Chapter 5 - Supreme Transcendence

I read two verses published in the Supplement to True Buddha News on August 1, 1993 by a writer signed as Xiaodongzi, one of which is entitled as "Cursing" and the other "The Devil Monk".

The two verses were very insightful and gave me quite a shake. I know clearly that what I need is exactly supreme transcendence. The two verses are disclosed here:

Cursing

The false name, Sheng-yen Lu,

Seems to be by birth cursed.

Without being cursed,

He cannot become a Buddha.

Without becoming a Buddha,

He cannot convert the people cursing him.

Should Sheng-yen Lu be cursed?

He deserves it all.

Should Sheng-yen Lu become a Buddha?

Of course he should!

He once said,

"The people who called him "lecher", "scoundrel" and "sham Buddha" ,

Made great contribution to the True Buddha School.

Your disciple hereby kowtow to praise,

What a Sheng-yen Lu! What a Living Buddha Liansheng !

What a Buddha of Brightness and Independence! (Lotus Light Buddha)

What a king of Buddha kings and a king of devil kings!

All the disciples are willing

To be the devil sons and grandsons of yours!"

The Devil Monk

Patience makes the river full of spring water,

Which becomes the devil of heavy snow in winter.

A forest turning a mountain green,

Becomes a blaze spreading far and wide.

Patience integrated with the devil,

Creates a supreme steadfast and persevering practitioner.

Wood combined with fire,

Brings a vast expanse of light.

(I have read the above two verses over and over. If one can really get integrated with them, he will get supreme transcendence.)

I, Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu, staying in this Saha world, can be compared to the following:

A fish in need of water.

A wounded deer.

A sheep with the neck tied to something.

A bird in a cage.

A lion in a pen.

That is my outer appearance, while my inner world is,

• Fearless.
• Care-free.
• Active.

That is my "supreme transcendence".

In this world, I will get unparalleled negative reinforcement , but I am sure to transcend it.

The man to whom I offer the greatest respect, esteem, service, offering, worship and praise, suddenly stab me from behind. (Backstabbing)

Does it hurt me?

Of course.

However, I will often miss him. I think of his virtues, not his mistakes. He is a mirror for me, from which I can observe myself.

My mistakes can pile up like a mountain, while his mistakes are indiscernible.

I see a Buddha in him and often miss him.

The Buddha stabbed me in the back. (Backstabbing)

This is also a great Buddha's power transferred to me.

The stab makes me repent more often, to behave with great caution, to generate pure belief, to practise worship often, to be extremely patient, to get great determination, to keep great confidence and willpower, to attain great virtues, and to get great achievement.

When the person who deserves my greatest respect and esteem in the whole world wants to kill me,

There still will be no doubt arising in me.

I get it revealed.

I skip it over.

This is real supernatural power. If people hurt me by one degree, that is one point of virtue and if by ten degrees, that will be ten points of virtue.

Somebody asked me,

"When one suffers from so much slandering, how can he transcend it?"

I answered,

"He can transcend it if he believes in non-existence of others and self."

"What is non-existence of others and self?"

I answered,

"Nothing exists in origin".

"What kind of realm is it?"

I answered,

"Understanding the original emptiness leads to Tathagata".

I said,

"In fact, there is nobody who can slander me, because I do not exist at all.

Everything in this Saha world, including the past, present and future, is all illusory and all moving indefinitely. I can keep my mind undisturbed, since I know everything is illusory".

The word "illusion" means that there is nothing in the world at all.

If one can understand that there is nothing in the world, he can transcend everything.

As far as "forbearance" is concerned, I explain it as the following,

"The reason for one's inability to put up with insult is that he believes in the distinction between others and self. Most of the people with ego attachment cannot have forbearance".

Therefore, the first requirement for having forbearance is,

"No ego-attachment and no interest in oneself" , which means "egolessness".

A man of great virtue once said,

"With the purification of others, oneself and thought, the purification of all Dharmas is forbearance".

I said,

"With non-existence of others, self and thought, all the emptiness of Dharma is forbearance".

There are some disciples slandering me.

There are some teachers slandering me.

There are some close relatives slandering me.

I can stomach all insults.

I act as the following,

I am aware of the uselessness of vindication.

