His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – October 3, 2021

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne, and expounded on “Scroll 18, ‘Amitayus Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 5, Section 2)” of the Ratnakuta
Sutra.

“There are few Buddhist terms that have been looked up by some disciples. The first one is ‘vipassana’, and is translated as ‘insight’. ‘Insight’ is one of the practicing methods of ‘dhyana’ (abstract contemplation or meditation). This means there are many ways of practicing meditation. It is not necessary to use a particular method so as to attain a state of meditation; it is in accordance with the root capacity of each sentient being. The Buddha had expounded many such methods, like Mahamudra of Drikung Kagyu; in the Amitabha Sutra, there are also mentions on the methods of practicing meditation.

The Mahamudra is for attaining the state of meditation in practicing directly the ways of being Bodhisattvas, and such a meditation is not the one practiced by ordinary believers and monastics. To learn the meditative state of Mahamudra, in Tibetan Buddhism, one must complete the practices of the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices. If one has not finished these Practices, one definitely will not have sufficient good fortune in the ‘path of accumulation’, and if there is not enough of good fortune, this person absolutely will not attain the meditative state of Mahamudra. Many people think that if they have completed the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices, they will have good fortune, will not have bad things occurring to them or will be enlightened. Well, there will be quite a long time passing before these things happen!

Many people consider themselves amazing because they have been transmitted by me the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices. In fact, a very long time is needed for them to feel that! Such a transmission was just a tryout to test your mind. Particularly, the meditative state of Mahamudra is the state for Bodhisattvas. Such a state is different from the one obtained through meditation in general. If there is no guru’s lineage embedded in the transmission, and if one thinks that a meditative state can be attained by just sitting there, then this is a wrong concept. In Mahamudra, its first stage is the method of One-pointedness Yoga. How can one be single-minded then? With what methods can your mind focus on one point? This is not mentioned in sutras. As for Simplicity Yoga (the second stage of Mahamudra), how can your mind get to things which are in ‘Simplicity’? There are no detailed explanations on this in sutras either, let alone the last two stages, One-taste Yoga and Non-meditation Yoga.

Many people think that sitting there for 15 or 20 minutes is in a state of meditation. Actually, that is called ‘sitting still’. Do not think that by sitting there without thoughts is doing meditation. In fact, it is just like a piece of wood being there. Or, you have some kind of a feel in sitting there, feeling you being electrified all over your body. Actually, it is because you sit there motionless, your skin then becomes more sensitive and your blood flows energetically or your ‘qi’ (flow of energy) moves strenuously; that is all.

If you claim that you can see light when you sit in meditation, that light is from your problematic nervous system. It is because if you want to see light, one possibility is that you have already practiced to reach the level of having a ‘heavenly eye’. In sutras, there are mentions about practices on ‘heavenly eye’, but nothing about how to practice it. There is such a Dharma text though in Esoteric Buddhism. There is light in our bodies. When you close your eyes long enough, you definitely will see light; you can try it. Do not think that the light you have seen is the Buddha’s light or some other kind of light. You think that when you sit there for a long time, there will be someone starting talking to you. Actually, it is to show that you are beginning to have deficiencies in your kidneys. That means you are hard of hearing now; it is not that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas have come talking to you. The thoughts in our human minds constantly come out. If the ‘qi’ in your kidneys is sufficient, when your thoughts are out, there will be reactions in your cranial nerves. If such ‘qi’ is insufficient, the reactions will gradually become spoken languages, therefore, you will see that some old people talk to themselves all day long. This is because they have insufficient ‘qi’ in their kidneys, and they no longer have means to control their own cranial nerves. Hence, when you feel that you have attained a state in meditation and there is someone talking to you, get ready to check with doctors for deficiencies in your kidneys. There are possibilities for both men and women to have such deficiencies. Having these kinds of feelings are all wrong, including thinking that you are very comfortable in sitting there and are becoming healthier and healthier. In fact, if one has fewer confusing thoughts, one will be healthier anyway because there will not be much energy consumed.

Thus, here, the ‘vipassana’ expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha is to practice ‘insight’, which is one of the practicing methods of ‘dhyana’. The theory of ‘insight’ is in accordance with the concept of ‘satipatthana’ (fourfold method, or objectivity of thought), which consists of four aspects: ‘body’, ‘sensation’, ‘mind’ and ‘Dharma’ (‘phenomena’). With these four parts, we are to nurture the continued, steady ability of our awareness and perception. Then, at the levels of our actual experiences, we will realize that the ‘self’ is nothing more than a phenomenon composed of Five Aggregates.

On this kind of practicing method, you will not be able to do it. The reason is that there are four levels involved, which are to be explained. One is about body, and it is to understand very well about one’s own body. Many people think that they know their bodies quite well but no one truly understands them. Here is an example. When you are hungry, you are really not sure which nerve in your nervous system makes you hungry. The ‘body’ that has been talked about here means you need to understand very clearly that the body we have in this life is a ‘karmic body’; it is a ‘product’ created by the good and negative karma through lifetime after lifetime in the past and in this life, therefore, this body of ours is unreal.

Why is it unreal? It is because ‘body’ is not an unchangeable object; rather, it will change according to your karma produced from good and negative causes you have generated. If we can discern our bodies from this aspect, we will gradually understand the dreadfulness of our karma, and we will slowly realize its importance, too. This is because if you do not have good karma, you will not have a healthy body to do your practices. The way we view our bodies is that they are unreal. Although Shakyamuni Buddha had transmitted the Dharma method of ‘skull meditation’, it is for the practices in Hinayana. The ‘skull meditation’ is to visualize the whole body is unreal in that the flesh, hair, eyes, or nostrils are all ulcerated, and maggots bite on them until nothing of the body is left except the skeleton.

