念佛三昧寶王論

A. Preface

An arrogant visitor came to my meditation chamber (that of Master Feixi). After first bowing, he asked: “The direct and swift path to attaining the Way is the practice of Never Disparaging in the Lotus Samadhi and the honored Pratyutpanna practice in the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi. Both are profound and wondrous gateways of meditation. I wish to hear of their subtle profundity.”

I replied: “Your aspiration is exceedingly lofty, and thus your question is excellent! You are about to enter the dragon ford of the unborn and wish to spread the wings of the peng bird to journey southward. I know that I am not outstanding, yet I shall strive to set forth twenty approaches explaining this essential doctrine. The first fascicle contains seven approaches concerning the recollection of future Buddhas. The middle fascicle contains six approaches concerning the recollection of present Buddhas. The final fascicle contains seven approaches concerning the universal recollection that all beings of the three times are Buddhas.”

B. Main Exposition

I. First Fascicle. The first fascicle contains seven approaches explaining that recollection of original awakening is recollection of the future Buddha.

1. Recollecting the Future Buddha Swiftly Accomplishes Samadhi

If the mind has duality, numerous deluded thoughts arise. Although these numerous deluded thoughts are not real, confusion turns them into obstructions. Obstructions that cannot be resolved are the concern of sages.

The wondrous resonance penetrates everywhere yet is wordless; the Dharma-body is empty yet complete with all marks. If one cannot comprehend the marks or perfectly express them in words, how can one know the destination of this single-flavored purport, which transcends all speech?

Before Indra’s net is spread out, who can see its thousand jewels? As soon as the crest of the net moves, its myriad meshes all open. To fill the great ocean, the waters of a hundred rivers must be gathered. Recollecting the Buddha’s name assuredly brings samadhi to fulfillment. It is precisely here that a single utterance encompasses everything. It is like placing a purifying jewel in turbid water: the turbid water cannot fail to become clear. When contemplation of the Buddha is placed within a distracted mind, that distracted mind cannot fail to contain the Buddha.

People recollect Shakyamuni of the past and Amitabha of the present, yet they have never heard of recollecting the Buddhas of the future. Why? Because they do not understand that the Tathagata, in contrast to the coarseness of sentient beings, spoke of the subtlety of the Buddhas, and so they regard sentient beings as existing outside the Buddhas.

The Vimalakirti Sutra says that once the fragrance of the champaka flower is present, no other fragrance remains. Some flowers are worn upon the body, while others are not. The intention here is to reveal the Mahayana. The Lesser Vehicle is criticized in order to dispel obscurity, and the Mahayana is revealed so that all may return together to nonduality. The Lotus Sutra, king of all sutras, has clearly revealed the Dharma of the shravakas. Thus, everything is the fragrance of champaka. The essential purport of this treatise is not to cling to either the Great or the Lesser Vehicle.

Those who have not broken through such attachment all regard the Buddhas as supremely exalted and sentient beings as utterly lowly. When high and low exist, all deluded thoughts arise. Once reverence and disdain are established, the one true Dharma-realm becomes concealed.

Those who cling rigidly in this way will surely regard the myriad beings as weeds and the world as a plaything. Once the banner of self-conceit has been raised, they arrogantly disparage others, their eyes gazing toward the blue clouds and their minds aspiring above the Supreme Lord, never willing to humble themselves.

The Vimalakirti Sutra says: “Upon seeing anyone, one should show reverence and make offerings; this is the supreme practice.” The Lankavatara Sutra says: “The intrinsic nature of the Tathagatagarbha remains pure. It transfers the thirty-two marks into the thoughts of all sentient beings, like a priceless great jewel wrapped in a filthy garment.” A most lowly beggar and the exalted Tathagata are likewise no different. Therefore, perfectly recollecting the Buddhas of the three times is to contemplate universally all the World-Honored Ones throughout the ten directions.

The Prajnaparamita in the Principle of Ultimate Meaning says: “All sentient beings are the Tathagatagarbha, and the essential nature of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra pervades every place. They are like a poor woman pregnant with a future king, or a grain of rice enclosed within layers of husk.” This principle can be understood; how then could one become ensnared in the eight wrongs of conceit? Everyone disdains the jeweled radiance of the future Buddhas, yet dares not disdain the golden forms of the Buddhas of the past and present, thereby giving rise to the root of wrongdoing.

