萬善同歸集

Bodhi arises from the Dharma-nature, and the myriad practices are accomplished from Suchness. One engages in activities throughout the day, yet in truth does nothing; although doing nothing, one does everything. If one says that there is doing, it is the same as demonic activity; if one clings to non-doing, one falls into annihilationism.

Therefore, one should know that outside one’s own mind there is no dharma that can be established. The ten bodies of the Buddha are fully present within one’s own mind, and the four lands are entirely encompassed within one’s own mind.

Although the one mind contains everything, it does not destroy the distinction between inner and outer. All accord with the Dharma-nature; how could Being and Emptiness obstruct one another? Abiding in Emptiness while fully possessing wisdom and skillful means, one does not become attached to Being; amid Being, one applies supreme practices and therefore does not fall into Emptiness.

Therefore, when phenomena are precisely principle, practices are accomplished without obstruction; when principle is precisely phenomena, practices accord with Suchness. Function and phenomenal characteristics are not lacking, and the essential nature is present right there.

The subtle practices for teaching and transforming sentient beings do not go beyond the Six Paramitas and the Four Means of Embracing; genuine cultivation for one’s own benefit has nothing surpassing the Seven Factors of Awakening and the Noble Eightfold Path. Gather the Four Foundations of Mindfulness into the One Reality, and sum up the Four Right Efforts without going beyond the One Mind; purify and adorn the Five Faculties so as to accomplish the Five Powers.

– As for giving, relinquish both inwardly and outwardly.

– As for observance of the precepts, uphold the precepts of both the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle.

– As for diligent cultivation, practice with body and mind simultaneously.

– As for patience, fully possess both patience with sentient beings and patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas.

– As for prajna, objects and wisdom are nondual.

– As for meditative concentration, movement and stillness are equal.

– As for skillful means, illuminate the defilements everywhere.

– As for making vows, extend them throughout the dharma realm.

– As for the application of powers, thoroughly master the Buddha’s ten kinds of powers of knowledge.

– As for wisdom, perfectly accomplish omniscient knowledge of all modes.

– As for loving speech, accord with beings and adapt to their capacities.

– As for beneficial conduct alongside others, one can follow the actions and thoughts of sentient beings.

– As for exercising loving-kindness, deliver enemies and loved ones alike.

– As for teaching the Dharma, simultaneously embrace those of both sharp and dull capacities.

– As for the Seven Factors of Awakening, neither torpor nor restlessness arises.

– As for the Noble Eightfold Path, neither wrong views nor inverted perceptions arise.

Furthermore, one must fully cultivate subtle practices to attain the Three Kinds of Firmness, fully possess the Seven Noble Treasures, uphold the Three Collections of Pure Precepts, perfect the essential reality of the seven virtues of purity, and awaken to the principle of the natural True Characteristic, thereby conforming to the natural order.

Cultivate pure conduct to sever the roots of defilements and habitual tendencies; manifest the practice of deliverance so that shravakas may cease resting in the Conjured City; display conduct as innocent as that of a child to guide ordinary beings upward to the heavenly realms. Pass through the five stages of the bodhi path, enter the city of nirvana endowed with the three virtues, refine the three karmic activities into the three wheels, and transcend the three kinds of feeling to perfect the three kinds of mindfulness.

Through cultivation imbued with the Three Contemplations, the complete fruition of the perfectly luminous Five Eyes arises. Only then can one freely exercise supernormal powers, enter and emerge from hundreds of thousands of right concentrations, adorn and purify Buddha lands, and ascend the unobstructed place of awakening. Thereafter, responding universally throughout all directions, one manifests the excellent marks of the ten bodies, illuminating the entire dharma realm, and kindles the radiant lamps of the Four Wisdoms. The Way and beings’ responses interact with one another, and beings are transformed and delivered according to their capacities. Without moving from the Original Limit, responsive traces appear in square or round forms, and all who see or hear them receive benefit.

Thus, it is merely sentient beings themselves who perceive these things, while in truth I do nothing. All this arises from the accumulation and cultivation of goodness, thereby naturally accomplishing this vast work of teaching and transformation.

The Contemplation of Returning to the Source says:

“Function is like the surging waves of the ocean, entirely the operation of the true essence. The essence is like a clear mirror and still water; all accords with conditions and converges in quiescence.”

Dharma Master Sengzhao said:

“To encompass the myriad practices, expedient wisdom is the essential principle; to establish the root of virtue, the Six Paramitas are the foundation; to rescue beings from delusion, loving-kindness and compassion come first; and to speak of the ultimate, nonduality is the central doctrine. These constitute the root of the inconceivable.

“As for borrowing the lion throne of the Buddha Sumeru Lamp King, seeking food in the Land of Accumulated Fragrance, containing heaven and earth within a pure chamber, and using one arm to lift the great trichiliocosm—these are all branches of the inconceivable. Yet although the profound and hidden gate is opened, the responsive manifestations of the sages are not all the same.

“Without the root, the branches cannot be manifested; without the branches, the root cannot be revealed. Although root and branches differ, the inconceivable is fundamentally one.”

Question:

The body is the foundation of the Way, and bondage is the cause of liberation. Why, then, burn one’s hands or incinerate one’s body, practicing in a manner contrary to the Way?

The Biographies of Eminent Monks and the disciplinary codes of the Lesser Vehicle explicitly censure such acts. How could acting in this way accord with the Buddha’s teaching?

Answer:

To relinquish one’s body and life and thereby repay the profound kindness of the Dharma accords perfectly with the Mahayana scriptures and the True Dharma.

The Brahma Net Sutra says:

“If one is a disciple of the Buddha, one should cultivate a wholesome mind. First study the sutras and disciplinary codes that teach the dignified conduct of the Mahayana, opening the mind-nature and gaining a broad understanding of their principles.

“If one sees a person newly cultivating the bodhisattva practices who has come from hundreds or thousands of miles away to seek instruction in the Mahayana sutras and disciplinary codes, one should, in accordance with the Dharma, explain all the ascetic practices, such as burning the body, an arm, or a finger.

“If one does not burn the body, an arm, or a finger as an offering to the Buddhas, one is not a renunciant bodhisattva. One should even relinquish one’s body and limbs as food for hungry tigers, wolves, lions, and all hungry ghosts. Thereafter, one should successively teach the True Dharma to all of them, enabling them to open their minds and understand the Buddhadharma. If one does not act in this way, one commits a minor defiling offense.”

The Shurangama Sutra says:

“The Buddha told Ananda:

“‘After my nirvana, if there is a bhikshu who resolves to cultivate right concentration, he may, before an image of the Tathagata, use his body as a lamp by burning one finger, one joint of a finger, or even one incense pellet upon his body. I say that if this person has debts from the distant past, they will be repaid all at once. He will depart from the world and forever escape all afflictions. Although he has not yet immediately understood the path to unsurpassed awakening, he has already formed a resolute determination regarding the True Dharma.

“‘If he does not create this small cause of relinquishing the body, then even if he accomplishes the unconditioned, he must still be reborn as a human being to repay his former debts, just as I suffered the calamity of having to eat horse fodder.’”

Thus, the Lesser Vehicle clings to characteristics and establishes prohibitions without allowing exceptions. The Mahayana is perfectly penetrating and has no fixed dharma.

The Bodhisattva Good Precepts Sutra says:

“The precepts of the shravakas are stringent, whereas the precepts of bodhisattvas are lenient; the precepts of the shravakas obstruct, whereas the precepts of bodhisattvas open the way.”

The sutra also says: “What constitutes observance of the precepts for shravakas constitutes a breach of the precepts for bodhisattvas.”

This refers precisely to the matter at hand.

If one follows the sutras of definitive meaning, all Buddhas rejoice; but if one clings to provisional words spoken according to circumstances, all sages are saddened. One should only extol the Mahayana and praise the Perfect Teaching, thereby benefiting oneself and others. Why cling to expedient teachings and remain confined by minor details, so that both root and branches become obscured and unclear?

Question:

Burning the body, casting oneself into an abyss, and hurling oneself into blazing fire—such actions resemble those of the ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhist practitioners, whom all sages censured. Now that we have fortunately encountered the True Dharma, why should we follow a deviant path?

Answer:

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“The Buddhadharma has two kinds of paths:

– The first is the path of ultimate emptiness.

– The second is the path that distinguishes good from bad.

If speaking of the path of ultimate emptiness, the suchness of an ordinary being is precisely the suchness of liberation through the exhaustion of the outflows. The words of the Tathagata are the words of Devadatta, neither two nor different, one path and one source.”

Therefore, in hell one gives rise to the mind of Wondrous Awakening, while at the stage of Buddhahood the realm of Niraya is manifested.

If one abandons the deviant and returns to the right, both the deviant and the right are erroneous; if one abandons evil and clings to good, both good and evil become faults.

As for the path that distinguishes good from bad, delusion and wisdom differ, the ultimate and the conventional are distinct, jade and stone should be differentiated, and gold and brass must be clearly distinguished.

Moreover, within the gate of cultivation, amid higher and lower stages, there are naturally inner and outer schools and followers, as well as deviant and right views of cause and effect. These must be skillfully and carefully distinguished and cannot casually be regarded as the same. Furthermore, the teachings contain words of censure and praise, and indeed include commendation and criticism. If one clings to them, they become obstructions; if one understands them clearly, all are comprehensively penetrated.

If considered in terms of the remedial application of the Four Siddhantas [15], whether to relinquish or to adopt must be carefully examined. If one says that all are right, then the Nirgrantha has accomplished the true path and the Buddhas were mistaken in rebuking him; if one says that all are wrong, then Bodhisattva Medicine King fell into the fault of inversion and the Buddhas praised him incorrectly.

Therefore, promoting deviance becomes a useless practice, while abolishing what is right cuts off the gate of skillful means. One must clearly understand what is permitted and what is prohibited; how could there be no adopting and rejecting?

Furthermore, when followers within the teaching and those outside the teaching relinquish their own lives, each has two intentions.

The two intentions of those within the teaching are:

1. They clearly understand that both self and others are empty in nature, cling neither to self nor to dharmas, perceive no object of offering, and have no thought that it is they who burn their bodies.

2. They act solely to make offerings to the Three Jewels and repay the four debts of gratitude, thereby supporting the path to unsurpassed Awakening, without seeking the rewards of gods or humans.

The two intentions of those outside the teaching are:

1. Their attachment to the body has not ended; they increase self-conceit, remain deluded about the wisdom of non-action, and give rise to a mind intent on attainment.

2. They merely covet present fame and hope for blessings and benefits in future lives. They may aspire to become kings or seek rebirth in the Heaven of Abundant Fruit.

Therefore, the teachings of the Tiantai school explain Medicine King’s burning of his body as follows:

“Object and wisdom are nondual; perceiver and perceived are both empty. Through nondual contemplation, one contemplates the nondual object, accomplishes nondual practice, and realizes the nondual nature of emptiness. When this contemplation is practiced, all who see or hear throughout the Dharma realm obtain benefit; hence it is called the Vehicle of Vehicles.”

Thus, casting oneself into an abyss is not deemed a non-Buddhist practice, and plunging into blazing fire is not censured by those within the teaching. This is because inwardly there is contemplative principle, while outwardly the aspiration is made manifest. Therefore, the Brahmin Victorious Heat dispelled the doubts of the youth Sudhana, and the Nirgrantha caused King Adorned Blazing to give rise to faith in and understanding of the Buddhadharma.

Only when the path has been thoroughly discussed and put into practice can its accomplishment be seen. When the mind is right, conduct is right; when understanding is deviant, deeds are deviant. Practice must not be abandoned, nor may wisdom be forgotten; then later students will not lose the benefit of the teaching.

The Manjusri Sutra says:

“When a bodhisattva relinquishes the body, the act is not morally indeterminate, but yields merit alone. Because this body of afflictions is extinguished, a pure body is attained. It is like washing a soiled garment with lye-water: the dirt is removed, yet the garment remains.”

If one grasps the perfect purport, one’s discernment will be clear and decisive. Please examine these passages and take them as a mirror for reflection.

Question:

Giving while abiding in and clinging to characteristics results only in impermanence and increases the conditioned mind, contrary to the unconditioned path. How could this equal contemplating in accordance with the essential principle, whereby merit becomes as vast as empty space?

Therefore, the sutra says:

“The Buddha said: Only by attaining selflessness can one accord with the principle.”

Why, then, cling rigidly to phenomenal characteristics and depend upon external objects, instead of contemplating the mind to attain the path?

Answer:

If one speaks from the perspective of contemplating the mind, then everything that meets the eye is the path. Since it is said that one has attained the path, every raising of the hand and taking of a step accords with the path.

A bodhisattva who practices the myriad practices and fully embodies the Four Means of Embracing should not cling rigidly to emptiness and reject existence, tenaciously preserve the “one” while shunning the “many.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “To uphold one dharma while denying other dharmas is the conduct of Mara.”

Therefore, even if one abandons extreme views and turns toward the Middle Way, one still falls into wrong views. Thus, one should not rely on the doctrine one venerates and presume it alone to be wondrous and profound. All such notions are the fabrications of consciousness and thought, produced by the five skandhas and the eighteen dhatus. One must, according to circumstances, refute or illuminate them, while prajna freely expands and gathers in.

With respect to the two gates of existence and emptiness, one neither goes beyond them nor abides within them; with respect to the two truths, ultimate and conventional, one neither remains squarely within them nor separates from them. Activity and repose do not conflict, but are perfectly interfused and unobstructed.

Generally, within the Dharma gates cultivated by Buddhas and bodhisattvas, there are principal practices and auxiliary practices, the real and the expedient. Principle and phenomena are cultivated simultaneously; wisdom and discipline are valued equally; compassion and prajna are practiced in parallel; the inner and the outer mutually support each other.

If one definitively establishes a single school, that is precisely the lineage of the demon king; if one eliminates everything, it becomes one’s own deluded error.

Therefore, the Mahasamnipata Sutra says:

“There are two practices of cultivation:

– To rely on the emptiness of nature and enter directly is called the practice of wisdom.

– To cultivate without abolishing phenomenal characteristics is called the practice of conduct.

The Treatise on Bodhi says that there are two paths: the first is the path of skillful means, namely, clearly knowing wholesome dharmas; the second is the path of wisdom, namely, clearly seeing that dharmas are not real.

The sutra further says that there are two kinds of suchness: the first is suchness in the cause, which is suchness free from defilement; the second is suchness in the fruit, which is suchness free from impurity, like an undefiled flower.

There are also two kinds of mind: the first is the intrinsically pure mind, which has existed from the beginning; the second is the mind purified through freedom from defilement, which exists in the ultimate sense.

The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana establishes two kinds of characteristics: the first is the characteristic of sameness, spoken of in terms of equality in essential nature; the second is the characteristic of difference, spoken of in terms of distinctions within illusory manifestations.

The Tiantai school speaks of two kinds of goodness: penetrating the emptiness of both perceiver and perceived is called “the goodness of cessation.” Employing skillful means to exhort everyone to cultivate is called “the goodness of practice.”

Question:

The essential purport of the teachings of the Buddhas and Patriarchs establishes only the One Vehicle. Therefore, the sutra says: “The Buddhas of the ten directions reach nirvana by one path alone.” The sutra also says that all those with unobstructed penetration escape birth and death by a single path.

Why, then, set forth numerous distinctions among phenomenal characteristics and establish two kinds of Dharma gates, thereby confusing the True School and giving rise to wrong views?

Answer:

The Dharma of the Buddhas, when spoken of in terms of its essential tenet, is only one. Yet, from the standpoint of function, it is divided into two, while its essential nature always remains the same. Thus, the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith establishes, within the One Mind, the Gate of Suchness and the Gate of Birth and Cessation.

This is the way of the Two Truths within the One Vehicle; from the beginning it has always been thus, without increase or decrease. Therefore, the universal aspect and the particular aspects reveal one another, while root and branches support one another. Without the universal aspect, the particular aspects could not arise.

Without the particular aspects, the universal aspect could not be established. Without the root, branches could not grow; without the branches, the root could not be revealed.

From this, it may be fully understood that a bird with only one wing can scarcely soar into the high sky, and a cart with only one wheel cannot move. Truth alone cannot be established, and delusion alone cannot be accomplished. From the standpoint of essence, although there are distinctions, there is no distinction; from the standpoint of function, although there is no distinction, there are distinctions. Only when one and two are unobstructed can one enter the gate of nonduality; only when emptiness and existence do not contradict one another can one reach the realm of true emptiness.

Question:

On the level of phenomena, there are distinctions of time and place; but when speaking from the standpoint of the essence of principle, it is solely one and not two, utterly still and unmoving.

Since the essence of principle and phenomenal characteristics differ in this way, why is it said that they are unobstructed?

Answer:

Phenomenal characteristics are accomplished through the essence of principle. The essence of principle is revealed through phenomenal characteristics. Just as countless waves do not obstruct one another because they share the single nature of wetness, so various ornaments do not obstruct one another because they are all made of gold. Essence and function mutually encompass one another; expansion and contraction are equal and of one accord.

If this is explained according to the meaning of perfect interpenetration, not only are principle and phenomena mutually identical, but principle and principle may also be mutually identical, phenomena and phenomena may also be mutually identical, and phenomena and principle may also be non-identical. Therefore, it is called the Dharma gate of unhindered freedom in accordance with conditions.

Moreover, within the Buddhas’ Dharma gate of teaching and transformation, there is the Dharma of generosity, which stands foremost among the Ten Perfections, is the first of the myriad practices, is the initial cause for entering the Way, and is the pivotal means of gathering in sentient beings.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“The Dharma of generosity is a treasury that always follows a person. Generosity relieves suffering and bestows happiness upon all.

Generosity points out to people the path leading to the heavenly realms. Generosity is a splendid mansion that receives all good people. Generosity brings peace and security, so that when death approaches, the mind has no fear. Generosity is the mark of loving-kindness and compassion, capable of aiding everyone. Generosity is the gathering of all joys and can destroy the bandits of suffering. Generosity is a great general capable of subduing the enemy army of stinginess and greed. Generosity is the pure path by which all sages and noble ones attain accomplishment. Generosity is the gate for accumulating wholesome merit. Generosity can bring the complete fruition of blessed happiness.

