Preface

"Without cultivation, one remains a ghost."

The present writer is now 39 years old. I cannot say I am old, since I am not yet 60; I cannot say I am still young, for I am rapidly approaching 40. After another 40 years, I will be 80, which is commonly considered as a rare age. Come to think of it, the first half of my life is gone, after which my youth is going downhill with each passing day. The mere thought of this strikes fear into my heart.

Fortunately, when I was 26, by a miraculous chance, I came to know the causations and conditions of my previous lifetimes. Since then, I have been cultivating for 14 years, without relaxing my effort for a single day. Finally, I have realized the "External Eight Accomplishments", and will devote my remaining years to the cultivation of the "Eight Internal Accomplishments". I have confidence that I will attain my Buddhahood within the present lifetime. I have made a great vow of Bodhicitta to practice the Vajra-dharma. I am the personal deity, realising Buddhahood in this lifetime - I have realized, and have experienced, all the necessary responses.

Now, in my eyes, the three thousand worlds appear to be as tiny as a little seed of grain. My original spirit can fill up the space in the ten directions, or contract to reside in a speck of sand. After full realization, the original spirit can leave from the crown of the head and fly to any Buddha lands and the ten Dharma-dhatu (Dharma realms). With the acquisition of the Divine Eye, I can see anything in the ten Dharma-dhatu. With the Divine Ear, I can hear, at any time, the teaching of Dharma. With Isvara (self-mastery and freedom), I am completely free to do anything without any obstructions. My original spirit can dive into water without being drowned, and dash into fire without being burnt. Now I can gate-crash the doorway of Hell, and transcend the law of Cause and Effect, no longer confined to the five forms of existence. When I reach Nirvana, there will certainly be miraculous phenomena appearing. I can now cure other people's illnesses, deliver sentient beings from misery, and practice any secret methods that have been considered impossible.

Since I have made the greatest Resolution of Bodhicitta, I naturally cherish a loving compassion for sentient beings. As the human birth is indeed difficult to come by, it is the greatest pity that one does not know the importance of cultivation with the human form. Once this human form is lost, you may not get it again in ten thousand celestial years! In addition, man's life is short and unpredictable--in a split of a second, a life may go off like a light. There have been countless people who died very young. Efforts in cultivation should start as promptly as putting out a fire.

In my view, sentient beings in the mundane world who are craving for high positions are just like maggots in a manure pit, rolling up and down, struggling to keep their heads above others'. These maggots die unenlightened! As these people are infatuated with positions, those who get it can never part with it;it is as if they are addicted to opium. Those who lose it are at the mercy of others like dead maggots. The loss and gain of social positions is no different from the rise and fall of the maggots. Why cling to such suffering? It is high time for them to cast aside ignorance and start cultivating.

There are also people who are crazy about wealth and profit. Putting money in the first place, they see nothing but coins - anything else is meaningless to them. With their business rapidly expanding, they are fully occupied day and night, without a moment to spare. Their life and energy are all thrown into fierce competition for profit, and as a result, they fall down to pieces, like the outer layers of bamboo shoots - till everything falls off and is buried. Among them, the successful ones achieve nothing except some luxury for their children and grandchildren. The unsuccessful ones get old before they know it! Afflictions fall upon them one after another, making their life very miserable indeed.

Even lower than these people are those who are bent on drinking, gambling and acting wrongly. Whatever they do or think is nothing but bad deeds, generating karmic hindrances. Not knowing about the terror of karmic retributions, they never stop doing bad deeds and they never start doing good deeds. Still worse, some people take pleasure in evil actions, such as killing, robbing, burning, raping and what not. The sufferings of sentient beings are increased, the methods of cultivation are forsaken; there are no outcries against all this; no one teaches the correct way to cultivate.

Out of love and compassion for these sentient beings, I write these spiritual books to convert them. I have written forty-four (Note:At present time, this is over 114.) books explaining from the most preliminary to the most profound theories in Buddhism. This is the forty-fifth book about the true art of meditation. It is the essential method handed down by the lineage gurus, a secret way to attain Buddhahood. It contains all the celestial secrets and nature's mysteries. In this writing, I use a kind of language that makes the most profound truths intelligible to readers who will easily learn everything by heart. To realize my great wish to deliver sentient beings from misery, I explain the correct paths to the Truth in the hope that people with karmic affinity will get this book---they will practice everyday with instructions from erudite masters to arrive at an understanding of the right truths. If they practice sincerely the art of meditation, without pretence or falsehood, they will, in due time, attain realization, achieving the fruition of Buddhahood. They will arrive at the other shore to live in a realm of great bliss. This is my Great Resolution of Bodhicitta--to write spiritual books diligently for the salvation of sentient beings.

At present, though I practice at home, I am just like a monk. I live in the Ling-Xian Attic on the third floor of my house in Seattle, U.S.. I have enshrined an ancient bronze incense burner, and ancient mirror, a vajra bell and a vajra scepter. On the floor, there is a cushion. During my meditation sessions, with the Holy Red Crown on my head, and dressed in a kasaya, I recite the mantras, form the mudras, with incense smoke circling above slowly and gently. On the table, the Chinese brushes, ink-stone and yellow rice paper are all spotlessly clean. In a calm state of mind, I feel as if I were in a fairy land.

In the attic I practice every day, chanting the sutras and sitting in meditation, never perplexed by mundane affairs nor troubled by anyone. After an incense burning session, I travel to the Heavenly Realms. When tired, I doze off for a few minutes; when refreshed, I ascend to the Heavenly states again. It is like what a verse describes; "Natural, unrestrained, and completely free, I feel like a personal deity clear and void. With incense burning, I view everything as empty. My original spirit embraces all Heavens and shines on the Truth as the sun and the moon."

Mr. Sanshan Jiuou (Mr. Three Mountains and Nine States, Grand Master Lu's spiritual teacher from the formless realm) once said, "Your god is your own original spirit, not the mind we use for thinking, nor the heart under the lungs. Spiritual powers are ability to evoke spirits and change into gods, the ability to embrace the Universe in one's spirit, and the ability to change into many forms with unpredictable powers. All enlightened masters know about this. Common people in the mundane world are never aware of it. Today Sheng-yen Lu writes about The Art of Meditation--it satisfies both Heavenly wishes and secular needs. His efforts are noble. A slander on him amounts to a slander on the Buddha, a sin which shall not be pardoned."

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Kuan-Yin) came to tell me, "When I was teaching Maha Karuna Dharani a long time ago, the Earth shook and showed six changed forms. Precious flowers rained gently all over the place. All Buddhas in the ten directions rejoiced and praised it. Demons and heretics were filled with terror. All those who joined in chanting the Sutra attained some fruition. Some became srotapannas (stream enterer-initial attainment), some sakrdagamins (once-returner--to return to this world once before gaining Buddhahood), some anagamins (never-returners) and some arhants. Some even became bodhisattvas of the first, second, third, or tenth ground. Numerous sentient beings made Resolutions of Bodhicitta. Today Sheng-yen Lu has written The Art of Meditation, which is similar to my Maha Karuna Dharani. Those who practice this method will be protected by all good gods who never leave the practitioner even for a second, including the Four Deva Kings, Devas, nagas, yaksas, asuras, garudas, gandharvas, kimnaras, mahoragas, kumarirupas.Besides, the God of the Soil, God of the Sea and Rivers, Gods of springs, of streams, of medicine, of forests, of horses, of water, of fire, of wind, of mountains, of earth, of palaces, etc. are all to give the cultivator protection."

Guru Padmasambhava, the first Patriarch of the Tibetan Tantrayana, told me, "In today's world, demons and evil spirits are lording it over. Nature's engineering is unpredictable, with untimely sunshine and rain, destructive winds and floods. Sacred Sutras are being burned to ashes; diseases and calamities are rampant, with wars fought here and there. If one does not know the correct Dharma, he or she is bound to fall into the bad states of rebirth (hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals). Fortunately, Sheng-yen Lu has, in a timely manner, written these spiritual books teaching systematically the doorway to the Superb Tantrayana, from the most basic to the most advanced. If someone practices wholeheartedly as The Art of Meditation describes, he will realize all forms of wisdom, arrive at meditative stabilization of purity, and understand the truths of the Universe, free from his karmic hindrances accumulated in the past thousand celestial years. If he can work out his original spirit, he will know all the truths about life and death, both in the past and in the future. He will then obtain all wisdoms denied to other people. Going further in his realization, he will acquire the fruition of Bodhisattva, see all the Buddhas and listen to their teachings, thus eliminating his karma since infinity."

Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and Guru Padmasambhava all appeared during my meditation, and left me the above instructions. I sincerely hope that those who get this book practice once a day unswervingly, and double their efforts as time goes on. They should by no means disappoint the Bodhisattvas who descended once again to deliver the sentient beings. This is great luck for all beings under the sun.

I tell my readers in sincerity that people with sharp intellect have not just practiced in one or two lifetimes, but in many lifetimes. People with Buddhist affinity tend to believe in Buddhism as soon as they hear the name of the Buddha-this is the result of cultivation in previous lifetimes. People without the affinity have not practiced previously, and tend to harbor certain doubts; but as long as they get closer to the Buddha every day and experience certain responses, they will naturally build their wisdom and arrive at the other shore as well. I hereby request my readers to cast away all attachment; keep your mind on the BuddhaDharma while living in the mundane world. If you can sit in meditation for one hour a day, you will certainly be met by a golden lotus blossom when you pass away. You will certainly go to the Western Paradise. Isn't that wonderful!

May all sentient beings awaken to their True Nature!

Sheng-yen Lu
Ling-Xian Attic
Seattle, Wa. U.S.
June, 1983

 

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