It is by standing before the future Buddhas that one is able to see the Buddhas of the past and present. If sentient beings were not Buddhas, how could there be future Buddhas?

Know, therefore, that a poor mother becomes honored through her noble son, and rice is preserved by its husk. This accords with the mind of the bodhisattva Never Disparaging in the Lotus Sutra. If one can practice in this way, the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi will be accomplished of itself, without seeking rapid attainment.

The Lotus practice and Buddha-recollection were originally a single gateway. It is like preparing medicine from numinous mushrooms. In ancient times, practitioners seeking immortality each dwelt in a particular place, yet could not thereby be called immortals. Those who drank the elixir of immortality acquired the power to ascend into the clouds; because of the medicine, their names were entered among the immortals. Those admitted into the realm of immortals and the medicine itself are different, yet by drinking the medicine one becomes an immortal.

If there were no sages, who could attain the Way? If the Dharma had no Buddha to awaken to it, who could cause us to awaken by ourselves? Without a Buddha, no one awakens to the Dharma; from this arose the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi. Without the Dharma, a Buddha would not manifest illumination; therefore, the Lotus Samadhi arose. One immortal has two designations, yet both are called “immortal.” Buddha-recollection and the Lotus are both called Buddha-wisdom. Since their Buddha-wisdom is identical, one certainly should not disparage the unsurpassed meditation of the Pratyutpanna practice. Awakening is initiated from here.

2. Prostitutes and Bands of Thieves Should Not Be Disparaged

Question: Prostitutes and bands of robbers are people of extreme evil. How could they be revered as Buddhas?

Answer: The Buddha’s methods of liberation include the provisional approach and the definitive approach.

A. The provisional approach: In contrast to deceitful women, the Buddha taught that the Tathagata is the ultimately true. The Buddha is worthy of veneration, while women are to be kept at a distance. Keeping one’s distance has two aspects: avoiding lust and employing the mind of relinquishment.

First is the avoidance of lust. The Sutra in Which the Bodhisattva Rebukes Sensual Desire teaches: “The beauty of women is the fetter of the world. Ordinary beings become attached to it and cannot extricate themselves. It is the great calamity of the world. Ordinary beings become entangled in it and cannot abandon it even until death. It is the pitiable calamity of the world. When ordinary beings encounter it, there is no misfortune that does not befall them.”

After practitioners have abandoned it, if they still look back upon it, they are no different from prisoners who have just been released yet remember the prison and wish to return; madmen who have just regained sanity yet wish to become mad again; or sick people who have recovered yet hope to become even more ill. Those with wisdom know this to be confused inversion. Whoever harbors such thoughts may die at any time!

Ordinary beings infatuated with female beauty willingly become servants driven by passion. Throughout their lives they shoulder bitter and painful burdens. Even if a thousand blades and swords were brought against them, they would willingly endure them without the slightest complaint.

If practitioners can abandon this without looking back, they break all stocks, shackles, and fetters. By detesting delusion and becoming weary of this malady, they escape anxious affliction. When the mind becomes peaceful and secure, all is well. Having escaped from prison, they are forever free from calamity.

Women may possess graceful and gentle forms and speak words as sweet as honey that entrance the soul, yet their hearts are filled with poison. A tranquil, clear spring may be the dwelling place of a flood dragon; a golden mountain and jeweled cavern may be the lair of a lion. These are places of danger that should not be approached. A household’s unrest comes from women, and the ruin of a family line comes from the wife within the home. A woman is truly a hidden thief who destroys all of a person’s luminous wisdom.

Once a hunter’s net has been spread, few animals escape calamity. Birds caught in a snare cannot fly free; fish driven into a gathering net cannot get out. It is like a dark tunnel that a blind person enters and cannot leave, or moths that see a flame and compete to plunge into it. Thus, after recognizing this, the wise should keep away and thereby avoid harm. No base and evil delusion surpasses attachment to female beauty.

The Maharatnakuta Sutra says: “The suffering of being struck by poisoned arrows, pierced by sharp stakes, or cast down upon a mountain of blades is still less than the suffering of being driven by women. They borrow perfumes and flowers to adorn themselves beautifully, causing fools who see them to give rise deludedly to craving and pursuit. Like a bird lost at sea longing to reach the shore, at death they fall into the Avici Hell.