In the era of Shakyamuni Buddha, there were records showing that some people had practiced the ‘skull meditation’, and as they had not grasped the method very well towards the end, they committed suicide and died. Thus, at later time, Shakyamuni Buddha did not encourage much about practicing the ‘skull meditation’. It is not for ordinary people to practice on; they will be unable to do it. The ‘skull meditation’ is a method for those who have already determined to forsake the bodies of theirs in this life. At the present time, in the Age of Dharma Decline and the evil time of the Five Turbidities, it is very difficult to practice the ‘skull meditation’. It is impossible for one sitting there a few hours a day to visualize the phenomena of one’s body on birth, old age, sickness and death, and then after death, visualizing the body being gradually ulcerated with maggots appearing to bite on the body.

If we cannot do that, then we should practice from this direction that viewing the body being a ‘karmic body’, and understanding very clearly that one’s body has been obtained from the good and negative karma created through past lifetimes. However, gaining this body is not to let you enjoy happiness or do negative deeds; rather, it is to let you have this ‘karmic body’ as a Dharma instrument to do practices. If you view your body as a Dharma instrument, you will not get a wrong view. For example, let’s view a sutra then. It is made from putting together pieces of paper. If you think those pieces are just paper, then they are just that. Nevertheless, if you think it is a sutra, then it is a Dharma instrument in that it will let sentient beings understand the Dharma. You should respect this sutra then.

This means you need to respect your own body but not to let it be respected by others; rather, you should respect this body being created by your karma. Regardless of what kinds of suffering your body has been gotten into, you need to accept the situations. This also means when you have been slandered, damaged, harmed or abused, you should know clearly that the occurrences are your own karma, and you will not escape them by trying practicing many Dharma methods. Our repentances are not to implore for a better health, which we hope to get after we have repented. Repentances are only to make your body, which originally obstructs your practices, be changed so that it will not hinder your practices.

Some people have issues happening to them because they love their bodies too much. It is like the story shared by a disciple, before the start of this puja, about her husband. I scolded him the other day, and I knew he was losing his temper right then and there. He was displeased, thinking, ‘Was that situation so serious? The air-conditioning was turned on just at a little colder degree, so what was it that could have happened?’ Of course, he didn’t say these at that time and place. He has taken refuge in me for nine years; why had I not seen that there was a female ghost from his clan entangling with his family? The first reason is that he had never talked about it. Secondly, at the time of your taking refuge, I said to you that once you have taken refuge, non-humans will not harm you. Thus, this ghost had not dared to entangle with him, and naturally, it could not come here. Then, of course, I had not seen it.

Nevertheless, on that day, he made an error and he still refused to admit his wrongdoing; he was still thinking that the situation was not that serious. He broke away from his Refuge Precepts then, and that was why that ghost was able to come. Do not misunderstand that I am punishing him. I will not punish any sentient beings; it is he himself who has given up the learning. I have often advised you about a concept that if the negative karma we have created through lifetime after lifetime is a combination of solid objects, there will not be enough of spaces in the boundless void to put these objects in. However, no one believes in this! You will say then that particular thing has nothing to do with him; it had been done by his ancestors, not by him. Yet, if there had not been such a collective karma, those sentient beings will not have been reborn in his family as part of his off-springs.

This is why I have exhorted you that you must do good deeds in this life. It does not matter whether, in the future, you will get married or not, or if you will have next generation. It is very important that you are to do good acts. Many people do not understand the importance of their bodies and they love too much of the bodies, too. When they are scolded by the guru, they will immediately get angry and then they will dare to speak out whatever their thoughts are and say whatever they want to say. There are many instances letting you see such situations, but you still do not believe in them. You will think, ‘Was it so serious?’ No, not at all. It is just that your karmic creditors will take the advantage of the situations and come to ‘get you’. You have taken away your own ‘protection umbrella’; you do not want it, and it is not that your guru has taken it back.

Many people think, ‘Will it be so serious if one gets angry at one’s guru?’ According to what had been expounded in the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows, one will fall into the Hell Realm if one is angry at ordinary sentient beings, let alone being angry at one’s guru. Thus, if you don’t learn and understand how to respect your guru, do not come to learn Buddhism lest you slander the Buddha or your guru in the future. This is a very serious vice. Even if you do not like your guru, as long as he or she has taught you one sentence or one verse of the Dharma, this person is your guru. Then you owe your guru a great debt of gratitude, and you are to repay him or her. How? It is not to repay your guru with your bodily health; rather, your debts are to be repaid with your continuous practices. Yet, none of you has listened and gotten that through your head.

Then again, ‘sensation’ is mentioned here. The so-called sensation does not mean sensing some good things because of sitting in meditation and learning Buddhism. It is to feel ‘sensation’ on what the Buddha had taught on these eight types of suffering that humans have: birth, old age, sickness, death, being apart from loved ones, being together with those you hate, the raging blaze of the Five Aggregates, and not getting what you want. Why do humans have these? Where do these sensations come from? Why do we receive such types of suffering? These are received through the ‘insight’ in ‘satipatthana’, and by that, we view our ‘inner self’ continuously.

In here, ‘mind’ does not refer to the heart in our body. There are two references for ‘mind’. One is our pure, original essence, and the other one is our consciousness that helps us to be able to survive each day. Normally, if we have not gone through meditation, we will not differentiate, or see, clearly between our consciousness and our pure, original essence. Many people think that when they chant mantras, if they do not have confusing thoughts, it is their minds that are not having such thoughts. Actually, it is not so. It is still the functioning of consciousness, not of mind.

‘Dharma’ (mentioned earlier in ‘satipatthana’) does not mean whether there are any kinds of methods or not; rather, the word here refers to all phenomena. The phrase, ‘to nurture the continued, steady ability of our awareness and perception’, means when you continuously practice ‘satipatthana’ through meditation, you will gradually nurture the eternal, continued and steady ability of our awareness and perception. Such an ability is for us to be aware of and to perceive various things we do, and how to take, or abandon, the good or the negative.

