LONG HOA HIGHNESS ASSEMBLY, SECOND PERIOD

 

Contemplating the Tathagata means observing and considering all in the hearing-seeing-knowing. Since the four species everywhere cannot live without the hearing-seeing-knowing. The bodhisattva knowing the tathagata behaves with neither destruction nor birth toward the hearing-seeing-knowing. The essential point to succeed in the practice is to lean on the tathagata to behave toward the hearing-seeing-knowing. That is why the bodhisattva has to penetrate deeply into the tathagata in order to save all living creatures according to their condition. He must be skillful in teaching and leading living creatures, gradually raising them until they decide to practice for liberation through wisdom like the bodhisattva.

There is a limitless advantage for living creatures to meet a great bodhisattva in the construction of the supreme faculty. Why? The practice of the dharma, though unsuccessful would still bring about a blessed reward from men and devas. Therefore, when meeting a Bodhisattva, living creatures are taught to become saints. In the case of failing to be saints, they would become a man with a men-devas conduct themselves. While learning to be a man will never be able to succeed, because the seed nature of hell, the animals, the hunger devil will make living creatures receive the result of their deeds in paying their oral debt and they are born as animals with miseries!

When succeeding, the living creatures who have the root-condition to practice after the bodhisattvas’ foot- prints are attested with seal by the bodhisattvas to go straight to penetrate the equality, depending on their frequency of attainment that is the attestation for penetration into the universe constitution. The maha bodhisattvas know that there are three ways of preaching the dharma to save living beings in the perfected enlightened one.

    • First of all, the sealed indication called the determination to say openly and to show directly the stupidity.
    • Secondly, the means called the indirect reasoning or beating around the bush, to make the disciple realize the truth and return to the practice for the self-correction by intuition.
    • Lastly, taking a good opportunity to speak, because these disciples are inclined to the form and sound, to the protocol of praying to satisfy themselves. Because the bodhisattva really knows that he cannot save and guide them by directly speaking, but mainly by maintaining the virtue and wisdom of bodhisattva.

The practical use, which is the conduct of great value of the maha bodhisattva after having fully seen the perfected englightened one, is indispensable to the act of making practical application.

“2nd category: with the recognition that all living creatures are sunk in the transmigration of birth and death, with the full knowledge of the path of stupidity and enlightenment because of their basic nature, which is caught with suffering, with the pity for suffering resulting in impregnation of birth and death. They have to live in the dharma world divided into sections, worlds which are no other than the five impurities: Cruelty of the past life, lifetimes, sorrow, seeing and body impurities. He has vowed to teach living creatures, helping them to see (wisdom) the sealed indication in order to attain the perfect, three bodhis. He has proclaimed himself the knowledge - conduct perfect, the sugata, and the solution of the world. That is the second category in the wonderful use category.” –T.V.

What is the impregnation of birth and death? Living creatures are living confused in the dharma world; they have to be born according to the act of living creatures nature. The disciples practice until they attain the awareness, the great awareness and ultimate awareness. But their path is not completed and there is still birth and death. Many arahants misunderstand that they are free from birth and death. They have to practice the purity and impurity, the form and formless to see how perfect they are. If they arise while their seeing and knowing are still confused because of the opposition to give rise to birth, there is still the fineness of birth and death, which is called the impregnation of birth and death.

Even though they have far acquired the right enlightenment, they have to penetrate deeply into the dharma for many lifetimes before they can understand thoroughly the impregnation and being free from the sickness. But being free from sickness does not mean to have a good health and they have to go through a period of recovery. For that reason, it is fairly good for many disciples to attain the ultimate awareness, but to go from the arahant rank through an eternal difficulty to the unique career vehicle in order to get the bodhisattvahood is truly a great problem. That is why it could take countless lifetimes. As soon as, they leave the self and self- possession, they may have a chance of shortening the time for being higher pride in order to meet a great bodhisattva whom enlightens them further.

After being attested and allowed by the Buddhas to formulate their detailed vow, they have also to go throughout many dharma in order to penetrate deeply the five desires, the bad faculties, the sorrow and their eyes can see adequately all the forms of dharma world, which makes their body and life fall into the fineness birth-and-death. Therefore, the bodhisattva has made a great vow to make wonderful application to help living creatures to know precisely their stupidity, to see and know the dharma world in the present suffering afterward the living creatures would acquire.

