras, the Hetu-Vidya Treatise, the Madhyamaka Treatise, the Abhidharma-kosa Treatise, the Prajna Treatises, the Precepts and Discipline Treatise, the Consciousness-Only Treatise, the Lam Rim Chen Mo, the Bodhisattvacharyavatara Treatise, and others. Doing so will reduce the possibility of leading others astray in the process of teaching.
Some people have now mentioned that they just want to learn my medicinal cosmetic regimen. Fine! As long as you thoroughly learn either The Xiaman Most Excellent Oceanic Mind Essence (暇滿殊勝海心髓) or The Ultimate Bodhicitta for Attaining Dharma-Nature True-Thusness Oceanic Mind Essence (最勝菩提空行海心髓) in The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation and have put into actual practice what you learn, you can be assured that the highest, holiest great Dharma will be available to you for achieving perfect good fortune and wisdom, liberation, and accomplishment! At that time, why would you still need any medicinal cosmetic regimen?
Finally, I remind you that you must pay attention to something. Some people, including some who are masters, are now using my name to commit fraud in various ways. I hope that you will be careful and observe with caution. Be cautious!
Whoever distributes my above contrasting photos must be sure to include my words stated above. Anyone who removes my words and just distributes the photos is undoubtedly an evil person!
The following are honest words from us at United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters:
We at the Headquarters respectfully studied the spoken words of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, which caused all of us at the Headquarters to be extremely humbled. There are some people among us Buddhists who truly regard themselves as great Bodhisattvas. They boast that someone like them can only be found in the heavens but not on earth. However, in reality, they do not bear the slightest indication of realization or accomplishment. They only know how to pose as venerable ones, Dharma kings, great rinpoches, great Dharma masters, or gurus but do not know to cultivate themselves!
As a true Buddha living in the world at this time, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has never been concerned about damaging His own honor, status, or image, for He has effaced Himself in order to benefit living beings by saying that He is an ordinary person like everyone else. In reality, the facts prove that in the few-thousand-year history of Buddhism, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is truly one who has actually manifested the pinnacle of attainment in both Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism and perfection in the Five Vidyas! His Holiness the Buddha is also the only one in the history of Buddhism who has made it His practice to benefit and serve living beings without accepting any offerings.
One should know that all things cannot be separated from the law of cause and effect. The retribution that is induced through causality is like a shadow following the body that casts it. The accomplishments of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III are the fruits manifested from the cause of being a Buddha! Precisely because of this, it is simply impossible to find anyone who can be assessed as being comparable to Him. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said not to use “Namo” in His name. Therefore, we originally did not use that honorific prefix in the heading over one of the photos. However, after His identity as a Buddha was definitively confirmed through the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma, we must add the honorific prefix “Namo” and/or “H.H.” to His name. The two photos were taken in the presence of many people. The photo showing an aged appearance was taken on October 18, 2012. The photo showing a reversal of old age and a return to a youthful appearance was taken on the next day, October 19th. As a result of bearing negative karma for living beings, over a three-month period, the face of His Holiness the Buddha turned into that of an aged, exhausted person. Many of the people who saw this lost heart in their own cultivation. Compelled by this pressing condition and having no other choice, His Holiness the Buddha had to quickly rejuvenate, cast away exhaustion, and restore physical strength for everyone to witness. His face changed into a youthful appearance that was even more dignified and handsome than when He was in His youth. As of now, there is simply no medicine in this world that can so quickly reverse old age, restore a youthful appearance, greatly change facial features, regenerate eyebrows, and restore physical strength. Just based on these two contrasting photos taken within two consecutive days, could this possibly be an ordinary person? Would you say so?
To prove the point, Wangzha Shangzun (旺扎上尊), a Great Holy Guru with the status of Gold Button Grade Three, did a demonstration on an elderly person who was more than sixty years old. This person was collectively nominated by those who were present at the demonstration. In about ten minutes, while all were watching, the empowerment by Wangzha Shangzun caused one entire side of this elderly person’s face to return to a youthful appearance of about thirty years of age. This enabled all of the attendees to witness right there the fact of restoring youth through Buddha Dharma and the striking contrast between the two sides of that person’s face. Wangzha Shangzun said, “This little bit of realization power that I have is childish and laughable in front of His Holiness the Buddha. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the universe. I am just a tiny stone particle. No matter how many of us who are called venerable ones and Dharma kings are put together, we would not be qualified even to carry the shoes of His Holiness the Buddha.”
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III does not acknowledge that He is a Buddha, but we must present the true facts to living beings. Hence, the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma, a great Dharma of the Tathagatas to verify the status of the holiest of all holy ones, was performed by Wangzha Shangzun at two Dharma assemblies. Mozhi Jiaozun (莫知教尊), Dharma King Gar Tongstan (祿東贊法王), Kaichu Ruzun (開初孺尊) and several dozens of eminent monks, greatly virtuous ones, and laypersons were present to bear witness. In front of the watching crowd, an image was put on a bare, flat table. A pinch of Ganges River sand was then placed above the top of the hair of the image. As Wangzha Shangzun was performing the Dharma, the Ganges River sand suddenly underwent a miraculous transformation that astounded everyone there. The sand stacked up grain by grain, forming strands resembling hair. The strands of hair quickly and automatically wove themselves into a Sambhogakaya Buddha Crown that appeared on top of the head of an image of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and on the top of the head of an image of Shakyamuni Buddha. On the other hand, when the same Dharma was performed to verify the status of Huineng (惠能), the sixth patriarch of the Zen School, only a Bodhisattva Dharma Crown manifested. For further details, please see the written oaths signed by the witnesses present on that day.
H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III said that He is an ordinary person. This is already untenable. Even if we put aside the fact that His Holiness the Buddha has perfect mastery of Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism and has reached the pinnacle of attainment in the Five Vidyas, the photos showing the rapid reversal of His appearance from old age to youthfulness are right in front of our eyes. This is ironclad evidence! This is irrefutable!
Simply based on the ironclad determination of the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma, it has been conclusively determined that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is the Primordial Ancient Buddha, Dorje Chang Buddha, who has come to this world. At the same time, the Holy Selection Dharma also confirmed that Namo Shakyamuni Buddha is a true Buddha. This is undeniable! People who attended the Vajra Fa-Man Determination by Holy Selection Dharma Assembly that day personally saw what happened and took serious oaths of truth. They then signed their names, bearing witness to what they saw.
As long as you practice according to the Dharma imparted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, His Holiness the Buddha has guaranteed that you will attain accomplishment. This is a declaration by His Holiness the Buddha; it is not a hollow statement. Among those who have already learned Dharma transmitted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, greatly accomplished ones abound and are there for all to see. They are known to the public by their names, the Dharmas they practice, and their accomplishments. Could it be said that these facts do not exist? The ironclad evidence is monumental!
United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters
[Seal]
October 21, 2015
TRANSLATION NOTES
This small but essential sutra is indeed a supreme Dharma treasure. All of us in the True Dharma Translation Group express our profound gratitude toward H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III for giving us the opportunity to translate this sutra from Chinese into English. Please be aware that H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has neither read nor acknowledged the correctness of the current translation. All footnotes were not in the original Chinese text and were added by our group. Even though we have made our best effort, there are bound to be errors in the translation. Therefore, this translation is only intended to be used as a reference. We beseech the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to absolve us of the sin of making any mistakes in the translation. The Dharma principles contained herein must ultimately be based on the correct English text approved by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. However, at this time, the karmic conditions have still not matured for His Holiness the Buddha to bestow such an approval.
May this translation be helpful to Buddhist disciples in cultivating themselves and in learning Dharma. May its implementation lead them to enlightenment and freedom from suffering. We dedicate the merit of this translation to the happiness and liberation of all living beings.
Learning From Buddha (The First of Three Lessons)
If You Learn Dharma but Do Not Cultivate Yourself, You Cannot Attain Accomplishment
All Buddhist disciples here, take your seats. Today, I will not be giving you a discourse on the teachings of the sutras. Rather, I will be imparting Dharma to all of you, imparting the Dharma of learning from Buddha. The term “learning from Buddha” sounds simple, as if everyone understands it. However, in fact, 999 out of 1,000 people in the field of Buddhism have not come to a clear understanding of the words “learning from Buddha.”
Remember, the audio recording of this Dharma I am imparting to you today, Learning from Buddha, will be published as a book. From now on, anyone who comes to receive a Dharma transmission or initiation from me must bring this book with them. I will not confer an initiation upon or transmit Dharma to anyone who has not studied this book. When you come to see me, someone will first interview you and check whether you have this book with you. If someone does not bring this book or did not study it seriously, I will not see him or her.
If any disciple of mine who is a master does not have this book with him, then he is a charlatan who does not want to learn to be good. Any disciple who took refuge in him must leave him immediately! Otherwise, the disciple will certainly be tainted by the master’s sinful karma. Why is that? It is because not having this book with him shows that this master is irresponsible toward living beings, does not walk the correct path, and merely wants to be a charlatan to ensnare and harm Buddhist disciples. Regardless of whom he or she is a reincarnation of or how high his or her status is, including venerable one, Dharma king, rinpoche, or Dharma master, this type of person is, with 100% certainty, either an evil person or an imposter!
I will now impart this Dharma to you. The way I impart Dharma today will not be in the form of giving a speech to you as I did last night. I want to speak as if we are having a chat. I will use the simplest, most down-to-earth words of everyday life spoken in a casual and relaxed manner so that all of you will understand what you hear. I may even repeat things and make overlapping statements. From the truth, I will reveal to all of you the principles of this Dharma. I will impart them to you, enabling you to truly know the profound wonders of Buddha Dharma.
The main theme of this Dharma I am imparting today is that people who learn from Buddha cannot attain accomplishment if they learn Dharma but do not cultivate themselves. Actually, I previously talked about this principle in many of the audio recordings of my Dharma discourses. However, because of multiple factors relating to the karmic conditions and timing of those discourses—the listeners were different, their backgrounds were different, the usages of language in the earlier and later discourses were different, and the environments were different—consequently, there were different atmospheres and different forms of empowerment under different circumstances, which caused different learning experiences for the listeners. Therefore, some people were unable to awaken to the flavor of the Dharma that I imparted on those occasions. Even though I said it and they could recall, “Oh, our Buddha Master spoke about this before and explained it in such and such a way,” they nonetheless were still unable to awaken despite their recollections. Therefore, today I will explain certain meanings of the Dharma once again to all of you but from different angles. I will use a different manner of speaking so that you can understand and awaken to the meanings of the principles. I believe many of you will then understand why.
What I want to say today is, as a living being—whether you are a human or a living being of another type—to cultivate yourself, become liberated, and attain accomplishment is an easy matter. It is also not an easy matter. Once you understand, it is not difficult. If you do not understand, it is difficult. Cultivating yourself, becoming liberated, and attaining accomplishment is really about how to leave this world of arising and ceasing, with its sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death, how to break away from the sufferings of samsara and enter eternal bliss and happiness. To put it even more clearly, it is about leaving the sufferings of this human life of yours and becoming forever blissful in a world of no birth and no death. How do you achieve this step? That is a very good question very much worthy of your attention. Therefore, all of you must listen earnestly. When I am imparting the Dharma, be sure not to let your mind drift away. If your mind drifts away, you will not understand what you hear.
Actually, for a human to become a person who is not subject to death and rebirth, who has left the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and who ultimately is free, blissful, eternally happy, in possession of great supernormal powers, and unhindered—that is, a person who is a holy one—two things are needed. Which two things? They are Cultivation and learning Dharma! In addition to Cultivation, you must also learn Dharma. Conversely, in addition to learning Dharma, you must also cultivate yourself. If you do not take hold of these two things or lose them after having taken hold of them, you will be unable to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death. You will be unable to become that kind of person who leaves samsara and escapes from the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death; that is, a holy person. Therefore, all of you must listen attentively to what I impart. This point is very, very important!
You must cultivate yourself. If you do not cultivate yourself, you cannot attain accomplishment. You must learn Dharma. If you only cultivate yourself but do not learn Dharma, you also will be unable to attain accomplishment. These two points are very important and are interrelated. Neither can be missing.
(A disciple asks: I respectfully ask the Buddha Master, if we only practice Dharma but do not cultivate ourselves, can we attain accomplishment?)
As I just said, you could not attain accomplishment. Why do you still ask that? Of course, you want to inquire why that is the case, right? In response to this question, I must give you some further explanation. You should know that becoming a holy person means becoming a holy person of a Buddha-land world, right? A Buddha-land world, simply put, is a world of pure karma. What is meant by pure karma? It is where there is no dark karma, no avidya, no affliction, no mutual deception, no selfish fighting, and no killing, massacre, or horror. There is only benevolence, pure kindness, compassion, caring, and respect. There is no pain or suffering, only well-being and happiness. As Shakyamuni Buddha said, there are worlds where the three kinds of supernormal cognition (三明) and six supernormal powers (六通) [3] can be applied at will, where good fortune and bliss are enjoyed. That is a Buddha-land world.
Simply speaking, a member of any of the Buddha-land worlds does not have the slightest dark karma or impure karma in his conduct. That is why those worlds are called Buddha-land worlds of pure karma. For example, the pure land of Amitabha Buddha is the Western World of Ultimate Bliss[4], which is also called the Pure Land. The Eastern World of Lapis Lazuli[5] is called a Pure Land of Peace and Bliss (安養淨). It is also a pure land. There are as many as ten trillion such worlds, which are called the rigorously pure Buddha-lands. What is called “rigorously pure Buddha-lands” means that they are rigorously governed, and pure karma is mandatory. There is not an iota of contamination; only absolutely pure karma. Dark karma is forbidden. The pureness is due to good karma and merit. The pureness is due to the state of holy beings there who have ended cyclic birth and death. Those are called the pure lands.
Since pure lands are all pure, how could a person with dark karma be permitted to enter? One who still has a mind of selfish thoughts, a mind of differentiation, hatred, greed, jealousy, presumptuousness, arrogance, or shamelessness, a mind that considers oneself always in the right, or a mind that deceives others is a type of person who simply is foolish and ignorant. That type of person is simply an ordinary person, one who is not qualified to be called a holy person. Suppose that even that type of person could enter a pure land, that even they could attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death, and that even they could ascend to a pure land. If there were just one such person with impure karma in the world of Amitabha Buddha, could it still be called a pure land? Disciples, could it be called that? (Disciples respectfully reply: It could not!) It could not, right? (Disciples respectfully reply: Right! It could not.) Right. Therefore, you want to enter and become a member of that world, but if you do not have pure karma, would that work? (Disciples respectfully reply: It would not work!) Since it would not work, then you must introspect and be careful.