At the levels of our actual experiences, we will realize that the ‘self’ is nothing more than a phenomenon composed of Five Aggregates. Through this kind of meditation, you will then, in your actual life experiences, truly understand the so-called self is a phenomenon composed of Five Aggregates, which are form, perception, knowledge, action & consciousness. These are all unreal. They have the same characteristic in that they rapidly and constantly change. This means Five Aggregates change very fast and continuously. If you have experienced the situations, you will know that thoughts change unceasingly.

There are three types of phenomena, including the type that things are in unsatisfactory states and the type that bodies are not constant or unchanging, et cetera. The first to be mentioned is impermanence, and the second one is about people being unsatisfied. On the latter, everyone is not satisfied with his or her own status quo. When people have things, they will wish to get better ones; when they don’t have things, they will wish to strive for getting these things a little quicker; when they work very hard, they will wish to become very comfortable a little faster. These are three types of phenomena that things are in unsatisfying states and bodies are not constant or unchanging (meaning ‘selflessness’), et cetera. Thus, ‘insight’ is to visualize these three types of phenomena: impermanence, suffering and ‘selflessness’. By this understanding of true phenomena, ‘mind’ will gradually stop producing ‘greed, hatred and ignorance’ (Three Poisons) and the habitual reactions towards them. Three Poisons are the sources of all suffering. The basic method to be free from suffering is only by eliminating the greed, hatred and ignorance in the mind.

What this means is, through meditation, we will be able to understand why greed, hatred and ignorance have arisen, where they have come from, and how to make them stop arising. Through meditation, our habits can gradually be decreased. In this aspect, it is different in Esoteric Buddhism. In it, through the help of many yidams, your mind will immediately break away from greed, hatred and ignorance which had given you an affected mind.

In the practicing system of Buddhism, ‘insight’ belongs to ‘wisdom’, the last part of the ‘three studies.’ The transliteration of wisdom is ‘prajna’, which means the accurate understanding of true phenomena. In fact, in every stage of ‘insight’ practices, obtaining the more profound wisdom is deemed as a milestone. Such wisdom can eliminate tinier affliction. From the point of this meaning, the practices in Buddhism can be viewed as processes of purifying self, with an ultimate goal of complete purification. In this way, one will be liberated from all suffering and the binds of senses; this is so-called nirvana. It means, today, no matter what methods we have practiced – in Exoteric or Esoteric Buddhism – we are doing them for that very purpose, not for the aim of making ourselves more amazing.

Additionally, there is a term called ‘the ten powers of Tathagata’. They are described in the following. (1): Tathagata can understand, by examining the truth, all causes, conditions and retribution, knowing if good karma has been created, joyful retribution will definitely be gained; this is called ‘recognizing the right’. If negative karma has been created, joyful retribution will not be obtained and will not be right; this is called ‘recognizing the wrong’. On such various things, Tathagata knows them all. (2): The power of wisdom in knowing differences, and degrees of maturity, of karma: On where all sentient beings’ karma, affinities and retribution have been produced in the Three Periods, the past, the future and the present, Tathagata knows them all. (3): The power of wisdom in equal holding and attaining states of meditation, or in knowing various states of samadhi: In all kinds of states of meditation, Tathagata is at ease and with no hindrances; on the degrees of depth and the sequential order of all such states, Tathagata knows them all truthfully.

What has just been mentioned in the last sentence is to let you know very clearly that there are many kinds of meditation to attain meditative states. It is not just from methods of practicing meditation. There are other ways in attaining a state of meditation, depending on the degree of depth of such a state.

(4): The power of wisdom in knowing the superiority or inferiority of root capacity: On sentient beings’ root capacity being superior or inferior, or the retribution they get being large or small, Tathagata knows them all truthfully. (5): The power of wisdom in superb understanding of various minds: On the differences of various desires, joys, the good and the negative of sentient beings, Tathagata knows them all truthfully. (6): The power of wisdom in knowing various realms: On the differences in various realms where the world’s sentient beings are, Tathagata knows them all truthfully. (7): The power of wisdom in knowing where universal behaviors lead to: On the places that those in the Six Realms with deficiencies in behaviors will go to, or those in nirvana without behavioral deficiencies will go to, Tathagata knows them all truthfully. (8): The power of having knowledge on past lives: In various past lives, in one lifetime or even hundreds of thousands of myriads of lifetimes, and in one kalpa, or even hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas, there are occurrences of deaths here and births there or deaths there and births here; there are also names, eating, suffering, happiness or life span. On all these phenomena, Tathagata knows them all truthfully.

The one in (8) clearly shows you that if someone says you were a princess in your prior life, it is utter nonsense. This is because, on things in that life, like where you were born, where you died, what your name was, what you liked to eat, what you suffered or how long you lived, this person should have known them all.

(9): The power of having a ‘heavenly eye’: On the time of sentient beings’ death and on where they will go to, a good or a negative place, in future lives, even on their good or negative karma and affinities, like in beauty, ugliness, poorness or richness, et cetera, Tathagata, by a ‘heavenly eye’, understands them all truthfully.

Shakyamuni Buddha is able to know, in accordance with His ‘heavenly eye’, the time of death or birth of sentient beings and where they will go to, a good or a negative place, in their future lives, which means which realms they will be reborn in.

(10): The power of ‘understanding of the eradication of afflictions’: On all parts of doubts and habits, they have been eternally eliminated and will never arise. Tathagata knows them all truthfully.

There is another Buddhist term, and it is called ‘four kinds of fearlessness’. They are explained in the following. <1>: The Buddha spoke clearly to sentient beings, ‘I am a person with all wisdom, and I am without fears.’ <2>: The Buddha said clearly to sentient beings, ‘I have completely eliminated all affliction, and I am without fears.’ <3>: To sentient beings, the Buddha expounded various phenomena on hindrances of doubts and karma, et cetera, and He was without fears. <4>: To sentient beings, the Buddha expounded the Right Path on precepts, meditation and wisdom, et cetera, which will eradicate various suffering, and He was without fears.

