Facing a difficult situation, the disciple should have the courageous mind to overcome it. That is the ability. It is by earnestly keeping firm your mind that you could realize all dharma which are false dharma. Because of the karma created by conception, the vow of the practitioner is often blocked or interrupted, and cannot overcome the situation that is the evil karma. You must be patient to attain the goodness and truth by following the bodhisattva’s path. Delusion is external. Although knowing the Triple Canon, you would always be stupidly separated and unable to attain the true enlightenment.
“Otherwise, if the disciples realize well that it is the karma consciousness from their thoughts, the karma power from their faculty, it is the clever external management based on the literature and conception, evolving upon the thoughts, sometimes considering ourselves to be enlightened, that is deceiving by the external. It is a waste of labor to practice in such a way, yet be enlightened, falsely lost in the external and entering into the wrong way.” –T.V.
Karma consciousness is the thought; it is also called the accumulated conception and actively moving in the Four Species. It creates an ignorant power that the living creature, the fairy the deity and the saint cannot escape from, thus it creates the karma power.
The karma power is very clever, delicate, and powerful. It can hear, see and know everything far away and ahead of time; it inhibits and prevents the living creatures, second rank, from making up their Bodhi mind to practice dharma. If the living creatures meet an ordinary monk, it let them live in peace, but when they were moving to meet a sacred one, a bodhisattva, or a Buddha, it will cleverly penetrate into their body to prevent or block and paralyze the living creature without letting them know it. Even the clever ones who know it will still be blocked from conducting the vows. The experience shows that only by meeting the Awakened One and showing confidence, obedience, and respect to him that you can be saved in your practice. Once the karma power is enframed, it will become the innate virtue called karma faculty. Even by numberless lives of practice you will not be able to detach this accumulated karma faculty.
Let’s take an example: a disciple is accustomed to praying and worshipping, that creates a familiar thought called Karma consciousness. If he could meet someone who tells him to correct his bad habit and manner thus improving himself, he will become rebellious. That is the rebelliousness generated from his thoughts, because it is different in concept compared with his previous habit of praying and reciting sutra. Once recognizing the advantage of the correction of his habit, he is then contravened from listening to the preaching and practicing sitting meditation, which is precisely the karma power. The disciple then neglects or gives up his unfinished practice, returning to the previous practice of reciting sutra and the praying. Thus, the karma faculty has already formed. During His time, many disciples who changed from the Hinayana into Mahayana failed in large number.
When He was alive, the total disciples who followed Him with application and registers have reached the number of 3000. Until the Mahayana period of 1975 it remains 200 true disciples, who continued to attend and receive the preaching, the others stayed home to recite sutra and from time to time paid Him a visit. They have stayed away from the hours that He has taught the Buddha dharma. They neglected whatever He had advised. Their faculty karma did not change itself, even with His help; they still remained disposed. Without creating ourselves the abilities, we could never be saved, because the destined karma has been formed and even if the Buddha is born, He could do nothing about it.
“In the dharma path, the disciple should at least have the cultivating abilities to conduct his vow of helping the living creatures in order to make the root-cause develop and to clearly penetrate into all the wonderful dharma.” –T.V.
It is the same with a student who is diligent in class, listening carefully to what the teacher said, doing well all his homework and asking his friends or his teacher for help in solving difficult problems. Once graduated he will get a worthy job, the student will become a good citizen and feel satisfied. There is not much difference for a disciple who practices for the liberation through wisdom.
There are some who do not practice and meditate, whenever seeing a thing conformed to his thoughts he considered himself to be the enlightened. That is a great danger, because they are entirely invaded by the external force that is the evil power, taking control of the mind without knowing it. They have to practice to clarify their living creature’s nature that is to help the living creatures to be able to escape from the external toxicity. Stop sitting and thinking. It is only by creating in yourself firmed abilities that you can acquire the truth. Such practice is the way of leaning on the vow of the bodhisattva’s path.
“The destroyed karma is decreasing in the Buddhist practitioner today. But they still depend too much on the external disturbance of the evil one from the state of mind from the consciousness to the conception. That is why in spite of the exhortation of the Sangha, and the Buddhist form of their practice, in reality, they do not know that they are tolerating external evil power, living and practicing with the outlook, which has accordingly a mixture of cultivation and full of dogmatic formalities.” –T.V.
When the Blessed One was born in India, the theology was popular and growing, they killed animals to worship deities and poor men were considered as slaves. He has taught them the law of cause and effect. Today, the killing karma is much reduced. True Buddhist disciples are no longer killing living beings. But the practice is not aiming at annihilating the ignorance, but only emphasizing on the organization, making the practice colorful and attractive, not recognizing their erroneous direction and their practice is covered with external power. The evil power is so clever and tricky that the disciple could not identify its true character. It divided the disciples into parties, and the followers lost their Buddhist essential background.
“Most of the disciples do not know it. They are aiming only at getting the position of venerable or high virtuous. They are consenting together to tolerate the external, practicing within their parties with their followers everywhere, making the Buddhism decrease its valuable true nature day after day, realization of the Buddha path.” –T.V.