Therefore, in addition to being patient under humiliation and adversity and cultivating yourselves, you must also practice the Ten Wholesome Courses of Action (十善),[6] practice the Four Limitless States of Mind (四無量心),[7] and arouse bodhicitta. Only then will you ultimately be able to truly and completely cleanse your own dark karma. It is exactly for this reason that Shakyamuni Buddha wanted everyone to practice the Six Paramitas (六度) [8] in all of their myriad actions and perform deeds that accord with the path to enlightenment. You cannot become a holy person just by saying that you have illuminated your mind and seen your original nature. To become a holy person, you must become a person of pure karma. Only when you have become a person of pure karma can you enter a pure land. If a person of impure karma made his way to the World of Ultimate Bliss, then the World of Ultimate Bliss could no longer be called a pure land. How would Amitabha Buddha uphold the integrity of the Pure Land? If, to one’s surprise, the Pure Land was not pure, having become a false pure land, how would Amitabha Buddha face all the Buddhas in the ten directions? Therefore, I have only two words for those whose karma is impure but who wish to enter a pure land: Forget it! You’d better not give rise to the delusive thought that you can ascend to an iron lotus with your impure karma. Turn away from evil and follow goodness at once.
Do you now understand why I said “forget it”? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.) It is because a Buddha-land is a pure land. Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, and all of the holy beings in the ten directions cannot allow entrance to one whose karma is not pure, to one who has such a state of mind. Do you know what the three essential attributes are that Buddhas, Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattvas, and Marvelous Enlightenment Bodhisattvas must have? They are called “the three concerns (三不過境).”
First, They are greatly loving and greatly compassionate toward living beings, without any thoughts of differentiation or discrimination. They want to ferry all living beings to liberation. They want to help and save even those who verbally abused Them, poisoned Them, or harmed Them. They help such people, regarding them as Their own parents.
However, the second concern then begins to arise. What arises from this second concern is Their fear of living beings. Why do They fear living beings? It is because living beings are usually not receptive to the teachings and edifications of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Teach them once, twice, three times, or even 100 times, they still would not comply. They might comply for a little while, but after that revert to their old ways, becoming beings of impure karma again. Those who hated return to hating. Those who were selfish return to being selfish. Those who deceived others return to deceiving others. Those who retaliated return to retaliating. Those who trampled on others, acting like tyrants, return to trampling on others.
As such, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are afraid, very afraid of them, even more so than They are afraid of seeing demons. When Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see a demon, They can capture the demon with a snap of a finger and edify it. However, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot capture living beings. They are afraid. What are They afraid of? They are afraid because if that living being does not correct himself, he cannot attain accomplishment. Since his karma is impure, he cannot go to a Buddha-land. If he was somehow forcefully brought to a Buddha-land, then that Buddha-land would have impure karma. In such case, the mighty power of the auspicious light of that pure land would expel him in an instant. He would fall into darkness. This is an absolute rule! A room of darkness cannot be illuminated without a bright lamp. The room must become illuminated. Only then can the darkness in the room be dispelled. Only when brightness arises can darkness be dispelled. Only with pure karma can one ascend to a Buddha-land. This is mandatory.
However, living beings cannot purify their karma, so Buddhas are afraid. What Buddhas are afraid of is that living beings might make their way into a Buddha-land. On the one hand, They make every effort to save living beings. On the other hand, They exert Dharma power to block living beings, telling them, “Don’t come in here!” That is because once a person with impure karma enters, how could it still be a pure land? Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattvas and Marvelous Enlightenment Bodhisattvas are similar to Buddhas. They are deeply aware that this principle cannot be violated in the least, as it is an absolute principle. Precisely because of this, we see that many people cannot attain accomplishment. If even evil or bad people carrying impure karma could ascend to a pure land, there would long ago have been nobody left in this world. Everybody would have gone to the World of Ultimate Bliss. The World-Honored One also would not have taught people to practice the Ten Wholesome Behaviors and the Four Limitless States of Mind. The Buddha would simply have come to receive people, sending both the good and the bad ones to a pure land. It is truly a pity that those with impure karma cannot go there!
Therefore, here we are reminded of an issue: Those with impure karma absolutely cannot enter. Of course, there is another reason why you cannot be allowed to enter a Buddha-land world and become liberated and accomplished. It is because people who become holy beings possess at least the three kinds of supernormal cognition and the six supernormal powers. They can supernormally observe everything and can see everything. At that time, Their powers are indeed great. They can move mountains and empty oceans, perfectly fulfill their wishes, and so on. These are not the kind of things that you normally imagine. At that time, they have such powers, but they also have impure karma, and they can see the bad side of living beings. If they see a living being who is hateful toward them or is not treating them well in some respect, and they then generate the thought of taking vengeance, wouldn’t that be disastrous? That living being would meet with misery. That vindictive person would undoubtedly have become a demon in disguise. That is why Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must firmly push against him. They absolutely cannot allow him, with impure karma, to attain accomplishment. They absolutely cannot allow him to enter a Buddha-land world. Once such a person entered it, it would no longer be a pure land. It would have become a demon’s land! Their entrance would contaminate that rigorously pure Buddha-land of all Buddhas. That Buddha-land would no longer be rigorously pure. The word “rigorously” would have to be removed! It would be in disorder. Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
As to being reborn in the Pure Land when carrying impure karma, listen to me, disciples. Being reborn there when carrying impure karma means that you will be confined inside an iron lotus. You will not be able to be reborn there outside an iron lotus when you get there. Furthermore, you must understand the principle of the Parable of the Conjured City.[9] Although Amitabha Buddha said that you would come out of the iron lotus after 1,000 years, I warn you today, that is not correct. Are people who have cultivated themselves very well and who are extremely kindhearted also confined for 1,000 years? Are people who did not cultivate themselves well and who constantly gave rise to hatred likewise confined for 1,000 years? If that were the case, where would the law of cause and effect be? Doesn’t the severity of causes make any difference in the severity of effects? Huh? You cannot answer this question of mine, can you? Based on karmic retribution induced by causality, it is certain that good deeds lead to good retribution, and bad deeds lead to bad retribution. The more benevolent a person is, the sooner they will receive good retribution. People who delay in correcting their evil ways will certainly receive rewards later. That is to say, good retribution will come later for people who are slow to correct their evil ways, right? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Therefore, here I am going to say something I should not say. In the Parable of the Conjured City, Shakyamuni Buddha used skillful means to inform living beings. The Buddha did not give those ignorant living beings a clear explanation. It is extremely difficult to be reborn in the Pure Land when carrying impure karma. Moreover, Amitabha Buddha spoke the following sentence that contains a double-meaning: “If immediately before your death you recite my name ten times with single-minded concentration free of distraction, I will take you to the World of Ultimate Bliss.” Amitabha Buddha did make that solemn vow. However, you must understand clearly. When people with heavy karmic forces are about to die, their pain and suffering are difficult to endure. Their four great elements are disintegrating, and the eight sufferings are all being experienced simultaneously. At such time, they simply have no way to maintain single-minded concentration free of distraction, especially when they are about to stop breathing. Didn’t I give you an example before? Cover your mouth and nose and do not breathe. See whether you can maintain single-minded concentration free of distraction for one minute. Cover your mouth and nose and give it a try. You will panic, but there is nothing you can do about it. You will become distracted. Therefore, disciples, when you become distracted, you cannot blame Amitabha Buddha for not keeping His vow. The vow of Amitabha Buddha is that if immediately before your death you recite His name ten times with single-minded concentration free of distraction, He will take you there. Amitabha Buddha did not deceive you. You are the one who will be unable to do it. Do you understand now? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes!) Do you now understand what I am saying? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes!)
Therefore, in our daily lives, we must make it a practice absolutely not to be contaminated by such dark karma. Whenever you are contaminated, immediately correct yourself! Correct yourself at once whenever that happens! Every morning when you get up, think back and consider: “Before I went to sleep last night, did I think of anything unbeneficial to living beings? Did I think about doing those things? Did I think of doing something not good to others for the sake of myself, my children, or my relatives? Did I think of doing something not good to my fellow brothers and sisters?” If you did, my oh my, you must repent at once: “I am not a Buddhist disciple! I am no good! I am wrong!” Do you understand? Ask yourself, “Do I crave credit or merit for myself? That is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva at the causal stage. I must correct myself!” Therefore, all of these things call for introspection. What is called “the three daily introspections” means conducting three introspections in the course of a day. In the morning, introspect about how during the day you should act to become a purely good and compassionate person, a person who benefits the public. At midday, think back: “From morning until midday, did I have that kind of mindset and conduct?” At night, again think back: “From midday until night, did I have that kind of mindset and conduct? Are the things I did today truly reflective of the conduct, speech, and mindset of a Bodhisattva at the causal stage?”
If you can do that, I tell you disciples that right at that moment you are a true Bodhisattva at the causal stage and that you are a future Bodhisattva. Although you do not possess the realization powers of a Bodhisattva and do not possess the merit of a Bodhisattva, your state is nonetheless already that of a Bodhisattva at the causal stage. Your state of mind is already there. By doing that every day, you will naturally and gradually become purified and will become a great holy person.
Of course, I have seen with wide open eyes that many Buddhist disciples are full of bad habits, that they are out-and-out stinky skin-bags. Their level is exceedingly low. Therefore, how can I not feel bad? I feel very bad all the time. My feeling bad will not lessen unless my disciples mend their ways.
The third of “the three concerns” is that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not completely cut off Their habitual tendencies, as They are worried about living beings. They feel bad. Why do They feel bad? Out of great loving-kindness and great compassion, They want to save living beings. However, They dare not allow entrance to someone who is not in compliance with the Dharma. They push him away, blocking him so that he remains in the world of ordinary people. However, seeing that he cannot enter, They feel sad. This is because a world of pure karma cannot take him in. It cannot take in those with dark karma. It is just like oil not dissolving water. As soon as water gets in, the oil immediately rejects the water and presses it to the bottom. Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.) If something is not made of gold, it cannot be thrown into sulfuric acid. If it is thrown into sulfuric acid, it will corrode. Therefore, it must be something compatible. Only then can it blend in and not be destroyed. Of course, here I am using a reverse way of speaking. That is to say, as long as someone has dark or impure karma, he cannot go into a world of pure karma.
Actually, what I am about to tell all of you is the most fundamental and most important issue. This most fundamental and important issue is that, if in your daily lives and with your own conduct you can truly put into practice the state of a Bodhisattva, introspecting and examining yourself in all respects, then you are planting the causes to become a holy being and attain liberation. Ultimately, the fruit you yield will be the fruit of being a Bodhisattva.
You may say, “That is so difficult, isn’t it?” It is very easy to do, very easy. Yesterday, during the time for questions, after a disciple heard me finish imparting this part of the Dharma, she suddenly blurted out, “Buddha Master, in such case, becoming a Bodhisattva is a very easy matter!” I said, “Very well said. There is simply no need to exert much effort. It can easily be done. No great effort is required.” As long as you immediately abandon your bad habits, immediately reflect upon your own shortcomings, care about living beings as if they truly were members of your own family, and treat living beings by truly applying bodhicitta in practical actions, then you are already a Bodhisattva at the causal stage. The only difference is that you lack the three kinds of supernormal cognition, the six supernormal powers, and the realization and wisdom of a Bodhisattva. Therefore, this point is very, very important, disciples. Thus, whoever wants to become liberated, whoever wants to attain accomplishment, and whoever wants to acquire realization powers must do this well. So, if you only learn Dharma but do not cultivate yourself, there is no way for you to attain accomplishment. The reason is that dark karma is not a part of the composition of a holy entity.
Why do you have to cultivate yourselves? Here I will give an example to all of you. As an analogy, cultivation is just like an airplane or a television set. An airplane has an external shape. It has wings. It has propellers or jet turbines. Inside the airplane, there are also various kinds of computers, radars, and so on. There are a number of different instruments and many other things inside it. Airplane components include its outer shape, its display panels that are similar to picture tubes, all kinds of electronic circuits and electronic tubes, certain special instruments, transistors, and a number of other things. What is that thing called? That is called form. That physical form with a specific appearance and specific shape is analogous to a human being. You have two feet, two hands, eyes, nose, mouth, and various internal organs. You also have thoughts and so on. You are a form with material and mental components. If you yourself do not refine your physical form through cultivation, it would be like a computer without physical form or an airplane without physical form.
Therefore, as a person, you have your own innate physical form. With the addition of mental action, your mindset and conduct become of primary importance. Thus, your body of form becomes a body of conduct. Why is that? The reason is that the creation of all karma is done by the three karmas of body, speech, and mind. In the end, it is conduct that brings about the fruits or results of karma. It is not the physical form that creates karma. That is why there is the term called “cultivating conduct.”
The purpose of cultivation is analogous to making this computer. However, I tell you that simply making a computer is useless. Why is it useless? The reason is that it is merely a physical form. A physical form alone cannot generate any usefulness. That is because you also need to know Dharma. Dharma is analogous to a method of operation that you learn. This is just like you, a human being. You have a human form. Everyone here listening to this Dharma impartation is a human and has a human form. When you go outside, you see people. Every one of them has a human form, but they do not have Dharma. The form of a human being has to comply with the conduct taught by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Conduct is not simply a matter of having a nose and eyes and being able to move. This relates to the term “consciousness” that I mentioned earlier. A person’s consciousness, a person’s thinking, must accord with the teachings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Only then can a person be considered a Buddhist cultivator.
However, you should understand that merely being a cultivator is ineffective and useless. You must also have Dharma. Only then can you generate a usefulness that transcends the ordinary. For example, the power of Tummo Concentration (拙火定) [10] can scorch a person’s skin, causing blisters. Such heat is unbearable. Another example is the Dharma of a Fine Horse Traversing the Sky Stepping on Clouds (良馬空行步雲法). If someone’s conduct is not good and he merely relies on the Dharma of a Fine Horse Traversing the Sky Stepping on Clouds, he will not be able to rise into the air. He will not be able to leave the ground. He will not be able to ascend. He will have no way to move upward. He must succeed in training and refining his conduct. When his conduct accords with the teachings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and he applies this Dharma, his body can then rise into the air. Only then can he generate usefulness.