In the present life, many kinds of suffering surround them; spiritual friends depart from them, and the heavenly palaces are forever lost. I would rather plunge into a prison of hot iron, run upon a mountain of blades, or lie upon a heap of glowing coals; I vow never to approach female beauty. A bird seeking food cannot avoid the trap; one harmed through craving for women is likewise.

A fish swimming in the water approaches a net or hook because it seeks bait—who has harmed it? A woman is like a fisher; her gentle and deceitful words are like a net; and a man is like a fish caught by net or hook. He sought it himself—who compelled him to come?”

Second is the method of releasing the mind, the mind of relinquishment. The Maharatnakuta Sutra teaches: “If a person single-mindedly concentrates and guards himself, then as soon as lustful thoughts arise, he must awaken, use skillful means to eliminate them completely, and restore the mind to its former tranquility.”

How are they to be eliminated completely? We should reflect thus: This lust is originally neither existent nor impure. Seek to discover where this lustful mind arises and ceases, whence it comes and whither it goes. Within it, who is defiled, who is the one being defiled, and what is the phenomenon of defilement? Only in this way can one enter birth and death amid the dust of worldly toil without fearing the calamities of greed, anger, and delusion. Therefore, this is called releasing the mind.

B. The definitive approach: If a person ultimately leaves all deluded thoughts behind, remains undefiled, and is open and empty like space, then how could the Buddhas of the past and present not be future Buddhas? Why?

Those who wish to find a priceless jewel must seek it in the deep ocean; those who wish to obtain the treasure of wisdom must seek it amid the afflictions. The marks of the five heinous offenses are the marks of liberation, and the realm of Mara is itself the realm of the Buddha. If one still rejoices upon hearing the Buddha’s words but becomes angry upon hearing Mara’s words, one has not awakened to the dharmas.

If one wishes to go north, one must journey northward and must not set one’s mind upon the south and travel in the opposite direction. How could such a person discuss the Way with others?

In ancient times there was a great rishi named Deer Emperor, who used a mantra to dry up all the waters. A prostitute enticed him and thereby caused rain to fall during a drought. That woman was Bhagyottara, who in the future will become a Buddha named Tathagata Complete with the Marks of a Thousand Myriad Heavenly Lights.

In the past, Aniruddha was the leader of a band of robbers. One day he entered a monastery to steal the jewel from the Buddha’s forehead. Using the tip of an arrow, he stirred the lamp upon the Buddha’s altar, causing its light to burn continuously without going out.

Aniruddha is translated into Chinese as “Unceasing,” also because of this event. In the future, he will become a Buddha named Tathagata Universal Radiance. These two future Buddhas clearly prove that those who commit sexual misconduct or theft can all become Buddhas.

3. Those Who Uphold the Precepts and Those Who Break Them Both Have the Marks of Buddhas

Within the Vinaya, the characteristics of the precepts are of two kinds: 1. The precepts of the shravakas, called the Sangha precepts; 2. The bodhisattva precepts, called the Buddha precepts. The shravaka precepts differ among seven assemblies:

1. The bhikshu precepts comprise 250 rules.

2. The bhikshuni precepts comprise 348 rules.

3. A shikshamana trains in six dharmas.

4. A shramanera observes ten precepts.

5. A shramanerika also observes ten precepts.

6. An upasaka, a male lay disciple, observes five precepts.

7. An upasika, a female lay disciple, also observes five precepts.

– The bodhisattva precepts are observed by two assemblies, the householders and the monastics. According to the Bodhisattva-bhumi Sutra, the precepts for lay bodhisattvas comprise six major and twenty-eight minor precepts. According to the Brahma’s Net Sutra, the precepts for monastic bodhisattvas comprise ten major and forty-eight minor precepts. These bodhisattva precepts are also called the Vajra Radiant Jeweled Precepts and the Three Collections of Pure Precepts:

1. The precepts of restraining conduct.

2. The precepts of embracing wholesome dharmas.

3. The precepts of benefiting sentient beings.

How the precepts are upheld: The seven assemblies of the Buddha’s disciples preserve their conduct under the precepts in close relation to the four deportments of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. If, within these four deportments, one is not alert and cautious in even one, one cannot uphold the precepts. Here “uphold” means to preserve and practice in obedience. Therefore, one must never be lax while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down; hence it is called upholding.