The great bodhisattva who makes wonderful application perfectly and righteously in a bright and simple manner is called the perfect knowledge conduct. In spite of difficulties, he vows to overcome all the good and the bad to save living creatures in order to attain the perfection, is called the sublime one. And making wonderful application of the samadhi to mobilize it by getting in and out perfectly, shaking the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds without the fairies - deities - saints knowing in order to save living creatures on the earth and also in the three thousand worlds is called the solution of the world. That is the second category of the wonderful application category.

“3rd category. They have neither recalled the past nor hoped for the future. Getting Insight of the Buddha, just by one word they make full use of the present physical nature to resolve the Buddha dharma without leaving the perception of the secular world. All the living creatures’ favorable and unfavorable mistakes are educated. With great compassion and great wisdom, they also construct all with good faculty and good will, clearing the wasteland of ignorance to get the insight. Why? Because they are in the scope of the enlightened form of suchness, while all of the four species from the devas to the fairies are still in the false hope, with their fictitious self-feeling. They are recalling the past, hoping for the future in the three vehicles of direct retribution of their previous existences and merits, because of the present sealed indication they are named the teacher of gods and men, purusa damya sarathi, the supreme intellectual, the blessed one, the Buddha.” –T.V.

The true disciples in their first stage of practice should focus on the correction of his bad nature and giving up his bad habits, then the insight of the ignorance. Not recognizing the right and the wrong in every speech, every act and being rebellious to the smallest part of it, that is the ignorance. Those who cannot recognize the true dharma predisposed to doubts and attachments are falling in the ignorance, too. If they are recognizing the source of the stupidity in the ignorance, passing from the intuition to the enlightened form, then everything has the complete enlightened form of suchness. From the devas, the fairies to the living creatures, and the four species, all are keeping their growing hope evolving into fixed thought and then caught by the world, having difficulty in the real practice and cannot get the insight. Therefore, they have the self- feeling of the mirage-form, practicing through reasoning and intelligence, thus falsely hoping.

After the correction of the bad habits, they have to carefully review their good character: for example, excessive kindness will become foolish and subject to the conspiracy of the evil. It is after acquiring the Insight of the good and the bad, the honesty and the evil, the right and the wrong that they can move forward to the enlightened form of the whole suchness. At that point, they can preach the dharma adequately, in concordance with the root faculty of the Four Species and also know how to lean on the sincere mind to get the sincere feeling, leaning on the enlightened form to know the true form. Therefore, the bodhisattva appears in the essential form of samadhi, in good concordance with everything, neither in excess nor in omission, truly in equality. He then daily gets in and out of the hearing-seeing-knowing perfectly with the full majesty and power to enter the great boddhisattvahood, waiting for the opportunity of another lifetime and becomes Buddha by just one birth, becoming the teacher of gods and men, the purusa damya sarathi, the anutta, the blessed one, the Buddha.

The promulgation of the proclamation attesting the universe has stabilized living creatures and provided them with peace. The Lord Supreme Maitreya through the promulgation of a proclamation of the maha bodhisattva handed down the dharma to a disciple who has the responsibility of maintaining it in the present and in the future, teaching the patriarchs to succeed in the transference of the dharma for the next 5000 years, which is following the main ideas of the Blessed One Lord Supreme Maitreya. He has thus accomplished His conduct of the Blessed One.

“It is extremely difficult to know and to meet the one who has realized the ten appellations. Why? He appears corresponding to the original vow of the three dharma-solutions of Buddhas. From the speech to the action, he is not different from human beings. Therefore, even the holy monk bodhisattva cannot know him, how can those of lesser faculty and inferior mind know the practical use of the Tathagata nature? Where have all the wonderful applications become Tathagata wonderful applications? Why?

The self and its object are no-self, great self that equally develops the three dharma-solutions to practice the wonderful application. Only the bodhisattva, practicing the conduct-vow of the prajna mind can somewhat recognize it by making use of his enlightened form. So it is difficult to meet.