For example, some of my disciples have that ability. However, I do not have that ability. Why? It is because I am an ordinary person with a heart of humility. I cannot even teach some of my students well. They still engage in conduct that deceives living beings. I am so pathetic as a Master. I cannot even successfully teach them to correct their impure thoughts and deeds. I am so inadequate. What do I amount to? What qualification do I have to possess powers?
I have already digressed. I shall return to the subject of this Dharma. Simply speaking, a human being exists possessing four limbs, five major internal organs,[11] blood, a respiratory system, other organs, and all of the other constituents, but what about consciousness? Your consciousness, your state of mind, must accord with the conduct of the Four Limitless States of Mind, the Ten Wholesome Behaviors, and bodhicitta that were prescribed by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Once your conduct accords with those teachings, then you have established yourself as a cultivator who fulfills the conditions prescribed by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
However, merely establishing yourself as a cultivator is still of no use because you have not received Dharma. This is analogous to a television set or computer. Although it is fully assembled and placed there, it is totally useless. If it cannot be operated, what use does it have? You must first learn its method of operation, such as how to connect it to a power source, how to turn on the computer, how to press the keys on the keyboard, how to go online and access files, and more. Only then can the computer be of use. This kind of specific operating process is Dharma. The methods, rules, and techniques are called Dharma. Once you understand this Dharma and apply it to the computer, the computer will be of use and will serve you. It will perform its function and be effective.
Although you as human beings inherently possess the functions and capabilities of a human being, if you do not cultivate yourself and do not comply with the teachings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, you can only be a human being but not a cultivator. Once you meet the criteria of a cultivator, at that moment, you are akin to this computer, this machine that is fully assembled; or you are akin to this airplane that is fully assembled. However, you still need to know the techniques. You must understand the methods of technical operation. The technological know-how is the Dharma. Only with such Dharma can you pilot an airplane, know how to operate it, how to start the engines, how to ascend into the sky, and how to avoid taking the wrong route. A whole series of matters can then be correctly handled.
Simply put, the effectiveness of Dharma is established upon the foundation of your cultivation. That is why I say it will not work just to learn Dharma without cultivating yourself. The answer to the question you raised earlier is that it is absolutely impossible.[12] Why is it impossible? First, I already told you the reasoning for this through those analogies. Moreover, what Buddhas and Bodhisattvas fear most is a person who lacks virtuous conduct going to a Buddha-land world because That is a world of pure karma. This is very, very important.
However, it is very easy to carry out the conduct of a Bodhisattva. Why wouldn’t it be? People who are true cultivators, who truly want to adopt the conduct of Bodhisattvas as their own conduct, carry out such conduct right after they say they will. They carry out such conduct right then and there without the need to expend great effort. All you have to do is start at this very moment. Relinquish your selfish mentality. If you truly wanted to become a holy one, would there be anything you could not do?
Yet, many people cannot do it. What is the reason that they are unable to do it? Their beginning-less karmic forces due to avidya have gradually formed their greed, selfishness, arrogance, hatred, and attachment to self. As soon as attachment to self arises, the notion of saving face arises. As soon as the notion of saving face arises, lies arise one after another. As soon as lies arise one after another, the causal seeds of dark karma arise. With the arising of the causal seeds of dark karma, bad karmic retribution arises. With the arising of bad karmic retribution, transmigration in samsara arises. Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Once you truly understand the meaning of this Dharma, and want to become a cultivator, what is the big deal about letting go of attachment to self? When you make a mistake, just admit it. It is no big deal. That kind of person is a good disciple.
Some disciples are very good when they first start learning the Dharma. After learning for some time, they give rise to attachment to self. They no longer speak up about anything and are even afraid of being criticized by me, their Master. They even go so far as fabricating lies to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Behind everyone’s back, their greed, ill will, ignorance, love, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness have begun to arise. They even have a kind of mindset that leaves things to chance. They think, “I want to attain accomplishment. I want to reach liberation. I have done so much Buddhist work. I am now doing such and such. I have done such and such meritorious work.” That is wrong, very wrong. You should only examine your shortcomings. Do not think about what good deeds you have done.
No matter what, I came to this world to lead you on the path to enlightenment. I want to enable you to achieve accomplishment. For your sake, I often say that I am incapable. Why do I say that? Am I really that incapable, disciples? What I am hoping is that you will emulate me a bit. I am showing you the way through my physical actions and am setting an example to help you. These are my heartfelt words that I am telling you.
Therefore, at all times, you absolutely must be able to face your own Yidam. Even if you do not want to face me, you still must face your Yidam. What is a Yidam? Your Yidam is the holy being presiding over the particular Dharma you decide to practice in order to attain accomplishment. You have to face your Yidam. You have to face the Dharma protectors of your Yidam. You can resort to deception when speaking to me. Even though my name is Dorje Chang Buddha III, nonetheless, I am a very ordinary cultivator. You can speak to me in whatever way you like. However, my speech and conduct are the speech and conduct of a Buddha. I tell you this in advance. You’d better be careful!
I tell you that if you deceive me, I will forgive you. I will not say that you have sinned by deceiving me. You have not sinned if you deceived me. However, the causality of the sin you committed lies there. Your Yidam and the Dharma protectors can see that very clearly. They will determine, “This person cannot be of use. What would become of our world of pure karma if he came in! Not one being is allowed to sully the worlds of all Buddhas in the ten directions!” Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.) If you deceive me, then you will not attain accomplishment, disciples!
I often say that this kind of person is just like a pig. This includes certain Dharma kings, great rinpoches, and Dharma masters, all of whom are such pitiful creatures. They sit on a Dharma dais. For decades they have fully considered themselves to be genuine holy people. Their heads are always in the clouds as they pretend to be someone they are not. When some of their disciples give rise to a certain hallucination or feel some illusory response, those disciples even think that it resulted from the empowerment of their master, while the master actually thinks that it resulted from his own realization powers. They are so ignorant and so ridiculous! If the appearance of some hallucination is considered realization powers, then every patient in mental hospitals would have transcended the mundane and entered holiness. It obviously is a type of illusion. It is totally worthless trash! This kind of master has no sense of shame. They continue to feign the look of a holy one as they go about deceiving everyone. Little do others know that such masters not only lack understanding of the teachings of the sutras, they also have not experienced the slightest beneficial effect from their cultivation and Dharma practice. What is most pitiable is that some disciples cannot clearly identify these so-called great holy masters who are in essence phony!
Although these masters are my disciples, they nevertheless want to deceive even me. What are they? Their inner essence is phony. However, they also play for others the audio-recordings of the Dharma that I imparted. That is doing correct Buddhist work! Therefore, we cannot categorically condemn them. Cultivators need to listen to the Dharma! The lies that these so-called holy masters have told me have not deceived me. Moreover, they do not even know that they are deceiving themselves. They even very much consider themselves to be quite clever, thinking, “Oh, you see how awesome I am. I was able to get away with deceiving so-and-so today. Our Master also does not even know about it.” With a sweet feeling in their heart, they swagger about with their heads held high. I am telling you that you are a big fool. You are not even at the level of that Buddhist nun. She was able to pass the exam at Gold Button Grade One. She succeeded in practicing the Dharma of a Fine Horse Traversing the Sky Stepping on Clouds. When applying that Dharma, her body complies with what her mind wishes. How about you? All you can do is put on an act, pretending to be a great holy person when in fact your powers are shallow. I often say that there is a Chinese term called “er bai wu.”[13] You are indeed this type of person. “Er bai wu’s” always think that they are clever. In the end, they are foolish, foolish, foolish. You are so foolish you even dare to deceive me, your Master, and thereby ruin yourselves! If you still do not repent, you are truly doomed. If you mend your ways, I will pray for you. I will do all I can to teach you. I hope that a Buddha-land world will have one more holy person of pure karma.
You should think, “Since I want to attain accomplishment and become liberated, and since it is that easy to be a Bodhisattva, I will simply be a Bodhisattva. Wouldn’t that be so good? I shall introspect three times a day and do so earnestly. If I do something wrong, I will privately tell the Buddha Master. The Buddha Master will not openly announce it. Even in the extremely unlikely event that the Buddha Master were to openly announce it, I would be only too eager that the Buddha Master does. Since it was my repulsive act to begin with, why would it not deserve to be openly announced?”
I tell you that there are disciples like this. It is often the case with some disciples that right after they come to me, they say, “Buddha Master, I have an important matter. I must say it.” Crying their eyes out, they say, “I have sinned. I committed adultery. I did such and such. I had relationships with two or three men at the same time. I am such a heinous sinner. I beseech the Buddha Master to help by cleansing me of my sins.” I say, “The right thing to do is correct yourself. Anything else is useless. True cleansing of sin is only done through correcting your mistakes.”
There are all kinds of people. They come in all sorts. There are all manner of people. There are also some disciples who say, “I have taken the lives of living beings. I have eaten fish and shrimp that were cooked alive. I have also done such and such and such and such.” Therefore, there is every variety of people. However, these people are honest. They want to attain accomplishment and become liberated. They are sincere. They say what is in their hearts. They want to correct their mistakes, turn over a new leaf, and be good people.
However, I would like to sit down and ask something to you disciples here. How many of you would dare to be like them? You wouldn’t dare, would you? With a filthy body and an ugly soul, it is almost certain that you would hide your impure conduct. Disciples, how could I possibly transmit Dharma to you? If you wanted to attain accomplishment, if you wanted to truly and quickly become liberated, I would surely want to give your impurities a washing. Even though they could not be washed so clean, it would be easier for me to handle if you were at least a little cleaner. However, if you hold on to the stain, dirt, filth, and stench, it goes without saying that your Yidam will see that. If you don’t have faith even in the Buddhas or even in me, your Master, the Dharma I transmit to you will not produce any usefulness. Wouldn’t such transmission be in vain? Do you understand? The moment of initiation and Dharma transmission is most crucial. At that moment when I am teaching you, one impure thought of doubt on your part would ruin the whole thing. It would contaminate that Dharma. If the initial karmic conditions are not good, learning and practicing that Dharma will not produce any results.
Therefore, this is most problematic. This also is what most troubles great Bodhisattvas in the ten directions. Since living beings are unable to become liberated, great Bodhisattvas naturally give rise to the affliction of not cutting off Their habitual tendencies. What is to be done? Under such pressing circumstances and having no other way, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva even made a vow to transform Her own body into 1,000, 10,000, and even countless pieces in order to help living beings. However, some living beings simply cannot be helped. You talk to them earnestly and with the best of intentions until your mouth is worn out, and it is still of no use. Therefore, living beings need to rely on the Dharma to awaken themselves. Human living beings also need to awaken. All living beings need to awaken as well. Only when you have truly awakened can you put into practice the truth that you have awakened to. You will then understand and will act according to the rules.
Getting back to the subject, what is the key point of the Dharma I am imparting today? The key point that I am stating to all of you is that everyone can easily become a great Bodhisattva who has control over His own birth and death, has perfect reward of good fortune, and is liberated from samsara! However, you must abide by the Dharma rules of cultivation taught by the Buddha. You must abide by the practices, precepts, and disciplinary rules taught by the Buddha. Otherwise, there is no way for you to step into the domain and circle of Bodhisattvas. There are some among you here who are the kind of living beings, the kind of people who regard themselves as amazing, as holy people and great Bodhisattvas. Actually, your levels are low. In every aspect, your levels are low, pitifully low. You are still extremely far from being a Bodhisattva. Use the “128 Evil and Erroneous Views”[14] as a mirror to reflect upon yourselves. Take a look at the buttons on your Dharma attire that represent your rank. Isn’t it all very clear at a glance? Are you truly a great Bodhisattva? You are the one who knows yourself the best. How much longer can you go on deceiving people? I tell you that impermanence in the form of death will soon approach you! Those of you who consider yourselves always in the right truly have no sense of shame. In the end, you even think that this is your style of handling things. Do you know what this is called? This is not a style. This is conduct that opens the door to suffering and loneliness. It is not some style! A short while ago, I said something that was very unpleasant to hear. You really should be given a new Dharma name. You should be named “idiot”! Could it possibly be that you are not? It is out of the question for you to not accept that name. You of course are an idiot. Otherwise, why do you not cultivate yourself instead of going around deceiving people? Your time of several decades will very soon be up, and your karmic retribution will arrive.
You might say, “I am finished. I am indeed like that. I am doomed.” Do not panic. You are an idiot now, but if you correct yourself at once, you will no longer be an idiot! Perhaps when you wake up tomorrow morning you will already have the demeanor of a holy person and will be a Bodhisattva at the causal stage. Which living being is faultless? They all have faults. Which living being is sinless? Anyone without dark karma would not be called a living being. Living beings are like this precisely because they have not attained liberation. Is that right? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Therefore, Buddhist disciples, there is great hope for you. Furthermore, as you listen to this Master of yours impart the Dharma, always believe the following: First, as your Master, I do not desire your money or wealth. Second, I do not desire control over you as a person. I do not desire anything! The only thing I want is to do all that I can to help you achieve accomplishment and liberation! I am telling you this very truthfully. I say this to you in all sincerity. I am also exerting my best effort to impart this Dharma to you.
Learning from Buddha (The Second of Three Lessons)
If You Cultivate Yourself but Do Not Learn Dharma, You Cannot Generate Realization Powers
What I am going to speak about now is “Dharma.” What is a Buddha Dharma? Buddha Dharma is a very important and indispensable part of attaining accomplishment. To put it clearly, if you cultivate yourself but do not learn Dharma, you will not experience beneficial effects. Even in the extremely unlikely event that you did manifest some external usages of power, it would be nothing more than a psychological effect that you impress on others, an illusory phenomenon, an empty shadow. If you had someone hold a Vajra Pill and stand five meters away from you, your so-called realization powers would be totally ineffective. This shows that your Dharma powers are pitifully weak! The so-called Dharma powers that you have are not Buddha Dharma powers that transcend “the sentient.” Rather, they are illusory and false phenomena generated from evil or erroneous views. They are the fruits of impure karma devoid of integrity. In the end, they are of no benefit whatsoever. Not the slightest holy realization can be derived from them. Today I must speak about learning Dharma so that everyone understands the concept of learning from Buddha.
I previously talked about the aspect of Cultivation. I will now talk about the aspect of Buddha Dharma. Based on what I know, out of the 100 questions in the exam given by United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters to masters, there is this question: What is Buddha Dharma?