On these Buddhist terms, I have often explained them to you. It is just that I have not used these terms as described just now, therefore, I mentioned them to you at this one time.

(Rinpoche continued expounding the Ratnakuta Sutra.)

Sutra: ‘Maitreya said, “Indeed, I have completely seen them.”’

Bodhisattva Maitreya said that he had seen all of them.

Sutra: ‘The Buddha spoke again, “Have you seen if there are differences on accepting and using resources between heavenly beings in the Heaven of Paranirmita-vashavartin and sentient beings in the World of Utmost Bliss?” Maitreya said, “I have not seen any differences between them.”’

The Buddha asked Maitreya a question as shown in this quote. The Heaven of Paranirmita-vashavartin is a heaven that one can be reborn in only if one had mastered one’s practices when he or she was alive. It is recorded in sutras that heavenly beings there have accepted and used a great good fortune. Nevertheless, in the Pure Land of Amitabha, even if you had been poor in this life, and could only make respectful offerings to the Buddha with just a glass of water or a flower, and if you had practiced in accordance with the teachings mentioned in the Amitabha Sutra, when you are reborn in the Land of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, what you will obtain on the usages of resources will have no differences from what have been used by heavenly beings in the Heaven of Paranirmita-vashavartin. As long as you can ‘get’ to that Land, your good fortune will be immediately becoming that of a heavenly being.

Sutra: ‘The Buddha spoke to Maitreya, “Have you seen sentient beings in the World of Utmost Bliss living in wombs?” Maitreya said, “World Honored One, it is like in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three or the Heaven of Yamadeva, et cetera, heavenly beings enter palaces in 100 yojanas, or if it being 500 yojanas, amusing and enjoying themselves with joy and happiness. I have seen sentient beings in the World of Utmost Bliss living in wombs. They are like heavenly beings in the Heaven of Yamadeva, who are in palaces. I have also seen sentient beings in the lotuses who sit cross-legged and are born naturally by transformation.”’

The Buddha asked Bodhisattva Maitreya, ‘Have you seen sentient beings in the World of Utmost Bliss living in wombs?’ Bodhisattva Maitreya told the Buddha that it is like in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three or the Heaven of Yamadeva, et cetera, that heavenly beings can amuse and enjoy themselves in the ranges of palaces. When we are born in the World of Utmost Bliss, we are born in the wombs of lotuses, and such wombs are just like the palaces in the Heaven of Yamadeva, being so beautiful and magnificent.

The ‘birth by transformation’ means, in a lotus, the birth is not through physical acts between a man and a woman, and is by transformation inside a lotus.

Sutra: ‘At that time, Bodhisattva Maitreya said to the Buddha again, “World Honored One, for what kinds of causes and conditions have sentient beings in that land been born from wombs or by transformation?” The Buddha spoke to Maitreya, “If there are sentient beings who have fallen to the situations of having doubts and regrets in the processes of accumulating and gathering roots of virtue, and have sought the Buddha’s wisdom, the universal wisdom, the unfathomable wisdom, the wisdom of non-equivalent, the awe-inspiring wisdom and the immense wisdom, then in these sentient beings’ roots of virtue, a belief cannot be arisen.”’

I have often said, ‘If one’s sense of doubts is arisen, one cannot see the Buddha for 500 ages.’ Then, such a person’s rebirth will be in the form of ‘being born from wombs.’ What are the situations of producing doubts on the Dharma? They are like these thoughts, ‘Can I do and accomplish the thing? Is this the way? He has done it but I cannot do it; is it because he has not taught me? As a guru, he scolds people at any time, is he a guru then?’ It is like an ordained disciple here. This monastic has sought all day long ‘the Buddha’s wisdom, the universal wisdom, the unfathomable wisdom, the wisdom of non-equivalent’, et cetera. However, he has doubts – doubting his guru. He thinks, ‘Why hasn’t my guru taught me to gain enlightenment right away or to get rid of my negative thoughts? Why hasn’t the guru taught me how not to be disrespectful to him?’ What do you say? Has he accumulated his roots of virtue or not? Yes, he has, but he always has doubts. On whatever issues he has, he ‘throws’ them at me to solve, and he does not want to handle them. I, as his guru, have expounded so much of the Dharma, and he has followed my teachings. Nevertheless, he has a problem, and that problem is a thought in his mind.

On that deceased disciple I mentioned just now, before, he had a thought, not a good one, arisen, because he had not paid attention to the scolding received from me, his guru. He thought, ‘Was that situation so serious? The air-conditioning was turned on the whole night; I would not die of the cold air anyway.’ When I saw the expression in his eyes as he was walking out of the room, I knew it then about his thoughts. When you give rise to doubts, it means you negate the Dharma. Even if you have accumulated roots of virtue, made vows, recited the Buddha’s name, then in your ‘roots of virtue, a belief cannot be arisen’. You do not believe in yourself; you do not believe that you can break away from negative acts, and do good deeds. You also do not believe that you have the ability to commit no negative acts, and are capable doing all good deeds. When you have taken refuge, these ‘not doing the negative but acting on the good’ principles have been instructed to you. Why have you been unable to follow the teachings? It is because you think, ‘With Rinpoche’s blessings, my negative thoughts should have been cleansed. Rinpoche needs to help me on everything. There is nothing I can do.’

Sutra: ‘With such causes and conditions, sentient beings, like heavenly beings living in palaces for 500 ages, will not see the Buddha, not listen to the Dharma and not see Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.’

If you continue to ‘work hard’ in your ways, and even if you are ‘let go’ to the Land of Amitabha, you, ‘like heavenly beings living in palaces for 500 ages, will not see the Buddha’ and ‘not listen to the Dharma’. In the Land of Amitabha, 500 ‘ages’ are not 500 years. A day in the World of Utmost Bliss is equivalent to quite a few years on earth. When a sentient being has gone through 500 ages in that world, and wants to come to earth, perhaps at that time there is no more earth existing.