A bhikshu has 250 precepts. Purity regarding the first four is called upholding the fundamental precepts. Each of the remaining 246 precepts must also be guarded with restraint and never lost; this is called the complete discipline of a bhikshu. When the bhikshu first ascends the ordination platform, the karmanacharya makes the formal proclamation three times, and seven witnessing masters certify the ordination before the assembly. This is called obtaining the essence of the precepts. By preserving them in this way until attaining Buddhahood, one realizes the Dharma-body, all rooted in these precepts.

A bhikshuni who preserves the eight major precepts and never violates them possesses purity in the fundamental precepts. The remaining 340 precepts must also be preserved without loss; this is called completeness of the categories of precepts. If the categories of precepts are perfectly pure, attaining Buddhahood is assured. A shikshamana need only refrain from violating the six dharmas. A shramanera and shramanerika need only keep the ten precepts pure. Among these ten, the rule against eating outside the prescribed time is of especially great importance and must be upheld. If it is not upheld, it is difficult to avoid violating all the other precepts. The upasaka and upasika must preserve the five precepts, as everyone clearly knows.

Breaking the precepts: If a bhikshu violates even one of the four major precepts, it is called breaking a fundamental precept. He also loses the essence of the precepts and cannot recover it throughout that lifetime. Violating any of the subsequent precepts is called breaking a subsidiary precept; the slightest such offense is called a dushkrita.

In the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, one day and night equal fifty human years. In hell, one day and night equal fifty years in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. One may calculate months and years accordingly.

A wrongdoer must remain in hell for five hundred years before being released. This is the duration for which one who commits the slightest offense of breaking the precepts falls into hell. The situation of the remaining six assemblies may be understood by analogy.

After breaking a precept, one must give rise to shame and remorse and sincerely disclose the offense before an acharya, concealing nothing, even something as slight as a strand of silk. The acharya will permit repentance. If the offense is light, one performs formal repentance: twenty members of the Sangha are assembled, and before the assembly one openly discloses the offense, weeps and implores forgiveness, and ultimately refrains from creating any new offense.

After the formal rite, one must always follow the master’s instructions, perhaps reciting a mantra a prescribed number of times, chanting a prescribed number of sutra fascicles, or performing a prescribed number of repentance liturgies. Only after completing these may one be readmitted to practice with the assembly. If one has violated a fundamental precept, it cannot be repented through this method.

Repentance by Seeking Auspicious Signs: Whether chanting sutras, performing repentance liturgies, or observing a period of seven days, forty-nine days, ninety days, one year, or three years, one must see an auspicious sign, such as the Buddha’s light, the Buddha extending his hand to touch the crown of one’s head, or heavenly beings scattering flowers. Only after obtaining such signs are the offenses purified. This is called Repentance by Seeking Auspicious Signs.

Repentance of the Unborn: Contemplate the nature of the offense. It abides neither within, without, nor in between; nor does it abide in the past, present, or future. Ultimately, from where does the offense arise?

An offense has no intrinsic nature. It arises through causes and conditions; since it arises through causes and conditions, it also ceases through causes and conditions. Its arising through causes and conditions means that inwardly a person does not take shame and remorse as a cause, while outwardly relying upon bad companions as conditions; consequently, various offenses are committed, and this is called arising.

Its cessation through causes and conditions means that inwardly a person takes remorseful open disclosure as a cause, while outwardly relying upon spiritual friends as conditions; thus, all faults can be eliminated, and this is called cessation. When members of the remaining six assemblies wish to repent after breaking the precepts, they should likewise follow the three methods of repentance described above.

To uphold the bodhisattva precepts means that, from this present body until attaining Buddhahood, one does not violate them; this is called upholding.

1. The precepts of restraining conduct mean committing no evil. Refraining from all evil is called upholding; committing evil is called violating. Thus, nonaction, or cessation, is upholding, while action is violation.

2. The precepts of embracing wholesome dharmas mean performing every wholesome deed. Performing them is called upholding; failing to perform them is called violating. Thus, action is upholding, while nonaction, or cessation, is violation.