However, regarding this question, many gurus, rinpoches, and Dharma masters who transmit Dharma, even masters with the title of venerable one and even Dharma kings and renowned figures with special titles, have not figured out what the concept of Buddha Dharma is. They, like others, are not clear about the concept of Buddha Dharma. A master’s understanding of the entire concept of Buddha Dharma relates to whether that master is spreading correct principles and ideas to Buddhist disciples. It relates to how that master explains to disciples what Buddha Dharma really is and whether that explanation is correct. For rinpoches, Dharma masters, and gurus, this is the most fundamental question. It is also a question that most relates to principles, a question that absolutely does not allow for any mistake.
Precisely because many people do not understand this question, they attempt to explain Buddha Dharma in a confusing and nonsensical manner and in all sorts of ways. Some say, “I know the answer to this question about Buddha Dharma. It is the absolute truth of the universe.” Actually, this answer simply does not merit any score. It is precisely because of such broad statements that people are unable to clearly understand what Buddha Dharma is. Some people say, “I know. It is the Dharma imparted by Shakyamuni Buddha, the Dharma that teaches living beings how to attain accomplishment.” This answer also does not merit any score. It is not the correct answer. Some people say, “I often transmit Buddha Dharma, so I know. For example, last month I transmitted mantras to them.” This is also wrong, for it states that mantras are Buddha Dharma. Of course, some people’s answers are even more terrible. They say things like, “Oh, Buddha Dharma! The Dharma of no Dharmas is the Dharma. As Shakyamuni Buddha said, ‘Now that I have given to you the truth that there is no Dharma in the dharmakaya, how could any Dharma have ever been a Dharma?’ When there is no Dharma, that is Dharma.” Some say, “There is only one gate to Buddha Dharma, not two. Neither emptiness nor existence—that is Buddha Dharma.”
Actually, these people truly should be pulled aside and spanked. What Buddha Dharma can be spoken of in such a nonsensical way? Why is it so chaotic now? Why are current masters, Dharma kings, and rinpoches recklessly spreading their teachings everywhere, all claiming that their teachings are Buddha Dharma? It is because they themselves have not come to a clear understanding of the concept of Buddha Dharma! Of course, I am not saying that all of them have not come to a clear understanding. Rather, I am saying that many masters who transmit Dharmas have not even come to a clear understanding. Since they have not come to a clear understanding, wouldn’t the people learning from them be totally confused?
That is why I often say that I cannot consent to Holy Gurus below the rank of Gold Button Grade Three giving discourses on Buddha Dharma. If they did, they would surely make mistakes because their understanding is simply incorrect. This point has been completely confirmed by the written exam consisting of 100 questions on the sutras, disciplinary rules, and treatises. One’s score on that written exam will definitely match the level of the rank one receives through the overall exam. The lower such rank, the lower one’s written exam score. One who scores high on the written exam will end up with a rank that is equally high. Moreover, the level of an examinee’s rank will be 100% identical with, totally in accord with, and will not deviate in the slightest from the result of the secret divination personally performed by the examinee. Based on what I was told by the seventeen masters proctoring the exam onsite, several hundred people have taken the exam so far, but not one person who scored low in the written exam received a high rank through the overall exam. All of the well-known figures who have Dharma powers and are relatively more conversant in the teachings of the sutras received a high rank through the overall exam.
I will not mention all of their names today. I will only mention these few examples for you to hear: Mozhi Jiaozun, whose tummo powers generate a body temperature so high as to cause burns upon contact; Venerable Tsemang (翟芒尊者), who cultivates and practices according to the teachings of Buddha; Dharma King Gar Tongtsan, who attained accomplishment through Dharma-nature samadhi; Kaichu Ruzun, who accomplished the Vajra Substitute-Body Meditation (金剛換體禪) and Tummo Concentration; and Jianhui Ruzun (見慧孺尊), who accomplished the Dharma of a Fine Horse Traversing the Sky Stepping on Clouds. All of them did very well on the exam. Furthermore, even a slight regress in their realization powers was reflected in the exam results.
Why is it that not even one of them received a low rank as a result of the exam? They all passed the exam at a Gold Button rank. And why is it that not even one person whose level is low was able to pass the exam at a high rank? People with mid-level accomplishment passed the exam at the mid-level rank. This is so amazing!
From the outset, I only agreed that the written exam on the sutras, disciplinary rules, and treatises be conducted. I did not get involved in the Holy Test. However, although I disagreed that the Holy Test be conducted, there was nothing that I as a Master could say since the facts of the Holy Test speak for themselves. Some of you may say, “This is strange. Why would the Buddha question and disagree that the Holy Test be conducted?” As I have already said, I only teach people how to cultivate themselves, learn the Dharma, be good cultivators, and attain accomplishment and liberation. My perspectives on Buddhism have already been made public together with the two contrasting photos of me. I will not repeat them today. As an ordinary person just like you, with little experience and knowledge, I of course feel that the Holy Test is miraculous. What is strange about that? However, I must say that the Holy Test given by United International World Buddhism Association Headquarters is accurate 1,000 out of 1,000 times. I cannot help but admire the impartiality and awe-inspiring powers of the Yidams of the Holy Test—Manjusri Bodhisattva (文殊菩薩) and Mahamayuri Vidyarajni Tathagata (孔雀明王如來).
Getting back to the subject, whoever is a master must understand the sutra teachings, the treatises, and Dharma principles. As a master, if you yourself do not even understand Dharma principles, how can you teach your disciples to understand them? Not only will you be unable to teach them to understand, you will also end up teaching them to become outsiders to Buddhism, instilling in them heretical points of view. That is why the written exam is a matter of essence, a matter of principle! You were merely asked, “What is Buddha Dharma?” You cannot even come to a clear understanding of the answer to such a simple question, yet you go so far as to brashly and shamelessly give discourses on the Dharma to others, pretending to be a Bodhisattva as you hoodwink everyone. Don’t you think that is childish and ridiculous?
In fact, what Buddha Dharma is can be summarized in just one sentence. What sentence? “In Buddhism, the perfect practice of the preliminary practice (加行), main practice (正行), and concluding practice (結行) is called Buddha Dharma.” It is just that simple.
To attain accomplishment and liberation, living beings must rely on the correct and flawless practice of the three practices—the preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice. They are one complete Buddha Dharma. You cannot say that giving someone an initiation today or chanting a few lines of a mantra is transmitting Dharma. You also cannot say that giving someone a special empowerment today is infusing that person with Buddha Dharma. You also cannot claim that coming up with some zen koan containing a cryptic word or phrase means that you are enlightened. It also cannot be said that you transmitted Dharma to someone today by manipulating a Vajra Pill and manifesting its power. None of these are Dharma.
Buddha Dharma is a kind of Dharma passed down from the Buddha, from all Buddhas in the ten directions. It corresponds with the three karmas of living beings—body, speech, and mind. It enables living beings to eliminate their dark karma, increase their good karma, and perfect their undertaking of enlightenment so as to attain liberation from samsara, thoroughly awaken to the intrinsic truth, and realize the state of no death and no rebirth. To put it in worldly terms, it is simply called “method.” However, to say that Buddha Dharma is “method” is actually incorrect. The word “method” cannot be used to describe Buddha Dharma. I can only say that at this time calling Buddha Dharma “method” makes it easier for people to understand the meaning. It is that simple. Although it is that simple, in fact, the perfect practice of the preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice is no simple matter at all. This is only a one-sentence summary. Therefore, Buddha Dharma is the perfect practice of the three practices—the preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice—of the true Dharma of the Tathagatas. Any other answer is wrong.
Why is this important? Over these many years, I have seen many Dharma masters and gurus who, when transmitting Dharma would say, “I transmitted Dharma to them today. I transmitted to them a Mantra for Using Water (用水咒),” or “I transmitted Dharma to them today. I transmitted to them a Mantra to Seek Wealth (求財咒),” or “I transmitted Dharma to them today and manifested miraculous phenomena to empower them.” I truly do not know whether to laugh or cry. Mantras are not Dharma. A mantra is the power from the mind of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Of course, I am not going to explain mantras. I am afraid that I will digress from the subject of this lesson. I will continue talking about Buddha Dharma.
So, are there many people who understand Buddha Dharma? Are there many people who understand the absolute truth of true Buddha Dharma? Among all of the Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, and gurus, probably only one or two out of 10,000 are truly proficient in Buddha Dharma and cultivation. Ten out of 10,000 Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, and gurus understand some Buddha Dharma but are not completely proficient. Although 100 out of 10,000 Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, and gurus understand Buddha Dharma to some extent, they nonetheless also misunderstand Buddha Dharma to some extent. Thus, nowadays, there are these 100 out of 10,000 so-called high-level masters who are broadly spreading and transmitting Dharma in society. One thousand out of 10,000 Dharma kings, rinpoches, Dharma masters, and gurus are learning the superficial theories of the so-called Buddhism that is spreading in society. They burn incense, worship images of Buddhas, chant mantras, chant the names of Buddhas, chant sutras, and practice meditation. They do these kinds of things. It can be said that they do not understand Buddha Dharma. This can also be called worldly Buddhist trends or worldly Buddhist fads. Now then, that still leaves nearly 9,000 out of 10,000. What are they? It is justified to say that those nearly 9,000 out of 10,000 are simply amateurs who speak nonsense. They are either deceivers or evil people. Of course, the 10,000 people in the ratios I just mentioned refer to gurus, Dharma masters, rinpoches, and Dharma kings, not to ordinary Buddhists. Nowadays, of the almost 9,000 out of 10,000, if they are not amateurs, they are deceivers, and if they are not deceivers, they are evil people. You should also think about into which category your master or guru fits within these 10,000 people.
Therefore, when it comes to Buddha Dharma, it is by no means easy. It is no simple matter at all!
I will now explain to you why cultivation is essential in learning Buddha Dharma. I previously explained cultivation very clearly. Now I am going to tell you how to practice the preliminary practice. A Dharma first involves the preliminary practice, which is also called the pre-practice. The first step of the preliminary practice is the preparatory work. The preparatory work involves the use of Dharma instruments, the use of medicines, and the use of offerings. Some preliminary practices also involve setting up the altar to face a particular direction. The mandala requires the setting out of water offerings, incense offerings, mandala offerings, the eight offerings, and so on, as well as the setting out of offering utensils and images of Buddhas, the arrangement and placement of the Yidam and Dharma protectors, and more. Simply put, the first thing involving the preliminary practice is the preparatory work. For example, there are outer-tantric rules for outer-tantric initiations, such as how to set up the altar room and how Dharma instruments should be used.
There are inner-tantric ways of using things for inner-tantric initiations. There are special ways of setting out inner-tantric offerings. For instance, there are seeds of the karmic origination. This involves medicine, such as the five Great Precious Pills: the Holy Amrita Pill (甘露丸), the Longevity Pill (長壽丸), the Vajra Pill (金剛丸), the Greatly Precious Pill (大寶丸), and the Supremely Precious Pill (至寶丸). There is also the setting out of the Sumeru Offering (須彌供), the Dharma-Protecting Ferocious King Offering (護法惡王供), the Time Princess Offering (時辰妃供), the Manjusri Holy Divination Offering (文殊聖卦供), the Mahamayuri Vidyarajni Feather Offering (孔雀明王羽供), the Vajra Knife, Vajra Bell and Vajra Scepter, the Five Hooks and Five Lamps Offering, the Vajra Seal Offering, the Holy Dharma Instruments Offering, and so on.
When an initiation is conducted, there is that which activates the karmic origination. It is a mother source that will be used when the disciple practices the Dharma. How will it be used? Perhaps it is placed on top of your head or perhaps in the center of your palm. For example, when you practice the Dharma of the Medicine Buddha (藥師佛),[15] you cannot place the pill on top of your head. There must be a Dharma bowl. Thus, there is the Dharma Bowl Offering. The pill must be put in the Dharma bowl. You have to know how to form the hand mudra, how to form the foot mudra, how to perform the body mudra, and which direction you must face. Now, only with all of these and with the completion of all of the preparatory work can you perform a Dharma! What is meant by “perform a Dharma” is to practice and apply Dharma at the same time. What is the source of a Dharma? A Dharma must have power. It must have a source. The power of a Dharma originates from your cultivation. I previously explained this very thoroughly. I will not repeat it. If you do not cultivate well the conduct that I explained previously, then the Dharma you practice will not produce any effects or usefulness. That is why Dharma powers must be established on the foundation of one’s cultivation. In a complete Dharma, cultivation is an essential part of the preliminary practice.
All right, after you have done all of the preparatory work of the preliminary practice in a very complete manner, at this time, you begin to enter the formal practice of the preliminary practice. So, the first step in the practice is proving that you are a Buddhist. Your setting out all of those things that I just mentioned does not prove that you are a Buddhist. To prove that you are a Buddhist, the first step is that you must perform the taking of refuge. Therefore, you must take refuge and arouse your resolve. At this time, you must recite the refuge vows. After you have recited the refuge vows and taken refuge with a sincere heart, establishing in yourself the sincere faith, devoutness, and genuineness of a Buddhist, at this time you have indeed aroused the resolve of a Buddhist. Then, what must you do next? You must apply your cultivation. You must carry out your cultivation.
Therefore, at this moment, you must generate the Four Limitless States of Mind. Ask yourself, “What is the purpose of my learning Dharma? I want to do it for the sake of living beings so that living beings have such-and-such kind of happiness and are just like me in such-and-such a way. I must begin to put into action the Four Limitless States of Mind: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and non-differentiating generosity. They are not words to be chanted. I must carry them out accordingly. I must do this! The purpose of my attaining accomplishment is to enable living beings to attain accomplishment, enable living beings to become liberated, enable other people to also attain accomplishment so that they will be as happy, accomplished, and liberated as I am.” You must be sincere!
After completing this first part, you will begin to enter the second part, which involves the procedures of the Dharma. At this time, you will enter the second step.