As for the practice of the dharma in the Dharma-Ending Age, Long Hoa Chief Monk has seen that most of the disciples do not know anything about making clear their true nature in order to break up the invading evil karma. They are only concerned about the organization and title itself. They are letting in the external power reign. It divides the disciples into parties, struggling against each other and destroying the true meaning of Buddha path. They believe that is the liberation through wisdom.
“I am hereby speaking with the spirit of responsibility. The practice of the dharma is erroneously guided by the external thus most of the situation here is yet developed.” –T.V.
In the Dharma-Ending Age, He has spoken up to make the true disciples realize, aiming at the enlightenment not to emphasize the organization and formality, but to develop and improve themselves to help the society and the nation to live truly in harmony and happiness. His speech is representing the Three Dharma Elements and has gotten the ordination of the Sakyamuni Buddha.
“There are also disciples who are actively and seriously practicing, trying to correct themselves to break up the karma, relying on the sutras as golden speech. Unfortunately, their knowledge is still limited, likely to show off their provisional consequence from a temporary practice and they consider themselves to be able to know all the dharma, even the ones who have only acquired their emptiness and believe themselves to be enlightened.” –T.V.
In the Dharma-Ending Age, Buddhism not only lost its orthodoxy, but also is considered as negative. As a matter of fact, Buddhism is very positive, helping the living creatures to live a practical and active life. The titles of venerables and high virtuous are only the given names, they should not be complacent and rejoice it, but we have to break up the evil power, which is invading their mind. The title is not the acquirement. Accumulating the firmed abilities and eliminating the evil power is the acquirement. The emptiness is not the acquirement. It is far, too far from the enlightenment path.
“The emptiness apparently has many levels of attainment, from the being enlightened to the actual enlightened. From the secular philosophy to the emptiness of the deities and the saints are all still maintaining the external manifestation. Because of the external manifestation, the Bodhisattvas have to practice through many lives, penetrating dharma dhatu, carrying out their vows, examining their inner self, directly insight the exterior, and aiming for enlightenment according to their faculty in order not to be mistaken by the external that forms the low and high grade of attainment, by the birth of transformation and the being born, the natural born and the creation thus achieved the liberation goals.” –T.V.
He has taught about the frequencies of emptiness of the ones who attained, I briefly heard as follows:
The living creatures practice the destruction of dharma to get emptiness, the emptiness of no-hearing, no-seeing and no-knowing. This kind of emptiness is very dangerous and fatal.
The Fairy chooses a mountainous, tranquil and clean place to establish their heavenly dharma. This kind of emptiness is still born from the dharma dhatu; because the body is protected by the practice, nourishing their body by the purity. For a period of time, they become vigorous and have a longer life than the other normal living beings, but it is still subjected to the birth and death cycle at a certain limit.
In fact, living creatures are always mistaken; making believe that it is true, which is only formed by virtual image. It is only by heartfelt and faithful desire to build up your abilities, aiming at the result and being taught by the Awakened One, the bodhisattvas and the Buddhas that you could escape from this emptiness.
For instance, the Master HSuan TSang who did not reside in his temple, practicing to the end of his life, but has gone to foreign countries to quest for the dharma, enduring the bitterness, hardship, sufferings and happiness. Until he has eliminated all his living creature natures, he then has quietly sat down to translate the sutras perfectly to its true meanings of the Buddhas.
Facing closely with the reality, he had his mind free and generous, so his translation was exact and conformed to the Buddha spirit.
The essential thing to a Buddhist follower is to make a great vow to build his abilities. If he is inclined to his self interest, stingy and worried, not interested in others, he will not have enough abilities to succeed. He neither practices nor vows and he neither has ability or goal. Wishing for enlightenment, but not willing to rely on emptiness for creating the practicing and vowing ability nor activity and mobility. No matter how long you have practiced, you will get an isolated emptiness.
For instance, the Milarepa La Ma of Tibet underwent so many difficulties to make his living creature nature completely eliminated, thus making his vows and founding his place to accomplish the true originality. Practicing by renunciation until the old age, living in a tranquil isolated place so that you could attain enlightenment, is needless.
The practice of the dharma, the understanding, the knowledge, and the wisdom, is not liberation. Liberation has the characteristics of liberation. Therefore, there are many levels of attainment. The gods and the deities are born by transformation. Living creatures are born due to their karma power, called “being born”. If they have a noble and ascendant life, with a generous mind they would be born in the heaven world. The Enlightened One gives birth to himself because the consciousness karma. The defilement karma and the faculty karma no longer control him.
When we are in confusion, the Buddhas have taught us about the non-ego according to our deep and superficial merits. Having the conscious self all over from the awareness to the enlightenment, since their practice cannot yet clarify their true nature, many are attached to the emptiness and fallen into the non-perception.
Fairy and the emptiness one are still being affected by the external; the achievement ironically is not yet the liberation goal.