3. Benefiting sentient beings means that there is no sentient being whom one does not liberate. The cessation and action described above both liberate oneself and others. Failing to liberate others is called violating.

We who recollect the Buddha, whenever we see members of the four assemblies of the Buddha’s disciples, need not calculate whether they uphold or break the precepts. We must not deludedly give rise to discrimination. With an impartial mind, like the bodhisattva Never Disparaging in the Lotus Sutra, upon seeing members of the four assemblies we should immediately become reverent, praise them, and bow to them, saying: “I dare not disparage you, for you will all become Buddhas.” Therefore, it is said that whenever one meets anyone, one should give rise to the perception that one is meeting a Buddha.

Question: The Brahma’s Net Sutra says: “When a person receives the Buddha’s precepts, that person immediately enters the rank of the Buddhas.” Monastics bear the precepts like the bright moon and wear jeweled necklaces. They participate in the rank of the Three Honored Ones and serve as models for the seven assemblies. If they do not diligently preserve the precepts but act recklessly and perversely, defiling the meditation gate, then surely there is no fault in disparaging such people and no offense in striking them?

In the Sutra of the Ocean-like Samadhi of the Tathagata, the Buddha told his royal father: “In the past, four bhikshus violated the discipline. Filled with shame, they did not know where to seek refuge. Suddenly, a voice spoke from the sky: ‘Do not say that there is no longer any way to be saved!

It is not so. Although Tathagata King of Emptiness has entered nirvana, his image still remains. You should enter the stupa and single-mindedly contemplate the white light between the eyebrows of the jeweled image.’” The bhikshus obeyed, weeping as they said: “Even a Buddha image can eliminate such grave offenses; how much more so the Buddha’s true form!” They arose, bowed with their faces and heads touching the ground, and their offenses were immediately extinguished.

Today, they have all attained perfect awakening in the four directions: in the east, Buddha Akshobhya; in the south, Buddha Jeweled Mark; in the west, Buddha Infinite Life; and in the north, Buddha Wondrous Sound. These four bhikshus who had broken the precepts single-mindedly contemplated the jeweled marks and immediately entered the rank of the world’s Great Heroes. How could those who recollect the Buddha deceive themselves and lead others into error?

The Mahasamnipata Sutra says: “If kings or ministers strike or revile monastics, whether those monastics uphold or break the precepts, their offense is equal to causing a hundred kotis of Buddhas’ bodies to bleed.” When seeing someone wearing the kashaya robe, regardless of whether that person upholds or violates the precepts, one should perceive that person only as a Buddha. One who has the perception of a Buddha is one who realizes the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi. These are the Buddha’s golden words and also the purport of the bodhisattva Never Disparaging in the Lotus Sutra. How could one fail to believe them?

Be the master of the mind; do not allow the mind to be your master. When seeing stinginess and greed, contemplate generosity; when seeing someone who breaks the precepts, contemplate observance of the precepts. Thus, one will not be bound by the objects of the six corruptions and will accomplish the contemplative gateway of the Six Paramitas. If one deliberately discriminates, one brings darkness upon oneself. If one can thoroughly understand this insight, the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi will be accomplished as easily as water flowing in a river.

4. Being Presently in Hell Does Not Obstruct Receiving a Prediction

Question: Those presently in hell or among hungry ghosts can scarcely give rise to bodhicitta. Once a river has become turbid, no one knows when it will become clear. How can such beings be regarded in the same way as Buddhas?

Answer: Precious medicinal herbs are not gathered from a flower garden; the medicine of the Dharma does not arise of itself.

The Shurangama Sutra speaks of four kinds of predictions:

1. Predictions for those who have not yet aroused the aspiration.

2. Predictions for those who have newly aroused the aspiration.

3. Secret predictions.

4. Predictions given in one’s presence.

Regarding those presently in hell or among hungry ghosts, the Buddha predicts that in the future they will surely form a great resolve, meet spiritual friends, practice the bodhisattva path, and accomplish perfect awakening. This is precisely the Buddha’s prediction that those who have not yet aroused the aspiration will attain Buddhahood. When the Buddha spoke of the four kinds of people who receive predictions, Mahakashyapa said to the Buddha: “From now on, we shall regard all sentient beings as World-Honored Ones.