Generosity is the initial condition for nirvana, the essential Dharma for entering the ranks of good people, the source from which praise and commendation arise, the merit by which one encounters no difficulty when among an assembly, the root that causes the mind to be free of regret, the foundation of the path and wholesome practices, a forest filled with every joy, a field of merit yielding wealth, nobility, peace, and security, and the ferryboat that carries one to the shore of nirvana.”

The Compendium of the Six Practices says:

“When ordinary beings practice generosity, if they give rise to arrogance, they create offenses; if they give rise to reverence, it becomes merit.

When those of the Two Vehicles practice generosity, they contemplate only the objects of cognition as changing and impermanent.

When lesser bodhisattvas practice generosity, they reflect that the essential nature of the gift is empty.

When great bodhisattvas practice generosity, they know that appearances are perceived by the deluded mind.

When a Buddha practices generosity, he realizes Mind-Only, transcends thought, and is perpetually pure.

It should therefore be understood that within the single gate of generosity, the six practices differ; how could they carelessly be presented as all the same?

There are also inner generosity and outer generosity, generosity in terms of principle and generosity in terms of phenomena. Essence and function support one another, while root and branches reveal one another. If one follows principle alone, one sinks into annihilationism; if one clings to phenomena, one inevitably falls into the view of permanence. Only when principle and phenomena interpenetrate can these two errors be transcended. Furthermore, when the intent of the Buddhas is considered with respect to generosity, generosity in terms of principle comes first; therefore, emphasis is placed upon inner generosity.”

The Lotus Sutra says:

“The Buddha declared:

If a person arouses the aspiration to attain unsurpassed, true and perfect enlightenment and is able to burn a finger or a toe as an offering to a Buddha’s stupa, this surpasses offering kingdoms, cities, wives and children, mountains and forests, rivers and ponds, and all precious things throughout a great trichiliocosm.”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“If a person relinquishes his body and life as an offering, his blessed reward is even greater than that of one who gives and offers treasures filling the whole of Jambudvipa.”

Thus, it should be understood that gentle words and eloquent speech are easy to present, but the precious body in its entirety is difficult to relinquish. The resolve to preserve one’s life is deeply rooted, and the attachment to living is intense. Even if one clearly understands that self, recipient, and gift are all empty and quiescent in essential nature, this still belongs to the Shared Teaching. How much less, while the mind still accepts and rejects, could one accomplish the pure Dharma of generosity?

Furthermore, within the Perfect Teaching, the gate of generosity pervades the Dharma realm: what phenomenon does it not encompass, and what principle does it not perfectly interpenetrate? A bodhisattva illuminates principle without abandoning phenomena and examines phenomena without impairing principle. The propagation of the Way depends upon people; why then become entangled in the Dharma?

If phenomena exist apart from principle, those phenomena become the deluded affairs of those with fixed dispositions. If principle exists apart from phenomena, that principle becomes the view of annihilationism. If one becomes entangled in phenomena and is deluded about principle, one undergoes retribution within samsara; if one realizes principle and thereby masters phenomena, one accomplishes the ultimate fruition.

The Lotus Sutra says:

If relinquishing the body were wrong, how could it accomplish the Buddha’s wisdom? Therefore, it should be understood that although a wholesome act may be small, it leads to a vast and profound result. To take this Dharma as the cause of cultivation is truly never in vain. When Buddha Shakyamuni relinquished his body and life, each time he attained a Dharma gate—sometimes attaining the Patience of Gentle Accord, and sometimes entering the Patient Acceptance of the Non-Arising of Dharmas.

In general, whatever bodhisattvas do, they fully understand selflessness and the absence of inherent nature. While carrying out phenomenal practices, they clearly perceive principle; when encountering objects, they thoroughly realize their emptiness. They are unlike ordinary beings who create offenses and merit without understanding that the causes and effects of good and evil lack inherent nature. Such ordinary beings are deluded about phenomena while clinging to principle and thus remain constantly bound within the three realms.

Question:

A sutra says:

“Even if one were to give away bodies and lives as numerous as the sands of the Ganges three times over, this would still not equal accepting and upholding a four-line verse.”

It should therefore be understood that the merit of prajnaparamita is profound, while the power of generosity is limited. Why then go against the fundamental tenet, transgress the truth, and waste one’s vital energy in vain? This may be called seeking awakening only to become deluded again, and wishing to rise only to fall back down.

Answer:

Only by penetrating principle are the myriad practices accomplished; once the essential tenet is clearly understood, the thousand paths are unobstructed. One should not abandon one and adopt the other, cling rigidly to what is right, and reject what is deemed wrong. One must practice the gate of non-obstruction and skillfully enter the all-pervading practice. Therefore, the Buddhas of the past and our Original Teacher Shakyamuni, throughout immeasurable kalpas, relinquished countless bodies and lives. Sometimes, in seeking the Dharma, he offered his bones and marrow and cut flesh from his own body; sometimes, in practicing loving-kindness and compassion, he gave his own flesh to a hawk or a starving tiger.

The Treatise on Prajnaparamita says:

“Since beginningless kalpas, the Tathagata has relinquished his body, life, and possessions in order to practice the true Dharma. The true Dharma has no bounds; because its causes are inexhaustible, its fruits are also inexhaustible. These fruits are precisely the three bodies of a Buddha.”

From ancient times to the present, not a few bodhisattvas and eminent monks of India and China have likewise relinquished their bodies and lives. They all followed the scriptural teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and emulated the example handed down from ancient times of Bodhisattva Medicine King burning his body and setting fire to his arms.

The Biographies of Eminent Monks records that Dharma Master Jing’ai entered Mount Zhongnan, cut flesh from his own body and placed it upon a rock, then thrust in his hands, drew out his intestines, and hung them from a tree branch; finally, holding his heart in his hands, he died. He wrote a verse and left it upon a wall:

“May I, after casting off this body,

Quickly attain a body of freedom.

Once the Dharma body is free,

May it ever abide throughout all realms.

Wherever benefit may be given,

May it protect the Dharma and save sentient beings.

Moreover, karma must come to an end;

All conditioned dharmas are thus.

The three realms are all impermanent;

When the time arrives, one has no freedom.

Whether slain by another or dying by oneself,

In the end, it is all the same.

The wise neither grieve nor delight;

Today, karma comes to an end.”

Bodhisattva Sengyai also burned his body and said:

– I undergo this suffering in place of all sentient beings.

He first burned one of his fingers. People asked:

– When the evil karma of sentient beings ripens, each person undergoes suffering for himself, without any connection to others. How can you take their place by burning yourself?

He said:

– The very arising of a single thought of wholesome roots can eliminate evil karma. How, then, could this not serve as taking their place?

He further told everyone:

– After I enter extinction, know that the origins of those who delight in making offerings to the sick are difficult to fathom. Most of them are Buddhas and sages who appear through transformations in accordance with circumstances. Without a vast mind of equality, how could one revere everyone? This is true practice.

Chan Master Manzong of Tiantai spent his entire life lecturing on and reciting the Lotus Sutra, to the point that his spiritual response caused a divine being to manifest bodily. Thereafter, he devoted himself to meditation and the recitation of sutras and mantras, and finally burned his body as an offering to the Lotus Sutra.

There was also Chan Master Jingbian, a disciple of Great Master Zhiyi, who burned his body before the repentance hall as an offering to Bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

Mahasattva Fu of Shuanglin wished to burn his body to deliver sentient beings from suffering. In succession, forty-eight of his disciples willingly offered to burn their own bodies in their master’s stead, entreating him to remain in the world and teach sentient beings.

Such true accounts are clearly recorded in the biographies, and cannot all be presented here. If it were said that these were merely states manifested by sages, then those sages would be at fault for deceiving ordinary beings. If ordinary beings had no share in becoming worthies and sages, the teachings would be nothing more than the empty establishment of expedient means.

It was precisely to guide later generations, bringing them into accord with those who came before and enabling ordinary beings truly to realize bodhi, that such expedient manifestations were established, also helping those who came afterward to follow their example. One should not deceive others with a perverse teaching and tell them to practice it.

The Buddha, endowed with great compassion, never deceives sentient beings. Therefore, the eighty-four thousand Dharma gates all lead to liberation; even the slightest wholesome thought leads to True Suchness. Within the Buddhadharma there are the beginner’s mind and the later mind, patience regarding beings and patience regarding dharmas. There is no need to disparage the lower by appealing to the higher, or to encroach upon the higher by appealing to the lower. One should skillfully understand the appropriate time and conditions and examine the strength of one’s own faculties. Do not criticize whether others’ deeds are good or bad, or forcibly establish right and wrong. Speech is the source of calamity and will incur verbal karma.

Moreover, bodhisattvas who have attained patience regarding dharmas, though they have realized the emptiness of persons and the emptiness of dharmas, still burn their arms and bodies to benefit others and eradicate greed and miserliness, as did Bodhisattva Medicine King and Venerable Sengyai.

Those who have not yet perfected patience regarding dharmas may know how to use the fire of wisdom to burn the firewood of afflictions, thoroughly comprehend that both persons and dharmas are empty, and no longer give rise to attachment to a self. Yet if they remain heavily obstructed by their present afflictions, they have still not attained correspondence. They must arouse a powerful resolve, put true practice into action, repay the Buddha’s profound kindness, take upon themselves the suffering of sentient beings, and extensively cultivate compassionate deeds.

Those who wish to perfect the Dharma gates that aid the path should not give rise to thoughts of seeking. If there is no deceit, their endeavors will not be in vain. As for those whose wisdom-eye is not yet clear, who still give rise to attachment to a self and merely seek karmic causes and fruits, whose resolve to pursue the path is not firm, yet who plan to imitate the deeds of the ancients—such people are not under discussion here.

The faculties of sentient beings are not the same; therefore, their inclinations also differ. Thus, a sutra states: “The Buddha said: If sentient beings must be delivered by means of falsehood, I too speak falsely in order to teach and transform them.”

Therefore, know that phenomena are myriad, while principle returns to a single source. All these are skillful means arising from vast compassion. Some, by relinquishing body and life, swiftly awaken to and enter patience regarding dharmas; some, by single-mindedly cultivating meditation, awaken to non-arising; some, by clearly knowing that their own mind is originally pure, realize the True Mark; some, by cultivating contemplation of impurity, attain a state free from defilement; some advance to the fruition of a sage while dwelling in houses adorned with the seven treasures; and some attain nirvana beneath trees or beside burial grounds.

Thus, immeasurable and innumerable gates of transformation all lead to liberation; the boundless teachings, once understood, immediately return to True Suchness.

The Buddha’s words are in no way false fabrications. It is like journeying a great distance on foot: one takes the destination as the objective, without concern for what kind of road one travels and without insistently debating whether it is difficult or easy.

Know that illness cannot be treated exclusively with powdered medicine, just as the sky cannot remain forever clear. Pills and powders must be used in harmonious combination, with yin and yang assisting one another; then all illnesses are cured, and the myriad things under heaven flourish and grow.

This makes clear that all teachings are provisional establishments adapted to circumstances. In truth, there is no fixed method; one simply teaches and transforms in accordance with the inclinations of those being addressed. Realization of the path alone is taken as essential, without comparing the coarse and subtle aspects of the initial approach. If one clings to the Four Gates of the Perfect Teaching [16], one may still require the remedial treatment of the Initial Gate of the Tripitaka Teaching.

Therefore, the Dharma gate of generosity cultivated by bodhisattvas is like a prisoner escaping through the latrine opening, or like a sick person who recovers by drinking impure water. Without contemplation, one certainly cannot eradicate the root disease of the three poisons; without practice, it is difficult to escape the prison of the three realms.

An ancient text says:

“A bird may be caught by a single mesh of a net, but that single mesh cannot be regarded as the entire net. The successful governance of a country may be attributed to one person, but that one person alone cannot constitute a nation.”

Therefore, one must perfect all practices and cultivate the myriad wholesome deeds. When a single practice returns to the source, the thousand Dharma gates naturally become true and correct. A sutra clearly teaches that the twelve links of dependent origination constitute a single Dharma; yet when contemplated from the four perspectives of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, they lead to four kinds of bodhi*.

If only those of superior faculties were accepted, those of middling and inferior faculties would have no share. Therefore, propagating the Half-Word Teaching still contributes to the fulfillment of the Full-Word Teaching [17]; reaching the Place of Jewels depends upon the aid of the Conjured City.

How could one abandon this and choose that, cling to the real while disparaging the provisional, cut off the spiritual conditions of sentient beings, and destroy the skillful means of the Buddhas?

Therefore, when the provisional is distinguished from the real, this provisional is the provisional within the real; when the provisional is opened to reveal the real, this real is the real within the provisional. If one remains confused and unclear regarding the two gates of the provisional and the real, one’s wisdom cannot attain freedom.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“Because sentient beings have all kinds of causes and conditions, the ways in which they attain liberation are not the same. Some attain liberation through meditative concentration. Some attain liberation through observing the precepts and expounding the Dharma. Some attain liberation when the Buddha’s light shines upon their bodies. It is like a fortified city with many gates: although the entrances differ, the destination is no different.”

It is said that the merit of prajnaparamita is profound because all sages and worthies arise from prajnaparamita.

All beings inherently possess this wondrous nature. When set forth, it is the essential principle, the foremost, the guide, and the refuge; when comprehensively integrated, every encountered object is penetrated as emptiness, and nothing is not prajnaparamita.

Therefore, the sutra says:

“Because form is boundless, prajnaparamita is boundless.”

The Zhao Lun says: “The three poisons and the four inversions are all pure.”

Why, then, should only pure prajnaparamita be revered? Why now accept one thing and reject another, wishing to flee through empty space to escape one’s own shadow?

The hidden intent of the Buddhas is difficult to fathom, like an empty fist used to entice a child. They skillfully encourage, guide, transform, and liberate all beings without any fixed Dharma; hence this is called vast wisdom. Failing to understand that prajnaparamita has the function of breaking attachments, one follows the teaching’s emphatic praise of it yet gives rise to views by clinging to its words.

Thus, one becomes lost while following the indicated direction. Prajnaparamita can guide the myriad practices; without prajnaparamita, what use would the myriad practices be?

This is like one who enjoys sauce but drinks excessively salty brine and becomes ill: merely embracing emptiness and clinging to annihilation, one destroys wisdom and thereby creates faults.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“Shakra thought:

– If prajnaparamita is the ultimate Dharma, why must practitioners cultivate any other dharmas rather than practicing prajnaparamita alone?

The Buddha replied:

– A bodhisattva cultivates the Six Paramitas and, by means of prajnaparamita, harmonizes them with the Dharma of non-attainment. This itself is prajnaparamita.

If one practices prajnaparamita without practicing the other dharmas, one’s merit will be incomplete and will not become excellent and wondrous. It is like a foolish person who knows nothing of seasoning. Hearing that sauce is foremost among all seasonings, he drinks only sauce and becomes ill because it is too salty. Practitioners are likewise: wishing to eliminate attachment, they practice only prajnaparamita, but instead fall into wrong views and cannot increase wholesome dharmas. If prajnaparamita is harmonized with the other five Paramitas, merit will be complete and the flavor of meaning well balanced.”

The Sutra of the Summit of Mount Lanka says:

“A bodhisattva has two swift paths:

– The first is the path of Skillful Means, which can establish causes and conditions.

– The second is the path of Prajnaparamita, which can lead to quiescence.”

Therefore, prajnaparamita without skillful means sinks into the pit of the unconditioned, while skillful means without prajnaparamita inevitably falls into the net of illusion. When one is obstructed by neither side, the single path is complete. Only when the provisional and the real proceed together is the true doctrine revealed. Abiding in non-abiding, one encompasses and cultivates all Buddha-work; attaining without anything attained, the mind remains forever serene.

Question:

The teaching instructs us to contemplate the selflessness of the body and fully comprehend non-arising. Having penetrated the emptiness of nature, why would one still cling to a self and entertain the deluded notion of performing acts of giving and relinquishment?

Answer:

Viewed from the standpoint of Principle, nothing exists; examined from the standpoint of Phenomena, it is not nonexistent. This body is illusorily born through the conjunction of causes and conditions. Although there is no agent and good and evil have no real substance, karmic results are nevertheless evident. Since beginningless time, we have lost innumerable bodies, merely perpetuating the innate afflictions and dying in vain. Now, in relinquishing the body given by one’s parents, how could it be one’s own true body?

Only when, in a single thought, one perfectly cultivates morality, concentration, and wisdom, together with the subtle and wondrous wholesome mind, does this become one’s own true body.

What is relinquished at present is precisely the body born through the conjunction of causes and conditions. Yet, speaking in terms of phenomenal appearance, relinquishing this body means dying for the benefit of sentient beings. Moreover, sentient beings are bound by ignorance and afflictions, the three kinds of obstacles, and the two kinds of birth and death; if one merely speaks idly of emptiness, who will believe and accept it?

Therefore, the Buddha-Dharma values practice, not eloquent argument. It is like woodworms eating wood and accidentally producing written characters, or like birds singing ceaselessly, though in truth their sounds contain no meaning at all.

If the afflictions do not diminish while arrogance increases, this is clinging firmly to deviant emptiness, not skillfully comprehending the true Dharma. One must personally see the Way, with words and actions corresponding to each other.

If one indulges false and deceitful thoughts and words, how can one discern profound cultivation and its subtle function?

A virtuous master of old said:

“In cultivation, one must advance a thousand feet and ten thousand feet; in speech, only half an inch or one inch is needed.”

The sutra also says:

“Although one speaks of ‘emptiness’ in words, cultivation must be carried out within ‘existence.’”

The Ratnakuta Sutra says:

“The Buddha declared:

If one could attain bodhi without cultivation, then one could realize the path of unsurpassed awakening merely through the sounds of words.

Everyone would need only say this: ‘I shall become a Buddha! I shall become a Buddha!’ On account of those words, innumerable sentient beings should already have attained perfect awakening.”

Therefore, one should know that cultivation is even more important than speech, and the Way is not outside the mind.

The sutra also says:

“The Buddha declared: Those who study my teaching can know it only through realization.”

