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- One Man's Group Practice
- Written by Lianhua Yiyong of Brazil
- Translated by Janny Chow from pg. 16 of
issue 306 of True Buddha News Weekly, published in December
28, 2000.
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At Zheng Ti Tang in Brazil, I can distinctly feel the tremendous
presence of energy when students gather together to do a group practice.
The strong radiance bestowed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in
the spiritual realm hits directly at one's inner being. The concrete
sensation of the energy often lingers with one long after group
practice is over.
In contrast, when I do the practice alone, the amount of spiritual
energy or empowerment I feel is much weaker. No matter how focused
I am in chanting the mantra, visualizing, and praying, the presence
of energy is just never as powerful , natural, and expansive as
the kind I feel during group cultivation.
Such differing experiences have caused me to do some deep thinking.
Then one day, I sat down by myself to do a practice. During the
preliminary step of generating the Four Immeasurable Minds, I decided
to very carefully visualize every student in our local group sitting
there to do the practice with me: Dharma brother Chan, Dharma sister
Chan, Dharma brother Liang, Dharma sister Liang, Dharma brother
Wang, Dharma sister Wang …., all male students, female students,
as well as the countless number of beings from the hell, hungry
ghosts, and animal realms…. In an instant, I felt that I had
returned to the same condition when we did our Sunday group practice
together. We chanted the mantras, invoked the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
paid homage, and made offering….
Suddenly, in an instant, I could distinctly feel again the infinite
brightness from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas seeping into my body-mind
and also shining at the infinite number of beings. That one practice
was a one man's group practice. Reaching my ears were the familiar
rhythm and the collective mantra chanting sounds of my fellow students
in unison amid the familiar empowerment from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
I finally understood the importance of generating an immeasurable
state of mind in cultivation. The Guru's mind is boundless, the
Buddhas' mind is boundless, and the Bodhisattvas' mind is boundless.
In order to achieve a yogic response from them, one must first engender
a boundless mind.
Just consider this. How can a small and narrow cave opening allow
the brightness of the great sun to get in?
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