The so-called sensibility of doubt and ‘doubt’ are two different things. ‘Sensibility of doubt’ is about how to attain a certain state taught by the Buddha. On that, you believe that you do not have enough of ability to do it. In that case, you can come to ask for instructions from your guru as to how to do your practices in attaining the state. You should not doubt this particular Dharma method, saying you are unable to master it or you are just the way you are that you cannot do anything about it. Why, with only one word, ‘Amitabha’, did the old monk Guang Qin attain realization? It was because he just believed in the Dharma; he did not think of anything else. He had just recited the one word, ‘Amitabha’.

Some people have come to implore for some Dharma methods, and imitated what others have said on a term: ‘benefiting others by benefiting oneself’. This term refers to acts of Bodhisattvas. For you, as you have not yet attained the fruition level of a Bodhisattva, and you are still in a form of ordinary people, you can only seek an opportunity to get liberated from birth and death. Even for such a liberation from birth and death, you will not necessarily get it when you pursue the chance. As long as you give rise to any doubts on the Dharma and your guru, your retribution will immediately change. Even if you are able to ‘go’ to the land of Amitabha, and are born from wombs in the wombs of lotuses, you will be like heavenly beings living in palaces in the Heaven of Paranirmita-vashavartin or the Heaven of Yamadeva, and for 500 ages, you ‘will not see the Buddha, not listen to the Dharma and not see Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.’

Sutra: ‘If there are sentient beings who eliminate doubts and regrets and who accumulate and gather roots of virtue….’

‘Regrets’ here means thoughts like these, ‘If I have known about these a long time ago, I will not learn Buddhism; I have been scolded all day long and been told doing this or doing that all the time; there are so many things to be involved in.’ Once these thoughts are arisen, there are enough of reasons for you to fall into the Three Evil Realms. In those realms, you will have opportunities to become pets, and because you had accumulated roots of virtue in this life when alive, you will be someone’s ‘hairy munchkin’ (pet) in your next life. This is very easy to happen. From the bottom of your heart, ask yourself, everyone. Have you ever doubted or been regretted about the Dharma or your guru? If you have, the ‘highest’ retribution is that you will not see the Buddha for 500 ages; you will be just simply getting by inside the lotuses. After 500 ages have passed, you will then fall into the Three Evil Realms.

For monastics, this kind of situations happens to them most easily. After practicing for a while, they will have the sense of arrogance arisen, and will start to doubt about the Dharma; then they will begin to regret. What do they regret? These are their thoughts, ‘I have practiced so hard. I am already having an appearance of an ordained practitioner; I don’t need to continue practicing anymore. At least I will go to the Land of Bodhisattva Maitreya.’ Well, will it be so easy? There are very strict conditions to ‘go’ to the Land of Bodhisattva Maitreya. One cannot be there without strictly observing precepts.

Sutra: ‘Seeking the Buddha’s wisdom, even the immense wisdom, then in roots of virtue, a belief has already been arisen. This sentient being is in a lotus, sitting cross-legged, and is born suddenly by transformation.’

What is the difference between birth by transformation and birth from wombs? It is whether or not there is the sense of doubts and regrets. You should ask yourself, ‘Have I ever doubted or regretted?’ If you have, you definitely cannot ‘go’ to the land of Amitabha. Even if you are reborn there, at most, you are just there – inside the lotuses.

Sutra: ‘….Instantly emerging. For instance, there are sentient beings coming from another world, this Bodhisattva will also be the same. Others in other worlds, having been aspired to come to and be born in the World of Utmost Bliss, have seen the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, and have attended and made offerings to this Buddha as well as Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.’

It is mentioned very clearly in the Amitabha Sutra that if you are born by transformation when you ‘go’ to the land of Amitabha, you are a Bodhisattva. It is like what this phrase says, ‘been born in-line-for a certain, future position’. It means once you are born, you are in-line-for having the fruition level of a Bodhisattva. This is not an easy matter to achieve. It is Amitabha’s great vows and compassion that have helped you to be in such a situation. When you are alive, if you have practiced the Bodhisattva Path, and even if you have not gained a fruition level, you can graduate by getting it in the land of Amitabha, and then start working (on the Dharma) diligently again. If this is not the way you will go through, and although on earth you have recited the Buddha’s name, made prostrations to Him or eaten vegetarian, you will give rise to doubts. Then, even if you are reborn in the land of Amitabha, you will not see the Buddha for 500 ages.

Sutra: ‘Ajita, you view those with auspicious wisdom, and you know that they are born by transformation because they have immense power of wisdom, and they sit in lotuses, cross-legged. You view those who are inferior, and you know that, for 500 ages, they will not see the Buddha, not listen to the Dharma and not see Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.’

Those with upper root-capacity will have a birth by transformation. Those with inferior root-capacity will be born from wombs, and after they are born in this way, they will not see the Buddha for 500 ages, not even hearing the birds’ songs which are like sounds of the Dharma being expounded. In the Pure Land, sounds of trees produced from the wind blowing are just like sounds of the Buddha, teaching of the Dharma. Those sentient beings, born from wombs, will not hear such sounds either.

Sutra: ‘Not knowing the majestic dignity and the principles of Bodhisattvas.’

On the Bodhisattva Path, people are just saying the term but they do not know the majestic dignity and principles of Bodhisattvas. Their majestic dignity is derived from precepts and meditation, whereas their principles mean the methods of doing deeds in their practicing of the Bodhisattva Path. Some precepts are divided into precepts of Hinayana, Mahayana or Vajrayana. The highest degree of precepts is on those of Vajrayana. In order to practice Vajrayana, some of its precepts can be abandoned, but you cannot do that. For example, you think that what some practitioner has done is wrong. However, for things having been acted on, while practicing the Bodhisattva Path, the purposes of practitioners’ deeds are to solve the negative causes of sentient beings. In this way, even if the negative effects of sentient beings’ acts have become manifest, the effects will not be very serious.