“Your bodies have stored thousands of masters who have taught you in various periods, preventing you from accepting my teachings and refusing me. Consequently, you could not yet receive whatever I have taught you. If you have a clear direction with firm abilities, reducing the barriers, overcoming obstacles in every period so that those masters could one by one leave, and reduce in number, you at the same time are able to receive what I have said. After these recommendations, He has turned to Maitreya Buddha and attested Him as a successor, called the actual Reborn Maitreya Buddha.” –T.V.
Thousands, millions and countless thoughts talked and everlastingly repeated. With the strong evil power, they make themselves to be the master of the disciples so the latter could not hear what the Blessed One has taught.
They cleverly manipulate and try to prevent your practice by creating all kind of barriers. Once a barrier is overcome, then another is created, repeatedly. You must truly recognize and know them thoroughly to be able to win this external evil power. This is very important to your success of the attainment path. Whenever you eliminate or reduce the evil power, you then could receive the teaching of the Awakened One. Because of these difficulties, the Blessed One has ordained the returning Lord Supreme Maitreya Buddha to endure the external, to move through every predominance, and to teach the living creatures to practice dharma during this Final Law Period. Those make millions of our internal stupid masters gradually come out and go away. Similarly, the Blessed One has taught the disciples to practice in the past.
When there is no more surrounding external evil power, the disciple, only then, could truly hear, see, know, and yet thoroughly understand the evil power. At that time, you only need: A word, straightaway to comprehend the Buddha, immediately to acquire enlightenment.
“Wonderfully! The Blessed One was concerned with the future generations. He has known well that only the great power could acquire the full capacity to resist against the invading external.” –T.V.
The Blessed One has known that in this Dharma-Ending Age only the Powerful Lord Supreme Maitreya is able to relieve the wrong path of toxicity. He is the only one who has sufficient power. It’s a fact, we can see that there are some who have claimed by themselves to be Buddhist Masters, the Buddhas, but are unable to escape from evil power. Indeed, it is by meeting Him in this Dharma-Ending Age that we could relieve that toxic wrong path, which is completely covered. The proven fact is that He has lived in the fire hell, but He has won over the Mara power.
“The Powerful Lord has then made use of the form, sound, smell, and taste without being polluted, leaning on the external to enlighten.” –T.V.
The dharma subject of The Lord Supreme Maitreya is penetrating the form, the sound, the smell, the taste, the touch, and dharma without being polluted, in order to understand thoroughly the contraction of birth and death of the external. Facing, understanding and resolving perfectly the form, the sound, the smell, and the touch, that was the way of practicing with complete abilities of the great career vehicle (Mahayana).
“The great power is not only for living beings of the Four Species in the three thousand universes, why? Because the great power understands well the great mysterious factors that have been laid into the haversack, thus He has the power of relieving exogenous toxicity for faithful believers who practice for liberation through wisdom.” –T.V.
He has returned to the world in this period! During 37 years, He has taught, sealed and attested a number of faithful Buddhist disciples who have previously met Him. They have made up their minds and are relieved from wrong path toxicity by Him, but they are only a few in comparison with the 3000 true disciples practicing at the Vietnamese Buddhist Dharma School.
In reality, I have already witnessed. The disciples, who have met an awakened one without making up their minds to practice for liberation, would not be relieved. Having met, but not realized the value just keeping on praying for the blessed reward from men and devas, they will still remain in the cycle of birth and death. It is true that not everyone could be relieved from the wrong path toxicity. One day, He said: The Blessed one has recommended Him that living creatures' minds and thoughts, in the Dharma-Ending Age, are as fragile as a thin clay casserole, you have to handle with care, avoiding firm shock. Otherwise, it would easily be broken.
“He has then sealed and transmitted to all disciples in the Dharma-Ending Age to clearly know that the toxic wrong path invasion included: Karma consciousness, karma faculty, karma defilement and karma Impediment. They are all called the fetter.
√ Not yet known and understood, that is the ignorance.
√ Not yet penetrated, that is the moving nature, or dharma nature.
√ Not yet succeeded in the practice, that is the dharma body.
√ Not yet been relieved and still attached, that is the dharma precepts.” –T.V.
Karma defilement: The seed nature of the species, impregnated for many lives, forming the karma, which is attached firmly to living creatures. They could not resolve and release it themselves.
For example, a man with stingy and miserly habits wanted to be rich. The Buddha had then taught him: He needs to make donations to open his mind. Of course, his stingy and miserly habits would be offended. The man does not believe it for fear of wasting his wealth. Therefore, his mind is not opened and he holds his miseries from life to life - that is the karma defilement. The seeing, the hearing and the knowing from practicing without opening the mind would not be practically useful. In the presence of contrary things, the karma impediment would denigrate and detest it. An overlooked error also creates ignorance and is called karma impediment. The karma consciousness and karma faculty have already been previously explained.
√ Not yet known and understood, that is the ignorance.
