Chapter 12 - The Ultimate

I, Living Buddha Liansheng, Sheng-yen Lu, tell the readers with great honesty that what I have achieved and realized is the supreme Samyaksambuddha, the fruition of Buddhahood and the ultimate stage of Buddhahood. What I have come to understand is the ultimate truth (Both doctrine and actual practice). This kind of ultimate enlightenment can be said to be, The perfection with the brightness of wisdom. With no more room for anything else. For example, The Tientai Commentary on the Meditation Sutra says:

"With his position coming to the ultimate, the Buddha who has got the ultimate realization can understand all the teachings and have the wonderful enlightenment of Mahayana, and can reach the highest position. Therefore only Buddhas can know the ultimate reality of things, get infinite wisdom and achieve sudden enlightenment and instant perfection. The ultimate meaning of Buddha is like a full moon on the fifteenth day of a lunar month, which is the king of stars, enjoying the highest position, power, prestige and virtue".

I have realized the ultimate pleasure. I have realized the realm of the ultimate all-knowing wisdom.

I have realized the stage of wondrous enlightenment.

This kind of realizations of mine is the true form of universe consciousness, which contains everything. Since it contains everything, I have achieved nothing in my realization. Because of the non-achievement, it is called realization.

Somebody asked me, "How will you describe your realization?"

"Let me sing a song", I said.

The Dharma body is pure and stabilized with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. The four types of devils (Maras) dare not harm me and even devils will become Buddhas at the sight of me. With no thought, no action and no sins, everything of me has Bodhi. Great joy will continue forever and great pleasure stays with no end. My wisdom has the supreme brightness and the supernatural power saves sentient beings from transmigration. Like Tathagata I have neither birth nor death. With the five kinds of wisdom, I harbour universal compassion.

Namo Buddha with Brightness and Independence.

I wish all those who have heard of my name, caught sight of my body or who have had any relation with me, or who have often thought of me, become liberated, turn into bodies of wisdom and get to the ultimate stage of Buddhahood.

In terms of the Buddhist Dharma, what I have realized include:

• The empty nature.
• The ultimate truth.
• The noble truth.
• The revelation of meaning.
• The essential Samadhi.
• The Dharma nature.
• The ultimate reality.
• The indescribable.
• The incredible.
• The truth.
• The true thusness.
• The true Buddha.
• Freedom and independence.
• Non-action.
• Free movement.
• Non-practice.
• Oneness.

The reason I have given a separate line for each single phrase is that each phrase is enough to express "the supreme meaning", the infinite meaning and "the Buddhist nature".

My realization is empty and silent in form. We cannot judge its size by space nor can we identify its birth and extinction by time.

That is like,

The Dharma nature in everything is empty and tranquil.

Nothing can be created or destroyed.

I am very clear that the five kinds of wisdom of Tathagata, "the wisdom of knowing the quintessence of all existence (Wisdom of absolute truth)", "the great perfect mirror like wisdom" and "the wisdom of observing the ultimate sameness of everything (Wisdom of equality)" are the ultimate I have realized.

However, "the wisdom of discerning the distinctive features of all phenomena (Discriminating wisdom)" and "the wisdom of accomplishing metamorphoses (Active wisdom)" are not ultimate but are expediencies to generate causal relationships.

Please think them over. The former three kinds of wisdom have the empty nature.

While the latter two kinds of wisdom are expedient means to convert sentient beings.

Therefore, I deeply understand that a Buddha who has got enlightenment (Tathagata) understands not only the ultimate wonderful enlightenment but also the non-ultimate expediencies.

I deeply understand the Dharma teaching of "causal relationships arising from the empty nature".

The empty nature and the true thusness are ultimate. However the person who has got them should use "the true thusness to generate causal relationships" and the "expediencies to generate causal relationships to convert sentient beings.

In this way, I have a clearer understanding of the Dharma words "taking means (convenience) as the ultimate".

The practice of Esoteric Buddhism advocates the "oneness of mind and substance (body)". In fact the "mind" is the ultimate and the "substance (body)" is the non-ultimate. However, a cultivator should keep on practising from the non-ultimate to the ultimate. I deeply understand that the external method (1st empowerment) is the non-ultimate - Four Preliminaries,Guru yoga,Yidams). The internal method (2nd empowerment) is the non-ultimate – Wind,channel,light drops. The secret method (3rd empowerment) is the non-ultimate (Annutarayogatantra) and only the highest secret method - Atiyoga-Dzogchen, Zen School and Ganges Mahamudra (the 4th empowerment)) can be said to be the ultimate.

The Buddha who has got the ultimate will descend to the Saha world to convert sentient beings. That is also what "taking means (convenience) to the ultimate" means.

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