The principles of Bodhisattvas’ doing their deeds have already surpassed Five Precepts and Ten Meritorious Acts. The Five Precepts and the Ten Meritorious Acts are rules and standards for the beginners learning Buddhism, and these rules and standards must be followed through. When you have practiced the Bodhisattva Path, things you have handled within the Bodhisattva Precepts must have surpassed the humans’ ethics and morals you usually talk about. You do not deliberately go against them. Shakyamuni Buddha had taught that in different eras or places, there are different standards for ethics and morals. What kind of standards is one to follow after all? The standards to follow are the principles of Bodhisattvas. Such principles are to help sentient beings get liberated from birth and death, and to teach them stop doing negative deeds and accepting the Dharma. The rules are not to continuously make sentient beings be pleased and satisfied.

This disciple had done something wrong. If I had not scolded him, his karma could not have matured. He then became angry because of my scolding; this had also let his karma be matured sooner. These causes and conditions had made me, his guru, help two sentient beings at one time. Otherwise, that female ghost had already been around for 100 or 200 years, and had continuously taken revenge; there was so much suffering! This was a very serious vice.

Why has your guru scolded you? If he has not, he will not get your negative thoughts arising, which in turn, will not get your negative karma matured. Once you have given rise to negative thoughts, your negative karma will be matured, and then you will know you have been wrong. When you are wrong, and if you still have a little good fortune, there will be sentient beings helping you, and you will still seek assistance. Your problems will then be solved. A practitioner who practices the Bodhisattva Path does not necessarily need to face you pleasantly, nor will he or she possibly please you all day long. The practitioner might even do some things to make you angry and to let you produce the sense of hatred. Do you say this is right? There is no right or wrong here. It is because if anyone gives rise to the sense of hatred towards his or her guru, the guru will not have feelings and perceptions, and will not take revenge.

You have also seen many times in such occasions that many disciples of mine have scolded me or ‘fixed’ me; nevertheless, when they have problems and seek my assistance, I still help them. Those disciples who have taken refuge in me for a long time know that there have been many other disciples wanting to ‘fix’ me, but when these disciples have encountered issues, and when they have turned around and looked for help from me, as long as it is within my capability, I have definitely helped them. However, my help will let these people, who are used to live with greed, hatred and ignorance, see clearly that they have given rise to thoughts of greed or hatred for fulfilling some of their desires, and have committed negative deeds without having been aware of them.

It is mentioned in sutras that some Bodhisattvas have used negative educational methods to make Buddhist practitioners know the dreadfulness of greed, hatred and ignorance. Many people have criticized Devadatta. However, some people say that the appearance of Devadatta has let us know that any negative karma created in accumulated past lifetimes will still make karmic creditors appear even if one has already become a Buddha. This is telling us that as we have learned Buddhism in this life, we should not form new karma again whereas our old karma should be repaid; even repaying it with our lives, we should still do it. Once our karma is paid off, we will be all right. Many people cannot accept such a saying.

Sutra: ‘….the reasons for being unable to practice and learn merits. There are no causes to attend the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.’

When sentient beings are born from wombs in lotuses, they cannot practice and learn any merits for 500 ages. There will also be no causes for these sentient beings to attend the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. Even if they want to do these things, they will be unable to do them. This is like in situations when some people, showing disrespect to me, have wanted to attend me, I have not accepted their services. It is not that I have made differentiations in people; rather, it is that since you already have negative thoughts in your mind, and as your attending your guru will make your good fortune arise, the good fortune thusly produced will get you greater power of doing negative acts. This is why for some of the disciples, I have not accepted their making offerings to me but I have asked them to leave the Center instead.

Because some of my disciples have been unable to find jobs, I have to run businesses to support them (by providing them jobs). Nevertheless, have I ever specified clearly the amounts of offerings that I want you to make to me? No, I have not. Many people know that I am very amazing. If I had not been so strict, I could certainly have had 100,000 disciples. As I have been practicing the Bodhisattva Path, I cannot help sentient beings do negative deeds; I need to help them break away from committing such negative acts. Even if a person hates me or dislikes me, it does not matter. As there is an affinity formed between this person and me, as long as I have practiced the Bodhisattva Path through lifetime after lifetime, I will definitely save him or her again in a certain lifetime.

These are the principles of Bodhisattvas’ doing their deeds. Bodhisattvas do not necessarily get sentient beings to like them, but will use various methods to form affinities with sentient beings. To Bodhisattvas, both good conditions and negative conditions are impermanent. So long as there are affinities, there are opportunities. If Bodhisattvas do not form affinities with sentient beings, how will Bodhisattvas have chances to practice the Bodhisattva Path? When you are scolded by me, in an unexpected way, you will remember the situation clearer; as long as there is a lifetime in which I have run into you, then you cannot ‘run away’ from me. Practicing the Bodhisattva Path and being a good person are two different things. Do not think Bodhisattvas are to attend all aspects of any matters, saying what you like, or love, to hear or satisfying all your desires. Perhaps a Bodhisattva will ‘amend’ you, ‘fix’ you, or even make you lose face; then maybe you will scold the Bodhisattvas severely. What do you say then? Had Shakyamuni Buddha helped Devadatta? Yes, absolutely. Had Shakyamuni Buddha hated Devadatta? No, absolutely not.

In the saying, ‘granting whatever is requested’, the thing ‘requested’ is the Right-Belief Dharma; it is not to seek your desires. This means so long as you have implored for the Right-Belief Dharma, you will be able to learn any Dharmas. If you ask for your desires to be fulfilled, it will be ‘not granting the requests’. The higher Ground Bodhisattvas are at, the lesser chances there will be that they are to be attuned to you. This is because in the principles of Bodhisattvas, there is no such saying, ‘granting the requests for fulfilling desires.’ Bodhisattvas are to help you break away from, or decrease, your desires, but on the contrary, you want them fulfilled. How can Bodhisattvas grant your requests then? Even though at the beginning of learning Buddhism, it has been started with the concept of ‘hooking [beings] in with desire’; that is to form affinities with you. It is not to continuously satisfy your desires.