There is no end to slandering.

Wise observation keeps me calm and cool.

High above, I let everything run its natural course.

It is very natural for "insult and humiliation" to exist in this Saha world. I think of "the heavenly realm", "the realm of Asuras", "the realm of dragons (Nagas)" and "the realm of gold-wing birds (Garudas)".

There is family feud and wars against each other between "the heavenly realm (Devas)" and "the realm of Asuras".

There is family feud and mutual slaughter between "the realm of dragon (Nagas)" and "the realm of gold-wing birds (Garudas)".

Sakyamuni once mediated the disagreement among "the heavens (Devas)","the Asuras", "the dragons (Nagas)" and "the gold-wing birds (Garudas)" .

The Tathagata (Buddha) also tried to make peace among them saying,

Keep on practising and accumulate virtues.

Enjoy the greatest pleasure and obtain wisdom.

Make huge progress to dignify the Buddha's land.

Plunge into the wonderful Dharma and learn forbearance.

In the above, to attain forbearance is to enter the highest wisdom, which is "no existence" of others, of self or of thought

I often ask myself whether I am a real Vajra master.

I answer, "Yes, I am".

The word "Vajra" mean no change of colour and no change of form.

I think the meaning of the word Vajra is very profound, since it means to be "indestructible", "firm", "immovable and clear-minded".

As a real Vajra master, I should have a clear conscience about myself.

Take everything in your forbearance.

And you will have supreme wisdom.

As Vajra masters, we should endure insult and humiliation in order to carry out our important missions, be really earnest and down-to-earth in practice, endure with dogged will, allow ourselves insulted, make full use of time to get realization, and have the confidence to convert the countless sentient beings. Only in this way do we deserve the name Vajra masters.

With his great forbearance, Sakyamuni returned to the palace to convert his father, the king, and his wife, although he was once slandered by them.

This forbearance is a kind of transcendence, supreme transcendence. With very profound Dharma in it, it is the wisdom of broad-mindedness and selfmastery.

The teachings of the Buddha are different from other religions mainly in "supreme transcendence", not only in the "mind" , but also in "understanding" and in matters concerning "birth and death".

Ordinary religions all believe in "existence".

The teachings of the Buddha go further than ordinary religions in two respects,

1. One is "non-existence".
2. The other is "emptiness".

The reason for the teachings of the Buddha being "great and infinite" is still built upon the two aspects "non-existence" and "emptiness", which lead to the four boundless states of mind including love, compassion, joy and charity. The "method of sacrificing one's body (CHOD by Machig Labron)" in Esoteric Buddhism teaches as follows,

"Let all the sufferings enter my body, including the sufferings from the five heavenly exhaustions, the fighting in the realm of Asuras, the mutual biting among animals, the hunger and thirst of hungry ghosts, and the great number of knives and swords, the bitter cold and terrible heat in Naraka (the hell) and all the eight kinds of suffering of human beings".

This kind of "giving up oneself to suffer on others' behalf" only exist in Buddhism, not in any other religion.

This is great will-power for unconditional self-sacrifice.

It is based on "non-existence and emptiness".

That is "supreme transcendence".

The Guru of Esoteric Buddhism-Kagyupa, Milarepa, once had the following experience. He ran into five devils in a cave. He tried to frighten them away, but the devils did not leave.

He praised them, but they did not leave either.

He chanted mantras to them, but they did not leave either.

He got angry at them, but they did not leave either.

At last, Milarepa suddenly got enlightened and realized that the Buddhist Dharma teaches us that everything is empty.

Since every phenomenon in the world is empty, the five devils are no exception and so there is no reason to fear them.

As soon as the thought came into mind, the five devils disappeared.

The two words, "non-existence" and "emptiness", have the capability of

• Generating infinite compassion.
• Developing great wisdom.
• Producing great fearlessness.
• Responding to one s Buddha nature.

How wonderful they are!

That is "supreme transcendence".

I wrote a "Song of Indifference", which is recorded as follows,

I begin to ponder over,

What is a devil? What is a Buddha?

Who becomes a devil and who becomes a Buddha?

Ah! I don t care any longer,

Whether I become a Buddha or a degenerator.