Therefore, to commit extremely evil deeds while idly discussing Buddhist principles is inferior to performing even one small wholesome deed; much falsehood is inferior to a little truth. So long as one is able to practice, one should not disparage or discard even the smallest wholesome intention. To speak unrestrainedly of emptiness while merely proclaiming lofty aspirations, without yet accord with the function of True Suchness and without cultivating in conformity with Dharma-nature, only produces the mind of overweening pride and brings upon oneself the faults of deception and false accusation.

For this reason, the Humane Kings Sutra sets forth the stages of practice of the Five Forbearances, while Master Zhizhe fully expounded the Six Identities with the Buddha. The stages of practice are clearly distinguished; how could they be arbitrarily confused? Why not adopt a view of equality, give rise to a mind of sympathetic joy, accumulate wholesome roots, and perfect the disposition of great loving-kindness and compassion?

The sutra says:

“Burning one finger or offering one stick of incense can eliminate innumerable offenses accumulated over many kalpas; scattering a single flower or briefly invoking the name of a Buddha will ultimately lead to attainment of the final fruition.”

The Shurangama Sutra says:

“When bodhisattvas practice identity of conduct with sentient beings, they may even become cunning people, thieves, butchers, merchants, prostitutes, or widows; there is nothing they will not do.”

The Treatise on the Meaning of Non-Arising says:

“The practitioner who has departed from characteristics and abides nowhere does not abide even in nirvana; within the conditioned realm, such a practitioner may manifest physical bodies everywhere, appearing as noble or lowly, as an ordinary being or a sage, practicing the way of benevolence and righteousness, and compassionately aiding sentient beings throughout the ten directions until the furthest reaches of the future.”

It is also said: “While in the stage of an ordinary being, one cultivates the practices of the sages; while in the stage of fruition, one cultivates the causes of ordinary beings. Before the Buddha-Dharma has been perfected, one does not extinguish sensation in order to attain realization.”

Therefore, it should be clearly understood that the Ultimate is the Ultimate within the conventional, and the conventional is the conventional within the Ultimate. Attachment is defilement, while complete understanding is the work of a Buddha. Upon entering the Samadhi of Dharma-Nature, not a single dharma is worthy of loathing; upon realizing the boundless gates of samadhi, not a single dharma is worthy of abandonment. Judgments of superiority and inferiority are already mistaken, and grasping and rejecting are both contrary to the truth. One should not obstruct the awakening of others and thereby destroy one’s own roots of goodness.

Furthermore, even though one clearly understands that the body is unreal, deeply penetrates the true characteristic of reality, remains unattached to mind and its objects, and is resolute and free of doubt; and although one knows that all conditioned things are like the trace of a bird in empty space, one must still contemplate, cultivate, and apply countermeasures at each stage. Habitual tendencies are not nonexistent—how much more so when one clings firmly to the delusion of the four inversions, is deeply entangled in the net of the eight wrong views, preserves this impure body in order to commit many deeds of lust and craving, is enveloped by the net of illusion, becomes intoxicated by sensual attraction, and sinks into the cycle of birth and death, suffering the hardships of samsara.

Therefore, the Greatly Awakened One, moved by profound compassion, spoke many words of censure and rejection. When the sages relinquished their bodies, they all first rebuked this very thing:

Sentient beings cling to this body as real, like exchanging ambrosial cream for poison or jewels for tiles and bricks.

The Maharatnakuta Sutra says:

“Contemplation of the body reveals forty faults. This body may be called a prison of craving, perpetually bound by afflictions, and a pit of filth perpetually gnawed by maggots.

It is like a latrine containing five kinds of impurity.

It is like a punctured bag with nine openings that constantly discharge filth. The poisonous serpent of anger continually gives rise to thoughts of harm and injures the life of wisdom. The rakshasa of delusion clings to the view of self and devours wisdom.

It is like an evil thief whom everyone under heaven detests.

It is like a dead dog that all the worthy cast aside.

It is as insubstantial as a plantain tree or a bubble on water; its impermanence is like a flash of lightning or a mirage. Though provided with food and drink, it becomes an enemy; though constantly nourished, it knows no gratitude.”

The sages censured this body in so many ways that they are difficult to recount fully. If one does not clearly examine its profound faults, one will commit many evil deeds, mistake the aforementioned delusions for what is right, and neglect diligent cultivation. Wisdom and practice will both be deficient, and both Principle and phenomena will be lost.

One should first become deeply disenchanted with these faults and earnestly undertake arduous countermeasures. As one recognizes one’s errors, the fire of desire will gradually die out; when one penetrates the root, the source of the Ultimate will naturally be revealed.

Therefore, the Lotus Sutra says:

“The three realms are like a burning house, consumed by flames; how could one comprehend the wisdom of the Buddha?”

Question:

Although the body is false and entails every kind of anxiety and bondage, it is by relying upon this illusory body that one can attain the fruition of the path.

The sutra says: “Unless one enters the great ocean of afflictions, one cannot obtain the priceless jewel.” If one wishes to relinquish this body, one may fear regretting it afterward.

Answer:

Whatever is born must perish, and everything possessing form is empty. If one turns toward the Three Jewels with utmost sincerity, then giving rise to even a single thought of relinquishment is better than living in intoxication and dying in a dream in this world. This is because one can use the impermanent body to attain the vajra body, exchanging the insubstantial body for the steadfast body. The two paths of grasping and relinquishing must be examined in the light of wisdom.

Question:

To establish the mind in the path, one must accord with ultimate emptiness; yet to undertake practices for liberating sentient beings is to return wholly to conventional truth. Only by awakening to Dharma-Nature can one penetrate the true tenet. Why, then, reject the real and rely upon the false, abandon the root and follow the branches, and bustle about amid the agitation and activity of conditioned things, perhaps thereby throwing the source of the Ultimate into confusion and muddying the waters of the mind?

Answer:

Within the ultimate meaning, even the Ultimate is not established; within the Dharma-realm of equality, there are neither Buddhas nor sentient beings. Yet within the gate of conventional truth, not a single dharma is abandoned.

Whatever one does is entirely the work of a Buddha. Therefore, the Buddhas always teach the Dharma in reliance upon the Two Truths. If one does not understand conventional truth, one cannot attain the truth of ultimate meaning either.

The Treatise on Consciousness-Only says:

“Those who deny the existence of the Two Truths are reckless adherents of emptiness; even if the Buddhas taught them, they could not be cured.”

The Diamond Sutra says:

“One who has aroused the aspiration to seek the path of awakening does not assert the annihilation of dharmas.”

National Master Xianshou said:

“True emptiness does not destroy the karmic results of dependent origination; therefore, distinctions of high and low remain perfectly clear.”

The Treatise on the Vajrasamadhi says:

“The Ultimate and the conventional are nondual, yet one does not cling to them as one. Because they are nondual, they are the one mind; because one does not cling to them as one, they are wholly two.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Consider empty space throughout the ten directions: whether sought in the past, present, or future, it cannot be found, yet empty space is not nonexistent.

The bodhisattva is likewise. The bodhisattva observes that all dharmas are unreal, yet it is not that all dharmas do not exist. In accordance with reality, the bodhisattva makes no distinctions, yet does not abandon any undertaking; universally demonstrates the cultivation of bodhisattva practices; does not forsake the great vows; tames sentient beings; turns the wheel of the true Dharma; and does not destroy cause and effect.”

It is also said that the great bodhisattva clearly understands that both the self and sentient beings have always been quiescent, yet is neither alarmed nor afraid, and diligently cultivates merit and wisdom without weariness until they are perfected.

Although knowing that all dharmas involve no activity, the bodhisattva does not abandon the individual characteristics of any dharma.

Although having forever departed from craving with respect to all objects, the bodhisattva always delights in beholding and reverently worshiping the physical bodies of the Buddhas.

Although knowing that realization and entry into the Dharma cannot be obtained from others, the bodhisattva seeks many skillful means in pursuit of omniscience.

Although knowing that the lands of the Buddhas are all like empty space, the bodhisattva still always delights in adorning all Buddha-lands.

Although constantly observing that there is neither person nor self, the bodhisattva teaches and transforms sentient beings without weariness.

Although the Dharma-realm has never moved, the bodhisattva uses the power of spiritual abilities and wisdom to manifest every kind of transformation.

Although having attained omniscience, the bodhisattva cultivates bodhisattva practices without rest.

Although knowing that dharmas are inexpressible, the bodhisattva turns the wheel of the pure teaching, causing sentient beings to rejoice.

Although able to manifest the spiritual powers of the Buddhas, the bodhisattva does not become weary of the bodhisattva body.

Although having entered great nirvana, the bodhisattva still manifests birth everywhere.”

To practice the provisional and the ultimate in parallel in this way is precisely the work of a Buddha. Therefore, those who repudiate cause and effect are non-Buddhist adherents of emptiness, while those who rely upon the principle and essence to sever their functioning are shravakas proceeding toward quiescent cessation.

Furthermore, if the true tenet is established, what dharma is not the tenet? Once Dharma-Nature is discussed, what thing is not that nature? From the perspective of delusion, where attachments must be broken, provisional distinctions between right and wrong are established; from the perspective of awakening, where identity is fully understood, there is truly neither grasping nor rejecting.

What is now being explained is neither the ordinary being’s attachment to phenomenal characteristics, nor the Tripitaka bodhisattva’s inclination toward the provisional while departing from the Ultimate, nor the exclusive pursuit of quiescent cessation by shravakas of the Shared Teaching.

If one speaks of existence apart from emptiness, it becomes the cause of delusive form; if one speaks of emptiness apart from existence, one returns to the consequence of annihilationism.

What is now intended to be shown is that nature is precisely the nature within characteristics, and therefore does not obstruct the arising of the myriad things; characteristics are precisely the characteristics within nature, and therefore do not obstruct the quiescence of the fundamental essence. The realm is an inconceivable realm, and emptiness is the emptiness of nature—the ultimate truth. Unfolding and gathering occur simultaneously: precisely within emptiness there is constant existence; without impairing either persistence or cessation, precisely within existence there is constant emptiness.

Therefore, the teaching of the Tiantai School says:

“Just as a mirror freshly reveals various images, while tiles and bricks cannot reflect them: although every kind of form appears within the mirror, it is empty and contains nothing. Thus, the pure and wondrous Dharma-body is fully endowed with the thirty-two marks.”

National Master Qingliang said:

“Ordinary beings and sages interpenetrate; precisely within the mind of an ordinary being, one sees the mind of the Buddha. Practice both phenomena and principle; relying upon the wisdom of ordinary beings, seek to attain the wisdom of the Buddha.”

An eminent master of old explained:

“Those who do not understand the purport of the Chan School often cling to principle without understanding phenomena, saying that since the mind-nature is originally complete, what need is there to cultivate and seek? One need only eliminate emotional attachments, and the true Buddha will naturally manifest.

Those who study the doctrinal teachings, however, cling to phenomena without understanding principle, saying that there is no need to devote oneself exclusively to cultivating principle and Dharma. If the two are united, all is well; if separated, both are impaired.

Therefore, principle and phenomena must both be cultivated in order to reveal the wondrous purport of perfect interfusion. Calming the mind and bringing thoughts to an end is called the practice of principle; applying effort through phenomenal characteristics is called the practice of phenomena. Reliance upon fundamental wisdom means the wisdom of original awakening; this is wisdom as cause. This open, luminous nature is called wisdom. By accomplishing the preceding practice of principle, emotional attachments are ended and principle is revealed. Seeking the wisdom of the Buddha means the unobstructed wisdom of liberation; this is wisdom as fruit.

From the standpoint of perfect illumination and decisive discernment as wisdom, the preceding practice of phenomena is accomplished, for through initiating practice, the fruit is brought to fulfillment. Here, the essential nature is identical, and therefore one relies upon it; characteristics and functions differ, and therefore one seeks them. One seeks only characteristics and functions, not the essential nature.

The preceding practice of principle, which ends emotional attachments, is dependent origination that removes defilement in order to reveal the essential nature. The application of effort in the practice of phenomena is dependent origination that manifests purity in order to perfect characteristics and functions.”

The Formless School says that the foregoing statements clearly concern characteristics and functions. One need only rely upon fundamental wisdom; when emotional attachments are completely ended, characteristics and functions will naturally manifest. Since they are originally complete, what need is there to initiate the practice of phenomena?

The Perfect School says that because the nature is originally complete, when emotional attachments are ended one merely removes the defiled portion of characteristics and functions, and the true essence naturally manifests.

Without the practice of phenomena, however, there is no means by which the pure portion of characteristics and functions can arise. Gold, for example, can be fashioned into various ornaments, but removing its impurities can only reveal the gold; unless effort is applied to fashion it, it can never become an ornament. Could gold, after being extracted from ore, naturally become an ornament without being fashioned?

If ending emotional attachments does not depend upon the practice of phenomena, would the Buddha’s teaching that cultivation must be perfected not merely cause practitioners to toil in vain? Thus, although bodhisattvas of the Eighth Bhumi are already able to transcend thought, the Buddha still exhorts them to initiate the practice of phenomena. It should therefore be understood that transcending thought is not yet the end. Hence the text says:

“The true and constant Dharma-nature transcends mental thought;

Those of the Two Vehicles also attain this.

Yet through this they do not become World-Honored Ones;

That comes only through profound, unobstructed wisdom.”

The Seven Exhortations [18] are all practices of phenomena. Therefore, it should be understood that the fruit of Buddhahood must be complete in both nature and characteristics, while causal practice must cultivate both phenomena and principle.

Relying upon fundamental wisdom is like obtaining gold; cultivating the practice of principle is like removing the ore; cultivating the practice of phenomena is like fashioning it; and seeking the wisdom of the Buddha is like completing the ornaments.

The Record of Tripitaka Master Cimin says:

“If it is asserted that the World-Honored One taught that conditioned dharmas are certainly like illusory flowers in the sky, with absolutely nothing whatsoever existing, then this is called falsehood.”

If they are false and devoid of form, they cannot be causes of liberation. Why, then, did the World-Honored One teach his disciples diligently to cultivate the wondrous causes of the six paramitas and myriad practices in order to realize the fruits of bodhi and nirvana? Would a wise person praise a mirage-city as true, enduring, lofty, and beautiful, and then urge everyone to use a rabbit’s horn as a ladder by which to ascend it?

For this reason, even ordinary beings can arouse the aspiration for bodhi and practice the bodhisattva path. Although their cultivation takes place within the contaminated realm, it is nonetheless true and correct cultivation. Although all existing things are illusory, they are not the same as a turtle’s hair, which has no existence whatsoever. They are called illusory here because things arise in illusory existence through causes and conditions; this is not the same as the deluded attachment that regards them as sheer nonexistence.

If one understands in this way and constantly practices through phenomenal characteristics, those characteristics cannot become obstructions, and one will swiftly attain liberation. Those who are confused, rigidly attached, restricted, and unable to comprehend the meaning of the teachings may wish to transcend characteristics, yet they are constantly bound by them and cannot attain liberation.

It is further said that if one clings to the view that the practices cultivated by the Buddhas of the three times are deluded thoughts, then upon what cultivation and training could one rely to attain liberation? If one does not rely upon the practices of the Buddhas, whatever else one relies upon is the conduct of non-Buddhist paths.

An eminent master of old said:

“If one merely folds one’s arms and does nothing, remaining personally at ease without practicing the path of benevolence and righteousness, then one lacks adornment; even after cultivating for many kalpas, one will not attain accomplishment. One need only allow not a speck of dust to be admitted at the place of truth, while abandoning not a single dharma in the work of the Buddha.”

The Contemplation of Returning to the Source says:

“Truth encompasses every branch and twig of delusion, so there is no practice that is not cultivated; delusion penetrates the true source, so there is no characteristic that is not quiescent.”

It further says that the nature of suchness originally and naturally accords with conditions in this way. The myriad things arise together and likewise naturally return to the essence of the nature.

The Patriarch’s transmission verse says:

“The mind-ground teaches according to the time;

Bodhi is also just so.

Phenomena and principle are both unobstructed;

What is about to arise is itself non-arising.”

It should therefore be understood that suchness does not preserve a fixed self-nature: in accordance with empty quiescence, the myriad things perpetually arise. Causes and conditions do not lose their own essence: though all phenomena are allowed to function, the nature of emptiness remains perpetually quiescent.

Question:

The Visesacinti-brahma-pariprccha Sutra says:

“One who enters the stage of certainty does not pass successively from the First Bhumi to the Tenth Bhumi.”

The Lankavatara Sutra says:

“Since suchness is quiescent, how could there be stages?”

An eminent master of old said:

“I would rather sink in samsara for ten thousand kalpas than ever seek the liberation of the sages.”

It is also said: “Though a thousand sages may appear, I possess the innately true Buddha.” Why, then, press upon the eyes and produce illusory flowers, forcibly dividing cultivation into successive stages?

Answer:

If the mind tacitly accords with Buddha-nature and principle comprehensively reaches the true source, what need is there to depend upon other conditions and thereby forget oneself?

Yet if distinctions are made on the basis of wisdom, stages are established within that which has no stages. Although there appears actually to be ascent and descent, the original position has never moved. In the Buddha-Dharma, this is called “stages.” Without stages of practice and cultivation, one belongs to the celestial demons and non-Buddhist paths.

If explained through the gateway of “perfect interfusion,” one accords with the originally pure nature of the Dharma-realm. If explained through the gateway of “successive progression,” then according to the characteristics of conventional truth, distinctions of earlier and later, profound and shallow, are established.

At present, perfect interfusion does not obstruct sequential practice, and all practices are swiftly accomplished, because one stage is all stages. If sequential practice does not obstruct perfect interfusion, then all practices are universally accomplished, because as cultivation advances through the successive stages, increasing in merit and virtue, the mind remains ever empty and quiescent and thus abides in the Middle Way. Though nonexistent, the stages are distinctly present; though present, they are nonexistent, open and quiescent.

Therefore, the Prajnaparamita Sutra says:

“Subhuti asked the Buddha:

– If ultimately there is nothing whatsoever in all dharmas, why is it said that there is the First Bhumi through the Tenth Bhumi?

The Buddha replied:

– Precisely because ultimately there is nothing whatsoever in all dharmas, there is the Bodhisattva’s First Bhumi through the Tenth Bhumi. If all dharmas possessed a determinate nature, there would be no First Bhumi through the Tenth Bhumi.”