Many of our Buddhist disciples just do not understand. As a result, they chant and visualize while practicing Dharma, but as soon as they get off their Dharma-practice seat, they treat their fellow brothers and sisters badly. They treat people who they do not know even worse. They dare to deceive even me. They should understand that I am their Master who teaches them how to learn from Buddha! There are those for whom I performed a great initiation who even dare to tell me a whole set of lies that they fabricated. Some disciples are so abominable as to conspire and cunningly plot against me, their Master, hoping to exploit me by using my name to make money. Could such sinful disciples not meet with pitiful karmic retribution? The outcome for them will certainly be miserable karmic retribution. How could this be the practice of Dharma? That is false practice. Those people are no more than treacherous disciples who are worse than animals. They are deceivers! They are deceivers who deceive themselves. They did not succeed in deceiving anyone else. They are deceivers who deceived themselves without even knowing it. They do not even know that they themselves are deceivers. They are evil disciples who will certainly receive karmic retribution for their offenses. They are frauds. Misery is their destiny. They are nothing other than this kind of people. Can this kind of people be considered Buddhists? They will not succeed in attaining accomplishment. They will not be able to become liberated.
Of course, I would like to add one more thing here. As I said earlier, how could Buddhas and Bodhisattvas allow someone like that to go to a world of Theirs and contaminate it into a world of impure karma? I tell you today that the only way out for such people is to thoroughly repent, thoroughly improve themselves, turn over a new leaf, and truly cultivate themselves. Only in that way can they escape from miserable retribution for their evil acts.
Numerous so-called masters are basically unclear about this serious problem. They include those with the title of great Dharma master, great rinpoche, great Dharma king, or venerable one. They do not understand what a world of pure karma is about. Even though they read Buddhist books, recite sutras, and chant the names of Buddhas, they do not know. They do not know what the Pure Land is. On the surface, they are reciting sutras. In reality, they do not understand the meaning of the sutras. They merely have scanty knowledge from having read a bit of the sutras. They do not see the Pure Land from the depth of its essence. All they know is that the Pure Land is the World of Ultimate Bliss very far away in the west. They do not know that the Pure Land is at a place that is neither near nor far. It is even at a place very close to you. In your mind and in your conduct, there exists the Western Pure Land, the World of Ultimate Bliss.
Many people read sutras. After reading them, they throw away the Dharma imparted by the Buddha in those sutras. For example, Buddhist sutras say, “All Bodhisattvas possess the Five Vidyas.” The Buddha clearly told Buddhists that those who do not possess the Five Vidyas are not Bodhisattvas. Nonetheless, some Buddhist disciples always think their master is a great Bodhisattva. This is a false impression created by some Buddhist disciples who commit the heinous sin of doing everything they possibly can to package and publicize their master. In so doing, they have sinfully insulted the Buddhist sutras. That is sinful karma! Even if your master has not developed any achievement in the Five Vidyas at this time, your master has to attain at least Gold Button Grade One in the overall exam to be considered an Arhat or Bodhisattva. The public announcements are very clear about that. Furthermore, one must have the rank of Gold Button Grade Three to be a great Bodhisattva!
A disciple said, “Buddha Master, I found that Dharma masters and rinpoches in many temples are so pitiful. They have not even understood what the Pure Land is.” What he said is right! Do you agree? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes!) They truly have not understood. If they understood, they would not create an atmosphere of conflict in their temple. Even with such impure karma, they still wish and delusively hope to attain accomplishment. If they truly understood, they would know to completely cleanse themselves of impure karma and become a person of pure karma that corresponds with a Buddha-land, right? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes!) It is very important to correspond with a Buddha-land. If you do not correspond with a Buddha-land, then you cannot be a member of a Buddha-land. That is because your composition is not right. It is not the same as that of the members of a Buddha-land! It is not the same type of composition.
So, after giving rise to the Four Limitless States of Mind, arouse bodhicitta right away. The Four Limitless States of Mind are affected by external circumstances. One is joyful due to the joy of other living beings. One is sad due to the sadness of other living beings. One’s mind and conduct are led along by the feelings of other living beings. For this reason, it is easy to generate much attachment to self. However, in the absolute truth of Dharma-nature realized by the Buddhas in the ten directions, one should not be sad due to the sadness of other living beings, should not be joyful due to the joy of other living beings, and should not rush to respond to everything that living beings covet. Buddhas treat living beings with the Four Limitless States of Mind in their ultimate sense. They treat living beings with bodhicitta. Their goal is to enable all people and all living beings to achieve accomplishment and liberation, not to enable them to covet even more. Buddhas also do not allow Themselves to be drawn into attachment to self.
Therefore, when bodhicitta is aroused to the purest and perfect degree, when it has passed the generation stage (生起次第) and reached the completion stage (圓滿次第), such practitioners will be able to handle everything perfectly and without any hindrances. They will have no worries. They will have no hatred toward living beings, no arrogance toward living beings, no egotism toward living beings. They will not be opinionated toward living beings. They will have no mind of greed toward living beings, and so on. Once they have reached the completion stage, they no longer have such mindsets.
When they no longer have these mindsets and go a step deeper, they will enter the perfection stage (生圓不二次第). As soon as they enter the perfection stage, they no longer worry about personal gains and losses or have attachment at all. They do not fuss about or are attached to even one single matter. They naturally think that everything they do is what a Buddhist disciple should do. Moreover, from the bottom of their heart, they think that is what they should do. Even if people say to them, “Oh, your meritorious deeds are so great,” they do not see that they have done any meritorious deeds. Even if people say to them, “Oh, you have committed sinful karma; you are simply a person of sinful karma,” they also do not see that they have sinful karma. Their nature is such that they always feel they should be like the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions, benefitting living beings in such a way. They do not see within themselves the arising of merit that living beings have. They do not see within themselves the arising of any of the shortcomings that living beings have. All that they know is to walk the Buddhist path in accord with the Dharma, have great loving-kindness and compassion, benefit living beings, and save living beings. After they have great loving-kindness and compassion, their bodhi tree will naturally grow, flower, and bear fruit. They will then transition to holiness.
Therefore, at this time, when they are sitting on their Dharma-practice seat, they are thinking about how they should walk the Buddhist path and how they should expansively apply bodhicitta. They practice and visualize from the bottom of their hearts. At this time, they are establishing themselves as an image of a Bodhisattva. After establishing this image, they immediately transition from this image into the state of the non-duality of emptiness and existence. That is to say, they begin this transition in the preliminary practice.
Of course, I am speaking in rough terms. As to how to use the pill offerings, how to use the Dharma medicines, how to use the Dharma instruments, and other details, I will not explain those things to you today. Because each Dharma is different, each has its own way of using and implementing. The mudras are all different. This relates to the Yidam of each Dharma being different. I cannot speak about this in detail. I can only give you an overview. The same applies to what I said earlier about how many out of those 10,000 people are in such-and-such a category. That was also an approximate overview. It does not mean exactly ten of them, 100 of them, or 1,000 of them. That is not what I meant. They are rough, approximate numbers.
So, when practitioners have finished arousing bodhicitta during their practice, they will enter the main practice. They will begin to do the main practice. In the first step of the main practice, they must use the power of a mantra to expel their own beginning-less karmic forces, to drive them away! Therefore, they need to practice the Dharma of Contemplating Emptiness. That is why, in general, in the rituals of a Yidam Dharma, they will enter this step immediately. They will chant the Contemplating Emptiness Mantra (觀空咒). They use the power of the mantra to activate the inner energy of their mind and make use of the samadhi powers of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to help drive away their hindrances.
Some disciples may say, “Are there still hindrances? Earlier in the practice we aroused bodhicitta and did various things.” Yes, there are. Moreover, some people have major hindrances, and some people have minor hindrances. That is because the differences in people’s karmic forces since beginning-less time have caused differences in the magnitude of their hindrances. That is where the differences come from. Therefore, you must make use of the power of a mantra, the power of a dharani, to help drive away hindrances. After you chant the Contemplating Emptiness Mantra seven times with single-minded concentration free of distraction and once the hindrances are expelled, you begin to enter the main practice. Actually, chanting the mantra one time with single-minded concentration free of distraction can drive away hindrances. Nevertheless, why does it need to be chanted seven times? The purpose of the seven times is to ensure that there is at least one time when the chanting was done earnestly, with single-minded concentration free of distraction.
At such time, once you enter the Dharma, it becomes deep. Some Dharmas are activated through a Yidam. Some Dharmas are not activated through a Yidam. They are activated through a Vidya-raja, a Dharma protector, a Dakini, or other such Dharma instruments. In short, at this time, the main practice is activated. After activation, there will be many different seed symbols. These seed symbols of different colors begin to emerge. Some emerge on the sun wheel and the moon wheel. Some emerge on top of the Vajra scepter, some emerge on the hair over the crown of the head, some emerge on a lotus flower, and some emerge on the door of the Yidam’s mandala facing east, south, west, or north. That is to say, in different Dharmas, seed symbols emerge in different ways. Different Dharma powers then begin to arise.
At this time, you visualize and chant at the same time. This is called following the text of the Dharma manual to enter visualization. You visualize according to what the text says. How the text describes it is how you visualize. In addition to applying the mudra that you should apply, you remain imperturbable as you visualize. Once you visualize, there are the matters of how the Yidam appears, how the Yidam and you merge as one entity, and through what kind of process the Yidam and you merge into one. You must believe in yourself, that you are that Buddha or Bodhisattva, that you are that Yidam! Believe in yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, then you cannot attain accomplishment. In that case, you have doubt. Therefore, you must believe in yourself. However, since you believe in yourself, are your speech and behavior the kind of conduct of the Yidam you believe yourself to be? Are your speech and conduct in accord with the Dharma? When you are off your Dharma-practice seat, is your conduct still the kind of conduct of the Yidam you believe yourself to be? If that is not your conduct when you are off your Dharma practice seat, if you continue to deceive people, deceive living beings, or fight with others, then you are a fraud or hater with impure karma. To put it bluntly, you are not acting in accord with the Dharma, you are not a Buddhist, and you are not a cultivator.
Therefore, since you believe that you are a Bodhisattva, that you are the Yidam, or that you are a Buddha, at this time your practical actions must be the conduct of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. That is an extremely important point! That is why cultivating your conduct, which I explained earlier, is extremely important. If you carry out well the cultivation I explained earlier, then you will naturally be able to do what follows.
Now, some Dharmas are very deep once you have entered visualization. A transformation may take place. In that case, a short while later, another Yidam will appear in your visualization. Or, the ritual may involve how to visualize transformation into light, how to form the mudra, or what Dharma is used to invite and receive the Yidam. You might wonder, “I clearly became the Yidam earlier. Why would I still have to invite and receive the Yidam?” The Yidam that earlier emerged from the seed symbol is generated from your belief that you are the Yidam, from your belief in yourself based on the power of your vow. Once this Yidam that stemmed from the Seed Symbol Mantra for Believing One Is a Yidam (佛慢種子咒) is generated, you are qualified to invite the real Yidam to come. So, at this time, you are able to invite the real Yidam to come.
Inviting the real Yidam is not a matter of speaking a few words of invitation. Here, the ritual involves the Mantra to Invite and Receive the Yidam (迎請咒). Inviting the Yidam also involves promptly making offerings so as to conduct Dharma matters. There are Dharma matters such as chanting mantras and forming mudras for making offerings. The ritual may even involve inviting the five Buddhas in the five directions to come and confer an initiation on you or inviting the Yidam or a Vajra deity to come and confer an initiation on you. Therefore, this also involves the Initiation Mantra. Then, after the initiation is performed, your body is cleansed. At that time, it is truly easy to cleanse your body of dark karma because your body is suffused with Dharma power. Your body has been transformed into a vessel for holding Dharma power.
At this time, the Yidam arrives. As soon as the Yidam arrives in the sky, you must practice a Dharma to have the Yidam descend into your body. There are very specific details regarding how the Yidam descends into your body and where the Yidam enters your body. As soon as the Yidam enters your body, you must chant a mantra. That mantra will enable the Yidam and you to merge as one entity, becoming instantly united. At this time, the state you are in stemming from visualizing and believing you are the Yidam is a state of being one and the same as the Yidam. It is not the same as the previous state of visualizing and believing you are the Yidam. The real Yidam has arrived and come into your body. At this time, it is said that the Mikyopa (米覺巴) Buddha appears above your head. Therefore, now the situation is different. The Yidam is not the same as the one you visualized earlier. At this time, the Yidam is the true presence of a Buddha.
Thus, there is the saying, “One would rather agitate the water of a thousand rivers than disturb the mind of a Dharma practitioner.” Here is the reason. If you disturb the practitioner at this time when he has generated the true state of having merged with the Yidam, then you are finished. That is because he is not the one you are disturbing. It is not a matter of disturbing one person. If the Yidam of the Dharma he is practicing that day is Amitabha Buddha, then it is Amitabha Buddha you would be disturbing. At that time, you would be in trouble. A Buddha certainly will not mind that, but the Dharma protectors may not let you off so easily.
Now, speaking of the Yidam entering your body, take, for example, Amitabha Buddha. That Buddha’s internal organs are not like the internal organs of ordinary people like you. That Buddha has three seed symbols. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has the seed symbols of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Tara has the seed symbols of Tara. Kalachakra has the seed symbols of Kalachakra. The Vajra Supreme Deity of White Peace and Bliss (無上白色安樂金剛), who is the highest in Esoteric Buddhism, likewise has the seed symbols of The Vajra Supreme Deity of White Peace and Bliss.
The seed symbol stands in the middle, surrounded by a wheel of mantra symbols. The mantra symbols are standing. How do the mantra symbols rotate around the seed symbol? When they rotate, what kind of light is emitted? What kind of sound do they make? The mantra wheel that is inside your body begins to rotate in your chakras. All of these are the specifics of actual practice of a Dharma, having nothing to do with cultivation. At this point, you should no longer think about cultivation and should no longer contemplate great loving-kindness and great compassion. At this time, remain imperturbable. Your entire mind enters the Dharma as you chant the mantra and visualize. You visualize the seed symbols, the interrelationship of the seed symbols and their transformation, and you apply the mudra. You thereby develop power.
The Buddha or Bodhisattva presiding over that particular Dharma is the Yidam. You then continuously chant the heart mantra of the Yidam. You chant and visualize at the same time. As you chant, you visualize. You must not be scatter-minded or distracted. That ring of light will also change internally and externally, changing externally while contracting internally, layer upon layer. Eventually, the power becomes stronger and stronger, stronger and stronger. After that is finished, your practice of that Dharma is finished.
