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Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Book 163: Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Chapter 12: The Accumulation Needed for Cultivation
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Satch)
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I feel that when a person seeks rebirth in the Pure Land, he cannot rely solely on attaining liberation through the bardo state, as it is important for the deceased to practice the Path of Liberation and the path of bodhi prior to his death. This early preparation to accumulate merits for his subsequent rebirth is of vital importance. The reason for the deceased`s liberation is tied to his sufficient accumulation of merits during his cultivation, as he would be able to recognize the moment when the clear light appears, and prepare himself for a full merger with the light.
If an individual has not even heard of the Buddhadharma in his life, and therefore never contemplates and cultivates its teachings, he would remain in a state of ignorance and unconsciousness, no matter how much the wise man attempts to advise and guide him. When the deceased man dies and sees all the illusory imageries, he assumes he is seeing a real world.
The mind of such an individual is constantly engaged in defiled thoughts and fantasies, and has lost its bearings and direction. Even if the deceased were to receive words of advice, he would behave exactly as if he were alive, holding on stubbornly to his opinions, and be totally ignorant of the existence of other spiritual planes. Eventually, under the dictate of his karma, he would be drawn towards the six realms of reincarnation while he continues to dream away! Therefore, I honestly say to you that it is vitally important to prepare your accumulated merits for your cultivation and rebirth. Please take good note of this and do not overlook it.
In Tantric Buddhism -
* It is a must to cultivate the Four Preliminaries (the Fourfold Refuge, the Great Homage, the Mandala Offering, the Vajrasattva Practice)
* Keep the Five Precepts and Ten Virtuous Deeds, and adhere to the Tantric disciplines
* Cultivate the Guru Yoga (the guru is the great wise man)
* Cultivate the Principal Deity Yoga (Being aligned to the Buddha`s Pure Land which you rest upon)
* Cultivate the Dharma Protector Practice (Guard over your cultivation)
* Wind
* Channels
* Drops
* Transforming consciousness into wisdom (Highest Yoga Tantra)
* The Great Perfection
In Exoteric Buddhism -
* Keep the the Five Precepts and Ten Virtuous Deeds.
* Cultivate the Four Noble Truths (Suffering, Desire causes Suffering, Extinction of Suffering, Path)
* Cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Contemplate on the impurity of the body. Contemplate on the suffering of emotions. Contemplate on the impermanence of mind. Contemplate on the mental phenomena which are devoid of inherent existence)
* Cultivate the Ten Faiths, Ten Dwellings, Ten Behavioral Activities, and Ten Transferences
* Cultivate the Eightfold Path
* Cultivate the Ten Paramitas (The Ten Stages)
* Buddha Enlightenment and Wonderful Enlightenment
In my view, Exoteric and Tantric Buddhism are perfectly linked and complimentary to each other. I have immersed myself in Taoism, Exoteric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism through the years, and I would not forgo any of the teachings. I focus my cultivation in the Pure Land practices, as well as the True Buddha Tantric Practice. I do not find them contradictory.
We do know that the right wisdom upon which the Buddha became enlightened is known as the bodhi. The bodhicitta is thus the mind to attain perfect enlightenment.
When the Buddha was alive, he had taught us the three kinds of bodhi:
1. The bodhi of the Sravaka, the hearer - the enlightenment attained through the cultivation of the Four Noble Truths and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
2. The bodhi of the Pratyeka-buddha, the solitary enlightened - the enlightenment attained through the cultivation of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, as in the contemplation of why a flower blooms and withers.
3. The bodhi of the Buddha - The cultivation of the highest practice, the supreme practice, through which one attains the unexcelled bodhi, the fruition of the Wonderful Enlightenment buddhahood.
(During the lifetime of the Buddha, many of his disciples had attained fruition of enlightenment)
Buddhism today is further divided into these five vehicles:
1. The Buddhism of the Human Vehicle - It involves the cultivation of the Five Precepts, through which one seeks rebirth in the human realm.