The disciple who has not yet known and understood thoroughly would not know well the ignorance by himself; he needs the help from an awakened one who would show him the favorable and unfavorable to be cleared through confidence, obedience, and respect. Only the Buddhas could perfectly eliminate ignorance.
What is the way of practice to eliminate ignorance? If we are seeking clearness and brightness, it will be the clearness of consciousness, not the true clearness. We have to see clearly our error, our mistake and our impediment. Practicing that way daily until having an adequate senses of the ignorance, and suddenly we intuitively recognize the ignorance. Intuitive recognition of the ignorance means there is no more ignorance and we naturally get clearness.
To the disciples who are confident, obedient and respectful, the Supreme Pure King has given serious teaching. At night before going to bed, they review all the activities throughout the day. Every deed, action and word is carefully examined. Gradually, they recognize and eliminate their bad habits, cruel characters. Later, they are checked and challenged by the Chief Monk. That is why a great number of disciples who are not truly practicing have given up.
• Living creatures have the ignorance of living creatures
• Sravaka has the ignorance of Sravaka
• Pratyaka Buddha has the ignorance of Pratyaka Buddha
• Dharma protectors have the ignorance of dharma protectors.
The understanding of the clearness to be cleared is at different levels, different depths. Therefore, there are countless different kinds of insights. You would be frightened, escaping away and unable to understand when hearing Him teaching on the ignorance of the Bodhisattva rank. It is indeed very difficult to comprehend.
He has skillfully and unthinkably utilized the dharma to clear the ignorance for the faithful true disciples. He has scrutinized, blamed, scolded, driven them away and even stroked them. Those who could endure it would be cleared. And the bystanders who are joyful and detached, not getting rebellious and take notice of those who are blamed and stroked, would see and understand that is the wisdom. But most disciples while being bystanders are not yet cleared; they often criticized, disliked and avoided those who have been cleared for their ignorance and their mistake. Those who blamed on mistakes will always make mistakes, they have never understood the ignorance thus they will not be cleared ever. It is just as cooking gravel and pebbles and expecting it to turn into rice.
Once penetrating one door, we could use it as the momentum to advance to the interior, opening all things by observing them, and finally everything at its level will continue to be penetrated, how happy it is!
He has often told us to correct our nature, be joyful and detached to make our mind empty. When we are truly confident, He has criticized and showed us the error. If we got angry and left Him, then remembered His words on the joyful and detached, and with repentance we understood that our bad habits have been justly criticized, and we went back to Him; He then continued to skillfully manage in compliance with the true disciple's wishes.
√ Not yet penetrated, that is the changing nature, or dharma nature.
When a disciple is rebellious against something, the hostile nature will immediately appear. The nature remaining in his body is the dharma nature. The dharma nature is tolerant and impartial. The dharma nature is exactly what the nature is without omission, because its nature is fearless. One could not understand thoroughly just by reading literature. The dharma nature neither obstructs the purity, the impurity, the wrong and the right nor considers the time and the place. It acts only upon the wishes of the Four Species to serve them satisfactorily. Therefore, by whatever manner of practice, the devotees could always get what they wished for. The devotees know that the dharma nature is the wrong, but if they are wishing, it would often yield to them, making the devotees believe it to be true and be delighted.
Every world has a scene that is moving and creating a familiar sphere. Like an impoverished man who is accustomed to using mediocre furniture, when having money he would not replace these items with the expensive ones. It is his familiar sphere that has formed his dharma nature.
Each species live in its sphere, and would not be satisfied in another one because it wants to be suitable with its ambiance, that creates its own dharma nature. The one hindered by the ignorance often complained and lamented, he did not know that he has been satisfactorily provided by his dharma nature.
Seeing your own nature, that is nature-enlighten- nature, thus you will know the mobility of the Dharma nature. The devotee, who is not greedy and without individual nature, can recognize the mobility of dharma nature. Therefore, he would have to vow and practice the salvation if he was attached and wanted only to do what he wished. He would not be able to know the dharma nature, and keep on running after the cycle of birth and death. That is the wrongful thought.
Once the wrongful thought is eliminated, one could see clearly the nature of each world. He no longer either complained or lamented and soon acquired the equality of nature and mind. He has then understood all dharma and could be free from mistake, no longer running after the cycle of birth and death. Not leaving his wishes is a wrongful thought. Having a wrongful thought is being unequal, how can he practice successfully the dharma and have the equality of nature and mind knowledge?
Being an awakened one, he would truly know that the wrongful thoughts have led the living creatures and the second rank to run ceaselessly in the six paths, making the disciples remain in the living creature’s world and sink in the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, to save living creatures, one has to lean on one’s wishes to lead them to know how to be free from the wrongful thought. By talking of its destruction, there would be nothing more to practice. Leaning on it in order to resolve it is the best way of understanding the dharma nature.
“Like a cruel man who is accustomed to butchery and carnage, he then has the dharma nature of creating his familiar ambiance and has to be inflicted with the sufferings in hell correspondingly and without omission.” –T.V.