Thus, the Thirty-seven Factors of Awakening are Dharma gates practiced by bodhisattvas, and the Fifty-two Stages are the path of cultivation and study followed by the Buddhas of old.

From the initial arising of a thought, one cultivates each thought completely, until one attains the Eighteen Distinctive Qualities, refining the three karmic activities and ultimately reaching perfect purity.

Question:

The true self-nature of sentient beings is originally complete and perfect in itself. Why, then, must one rely on cultivation and perform many wholesome deeds?

The sutra says:

“To know that all is suffering, to eliminate the cause of suffering, to realize the fruit of cessation, and to cultivate the path to nirvana—all these are useless discussions.”

If one gives rise to illusory cultivation, how can it accord with the original nature?

Answer:

The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana says:

“Because sentient beings possess a mind of deluded thought, they can understand names and meanings; therefore, the true nature of awakening is explained. Moreover, because Suchness has the capacity to permeate inwardly, it causes this ignorance to possess a purifying function.

Furthermore, one relies outwardly upon the power of the Buddhas’ teachings, which joins with the inward permeating power of Suchness, each supporting the other. Thus, this deluded mind is enabled to believe that it itself possesses the nature of Suchness and can give rise to all expedient means for cultivating the various methods of counteraction. This cultivation is based upon faith in Suchness; yet because Suchness has not yet been realized, it is not called uncontaminated. When deluded thoughts are purified, the true nature reveals itself.”

Moreover, although cultivation is without self-nature, this does not obstruct genuine cultivation. The true is revealed through the deluded, and wisdom is accomplished through consciousness, just as the images of objects can manifest the brightness of a mirror. If there were no afflictions and defilements, there would also be no need to establish the Buddha Way.

An eminent master of old said:

“The two dharmas of truth and delusion are alike the one mind. By taking up delusion, the true is accomplished, for apart from the true there is no other delusion. The true follows delusion and manifests, for apart from delusion there is no other true. Furthermore, if delusion existed apart from the true, the essence of principle would not be all-pervasive. If the true existed apart from delusion, phenomenal appearances would have nothing upon which to depend.

Moreover, if one clings to the view that the original nature is inherently pure, this belongs to the delusion of arising from self-nature. If one clings to the view that it depends upon external cultivation, this is the delusion of arising from another nature. If one clings to the combination of inner and outer, this belongs to the delusion of arising from a shared nature. If one eliminates both root and branches, this belongs to the delusion of arising without cause.”

The Elder’s Treatise says:

“If everything were uniformly equal, there would be no resolve to cultivate the Way. One must diligently spur oneself to cultivate until reaching non-cultivation; only then does one know that the myriad dharmas have originally never involved any cultivation whatsoever.”

The Ratnakuta Sutra says:

“If correct cultivation were unnecessary, then animals such as cats and rabbits should also become Buddhas.”

The teachings of the Tiantai School say:

“Practice can accomplish wisdom; when practice is complete, wisdom is perfect. Wisdom can reveal principle; when principle is exhausted, wisdom becomes quiescent. Principle and practice are mutually related; it cannot be said that there is no arising or cessation.

Through expedient means the true is revealed; once the true is established, expedient means are no more. Through delusion the true is made clear; once the true is accomplished, delusion also vanishes. When expediency and delusion have become quiescent, the true is also empty. If there is neither delusion nor expediency, then what is true and what is real?”

Master Farong of Oxhead Mountain said: “If it is said that attainment comes through cultivation, then it is fabricated and not true. If it is said that Buddha-nature is originally possessed, then the myriad practices are merely empty contrivances.”

Question:

All ordinary beings constantly abide in samadhi. Why, then, is it necessary to practice mindfulness of breathing, binding oneself when there is no rope?

Answer:

If one speaks of the Samadhi of the Dharma-nature, who does not possess it completely? But if one discusses the ultimate gate of concentration, only a Buddha reaches its culmination. Even a bodhisattva at the Stage of Equal Awakening does not know it; how could an ordinary person with a distracted mind fathom it?

Therefore, Bodhisattva Manjusri said:

“It is like a person learning archery, proceeding from the coarse to the subtle, until eventually every shot strikes its mark. I am also like this: at first, I practiced right concentration by focusing exclusively upon a single object; afterward, when I entered objectless right concentration, I was finally able to abide constantly in concentration at all times.”

Therefore, the contemplations of impurity and provisional existence, and the wondrous gate of mindfulness of breathing, are all fords leading to the ambrosia and direct paths out of birth and death.

Patriarch Nagarjuna said:

“Upon examining the Buddha’s Ten Powers, two powers are found to be the greatest:

– Through the power of karma, one enters birth and death.

– Through the power of concentration, one departs from birth and death.”

The Sutra of Mindfulness of the True Dharma says:

“To save the lives of all people throughout the four continents does not equal setting one’s mind upright for the duration of a single meal.”

Thus, while Suchness remains in bondage, torpor and distraction are both fully present; when Suchness emerges from bondage, concentration and wisdom begin to shine.

The general and the particular are clearly distinguished, and the former and the latter are not confused. Why, then, regard Principle alone as right and condemn Phenomena as wrong?

Question:

The great work of a bodhisattva is founded upon gathering in and transforming sentient beings. Why, then, dwell alone upon a mountaintop and enter deeply into secluded places? Since this contradicts the original vow, how can one accomplish benefit for all?

Answer:

A bodhisattva’s original purpose is to liberate all beings; therefore, the bodhisattva first cultivates concentration and wisdom. In a secluded and tranquil place, meditative concentration and contemplation are readily accomplished; by practicing the dhutanga practice of having few desires, one can enter the Noble Path.

The Lotus Sutra says:

“Again, I see bodhisattvas,

Courageous and diligent,

Entering and dwelling deep in the mountains,

Contemplating the Buddha Way.”

Question:

If one studies broadly and hears much, learns and memorizes, and follows the meanings and principles to investigate written words thoroughly, how can one see the nature?

Answer:

If one gives rise to understanding by following language and written words, clings to speech and forgets the essential purport, concerns oneself only with searching through scriptural teachings while remaining deluded about the mind-nature, and cannot distinguish the finger from the moon, then naturally it is difficult to see the nature.

But if one awakens to the Way through words, penetrates the essential purport by means of the scriptural teachings, enters deeply into the perfect meaning, and profoundly investigates the Buddha’s intent, then hearing much can also bring the Buddhadharma to accomplishment, and accumulated learning of the Buddha’s teaching can become an ocean of wisdom.

The ascent from the state of an ordinary being to that of a noble one is entirely due to the work of studying the Way; attaining security amid danger depends wholly upon the efficacy of wondrous wisdom. Language is the stairway by which one enters the Way, and the scriptural teachings are the standard by which the deviant and the correct are clearly distinguished.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“If one wishes to liberate sentient beings and cause them to abide in nirvana, one must not depart from unobstructed wisdom of liberation. Unobstructed wisdom of liberation does not depart from knowing all dharmas as they truly are. Knowing all dharmas as they truly are does not depart from the light of wisdom of non-activity and the practice of non-arising. The light of wisdom of non-activity and the practice of non-arising do not depart from the wisdom of skillful, decisive meditative observation. The wisdom of skillful, decisive meditative observation does not depart from skill in extensive learning.

Having contemplated in this way and understood clearly, the bodhisattva becomes ever more diligent in seeking, studying, and cultivating the true Dharma. Day and night, the bodhisattva wishes only to hear the Dharma, delights in the Dharma, rejoices in the Dharma, relies upon the Dharma, accords with the Dharma, clearly understands the Dharma, attains the Dharma, abides in the Dharma, and practices the Dharma.

When a bodhisattva diligently seeks the Buddha-Dharma in this way, the bodhisattva is not reluctant to relinquish any wealth and sees nothing as worthy of being treasured, thinking only that a person capable of expounding the Buddha-Dharma is truly difficult to encounter.”

The Lotus Sutra says:

“Only if there is a person of keen faculties, lucid wisdom, extensive learning, and excellent memory may this teaching be expounded for that person.”

A treatise says:

“One who has wisdom but lacks extensive learning

Does not know the true aspect of reality;

Like one who, in a dark place,

Has eyes but sees nothing.

One who has extensive learning but lacks wisdom

Likewise does not know the true aspect of reality;

Like one who, in a bright place,

Has a lamp but has no eyes.

Extensive learning and keen wisdom

Should therefore both be practiced.

One without learning or wisdom

Is called a person like an ox.”

Therefore, only at the second grade within the Perfect Teaching is one permitted concurrently to read and recite the scriptures; only at the stage of non-retrogression does one hear the Dharma without weariness.

Hearing the Dharma lends strength to contemplative insight; studying the Buddha’s teaching has the power to bring omniscient wisdom to fulfillment. Therefore, one should not allow one’s eyes to resemble those of oxen and goats, unable clearly to distinguish directions and boundaries; nor should one allow one’s mind to become so benighted that it cannot distinguish black from white.

Question:

Since numinous awareness is never obscured and the wondrous nature is always perfect and complete, why is there any need to seek instruction, inquire, and study widely under spiritual teachers?

Answer:

All sentient beings become deluded within awakening and give rise to falsehood within truth. It is only because they are unaware that they need to be awakened by others.

The Lotus Sutra says:

“The Buddha formerly drew near to hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of innumerable Buddhas, fully practiced the immeasurable Dharma-paths of those Buddhas, and advanced with courageous diligence; therefore, his name is universally renowned.”

It also says:

“A spiritual teacher is a great cause and condition. That is, a spiritual teacher enables people to see the Buddha and arouse the resolve to seek unsurpassed, true, and perfect awakening.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Like a precious object in darkness,

Which cannot be seen without a lamp,

The Buddha-Dharma, if no one expounds it,

Cannot be understood even by the wise.”

It further says:

“I do not desire treasures filling the trichiliocosm; I wish only to hear a single phrase of the Buddha-Dharma that I have never heard before.”

It also says:

“Although one knows that the dharmas are not awakened to through others, one nevertheless always honors spiritual teachers.”

The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith says:

“The Buddha-Dharma has causes and conditions, and only when causes and conditions are complete can attainment be accomplished. The nature of fire within wood is the direct cause of fire. Yet if there is no knowledgeable person and no skillful means are employed, it is impossible for the wood to ignite itself.

Sentient beings are likewise. Although they possess the perfuming power of the direct cause, if they do not encounter Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and spiritual teachers to serve as conditions, it is impossible for them to sever afflictions by themselves and enter nirvana.”

The Dharmapada Sutra says:

“Like paper wrapped around incense and a cord used to string fish.

The Buddha told the bhiksus:

— Things are originally pure, but through causes and conditions they give rise to transgression or merit. Drawing near to the virtuous and wise causes the Way and righteousness to increase; befriending the ignorant causes calamities to accumulate. It is like paper and cord: when near incense, they become fragrant; when used to string fish, they become fishy. Gradually they become permeated and form habits without being aware of it themselves.

The Buddha spoke this verse:

“Base people influence others,

Like proximity to something foul-smelling;

Gradually deluded, they adopt wrongful habits,

And unwittingly become evil.

Virtuous and worthy people influence others,

Like proximity to fragrant incense;

They increase wisdom and perform wholesome deeds,

Fulfilling conduct that is pure.”

The Surangama Sutra says:

“The Buddha told Ananda:

All sentient beings, from beginningless time until now, because of manifold inversions, have naturally planted karmic obstructions clustered together like aksha fruits. Practitioners fail to accomplish unsurpassed awakening and instead become sravakas or pratyekabuddhas, or become followers of non-Buddhist paths, devas, demon kings, or members of the demons’ retinues. This is entirely because they do not understand the two kinds of fundamental basis and therefore practice mistakenly. It is like cooking sand in the hope of making delicious rice: though one passes through kalpas as numerous as motes of dust, it can never be accomplished.”

Therefore, one should know that those who have newly aroused the resolve to practice must draw near to companions on the path and clearly distinguish the deviant from the true; only then will they accord with genuine cultivation. If they practice provisional Dharma gates, the distance is as great as that between a day and a kalpa. If they understand the purport of the Perfect Teaching, their efforts will not be wasted, and they will advance directly to the seat of awakening, never again harboring doubt or regret. When they themselves awaken clearly, they will realize only the naturally arising, teacherless wisdom, which assuredly is not obtained from another.

Question:

Although expounding the Dharma accomplishes a great work, one who has not yet ascended to the ultimate stage may thereby impair one’s own cultivation.

Even bodhisattvas who have entered the bhumis are still reproved by the Buddha; how, then, can ordinary beings who have not attained realization expound the teaching?

Answer:

The first grade in the teachings of the Tiantai school is still that of an ordinary being. If one accepts the teaching in faith and enters the gate of the Perfect Teaching, one may expound the Dharma, for the mind of an ordinary being is identical with the Buddha’s knowing; although one uses ordinary eyes, one’s vision equals that of the Tathagata.

The Prajnaparamita Sutra compares the merit of personally cultivating right mindfulness of prajnaparamita with that of skillfully and extensively explaining it through analogies to devas and humans, enabling them readily to understand prajnaparamita. The latter merit is far more excellent.

The sutra says that although such a person’s observance of the precepts may be deficient, that person is able to expound the Dharma and benefit many people. If anyone makes offerings to that person, it is equivalent to making offerings to all Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

The Sutra of Unprecedented Events says:

“Expounding the Dharma has two great causes and conditions: first, to instruct and transform devas and humans, thereby gaining immeasurable merit and virtue; second, to repay the kindness of dana patrons and donors.”

Why, then, should one not expound the Dharma?

Moreover, the giving of wealth is like a lamp that illuminates only a small house, whereas the giving of Dharma is like the sun that illuminates the whole world.

The Great Vaipulya Dharani Sutra says:

“The Buddha declared:

Good man! After my parinirvana, if there is a Dharma teacher who skillfully expounds the Dharma in accordance with people’s inclinations and is able to cause bodhisattvas studying the Mahayana and the assembled multitudes to arouse even the slightest joy, or even for a moment to shed a single tear, you should know that all of this is due to the Buddha’s spiritual power.”

It is necessary only that one’s understanding be free from error and accord with the Buddha’s mind. Although one performs the work of teaching and transforming others, its benefits also return to oneself: one both supports the Way and repays the Buddha’s gracious kindness. If one does not seek fame or reputation, one truly should not relinquish even the slightest opportunity to expound the Dharma.

As for transmitting and preserving the treasure of the Dharma, expounding the Mahayana, composing treatises that explain the sutras, writing works that elucidate their meaning, removing the arrows of doubt and disbelief, shining the light of wisdom upon those darkened by ignorance, erecting walls for the house of the true Dharma, continuing the life of the Buddha, traveling to India to request scriptures and seeking the Dharma in distant lands, translating Mahayana sutras and refining the wording of the teachings, extensively practicing sutra recitation and mantra chanting, helping everyone receive and uphold them, opening the gate of Dharma giving, and passing on the light by kindling lamp after lamp and torch after torch,

or pouring ambrosia upon the parched minds of sentient beings and skillfully enabling the blind to see—all these are duties that students of the Buddha must certainly undertake.

A sutra says:

“Though for myriad kalpas one bore them upon one’s head,

And made one’s body a bed and seat throughout the Three Thousandfold World,

If one did not transmit the Dharma to liberate sentient beings,

One could certainly never repay the Buddha’s kindness.”

Question:

Why not attain sudden awakening within a single dharma, whereby the myriad practices are naturally perfected, instead of wandering circuitously along the path of progressive cultivation and laboring over minor virtuous practices?

The Chan school maintains that when not a single thought arises, not even the slightest mote of dust appears. If one contends in chasing a mirage and clings firmly to flowers seen in the sky, using illusion to cultivate illusion, one will ultimately fail to realize the essential principle.

Answer:

The Buddhas clearly understand illusion and thus are able to liberate sentient beings deluded by illusion. Bodhisattvas thoroughly comprehend the nature of emptiness and therefore establish teachings and transform beings from within emptiness.

The Nirvana Sutra says:

“The Buddha declared:

All dharmas have the characteristics of illusion. Within them, the Tathagata employs the power of skillful means without becoming attached to anything. Why? Because the Dharma of the Buddhas is naturally so.”

The Treatise on the Middle Way says: “Because emptiness has meaning, all dharmas can be established.”

Thus, the “sudden” is like a seed containing everything. The “gradual” is like the shoots and branches that subsequently emerge. It is also like a nine-story tower that can be seen at once, yet to reach its summit one must ascend step by step.

Upon sudden awakening to the nature of mind, one realizes that this very mind is Buddha. Everyone fully possesses Buddha-nature, yet it is still necessary to accumulate merit and cultivate the myriad practices universally.

It is also like polishing a mirror: the polishing may be completed at once, yet the mirror gradually becomes clear and bright. The myriad practices are swiftly cultivated, while realization gradually becomes more sublime. This is called gradual perfection, not the gradual perfecting of something; it is also stages within that which has no stages, and practice within that which has no practice.

Therefore, thoroughly comprehending the result encompasses the cause; from the subtle and hidden to the manifest and evident, all require the assistance of the faculties and powers arising from virtue before one can benefit oneself and others.

A nine-story tower is built beginning with the first basket of earth. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. A surging river arises from a narrow and slender source. A luxuriant great tree grows from a tiny shoot. The Way does not overlook minor practices, and utter darkness never rejects a single ray of light.

Thus, once a sentence from a sutra permeates the heart, it will not disappear even after many kalpas. Once a virtuous deed enters the mind, it will not be forgotten even through ten thousand lifetimes.

In the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha said:

“Cultivating a single wholesome thought can destroy a hundred evils, just as a minute fragment of diamond can shatter the immense Mount Sumeru, as a single spark can burn everything, and as a single drop of poison can harm sentient beings. A minor virtuous deed is likewise able to destroy extremely great evil.”

The Sutra of the Sun Mani Jewel says:

“The Buddha told Bodhisattva Kasyapa: I contemplate sentient beings who, although for many thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of millions of kalpas they have remained immersed in craving and desire and obscured by evil deeds, upon hearing a Buddhist sutra, if they merely turn their heads and give rise to a wholesome thought, all their evil deeds are extinguished.”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“When the Tathagata attained the Way, he smiled in ten ways while contemplating the world. A small cause may yield a great result, and a minor condition may bring a great recompense: one who seeks the Buddha Way, praises a single verse, utters once ‘Namo Buddha,’ or offers one stick of incense will certainly attain Buddhahood.

