New Revelations from the Buddha King

Generation Stage

The story of my religious education and cultivation is a long one which I have, to a great extent, recorded in my one hundred twenty books. Like a flash, twenty-seven years have gone by since I first took refuge in a teacher and immersed myself in the study of sutras, meditation, and chanting. I do not consider myself someone who is born with the talent to achieve Instantaneous Enlightenment. My Enlightenment has only come after years of cultivation and making progress step by step on the path. In brief, my Realization is a case of gradual, not sudden Enlightenment.

As I have often said, there is a resemblance between the way I write and the way I cultivate. I write every day, and I do my practice every day. I am a down-to-earth spiritual cultivator who has made a thorough probing into the Buddhadharma, and I believe even the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and lineage gurus would find commendable the effort and energy I have put into my practice.

It is true that the calumnies that have been heaped upon me over the years were so numerous that it became impossible to keep track of them. In any case, from my perspective at this point, any vilification is just something very ordinary and part of the natural scheme of things; it makes no difference at all to me.

Many people are, however, curious about the level of my spiritual attainment. Many others have wondered if I indeed possess a power which, when employed, causes a great shock throughout the heavens and Earth. There is even this bizarre speculation going around: Sheng-yen Lu has lost much of his spiritual power. In the past he was radiating powerful golden light, but now his face is shrouded in dark shadows. The following verse is my reply:

Form is ultimately not Form,
Neither is Void Void;
Silence and Noise are fundamentally the same;
Why talk about dreams in dreams?
In servicing, no service is provided,
In power, no power is employed.
When the Fruit ripens, it turns naturally red,
Ask not how it should glorify itself.

This verse is offered to anyone who wonders about the level at which I have arrived. If one cannot figure it out, then one is welcome to say whatever one wishes to say!
Esoteric Practice and the Various Heavens

Many people know that I eventually chose the spiritual pathway of Tantric Practice. Buddhist Tantra recognizes the possibility of `Buddhahood in the present life` and supports it with both theories and practices. I shall briefly describe the various stages of progression which I have gone through. But, first, let me list below the Twenty-eight Heavens, as they serve as a chart for the course of my progression.

There are six heavens in the Realm of Desire, eighteen heavens in the Realm of Form, and four heavens in the Realm of Formlessness.

The six heavens in the Realm of Desire are:
-The Heaven of Four Deva-kings
-The Trayastrimsas Heaven
-The Yama Heaven
-The Tushita Heaven
-The Bliss from Transformation Heaven
-The Heaven of Bliss Gained Through Others` Transformations

The eighteen heavens in the Realm of Form are divided into four dhyana regions.

In the first dhyana region there are:
-The Heaven of the Multitudes of Brahma
-The Heaven of the Ministers of Brahma
-The Heaven of the Great Brahma Lord

In the second dhyana region there are:
-The Heaven of Lesser Light
-The Heaven of Limitless Light
-The Heaven of Light and Sound

In the third dhyana region there are:
-The Heaven of Lesser Purity
-The Heaven of Limitless Purity
-The Heaven of Universal Purity

In the fourth dhyana region there are:
-The No-Cloud Heaven
-The Birth of Blessings Heaven
-The Abundant Fruit Heaven
-The No-Thought Heaven
-The No-Affliction Heaven
-The No-Heat Heaven
-The Good Views Heaven
-The Good Manifestation Heaven
-The Ultimate Form Heaven

Of the above nine heavens in the fourth dhyana region, the last five are also known as the `Five Pure-Dwelling Heavens.`

There are four heavens in the Realm of Formlessness:
-The Heaven of Boundless Emptiness
-The Heaven of Boundless Consciousness
-The Non-Existing Heaven
-The Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought

I shall divulge the cultivation methods I have used in ascending the twenty-eight heavens. It is my hope that more sentient beings will thus be inspired to have the confidence and determination to take up Buddhist cultivation as a path to reach Enlightenment. I also want to tell everyone that, throughout the course of cultivation, there are indeed many wrong tracks onto which one may stray, and many of the essential teachings require instructions and guidance from an authentic Vajra Master at one`s side. One must first take refuge and receive initiations and empowerments. During the course of learning, one must learn to harbor right thoughts and right views before the Root Guru will transmit the correct methods to you. This is of paramount importance.