If we give rise to disparagement, we will harm ourselves.” The Buddha said: “Excellent! These words are exceedingly good. No one can fathom sentient beings; only the Tathagata can understand them thoroughly.

I instruct the shravakas and bodhisattvas to give rise to the perception that sentient beings are Buddhas.”

The Samantabhadra’s Practices and Vows chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “To destroy a hundred myriad gateways of obstruction, one must employ this perception of sentient beings as Buddhas.” Although the door to a house containing jewels has not yet been opened, nothing prevents one from saying that jewels are inside. Although a jewel on one’s forehead is completely concealed, nothing prevents one from saying that a jewel is hidden there.

If one does not recollect sentient beings as future Buddhas, one will surely be disturbed by the six sense objects and attacked by Mara’s armies. One will demolish one’s own citadel, preserve it for the enemy state, and continually give rise to hostility. While the battle between the two sides remains unsettled and the war drums still thunder, how could one lie down at ease in drunken sleep?

Those who can awaken to forms and sounds as Buddhas will perceive all sentient beings as future Buddhas. They certainly will not establish their minds upon the former realm of ordinary beings. If they contemplate their own bodies as the principal deity, they will naturally obtain the profound contemplative gateway of mantra yoga, without calculation.

Question: Those in hell have not yet aroused the aspiration. The Tathagata, the Dharma King, out of compassionate pity bestows predictions upon them. Yet in truth, they have not awakened. When will they awaken?

Answer: The source of the great Yangtze River amounts to no more than the contents of a cup; the root of great delusion lies only in the two attachments to self and dharmas. If one establishes non-thought apart from thought and establishes the unborn apart from birth, then birth and death differ from nirvana, and even the golden words of the Buddhas cannot instruct one. If one clearly knows that thought is non-thought and birth is unborn, then affliction itself is bodhi, and through this one may awaken to the adornment of the single mark.

It is like a swarm of bees brought down from a mountaintop into a room: they still produce fine honey. If the seven treasures are placed in a filthy well and then retrieved, could they be discarded and not regarded as precious? Their precious nature was originally complete within them; it did not first come into being now. If we examine all objects of our cognition and see the Tathagata everywhere, how could greed, anger, and delusion continue to arise?

The Tathagatagarbha Sutra teaches: “With the Buddha-eye, I behold that within the greed, anger, delusion, and various afflictions of all sentient beings are the Tathagata’s wisdom, the Tathagata’s eyes, and the Tathagata’s body, seated majestically and unmoving in the full lotus posture. They are complete with meritorious marks no different from mine.” Nine analogies are extensively employed to explain that all sentient beings possess the Tathagatagarbha.

In its explanation of the verse on the hidden treasury, the Ratnagotravibhaga teaches: “Within a withered flower are Buddhas; within a vessel of excrement is a ring of gold; within the earth is a treasury of precious jewels; within fruits and seeds are tender sprouts; within a tattered garment is an image of pure gold; within the womb of a poor and ugly woman is a wheel-turning king; within the mud is a supremely wondrous jeweled image.

Sentient beings are filled with greed, anger, delusion, deluded thoughts, and afflictions, yet within this realm of worldly defilement is the Tathagatagarbha.” The evidence above proves that being presently in hell does not obstruct receiving a prediction.

Question: When supreme persons apply their minds, every kind of object-clinging is entirely ended. Yet sentient beings release their minds to chase after objects and still see the Tathagata everywhere. In what teaching or scripture is this found?

Answer: The teachings state: “Those whose minds engage universally with the six sense objects and the three karmic activities nevertheless form wondrous vows within the realm of the Buddha. Each dependently arisen object is inseparable from the Tathagata. This is called seeing all. This perfect seeing is not seeing performed by the eyes.”

The Nirvana Sutra teaches: “Although shravakas possess the heavenly eye, it is regarded as the fleshly eye. Students of the Mahayana regard the fleshly eye as the Buddha-eye because they understand that their own bodies possess Buddha-nature.”

The Sutra of King Excellent Heaven teaches: “Through the power of skillful means, great bodhisattvas practice prajnaparamita and freely direct their minds toward all dharmas. When engaging with all forms, they vow to attain the Buddha’s form, which is nowhere apprehended. When engaging with sounds, they vow to attain the Tathagata’s subtle and wondrous voice.