How much more so for those who hear and understand that the true characteristic of all dharmas neither arises nor ceases, is neither non-arising nor non-ceasing, while the causes and conditions of karmic practice are nevertheless not lacking. For this reason, the Buddha smiled.”

An eminent virtuous master of old asked:

Emperor Wu of Liang built monasteries and ordained innumerable Sangha members, yet Patriarch Bodhidharma told him that he had no merit. Bodhisattvas relinquish kingdoms and cities and construct monasteries and stupas; could these deeds truly be performed in vain?

Answer:

The Patriarch’s words did not deny the causes and effects of merit. Emperor Wu did not understand that the merit of conditioned deeds is limited, whereas the blessings of emptiness and signlessness are inconceivable. The Patriarch sought to break his attachment; without attachment, all such deeds are unconditioned.

Bodhisattvas also become Wheel-Turning Monarchs. The cause and effect of such karmic blessings are evident; how could they be nonexistent?

If one comprehends the Principle, its application becomes equal in measure to the Dharma realm and is never exhausted. If one does not comprehend the Principle, it becomes a conditioned result within samsara, to which one should not be attached.

National Preceptor Huizhong said:

“All Buddhas and bodhisattvas are fully adorned with the two kinds of merit and wisdom; how could they deny cause and effect? One need only avoid using Principle to impede phenomena or using phenomena to obstruct Principle. Then, though practicing all day long, one does not depart from non-practice.”

Dharma Master Sheng asked: “Why are even snapping one’s fingers and joining one’s palms causes for attaining Buddhahood?”

Answer:

“All dharmas lack a fixed nature and accord with conditions as appropriate. If craving is taken as the condition, they correspond to karmic rewards among humans and devas. If aspiration toward bodhi is taken as the condition, they accomplish the fruit of Buddhahood.

Even suchness does not preserve a self-nature; how much less could these minor virtuous deeds do so? It is also said that, in terms of Principle, the myriad virtues are all identical with the uncontaminated.”

All the myriad virtues that exist arise by relying upon the Principle. Since the Principle is not different, how could virtues be divided in two? The nature of the Tathagata-garbha is originally the true cause, and from this nature the myriad virtues arise.

The teachings of the Tiantai school say:

“If one belittles minor virtues as incapable of leading to Buddhahood, one destroys the seed of Buddhahood in the world.”

They also say: “There are two kinds of wholesome potential:

– The first brings about the flowering recompense of birth among humans and devas.

– The second brings about the fruition of the Buddha Way.

When fully illuminated by the Buddha-eye, the myriad virtues of sentient beings will ultimately all lead to the attainment of Buddhahood. This is the central meaning of the great matter for which the Buddha appeared in the world.”

Venerable Jingxi said that even a minor virtue assists one’s advance toward bodhi, just as when holding a knife or a torch one grasps the handle. If one performs virtue while merely following external appearances, it is like grasping the blade of a knife or seizing the flame of a torch.

The Lotus Sutra clearly teaches that those who, even with distracted minds, recollect the Buddha, utter a few words of praise, draw an image with their hands, or heap sand into a stupa, gradually accumulating merit, all attain the Buddha Way.

The Great Compassion Sutra says:

“The Buddha told Ananda:

If sentient beings merely give rise to faith in the presence of the Buddhas and plant even a few roots of virtue, these will ultimately never be lost. Even after the passage of hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of long kalpas, those minor roots of virtue will certainly assist them in attaining nirvana. It is like a drop of water cast into the great ocean: though a long time may pass, it will ultimately never diminish.”

Therefore, the Great Sage, adapting flexibly in accord with beings’ capacities, caused neither the Mahayana nor the Hinayana to be lost, guiding those who came later in ways suited to those who came before. Neither the Partial Teaching nor the Perfect Teaching was discarded. At times he praised the Hinayana in order to lead beings back to the ultimate profundity; at other times he reproved the Partial Teaching, fearing that they might become stagnant at the initial Dharma gate.

Yellow leaves are not pure gold, and how could an empty fist be real? These are all expressions of the teaching’s intent through praise and censure; they are all skillful expedients provisionally established to entice and transform beings.

Yet those who fail to grasp the intent cling to words of expediency, disputing with one another over right and wrong and determining what should be accepted or rejected. Some cling to the Hinayana and become stagnant there, turning away from the Mahayana and losing the essential purport; others rely on the Mahayana to obstruct the Hinayana, thereby impairing the wisdom of skillful means.

Furthermore, although they revere the Mahayana, they do not understand the intent of the Mahayana. They concern themselves only with denouncing the Hinayana, yet cannot even practice the Hinayana. When conceiving thoughts, they rely upon falsehood; when speaking, they exceed their proper station. They sever the wheel of the true Dharma and revile and slander prajnaparamita. No transgression is more profoundly grave than this; consequently, they remain submerged in the Avici Hell for myriad kalpas without emerging.

The Vimalakirti Sutra says:

“Wisdom without skillful means is bondage; wisdom with skillful means is liberation. Skillful means without wisdom is bondage; skillful means with wisdom is liberation.”

How could one cling to expedients and slander the truth, upholding existence while repudiating emptiness? One need only propagate the Mahayana and Hinayana together and apply both existence and emptiness. Then, with the Threefold Contemplation in a Single Mind, there will be no error.

Therefore, in accordance with the essence of Dharma, not so much as a hair’s breadth is established; yet in accordance with the functioning of wisdom, great endeavors continually arise. Because essence is not separate from function, it is quiescent yet constantly illuminating; because function is not separate from essence, it illuminates yet remains forever quiescent.

Thus, while constantly abiding in essence, one still continually gives rise to function, forever illuminating and forever quiescent. If one returns to the essential purport, both essence and function are transcended—what illumination could there be, and what quiescence? How could one follow essence so as to obstruct function, cling to intrinsic nature, and destroy causes and conditions? Principle and phenomena would then fail to interpenetrate, and the ultimate and the conventional would become separated. Thus, compassion grounded in shared essence could not operate, and unconditional loving-kindness could not be fulfilled.

If one already regards good and evil as separate, how could one universally liberate both enemies and loved ones? This is a most serious error, and its fault is indeed immense!

An eminent virtuous master of old said:

“Although a spiritual friend clearly sees that the Buddha-nature is originally equal to the Buddha, when speaking of the work of cultivation, one still does not equal the sages. From this very day onward, one must continually cultivate and permeate the mind.”

An ancient virtuous master said: “Though the bhiksu who fell into rebirth as a mushroom to repay his debt did not penetrate the principle, he still possessed practice. Nowadays, many students have lost both principle and practice.”

One should know that seeing the nature without fully penetrating it is merely understanding that depends upon words. When examined, both the primary and auxiliary practices have been lost. Therefore, the sages of former times never slighted the stages of progress. How could one take the examination of one’s own mind lightly?

For this reason, the Six Identities with the Buddha [19] are distinguished so that they will not be confused, and the Ten Bhumi clearly differentiate the work of cultivation. From the standpoint of “identity,” how could there be any distinction between Buddha, ordinary beings, and sages? Yet when speaking of the “six” stages, ordinary beings and sages are as far apart as heaven and earth.

Moreover, when speaking in terms of principle, the First Bhumi contains all the bhumi; but when speaking in terms of practice, each subsequent bhumi far surpasses the preceding one. Upon merely entering the Eighth Bhumi, a bodhisattva benefits sentient beings in a single thought to a degree that those in lower stages cannot equal even after passing through many kalpas.

Question:

Good and evil originally share the same source, and right and wrong have the same purport. Why, then, does abandoning evil and following good not contradict the Dharma-nature?

Answer:

If speaking of the inherent nature of good and the inherent nature of evil, ordinary beings do not transform them. The Buddhas do not sever the inherent nature of evil and can therefore manifest bodies in the hells; icchantikas do not sever the inherent nature of good and therefore always fully possess the principle and essence of Buddhahood.

If speaking of cultivated good and cultivated evil, they differ on the phenomenal level; their causes and effects are not the same, and foolishness and wisdom are distinct. Cultivating a single wholesome thought can gradually lead to the stage of Awakening, while giving rise to a single unwholesome thought can cause one to remain submerged forever in the sea of suffering of samsara.

If nature is made to follow conditions, although the intrinsic nature is the same, good and evil differ. If conditions are brought to an end in accordance with nature, although good and evil differ, their intrinsic nature is originally the same.

In the Sutra of the Secret Essentials of the Gate of Dhyana, the Buddha said:

“The karmic conditions of good and evil are originally not different; yet although they are not different, neither can both be simultaneously brought to a halt.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Just as characteristics and the absence of characteristics, and samsara and nirvana, are distinguished and are not the same, so too are wisdom and the absence of wisdom.”

The essential purport of the sutras and teachings is as clear as a bright mirror. What room remains for doubt?

Question:

If cultivated good and evil are distinguished from the inherent nature of good and evil, there are already two, which contradicts impartial loving-kindness and forfeits the merit of universal practice.

Answer:

In one’s own practice, one should not become attached, for all dharmas are empty. Yet from the standpoint of teaching and transforming all beings, none should be treated differently. Therefore, for those who have newly aroused the aspiration and seek their own benefit, the harm and benefit of good and evil should be clearly explained; but for the ultimate benefit of others, both the good and the evil should be taught and transformed. It is like traveling by night along a dangerous road and seeing an evil person ahead carrying a torch. Could one refuse to follow the light of that torch merely because its bearer is evil? Bodhisattvas who have attained the light of prajnaparamita wisdom never forsake evil people.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Abandoning those of evil nature, distancing oneself from the indolent, treating those of distracted minds with contempt, and detesting those of erroneous understanding—such thoughts and actions are all the deeds of Mara.”

The teaching of the Tiantai school holds that evil supports and augments good; without evil, there would also be no good.

The Lotus Sutra says:

“An evil demon enters that person, who abuses, reviles, and humiliates me. Because I am mindful of the Buddha, I shall patiently endure it.”

If perverse evil did not come, one would not be mindful of the Buddha. Mindfulness of the Buddha arises because perverse evil comes.

During the time of the Buddha King of Majestic Voice, sentient beings attached to dharmas heard the words of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and reviled, cursed, and beat him. Because of this evil karma, they encountered Bodhisattva Never Disparaging again; he taught and transformed them, and they all attained non-retrogression. Furthermore, the Buddha declared that Devadatta was his spiritual friend.

An ancient text says: “The good person is the teacher of the evil person. The evil person is that which supports and augments the good person.”

One should know that evil can assist good, yet it is not thereby identical with what is true and right. How could there be even a single dharma worthy of being cast away?

Question:

Those without the proper conditions should not be forcibly taught; when their capacities and conditions ripen, they will naturally respond. How can foolish and evil people who lack faith be encouraged, guided, and transformed?

Answer:

Abandoning the foolish to follow the wise contradicts the principle of equality; abandoning the evil to follow the good impairs compassion grounded in shared essence.

The wondrous nature of sentient beings is truly unfathomable. When they suddenly encounter the proper causes and conditions, the arising of their capacity cannot be predetermined. Even if they have not yet attained liberation, this still establishes causes and conditions for their future liberation. Viewed in this way, they must be taught and transformed impartially.

Question:

If one cultivates every kind of goodness, one must give rise to thoughts of joyful aspiration. The dual afflictions of love and hatred may obstruct the quiescent extinction of bodhi; how, then, could the dual mind of acceptance and rejection become unobstructed liberation?

Answer:

The Nirvana Sutra says:

“All sentient beings have two kinds of inclinations: first, an inclination toward what is wholesome; second, an inclination toward what is unwholesome.

Only fools seek what is unwholesome. What is wholesome is that which bodhisattvas seek.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“The one of great wisdom declares:

Desire is the root of all dharmas;

Therefore, aspire to the supreme,

Seeking only unsurpassed enlightenment.”

It also says: “For a bodhisattva, cutting off the aspiration to practice wholesome dharmas is the work of Mara.”

Therefore, when first entering the Path, aspiration is the root; but upon reaching the ultimate stage, attachment to the Dharma must be relinquished. Higher and lower are clearly distinguished, and earlier and later are not confused.

Question:

Persons and dharmas are fundamentally empty, and body and mind are themselves detached. Since there is no agent who performs actions, who practices wholesome deeds?

Answer:

The Nirvana Sutra says:

“Although all is originally empty in itself, it is also through a bodhisattva’s cultivation of the nature of emptiness that emptiness is seen.”

Bodhisattva Simhanada asked:

“World-Honored One! The five skandhas of sentient beings are empty and contain nothing whatsoever. Who, then, receives the teachings and cultivates the Dharma of the Path?”

The Buddha replied:

“Good man! All sentient beings possess a mind of mindfulness, a mind of wisdom, a mind of resolve, a mind of diligence, a mind of faith, and a mind of concentration. Although such dharmas arise and cease in every thought, they appear to continue without interruption and are therefore called cultivation of the Path. It is like the flame of a lamp: although it arises and ceases from moment to moment, it nevertheless gives forth light that dispels darkness.

The dharmas of mindfulness and so forth are likewise. It is like the eating and drinking of sentient beings: although these arise and cease in every thought, they enable the hungry to become satisfied. It is like taking medicine: although it arises and ceases in every thought, it can nevertheless cure illness. Although the light of the sun and moon arises and ceases in every thought, it can still cause grasses, trees, and forests to grow.

Good man! You ask how that which arises and ceases in every thought can increase and grow. Because the mind is not cut off, it is said to increase and grow.”

Question:

When wholesome deeds are practiced, where does their merit ultimately return?

If it is said that one liberates oneself, this is no different from the mind of the Two Vehicles. If it is said that one liberates others, then the notion of sentient beings is established.

Answer:

All the merit created by bodhisattvas is dedicated to bringing sentient beings to maturity. Existence and emptiness perfectly interpenetrate, and self and others are unobstructed.

Contemplating the world as an illusion does not contradict the gateway of true reality; liberating sentient beings while regarding them as empty does not impair the path of skillful means.

The Prajnaparamita Sutra says: “A bodhisattva perfects two indestructible dharmas:

1. Contemplating all dharmas as empty.

2. Never abandoning any sentient being.”

The treatise explains:

“Through the sun and moon, all things are born and grow. If there were only the moon and no sun, all things would become damp and decay. If there were only the sun and no moon, all things would be scorched and consumed. Because the sun and moon work in harmony, all things come to fruition.

A bodhisattva is likewise and possesses two paths:

– The first is compassion.

– The second is emptiness.

The Buddha taught that both must be employed:

Although contemplating everything as utterly empty, one does not abandon sentient beings.

Although taking pity on sentient beings, one does not abandon the wisdom that sees everything as utterly empty. One contemplates all dharmas as empty; because emptiness itself is also empty, one does not become attached to emptiness and therefore is not hindered from taking pity on sentient beings.

Although taking pity on sentient beings, one does not become attached to sentient beings or cling to the notion of sentient beings. Solely out of compassion for sentient beings, one guides them into true emptiness.”

Question:

The sutra says: “The Buddha does not attain Buddhahood, nor does he liberate sentient beings.”

If one sees sentient beings suffering, this implies persons who undergo suffering. Why, then, cultivate merit to liberate sentient beings?

Answer:

From the standpoint of ultimate truth, there is nothing; in accordance with conventional truth, there is existence.

The treatise says:

“The Buddha replied to Subhuti:

If all sentient beings knew for themselves that the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is empty, bodhisattvas would not give rise to the resolve to seek unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment, nor would they remain within the six realms to rescue and liberate sentient beings. Why?

If sentient beings themselves knew that the nature of all dharmas is empty, there would be no one left to liberate. Just as those without illness need no medicine, those without darkness need no lamp.

At present, sentient beings truly do not know that the characteristics of all dharmas are empty. Thus, following a mind that grasps at characteristics, they give rise to attachment. Because of attachment, they become defiled; because of defilement, they pursue the five desires; because they pursue the five desires, they are obscured by craving; and because of craving, they create karma leading to birth and death without end.

Therefore, know that sages are established in relation to ordinary beings, yet both ordinary beings and sages are empty; goodness is attained in relation to evil, yet neither good nor evil possesses intrinsic nature. Because there is no intrinsic nature, the myriad wholesome deeds are constantly brought forth; because all is perpetually empty, the One Reality remains eternally quiescent.

Question:

The world and its sentient beings are like illusions and transformations. If one sees a real liberation taking place, how is that different from grasping at the moon reflected in water, seizing an image in a mirror, scraping away the trace of a bird’s flight, or planting a scorched seed? It is still unclear what ultimately is taken to be the sentient beings who are liberated.

Answer:

Sentient beings are precisely the immeasurable deluded thoughts that arise day and night within one’s own body.

The Mahasamnipata Sutra says:

“Day and night, in each successive thought, immeasurable hundreds of thousands of sentient beings constantly arise.”

The Pure Land Samadhi Sutra says:

“With one thought, one assumes one body. With a wholesome thought, one assumes a body among devas or humans. With an unwholesome thought, one assumes a body in the three evil realms. With a hundred thoughts, one assumes a hundred bodies. With a thousand thoughts, one assumes a thousand bodies.

In a single day and night, one plants the roots of birth and death. Thereafter, one will assume eight hundred fifty million bodies of various kinds. Over the course of a hundred years, one plants the causes for future bodies covered in fur or bearing horns throughout the lands of the great trichiliocosm.”

If not a single thought arises, one serenely returns to the original nature. Therefore, it is said that to liberate deluded sentient beings is to understand that thoughts are empty and have no place from which to arise. It is also said that one sees no sentient beings who may be liberated. Furthermore, it is said that only after liberating all sentient beings does one attain perfect enlightenment. This is precisely the meaning of that teaching.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“The body is the treasury of the true Dharma;

The mind is the unobstructed lamp,

Illuminating the emptiness of all dharmas—

This is called liberating sentient beings.”

Once one’s own practice has been established, one then teaches it to others, enabling each person to contemplate the nature of mind and return to take refuge in this Dharma. This is true compassion and ultimate liberation.