After you have completed that Dharma practice, how do you as a cultivator embody the traits of that Bodhisattva? The most important thing is that merit stemming from Buddha Dharma has been generated through your practice and your states of realization have arisen. Once some people start practicing, they go on practicing for a few days, not talking at all for two or three days. There are even those who practice longer than that. Once such people enter the practice, they are not aware that they are practicing visualization. Once they start practicing visualization, they lose track. As a result, after they finish their visualization, they still feel that they have visualized for only a half hour. They have no idea that it is already the third or fourth day. Nonetheless, they also do not become attached to that and continue practicing that Dharma. Rest assured. Do not worry. All those who enter dhyana[16] or a supernormal state in their Dharma practice will not be harmed by anything in the world during that practice. Everything will be safe, sound, and auspicious. Your body and life will not experience the slightest mishap.
After the Dharma practice, the practitioner will get off his seat. However, I will first tell you something. At this time, you must not get off your seat as you please. If you just extend your legs and step onto the ground, beware of contaminating the Yidam. Suppose you just extend your legs, step onto the ground, and see someone you dislike. You then immediately say, “What do you think you are doing? How could you…” You right then and there start scolding that person. Then you would be doomed. Would Amitabha Buddha scold living beings? Would Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva scold living beings? The Yidam of the Dharma you just practiced is still inside you. The Yidam has not yet left you. How could you scold someone? Are you scolding someone on behalf of the Yidam? Suppose you just practiced the Dharma of Avalokiteshvara. Would Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva scold people? Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Therefore, be sure to first bid farewell to the Yidam. The purpose of bidding farewell to the Yidam is absolutely not to make it convenient for you to scold people or violate the precepts. That is absolutely unacceptable. But you need to be somewhat careful out of fear of inadvertently making a mistake. (H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III laughs.) That is very unpleasant to hear because it is hard for people to avoid making mistakes, right? It is very easy to make mistakes once you are away from your Dharma-practice seat. That is why you are training yourself. Thus, it is safer to bid farewell to the Yidam first. Do not have the Yidam stay in you. Otherwise, practitioners will not be able to bear the consequences of committing such offenses. Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Therefore, you must chant the Mantra to Bid Farewell to a Buddha (送佛咒) or the Mantra to Bid Farewell to a Yidam (送本尊咒). You have to bid farewell. Dedicate all of the merit of your practice. You must dedicate the merit before you bid farewell to the Yidam. The time during which you dedicate the merit is called the concluding practice. Therefore, the perfect practice of the three practices—the preliminary practice, the main practice, and the concluding practice—is called a Buddha Dharma. Teaching people to chant a few mantras or practice some preliminary practices cannot be called a Buddha Dharma.
At this time, you have to do the concluding practice. The concluding practice brings together all the merit. It gathers all the merit. You tell yourself, “Just like my Yidam, I do not want any bit of the merit from my Dharma practice. I give all the merit to other people and to all living beings!” At this time, you appear to be particularly selfish and selfless. As to being selfless, you say to yourself, “I do not want any of the merit. I dedicate and gift all of it to living beings. I sincerely and truly do not want it.” As to being selfish, practitioners usually know that after they dedicate the merit, merit will come back to benefit them in an amount millions of times greater than their merit from practicing the Dharma that day. Why? It is because according to the meaning of the Dharma, the experiences of the patriarchs, and the conclusions reached by those Tremendously Great Holy Gurus, and based on what I have personally seen and supernormally observed, although you dedicated all of the merit, in fact 70% of it is still with you. Only 30% has actually gone. However, after that 30% has been dedicated out to others, merit will return to you in the second stage. What merit is that? This act of dedicating merit out to others, this selfless thought and deed, this sincere resolve and act to give merit to living beings, brings merit to you in return. That is because this act is a great act, an act that reflects everything is done for the sake of living beings. The merit of that act is truly extremely immense, tremendously immense! Therefore, this merit is hundreds of thousands of times greater than the merit you just derived from your Dharma practice. It immediately and completely returns to you. However, you must dedicate merit sincerely. You cannot succeed by just reciting the dedication of merit text. If you just go through the motions without sincerity, your merit will be gone.
After this merit returns to you, the 70% of the merit that is still with you becomes just like a sesame seed in a basket. Precisely because you have accumulated such boundless merit that ultimately came into being through your concluding practice, your body, laden with dark karmic hindrances from all of the sinful karma you have created since beginning-less time, can be transformed. That is to say, the morality that you cultivate is the conduct of a Bodhisattva, the conduct of a Buddha. In the end, it still comes back to that.
Therefore, if you only learn Dharma but do not cultivate yourself, you cannot attain accomplishment. If you only cultivate yourself but do not learn Dharma, you cannot generate any effects. Combining both cultivation and Dharma can result in limitless power that liberates a living being as easily as turning over one’s hand. You can then easily attain perfect good fortune and wisdom. The key question is: Are selfish living beings who are attached to self willing to do so? Are Buddhist disciples willing to do so? Do you want to do so? Are you being phony, deceiving yourself, and just going through the motions? Or, are you all day long engaged in self-serving thoughts, in hatred and jealousy, in trying to cheat or outwit others, in acting like an overlord, in thinking you are always right, in quarreling over right and wrong, or in fighting back and forth? This is very important! Disciples, take a look at your own state of mind!
Today I have very roughly imparted this Dharma to all of you. In the future, remember, when someone asks you what Buddha Dharma is, you say, “Buddha Dharma is the perfect practice of the three practices of the true Dharma of the Tathagatas—the preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice.” No matter what Dharma people may mention, if it deviates from the correct practice of the three practices, they are talking nonsense. This is what a perfect Dharma of the Buddha is. Only this can be called Buddha Dharma. As to other individual mantras, verses, visualizations, mudras, and so on, they are components or parts of Buddha Dharma.
You might ask, “Is chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha not Buddha Dharma?” I am not saying that is not Buddha Dharma. That is just a part of Buddha Dharma. It is only a part. For example, why are there specific rituals for the practice of Amitabha Buddha Dharma? That is a Dharma. That which does not contain a complete set of rituals is not a complete Buddha Dharma. It is only a part within a Buddha Dharma.
As to cultivating yourselves and learning from Buddha, when you cultivate yourselves, you are learning the conduct of Buddha. You are learning from every word, every act, and every deed of Buddha. On the other hand, learning Dharma is learning a particular Dharma specifically transmitted by Buddha, a particular Dharma involving a Yidam practice. Any Dharma with complete and perfect rituals has a preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice. As I said a few times earlier, the preliminary practice includes the setting out of everything. Sometimes particular attention must even be paid to the date of the practice and even to whether it should be done in the afternoon or morning.
Take, for example, Dharma Protector Rahula (熱乎啦護法), who is the most formidable Dharma protector. Rahula is the foremost of all Dharma protectors, higher than Mahakala (麻哈嘎拉), Grand Black Heaven (大黑天) and other Dharma protectors! In general, the Dharma of Rahula is not easy to practice. However, once you are successful in practicing that Dharma, you will acquire limitless power. No person could afford to provoke you. Not only people, no demon could afford to provoke you either. Such power is extraordinarily strong, unimaginably strong. The practice of that Dharma has time requirements. The practice has to begin when a pole aligns with its shadow. Simply put, every day when the sun is about to set, you have to go to a high mountain and stick a pole there. You look at the shadow cast by the pole due to the illumination of the sun. Every day at a fixed location, when that shadow is aligned with the pole, you begin your practice at that place. Right at the moment when the sun is about to set, you begin forming the hand mudra, forming the body mudra, and chanting the mantra. If it is a rainy day, you begin your practice at a certain set time. Of course, nowadays it is easy to set the time, since you can see the time on a watch or cell phone. In the past, they used the trickling of water or sand to calculate the time because on rainy days, cloudy days, or foggy days, there is no shadow to be seen. If you miss the correct time or skip one day of practice, then your practice of that Dharma is ruined. Not only will you be unable to practice that Dharma successfully, as a practitioner of that Dharma, you will also surely experience misery. You may ask why that is the case. I will not tell you why because it is too profound. Even if I told you, it would still be of no use, for you have not learned such things.
Nowadays, practitioners who do not live in seclusion in the mountains have no way to practice that kind of Dharma. Many people who lead a worldly life do not have the required conditions. Only those who live in seclusion in the mountains or who isolate themselves for three years can practice such Dharma. Otherwise, they could not practice it. Why? If they were on an airplane at that time of the day, how could they practice it? Even if they were on a train, they could not practice it, let alone on an airplane. Therefore, it is not convenient to practice the Dharma of the Dharma Protector Rahula. There are some other Dharmas that also are not convenient to practice because they all have some specific requirements.
The Dharma that is the easiest to practice is the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma (觀音大悲加持法). That Dharma does not require the practitioner to have any Dharma powers or holy realization. As long as you have the power of the lineage, that is sufficient. You can succeed the same day you take up the practice of it. The next day, you can convene people, empower them, and lead them into a supernormal state. However, there must be Dharma-protecting people on site to protect the safety of the attendees who are being empowered. This is to prevent attendees, who may jump or move about uncontrollably after they enter a supernormal state, from hurting others who are on the floor or beside them.
The concluding practice of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma is the finest, the best. Were it not for its concluding practice, I would not advocate practicing this Dharma. I all the more would not transmit this Dharma in this world. Why release captive living beings? All living beings have been our family members since beginning-less time. They are the same as humans. It is just that their degree of intelligence and their appearance are different from those of humans. Still, their consciousness is the same as that of a human. That is why in real life we see that some animals can even rescue people, some can do math, some can sing, and some can dance. I even saw a dog that was able to play a highly difficult piano melody. Moreover, the dog played it very precisely. We must help them and rescue them. Furthermore, we must not even slightly harm any living being. We can only rescue them.
It is very difficult to attain the completion stage when practicing the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma. The conditions for practicing the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma are completely different from the conditions for practicing other Dharmas. The most important aspect of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma is selflessly benefiting and helping living beings in the concluding practice rather than making use of that Dharma to collect offerings.
Because the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma is based on the power gathered from the greatly compassionate mind of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, at the end of each Dharma assembly, the one performing the Dharma must lead the attendees in a concluding practice to release captive living beings, do good deeds, and help other people. It is best to conduct the concluding practice on the same day. If there is not enough time, doing it on another day is also acceptable. However, the concluding practice must be completed within fifteen days.
If the one performing the Dharma only prays to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva for empowerment but does not conduct a concluding practice that truly releases captive living beings and that benefits and helps other people, yet he still collects monetary offerings, then that master performing the Dharma is certainly a non-Buddhist under the guise of Buddhism or an evil person. If the Dharma assembly is not conducted in accord with the Dharma, all of the people who attended the Dharma assembly to receive empowerment will not experience real beneficial effects. People who attend an Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma Assembly should make offerings. However, in order to comply with the Dharma, it would be best if they personally helped the Dharma assembly staff arrange that the monetary offerings received at the Dharma assembly be spent on the main subject of the Dharma assembly—the concluding practice of releasing captive living beings, helping other people, and doing good deeds—as well as on the related expenses of the Dharma assembly, such as renting the site, transportation, meals, and lodging for the master performing the Dharma and those accompanying the master. Otherwise, not only will sinful karma fall upon the master who performed the Dharma, moreover, the attendees of the Dharma assembly will lose the principal part of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma because during the process they received only half of the Dharma without completing the concluding practice of releasing captive living beings and doing good deeds. Because the attendees who came to receive empowerment are not even involved with the principal part of that Dharma, it will be unlikely that they receive the true essence of the empowerment. Of course, I am only talking about principles relating to the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Empowerment Dharma and not about the rules of other Dharmas.
In short, Dharma is Dharma. What is Dharma? Dharma is Buddha Dharma. Dharma is the perfect practice of the three practices—the preliminary practice, main practice, and concluding practice. Dharma was handed down by the Buddha. It was later taught to Bodhisattvas and became Yidam Dharma. That is what is called Buddha Dharma.
There is learning Buddha Dharma, practicing Buddha Dharma, and performing Buddha Dharma. Performing Buddha Dharma is using Buddha Dharma. Learning Buddha Dharma is learning it with mastery. Practicing Buddha Dharma is training yourself in it. Performing Buddha Dharma is operating it; that is, using it. However, only when you are successful in learning and practicing Buddha Dharma can you use Buddha Dharma. All of these three steps must be established on the foundation of cultivation. As I said earlier, cultivating yourself has become the most important issue. If your continual conduct is not up to standard, you cannot learn Dharmas. Even if you did learn a Dharma, it would be of no use. Even if you manifested some effect, it would still be a usage based on evil views. You would not generate any effects that benefit living beings. Therefore, people who only learn Dharma but do not cultivate themselves will not generate usefulness from their Dharma practice. Even if they generate a little illusory usefulness, it is evil usefulness. Not only will they not attain the true accomplishment, but in the end, they will surely experience miserable karmic retribution through suffering in one of the three lower realms.
The reason is extremely simple! I told you already, but perhaps you are still unable to give me the answer. Although I explained it to you very clearly earlier, you still may not be able to answer the question. What is the reason? The reason is that supernormal abilities come to those who acquire the true Dharma of the Tathagatas. Once they have these superhuman abilities, when they arrive at a Buddha-land, they possess the three kinds of supernormal cognition and six supernormal powers. They can see everything. At such time, if they do not have the compassionate mind of a Bodhisattva, their vengeful state of mind will be strong. As ordinary people in the world, you are cultivating yourselves every day under the guidance of me, your Master. You still have a mind of vengeance. You still have a mind that deceives other people. You still have a mind of hatred. You still have a mind that makes others suffer. You still have a mind of arrogance and conceit. You still have a mind of lying to other people and even to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If you arrived at a Buddha-land, what you would bring with you would still be the same evil and impure mind because that mind would still be yours. You would not have changed your state of mind a bit. It is not the case that once you arrived at a Buddha-land, your mind would become good, kind, and not evil. That would not happen. Your state of mind would not become good, yet at that time you would also have supernormal powers to do evil. At that time, as soon as you thought of someone experiencing misfortune, that someone would experience misfortune. If you wanted a thunderclap to occur, a thunderclap would occur. Whatever you wanted to happen would happen. Therefore, how could the Yidam possibly let you acquire the beneficial effects of Buddha Dharma? What would happen if you received Buddha Dharma? Wouldn’t the world be in chaos? Wouldn’t living beings be harmed by you and become miserable?