Thus, from the ones with good faculty to the others with evil faculty, they are all served adequately by the dharma nature according to their wishes.
√ Not yet succeeded in the practice, that is the dharma body
All the dharma are Tathagata, but the dharma body is distinguished separately because the lack of success in the practice.
Hearing, seeing, and knowing are all dharma. The dharma is originally the mind. The body is just a form or dimensions. A polluted form with its ignorance becomes rebellious.
That is why the body has metamorphosed into countless of dharma forms, which are erroneously thought to be the true ones and according to their wishes. There are the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, the blessed rewards of men and devas, and the acceptance of hungry devils, animals, hell, majestic land and pure land... since, these have become each of appeared body and dharma body. The appeared body, also called the incarnation, is the dharma world. The confusion is called the living creatures’ world. For those who practiced by seeking their true nature and are enlightened, their living creatures’ world is homologous to their dharma body. That is the acquirement of the dharma body.
For example, analyzing a drop of seawater, it adequately has all the ingredients as the ocean itself. If it drops back to the ocean, it will dissolve immediately and be mixed in the seawater, no longer separated from it. A living creature who knows how to live collectivity without individuality and personality nature, could communicate with the universe that is the Ten Directions of the Buddhas, and integrates himself with the Tathagata Buddha as one. Therefore, the correction of oneself, the giving up of bad habits and annihilation of pollution and fetter is very necessary in the practice of the dharma. It is by having the Abilities to save yourself that you could preach the dharma and save other living creatures. If you are unable to correct your living creatures’ natures, how can you preach the dharma and correct others? It is just talk for the fun of it only.
If a devotee preaches the dharma and practices it from his long learning and study, so could any scholar, engineer, doctor and professor. What does he surpass to be the master of living creatures, how could he understand that the Buddhism is supreme above living creatures and science?
It is easy to talk about correction of one's nature, giving up one's bad habits, but even a high virtuous individual, a 70 year old venerable, might not be able to do it, if he does not know the founders, the bodhisattvas and the Buddhas' way of practice. The Final Law Period is almost over and the true dharma is appearing. It is essential now to speak frankly in seeking the way of resolving the transmigration and the cycle of birth and death. It is wasteful to neglect a lifetime as human beings. In reality, it is not easy to be reborn as a man if you still have ignorance. You would only be reborn as man after having acquitted your speech debt.
√ Not yet relieved and still attached, that is the dharma dhatu
From hearing, seeing and knowing, we created our own self, called the differentiation that forms the dharma dhatu. Dharma dhatu are numberless and all of them have the same characteristic of being attached to the cycle of birth and death. Dharma precept is a restriction, a frame of attachments, also called the living creatures’ limits.
“The Buddhas could speak what they hear. The living creatures could only speak and they hear of their own account. The Buddhist Master has laughed quietly to Himself after writing that and He has continued: Living creatures could never understand what the Buddhas said, because living creatures conceive that what the Buddhas said are all Buddhist limits. What they can hear are only the living creature limits, how could they perceive to hear the Buddhas' words.” –T.V.
Living creatures are still receiving many bad characteristics and they are wrongly thinking. Because not realizing their idiocy, they could not hear the teaching of the Buddhas. They need only to hear a word of the Buddha to be enlightened. Living creatures have the conception of their own personality. Therefore, when they hear, it is the mind that living creatures hear. They could hear the Buddhas' words only after having annihilated their dharma precepts and no longer being attached.
The Buddhas are constantly liberated from limits and annihilate all kinds of attachments, while living creatures are unceasingly creating new problems. If the living creatures are willing to learn and practice the teaching of the bodhisattvas and Buddha, liberating their limits every hour and minute, they could certainly hear the Buddha's words.
Living creatures are always polluted with the praise and the blame, the good and the bad, the clean and the dirty, changing unceasingly from one dharma limit to another... They could hear the Buddha's words only after having been freed from attachment and softening their character. Because of their idiocy, they have been caught in the belts of dharma limits. It is only the Buddhas; the bodhisattvas who could teach and guide living creatures to know how dangerous the dharma limits are so that they could liberate themselves.
“Speaking to this point, the Buddhist master has looked at the spreading cloud, the falling yellow leaves, and the doomsday of posterity. He has then slapped his thighs and stood up, rubbed his hands and knitted his brows, thoughtfully. He has come to His bamboo bed and lay down, not yet speaking.” –T.V.
For teaching the true Buddhist disciples, He is a Buddhist master who has known meticulously the past and future events in the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds. If He has spoken openly and showed clearly to the people in this Final Law Period, they would not only refuse to hear Him, but also show a disdainful attitude toward Him. So He said: If I predict what is not yet coming they will condemn me to be reactionary, but if I speak of what happened they would say I'm speaking after the fact, thus the best thing to do is to keep silent.
In fact, the dharma precepts of the cruel ones are the dharma limit of destruction. For those of great virtue who are respectful and listened to know which is the right and which is the wrong, they would probably meet the reborn Buddhas and bodhisattvas who are very helpful for the living creatures.
Even the Buddhas, the sacred born in this world have to endure the sufferings that are the last dharma of this Final Law Period, so does this mean doomsday? The more advanced science is, the more satisfactory man’s life is, but the end of science is the doomsday. Why? Because, the dharma limits of the learned ones are running after their profits and inventing countless weapons of mass destruction. There are atomic bombs, bacterial bombs, hydrogen bombs and nuclear bombs. The pollution of the atmosphere, which has an influence on the weather and climate, is also the sign of the doomsday. Accepting and legalizing homosexual marriage is a sign of the doomsday.
These intellectuals know very little or do not know about the wisdom of the Buddhist master. Science is running after the developable intellectuals in the continuity of birth and death. The Buddhist master has diligently improved himself, spoken only about the truth, lived actively and effectively, improving living creatures, and bringing about true happiness, the truth, goodness and beauty to living creatures.
“Suddenly a butterfly from outside flew straight into the room. Not knowing the way out, it was floating about in the air. The Master has looked at it and a cheerful smile came to His lips. He said: “Butterfly, you are the very dharma limit. You have the dharma limit on your flying wings, on your eyebrows, and all your six legs, which are dharma limits. You are flying up and alighting on the flower, exploiting its nectar. Owing to the flowers, you are pretty and beautiful. He has then stood up; using the paper fan He has guided the butterfly to fly out!” –T.V.
Every thought is a dharma limit, every utterance; every act creates a dharma limit. Speaking about the butterfly, which is a dharma limit. Each part of it has countless dharma limits. Its wings are dharma limits, its long antenna; each of its parts is dharma limit. The dharma nature of the butterfly is the flying up and down in a floating manner, different from that of the birds, which are of the same, dharma limits. The sucking of the nectar of flower, which cannot be exploited by other species, is also a limit. The dharma nature of a pretty butterfly admired by many people is also a dharma limit... Coming from an egg on a branch of flower is also a dharma limit. The fixed dharma nature of the butterfly is precisely its appearance, its activity, and its kind of life unchangeable in all times. It is very difficult for the devotee to know all things without being polluted with dharma limits. The fully enlightened is needed to show and to solve it, in order to emerge from the chasm of the dharma limits.
“Dharma limits are originally a nomination, but nomination is after all a limit. Knowing thoroughly the limit, one can realize that it is not dharma limit, the nomination is the dharma limit, truly the dharma limit.” –T.V.
When a butterfly is floating with all its parts it is called butterfly, but its six legs alone are not named butterfly, nor are its antennas and its wings. Butterfly is exactly a nomination including all parts called the formed limit. The learned one called it the butterfly, as a nomination, the dharma limit, but once separated, it cannot be called the butterfly dharma limits.
Through the example of the butterfly, we can see that countless dharma limits are only nominations, but living creatures are disputing, struggling for them and they are continuously caught in the cycle of birth and death.
“As it is not the world, but it is the nomination of world, it is truly the world.” –T.V.
For example, the globe with its mountains, rivers, houses, and gardens... is named the world, but it is only a nomination. Because when we said “house” it is not the world, the mountain alone is not named the world, nor are the forest, the rivers. All of these are named the world. They are not themselves the world, but its nomination is the world.
The immeasurable dharma limit is a common belt including all the species, human beings, the fairies, the deities, and devas. Unable to get out of this belt, the Four Species are living in the cycle of birth and death.
“Only the Buddhas could control the dharma limit. Being caught in this belt, people are in the living creatures’ limit, and being in this living creatures’ limit they were living in confusion, not in awareness.
The Buddhas skillfully entered and exited out of the dharma limit while living creatures up to the Sravaka could not cross it. They are usually sunk in the dharma limit. The rank of Pratyaka Buddhas and arahants know the dharma limit, but they are not free from it. The bodhisattvas are free from dharma limit. Only the Buddhas who know well the dharma limit could enter and exit out of it with authority, without obstruction. But those who remain caught in only one limit are still in confusion.
Unable to resolve only one limit, one is still caught in the regime of Buddha limit. ” –T.V.
In this immense universe that contained the dharma limit belt, the disciple who has claimed by himself to be Buddha while one more dharma limit is left is not yet achieved. That is called the Buddha limit. For example, the Devadatta with his malicious behavior, though entering and exiting out of all dharma limits. However, every time solving the dharma limit, he is accustomed to use his malicious behavior. Even becoming Buddha, he is only in the Buddha limit, called Buddha by nomination and assigned to teach the descendants of maliciousness rank. He is not the fully enlightened Buddha. Though attaining the supreme enlightenment, but solving all things in the spirit of maliciousness he is still caught in the Buddha limit called also Pratyaka Buddha.
Those, who attained the supreme dharma, but practice only the easy dharma, giving up the difficult one, though becoming Buddhas, are only the Buddha limit. Others, attaining the supreme dharma, but not practicing adequately and completely all dharma limits are also the Buddha limit.
During his existence, the Lord has said that, the immeasurable difficulties are: Only one of one million disciples attaining the supreme dharma could freely enter and exit out of the dharma limit and achieve the noble Buddhahood.
There is in fact only one Maitreya Buddha not two. He was living in the fire of hell, enduring and overcoming all things so those living creatures could satisfactorily practice the dharma and attain enlightenment.
“The Buddhist master has experienced and surpassed this turning point of dharma limit, and He has matured out of the dharma limit from His outstanding spirit, from His consciousness store, which has lighted His consciousness.” –T.V.
* Most of the disciples are joyful and live in peace in presence of favorable dharma, but when there is unfavorable dharma, they could not see clearly the disturbing seeds. They often give up in the presence of difficulties and could not overcome the dilemmas of unfavorable dharma. The consciousness store contains all the seeds of the good and the evil, the beautiful and the ugly, the pure and impure. Realizing well all dharma, and being able to distinguish between right and the wrong, good and evil is the most rational and appropriate resolution, relying on the consciousness to penetrate living creatures’ natures, more deeply penetrating their thoughts to find out and to create the appropriate dharma limit in each circumstance.
For instance, when He was making His debut to practice the dharma, His family was very poor and in great difficulties. For Him, such a supreme venerable, who has not even a place for teaching of dharma, or a table to inscribe the sutras, all the livelihood activities must be set aside while He was teaching. What a hard dilemma, and He had to observe and examine all his inner seeds natures, which sometimes pushed Him forward, sometimes discouraged Him (the consciousness store). Finally, He chose the most appropriate way, at that time, to resolve (the consciousness) until comprehension, by preaching the dharma at first to His relatives, then to those of His acquaintances, patiently, diligently. Day after day, there was one then two, three... faithful disciples following Him in the practice. There were thus a lot of daily Buddhist works (maturity of the dharma limit) which were unavoidable and irreversible: A dharma school was thus formed at home.
It is much easier in the pagodas, which are thought of by the people as a place sacred and tranquil for practicing which they often come to visit. Cultivating as a layman is like opening a road, deforesting, establishing villages and hamlets comfortably, what a heavy work!
“By the non-attached consciousness, there will naturally be progression from one dharma to the other, without dharma limit.” –T.V.
* Once the dharma school is established, if there is circumstance we should accordingly resolve with sweetness, rigorously and wisely, that is the non-attached and non-dogmatic consciousness. Every dharma in progression is generously resolved and there is no more immobility. Without conservation, without attachment, without immobility, without passive knowledge and with abundance, it brings about insight, resolving everything accordingly to its nature, freely passing from one dharma to another. In these conditions there would be no more dharma limit that is either attached or separated from the sutra. That is the path of the Buddhas.
“The Buddhist master has experienced this condition. He has based only on His will to clear up all things. If you were not able to make use of your will, you would never know what the origin of the dharma limit and the karma is.” –T.V.
He has overcome the most difficult time of the dharma limit many times, released toxicity from His body. He has wisely utilized diligence and patience to clarify the dharma limit, resolving satisfactorily and reasonably the most difficult time of one’s life. Being negligent, careless and discouraged, you will not be able to resolve profoundly and adequately the limits. Even an atom left means the karma is left, because you have to release all the dharma limits to be free from karma.
If the dharma limits are not released and dissolved, the karma would develop. Once the karma and the dharma limit dissolved, you would be free from confusion and ignorance, and once the confusion released there would be no more ignorance. Practicing to dissolve ignorance would bring it to an end. Dissolving confusion through wisdom would put an end to the confusion.
“The fully faithful disciples, not having a great courage, are relying only on their conscious mind to practice.” –T.V.
* No matter how faithful and fervent a disciple could be, if he were not concentrating to resolve a situation where the all dharma are difficult and in a presence of crisis, just kept on praying and supplicating, he would not be conscious of all dharma. His mentality is confused, his thoughts are disturbed and he is not precisely orientated. Such a disciple would have difficulties to know the dharma limit; he often lives with his constantly changing thoughts - that is living in confusion of the crazy consciousness. The intelligent man would bravely resolve the difficulty with morality, leaning on the expressed thoughts in order to resolve it perfectly.
For example, a man suffered day after day from his ulcerated abscess. The wise would go to see a doctor to be treated. The doctor examines the wound and orders the surgeon to operate the abscess. For those who bases only on his will, being afraid of the painful operation, he refuses the treatment. Therefore, when the wound becomes more and more severe, the patient would inevitably die. But for those who are clever enough to accept the pain to be operated on, cares for and receives the medication treatment according to the recommendation of the doctor, he would have been completely cured. The latter knows how to rely on their conscious mind and has good judgment to obey the guide of the learned men to clear himself. He would get well. It is the same for practicing; you should rely on your conscious mind, carefully listening to your body and the Awakened One’s guidance in order to attain the liberation through wisdom.
“Those who know how to use their consciousness store to light their karma consciousness are those who already have the courage, which is resulted from their merits; without merits means without development of courage.” –T.V.
The disciples who know how to clear up the good and the evil thoughts themselves are those who know the progression of the karma consciousness. Those who have a strong will and are determined to lean on it to resolve it are among the rare ones who recognize and realize it from within. They are truly brave to oppose against the external Mara-power. These men are esteemed highly on the path of liberation through wisdom.
Leaning on one’s joyful detachment, one has the merits of Tathagata and all dharma are widely opened, the mind is no longer stingy and miserly. It daringly offers without hesitation, venturing, and worrying about tomorrow’s occurrences. One suddenly has the insight of courage; hence he makes up his mind to follow the Awakened One to practice for enlightenment. Therefore, if there weren’t merits and sacrifices, there would never be patience and courage. Practicing with an opened mind, you would have patience and courage
Patience and courage are necessary to be fearless, self satisfied. They are essential for advancement, dissolving the dharma limit on the Buddha’s and the bodhisattva’s path of practice. If there were no patience and courage, there would be no attainment.
“The Buddhist master thinks over. All dharma are insubstantial; one could only recognize its insubstantiality after having overcome it and looked back. Without practicing, one could not know the insubstantiality from the truth.” –T.V.
* Practicing by entreating the truth you could never find the truth. First of all, you have to consider all things to be false and temporary, in the present, in the past, not truly permanent. They are impermanent, appearing and disappearing, continuously revolving and changing. Everything from the perceptive to the non-perceptive has to endure the impermanence. So, all things are rhythmically determined in the birth and death cycle. It is by ignorance that we believe them to be permanent.
From the formation to the destruction, they are always in accord respectively with the four stages: Formation - Existence - Destruction - Nothingness in the impermanence. Try to pass over the falseness without regret in order to come to the constant permanence, avoiding the mistake of being joyful from the progressing impermanence of dharma that is the false knowledge, to attain the truth of no-birth.
For example, a highly ranked officer entrusted with the authority over everybody is happy and comfortable, having beside him his attendants, the highly ranked officer and his relative are very proud. But when he is in misfortune, losing position and authority, his relatives would be all sorrowful, blaming and lamenting for their poor fate.
Through this story, we can see that living creatures are always living in the impermanence dharma, they are glad to be successful, and sorrowful when defeated. Reunion and dispersion, closeness and separation, these are always evolving from the beginning of time to the present and also in the future. It is originally constant permanence and there is no birth and death. By confusion we do not see that it is unceasingly progressing and believe it to be true, so we are attached to live in the cycle of birth and death. If you know that it is falseness, but believe it to be yourself, you are then under control and attached. Until, you are not under control and led by it, the falseness becomes the truth.
“The Buddhist master has to improve the defect on the way of practice rather than practice for the advancement in the Buddhahood. Why? Because not yet having the compassion, will, and courage and the faith, practice, and vow, how can you attain the legitimate worship of the true principle or the deep eminence of the virtue conduct to reorganize the pure land?” –T.V.
* As the Lord has taught, here is what I heard: The improvement of the defects means to review and correct the imperfect natures of the species. It is a simple thing to say, but courage and strong will are needed to overcome all dharma with a perfect character without being controlled by the Mara-Power. If you are not yet faithful in yourself to resolve it with virtue through practice, not yet being resolute, carefully vowing to resolve all the limits in your body, it will be difficult for you to be aware of the legitimate path of the Buddhas of Ten Directions and of Three Lives.
If you were not cleared and perfect that means you are not able to save yourself, how could you save others? How could you be free from the Mara doctrine? Resolving all things with virtue, conformable with yourself, and beneficial to others, is a high virtue. This leads to peace and Purity. That is the Pure Land.
“The Buddhist Master truly and completely knows well. A complete Prajna Wisdom and a serious attitude in the practice are the most important things for those of great will and great compassion to follow, leaning on their great vow to realize and break up the belt of dharma limit.” –T.V.
Those who realized clearly the resolution of all dharma are at ease towards all things. They are those of Prajna wisdom. The true disciples always turn inward seriously to review and examine themselves, never being self satisfied, but faithfully seeking the Awakened One to be completed. By just a word, a skillful act, they could enter the ocean of awareness, communicating with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Ten Directions. They are living a life, but concentrating all to the practice of the dharma, considering it to be an essential daily food.
They have sufficient great will and great compassion and attained leisure through their vow of practicing. Those who are so generous are called those of great compassion. No matter how difficult and bitter it may be, those who diligently and patiently practice dharma are called those of great will. Those who are resolute to improve their defect in order to be beneficial to themselves and to others, no longer crawling with species nature are called those of great vow.
It is by concentrating to practice, without useless words, immediately censuring every dharma and clearly resolving it, which is the basic path of the Mahayana’s practice, one could certainly break up the densely covering belts of dharma limits.
Namo the Paradise Pure Land of Amitabha Association Measureless Brightness of Tathagata.