Chapter 13 - The Right Views of the Buddhist Dharma

Masters and fellow practitioners:

Good evening! Had I introduced the president and the vice president of the board of directors of the Leizang Temple when I made introductions in this morning? We are very grateful to the president for the care and attention he gave to the Leizang Temple all these years, for the improvement for the Leizang Temple by the vice president and care and help from the secretaries.

First welcome back to the Leizang Temple. The temple has taken on a new look, with changes of offices and kitchens. Moreover there will be a building put up on the plot at the right of the main gate, the downstairs of which will be used as the kitchen and the upstairs of which will be used as the library. That is a symbol of progress. I wish there will be progress in every day of every year.

Tonight I want to talk about "the right views of the Buddhist Dharma".

The right view means the correct understanding. Why do I want to speak on this topic? Because our True Buddha School is a sect of Buddhism which is much talked about and which may be the most famous, therefore, there are always some people trying to find some excuses/fault to attack it, saying it is heretical.

1. An Analysis of the Right Views of the Buddhist Dharma in the Great and Small Vehicles

Today I choose to talk about "the right views of the Buddhist Dharma" in order to show that our sect of Buddhism is very right. It is well known that Buddhism can be divided into three vehicles, one is the Small Vehicle (Hinayana), another is the Great Vehicle (Mahayana)and the third is our Vajrayana-Vehicle. What are the right views of the Small Vehicle (Hinayana)? They are "impermanence", "Worldly renunciation" , "egolessness" and "precepts and disciplines".

First, we take up "impermanence". It has been discussed a lot in the regular Dharma talks and revelations. Just now I heard Master Lianyin making a mistake in his introduction. I was also thrown into confusion by it. In fact, he is a first-rate speaker in Dharma talks. However, one sometimes gets a few grains of sesame dropped while eating a sesame cake. Even the ancient men sometimes got the horseshoes lost while riding horses.

Usually Master Lianyin lectures on the Dharma very skillfully, with only occasional slight slips, which are instances of "impermanence". We all know that flowers cannot remain beautiful forever, nor does the moon shine brightly all the time. It can be clear and cloudy, a full or a crescent moon. Both flowers and the moon are characterized by "impermanence". It is also the case with the weather. For example, today it is forecasted that it would be cloudy and rainy, however, because of our Buddhist service, it became clear/sunny. That is impermanence. (laughter).

In fact, impermanence is a truth. I think it also exists in everyone’s body.

Recently I have paid much attention to my health. I had never done so before. I used to eat anything but diamond and gold (laughter). As a person who does not choose his food, why do I make a fuss about it now? Because I found my health is also impermanent. My blood pressure has been normal all the time, but I heard that it changes from time to time. It will be different in the morning, afternoon and evening; one s mood, exercising and bathing also make it change, so I cannot be sure that my blood pressure is always normal.

In addition, one’s weight is also impermanent. Recently I have often weighed myself. I found that the weight stays the average at lunch time, but it is two pounds less in the morning and two pounds more in the evening.

When I practised air circulation/vase breathing before, I could keep breathless for as long as two minutes. However, when I tried it again in the last few days, I found I could keep breathless for only one minute. I cannot figure out why my own breath has become so short. That is why I have been practising the treasure vase air/wind so as to restore it. You can also try it after you go home. If you can stay breathless for as long as one and a half minutes, I will set up/ignite the internal fire/Tummo for you.

We know that the time for human life flies. I remember when I was in my twenties, I often answered visitors' questions about their fortune. Among them, some people were over forty. They looked very old to me! Now I am already fifty! How much longer can I stay here talking about the Dharma? I heard that the heavenly beings were also having a meeting and they were discussing, "Sheng-yen Lu has made a pretty mess in the Saha world. Should we call him back?" (laughter). When I heard it, I also got very nervous. I have been thinking it over whether it is necessary for me to go on with my life on earth. If it is necessary, I have to try to practise the longevity method, which can prolong my life. Many things have their own causations and their own effect, which we can do nothing to change. There are also many things being impermanent. As a man who understands the cause and effect of things, I know that impermanence comes very quickly.

Just because practitioners of the Small Vehicle understand the principle that "impermanence" is quick to follow, they have a strong determination to "renounce worldly life". Their right view is to make the best use of the time in this Saha world, getting tonsured as early as possible and leaving home for cultivation. What to be practised? They are going to be liberated from worries. How can "non-others" and "non-self" get rid of worries?