Therefore, in order to learn Buddha Dharma and receive Buddha Dharma, I suggest that all Buddhist disciples select one of the two great Mind Essences from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation, either The Xiaman Most Excellent Oceanic Mind Essenceor The Ultimate Bodhicitta for Attaining Dharma-Nature True-Thusness Oceanic Mind Essence. If you learn one of the Mind Essences to the point of proficiency and put it into practice, you need not worry about not being able to learn Buddha Dharma. Even if I, your Master, do not teach you, the Yidam will teach you. Do you understand? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes!)
You also need not worry about being unable to attain accomplishment because Buddhas and Bodhisattvas need holy ones to be Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They need a large number of holy ones. Not only do They need holy ones, even if there exists a small degree of good roots in someone, They will cherish that someone the same as They cherish Their own eyes. How could They not want you? The reason is, as I said earlier, They are afraid! They are afraid that when you get to Their world, you will become a demon. One who has supernormal abilities yet would still harm living beings is a demon. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas worry! They feel bad! They feel bad because They are unable to save living beings. Therefore, as long as you act in accord with the Dharma, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will naturally not feel bad. You will naturally receive Their true Dharma and become a holy one. That is for sure! That is certain!
Perhaps you are thinking, “Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot be moved by the eight winds. How could They feel bad?” Wait until you awaken to that Dharma power. You will then no longer have such thoughts. Even Green Tara came into being from a compassionate tear shed by Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Sorry, I cannot digress.
Learning from Buddha (The Third of Three Lessons)
If You Do Not Put into Practice the Lessons You Have Heard on Cultivation and Dharma, It Will Be Like Trying to Scoop up the Reflection of the Moon on Water
All of you must continue to listen earnestly to what I say. After you have listened, you should introspect. You should take a look at yourself! If you only listen but do not put into practice what you hear, it is like trying to scoop up the reflection of the moon on water. Although you have listened to the prior two lessons, listening alone is useless. How would it be useful? You must understand what you heard. After understanding what you heard, you must put what I said into practice accordingly. Only then will it be useful. If you listen to these lessons but do not put them into action, even though you have understood the principles and seen the fact of the matter, you have not actually implemented what you heard in accordance with the Dharma. That is like seeing the fact that there is the reflection of the moon on water but not having the slightest possibility of scooping the moon up despite your desire to do so. In your attempt to scoop up the moon, you stir up ripples in the water. Instead of scooping up the moon, you cause the reflection of the moon to disappear. Because you have not upheld the theories you heard by putting them into practice, no actual, real results will manifest. The only possible outcome is that it will all be in vain, just like trying to scoop up the reflection of the moon on water.
The Dharma that I am imparting to all of you this time is actually very simple. It is called “Learning from Buddha.” However, this Dharma is very, very important. I already gave two lessons on Learning from Buddha. The first lesson was about Cultivation, and the second lesson was about Dharma. Joining together the two lessons of Cultivation and Dharma is truly learning from Buddha and cultivating yourself. You learn from Shakyamuni Buddha, from all Buddhas, how to cultivate yourself so as to end the cycle of birth and death, achieve perfect good fortune and wisdom, and attain accomplishment and liberation.
I can say that my imparting Cultivation and Dharma this time cannot be described by the hollow phrase “difficult to encounter in millions of eons”! This impartation on Cultivation and Dharma is the essence, indeed the essence of the essence, of the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and all Buddhas in the ten directions! However, the study and application of it are more suited for people who truly want to obtain good fortune and wisdom and attain the cessation of cyclic birth and death. It is of no use to people who only research Buddhism, who only engage in Buddhist studies, for it is not just theories. The Dharma I am imparting today is about seeking the goal of experiencing beneficial effects through carrying out theories. In other words, to attain the results that should be attained, you must put the theories into practical actions through implementation.
Can other people apply this Dharma? Of course they can. However, since beginning cultivators do not understand these principles, after hearing them, they may think that these principles are too burdensome and do not suit them very much. Owing to their own fear and the insufficient degree of their own roots of goodness, they may feel, “Ah, I am not qualified” or “Ah, I cannot do it now. I am still working. I will wait a few years until I am done working and then take it up. I will then let go of everything and earnestly learn.” Actually, people of this type have already lost their awareness and perspective on liberation.
However, I must say that among you Buddhist disciples who have been listening to the Buddha Dharma this time, more than half of you, a majority of you, are listening in vain to me imparting Dharma. You do not truly understand it. I have already imparted this Dharma for three days. Having listened to this Dharma, you think that you are making progress, that you have gained some understanding through introspection. It turns out that more than half of you are phony, not genuine, and have not truly cultivated yourselves. You have not! Of course, with respect to Dharma, you can say that there are some Dharmas you do not understand and have not yet practiced. Nonetheless, at the very least, you have not put into practice the principles of cultivation. You are able to utter words that are very pleasant to hear, such as, “I now understand. This is simple. This is easy to practice.” However, in fact, that is not your case. You are not aware that you are a fake cultivator, that you have not truly put such principles into practice.
During the time I have been together with you over the last few days, I have noticed that the words, conduct, and thoughts of some of you run in the opposite direction of the Dharma I teach. Why? Because I see that some of your fellow brothers and sisters are still forming cliques, some are still hating each other, some are still badmouthing others behind their backs, and even husband and wife are still fighting. What does this show? It can only show that you have listened in vain to me imparting Dharma. You are not truly cultivating yourselves. You are phony. You have listened to my words but have not acted accordingly. You have not put my words into practice. Instead, what are you putting into practice? What you are putting into practice are jealousy and hatred. What you are putting into practice are greed and plots. What you are putting into practice are benefitting yourself as your goal, making others suffer, and harming others. What you are putting into practice is the mentality “I am right for such-and-such reasons. I am strong for such-and-such reasons. You are no good for such and such reasons. You are wrong for such-and-such reasons. You must give me a clear explanation. If you do not, that is unacceptable.”
This includes some monastics, even Dharma masters. They are also falsely cultivating themselves. They continue to do the lowly deeds of impure karma that I mentioned. They are so pitiful. They are wearing monastic robes in vain. Many so-called Buddhists, whether lay persons or monastics, simply cast aside the Dharma that I impart. Those people are so moved at the time they hear such good Buddha Dharma. However, when they need to put it into practice, they completely change. They have forgotten it. They get entangled in matters of right and wrong. They get entangled in attachment to self. They get entangled in mentalities such as, “Today I saw you do such-and-such, which was not right. It was unpleasant to see;” or “You are not right. I am the one who is right;” or “You have to admit to me that you are wrong. You have to do this, this, and that.”
They have forgotten the meaning of the Dharma that I just finished imparting. They have forgotten how moved they were when they were listening to the Dharma. They have forgotten! The Dharma that they heard has long since left their minds. They have also forgotten that each day lived means their lives are one day shorter, that each day they are getting closer to the crematorium, and soon their time will be up. They have forgotten that they will soon be totally parted from their family members and wealth and that the day of their death is imminent. They will be all alone on their way to the netherworld, where there is no hotel or food but only the suffering of loneliness. How pitiful, how pitiful!
If you do not attain accomplishment, this is the type of fate you will experience. This is a fact. Could it possibly not be a fact? Why would there be this kind of outcome, this kind of fate? To put it somewhat more deeply, the Dharma that I imparted has been washed away from your eighth-consciousness long ago. You are just going through the motions, listening to Dharma as amusement without having actually carried it out. You have never even thought about what the consequences will be for you!
I have already imparted Dharma. I have already explained Cultivation. As I said very clearly, you must put those teachings into practice. If you do not put those teachings into practice, you are not cultivating yourself. When you accord yourself with the Dharma that I imparted by following each of its specific teachings in a down-to-earth manner, then that is putting those teachings into practice. However, many of you have not done so. If you had done so, how could there still be conflicts among you? Why is it that when you go out, you even look for some cheap things that you can take for free? You even want to take some extra chopsticks from a restaurant. What kind of behavior is that? Is such behavior that of a follower of Shakyamuni Buddha? Is such behavior that of a disciple of Dorje Chang Buddha III? Your minds are so filthy, so foul! If I asked you to make the same vow that I did, to never accept any offerings of money or property for the rest of your life but only serve the public on a voluntary basis, would you do so?
I have not seen the pure karma side in some of you. Some of you have only shown me your filthy and ugly side. Therefore, I have imparted the Dharma in vain. Disciples, it is more unlikely for you to fulfill your wish to learn a great Dharma than it is for you to soar into the blue sky! It is even more unlikely than your ascending into the blue sky! That is because your conduct is not up to standard. You are repulsive living beings. You scorn the Dharma that I, your Master, impart! You did not immediately “drop the butcher’s knife and immediately set out to become a Buddha.” You did not start anew immediately. I have not seen your benevolence and friendliness toward others. What I have seen is your selfishness and narrow-mindedness! What I have seen is your holding tight to trifling matters, unwilling to let them go! In particular, some husbands and wives are most ridiculous. When a husband said a few words to another woman, his wife immediately complained. When that wife, scheming against her husband, looked at another man a few times, her husband was also unhappy. They got themselves into a horrible mess.
You must cultivate yourself! During all three periods, through day and night, you must constantly correct your own ongoing conduct. You should think that what is not good in others is exactly what diminishes yourself. You should think that what is good in others is your own good fortune. Of course, I do not want to explain cultivation again. I previously explained cultivation very clearly. I will not repeat it now. The key point is that if you do not put into practice the Dharma that I impart, it is as if you have not heard me impart Dharma. After you hear the Dharma that I impart, if you do not carry it out, that is the same as not having heard it. Having learned Dharma, having been taught Cultivation, having listened to the Dharma I imparted, if you do not act accordingly, it is completely the same as never having listened to it. Truthfully speaking, in such case you are not cultivating yourself. True cultivation requires learning and following, at all times, the kind of conduct and practice that I have been teaching. You must actually do that. You must introspect, asking yourself how you should treat others when it comes to your words, how you should treat others when it comes to your mentality, and how you should treat others when it comes to your conduct. However, many of you have not done that!
Precisely because you have not done that, there are unresolved entanglements among fellow brothers and sisters, some of whom are married couples. Why are there such entanglements? It seems to them that some interest of theirs was infringed upon, that some benefit of theirs was taken away, and that it would not be fitting if they did not handle matters that way since that is their right! I want to ask all of you a question. For how much money can that right be sold? For how much money can that interest be sold? Could all these things that you value ward off the outcome of your travelling alone to the netherworld, where there is no hotel and no food along the way? You can say that you are not afraid, but this fact will soon present itself. You will see it very soon. I am not trying to scare you. It is right ahead of you. I will tell you something. Do you understand what is meant by “interests”? When you are unable to attain liberation, all interests are dark karma. They are hatchets that cut into a mountain, leading you to one of the three lower realms, including the hell realm. They open up the mountain of loneliness and suffering, enabling you to walk into it. Furthermore, they are not really your interests. There are no such things as your interests, no such things as your rights. There isn’t anything at all like that. There is only your attachment to self, your selfishness, entanglements, dark karma, loneliness, and extreme suffering.
The conduct of Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas entails thorough disregard of self-interests. When there are competing interests, give concessions to others. Take fewer benefits or even no benefits. Tell yourself, “When others harm or slander me, I will not mind in the slightest. Moreover, as to those who harm me, poison me, or smear me, I will wish them well and hope that they are happy. I will also take practical actions to financially aid them and help them. Furthermore, I will not let them know that I am benefiting them, that I am giving of myself for the sake of their well-being.”
However, you must especially pay attention to an important point. What I just said specifically relates to your personal cultivation and harm done to your personal interests. If you see other people highly praise Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or if you see other people show reverence and make offerings to temples that propagate the true Dharma, you should rejoice in your hearts and willingly help them. However, what you must be most careful about is that once you lose your fearlessness, you have violated a fundamental precept, and you will not be able to attain liberation and accomplishment. For example, suppose some evil person or scoundrel strikes a statue of a Buddha, burns a sutra, does damage to the true Dharma, or slanders and smears Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If you do not step forward in defense, if you do not step forward to fight such bad actions, then you are completely doomed. You will not be able to attain accomplishment in even 10,000 lifetimes. All you will get is suffering in one of the three lower realms because you are so selfish. You are so selfish in that you cultivate yourself only for your own sake. You do not take real action to defend Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You have no fearlessness to speak of.
Any person who has lost fearlessness cannot become a holy one. Anyone who is devoid of fearlessness, who does not protect Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who does not protect the true Dharma, does not have even a 1% chance of receiving an inner-tantric initiation from the Yidam, especially a Jingxing Initiation (境行灌頂). That is because the first criterion the Yidam looks for in accepting a person to receive a Holy Inner-Tantric Initiation (勝義內密灌頂) or Jingxing Initiation is whether the person has fearlessly acted to protect Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, to protect the true Dharma. If a person does not have the state of fearlessness but instead only has the mentality and conduct of one who wants to attain accomplishment for selfish reasons, then once he does attain accomplishment, he will certainly become one of those selfish people on an evil path. That is why neither the Yidam nor Dharma protectors will accept this type of practitioner!
However, you must be clear about something. Protecting Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, protecting true Dharma, and protecting goodness does not mean that you are allowed to make trouble, cause turmoil, or endanger public safety and peace. Rather, you should struggle against evil and fight the evildoers so that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can safely and smoothly benefit living beings and advance peace and happiness among humankind.
Here I will give an example. There was a Dharma master called Chihhang (慈航法師) in Taiwan. Many people know that he was a practitioner with great fearlessness. He stepped forward to fight against evil in order to defend the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and true Dharma. His actions caused many people to think that he had entered a demonic state and was not a cultivator. Little did they know that he had not entered a demonic state. Rather, he was taking fearless actions in order to protect the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and true Dharma. Therefore, Dharma Master Chihhang generated tremendous merit and attained true accomplishment. He became a person of great holiness who had control over his own living and dying and whose body did not decay after death. His state of accomplishment was no different from that of Huineng, the sixth patriarch of the Zen school.
Actually, the merit of protecting the Dharma is greater than the merit of doing anything else. Thus, in Buddhism there is the Buddha Division, Maternal Buddha Division, Vajra Division, Dharma Protector Division, and Bodhisattva Division. Dharma protectors are specifically categorized as one of the five major divisions. Protecting the Dharma means applying fearlessness to protect the true Dharma of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Only those who patiently endure humiliation and adversity in the course of cultivating themselves and who apply great fearlessness in protecting the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are great practitioners!