When engaging with fragrances, they vow to attain the pure fragrance of the Tathagata’s precepts. When engaging with flavors, they vow to attain the foremost flavor of the Tathagata’s Marks of a Great Man. When engaging with tangible objects, they vow to attain the Tathagata’s soft hands.

When engaging with dharmas, they vow to attain the Tathagata’s tranquil mind. When engaging with the body, they vow to attain the Buddha-body. When engaging with speech, they vow to attain the Buddha’s speech.

When engaging with thought, they vow to attain the Tathagata’s impartial mind. Great bodhisattvas practicing prajnaparamita allow no thought or action to pass in vain without directing it toward omniscience. They engage universally with all dharmas without attachment and contemplate all dharmas as tending toward the path of bodhi.

The practices cultivated by bodhisattvas are established through external conditions. It is like the earth: wherever one wishes to dig a pond or well, water is immediately available for use. If one refuses to dig, how could water be obtained?

The realm of noble wisdom is likewise: it pervades all dharmas. If people diligently cultivate prajna and skillful means, they will attain the supreme wisdom of prajna. If they refuse to practice, how could they attain it?”

5. Contemplate Emptiness and Non-Self, and Follow What Is Wholesome

Question: If ordinary beings themselves are sages, all is non-self. Thus, the non-self taught by the Three Teachings is no different. What does this mean?

Answer: Although the Three Teachings initially use the same term, their principles are not identical. The Master Confucius, Zhongni, spoke of non-self among the Four Prohibitions with the meaning of humility. Laozi’s teaching speaks of non-self in the sense that throughout extended time there is no master. The Buddha’s teaching speaks of non-self as contemplating that the five skandhas are all empty.

Neither Confucianism nor Daoism clearly understands the five skandhas; how, then, could they understand the Four Noble Truths, the Six Paramitas, and the myriad practices, much less the stages of attainment? Their sages and worthies have never heard of these. Therefore, practitioners who cultivate the mind must select what is best and follow it.

What is unwholesome does not benefit the ultimately true. Neither recording nor remembering good and evil obstructs the Buddhadharma. How could such obstruction not arise from this? Therefore, sages simply discard it and do not adopt it. The Buddha-Recollection Samadhi is the supreme good and foremost among the myriad practices; therefore, it is called the king of samadhis.

6. Neither Selecting the Wholesome nor Rejecting the Evil

Question: If one selects the wholesome to follow, why not select the wholesomeness of the Buddhas and reject the evil of sentient beings?

Answer: There is no need to alter the question; it itself can serve as the response. Why? Because selecting the wholesome to follow encompasses transforming evil into good and delusion into truth. If one can recollect the future Buddha and speak of the birth of the bodhisattva Never Disparaging, then heaven and earth are one, and the myriad things are a single horsehair.

Because sentient beings are all Buddhas, this land is always pure. Shariputra’s perception of this land as rocks, sand, tiles, and bricks is no different from Brahma King’s perception of it as a land adorned with precious treasures. Thus, in selecting the ultimate good, no one can be rejected.

The Lotus Sutra clearly expresses the wondrous purport that transcends dualistic oppositions: “When sentient beings see the kalpa ending and the great fire burning, this land of mine remains peaceful and secure, constantly filled with heavenly and human beings. Its halls and gardens and groves are adorned with various treasures.”

The Sutra of King Excellent Heaven says: “The place where a Buddha dwells is truly not a defiled land. Because sentient beings possess little merit, they perceive impurity.” The mighty power of samadhi cannot be destroyed by insignificant, mosquito-like deluded thoughts. Striking the great bell and maintaining ten uninterrupted recollections is clearly different from recollecting the Buddha with a distracted mind.

Recollecting Amitabha Buddha is universally recollecting all Buddhas of the three times. The same applies to recollecting all Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana teaches: “Because one is confined to a single orientation, one mistakenly changes the direction, regarding west as south, while in reality the directions have not changed.” Therefore, clearly comprehending one direction sets all other directions aright; recollecting one Buddha brings all Buddhas into one’s presence.

This is precisely the essential meaning of the Mahayana Dharma-gateway.