One proceeds from the state of an ordinary being into sagehood through the gateway of the myriad wholesome deeds, and first giving rise to the bodhicitta is supremely important. This is the foremost of all practices and the initial point of entry into the Path. It encompasses both beginning and end and cannot be neglected even temporarily.

The Brahma’s Net Sutra says:

“If one is a disciple of the Buddha, one should always give rise to great compassion. Even upon seeing oxen, horses, pigs, sheep, or any other animals, one should think in one’s mind and say aloud: ‘You are animals; you should give rise to the bodhicitta!’

A bodhisattva should go everywhere—through mountains, forests, plains, rivers, and streams—and cause all sentient beings to give rise to the bodhicitta. If a bodhisattva fails to resolve to teach and transform them, the bodhisattva commits a minor transgression.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“If one wishes to behold all Buddhas throughout the ten directions, wishes to bestow the inexhaustible treasury of merit, and wishes to eliminate the suffering and afflictions of sentient beings, one should swiftly give rise to the bodhicitta.”

It also says that the bodhicitta is like a seed, for it can cause the pure dharmas of sentient beings to grow. The bodhicitta is like the earth, for it can sustain all worlds. The bodhicitta is like pure water, for it can wash away all the impurities of the afflictions. The bodhicitta is like a great flame, for it can burn all the firewood of erroneous views.

Question:

The principle of bodhi is intrinsically complete in its own nature; why must one rely upon giving rise to the resolve and deliberately stir up deluded thoughts?

Answer:

The Prajnaparamita Sutra says:

“If one knows that the nature of mind is itself bodhi and is able to arouse the great bodhi-mind, that person is called a bodhisattva.”

The foremost bodhisattva said:

“Within the state of seeking nothing, I deliberately seek the bodhi-mind, yet I do not arouse any mind whatsoever.”

The bodhisattva said:

“Knowing that all dharmas do not arise, one nevertheless arouses the bodhi-mind.”

Yet, in the True Suchness that is realized, there is no Wisdom apart from Suchness, and thus subtle Wisdom can arise; there is no Suchness apart from Wisdom, and thus they simultaneously illuminate and simultaneously subdue. Neither abiding nor perishing, they are nondual yet two. Principle and Wisdom are distinct in themselves; they are two yet nondual, and both subject and object are quiescent.

Next, relying upon the unsurpassed field of merit of the Three Jewels, one arouses a steadfast mind endowed with indestructible faith, leaves behind the five fears, and accomplishes the three kinds of bodhi. These initial causes and conditions encompass all wholesome dharmas.

The Sutra of Great Requital of Kindness says:

“Although King Ajatashatru committed a heinous offense for which he should have entered the Avici Hell, because he sincerely turned toward the Buddha, his offense was extinguished. Such is the saving power of the Three Jewels.”

Likewise, when one is in a place of danger, amid mountains, forests, or wilderness, if one recollects the Buddha’s virtues, one’s fear is immediately dispelled. Therefore, by returning for refuge in the Three Jewels, one unfailingly receives their protection.

An eminent virtuous master of old said:

“When a mountain contains jade, its plants and trees flourish. When a spring has a dragon, its waters do not run dry. When a dwelling place has the Three Jewels, wholesome roots increase.”

This describes the saving power of the Three Jewels.

The Dharmapada Sutra says:

“When Shakra’s life ended, he fell into the womb of a donkey. Because he took refuge in the Three Jewels, the mother donkey broke her bridle, ran off, and collided with some pottery. Her owner then beat her, whereupon the fetus was injured, and Shakra’s consciousness regained its celestial body.

The Buddha spoke a verse for Shakra to hear. The verse says:

‘Clearly discerning the changes wrought by offenses and merit,

Understanding the root of prosperity and decline,

One therefore accords with the practice of quiescent cessation,

And thereby attains the path of stream-entry.’”

The Soapberry Seed Sutra says:

At that time, a king beset by calamities named Ba Jin Li addressed the Buddha:

“My country is small and is frequently raided by bandits each year. Grain is scarce, diseases and calamities rage, and the people suffer greatly. I am constantly uneasy and am unable to cultivate the profound and vast Buddhadharma. I beseech the Buddha to have compassion and teach me the essential Dharma!”

The Buddha told the king:

“If you wish to eliminate the obstructions of the afflictions, you should string together one hundred and eight bodhi seeds, always carry them with you, and single-mindedly recite:

Namo Buddhaya.

Namo Dharmaya.

Namo Sanghaya.

If you can continue until you have completed one million recitations, you will eliminate the one hundred and eight karmic fetters and attain the unsurpassed fruition.”

Having heard this, the king rejoiced and said:

“I shall faithfully practice as instructed!”

The Buddha told the king:

“There was a bhikshu named Sa Dau who recited the names of the Three Jewels. After ten years, he attained the fruit of once-returning. Cultivating step by step, that bhikshu has now become a pratyekabuddha in the world called Universal Fragrance.”

After hearing this, the king became even more determined to apply himself diligently to cultivation.

Question:

Master Zhi Gong said:

“How painful! How lamentable!

How grievously wrong to forsake the true Buddha,

Fashioning images and offering incense and flowers in pursuit of merit,

Yet never escaping the binding coils of the six thieves.”

How does this meaning accord with what is said here?

Answer:

That statement was employed by the ancients to break attachment.

Ordinary beings do not know their own true Buddha. They seek exclusively outside themselves, cling firmly to phenomenal appearances, and fail to understand the true ground. Preoccupied with discriminating external states, they do not act to support the path but concern themselves only with seeking meritorious rewards. This is like shooting an arrow into empty space or like a person entering darkness. Consequently, they incur rewards subject to arising and ceasing and do not transcend the mind’s defilements.

If one penetrates the principle of Mind-Only, one sees that everything is the objective aspect of mind and does not at all grasp anything as an external object. Nevertheless, one does not destroy causes and conditions; phenomena and Principle remain unobstructed.

Venerable Shen Jie said:

“Comprehending that sentient beings are originally empty, one does not abandon the mind of great compassion. Contemplating that the Tathagata is originally quiescent, one is never negligent in reverence and offerings. When discussing the true characteristic, one does not destroy provisional names; when speaking of distinctions, one does not abolish equality.”

Furthermore, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, bodhisattvas of the Eighth Ground personally realize the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and enter the path of effortless practice. They comprehend that all dharmas are like the nature of empty space, and even the mind inclined toward nirvana does not manifest before them. Only then do they behold immeasurable Buddhas and make offerings to them with utmost sincerity and reverence.

It is also said that if a person constantly reveres and makes offerings to the Three Jewels without weariness or aversion, that person can transcend the four realms of Mara and swiftly accomplish unsurpassed awakening.

The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish says:

“In the kingdom of Shravasti, an elder had a son. At the very moment of the child’s birth, seven kinds of precious treasures rained down from the sky, and he was therefore named Precious Heaven. Later, he encountered the Buddha, renounced the household life, and attained the path.

The Buddha said:

‘When Vipashyin Buddha appeared in the world, there was a poor man who, although his heart rejoiced in and cherished the Buddha, had no offering to present. He took a piece of white stone, regarded it as a jewel, and offered it to the Sangha. That man is now none other than the bhikshu Precious Heaven. Because of this, he has enjoyed immeasurable merit, with clothing and food appearing naturally. Now he has encountered me and has attained the path and realized its fruit.’”

Great Master True Enlightenment said:

“Have profound faith in the true Dharma, diligently practice the six paramitas, read and recite the Mahayana scriptures, circumambulate and make prostrations, and make offerings of delicious flavors, incense, flowers, melodious praises, recited mantras, lamps, torches, halls, temples, mountains, oceans, forests, springs, empty space, the earth, and everything in the world down to the smallest mote of dust. Gather all such merit and dedicate it to support bodhi.”

Therefore, one should understand that the teaching merely breaks ordinary beings’ attachment to “dharmas existing outside the mind.”

Moreover, some make offerings out of greed for gain, observe precepts with an angry mind, perform meritorious deeds with arrogance, or give alms to display their superiority. They possess neither a mind of profound gratitude and reverence nor a vast intention. If they practice in this way, it will be difficult for them to bring forth pure karma.

One should not misunderstand the sages’ intent, judge it according to ordinary sentiments, give rise to a nihilistic view, and ruin the seed of bodhi.

The Shurangama Sutra says:

“If, while in samadhi, good men see the form skandha dissolve and the feeling skandha become clear, they may suppose that they have already attained complete fulfillment. Then, suddenly and without cause, a mind of great self-arrogance arises. Thus, even ordinary arrogance [20], excessive arrogance [21], arrogance beyond arrogance [22], overweening pride, or false humility may all arise at once.

Inwardly, such a person even looks down upon all the Tathagatas throughout the ten directions, much less those of lower standing, such as shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. This is called the view of being superior to others. Lacking wisdom, the person cannot save himself.

If he awakens to this, there will be no fault, for this is not the realization of a noble fruition. But if he regards it as the realization of sagehood, a portion of the demon of great self-arrogance will enter his mind. This person will cease to bow before temples and stupas and will destroy sutras and images.

He will say to donors:

‘Those are merely bronze, gold, wood, or clay; sutras are only leaves or patterned silk. This physical body is truly everlasting, yet you do not revere it and instead venerate wood and clay.’

How utterly inverted! Those who believe and follow him destroy sutras and images and bury them in the ground, causing sentient beings to become doubtful and deluded and to fall into the Uninterrupted Hell. When they lose right concentration, they will sink into the cycle of suffering.”

It is only necessary that, when practicing wholesome deeds, one remain entirely free from attachment, joyful and delighted, exerting oneself with utmost sincerity and directing everything toward the path of unsurpassed enlightenment. When the merit is universally dedicated to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm, even the slightest wholesome deed becomes a cause of perfect fulfillment and does not at all fall within the karmic cause and effect of gods and humans.

Moreover, meritorious karma is vast and profound, aiding both ordinary beings and sages. Merit is the root of peace and happiness; wisdom is the gateway leading to liberation. Therefore, these two dharmas must not be neglected even temporarily. They are precisely the true path leading to Buddhahood and indeed the profound causes for dispelling suffering. Behold the unsurpassed King of Jewels, the benevolent father of the ten directions: he performed immeasurable meritorious deeds and perfected the body of merit and virtue. He even personally bowed before a heap of dry bones and himself threaded a needle for a disciple. How much more, then, should lowly ordinary beings of scant merit and meager virtue do so?

How could icchantikas, who lack faith and are arrogant and haughty, moreover be ashamed to humble themselves and therefore abandon minor wholesome deeds?

In the Sutra on Resolving Doubts During the Semblance Dharma Age, the Buddha said:

“If someone sees another person cultivating merit and giving alms to the poor, yet disparages and slanders that person, saying:

That arrogant, misguided person seeks only fame and gain. What need have monastics to practice giving? They need only cultivate meditative concentration and wisdom. Why bustle about performing such useless deeds?

One who thinks in this way belongs to the retinue of Mara. When that person’s life ends, that person will fall into the great hells and undergo suffering for a long time. After emerging from hell, that person will again fall among hungry ghosts and then, for five hundred lives, take birth as a dog. After escaping the body of a dog, that person will, for five hundred lives, continually be born among the poor and lowly and endure every kind of suffering. This is because, in a previous life, that person saw others practicing giving but did not rejoice in their merit.”

The Treatise states:

“Merit and virtue are the foundation of a great bodhisattva and can bring aspirations to fulfillment. All sages praise them, but the ignorant disparage them. The wise practice them, while the ignorant distance themselves from them.

Through the causes and conditions of merit and virtue, one becomes an emperor, a Wheel-Turning Sage King, a heavenly king, an arhat, or a pratyekabuddha. The dharmas of great loving-kindness and great compassion, the Ten Powers, the Four Fearlessnesses, omniscience in all its aspects, and the sovereign, unobstructed freedom of all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones—all arise from merit and virtue.”

It further states:

Subhuti asked:

“In ultimate emptiness, there is neither merit nor non-merit. Why, then, is Buddhahood attained solely through merit and virtue?”

The answer was: “From the standpoint of conventional truth, it is said that one attains Buddhahood because one possesses merit.”

Subhuti asked on behalf of sentient beings attached to nothingness, and the Buddha answered for those who were not attached to existence. It is said that even through diligently cultivating merit, attainment cannot be grasped; how much less could it be attained without cultivating merit and virtue? It is like a mendicant practitioner who entered a village to beg for food, going from house to house but obtaining nothing. The practitioner saw a hungry dog lying there and struck it with his staff, saying:

“You are an ignorant animal. Even though I employ many means and conditions to seek food from every household, I still obtain nothing. How much less can you expect to obtain food merely by lying here?”

As for continually lighting precious lamps and torches as offerings to the Buddha, one will constantly increase in wisdom, and one’s body will always radiate light. When the cause is true and proper, the result will certainly be perfect; when the practice is complete, the karma will be accomplished. Thus, a thief who happened to stir the wick of a lamp that was about to go out obtained a divine eye that was always luminous and clear; and a poor girl, by offering a small lamp, received a prediction that she would later attain Buddhahood.

The Avatamsaka Sutra states:

“Again, there emanates a light called Radiant Illumination, which outshines the light of all the gods, dispels every kind of darkness and obstruction, and universally benefits sentient beings. This light awakens everyone. It tells them that those who hold bright lamps as offerings to the Buddha will perfect the lamp of unsurpassed wisdom. They light oil lamps and precious lamps, as well as various radiant torches, incense, wondrous medicinal substances, and precious torches. Through such offerings, this light is attained.”

The Puguang Sutra states:

“Light lamps as offerings to illuminate the dark realms, so that suffering sentient beings, through this light, may see one another. By this merit and virtue, those sentient beings are aided and their suffering is brought to rest.”

The Sutra on the Merit and Virtue of Offering Lamps states:

“The Buddha told Sariputra:

If a person offers bright lamps at a monastery or stupa, at the time of death that person will behold four kinds of light.

1. That person will see the full sun rising.

2. That person will see the full, radiant moon rising.

3. That person will see the gods seated together in one place.

4. That person will see the Tathagata, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, seated beneath the Bodhi tree, accomplishing the fruit of the path.

That person will see themself standing with palms joined, reverently honoring the Tathagata; or scattering flowers as offerings, adorning the bodhimanda, completing all the causes and conditions of bodhi, and accomplishing the true practice of a Buddha.”

The Lotus Sutra states:

“If people with distracted minds offer even a single flower before a painted image, they will gradually behold innumerable Buddhas.”

The Great Contemplation Sutra states:

“If one does not scatter flowers as offerings to the Buddha, then even if one attains rebirth there, one’s circumstantial reward will not be complete.”

The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish states:

“In the kingdom of Sravasti, a wealthy elder had a son of handsome and dignified appearance. When the child was born, various flowers rained from the sky and filled the entire house. His parents therefore named him Heavenly Flower. Later, the young man entered monastic life and attained the fruit of arhatship.

Venerable Ananda addressed the Buddha:

‘What merit did Heavenly Flower possess to receive such blessings?’

The Buddha said:

‘In the distant past, during the time of Vipasyin Buddha, there was a poor man who became exceedingly joyful upon seeing the Sangha. He immediately gathered wildflowers and grasses from the fields and scattered them as offerings to the assembly. That poor man is now the bhiksu Heavenly Flower. Through the merit of scattering flowers, throughout ninety-one kalpas his body was handsome and dignified, and whatever he wished for was fulfilled according to his intentions.’”

A sutra states:

“If one scatters a single flower into the sky as an offering to the Buddhas of the ten directions, one will be freed from suffering and receive inexhaustible blessings.”

The Treatise states:

“The arhat Yier, in the past, offered a single flowering branch to a Buddha’s stupa. For ninety-one kalpas, he enjoyed happiness among gods and humans, and through the power of that meritorious reward, he attained the fruit of arhatship.”

Or one may use burning incense and anointing incense to adorn the service of the Buddha. By offering a single stick of incense, one may later attain the stage of Wondrous Enlightenment; by applying fragrant paste to an old stupa, one’s body may come to exude the fragrance of sandalwood.

Long ago, when the Buddha was still in the world, there was an elder named Sandalwood Fragrance. In a past life, he had applied fragrant paste to an old stupa. Thereafter, throughout ninety-one kalpas, all the pores of his body emitted the fragrance of sandalwood, and from his mouth issued the fragrance of blue lotus blossoms.

Or one may hang banners at monasteries and stupas or suspend jeweled canopies above sacred images to express one’s sincerity. Although one may intend thereby to help others obtain merit, all of it becomes one’s own karmic reward.

Thus, when the Buddha was still in the world, there was a man named Pataka. In the past, he had made a long banner and hung it upon the stupa of Vipasyin Buddha. Thereafter, throughout ninety-one kalpas, whether among gods or humans, a great banner always hung above him, and he enjoyed blessings and happiness. Later, he entered monastic life and attained the path.

A sutra further states that if a person hangs a banner, each time the wind blows and causes it to flutter, that person acquires the karmic fruit of becoming a Wheel-Turning King. Even when the banner disintegrates into dust, every mote of dust becomes the cause of attaining the rank of a minor king.

The Sutra of a Hundred Causes and Conditions states:

“There was an elder named Jeweled Canopy who, in a past age, placed a mani jewel atop the stupa containing the relics of Vipasyin Buddha. From then onward, throughout ninety-one kalpas, whether in the heavens or among human beings, a jeweled canopy naturally remained above his head, until he encountered a Buddha, entered the monastic life, and attained Buddhahood.”

Or one may extol the virtues of the Buddha and praise the Mahayana, thereby obtaining boundless, supremely excellent rewards. This is an exceedingly great and wondrous wholesome cause. By praising even a single verse, one may transcend the succession of kalpas and attain Buddhahood; by reciting a single passage of scripture, one gains the reward of a tongue that produces wondrous sounds.

The Sutra on the Samadhi of Contemplating the Buddha says:

“In the distant past, immeasurable kalpas ago, a Buddha appeared in the world whose name was Jeweled Majesty, Virtue, and Supreme King.