Blissful Pleasure

I would use the term `blissful pleasure` to represent the Realm of Desire, as the two great desires found there are food and sex. Beings in the heavens of the Desire Realm are there to enjoy their blessings. Generally, people who observe the five precepts and ten wholesome acts, may ascend to any of the six heavens in the Realm of Desire. This is, however, based on the merits they have earned.

However, during the practice of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma, I had the following experiences. When chi [prana] enters into the central channel and travels through it, a great blissful pleasure is generated as a result of the rubbing of chi against the central channel. It is a kind of enraptured, soothing, yet divine ecstasy not unlike the euphoria engendered in sexual orgasms. However, bliss generated by the moving of chi inside the central channel lasts longer and is more sublime.

I believe the `blissful pleasure` I experience when entering into stillness during practice is not the kind of `bouyant ease` generally referred to as associated with meditation. It is instead the authentic `great bliss` which is the Dharma Taste enjoyed by devas in the Realm of Desire. In fact, the generation of `blissful pleasure` is not just limited to the movement of chi inside the central channel. Bliss and pleasure are also engendered when psychic heat moves up and down to unblock the channel, as well as when the `bodhi-heart-moon-fluid` (stored at the thousand-petalled chakra) moves up and down inside the central channel. Subtle differences exist among the three kinds of pleasures. Of course, `blissful pleasure` associated with the movement of psychic heat and bodhi-heart-moon-fluid is superior to that of chi and may be regarded as `supreme great bliss,` the experience of which is already well within the first dhyana region of the Realm of Form.

I feel that the Realm of Desire is easily within the reach of anyone who observes the five precepts and carries out the ten wholesome deeds. In yogic practice, the level equivalent to the Realm of Desire is realized when chi enters into the central channel.

Clear Light

The blissful Realm of Desire is captivating because the sensations experienced there are solid, concrete and, at the same time, sublime.

In meditative stillness, there is also the generation of prajna [wisdom]. Intuition of this kind of wisdom is like the swirling of air bubbles. During ceremonies conducted by me, these air bubbles fly and dance throughout the venue. At such times, the mood of the participants is heightened because, as soon as people come into contact with `prajna,` they sense the flavorful Dharma Taste and experience a happiness of receiving.

Once, during a Dharma ceremony, I inadvertantly discovered that the back of my head was enveloped by a halo which was giving off warm and auspicious light. I thought to myself, `Oh good, I have succeeded in achieving the clear light.` I knew the manifestation of clear light is associated with ascendance to the `first, second, third, and fourth dhyana regions` in the Realm of Form.

However, this happiness only lasted a short while, for my enthusiasm was soon dampened. Kuan-yin Bodhisattva told me, `The halo around your head was a gift to you from the Deva Lord T`ien-t`ung. It did not come by your own cultivation effort. There are two kinds of light manifestation: self-engendered and other-engendered. The clear light you have was engendered by a Higher Being. Do not be happy too soon.` It was then that I realized that the manifestation of light is either self-engendered or engendered by others.

The Realm of Form is divided into four levels known as the four dhyana regions, based on the degree of depth of meditative stillness. In this realm, desires for food and sexual pleasure are transcended, but palaces (of Form) still exist, thus giving rise to the name Realm of Form.

Commentaries on the `four dhyana regions of the Realm of Form` usually describe them as overlapping and make it hard for one to draw distinct boundaries between them. Later on, my investigations showed that the blurry descriptions are normal, The sensations and awareness one experiences throughout the eighteen heavens in the Realm of Form do overlap, although each has its own uniqueness. There is already the manifestation of clear light within the Realm of Form, and the heavens may be distinguished from one another by the scope, intensity, and color of the light.

Other people have analyzed the four dhyana regions as follows:
1) first dhyana region - no sensation of smell and taste, blissful pleasure still exists.
2) second dhyana region - no sensation of sight, hearing, or touch, but has the existence of joy and the manifestation of clear light.
3) third dhyana region - only has consciousness, joy, equinimity, and intense clear light.
4) fourth dhyana region - only has consciousness, equinimity, and infinite light.

In my experience, the four dhyana regions can be described as follows:
1) first dhyana region - supreme bliss and subtle joy with the manifestation of light.
2) second dhyana region - blissful, clear light.
3) third dhyana region - intense clear light that is eternal, blissful, and immovable.
4) fourth dhyana region - infinite clear light of equanimity.

