Pilgrimage to Mount Wutai — Emei — Jiuhua (2of2) — The Lion King and the First Prescription I must mention my dharma protector — the Lion King. I was very fond of him. The Master had brought him to me, and he stayed by my side inseparably for more than three years. At night while … Read more
The Burn and the Detoxification This period of study had continued for more than half a year when an incident brought it to an abrupt halt. One day my husband came home with ten jin of pork fat and asked me to render it into lard. After returning from Mount Putuo I had stopped being … Read more
Reading the Sutras and Learning Medicine After returning from Mount Putuo, everything at home settled back into its place. What I felt had grown most was a greatly expanded openness of heart, and my inner state was becoming increasingly peaceful. During this period I began reading Buddhist sutras extensively. Any Buddhist text I could buy … Read more
Segment 11 / Unconditioned Supreme fortune The Buddha askes Subhūti: “Subhūti, do you think the number of grains of sand in the Ganges River is vast? If there were rivers as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges，would the total of grains of sand in all those rivers be vast? ” Subhūti responded, “Indeed, … Read more
Segment 10 / The Adornment of the Pure Land The Buddha asked Subhūti, “What do you think? When the Tathāgata was in the presence of the Lamp- Light Buddha in the past, did he attain anything in the Dharma or not?” Subhūti responded, “No, World-Honoured One. The Tathāgata, in the presence of the Lamp-Light Buddha, … Read more
Segment 9 / The Form and the Emptiness of the Form The Buddha asked Subhūti, “What do you think, Subhūti? Can a stream-enterer (Sotapanna) think, ‘I have attained the fruit of stream-entry’?” Subhūti responded, “No, World-Honoured One! Why is that? Because a stream-enterer is described as one who has entered the stream, but in reality, … Read more
Segment 8 / The Birth According to Dharma The Buddha asked Subhūti, “What do you think? If a person were to fill the three thousand great thousand worlds with the seven treasures and offer them for almsgiving, would that good fortune be great?” Subhūti replied, “Extremely great, World-Honored One! Why? It is because the good … Read more
He is known for his great compassion. If your heart lacks compassion, even if you are sitting right in front of him, you are worlds apart from him. If your heart is full of self, full of selfishness, only thinking about your own benefit—even if you lean on him every day, even if you are … Read more
Normally, to break through light, you become a kind of wave—vibration. Entering light is entering a kind of wave. This vibration—look, every day we have Wi-Fi signals and radio waves all around us, and you cannot feel them. In the state of vibration, that is simultaneously empty and existent. When you realize this, only then … Read more
Segment 7 / Non-Attainment and Non-Speakable The Buddha asked Subhūti, “What do you think? Does the Tathāgata attain the unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi)? Does the Tathāgata have Dharma that he teaches?” Subhūti responded, “According to my understanding of the Buddha’s teaching there is no fixed Dharma called ‘anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, ’nor is there any fixed Dharma that the Tathāgata teaches. Why is this so? Because the teaching of the Tathāgata cannot be clung to, and cannot be expressed, … Read more