2. The Buddhism of the Heavenly Vehicle - It involves the cultivation of the Ten Virtuous Deeds, through which one seeks ascension to the heavenly realms.
3. The Buddhism of the Sravaka Vehicle - It involves the cultivation of the Four Noble Truths, through which one attains the fruition of Arhathood.
4. The Buddhism of the Pratyeka-buddha Vehicle - It involves the cultivation of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, through which one attains the fruition of Pratyeka-buddha.
5. The Buddhism of the Bodhisattva Vehicle - It involves the cultivation of the six perfections, through which one attains the stages of Buddha and Wonderful Enlightenment, reaching the supreme fruition of Buddhahood.
I personally feel that the advocacy of the Human and Heavenly Vehicles by some modern days reverends, in which the doctrines of the Five Precepts and Ten Virtuous Deeds are being taught, is itself a good cause. But I feel that solely giving the teachings of the Human and Heavenly Vehicles in this Saha world is inadvisable, as we need to follow the footsteps of the Buddha to seek enlightenment.
This is because the human world is, after all, a world of \`suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and no self-existence,\` where suffering supersedes joy. When the blessings and merits of a being in the heavenly realms are exhausted, he is destined to fall.
I would advocate that practitioners of all these five vehicles (Human, Heavenly, Sravaka, Pratyeka-Buddha, Bodhisattva) ride on the power of Amitabha Buddha`s great vows and seek rebirth in his authentic Pure Land.
Here also lies one reason why my Principal Deities are the Golden Mother of Jade Pond, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and Amitabha Buddha, whose affinity shape the underlying causes and conditions of my mission [which covers the five vehicles].
The three kinds of bodhi are the right teachings, so are the Five Vehicles of Buddhism. The Human and Heavenly Vehicles remain, however, within the six realms of reincarnation.
The cultivation approach of Tantric Buddhism and Exoteric Buddhism do share certain common grounds. Though they differ in terms of terminology and practice methods, in actuality they are interlinked.
Hence:
The Yoga of One-Pointedness
The Yoga of Simplicity
The Yoga of One Taste
The Yoga of Non-Meditation
I therefore say that by achieving union with the principal deity, you will be reborn in the Pure Land. You should achieve one-pointedness in reciting the Buddha`s name and mantra, and achieving simplicity is the transcendental practice. When you arrive at the level of one taste, you gain clarity of all doctrines. The yoga of non-meditation is simply effortless practice.
The Consciousness-Only School has established the five stages which are:
1. The Stage of Accumulation
2. The Stage of Preliminary Practices
3. The Stage of the Path of Vision
4. The Stage of the Path of Cultivation and Practice
5. The Stage of Perfection
These five stages are included in Tantric Buddhism, of which consciousness is being transformed into wisdom, attaining the perfection of buddhahood.
Why do I mention these various practices? It is because the best time to cultivate is here on earth in the physical realm, while you are still alive. This is the time to prepare yourself for the knowledge of rebirth in the Pure Land, and know the Buddhadharma that teaches the way to attaining the fruition of Buddhahood. You must prepare early for the accumulation and wait for your time. You must not wait until the time of death or when you are in the bardo to hope for liberation. The deliverance at the time of death, and during the bardo, is best complimented with previous knowledge of this teaching acquired when you were still alive. Your deliverance would then come to you naturally, and is certainly most ideal. The better candidate would be someone who has cultivated the practices of Buddhism and had achieved yogic response. When a person like this is given guidance, he immediately awakens and finds liberation.
How can a deceased spirit be guided when he has no concept of incarnation, no concept of rebirth, and no concept of the bardo? The spirit of the deceased is not ready to give up on any of his old habits. An example would be a dead gambler who loves the Chinese game of Mahjong - he will gather with other gambling entities in the bardo, and continue their game of Mahjong in the illusory dreamland of the bardo planes.
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