These kinds of perceptions are very subtle, fine, and deep. From the second dhyana region up, only consciousness remains; therefore, they may only be qualified and distinguished by `joy, immovability, and the infinite.` I also recognize that ascending to the fourth dhyana region is tantamount to attaining the Wisdom of Equanimity of the Tathagata.

I would like to again state the fact that I was not born a Buddha. This is true even though I am an emanation of Amitabha, had Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine-States to teach and empower me, the Divine Light of the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond to guard me, and many other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to teach me. I still had to start from the beginning and climb, step by step, the staircase to the heavens. A practitioner who carries a lot of weight from before still has to engage in self-cultivation until he or she can expose the seed of `alaya consciousness` to bring forth `wisdom from previous lives.` In other words, one must enter into the secret Samadhi to uncover the LD from previous lives before one may confirm one`s previous lives.

The Fivefold Color Heart Meridian

It is quite an accomplishment for a Buddhist to achieve and abide in the state of `Permanence, Bliss, Identity [Self], Purification.` Although it is not the ultimate state, `permanence and bliss` characterizes the Realm of Desire while `identity [self] and purification` characterizes the Realm of Form.

I was aware that the Realm of Desire was not the ultimate state, but it was, indeed, very alluring, and I admit I stayed and spent quite a long period of time in this realm.

Later, when I started to chant the Kao-wang kuan-shih-yin chen-ching (High King Avalokitesvara Sutra), a sutra of great spiritual power since the Tang Dynasty, I discovered that it has a tremendous magnetic and psychic force. Further studies revealed that it is, in fact, impregnated with the power of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions. To once chant the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra is tantamount to receiving blessings and empowerment from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in all ten directions.

When chanting the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra, I felt an extraordinarily forceful stream of pure spiritual energy entering into my transparent, red, and empty central channel. My heart chakra was originally wrapped up in multitudinous layers of `emotionally afflicted` meridians, which actually started to unravel one by one. As long as one chants the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra with a focused mind, a piece of the emotionally afflicted meridian falls off. When all of the emotionally afflicted wrappings fell off, I found in the center of the heart chakra at the central channel a very fine `fivefold color heart meridian` which gave off bright light.

I finally realized that the source of inherent luminosity of a practitioner is this `fivefold color heart meridian,` a light body which is also the source for transformation into the wisdom rainbow body. After seeing the wisdom rainbow body, I worked harder to make great leaps in my progress to the point that anytime I entered into meditation, this inherent clear light would manifest. This is the `inherent awareness wisdom light` which, although originally hidden, will undergo the following transformation after cultivation:

fivefold color heart meridian ? white soft meridian light ? clear light ? light drop empty lights ? five wisdom light ? fivefold color rainbow light

After sighting the `light drop empty lights,` one would be able to see the vajra chains and manifestations of Buddhas.

In the realm of clear light, I learned about these four stages:
1) Manifestation of fivefold color heart meridian.
2) Perception and awareness of manifestation of clear light.
3) Growth of clear light.
4) Manifestation of the Dharma Realm.

I feel that the entering into the Realm of Form starts with the fivefold color heart meridian. It was a big discovery to me that the fivefold color heart meridian is the source that lights up the central channel, which then goes on to light up every skin pore in the body, finally merging into the Dharma realm. This enables one to attain, in this present life, the clear light, a Realm of Form accomplishment.

Realm of Formlessness

In Buddhist sutras, the so-called Realm of Formlessness is a realm without any material existence, body or palace [of Deities]. There is only the abiding of consciousness in a deep and subtle state of meditative stillness.

There are four heavens in the Realm of Formlessness:
1) The Heaven of Boundless Emptiness
2) The Heaven of Boundless Consciousness
3) The Non-Existing Heaven
4) The Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought

If I make an analysis of the three realms of heavens, this would be my conclusion:
1) Realm of Desire - realm of blessings.
2) Realm of Form - realm of wisdom.
3) Realm of Formlessness - realm of emptiness.

The categorization of the four heavens in the Realm of Formlessness is based on the following four kinds of meditation:

1) When a cultivator sprouts a dislike for the palaces in the Realm of Form, feels imprisoned by them, and wants to go beyond `form,` it results in the abiding in a boundless state of emptiness and the realization of the Heaven of Boundless Emptiness.