You should not be attached even to important matters. How could you become attached to minor matters? Besides, if you carefully examine the matter from another perspective, you will see that it is not a problem at all! Such attachment can be described as looking for trouble when there is no trouble and not being able to live without carrying dark karma! Such people are hell-bent on finding some dark karma to carry. The upshot is not good for either the man or the woman, and the opinions their fellow brothers and sisters have of them are also unfavorable. What a mess! Of course, it does not matter whether others have an unfavorable opinion of you. The key point is that the harm done to yourself is very large.
Cultivation should stem from the bottom of your heart, from your bodhicitta. Be truly friendly and loving to one another and to your spouse. Be amicable to your fellow brothers and sisters. Care about and act cooperatively with friends and other people. Help and care about living beings. Apply the true Four Limitless States of Mind and bodhicitta. Examine yourself at all times and on all occasions. At all times, reflect upon yourself.
According to what I previously said about Cultivation, you should introspect three times a day. However, have you introspected? When did you introspect? What did you introspect about? You did not introspect, did you? Had you introspected, why would you still want to argue with each other? Can that be called cultivating yourself? What kind of a person is that? To put it bluntly, you do not even have basic ethics or morality. You are about the same as an ordinary crude person who lacks virtue. That is why I say that the Dharma that I imparted and the Cultivation that I explained were all spoken in vain. Have you actually done what I taught? How much of it have you done? How many of you have done what I taught, have put it into practice?
Remember these words of mine: The Cultivation and Dharma that I imparted are together called Learning from Buddha. That is a complete and perfect Dharma in and of itself, but now it looks like it is still not complete. There is Cultivation and there is Dharma, but there is no concluding practice. There is also no Yidam who you must go through to receive an initiation and Dharma transmission.
Therefore, today I am telling you in clear and precise terms that no matter how many times you listen to my previous lessons on Cultivation and Dharma, if you do not act upon it accordingly, if you do not actually put it into practice, then you are deceiving yourself. You are walking step by step toward the gate of hell, toward the gate of the six realms of existence. You are quickly walking toward the funeral home. You do not have any possibility of reaching liberation! Even if in this lifetime you are surrounded with mountains of gold, silver, and other treasures, you still must die soon. Think about it. How old are you this year? Can you still live out half of your lifespan? Some of you do not even have one third or one fourth of your lifespan left. Some of you will live only two or three more years before being sent to the crematory. How very pitiful! Before long, you will turn into a pile of white bone ashes. That is a fact. Could you possibly say that such is not the case? King Yama will pull in your soul to stand trial. You will be judged in the netherworld by the law of cause and effect. From then on, having lost what guides your cultivation, you will no longer be able to learn Buddha Dharma. You will degenerate to the lower realms for a tremendously long time. The date of your liberation will never come. You will experience unbearable suffering. Such will be your days.
Now that the true and supreme Buddha Dharma has appeared before you, there is something you should understand and be clear about. If you do not at this very moment seize this opportunity, if you do not truly carry out Cultivation that I previously explained in the first lesson and Dharma that I previously explained in the second lesson, and then use what I am explaining now in the third lesson to examine yourself, then when will you do so? If you do not do so, even if you already have the rituals of a Yidam Dharma, the seeds of bodhi will not blossom and bear fruit. Remember, to truly attain perfect good fortune and wisdom, to achieve accomplishment, to have your seeds blossom and bear fruit, you must expel your own dark karma. Absolutely do not let it stick to you every day. You must plant merit every day, plant the merit that leads to bodhi. This is very important!
Speaking of Bodhi, I was traveling with a few dozen people today, and we happened to arrive under a Western bodhi tree. I call it a bodhi tree because its leaves are very pretty. I called it a bodhi tree the first time I saw it. I remember when I visited Taiwan, there was a famous general there by the name of Chiang Wei-Kuo (蔣緯國). He was a son of Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石). Chiang Wei-Kuo was a person of very high caliber. According to what I know, during those years when he was overseas, he was a mentor to many Western missionaries. When the name Chiang Wei-Kuo was mentioned to the president of a league of eighty-three American universities, he said, “Oh, he is my godfather.” Chiang Wei-Kuo’s influence was very large.
At the time Chiang Wei-Kuo came to see me, he was an elderly man. When I was in Taiwan, he came to formally request to become my disciple. At that time, I was still young. He made an offering of a gift to me as part of his formal request to become my disciple. It was a bodhi leaf. There was some writing on that bodhi leaf about the time he went to Bodhgaya, India. While he was standing under the Bodhi Tree where Shakyamuni Buddha attained the supreme enlightenment, he made a vow about how he would benefit living beings. Just as he was making the vow, a leaf suddenly fell from the tree. It was a very big leaf. It seemed that no other leaf on the tree was as large as that leaf. After he took it back home, he showed it to his father, Chiang Kai-Shek, and told him what happened. Chiang Kai-Shek was extremely moved and immediately said, “Son, quickly take it to our ancestral hall to be enshrined.” Thus, since then, that bodhi leaf had been an object of worship in the ancestral hall of the Chiang family.
When I was in Taiwan and accepted him as my disciple, he felt that he did not have anything to offer to his Master, so he presented that holy object as an offering. In particular, he said, “My most respected Master, when Your Holiness returns to Chengdu, please take this bodhi leaf to the ossuary of uncle Dai Jitao (戴季陶) at the Zhaojue Temple (昭覺寺) to let my uncle see it. Please also help me by raising the consciousness of my uncle to a higher realm. Then I will have fulfilled my filial duty. I would be immensely grateful, Master.” In order to make that offering to me, he personally inscribed on the leaf the circumstances of how that bodhi leaf came into his possession at Bodhgaya, how it had always been an object of worship in the ancestral hall of the Chiang family, and so on. He then presented that bodhi leaf as an offering to me. I do not accept any offerings, but I thought about the fact that he was so devout and that he was a person of advanced age. Also, the karmic conditions were extraordinary, so I accepted it.
I do not know what the tree we saw today is called. Some people called it a Western bodhi tree. When I was under that Western bodhi tree, I really wanted a leaf from that Western bodhi tree. I told some disciples to go look in all directions for some relatively nice and large ones. I took a look at the leaves they found. They were pretty good. I felt they were quite large. Some were even larger than the one presented by Chiang Wei-Kuo since they were Western bodhi leaves.
Then, right at the time when I was briefly describing to Tsemang and other disciples the true story of Chiang Wei-Kuo making an offering to me of that bodhi leaf, right at the time I was talking about Chiang Wei-Kuo giving to me that bodhi leaf that year and how it fell from the tree, everyone heard a rustling sound from the tree above. “Dong!” A Western bodhi leaf fell from above, astonishing everyone there. Western bodhi leaves have white veins, and on the back they have light pinkish veins. However, that Western bodhi leaf was different except for its shape, which was the same. That bodhi leaf had very red veins. Its veins were very red on both sides. It did not have any white vein at all. Moreover, it was extremely large! (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.)
Is that what all of you saw today? (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes.) I am not asking you to shout yes or no as slogans. I just want to show that such are the facts. You were there. There is nothing miraculous about it. After that bodhi leaf fell, everyone raised their heads and looked around again, but there was no other leaf that big. (Disciples respectfully reply: Right.) The entire tree did not have such a big leaf. Furthermore, the leaves on the tree were much smaller than that bodhi leaf. (Disciples respectfully reply: Yes, the leaves were much smaller.) However, later they picked up two leaves and brought them back to do a comparison. One of them was very large, but when it was compared to the bodhi leaf that fell, it looked really small. The key point is that there was no leaf on the tree as huge as that bodhi leaf! It was huge and miraculous. Right when I was speaking about Chiang Wei-Kuo obtaining a huge bodhi leaf in India, that miraculous leaf fell from that Western bodhi tree! What did that show? I must say, perhaps it shows that wherever there is the sound of the true Dharma of the Tathagatas, responses are evoked. (Disciples respectfully reply: The Dharma protectors delivered it as an offering only because Your Holiness the Buddha was there.) Therefore, it was a matter of causes and conditions being present.
However, you disciples must be sure to remember what I am about to say today. If I am just imparting Buddha Dharma to you, no matter how excellent that Dharma may be, if you do not put it into practice, it is as if you never learned it, as if you never heard it. You must put it into practice. Only then can it produce effects. If you do not, you will certainly revolve in samsara. What is even more serious is that the more you revolve, the heavier your sinful karma will become, and the more severe your suffering will be! You will not be able to attain accomplishment!
If you really want to become accomplished and liberated, you should start immediately. Take action right away. Act on it right here and now. Otherwise, no matter how many times you listen to this Dharma, it will be in vain. What kind of people are those who hear the Dharma but do not act on it, who are moved to tears for just a short while when hearing the Dharma but that is all, and who merely utter some pleasant words to deceive themselves? To put it bluntly, people like this are in fact idiots. They are actually “er bai wu’s.” They are harming themselves! Do you want to become accomplished and liberated? Are you still just fooling around? Are you still engaging in attachment? Why don’t you avail yourself of other people to establish your own path to enlightenment?
So many ancient virtuous ones made use of slander, verbal abuse, and harm directed at them from other people, transforming such experiences into enlightenment and great compassion. In the end, they became holy ones. Zen Master Yongjia (永嘉禪師) said, “If there were no slander and praise that create enemies and friends, how would you show the power of loving-kindness and patience that stems from no-birth?” I should change it to, “If there were no slander and praise that create enemies and friends, how would you realize the power of loving-kindness and patience that stems from no-birth?” How else would you be able to realize it? How would you know that you have attained such a state? What is meant by “the power of loving-kindness and patience that stems from no-birth”? No-birth means no longer going through birth and death. It means the realization of no more birth and death from now on. What, then, is meant by “the power of loving-kindness and patience”? Loving-kindness refers to boundless compassion toward living beings. Patience refers to the ability to patiently endure everything harmful that comes externally. However, if the harm is directed at Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, you should immediately apply fearlessness to defend Them without the slightest hesitation!
The saying, “Among the highest unconditioned Dharmas imparted by the Buddha, patience under humiliation and adversity is the foremost Dharma (佛說無為最，忍辱第一道)” is specifically directed at you yourself. It does not mean that you are supposed to stand on the sideline feeling unmoved when you see Shakyamuni Buddha or Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva being slandered. That would be no different from the behavior of demons. Nonetheless, as far as your own cultivation is concerned, patience under humiliation and adversity is the highest Dharma. Are you unable to do even that?
So, disciples, if you have those faults, you should understand that you are already an “er bai wu.” You are already deceiving yourself. Therefore, immediately correct those bad habits and faults. Do it right away. Cultivate yourself! Build up your merit!
I will give another example. Suppose there is a conflict between you and a fellow brother or sister. You want to fight to win, to win back something. What is the use of that? If you go ahead and fight but the other person also has not cut off attachment to self and also is rather fault-finding, what good will that do you? You will harm each other, and afterward slander each other and recklessly spread rumors about each other. How will that benefit you? I want to ask you: Why can’t you even emulate the bearing of an elder virtuous one? If you treat others with great loving-kindness, great compassion, benevolence, righteousness, and kindness, what you receive will also be kindness, benevolence, and love. How wonderful that would be! A few of you are now nodding as you listen. Do not just nod. That is useless. If you do not start taking real actions and do not truly cultivate yourself, you cannot possibly attain accomplishment!
Therefore, remember: Cultivation is the first lesson; Dharma is the second lesson. The Dharma I imparted in those two lessons is very precious! However, the supreme preciousness of what I am explaining in this third lesson about self-examination and implementation is no less than that of the two previous lessons. The combination of all three teachings on the Dharma—the first, the second, and the third—is undoubtedly the utmost treasure!
To sum up briefly, after hearing the lessons on Cultivation and Dharma, if you do not immediately examine yourself and implement what you heard, if you do not act on what you heard, that is just like never having heard and never having learned such teachings. That is of no use at all and cannot be of any help to you. If you do act on what you heard, right then and there you have the state of a holy one. As long as you are acting according to these teachings that you heard, then you are a holy one at the causal stage. Without a doubt, you will attain perfect fortune and wisdom! Becoming liberated and accomplished will be as easy as turning over the palm of your hand!
I now conclude my teachings on Cultivation and Dharma as well as self-examination and implementation.
(Disciples respectfully reply: Namo Your Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III!)
[1] Pronounced in Chinese “Jin Gang Fa-Man Ze Jue (金剛法曼擇決),” it is a supreme Holy Dharma to derive a conclusive and absolutely correct determination, such as determining the authenticity of the reincarnation of a Buddha, Bodhisattva, Arhat, or rinpoche.
[2] Its current name is World Buddhism Association Headquarters.
[3] The three kinds of supernormal cognition refer to three of the six supernormal powers: the power of divine vision, the power of knowing the past and future, and the power of the extinction of the knots of samsara. The other three supernormal powers are the power of divine hearing, the power of reading minds, and the power of divine travel.
[4] Sukhavati in Sanskrit.
[5] Vaiduryanirbhasa in Sanskrit.
[6] Kusalakarmapatha in Sanskrit. Other translations include the Ten Kinds of Wholesome Behavior, and the Ten Good Characteristics. They are not killing; not stealing; not committing sexual misconduct; not lying; not engaging in idle chatter or gossip; not speaking divisively; not speaking harshly; not being greedy or lustful; not being angry; and not being ignorant.
[7] Caturapramana in Sanskrit. Also called the Four Immeasurable States of Mind. They are limitless loving-kindness (maitri), limitless compassion (karuna), limitless sympathetic joy (mudita), and limitless non-differentiating generosity (upeksa).
[8] The Six Paramitas are giving or generosity (dana), precept observance (sila), patience or forbearance (ksanti), effort (virya), concentration (dhyana), and wisdom (prajna).
[9] This parable can be found in the Lotus Sutra.
[10] Tummo can be translated as inner-heat.
[11] Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
[12] This refers to the question, “I respectfully ask the Buddha Master, if we only practice Dharma but do not cultivate ourselves, can we attain accomplishment?”
[13] The Chinese characters 二百五(er bai wu) literally mean the number 250 but have also come to mean an idiot, stupid person, or dope.
[14] The 128 views refer to A Brief Explanation of Evil Views and Erroneous Views in Buddhism imparted by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, published in Public Announcement No. 8 from the Office of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III on August 25, 2009.
[15] Bhaisajyaguru Buddha
[16] Dhyana is usually translated as meditative absorption.