You can think it over. If there were neither self nor others in this world, worries would have nothing to hinge on and would disappear by themselves. I often say worries exist only because of ego-attachment. Therefore a monk or a practitioner of the Small Vehicle mainly practises the "non-others" and "non-self", in which there is no Buddhist country to reach in Heaven and there are no sentient beings to be converted on Earth. He controls his own birth and death by himself. When he has practised to the realm of egolessness, everything becomes empty and he becomes an arhat.

Have you ever met any monks of the Small Vehicle? Many of them have nothing to do but the four requisites and strictly observe the precepts and disciplines. Their precepts and disciplines are like the following. They are absolutely not allowed to set their eyes on any woman. Why? Because the eyes should be always kept clean. However, why can WE see women? Because we are going to convert women. As long as there is no difference arising in your mind and you think both men and women are equal, it is natural that you can convert women. But for the monks of the Small Vehicle, including those in Thailand, if a woman who is ignorant of the precept sits beside a monk in a bus, they have to stand up at once, since there should be no touching between them. If a woman is walking towards him, the monk has to step aside immediately. That is one precept of the Small Vehicle.

There is another precept, which is to avoid wealth. A monk’s hands are not allowed to touch money and monks are not allowed to save money.

However, I heard that they all take chopsticks with them. When someone offers them money as alms, they will use the chopsticks to pick it (laughter).

Throughout their life, they are not allowed to touch liquor. They would rather die or remain thirsty than drink any liquor. This is just the opposite to what I have done. However, in my whole life, I have never done such things as breaking precepts after drinking liquor. There was once a period of time, in which Buddhas and Bodhisattvas asked me, "You had better give up drinking". I told them when I was alone, "I cannot stand it". I said if my only pleasure in my whole life is given up, what do I live for? (laughter) In fact, I have given up drinking. When? My wife said I gave up drinking eight months ago. However I began to drink again in these few days, because I said to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, "It is meaningless for you to ask me to give up drinking. You can just ask others to do so" (laughter).

Yes, as far as myself is concerned, I have no interest in wealth or enjoyment. What I enjoy is nothing but drinking a little liquor in the evening, which is my only defect. Can you think out any other interest for me? If you go on with the precept that I should not drink, I do not want to live any longer (laughter). Just because of my frankness, which is considered as a shortcoming, I give others a handle against myself.

In addition, the monks of the Small Vehicle are all required to live in a mountain or within a house. There is a boundary beyond which they are not allowed to go. If they live in the Leizang Temple, they are not allowed to go beyond the wall of the courtyard and they can only move around inside the wall. And I would live in the Rainbow Villa forever and were not allowed to go out of the main gate. If you wanted to see me for anything, you would have to go there.

The right views of the Buddhist Dharma in the Small Vehicle include "impermanence", "renunciation of home life", "non-others and non-self ", and "precepts and disciplines".

Then what are the right views of the Buddhist Dharma in the Great Vehicle? In fact the Buddhist Dharma in the Great Vehicle also includes "egolessness". There should be first egolessness, on the basis of which the mind of Bodhi and the mind of pity and compassion will come into being. In addition, the Buddhist Dharma in the Great Vehicle includes "non-Dharma".

The attachment in the Small Vehicle is the preoccupation with practice.

However, in the Great Vehicle there is even "no Dharma". "Even the Dharma should be given up, let alone other things than the Dharma". In other words, when the real Buddhist Dharma is practised to the highest realm, even the Dharma itself should be let go. That is the idea of the Great Vehicle.

Please think it over, where does the Dharma in the world come from? It is created by Man! We say that we have to practise to the point of "non-others and non-self ". If there is neither others nor self, where is the Dharma? The Dharma is nothing but a means for your practice. If you have really got to the realm of "non-others and non-self", the Dharma will not go with you. With no Dharma at all, you have already got the right views. Therefore the right views of the Great Vehicle consist of "non-others and non-self" and "non-Dharma". Moreover, one has to practise "the Six Paramitas", including charity, keeping the precepts, diligence, patience under insult, wisdom and meditation. These are considered as the greatest of Bodhisattva’s actions.

The Six Paramitas should be given equal importance, with no attachment to any one of them. To sum up, the right views in the Great Vehicle embrace "non-others and non-self", "non-Dharma" and the practice of the Six Paramitas.

2. The Right Views of the Vajrayana Vehicle of Esoteric Buddhism

Now we come to the right views of the Vajrayana-Vehicle Diamond Teaching of Esoteric Buddhism. What are the right views of the Vajrana-Vehicle Diamond Teaching, which is practised by our True Buddha School? In the Vajrayana-Vehicle Diamond Teaching, the empty nature is considered as the right view. In fact, the "empty nature" is just the composition of "non-others and non-self" and "non-Dharma", while the "empty nature" is the highest form of truth.