At that time, a bhiksu and his ninety disciples went to the Buddha’s stupa to bow before an image of the Buddha. Seeing a jeweled image of magnificent beauty, they bowed to it, contemplated it closely, and recited verses of praise. After their lives ended, they were all born in the eastern buddha-land of Jeweled Majesty, Virtue, and Supreme King, where they were spontaneously born within great lotus flowers. From then onward, they constantly encountered Buddhas, attained the Samadhi of Mindfulness of the Buddha, received predictions of Buddhahood, and all became Buddhas throughout the ten directions.”

The Lotus Sutra says:

“Just as the udumbara flower is cherished by everyone and is rare among gods and humans, appearing only once at the proper time,

so too, one who hears the Dharma, rejoices, and praises it—even to the extent of uttering a single word of praise—has thereby made offerings to all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time. Such a person is exceedingly rare, even rarer than the udumbara flower.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Again, the Buddha emits a light called Wondrous Sound. This light awakens the bodhisattvas and enables those who hear all sounds throughout the three realms to recognize them as the voice of the Tathagata.

By loudly proclaiming the praises of the Buddha and by offering bells, chimes, and various kinds of music, causing the Buddha’s voice to be heard throughout the world, this light is brought to fulfillment.”

Furthermore, one may employ a wondrous Brahma voice to sing praises, chant, intone hymns, and offer benedictions. In ancient times, Bhadrika’s benedictions resounded as far as the Suddhavasa heavens. When Sakyamuni entered samadhi, the music and songs of praise reverberated throughout the stone chamber.

Gardens, groves, towers, and pavilions all enter the gateway of the Dharma Realm, while sounds and words become buddha-activities that assist awakening.

The Vinaya Matrika Sutra says:

“The Buddha told the bhiksus: ‘I permit you to offer benedictions. Benedictions are words expressed in speech.’”

The Treatise on the Ten Recitations says:

“When the devas hear benedictions, their minds rejoice. Or one may joyfully make offerings by every means, using music, singing, dancing, conches, cymbals, flutes, and pipes.”

The Lotus Sutra says:

“If one causes others to sing,

To beat drums or blow horns and conches,

To play flutes, pipes, zithers, and harps,

Lutes and brazen cymbals—

All such wondrous sounds

Offered to the Buddha;

Or with a joyful heart

Sings praises of the Buddha’s virtues,

Even in the softest voice—

All have attained the Buddha Way.

Or one entreats the Buddhas

To turn the wheel of the Dharma,

Not to enter nirvana,

But compassionately deliver sentient beings.”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“Such is inherently the Dharma of bodhisattvas: during the six periods of day and night, they entreat all Buddhas throughout the ten directions. If the Buddhas are present before them, they can make the entreaty. Yet the immeasurable Buddhas throughout the ten directions cannot now be seen directly; how, then, can they be entreated?

Answer:

It is like contemplating loving-kindness and wishing sentient beings to be happy. Although sentient beings may receive nothing, the person who forms such a thought gains immense merit. Entreating the Buddhas to teach the Dharma is likewise. Moreover, although sentient beings do not personally appear before the Buddhas to entreat them, the Buddhas always perceive their minds and hear their entreaties. Or, by rejoicing in and praising the wholesome deeds of others, one provides them with excellent supporting conditions. This is like a person standing beside someone purchasing incense: although that person did not personally make the purchase, they are nevertheless permeated by its fragrance and likewise acquire wholesome roots.”

The treatise says:

“When someone performs meritorious deeds and another person sees them, rejoices in heart, and praises them, saying, ‘Excellent! In this impermanent world, shrouded in the darkness of delusion, you have been able to open your expansive mind and establish this merit.’”

A bodhisattva who merely rejoices in the merit of others surpasses those of the Two Vehicles; how much more so when personally undertaking such practices.

Furthermore, throughout the six periods of day and night, bodhisattvas constantly perform three practices:

1. They bow to all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and repent of offenses committed during the three periods of time.

2. They rejoice in the merit produced by all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time.

3. They entreat all Buddhas to turn the wheel of the Dharma for the first time and to remain in the world for a long time.

The merit of performing these three practices is immeasurable and brings one ever closer to Buddhahood. If all wholesome deeds are dedicated to the attainment of bodhi, they will not fall into arising and cessation. Just as a faint sound striking a wall echoes far away, and as a drop of water falling into a river immediately mingles throughout it, so one may employ a small wholesome deed to reach the ultimate fruition and apply a slight wholesome thought to fulfill the vast mind.

Or one may make great vows, for they are the causes of the myriad practices, nurture compassion, and ensure that the seed of Buddhahood is never severed. The accomplishment of the great task, the fulfillment of one’s work, the attainment of the Way, and the benefiting of sentient beings all arise through great vows.

Therefore, practice without vows will inevitably stand alone and unsupported; vows without practice become empty aspirations. When practice and vows accompany one another, both oneself and others receive benefit.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“Failing to make great vows is the work of Mara; delighting in secluded places and eliminating the afflictions is the work of Mara; bringing birth and death completely to an end is the work of Mara; abandoning the bodhisattva practices is the work of Mara; and failing to teach and transform sentient beings is the work of Mara.”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says:

“To cultivate merit without making vows cannot establish anything. Vows are the guiding master through whom accomplishment may be attained. It is like refining gold from ore: the resulting gold varies according to the artisan’s method.

Bodhisattvas are likewise. They cultivate vows for a Pure Land, and only afterward is it brought to fulfillment. Therefore, one should know that fruition is attained through vows.”

It further says that if one can arouse the mind even once and say:

“May I become a Buddha and eliminate the suffering of all sentient beings. Although I have not yet eliminated the afflictions or accomplished difficult deeds, because my mind and speech are courageous and resolute, I surpass all sentient beings.”

The Treatise on the Great Adornment says:

“Purifying a buddha-land is a great undertaking and cannot be accomplished through the merit of a single practice; it requires the power of vows. It is like an ox that has the strength to pull a cart but still requires a driver before it can reach its destination. The purification of a buddha-land is accomplished under the guidance of vows. Because of the power of vows, merit increases, and because it is neither lost nor destroyed, one constantly sees the Buddhas.”

Or one may repair and create images of the Buddha and build monasteries, adorning the fields of merit.

The Lotus Sutra says:

“If, for the sake of the Buddha,

People create various images,

Carving all the characteristic marks,

They have all attained the Buddha Way.

Or they fashion them from the seven treasures,

From brass, white bronze, or red copper,

From aluminum, lead, or zinc,

From iron, wood, or clay;

Or using glue, lacquer, and cloth,

They adorn and make images of the Buddha—

People such as these

Have all attained the Buddha Way.

Those who paint images of the Buddha,

Adorned with the marks born of a hundred merits,

Whether doing so themselves or causing others to do so,

Have all attained the Buddha Way.”

The Sutra on Creating Images of the Buddha says:

“King Udayana approached the Buddha and said:

‘World-Honored One! After the Buddha’s nirvana, if sentient beings create images of the Buddha, what merit will they obtain?’

The Buddha told the king:

– If anyone creates an image of the Buddha, that person’s merit will be immeasurable. In the heavens and among human beings, that person will enjoy every kind of happiness, and the body will always be golden in color. If born among human beings, that person will often be born into the virtuous household of an emperor or a wealthy elder. If that person becomes an emperor, that person will be honored above all other rulers; or, becoming a Wheel-Turning Sage King, will govern the four continents, naturally possess the seven kinds of treasures, and have a full thousand sons. If born in the heavens, that person will become the heavenly sovereign of the six heavens of the Desire Realm; or, if born in the Brahma Heaven, will become a Brahma King.

Thereafter, such persons will all be reborn in the Land of Immeasurable Life, become great bodhisattvas, and ultimately attain Buddhahood and the path of nirvana. Such are the blessings obtained by one who creates an image of the Buddha.”

The Flower Hand Sutra says:

“The Buddha told Sariputra:

– A bodhisattva has four practices through which that bodhisattva will never regress from unsurpassed bodhi. These four practices are:

1. Upon seeing a monastery or stupa in disrepair, the bodhisattva repairs it, even if only with some mud or a single brick.

2. At a crossroads or a place through which many people pass, the bodhisattva erects stupas and creates images, thereby establishing wholesome conditions of merit for recollecting the Buddha.

3. Upon seeing the two divisions of the bhiksu Sangha disputing, the bodhisattva strives to find skillful means to reconcile them.

4. Upon seeing that the Buddha-Dharma is about to decline, the bodhisattva reads, recites, and explains even a single verse so that it will not be cut off. To protect the Dharma, the bodhisattva respectfully makes offerings to Dharma masters and single-mindedly safeguards the Dharma without sparing body or life.

If a bodhisattva accomplishes these four practices, life after life that bodhisattva will become a Wheel-Turning Sage King, obtain the body and great strength of Narayana, relinquish the four continents to enter monastic life, and freely cultivate the four pure practices. At life’s end, that bodhisattva will be born in the heavens as a Great Brahma King and ultimately accomplish the unsurpassed path.”

Even monkeys and apes that playfully piled themselves atop one another in the form of a stupa were reborn in the heavens; even a woodcutter who mistakenly recited the Buddha’s name was still delivered. How, then, could those who act with utmost sincerity fail to obtain extraordinary recompense?

One may build jeweled stupas or cast great bells; even a wholesome deed as small as a finger brings the blessing of rebirth in the heavenly realm. Or one may merely strike a bell once, and suffering in the dark realms will cease.

The Sutra of the Unsurpassed Refuge says:

“The Buddha told Ananda: In the celestial palace where Sakra dwells, there is a great tower named the Hall of Everlasting Victory, adorned with eighty-four thousand precious objects.

Suppose a faithful man or woman were to build a magnificent jeweled palace such as this and make hundreds of thousands of kotis of offerings to the Sangha of the four directions.

Suppose, furthermore, that after the Tathagata’s entrance into nirvana, another person took a relic as small as a mustard seed, made a stupa as small as an amalaka fruit, raised a banner as slender as a needle, fashioned a Dharma-wheel as small as a jujube leaf, and created an image of the Buddha as small as a grain of rice. The merit of the former person would not equal even one hundredth, one thousandth, one ten-million-billionth, or even one part in an asamkhya number of parts of this merit. Why is this? Because the Tathagata possesses immeasurable merit.”

The Nirvana Sutra says:

“One who carefully safeguards the belongings of the Buddha and the Sangha, sweeps and cleans the grounds of the Buddha and the Sangha, creates a stupa as small as a finger, and always gives rise to a joyful mind will also be reborn in the Immovable Land. That is the Pure Land, eternally adorned and undisturbed by the three calamities.”

Or one may copy out the Great Canon and illuminate the true principle; carve sutras in stone; write the words in gold; or peel away one’s skin and draw one’s blood, causing all who hear or see to rejoice accordingly. Using the ten methods of propagation* to circulate the Buddha-Dharma, one vows to repay the four kinds of kindness and follows the compassionate teaching of the Blessed One.

Thus, even the Buddha’s wisdom cannot exhaustively praise such deeds; their heavenly reward is boundless. Their merit equals that of the Sugata, and they serve as messengers of the Tathagata.

The Lotus Sutra says:

“If a person hears this sutra and either copies it personally or causes another to copy it, that person will gain merit. Even if the Buddha’s wisdom were used to measure its extent, its limits could not be known.”

Or one may promote and restore the Three Jewels, causing the wind of compassion to blow everywhere; or build protective walls for the house of the Buddha-Dharma, using one’s authority and strength to support it externally so that the true Dharma may long endure and the Buddha’s path may forever flourish. Outwardly, this brings timely rain and favorable winds, and peace and happiness to the nation. Inwardly, defilements are eradicated, cultivation of the path is accomplished, and cause and effect are brought to fulfillment. Those who honor the kindness of the entrusted teaching will not forfeit the prediction of their attainment of bodhi.

Or one may release those held in bondage and permit them to enter monastic life; or assist people in becoming monks and nuns so that the Buddha’s lineage may continue to flourish, opening the path of liberation and providing a gateway by which others may be guided. When the excellence of this cause is considered, all the scriptures praise it.

The Sutra on the Merit of Entering Monastic Life says: “If one releases male and female servants or other people so that they may enter monastic life, the merit is immeasurable.”

The Sutra of Past Causes and Conditions says: “One who enters monastic life for a single day and night will not fall into the three evil destinies for twenty kalpas.”

The Mahasanghika Vinaya says:

“One who enters monastic life and cultivates pure conduct for a single day and night will escape the suffering of the three destinies for six hundred six thousand and sixty years.”

Even one whose head was shaved while intoxicated, or who donned the robes in jest, did so for only a very brief time yet would still attain the fruit of the path. How much more so one who severs attachment, leaves loved ones, and possesses the complete true causes for becoming a member of the bodhisattva Sangha—the blessings of such a person have no limit.

Or one may forget oneself for the Dharma, put an end to false teachers, raise the banner of the true Dharma, cut through Mara’s net, cause the sun of wisdom to shine within the dark house of ignorance, and spread clouds of compassion over the dense forest of afflictions, enabling followers of false teachings to enter the three gates of liberation and helping those bound by views to shatter the net of the eight inverted views [23].

Or one may help others accomplish a great undertaking, assist them in giving rise to the aspiration for bodhi, create contributory conditions, and become a friend without waiting to be asked.

The Nirvana Sutra says: “To assist another in giving rise to the aspiration for bodhi, one is permitted to transgress the five precepts.”

Therefore, one should know that accepting harm to oneself for the sake of others is the practice of a Mahasattva.

Or one may offer meals to the Sangha and fully provide the necessary conditions to support their cultivation, open wide the gate of generosity, and establish a great unrestricted assembly. Thus, by giving up a single spoonful of rice, one may be reborn in the heavens seven times; by offering a morsel of dry provisions, one may ascend the royal throne in this very life.

Or one may build scripture halls and meditation chambers; offer flowers, fruits, gardens, and groves; and provide necessary articles to assist in accomplishing the work of the path. In former times, one who supported meditation practitioners naturally obtained heavenly bliss. One who provided daily food to a novice monk who recited sutras attained foremost dharani.

The Sutra of the Great Requital of Kindness says:

“If one gives food and jeweled necklaces to a person who has relinquished anger, through these causes and conditions one will obtain two excellent marks:

1. A body golden in color.

2. A constant radiance.”

Even sweeping a stupa, cleaning a monastery, serving the Sangha, giving rise to sincere reverence and deep esteem, or arousing the slightest wholesome thought becomes a cause and condition for boundless purity.

The Sutra of the Bodhisattva’s Fundamental Practices says:

“Formerly, when the Buddha was still in the world, there was an arhat named Bà Đa Kiệt Lê. Contemplating the causes from his past lives, he saw that he had once swept an ancient stupa of Dīpaṅkara Buddha, clearing away weeds and cutting down overgrowth until it was clean. He then became exceedingly joyful, circumambulated it eight times, paid homage, and departed.

After his life ended, he was born in the Ābhāsvara Heaven. When his lifespan in that heaven was exhausted, he returned to the human world and became a Wheel-Turning Sage King one hundred times. His appearance was upright and handsome, and all who saw him rejoiced.

Whenever he wished to travel, the roads became clean of themselves. For ninety kalpas, whether in the heavens or among humans, he enjoyed wealth, happiness, honor, and glory beyond measure. In his final body, he encountered Śākyamuni Buddha, renounced wealth and nobility, entered the monastic life, and attained the fruit of arhatship.”

Thus, if anyone can perform even a meritorious deed as small as a strand of silk in relation to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, that person will enjoy vast and inexhaustible karmic rewards.

The Sutra on the Contemplation of the True Dharma says:

“If sentient beings make offerings to the Sangha with a pure mind and sweep a Tathagata’s stupa, then when their lives end, they will be born in the Heaven of Delighting in the Mind. Their bodies will have neither bones nor flesh and will be entirely free of impurity. Their fragrance will spread for one hundred yojanas. Their bodies will be pure and clear like a bright mirror.”

The Account of the Transmission of the Dharma says:

“There was a bhikshu named Cầu Đa who contemplated a certain man and saw that, lacking merit, he could not attain the path. He told him that he must instruct and transform others and make offerings to the Sangha. The man practiced accordingly and subsequently attained the fruit of arhatship.

There was also an arhat named Kỳ Dạ Đa, endowed with the Three Knowledges and Six Supernormal Powers. Contemplating his former lives, he saw that he had once been born as a dog and had never enjoyed even a single full meal, but had constantly endured hunger and thirst. That arhat therefore personally prepared food at all times to provide for the Sangha.”

The Sutra of the Great Requital of Kindness says:

“One deeply reflects upon the principles of all dharmas, delights in cultivating wholesome dharmas, and makes offerings to one’s parents, preceptor, teachers, elders, and those of virtuous conduct. If, while traveling, one encounters a Buddha stupa or Sangha dwelling that is filthy or strewn with gravel, stones, and thorns, one immediately clears it away. Through these causes and conditions, one attains the mark of the hair curling to the right, one of the thirty-two excellent marks.”

This extends to visiting the sick, providing the Sangha with the means to bathe, digging wells, constructing public latrines, assisting those in danger or urgent need, and offering timely relief. All these arise from the mind of a great bodhisattva and become inconceivable practices. Because one has brought extensive benefit to all people, one receives vast karmic rewards. One may always receive a firm and indestructible body, constantly possess a pure body adorned with excellent marks, be reborn in the Buddha-land called the World of Amṛta, or swiftly attain a body that is peaceful, unburdened, and free.

All the deeds described above are supreme causes for the thirty-two excellent marks and bring forth the wondrous fruit of the eighty minor characteristics.

The Sutra of the Buddha’s Requital of Kindness through Great Skillful Means says:

“When the three karmas of body, speech, and mind are pure; when one tends the sick and gives medicine, eliminates arrogance, and knows contentment in food and drink—through these causes and conditions, one attains the mark of level soles, one of the thirty-two excellent marks.”

The Sutra of Fields of Merit says:

“The Buddha told the Lord of Heaven:

Long ago, in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī, I established public latrines. Because of that merit, I was pure in life after life. Practicing the path over many kalpas, I was never defiled by impurity. My golden complexion shone radiantly, and dust and grime did not adhere to me. Whatever I ate digested naturally, and I had no concerns regarding bodily elimination.”

