37. Explanation on the Co-Response
“As far as the document of the Buddha path is concerned, it is a wonderful, effective drug. By knowing the origin of the stupidity which results from the individual self-satisfaction, He has, accordingly, established the practice of the dharma and the correction of the self, the necessity of practicing outside to be able to recognize millions of mistakes in the co-response.” –T.V.
The practice of the dharma is aimed to realize all dharma in the world in order to be aware of oneself. The more active, the deeper penetration would be, the more likely you can overcome and attain the enlightenment. Looking back, one could see one's mistakes, which is entangled in all dharma in all directions, making the disciple drawn into a stream, unable to get out of this co-response. We have to be patient and courageous to be able to comprehend millions of paths and avoid the mistake, not to be drawn in the co-response.
“Many disciples who are afraid of the formidableness of the co-response, become too gentle, in order to avoid going wrong.” –T.V.
When the unfavorable dharma happened, the disciple chooses not to dissolve, afraid of sinking. He would be gentle, but he would not develop his wisdom. Those who avoid facing all dharma can not see their mistakes and continue to make mistakes. Those who have known the mistakes would be free from mistakes. For the one who relies too much on his knowledge and does not practice, his knowledge is not ultimate and there is still perverse karma-consciousness.
“There are some who often examine their mistakes, willing to repent, finding the way of dissolution of the perverse karma-consciousness and karma-faculty, applying to practice, always seeing perversity in themselves and trying to live in isolation, exterminated thus became fairyism or of second rank ordained.” –T.V.
There are some disciples who examine their mistakes, sincerely repenting with the intention of avoiding mistakes. They examine from the perverse thoughts to the natural disposition creating karma, but could not dissolve all foolish thoughts or control them. They have entered afterward in their hermitages to cultivate alone, far from all contact, in order to avoid the hearing and the seeing, destroying foolish thoughts to be pure. This kind of purity is a dangerous isolated purity.
“As for the co-response, they are naturally and readily yielding to the wishes of the Four Species in the Universe. They always show the co-response to all of them accordingly, from the high to the low. From man to the fairy, deity and the saint all have error in the co-response.” –T.V.
Referring to the conception and contraction of each variety of the Four Species, they have naturally the exact co-response to their class and frequency. From the higher grade to the lower one, every one of them are equally co-responding to its class. Why? The universe, from the Four Species to the men, fairies, deities, and saints, is originally homogeneous. Like foam, ice, fog, and snow... all are originated from water. In proportion to the temperature and the climate, the water is transformed into foam, ice, fog, and snow. It is ready to be transformed into all forms, according to the situation.
For man, the co-response makes him fit for each other according to his level and class, no more and no less. For those who know how to improve themselves and their morality, the co-response helps them to be intellectual, transforming from an ordinary man to a noble holy disciple separated from the secular world.
“The only distinction between the Buddha and living creatures is the full knowledge and the non-knowledge. Therefore, the Buddhas do not have precepts. Living creatures with precepts are confused. The Buddhas without precept have been fully enlightened.” –T.V.
“Without precept” hereby does not mean the immobile sitting, avoiding all dharma. As a matter of fact, one must penetrate all kinds of favorable and unfavorable, form and formless dharma without omission of any dharma in order to get knowledge without keeping any precepts.
It is so simple at the first hearing, but to realize and practice, to have complete knowledge of enlightenment, we have to experience countless lifetimes. Unless, one can meet a Buddha who leads us to the bodhisattva rank, then the continuous practice from the bodhisattva rank in later lives until clearance of all precepts would lead to the Buddha hood.
“When the Avalokitesvara Tathagata Buddha and later the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, has attained the perfect equality, co-responding of Tathagata, He has to make a vow in the all sided one sutra saying that whosoever expressed a wish, He would appear there to give a dharma talk. He said: Whenever a Brahman, a male or female believer... asked me, I would appear as a Brahman, a male or female believer to give a dharma talk. Is that a co-responding appearance in equality without limit or differentiation, thus becoming the knowledge of Tathagata, and are ordained by Tathagata?” –T.V.
The Avalokitesvara Tathagata Buddha having attained the perfect equality, judging all the sounds of the Four Species, would naturally appear. As for the One who practiced accordingly to the dharma subject, judged the sounds of the Four Species to dissolve the suffering and save living creatures, precisely is the Avalokitesvara Tathagata Bodhisattva. They have all attained the perfect equality in co-response with Tathagata, why? The equality of the body, mouth, and thought are practical and wonderful dharma, nothing can be compared with it. The karma of the body is equal to the words. The karma of the words originated from the mind. Therefore, the karma of the body is equal to the mind. As the body, the mouth and the thought are equal. All things are equal, as all things are salty in the sea.