I now give some explanation about why "egolessness" is the highest conception for the liberation from worries. If I still had ego-attachment at present, to be honest, I would want to die at once. Why? I would rather sit among you listening than sit here talking about the Dharma. You are free to decide whether you will come here to listen to my Dharma talk or you will stay in the hotel for a sound sleep. However, I am the man with the least freedom in the world. On the first day of the lunar year, I went to Vancouver, in spite of my terrible toothache and my swelling gums, because I was invited to celebrate the lunar new year there. I was in high spirit when I was talking about the Dharma, however that was due to the empowerment of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The fact remained that I was suffering from toothache.

Last month I went to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and presided over seven large-scale Buddhist services and gave more than fifty small-scale Dharma talks. Could I ask for leave from any of these sessions? One day when I was answering questions, I had a running nose. With more than two hundred visitors, my snivel ran down for more than two hundred times. If I had been absent for only once, people in the whole world would have known that I was ill (laughter). Therefore I always pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and ask them to make me as strong as iron.

In fact, as everybody knows, my fate is very bad. Now all the people in Seattle know me, since there are two newspapers in circulation, both carrying some news about me every week. There is a saying in Taiwan, "A monk does not know all the people, but all the people know the monk". I remember long ago I once went to the downtown and had a drink. However even today some people are still talking about that. Although I have a car, I cannot go out because there are many invisible restrictions. I have to be very careful about what I do so as not to let others see what I am doing. Am I out of luck? Why can I not do it while others can? That is the way I have made for myself. The farther I walk on it, the less free and the more painful I will feel. However for a man who has got the "empty nature", he makes his life natural, and in good taste. As far as he himself is concerned, his own nature has been lost completely and has been changed into emptiness. The man who has got the "empty nature" is really very independent. I am a man of that kind, so I am indifferent to anything; nothing matters to me any longer.

In Esoteric Buddhism, the process by which a layman becomes a Buddha by practice is called the "Mahamudra". This method of the practice belongs to the White Sect (Kagyupa). From the "Mahamudra" one can also get the "great perfection (Atiyoga-Dzogchen)", in which there are two key points: one is the "immediate break (Khregs-chod)" and the other is the "free movement (Thod-rgal)". The so-called "immediate break (Khregs-chod)" is to stop all mental activities and the so-called "free movement (Thod-rgal)" is a kind of supernatural change at will. The "immediate break (Khregs chod)", "free movement (Thod-rgal)", "Mahamudra" and "great perfection (AtiyogaDzogchen)" are the right views of Esoteric Buddhism.

Another point to be discussed is the "brightness of the wind pulse (channel)". In Tantric practice, one has to practise the "air/wind, pulses/channels and light drops/bindu", in order to open up the middle pulse/Avadhuti and get brightness and pure light. That is a kind of phenomenon, in which one makes himself enter the sea of light of the Universe and gets himself completely integrated with the sea of light and the original consciousness of Buddhas. The right views of Esoteric Buddhism are to be proved and realized by us. The practice of the "treasure vase/wind air , the internal fire/Tummo", the "opening of the middle pulse/Avadhuti", the "opening of the five wheels/chakras", then the practice of the "five Vidyarajas/Krodhadevatas", the practice of the "highest secret/Annutarayogatantra" and at last the practice of the "great perfection/Atiyoga-Dzogchen" make up the complete sequence of cultivation.

Now I have discussed with you the right views of the three vehicles, including the Great Vehicle, the Small Vehicle and the Vajrayana-Vehicle Diamond Teaching. In summary, the right views of the Small Vehicle are impermanence, renunciation, non-others and non-self and precepts and disciplines; the right views of the Great Vehicle are egolessness, nonDharma and the Six Paramitas; and the right views of Esoteric Buddhism are the empty nature, the great mudra, the great perfection and the brightness of the wind pulse.

3. The Method of Beating Base (Mean) Persons in Mahesvara Heaven

Since you come here from distant places, I have to teach you a method/dharma, a very small method/dharma, which is useful to you, but useless to me. Why? Because I have got rid of ego-attachment, I have no need to use any method. Everything is alright with me, whether I am alive, dead, old, or ill.

The method I want to teach you is called the method of "beating of base/mean persons in Mahesvara Heaven". I remember when I was in Hong Kong, I went to the Temple Street at night and met an old lady beside the temple holding a shoe in her hand. After chanting a mantra, she struck on a piece of paper with the shoe. I got surprised. Then Lian Han said, "She is beating a base/mean person". Oh, this reminded me of the method of "beating base/mean persons in Mahesvara Heaven" taught by my master before. It is very practical, so I want to teach it to you.