2) When a cultivator sprouts a dislike for the state of outer emptiness, detaches from it, and focuses only in the inner domain of consciousness, it results in the abiding in a boundless state of inner consciousness and the realization of the Heaven of Boundless Consciousness.

3) When a cultivator sprouts a dislike for the boundless realm of inner consciousness, detaches from both mind and consciousness and views them as non-existent, it results in the realization of the Non-Existing Heaven.

4) Objective knowledge reflects thought, thus a cultivator who detaches from thought abides in `non-thought.` The Non-Existing Heaven is a realm of `non-thought.` When a cultivator detaches from even the `non-thought` of the Non-Existing Heaven, it results in the realization of the `Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought.`

After attaining clear light, I wanted to climb further to reach the four heavens in the Realm of Formlessness. But it turned out not to be an easy task, as these four heavens are simply not reached by any ladder.

These four heavens are characterized by the following four essences respectively:
Emptiness
Consciousness
Non-Existence (Non-Thought)
Not Non-Thought.

After accomplishing clear light, I stood at the rim of the Realm of Formlessness, looking at the four heavens, not knowing how to go forward. I knew well that having attained both the great `blissful pleasure` and `clear light` was already quite an accomplishment, as attested by this poem:

Where smokes and clouds have vanished to
Are the deva`s abodes in the realms of heaven;
This is a perfect moment to settle down in quietude,
Planting bamboos and growing flowers;
A crane often alights on the blue cliff
while water-lilies in the green pool send constant fragrance,
This surpasses the monks` chanting at the T`ien-t`ai mountain
And competes with the morning clouds at the sacred Mount Hua;
It is no exaggeration to say that
This Realm surpasses `harvesting the clouds and fishing the moon;`
With long sitting,
My mind becomes the ocean,
As the window to my heart expands to encompass the Ganges` sands.

After arriving at the door of the Realm of Four Emptiness, I realized it was a state of infinite emptiness, an ungraspable vacuum. The true condition of Zen is unlike any ordinary meditative state, as it fills up and is undifferentiated from the whole Universe. I have understood the theories underlying the Realm of the Formlessness, but how could I penetrate it?

Studying and practicing according to the Prajna Sutra, I found the way to the `Wisdom of Emptiness.` Following the teachings in the Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra, I found the way to the `Inconceivable Liberation.` Following the teachings in the Flower Adornment Sutra, I realized the `Wheel of Space` (element of space) that pervades all things. Following the teachings of the `Three Gates to Nirvana` which are `Void,` `Formlessness,` and `Inactivity,` I realized that all phenomena are merely composites of causes and conditions and are inherently empty of existence. With the realization that there has never been any witness nor anything witnessed, one achieves freedom.

Thus, gradually, I made progress. And suddenly one day, I found myself inside the Realm of Formlessness, entering into `Emptiness, Consciousness, Non-Existence, and Not Non-Thought.` Perhaps one is curious about how that happened? Does a ladder exist after all?

Today, I will tell everyone how it happened. When I put a stop to the `blissful pleasure` practices, when I stopped the yogic practice of `clear light,` when I relinquished all practices and put them to rest, I entered totally into a state of inactivity.

I entered into `Non-Thought.`

I entered into `Not-Thinking.`

I entered into `Not Non-Thought.`

At such a moment, I rapidly moved through the four formless heavens. In one step, I gained access to the infinite space of the Realm of Formlessness. It turned out that the great secret key to entering into the Realm of Formlessness is living the truth that `All Phenomena Are Empty of Inherent Existence.`

Generally, perceptions experienced during Samadhi consist of an incredible feeling of buoyant lightness or a sensation of bathing in an ocean of light. Or one may experience a loss of localization where there is no longer the duality of large versus small, outside versus inside. Contained within one is the whole, infinite universe which is without any top or bottom, pervading everything....

When all such sensations and perceptions ceased to exist, when the euphoria and ecstasy vanished, when bathing in the clear light disappeared, at such a moment my Perfect and Bright Self Nature manifested itself!

When my Perfect and Bright Self Nature became One with the Supreme Consciousness of the Cosmos, I entered into the Liberated and Enlightened State that is Unborn and Undying, a state that is quite beyond words!

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