Even the intimate relatives living together with Him or close to Him, can’t know Him. How can human beings or ordinary people realize that? Except for a few disciples who are truly faithful and respectful in their practice for the dharma. The attachment and respect depend on the result of the depth of the penetration, not on the supreme.” –T.V.                                                                            

It is true that even His wife who was a true disciple living close to him could not know His wonderful applications. Only those who have attained the degree of realizing the practice for the prajna mind and getting the enlightened form could somewhat recognize it. Therefore, human beings and those who are not yet attaining the degree of maha bodhisattva could not understand him at all. He has lived a very simple life, also going downtown when needed and also going out for a walk, without a dandified style. Though living a simple life, he was full of compassion and was attached and respected by all the true disciples. When ascending the pulpit for teaching he was very serious.

“Perhaps, the bodhisattvas, the practitioners for the bodhisattva rank, and those attested bodhisattvas might realize that this awakened one is truly a supreme one, but they still doubted about his wonderful applications. So they have to continue the practice till the degree of attestation, at that time everything has already passed, the construction of the supreme intellectual has achieved the eight elements. How can they realize the truly enlightened one with the unique mind suchness?” –T.V.

Though there was in the conference hall a disciple attested as bodhisattva, he knew very little about his wonderful applications. He always believed his Master to be a Supreme Buddha, but he could not understand it fully. When recalling all His words, His acts after He has entered into Nirvana, he then was able to understand it all, to realize who He was, Nirvana. He could thus only rely on the Tathagata to make use of the Samadhi to see Him and the Buddhas of Ten Directions. How difficult it was!

“The way of practice for Buddhas and for the liberation through wisdom is very difficult. Not because of the difficulty in the Buddhist truth or in the Buddhist doctrine, but the disciple wrongly finds it difficult because he did not follow the right way of practice, not according to the spirit of the absolute truth, making it a symbol of too many aspects with different orientations and creating a long distance from the reality to the truth. The lay people and the monk have the same self-consciousness for the clear wisdom. It is impossible to express fully the Amita nature with its various different conceptions.

The Buddhist followers are very great in numbers, but those who understand the absolute truth are rare and much rarer are those who acquire it. Among ten of thousand disciples only one can see and know the dharma of the absolute truth, knowing the way of practice of the Buddhism. Among ten thousand disciples, who can see and know the way of practice of the Buddhism, only one acquires the truth. Among a hundred of million disciples acquiring the truth, only one with true faith can become Buddha.” –T.V.

Because the disciple easily becomes self-satisfied, self-pride and haughty soon after his acquisition of the truth, he is clinging to his way of practice. Because of the deficiency in his faith-conduct-vow along with his attachment to his secular holiness he neglects the vow. For lack of morality-concentration-wisdom while believing in himself has already acquired it. Because of the inadequacy in the practice of the four bases of sympathy and the six perfections, he is clinging in his practice. Because of not yet thoroughly attaining the no-birth dharma patience, he often practices through pure isolation not enlightened purity. The fearless self- satisfaction in the desire is called the desire view. The impurity, the non-dharma and the formless after the desire also make the disciple cling to his practice.

There are countless sicknesses leading to the clinging in the practice. Long Hoa Chief Monk Lord Supreme Maitreya Buddha has to inscribe to remind them. Even though hundreds of millions of disciples are acquiring the truth, it finally remains, only one is having the truth faith to become the Buddha!

The best thing for the disciple to do is to leave the ego to follow the footprint of the Blessed One Sakyamuni Buddha represented today by the Lord Supreme Maitreya Buddha, in order not to be clinging in his practice.

“Buddhism is in the period of return and the disciple, with poor spiritual capacity is degenerated and the polymorphous way of practice, often attached, self-satisfied, with arrogance, laziness and contravened by the reason. A few of them accept the practice for liberation, but without sacrifying for liberation, only practicing for the understanding from plane to plane, and for the blessed rewards from devas and men. How can they believe to be liberated by those who attain the true faith?

Talking about the true faith in Buddhism, the disciple can be liberated through his countless merits, through countless planes, through limitless dharma worlds, through full attainment, through countless reincarnation. Why? Because the Buddha Dharma is boundless, the disciples vowing to learn all of it, not clinging just to one will thoroughly understand all dharma and will be liberated. They vow to accomplish all the duties toward the Tathagata and are liberated.” –T.V.                                                           

The disciples with a true faith are not clinging in his practice, whenever a dharma is liberated, so are the other countless dharma. It is easy to find out the Buddha, by following His footprints, but it is very difficult to see His footprints if they do not see Him. Because the Buddha dharma is limitless, the disciples vow to learn all; hence the one with insufficient true faith will be clinging in his own practice without fully understanding the liberation of all dharma.

Most of them fall into this plane when leaving the other; they are always caught with the scenes and are unable to get out of the belt of the dharma world.

“The disciple with a good faith is always liberated. The one with a constant will with a non-regressive courage will be liberated. Leaning on all dharma to practice for the prajna and attaining praja mind, he will be liberated. Those who are not bothered by the scene and not getting angry with hatred will be liberated. Without craving, without desire, without accumulation that is the liberation. Patiently annihilating the birth is liberation. Neither denying the dharma, nor clinging to the theory is liberation. The liberation beginning from the minor to the major acquisition is also the liberation. You should not foolishly wish for the major acquisition then neglecting the minor one. With clinging, you will not ever be liberated.” –T.V.

For those who are still practicing for the buddhayana, all of their steps, words and thoughts are in the form of complete and perfect liberation right in the present daily life, without pollution. The compassion-will-courage is the liberation; the non-regression is the liberation. The consciousness of every initial point, of every minor dharma and of the major is the liberation.

The disciples who practice for the supreme vehicle thoroughly understand that Living Creatures are abnormal with their changing character and often attached in their words and deportments, even a minor dharma entering their mind can break out as an extremely big fire. Their actions are also abnormal; in entering the mind they are generous enough to consider living creatures, and the Tathagata Buddha to be one, but when exiting they become so stingy and petty that all seems to be nothing. For that reason, they are subject to attachment and clinging and have to dissolve the doubt to be liberated and to become the supreme enlightened one.

“For the form and the mind, the form has already been liberated for a long time while the mind was not. When attaining the supreme enlightenment, the Blessed One has said: “How strange it is! The form has been liberated for a long time, but I am just only liberated today.” –T.V.

The form appears accordingly to its components, so does his transformation; it is rather tolerant without hindrance. While the mind is rebellious against the blame and the praise, the good and the bad, the honesty and the evil... it is relatively in discordance. Therefore, the mind is caught with the divine self, human self, and feeling-self and becomes the living creatures’ world. It has thus weight and limit, creating seed-karma in everything, from which it forms all the planes which are not outside the superior birth and the inferior life, the direct retribution of the individual's previous existence, the results of one's deeds, continually from life to life.

According to the combination of the birth sphere, they should dissolve the entanglements in the mind, carrying out the four bases of sympathy; gathering ten thousand conducts in order to become one conduct. The bodhisattva voluntarily realizes the precept of deliverance without living creatures’ sphere, getting away from the dharma world to enter the supreme vehicle that is the wonderful application of the maha bodhisattva to save living beings with the perfection of precept and virtue and the attainment of the true enlightenment.

“When following the practice of the dharma, you could see that the practice is the way of construction and transformation before the birth. Not practicing the dharma you would not know that hatred, dispute and quarrel are destruction, all are transformed, with their added karma, and fall in the destruction before being reborn in the inferior life or animals. Why? Because living creatures are equal to the four species which are egg-born, womb-born, humidity born and transformation-born, they are born from the inferior, the destruction, and the degeneration of mankind and animals.” –T.V.

The supreme one in the supreme vehicle has meticulously known the equality between the superior and inferior life of living creatures. If they behave badly, they will be reborn as animals, not as human beings. They will receive what they have created. Nobody forces them to do that nor could they help them go to the heaven. That is cause and effect.

It is difficult to explain all of that; the only thing to do for the living creatures and the disciples who have offered all their life to the dharma wishesing for the noble fruit is to make up their mind with will and courage to realize the great compassion, the great vow, the wishes for success; they have to contribute their labor, their energy and their mind to that of the Buddha to develop the supreme enlightenment.

Those of meditated mind are far inferior to those of enlightened mind who are themselves far inferior and unable to perceive the buddha-eye of those who are at the supreme rank and thoroughly enlightened. The divine eyes and divine ears should not be clinging; they have to penetrate deeply into all dharma world of the extremely true faith called the deep prajna world.