There have been many disciples going to my True Buddha Tantric Chapter for consultation. One of them said, "There are too many base/mean persons in my company. The boss is a base man and the clerks are also very petty". During the course of consultation sessions, many people said they are troubled by base persons. I thought that I could teach them the method of "beating base persons in Mahesvara Heaven".

You will naturally think that I am the first person to use this method. Why? Because I am harassed by the greatest number of petty people in the world. In fact, I have a lot of respect for base persons. As you know, when I go out to spread the Dharma, I am often put in very tough situations.

Wherever I go, there are slanderous booklets in circulation. I can hardly deal with those slanders, rumours and allegators. I greatly admire those people's strong determination to harm others (laughter).

You can imagine that to write a booklet like that, they have to read a lot of books, and then distort the facts and try their best to make the distorted facts coherent. After the booklet is written, it has to be typed and printed. After all the booklets are printed out, they have to transport them to another country, where they employ people to put every booklet in an envelop, put on a stamp on every envelope, and post them to the World's Buddhist societies and the branches of the True Buddha School all over the world. That costs a lot of money, manpower, material resources and time. This kind of spirit is really great. However, they have only one purpose, which is to make Sheng-yen Lu lose all standing and reputation so that they can hide in their quilts/blankets smiling in secret before falling asleep at night. In fact the only benefit they get is nothing more than hiding in their quilts/blankets smiling secretly.

I have met many base/mean persons. I have never taken them seriously and I will not practise this method of "beating base/mean persons in Mahesvara Heaven". In fact, while they are hiding in their quilts/blankets smiling secretly, I am doing the same thing.

Why? Because I am open and above board; they have done nothing but collecting my shortcomings from my writings that have been made known to the public. Isn’t that what I want to do? Recently I was thinking of putting forward a suggestion to the president and the vice president of the board of directors that they should offer some help for the publication of those two booklets (laughter). I don t mind, really.

There is no need for a man who has practised to the realm of "non-others and non-self " to keep any face. I no longer have face left. The Sheng-yen Lu they cursed has nothing to do with me. The Living Buddha Liansheng they slandered has nothing to do with me either. In the temporary life in the Saha world, fame for me is like lightning, stone fire or foam, which will disappear in an instance, since I have got the empty nature and the great perfection.

Don't you think so? To be frank, the two booklets are too insignificant in number. Since I am writing the one hundred and seventh book, they had better compile one hundred and seven slandering books, so that we can compete on equal terms.

In fact, I have really come across many base persons, but I never take seriously what they do or say. I will do nothing to harm others and I will always do everything to help others.

Now I am going to teach the method. First, make a "first-class" mudra with your left hand, which is visualized as the base person, who is specialized in doing harm to other people and distributing booklets in secret or who is always gossiping before the boss so as to sow discord. Then visualize that the base man is at first very arrogant, but then feels ashamed with his head lowered and finally squeezes himself into a hole in the ground to hide himself with no courage to see you. You should visualize the base man from his head to his body, then visualize that his head is lowered, then he shamefully squeezes himself into the hole, which is represented by the hole formed by the four fingers. The other hand (the right hand) represents the Mahesvara Heaven/Lord Siva. Visualize your right hand as the Mahesvara Heaven/Lord Siva and visualize the left hand as the base/mean person, whose head is lowered. Then beat him forty-nine strokes. After the beating, chant the Mantra of the Mahesvara Heaven "Om, Mo Si Shi Luo Po Ye. Soha" Generally speaking, you can chant the Mantra after each stroke.

This method is very simple. After you go home, you can try it; but be careful not to beat your own hand swollen (laughter). As a matter of fact, the method, in which there are visualizations, chanting of Mantras and one action, can also be used to make you liberated from any other hindrance.

In general, it is very difficult to get along with others. In one’s life, it is inevitable to meet persons who harass you. Before you use the beating method, you should think over whether you yourself are to blame or whether you yourself have been impolite to others or very unreasonable. In this world, a good man may not always be good and a bad man may not always be bad. To my mind, sentient beings are all equal; bad sentient beings have their good aspects. Those base people attacking me, for example, I admire their persistence in doing harm to others (laughter). I think I should learn persistence from them and make use of it in my practice and then I will be a first class cultivator. It seems that I have base persons attacking me, however they are also helping me, since they have something for me to learn from. As a man who has practised to this high realm, I consider many things to be empty, therefore I will not do harm to them and I will not be a base person. I hope you will not do harm to others either and will not be base persons. Now that I have taught you this method, you may certainly beat the base persons (laughter). As long as you think he is really a base man and you are justified while he is to blame, you can use this method.

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