Sutra: ‘These sentient beings have such circumstances because in their past conditions they had been in doubts and regrets.’

These sentient beings’ situations are the results of having been in doubts and regrets in their past lifetimes.

Sutra: ‘For example, the son of the King of Kṣatriya had broken the law and had been locked up in an inner palace with views of flowers. The floors, on different levels, and the beautiful halls were wonderfully decorated with things marvelous and precious. There was a treasured net on the golden bed which was covered thickly with comfortable blankets. There were famous flowers filling the ground and the most precious incense was burned. The clothes, means of conveyance and what things needed had all been abundantly prepared. Nevertheless, both feet of this son of the King were bound by golden locks of Jambudvipa.’ The Buddha spoke to Maitreya, “What do you think? Was that prince’s mind peaceful and happy because of these?” Maitreya replied, “No, his mind was not.”’

If the prince of the King of Kṣatriya had broken the law and been locked up in an inner palace, and if even in it, things were beautiful and magnificent, and all resources being accepted and used were the same as those utilized by heavenly beings, because his two feet were bound by golden locks of Jambudvipa (the gold of Jambudvipa refers to gold on earth), his mood must have been unhappy. This metaphor means even if today you have been given the best thing, and if you have not learned the Dharma, or not listened to it, the greatest or the richest enjoyment you have experienced will not give you the eternal happiness.

Sutra: ‘“World Honored One, when that prince had been locked up and bound with locks on his feet, he often thought of getting free from his captivity. He had sought help from his relatives, acquaintances, the laity, magistrates, elders or close officials. Although the prince had wished to be free, he had never fulfilled his wish in his heart. It was until the King of Kṣatriya gave rise to joys that the prince had been released.”’

This prince had wished that he had not been locked up. He had sought help from many people who were close to him, like practitioners or high officials. He had not been able to fulfill his wish to be free from his captivity. Until the King of Kṣatriya felt delighted in his heart, the prince had then been released.

Sutra: ‘The Buddha spoke to Maitreya, “This is right. This is right. If there are sentient beings who have fallen to the situations of having doubts and regrets, have planted roots of virtue, and have sought the Buddha’s wisdom, even the immense wisdom, then in those sentient beings’ roots of virtue, a belief cannot be arisen. They have given rise to belief because they have heard the name of the Buddha. Although they have been born in that land they will be in lotuses and will not appear. Those sentient beings will live in the wombs of lotuses, and will be thought of that they are like in gardens and palaces. Why is that?”

The Buddha explained again. As long as you have given rise to doubts and regrets about the Dharma, even if you have planted many roots of virtue and wished to implore for unlocking your wisdom – for the monastics here, especially, has any one of you not implored for it before? – it will be of no use. So long as you have doubts and regrets about your Dharma-transmission guru on the Dharmas that he or she has transmitted to you, and even if you have implored the guru for help, you will not be liberated. It is like that prince, locked up in a palace with many good and beautiful things around him, who could not be released from captivity.

Sutra: ‘In those lotuses, there is purity and there are no defilements or the negative. In all things, there are no possibilities that happiness cannot be gained. However, those sentient beings, for 500 ages, will not see the Buddha, not listen to the Dharma, not see Bodhisattvas and Sravakas, not be able to make offerings to and attend Buddhas, to ask about treasure of Bodhisattvas and will get far away from all auspicious roots of virtue. Such sentient beings will not have joys and delights arisen in those lotuses, and they cannot appear to practice and learn “virtuous Dharmas”. After their errors from past lifetimes have all been completely gone, they will then emerge.’

Let us repeat it one more time. For anyone who has given rise to doubts and regrets about any Dharmas, and even if this person has planted many roots of virtue, he or she, being like those sentient beings in the lotuses, for 500 ages, ‘will not see the Buddha, not listen to the Dharma, not see Bodhisattvas and Sravakas, not be able to make offerings to and attend Buddhas, to ask about treasure of Bodhisattvas and will get far away from all auspicious roots of virtue.’ There will not be a slightest opportunity for you to practice and learn ‘virtuous Dharmas’.

‘After their errors from past lifetimes have all been completely gone, they will then emerge.’ When the errors produced from conditions in the past have all been completely gone, one can then leave the lotus and come out.

Sutra: ‘When those sentient beings emerge, their minds are confused by things in places of four directions including the zenith and nadir. For sentient beings who are without doubts for 500 ages, they should then make offerings to countless kotis and nayuta of hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and also plant countless and boundless roots of virtue. You, Ajita, should know that doubts about Bodhisattvas are great damages.’

When a sentient being emerges from a lotus, the mind will be ‘confused by things in places of’ directions to zenith, nadir, the East, South, West and North. If you had been in a lotus for 500 ages, had been able to amend yourself, and had not been in doubts anymore, after you come out, you will be given opportunities to ‘make offerings to countless kotis and nayuta of hundreds of thousands of Buddhas’, and you will also be able to ‘plant countless and boundless roots of virtue’.

Sutra: ‘At that time, Bodhisattva Maitreya said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, within the boundaries of this world, how many Bodhisattvas of non-retrogression are there who should be born in the World of Utmost Bliss?” The Buddha spoke to Maitreya, “In this land of a Buddha, there are 7.2 billion Bodhisattvas.”’

In that land of a Buddha, there are 7.2 billion Bodhisattvas; that number is larger than the total number of humans on earth. If you have mastered the practices, when you ‘go’ there, the number of 7.2 billion will have one be added to it. It was more than 2,000 years ago that it was mentioned that there were 7.2 billion Bodhisattvas at the time. Will this number be increased? Of course, it will.

Sutra: ‘In countless nayuta of hundreds of thousands of places of Buddhas, those Bodhisattvas have planted roots of virtue and become ones with the state of non-retrogression. They should be born in that world, not to mention innumerable other Bodhisattvas who are born in that world with few roots of virtue.’