The Sutra of a Hundred Causes and Conditions says:

“In a former time, the bhikshu Tôn Đà Lợi was a wealthy elder. Because he offered fragrant water for the Sangha to bathe and placed precious jewels in the water, in this life, when he was born, a spring naturally gushed forth within his home. Its water was fragrant, sweet, and cool, and it was filled with many precious jewels. His body was upright and handsome, beautiful and dignified. Later, he entered the monastic life, cultivated the path, and attained awakening.”

The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish says:

“Long ago, five hundred merchants entered the sea in search of jewels and invited a lay follower who observed the five precepts to serve as their guide.

The sea deity took a handful of water and asked the lay follower:

– Which is greater: the water in my hand or the water in the sea?

The lay follower replied:

– The water in your hand is greater. Although the water in the sea is abundant, when the kalpa approaches its end, it will certainly dry up. But if someone takes a handful of water and offers it to the Three Jewels, uses it to serve their parents, or gives it to poor beggars, birds, or beasts, the merit of that deed will not be exhausted even after many kalpas. Therefore, we know that the water in the sea is less, while the water in the hand is greater.

The sea deity rejoiced and immediately presented precious jewels to the lay follower.”

Therefore, one should understand that all things are beneficial only when they provide aid in a time of urgent need. If they are offered when there is no need, even an abundance of them is of no benefit.

A sutra says:

“If one plants orchards and groves, digs wells, builds public latrines, and constructs bridges, the merit created by that person constantly increases day and night.”

The Biographies of Eminent Monastics says:

“In a dream, Dharma Master Dao’an received a response from a holy monk, who told him:

– Your understanding and practice surpass those of others, but your merit is slight. If you can serve the Sangha, your aspirations will certainly be fulfilled.”

One may fill in pits and hollows, clear roads, repair bridges, and build boats and rafts; construct shelters where travelers may rest; or plant flowering and fruit-bearing trees along roadsides to refresh those wearied by travel. One may fully provide the necessary facilities along the road for both people and animals.

Within the gateway of the Six Perfections, one gives rise to the profound aspiration to propagate the Dharma; within the field of the eight kinds of merit, one exercises the vast compassionate mind of deliverance. A single thought of wholesome causation can lead to two kinds of results:

1. The flowering result: enjoying the happiness of humans and heavenly beings.

2. The fruition: awakening to the true source of the Buddhas and patriarchs.

One may also provide food to the hungry and thirsty and distribute medicine to the sick. Whatever food, clothing, and shelter people require, one exerts oneself to provide in full, thereby bringing happiness to sentient beings.

These are the family vocation of all Buddhas, while comforting those submerged in suffering is the daily work of great beings. If one can act in this way, then even giving a small amount of medicine to a sick person will bring lasting merit and happiness throughout ninety kalpas, while providing one meal to someone hungry or thirsty will bring the karmic reward of wealth multiplied a thousandfold.

A sutra says:

Giving food brings five benefits:

1. Longevity.

2. Beauty.

3. Strength.

4. Peace and security.

5. Eloquence.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says: “When ghosts and spirits receive a single meal from humans, they transform it into tens of millions of portions.”

The Avataṃsaka Sutra says:

“Again, he emits a light called Peace and Security;

This light illuminates those with disabilities,

Causing all their suffering to be dispelled,

So that all attain the joy of right samādhi.

By giving good medicine to cure all illnesses,

With oils, ghee, milk, honey, food, and drink,

Through these deeds, this light is brought forth.”

One may also bestow fearlessness, skillfully reconcile disputes, show compassion to the poor, lowly, lonely, and forsaken, and rescue those in peril and distress. Performing such deeds brings the merit of rebirth in the Brahmā Heaven, and one’s practice equals that of the Great Awakened One. When the cause is powerful, the result is supreme; when virtue is lofty and abundant, the fruition will certainly be profound and vast.

The Avataṃsaka Sutra says:

“Again, he emits a light called Fearlessness;

This light touches those who are afraid,

And when nonhuman beings bring various poisons and harms,

It causes all of them to be swiftly dispelled.

He skillfully bestows fearlessness upon sentient beings;

Whenever they encounter torment or harm, he urges it to cease,

And rescues those in peril, hardship, and distress;

Through these deeds, this light is brought forth.”

Moreover, practicing loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; performing beneficial deeds to aid the poor; taking suffering upon oneself in another’s stead; extending tender compassion; and giving even a little food to animals—all these are deeds of the Buddha and causes of unconditional compassion.

The Dharma Verse Sutra says: Practicing loving-kindness brings eleven benefits. The Buddha spoke this verse:

“Practice kindness and universal love, helping others;

Eleven praises and blessings ever follow oneself.

One lies at ease and sleeps peacefully, seeing no evil dreams;

Devas protect one, people cherish one, and neither poison nor weapons can cause harm.

One does not perish by water or fire and gains benefit in the present;

After death, one is born in the Brahma Heaven—these are the eleven.”

Therefore, the sutra says that all roots of goodness belonging to all shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas take loving-kindness and compassion as their foundation.

The Vibhāṣā Treatise says:

“If a person cultivates loving-kindness and compassion, fire cannot burn them, blades cannot wound them, poison cannot harm them, water cannot sweep them away, and others cannot kill them. This is because the Samadhi of the Mind of Loving-Kindness is a harmless Dharma and therefore possesses great power; protected by the devas, one cannot be harmed by anything.”

In the Sutra on Resolving Doubts in the Semblance Dharma, the Buddha said:

“If, throughout asamkhyeya kalpas, a person were to offer their body to the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and assemblies of shravakas throughout the ten directions, this would not equal another person’s giving a single meal to an animal. The latter’s merit would exceed the former’s by immeasurable and boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of times.”

The Treatise on the Great Man says:

“To give to one person with a mind of loving-kindness and compassion produces merit as vast as the earth. To give everything for one’s own sake brings a reward as small as a mustard seed. Rescuing one person in urgent peril surpasses every other form of giving. Although the stars possess light, their radiance does not equal that of a single moon.”

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“When a bodhisattva gives an animal a morsel of rice or even a single grain, the bodhisattva makes this vow:

May they be delivered from the animal realm, gain benefit, peace, and happiness, attain ultimate liberation, completely cross the sea of suffering, forever extinguish painful sensations, forever eliminate the aggregate of suffering, and forever sever the perception of suffering, the accumulation of suffering, painful practices, the root of suffering, and all places of anguish. May those sentient beings all be freed from every suffering.

The bodhisattva thus concentrates the mind and fixes mindfulness upon all sentient beings. Through this root of goodness, the bodhisattva’s loving-kindness and compassion are called supreme, and by means of them the bodhisattva dedicates the merit toward omniscience.”

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra says:

“In a past life, the Buddha cultivated only the single practice of loving-kindness and compassion. Throughout seven cycles in which this world came into being and perished, he was never reborn here. When this world perished, he was born in the Ābhāsvara Heaven; when this world came into being, he was born in the Brahma Heaven as the Great Brahma King. Thirty-six times he returned as Shakra, Lord of the Devas; for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of lifetimes he became a Wheel-Turning Sage King, until at last he attained Buddhahood.”

Moreover, King Ajatashatru released an intoxicated elephant intending it to trample the Buddha. The herd of elephants saw five lions appear from the Buddha’s hand, and they all knelt and bowed at his feet. Events such as a sage encountering a child, the blind regaining sight, a citadel turning into gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, the World-Honored One lifting a great stone, the Shakya woman’s wound being healed, and Devadatta’s illness being alleviated all occurred through the power accumulated by perfuming and cultivating roots and faculties of loving-kindness over many kalpas, enabling those who suffered to behold such events.

Now that we follow the Buddha, we should walk this wondrous path. This includes releasing living beings and redeeming their lives, preventing killing, ending the cooking of sentient beings, freeing those held captive, prolonging their lives, and creating causes for the life of wisdom. Let them preserve their bodies intact; let those on land and in water be freed from the suffering of falling into nets, traps, and hooks; let them fly and swim as they please; let them escape the dread of burning forests and dried-up marshes; let newly formed embryos avoid destruction and old eggs remain undisturbed in their nests; and let there no longer be the agony of flesh being cut apart and cooked in boiling oil and blazing fire.

The Brahma Net Sutra says:

“If one is a disciple of the Buddha, one should practice the release of living beings out of loving-kindness and compassion. For every man has been my father, and every woman has been my mother. In lifetime after lifetime, I have received birth from them. Therefore, all sentient beings throughout the six realms are my parents. To kill and eat them is thus to kill my parents and also to kill my own former bodies.

All earth and water have constituted my former bodies, and all wind and fire are my fundamental substance. Therefore, one should always practice the release of living beings. If one fails to do so, one commits a minor defiling offense.”

Thus, one should understand that neither sentient beings nor insentient things may be harmed.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“A Buddha-disciple who is a great bodhisattva becomes the sovereign of a great nation, exercises authority over its laws, and issues commands to be universally carried out so that the karma of killing is abandoned. Throughout the cities, towns, and villages of Jambudvipa, the sovereign orders every slaughterhouse to cease its work. The sovereign extensively bestows fearlessness upon every kind of being, whether footless or two-footed, harbors no deceitful intention to seize or plunder, and broadly cultivates all practices. Showing kindness toward all beings, the sovereign does nothing that causes injury or grief and brings forth the noble resolve to establish sentient beings in peace and security.

In the presence of the Buddhas, the bodhisattva establishes profound aspirations and joyful resolve, constantly abides in the three kinds of pure precepts, and causes sentient beings to abide in them as well. The great bodhisattva causes sentient beings to observe the five precepts and forever abandon the karma of killing, then dedicates this root of goodness in the following way: May all sentient beings bring forth the bodhisattva mind, perfect wisdom, and forever preserve an inexhaustible life.

Furthermore, upon seeing sentient beings harbor cruelty and injure people and creatures, mutilating their bodies and subjecting them to suffering and poisonous harm, the bodhisattva gives rise to great loving-kindness and compassion, tenderly pities and rescues them, and causes all the people of Jambudvipa to abandon the karma of killing.”

The Nirvana Sutra says:

“Everyone cherishes their own life;

All people fear blades and cudgels.

Considering others in light of oneself,

Do not kill or inflict a beating.”

In former times, there was a Chan monk named Deng Yinfeng. Before leaving the household life, he was a hunter and once shot an ape. The ape fell to the ground and died. A moment later, the mother ape also fell to the ground and died. Deng Yinfeng then cut open the mother ape’s abdomen and discovered that her intestines and organs had ruptured into pieces. Because of this, he abandoned hunting and entered the monastic life.

Thus, one should know that although human and animal bodies undergo rewards and retributions differing in a thousand and myriad ways, the root of affection is one and the same. Therefore, when a tiger loses its forest and has nowhere else to turn, it entrusts its life to a cage; when a feathered bird, ragged and terrified, seeks refuge, it casts itself beside a writing desk.

As for Wang Sheng raising swallows, how could he have intended to obtain a jade ring? And when Master Kong released a tortoise, how could he have sought a golden seal? Since life itself admits no distinction between great and small, how could culpability be separated according to wisdom or ignorance?

The conduct of the three karmas must be carefully guarded. Even injury or accidental killing must be repaid with calamity; if one acts deliberately, how could one escape karmic retribution?

Whether one undertakes the precepts for a single day, observes the Eight Precepts and fasting, refrains from eating the flesh of sentient beings, or entirely abstains from blood, meat, pungent herbs, and garlic, one will avoid the regions afflicted by the three calamities and be reborn in the six heavens of the Desire Realm. In this way, one not only creates causes and conditions for longevity but also accumulates the seeds of great loving-kindness and compassion.

The sutra says:

“Long ago, there was a man named Kalavinka who established a great vegetarian feast and invited the Buddha and the Sangha. At that time, a seller of ghee and curds came by. Kalavinka invited him to remain for the meal and encouraged him to observe the fast and listen to the sutra, returning home only in the evening. When he arrived home, his wife said:”

– I have eaten nothing since morning, waiting for you until this hour.

The man then broke the precept of fasting. Later, at the end of his life, by virtue of that merit he was reborn in the heavenly realm. When that merit was exhausted, he was born into the human world, and for seven lifetimes he naturally had abundant food and clothing.”

The merit of fasting for merely half a day can bring rebirth in the heavenly realm. By observing the fast for one day, one naturally gains a surplus of provisions for six hundred thousand years. There are also five blessings:

1. Few illnesses.

2. Peace and ease in body and mind.

3. Little sexual desire.

4. Little sleep.

5. After death, one’s consciousness is born in the heavenly realm and knows the events of previous lives.

One may cherish a sense of moral shame and dread, constantly give rise to a joyful mind, know one’s place and remain grateful, and always form the intention to repay kindness.

The Samyukta Agama Sutra says:

“At that time, the Blessed One told the bhiksus: There are two pure qualities capable of protecting the world. These two qualities are moral shame and moral dread. If the world lacked these two pure qualities, people would not even recognize parents, elder and younger siblings, wives and children, honored elders, or teachers. The distinctions between honorable and lowly would become confused and chaotic, just as among birds and beasts.

The Buddha then spoke this verse:

“If in the world there were not

The two qualities of shame and dread,

Beings would turn against the path of purity

And come to birth, aging, sickness, and death.

If those within the world perfect

The two qualities of shame and dread,

They increase and develop the path of purity

And forever close the gate of birth and death.”

One may take another’s place under a sentence of execution, bear the guilt of others, and sacrifice one’s body to save them. One may release prisoners and pardon those condemned to punishment. One may gather in wanderers and assist those fleeing their debts. One may remove barriers at border passes and abolish taxes for merchants. One may provide aid to the poor and sick and bring relief to the solitary and helpless. Always cherishing benevolence, one loves others as oneself and constantly keeps in mind loving and bestowing kindness upon everyone. Whether awake or dreaming, one never forgets loving-kindness; even flying insects and tiny crawling creatures are all sheltered and protected.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

“O Buddha’s son! When a great bodhisattva sees someone imprisoned, with hands and feet bound, enduring painful and cruel torments, and the guards oppressing that person until death is near and life is about to be cut short, the bodhisattva will even relinquish his own body and life and take that person’s place in enduring all such painful and cruel torments. At that time, the bodhisattva says to the person in authority:

– I vow to relinquish my body and take that person’s place. I ask to bear those sufferings; torment me as you please. Even if they are ten thousand times greater than what that person would suffer, I shall still endure them so that the person may be liberated. If I see someone about to be killed yet do not relinquish my own body and life to rescue that person from suffering, I cannot be said to abide in the bodhisattva mind. Why is this? It is to rescue and protect all sentient beings that I have generated the bodhicitta of omniscience.”

The Sutra on the Mindfulness of the True Dharma says: “Building a monastery does not equal saving a single human life.”

In the Duolam Ben Sutra, various kinds of meritorious rewards are compared, yet none equals a mind of loving-kindness and compassion. To have compassion for every kind of flying insect and crawling creature produces the most excellent merit of all.

One may be utterly loyal and perfectly filial, assist the nation and govern the household, practice humility, follow the way of gentleness and reverence, support one’s parents and thereby cultivate the foremost field of merit, serve venerable and virtuous sages, and open the radiant path leading to the heavenly realm.

The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish says:

“The Buddha told Ananda: Whether monastic or lay, those who practice loving-kindness and filial obedience and make offerings to their parents acquire excellent merit that is difficult to measure.

Why is this?

I recall that in past times, I practiced loving-kindness and filial obedience in supporting my parents, even using the flesh of my own body to save their lives when they were in peril. By virtue of this merit, when born in the heavens I became Lord of the Devas; when born in the human realm I became a Wheel-Turning Sage King; and eventually I attained Buddhahood. Becoming the Honored One of the three realms was entirely due to this meritorious reward.”

One may praise the virtues of others and proclaim their good deeds. One may extol another’s good reputation and open a path for recommending the worthy and talented. One delights in bringing good things to others and helps them arouse a resolute aspiration; one rejoices when others receive honors and cooperates with them in performing good deeds. In this way, one can eliminate jealousy, cast off the embodiment of resentment, simultaneously give rise to the four immeasurable minds, regard all beings as oneself, perfect the four practices of peaceful conduct, and benefit all sentient beings.

Therefore, bodhisattvas constantly recollect the past. Within the boundless ocean of suffering, they performed deeds devoid of benefit, wasting their efforts and merely causing the sprouts of karmic obstructions to grow further. Now, reflecting upon and recognizing their former errors, they swiftly practice the Buddha Way, don the armor of diligence, generate a mind as firm as vajra, perform every good deed, and use the teachings to benefit sentient beings.

While dwelling amid the world, they constantly abide in right samadhi, skillfully manifest spiritual powers, veil their radiance and mingle with the dust, and silently cultivate profound and subtle functions. They extinguish the flames of ignorance and break the banner of arrogance; adapting flexibly to the capacities of beings, they teach skillfully with a harmonious demeanor. They gather beings through loving speech and regard everyone with compassionate eyes; they instruct the deluded and comfort the fearful.

They suspend the sun to illuminate the world and light lamps to dispel the darkness; they open the prison gates of the three realms and pour forth water to extinguish the burning house. They fulfill the wishes of those who seek, like a wish-fulfilling jewel; they eradicate the roots of illness, like the medicine called Excellent Vision. They dry up the sea of desire and transform it into an ocean of compassion, pulverize the wheel of suffering and fashion it into the wheel of awakened wisdom, rescue the destitute and establish a harbor of merit, and transform the field of birth and death into the path of bodhi.

Within the Dharma of all Buddhas, they practice everything. Throughout the realms of sentient beings, they deliver all without leaving anyone behind. They are like the earth that bears all things, like a bridge that carries people across, like the wind whose power sustains, like water that moistens, like fire that brings things to maturity, like spring that enables all things to grow, like space that accommodates, and like clouds that provide shelter.

Only thus can they enable those who hear their names to escape suffering, those who see their shadows to find peace, those touched by their light to have the defilements of their bodies purified, and those who recollect them to have their monkey-like minds subdued. All these proceed from the subtle to the manifest, gradually accumulating roots of goodness until their meritorious practices are perfected and the great work is accomplished.

Why, then, would one malign the path of wholesome karma, open the gate to evil destinies, create demonic karma, and cut off the seeds of Buddhahood?