7. One Must Not Eat the Flesh of Any Sentient Being

Question: Meat is something for people to eat. Why is it absolutely forbidden to those who recollect the Buddha?

Answer: King Shibi sacrificed his body to save a duck, and only his entire body equaled its weight. Although humans and animals differ, all crave life and fear death. How, then, could one eat their flesh, fattening one’s own body by taking their lives? Is this not terrifying? If one knows that sentient beings are future Buddhas, who could bear to wield a knife and destroy their lives?

The Shurangama Sutra contains this verse:

Therefore, the Buddha taught that if wealth is given in generosity, trappers of animals and butchers will naturally cease to exist. Thus, Patriarch Nagarjuna did not disparage even small birds, and eminent monks dared not tread upon insects or ants. If someone asks about this, we may answer: Sentient beings, great and small, dwell together with us in the ocean of birth and death. Some among them may attain perfect awakening before us; how, then, could we dare disparage them? If we must not even disparage them, how much less may we consume their blood and flesh?

The Ratnagotravibhaga cites the Tathagatagarbha Sutra as teaching: “Sentient beings are the truth of ultimate meaning, the Buddha; they are the Tathagatagarbha, the Dharma-body, and bodhi.” Those who do not understand the purport of recollecting future Buddhas are like dogs that chase only the packet of food rather than the person carrying it. When will such chasing ever end? Those who recollect only the Buddhas of the past and present but do not recollect future Buddhas will never end their conceit.

If a lion chases the person, the packet of food is immediately cast away as unnecessary. We often hear that reverence and conceit are one, yet their characters are profoundly different. To abandon reverence and follow conceit toward one’s parents is great rebellion and a violation of the Way.

To abandon conceit and follow reverence toward one’s parents is great filial devotion. Therefore, the Brahma’s Net Sutra teaches: “All sentient beings in the six destinies have been our parents. Filial devotion is called the precepts; wholesome roots arise from here.” Contemplating all sentient beings in the six destinies as future Buddhas closely accords with perceiving them all as one’s parents.

Just as the shramanera who saved a colony of ants had his lifespan extended, and the elder Jalavahana, who channeled water to save fish, received flowers showered down by the heavens, so should we replace the conception of sentient beings passing through measureless kalpas with recollection of their future Buddha-bodies. Know that pure gold lies within a heap of filthy excrement and that, although many layers of clouds conceal it, the bright moon remains beyond them.

In the same way, craving to eat meat is a mass of dark clouds formed by the karmic retribution of birth and death. One must use the wind of wisdom to sweep them away, and samadhi will manifest before one. The Brahma’s Net Sutra teaches: “I am a Buddha already accomplished; you are Buddhas yet to be accomplished.” If a person constantly possesses such faith, the categories of precepts are already complete.

How, then, could one fail to recollect future Buddhas?

Question: I now believe that meat must not be eaten. What of the five pungent plants?

Answer: The Buddha’s Crown Shurangama Sutra teaches: “These five pungent plants, when cooked, arouse lust; when eaten raw, they increase anger. Even if those who eat these five pungent plants can skillfully expound the twelve divisions of the canon, the heavenly immortals throughout the ten directions will detect their foul odor and all keep their distance. Hungry ghosts will follow those who eat the five pungent plants and lick their lips.

Such people constantly dwell together with ghosts. Their merit and virtue diminish day by day, and they receive no benefit. When meditators eat these five pungent plants, bodhisattvas, heavenly immortals, and heavenly spirits throughout the ten directions will not come to aid or protect them, while mighty Mara kings will find many opportunities to harm them.

Those who cultivate the path of bodhi must forever renounce the five pungent plants. This is the first step in advancing one’s cultivation.” These are golden words; how could we oppose them?

The Sutra of a Hundred Parables says: “A man traveling along a road found a chest of gold coins. He bent over it and began counting, but before he had finished, the owner of the chest arrived and took the money back. The traveler regretted that he had not departed quickly and became sorrowful and distressed. Those who encounter the Buddhadharma but do not hasten to practice diligently, delighting only in extensive learning, may suddenly reach the end of their lives and fall into the three evil destinies. They are like that foolish man, lingering to count the money until its owner came and took it away.” A verse says: