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Book: An Overview of The Buddhadharma
Faith What motivates one to start the practice of the Buddhadharma? There are always certain events at the beginning that give one the impetus to embark on the path. All of you here have been motivated by different forces to practice the Buddhadharma. As for myself, I started the practice because I experienced an extraordinary event. You all know that in this direct experience, I was transported from the samsaric world to the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. When I reached that spiritual realm, I saw my previous existence, the Light Radiating Pai Lian Hua Tung Tsu (White Padmakumara). I saw with my own eyes the White Padmakumara who radiated a great light, and I heard a voice telling me the name of the White Padmakumara. These were real experiences, by which I mean I actually traveled to that realm, where I truly saw and heard these things. This incident was the first event that led me to start on the path of the Buddhadharma. Now all of you here have, of course, read the description of this experience in my books. A faith was inspired in you. Therefore, you are also treading the same path on which I have walked. In truth, the source of this Padmakumara [Lotus Bodhisattva] is the Female Buddha with Buddha Eyes whose own source is the Great Sun Tathagata. At the Twin Lotus Ponds of the Female Buddha with Buddha Eyes, Padmakumara manifested. Padmakumara, the Bliss Body of the Buddha, is also currently teaching the Dharma at the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. I, teaching the Dharma here today, am the Emanation Body of the Buddha. Teaching at the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds is the Bliss Body of the Buddha. Teaching at the Great Sun Tathagata is the Dharma Body of the Buddha. The Great Sun Tathagata is the Dharma Body, the Padmakumara is the Bliss Body, the present incarnation is the Emanation Body. Last night one of the students here was taken to the Realms of Heavens in his sleep. He came to a place called Hsi Chien Ch'eng [City of Happy Sights] and heard many heavenly beings talking about going to attend a teaching. Out of curiosity, he asked them, "Who is giving the teaching?" They replied that they were going to hear the Padmakumara teach. He was surprised, "Isn't the Padmakumara Sheng-yen Lu? Isn't Sheng-yen Lu going to give a Dharma teaching tomorrow at the Rainbow Villa? When has he come to this City of Happy Sights to teach the Dharma?" The reply was that the Padmakumara at the City of Happy Sights had been teaching at their city for almost two months. This student exclaimed, "That can't be right! Our Grand Master, Sheng-yen Lu, will give his first day's teaching tomorrow, so how could he have been teaching at the City of Happy Sights for two months now?" He went along to hear the teaching and, when he arrived at the podium, he looked up and saw that the Padmakumara was indeed the Grand Master. He asked himself, "The Grand Master is clearly still in the Seattle area, how could he be teaching at the City of Happy Sights in front of so many heavenly beings, and have been teaching for almost two months?" This morning the student came to tell me about his experience. He mentioned that the theme being discussed by the Padmakumara at the City of Happy Sights was "Penetrating Into Madhyamaka [the teaching of the Middle Way]." This morning the student asked me how could there be two Sheng-yen Lu's? Why is there a Sheng-yen Lu in the City of Happy Sights and another one here in Seattle? This is what I told him, "Sheng-yen Lu is present everywhere, not just in Seattle. At this time, there are many Padmakumaras teaching simultaneously in many Heavenly Kingdoms and Pure Lands." This is the phenomenon of manifestation of multiple bodies which may number in the billions and assume any kind of form or shape. This is extremely difficult to perceive. It cannot be expressed in words. We know that the Dharma Body of the Buddha is pervasively present throughout the whole universe. The Bliss Bodies of the Buddha can manifest in any of the myriad Buddha Lands. The Emanation Bodies of the Buddha are equivalent to the Buddhas emanating from each of the skin pores of the Bliss Bodies. Here lies the greatness of the Buddhadharma. The three bodies of the Buddha - the Dharma Body, the Bliss Body, and the Emanation Body - are limitless and extend into Infinity. That is why there are Padmakumaras presently teaching the Dharma in the Heavenly Realms while a Padmakumara is teaching here in the samsaric world. Therefore, one should not harbor any doubts when one listens to the Buddhadharma. The Buddhadharma is unimaginably difficult to conceive. There are exceedingly great numbers of worlds and phenomena that one cannot see and hear with one's physical faculties. The penetration into the Buddhadharma begins with "faith" and not with "doubt." Therefore there is this quotation found in the Buddhist scriptures: Only faith can penetrate the vast ocean of the Buddhadharma. Only through faith can one enter this doorway. For example, A Complete and Detailed Exposition on the True Buddha Tantric Dharma is a teaching which has taken me years of painstaking labor to develop and which I have shared openly with you. You are able to obtain this teaching for a very small price. With the installation of the video cameras here, you may now purchase video tapes of these precious teachings. I understand that the price of the whole set of video tapes ranges between NT 1,500-2,000 (approximately US$60--$80). You might decide to purchase the NT 1,500 set because you think the NT 2,000 set is too expensive. The difference is only a few hundred Taiwan dollars. Do you realize that this painstaking labor of my whole life is worth only two thousand Taiwan dollars? [audience laughter] My teaching is always open to videotaping and one is free to buy which ever tapes one chooses. One is, of course, happy to find the cheapest and best produced work! But this is not what I want to bring to your attention; the purpose of my teaching here today is not to endorse the more expensive and inferior set. You are free to buy whichever set you like. What I mean is that A Complete and Detailed Exposition on the True Buddha Tantric Dharma is a labor of love that has taken me more than twenty years of painstaking effort to produce. When I first went to my guru to ask him to teach me, I had to go through innumerable hardships and the offerings I made to him were the monthly wage pouches I received from my military service. You are able to tape all these teachings in one week's time. I have spent a long time studying them and distilling their essence, so they could be delivered in a week's teaching. Actually, the teaching is priceless. If, after viewing the tape, one has faith in what I said, the teaching is, priceless. If one finds those details, which I explain in the teaching, make great sense and if one agrees with them and truly uses one's consciousness to practice them, then the teaching become invaluable. It is beyond any price. When one generates this kind of faith, one will receive the priceless treasure. Such being the case, if one tells me, after viewing the tapes or listening to the actual teaching that was given here, that one does not like the True Buddha Dharma and wants to leave the True Buddha School, will I grieve or not? I have laid bare my heart and my blood is on the ground for the sentient beings to tread upon. In any case, I have already offered you my heart and my blood. When you practice the teaching thoroughly, you can attain Buddhahood. If a student comes to me and says, "I don't like the True Buddha School, I want to leave," he is stepping upon my heart and breaking it into pieces! Shouldn't I be crying my heart out? I have given you the best thing in the world and I have completely disemboweled myself to offer you my heart and all that is inside me. That is why a cultivator once said that, before Enlightenment he lived a miserable life; after Enlightenment he still lived a miserable life. The first misery was due to the fact that he has not attained the Truth of the Universe. The second misery was that, when he realized the Truth and offered this Jewel to others, others did not want it. It was double blow of misery. Therefore, in the future, if a student wants to leave the True Buddha School, he can come to tell me directly and I shall prostrate to him. Why should I pay homage to him? The prostration is to signify my respect for him, as well as to indicate that I have forsaken everything that I have. As the True Buddha School does not forsake any individual, if a student decides to leave, then I must prostrate to him for the two above mentioned reasons. Do you understand the meaning of this or not? Only faith and confidence can penetrate the Buddhadharma. Why do I have such strong faith and confidence? Whether one has left the True Buddha School, or is still with the True Buddha School, one should understand the importance of faith. Even if one has left the True Buddha School, as long as one still believes in Buddhism, one is still within the True Buddha School. One is no longer within the True Buddha School only if one has decided not to practice Buddhism. This is because our True Buddha Dharma is the authentic Buddhadharma! In this teaching one may practice the very insightful Buddhadharma, attain the very profound skill of Zen meditation and Supreme Wisdom. Wherever one goes, one is still within the Supreme Wisdom! So, can one really become disengaged from the True Buddha School? In the days when Buddha Shakyamuni was teaching, he did not teach us so many things! When someone joined the group, the Buddha would teach the newcomer to generate the bodhicitta and to abide by the disciplines. When meal time approach, they all went outside to accept food offerings from others. When they came back, they practice meditation to cultivate stillness. This was what the Buddha taught: how to carry out the normal daily activities which included eating (accepting food offerings), dressing (the donning of cassocks), practicing (entering into meditative stillness), and participating in the spiritual community (the monks went places as a group). The Buddha also taught the use of disciplines and the bodhicitta to govern conduct. What is the goal for doing all these things? The aim is to arrive at a state of stillness! One must develop the meditative stabilization! What does one need stabilization for? In stabilization the power of confidence is generated. In practicing meditation today, if one is able to enter into stabilization, one will definitely grow in confidence and no longer be confused. When one says that one wants to leave the True Buddha School, this indicates that one has not acquired stabilization! That is why, in the beginning, the most important thing the Buddha wanted us to learn was stabilization. The whole teaching of the Buddhadharma may be summed up in one word-stabilization. Stabilization is important because it gives rise to confidence. The series of event that lead one to sprout and initial faith in the Buddhadharma is not sufficient to sustain one. Spiritual evolvement is a process that takes ongoing tempering and polishing. We know there many kinds of faith. "Superstition" is a kind of faith, but it is a blind faith that one has before obtaining the Right View. The practice of the True Buddhadharma always starts with a faith which precludes superstition and is characterized by the possession of Right Faith and Wisdom Faith. Right Faith is Right Knowledge. One has already contemplated and stripped the Buddhadharma to its core and decided that it is correct teaching based on correct views. This kind of faith is Right Faith. What is Wisdom Faith? In the Wisdom Faith, one works and trains one's wisdom until it opens up and reaches the Supreme Wisdom. This kind of faith is called Right Faith and Wisdom Faith. It is not superstition. Today you are here, listening to my teaching of the Buddhadharma. There are outsiders who would ask you not to be so superstitious, who would ask you not to believe in transcendental powers and things that are intangible. These people say they will believe it when they see it and hear it. How many people are there who have this kind of faith? There are not that many people who truly possess the Right Faith in their belief of the Buddhadharma. The number of people in possession of the Wisdom Faith is also few. Take a look at your own faith and examine its components. How much of it is superstition? How much Right Faith is there? How much Wisdom Faith is there? Examine it slowly and make a judgment. Are you seeking blessings from the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas? Are you seeking a longer life? Children? Marriage? Do you wish the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to bestow some fortune on you? Are you seeking Enlightenment from the Buddhas? Or are you seeking self enlightenment through self cultivation? In this last case, you are not seeking anything, but at least you are working on yourself. Why are you practicing the Buddhadharma? The most important goal is to liberate yourself from all kinds of emotional afflictions and from the cycle of life and death. Are you seeking "elimination of emotional afflictions and liberation from the bondage of life and death"? How many of you are truly seeking this goal? If you are not seeking this goal, not training yourself and walking on the path towards the goal of "elimination of emotional afflictions and liberation from the bondage of life and death," then don't you really belong to the group of people whose faith is superstitious and blind? Therefore give this question some thought and ask yourself if you are walking on the right path or the wrong path. The purpose of the Buddhadharma and its practice is to attain Liberation from the bondage of life and death, to attain Enlightenment, and the elimination of emotional afflictions. If you have deviated from these goals, then there is a possibility that your faith is just a superstition, a blind faith, and you are doing something wrong. For example, there was this one person who wanted to practice and take refuge in the Buddhadharma. Perharps he was excited at the thought of taking refuge, he bounded down the stairs too fast, slipped, and sprained his foot. He uttered, "This is a bad omen. I am not taking refuge!" There are also many students who, besides studying the Buddhadharma, also do practices to ask riches from the Dragon King and money from the Yellow Jambhala's mongoose. The Ganapati statue over here has gotten the most requests, as one can tell from the number of colorful ribbons people have put around his neck. Many people have gone all out to beseech money from the Ganapati because he had once manifested to me and said that any request from me would be fulfilled. These students don't realize that this promise was made to me alone. After I related this incident, many students tried desperately to beseech riches from Ganapati and have given him all these extra adornments. [audience laughter] You have not listened carefully, those words were spoken to me and not to you. Therefore, requests from me will always be fulfilled, while those made by you may not always materialize. But I do think Ganapati should have a bit of sympathy for you and answer some of your requests. After all, you have put in such a great effort. There was one student who, after receiving no response for his request, sent back his refuge certificate to us. I don't really know what to say to that. When we practice the Buddhadharma, we have a very high and lofty ideal, and ideal that is rarely found in ordinary life, which is to liberate oneself from worries and troubles in life, transcend the bondage of life and death, and realize Enlightenment. This kind of faith is the Right Faith. Now I always pray that all of your businesses will thrive and that none will close down. I am afraid that, If you go bankrupt, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will get blamed. In reality, according to my knowledge, the amount of fortune a person will have is already determined. How much food and drink, even including snacks, that one can consume is determined and related to how many blessings one has accumulated. How much money one can earn is also fixed. It is true that doing the practice can improve the situation, but one cannot expect an instant turnaround. I don't mean to rule out all such possibility, as sometimes the result can be quite swift. [audience laughter] If I tell you blessings do not come so quickly, you will stop your practice. [audience laughter] So I tell you that sometimes, under the right conditions, the supplication will be quickly answered. Therefore it is important to have the Right Faith. Although fate is inevitable and Buddhism does not discuss readings of fate, it does offer the viewpoint that one can use the Buddhadharma to rupture fate's hold on one. It is precisely because karma exists that there exists ways to release one from its bondage. This is a type of conceptualization, a kind of wisdom. A Wisdom Faith recognizes karma as well as the shattering of karma. I will give a simple illustration. I have said in the past there was nothing that I would not eat with the exception of two things: gold and diamonds. Gold is too hard to swallow and diamonds are too expensive. Since how much one can consume is predetermined, I now find that, after approaching fifty, there certain things I have to refrain from eating. I have gone from being able to eat anything to being able to eat nothing! [audience laughter] Simply put, this is inevitable. One cannot eat too much sugar, because of diabetes. One cannot consume too much salt, because of hypertension. One cannot eat too much fat, because it will cause blockage in the arteries as well as other health problems. My mother says that squids have a high amount of cholesterol in them and a high blood cholesterol level can lead to narrowing of the blood vessels. So one cannot eat too many high cholesterol foods. Some people will tell you that a certain food can cause cancer and that other foods can cause hormonal imbalances. Therefore, every spoonful of food or drink a man takes is predetermined by fate. This kind of faith is based on wisdom and is called Wisdom Faith. Your practice of the Buddhadharma has to be qualified by Wisdom and Right Faith. Only by possession of Wisdom and Right Faith will you be able to achieve illumination and accomplishment on the path to Buddhahood. Otherwise, you are no different from ordinary people. Like them, you are just worshiping gods, wishing for fortune, longevity, children, marriage, fame, and profit. When your wishes are not met, you stop worshiping. This is the behavior of ordinary people. Therefore, practicing the Buddhadharma differs from ordinary worship, which seeks fortune, leans towards superstition, and is still within the boundary of conventionalism. Your practice of the Buddhadharma today is a walk on the path towards Wisdom, the Supreme Wisdom. The goal is to transcend the bondage of life and death, to understand the meaning of life, to reach Enlightenment, and to eradicate all your neurosis and problems. Today you have come to listen to this discourse on An Overview of the Buddhadharma. Now you have to understand what is Right Faith and Wisdom Faith, and walk on their corresponding paths; then you will not go wrong. If today your faith is blind, or if you only see to enhance your fortune, longevity, children, marriage, fame, or profit, then your faith is just a kind of superstition within the conventional world. What I would like to emphasize today is that faith marks the beginning
of the practice of the Buddhadharma. One sprouts an initial faith
because one wants to understand the Truth in life, to achieve Liberation
and the Supreme Wisdom. With this initial faith, one enters the
door of the Buddhadharma.
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