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Chapter 6 : What We Must Constantly Uphold One day, a disciple asked me discreetly, "Grand Master! What should True Buddha practitioners like us constantly uphold throughout our life of cultivation?" I did not quite understand the disciple's meaning, so I asked in return, "to which aspect exactly are you referring?" The disciple said, "Like in our daily lives, when cultivating the dharma, or the way we conduct ourselves in society." I replied with only two words, "correct mindfulness." Correct mindfulness refers to the correct thought. That is to say, one must continually be mindful of the correct path and not allow one's thoughts and actions to go astray. Consider this: correct mindfulness must really be constantly upheld, as it is extremely easy for one to lose correct mindfulness without even realizing it. A lot of modern day practitioners are taken in by appearances, and many of them are fixated on supernatural powers. Such attachments can easily cause the loss of correct mindfulness. It is even worse to have an "erroneous view," which can harbor the potential danger of "blundering and falling into heresy." Some erroneous views involve disbelieving the laws of karma, disbelieving transmigration, disbelieving the notion of that which brings virtue and that which brings hindrance, and disbelieving karmic retribution. Other incorrect views such as wrong actions and ignorance can also easily cause the loss of correct mindfulness. A disciple queried, "Grand Master! Nowadays there are people proposing not to chant the Deliverance Mantra, not to recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra, and not to worship the image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. They say that these are all related to yin energy, and therefore are prone to invoking ghosts. Is this a correct view or an erroneous view?" My answer was, "In these days where the turbulent currents of erroneous views are raging everywhere, we should ever more so uphold correct mindfulness so that we may be correctly guided into the vast ocean of the Buddhadharma. The Ksitigarbha Sutra was spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha, therefore it should be recited. The Sutra clearly extolled the merits of worshipping the image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. It pointed out that such virtues as vast as the ocean could be generated by the mere action of revering or paying homage to the image of Ksitigarbha, therefore such an image should be worshipped. The Deliverance Mantra is able to attract limitless virtues; therefore it should also be chanted. These are all beneficial to humans, the heavens, ghosts and gods." "Sutras, images of Buddhas, and mantras of Buddhas are all symbols of purity, and are able to purify a practitioner's heart. As such, they do not ever attract the filth of ghostly beings. We must be resolute in maintaining correct mindfulness!"
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