They have made a vow that is whosoever has a wish; they would appear accordingly to give a dharma talk. If a Brahman asked me, I would appear as a Brahman to preach the dharma; that meant Brahman is a fellow of noble class, if he asked for the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, the Avalokitesvara Tathagata Buddha, he would be able to hear and to recognize the high level of his class in his nature and know how to be accorded naturally with his present class. That is the appearance in co-response of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to give a dharma talk.
For example, when a male or female believer asked Me, I would appear as a male or female believer to explain the dharma; that meant: A man or woman who observes the five precepts could hear and understand the useful meaning of the execution of the five precepts, similar to a sermon given in co-response by the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva appearing as a male or female believer.
If there were no nature in the complete mind, the conscious self would correspondingly have no nature in itself. This dharma nature is equal with nothing else higher or different. The “sorrow karma” has neither bound nor liberated. The bodhisattva, who vowed to base on equality, knowing how to make use of all dharma in a perfect harmony of body speech and thought, would be mysteriously protected to be an introduction used as a means. These bodhisattvas are completely impartial everywhere, that is the esoteric digital sign of a Buddha, the secret and serious dharma, which emitted all the majesty from the impartial body, majesty in the words, and all sound, is the true dharma. The reflective mind involved all the seeds. No seed is essentially all of the knowledge and all of the knowledge is Samadhi.
The disciples who have met the Tathagata are perfectly equal, having nothing other than the suchness, which is ordained by the Tathagata.
“It is by opening the Avatamsaka Sutra that we could see what the Buddha has said: You should know that the bodhisattvas are relying on the merits of Tathagata. Spontaneously in still sitting and preaching the dharma to countless living creatures of his so that they could hear the dharma, to understand the explanation, you would get many ways of liberation, and it is only those who have given offerings to the Tathagata who could do so today.” –T.V.
The Buddha has explained it carefully and meticulously in the Avatamsaka Sutra in order to prevent the disciple from mistaking the hypothesis, and recommends them to lean on all dharma of hearing, seeing, and knowing to dissolve, to be joyful and detached in order to convert all attachment and obstruction in the mind into emptiness. That is to rely on the merits of Tathagata to teach countless living creatures’ nature of himself so that they could hear and recognize the way of being free from birth and there is no more living creatures’ nature clinging in the mind. That is how to give offerings to Tathagata and that is the dharma subject of liberation.
When preaching the dharma, it is you who hear your speech first, the preaching is sometimes corresponding to the right sermon, imaginably that is of the Buddha, but the reason and the act is not parallel. Learning too much theory without practicing is what obstructs the preacher by the reasoning. Avoid the wrong self-feeling to be able to understand the invaluable Sutra of The Blessed One in the Avatamsaka Sutra. Most people are very brilliant in preaching the dharma, but they neither understand thoroughly their preaching nor get such good fruit, and have to learn again what they said, so they have to rely on the merits of Tathagata in the preaching in order to avoid the self-feeling.
“The co-response preaching is very easy to be mistaken for those who are in lack of knowledge and literary man falsely preferred the extraordinary expectation. Unless, the practitioner for enlightenment knows how to selfrespect the abilities of the merits.” –T.V.
Those who learn and study preferably make use of their intelligence to think, so they have correspondingly believed themselves to be enlightened. This is false thinking since they are not concentrating mainly on dissolving and correcting their nature. They are readily becoming erroneous. The true disciples know how to consider their body and ability to create a practical way of cultivating right in their own life to offer their merits to Tathagata. That is the conduct merits.
“Every time relaxing and based on the co-response vow of learning. They are ready to review their ability, conduct and morality in order to attain the fundamental, and it is difficult to accept mistakes in the last minutes of a period of practice.” –T.V.
Those who have the resolution to practice for liberation are not attached to the sutra word by word, but they always comprehend, at the same time, concentrating to cultivate by continuously reviewing their body and mind. All the attached and obstructed dharma are dissolved to keep their abilities free, using their good deeds for noble nature as a base, not wishing for the extraordinary expectation, frankly recognizing their nature, always keeping the harmonious mind, completely cleared to get the purity mind. These disciples, even at the moment of leaving their body to depart, would have neither wrong thought nor false illusion, uniquely correcting themselves through practice; they do not wrongly recognize any dharma.