When you have enlightened,

Both worry and illness become Bodhi.

When you have enlightened,

There is no difference; it is oneself who imagines it.

No matter the vehicle is great or small.

No matter I have good food or poor food.

No matter I am well dressed or in rags.

No matter my room is big or small.

No matter I wear shoes or go bared-footed.

(When one realizes that there is no difference between this and that, he will immediately get liberated and become a Buddha.)

I don't care whether I become a Buddha.

I don't care whether I become a devil.

I don't care whether I am successful.

I don't care whether I fail.

I don't care whether I am rich.

I don't care whether I am poor.

I don't care whether I am married.

I don't care whether I get divorced.

I don't care whether I go to heaven.

I don't care whether I go to Naraka (the hell).

All the things, including existence and non-existence, good and bad, kind and evil, right and wrong, praise and slander, all become "nothing".

I begin to ponder over,

Renunciation of worldly life means to leave attachment.

Indifference is to get immediate liberation.

Not to worry oneself is the greatest pleasure.

Namo Amitabha! Namo Buddha of Brightness and Independence! (Lotus Light Buddha)

I have a profound understanding of the rationale for "supreme transcendence".

Therefore, I understand the following words said by the Buddha when he was speaking to Sariputra in The Special Sutra for Keeping Precepts:

"The Buddha told Sariputra that if, in order to satisfy sentient beings, one presents kasaya to the Bodhisattva in practice and awakens to the supreme Bodhi mind, he will become a Bodhisattva in practice. He will deserve alms of clothing or alms of clean meat every day - he is still entitled to it even when it is piled up like Sumeru. He also deserves a raised seat, which is made from the seven treasures and covered with the clothes from various heavens and which is as extensive as the world and as high as Sumeru...."

We understand from the words of the sutra -

A person who has got "supreme transcendence" and who is indifferent to everything can -

1. Wear the most beautiful clothes in the whole world. (Including heavenly clothes)

2. Take the most luxurious car in the world. (Including heavenly cars)

3. Eat all delicacies from land and sea. (Including heavenly offerings)

4. Enjoy all the wealth in the world. (Including heavenly wealth)

5. Sleep in the most extensive bed and live in the most spacious room. (Including those made from the seven treasures)

I think, a person who has got "supreme transcendence" and who is indifferent to everything deserves all the wealth in the whole world.

The Buddha said,

"This is well-deserved reward".

In my opinion, that will depend on whether the practitioner has got real "supreme transcendence" and whether he is really indifferent to everything.

I, Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu, get the following four points of understanding:

1. "Supreme transcendence" is the existence that transcends all forms of existence. (To transcend all substances)

2. Nothing in this world has substance by nature.

3. Everything in the Dharma of the Universe is in a state of moving and changing.

4. The person who has got enlightened and got supreme transcendence does nothing but to follow the natural course of things.

Many people questioned me,

"Sheng-yen Lu, why do you dance tango in the Hero's Precious Hall?"

I answered,

"To offer Vajra dance to Buddhas".

Somebody asked me,

"Sheng-yen Lu, why do you sing karaoke in the Hero's Precious Hall?"

"To offer Vajra songs to Buddhas".

Somebody asked me,

"Sheng-yen Lu, why do you eat meat?"

I answered,

"To deliver the spirits of the dead from suffering".

Somebody asked,

"Sheng-yen Lu, why do you drink alcohol?"

I answered,

"It's nectar".

What I do is different from that of common practitioners. I drove in a Rolls Royce, stay in presidential apartments, wear a Rolex watch. I am all "indifferent" to them. Please notice the word "indifferent". I am a man who "transcends" everything. I am a Buddha, not constrained by anything at all. (Even birth and death have no control over me, what else is there to control me? I am a mad man who can go beyond the limits of all things.)

I have no mind.

I have no existence.

I am staying in the World of Ultimate Bliss (Mahasukha).

As a man who has transcended worldliness and attained holiness, I act as a common living being, but with some profound reason in my actions.

Having proved the 'illusory and empty nature" of things, I now stay in "superior brightness" and have "supernatural powers". My mind always stays in emptiness.

If there is anyone who can understand Sheng-yen Lu,

That man is a Buddha.

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