The term ‘non-retrogression’ does not mean the Dharma has not been retrogressed; rather, it means practitioners’ minds for practicing bodhicitta or bodhicitta path have not been retrogressed. On matters they have encountered, regardless of whether matters are very good, very difficult or very painful, these practitioners’ bodhicitta or their sense of benefiting sentient beings has not been retrogressed. This practice has been very difficult to do. For example, I have propagated the Dharma since 1997, and have been ‘fixed’ by many people. Such experiences have also been tested for me from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas to see whether I have retrogressed or not. I could have, too. With Dharma texts I have with me and the Dharma methods I have learned, I have enough of Dharmas to practice just for myself. It is like the story I mentioned a month ago. Even a ghost in the far away region of northeastern China ‘knew’ about me. This means it would have been enough for me if I were to just practice the Chod every day. Why should I have borne you, there being more than 1,000 of you, with me?

You, the ordained disciples, do not say all day long that you are learning the Bodhisattva Path. You don’t even know what ‘path’ you are on now, let alone the Bodhisattva Path that you say you are learning. You totally have no abilities to benefit sentient beings. Recently, a believer wrote a letter to me. He said that he had participated several times in the yearly ‘Great Indiscriminate Amitabha Puja for Transferring Consciousness’; he had encountered some difficulties recently, and he wished that I could help him. I thought that If I didn’t help him, he might slander the Buddha, saying the Buddha is not compassionate. However, in what ways could I help him? Fortunately, every year, for the money that had been donated to me as offerings made by participants of the Grand Puja, I had handed it over to our government for safekeeping. Currently, it is the Ministry of Health and Welfare handling this money. Hence, I asked a related department in that Ministry to help understand the situation, and then the department was to use the money in that special account to assist sentient beings in need. For our yearly Grand Puja with more than 20,000 participants each time, we have never charged any fees. You have not seen such situations, right? (A disciple who has been ordained for many years indicated that he had not seen them.)

Learning the Bodhisattva Path is ‘walking’ on a path, which is a lonely, solitary road, and is not one that is very glamorous or very amazing as you have imagined. It seems that in the Infinite Life Sutra, the subject is Shakyamuni Buddha; actually, the Buddha utilized this opportunity to teach us how to practice the Bodhisattva Path. Here is an example, as mentioned earlier: What kinds of senses in the mind that Bodhisattvas should have. How many of those requirements have you done to meet in your practices? If you have not, what is your saying based on that you are learning the Bodhisattva Path? These were the words that had been spoken by the Buddha. They were not invented by me. If you do not even want to listen to what the Buddha had said, then you simply should not learn Buddhism.

Some people think that practicing the methods to be reborn in the Pure Land is like ‘going’ to the Land of Amitabha to enjoy themselves. No, it is not like that; it is to practice there. There was a disciple who had been sick and once he had been out of a hospital, he had laid on bed at home, unwilling to get up. I instructed another disciple to tell him my message that if he had continuously been like that, I would then spend money to send him to a nursing home for the elderly. As soon as he had heard that, he got up from bed immediately. How could he have just laid on bed waiting to die? He had thought that when he dies, his guru will help him get liberated by performing the Phowa for him. If this disciple does not move or does not do things at all, he will not have good fortune. Then how can he be reborn in the Pure Land? If you want to enjoy more in comforts while you are alive, then your death will become more awful.

Every disciple who is present here, listen carefully. As long as you still have a breath in you, you should sit up to chant mantras, even if it is just for one verse. If you chant one more verse of a mantra, you will have a little more good fortune. Do not think this way, ‘My husband will chant a mantra for me, and my children will do the same; I myself will chant in my heart.’ The definition of the term, ‘recitation assistance’, is that you are to do chanting yourself. Those around you (at your deathbed) chant mantras in helping you because they are afraid that your mind might have been disturbed, and their chanting will make your mind not to be distracted after you ‘hear’ the chant. They are not to help you ‘go’ to the Pure Land by their ‘recitation assistance’. How many Bodhisattvas are there in here? There is none. Then, what are those people’s abilities based on that they can help you get liberated?

On what have been mentioned in the Infinite Life Sutra, if you think that you want to learn being a Bodhisattva or to practice the Bodhisattva Path, you should ask yourself whether or not you have done your practices towards the direction described in the sutra. If you have not, what you have learned in Buddhism are all superficial learnings. On doubts and regrets that have been talked about earlier, if you have one thought of them, you will be wrong all the way. In learning Buddhism, if you do not believe in impermanence, or in the fact that your body is impermanent, you are learning getting blessings and protection. If you want to learn those, you need to work very hard in doing good deeds and giving alms in all things; you are to give people whatever they want.

A disciple came to seek an audience with me yesterday. He turned his eyes constantly, which made me know that he had other intentions. I then asked a monastic to talk with him. It turned out that this disciple would participate in an examination at a bank, and he was thinking to ask me to help him to pass the examination. He himself also knew that he was wrong to implore me for my help in this way. No matter how I have scolded him, he has not listened. All of you have behaved the same way. Ordinarily, if you don’t work hard in your job, and even if you have been reluctantly promoted, once you are negligent on something and break the law, you will be in jail. The real meaning of the Dharma is to purify oneself, and it is not to make oneself become more and more defiled through the Dharma. Do not think that after having learned the Dharma, you will be transformed into another person, will have more and more good fortune, or will be more and more amazing. If one is to obtain resources being accepted and used, one must have great good fortune. How does one get good fortune? It is to be gotten by continuous practices and making offerings; also, one cannot give rise to the sense of doubts or the sense of regrets. If you leave me and the Center, and later you regret it, then you will not know in which year or which lifetime that you can have the ability to learn Buddhism again. When a thought is arisen and if you do not grasp it, you will walk on side-roads, farther and farther away from the right one; you will not know where you are going. Be prudent and careful!

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Updated on July 18, 2022