By Grand Master Shan-Fo
Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen: Praise to Amitabha!
Today I would like to tell you how to attain mind awakening and enlightenment. Mind awakening and enlightenment are terms used in the Zen Buddhism. The teaching of Zen directly points to the true nature of the mind and the attaining of enlightenment. It allows one to attain the Sudden Realization of one’s true nature of mind, i.e., one’s Buddha nature. As a result, one can be liberated from the cycle of birth and death, transcend the Three Realms, and regain the true face of the Tathagata [Buddha].
We are sentient beings. We will become a sage after we attain mind-awakening and enlightenment. In Buddhism the beings of the Realms of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas of the Ten Dharma Realms belong to Sagehood. Human beings after attaining mind-awakening and enlightenment are free from the bondage of the Three Realms; achieve the state of being free to come and go and of neither coming nor going; and have a total control of birth and death. Thus, their Dharmakaya (i.e., the spiritual body) can abide in the Pureland of Calm and Illumination.
How can one achieve mind-awakening and enlightenment? First I would like to discuss what is the mind and what is the nature of mind. Then, I will discuss how to attain mind-awakening and enlightenment.
What is this “mind” that we are talking about in the mind-awakening? The mind is what we call the conscious mind, the mind having ignorant, emotional passions and vexation. In other words, it is the cognitive mind that knows what goes on about the sense faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and sense objects (form, sound, smell, taste, feeling, and ideas). So the conscious mind involves many conceptual and discriminative thoughts.
Enlightenment is seeing the true nature of the mind. So, what is this nature? It is the Buddha nature. Buddha Shakyamuni repeatedly expounded this Buddha nature, the Bhutatathata essence, to us in many sutras. According to the Shurangama Sutra, Buddha called it the miraculous wakeful nature, the primordially aware heart/mind.
The heart/mind here is not the physical heart. Because the mind is the center of our consciousness. The physical heart is the blood-pump of our body that provides the blood circulation. That is why when a person receives a heart transplant from a monkey or a baboon his/her ideas, concepts, and ways of thinking remain his/her own, not others. So, our conscious mind is not in the heart, nor in the brain. In the medical community there has been a consensus that the brain is the center of our conscious mind. This is wrong. If the brain is the center of a conscious mind, a dead person also has a brain. Does a dead person have the ability of thinking? Although a person is dead the brain is still there. Without the soul/spirit a brain has no function at all. Therefore, the center of our thinking is really the mind, not the brain. The brain is the center for transmitting waves, motions, and messages.
When Buddha Shakyamuni achieved Self-realization under the Bodhi tree he proclaimed: “How wonderful! All mountains, rivers, and the great earth possess the identical wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata. It is because of the conceptual thoughts and desirous attachments that they can not attain such a realization. …” This means that not only the beings of the Ten Dharma Realms but also the mountains, rivers and the great earth all possess the same wisdom and virtue of Buddhas. The aforementioned wisdom and virtue is the Buddha nature. That is, we, the sentient beings, and things of the material worlds all possess the identical Buddha nature.
Wen Tien-shiang, a Confucian, once said: “There is the Right Chi in the universe. There are myriads of existence and phenomena. Down below there are the rivers and mountains. High above there are the Sun and stars. To human beings it is called Immensity which permeates the whole world.” What we call Buddha nature is known as the Immensity of Right Chi by Confucians. Mencius also said: “I have taken good cultivation of my Immensity of Right Chi.” So, where is this Immensity of Right Chi? The statement made by Wen Tien-Shiang is equivalent to that made by Buddha Shakyamuni. Human beings have the Immensity of Right Chi. Then, where is it? It permeates the whole world. This is the Bhutatathata which is pure, radiant, omnipresent and pervades the Dharmadhatu as Buddha had said. Therefore, I believe that Wen Tien-Shiang must be an enlightened Bodhisattva.
Next, what is our mind? It is the conscious mind, the minds of the deluded sentient beings, the worldly mind, the mind having defilements. It is an unsettling mind that is never in a peaceful state. The deluded human mind is impermanent. It constantly changes every second, every minute. In the first second it indicates YES; in the next second it is a NO; only to be followed by a YES again. Is it not true for all of you? This is what I mean by an unsettled mind. The deluded, discriminative, conceptual human mind is constantly changing without interruption. The enlightened mind is the Buddha mind, the Buddha nature, the true nature of mind. It is very subtle and is hard for the average person to recognize. Everyone of us has the Buddha nature although we may not know or recognize it. Thus, if we want to attain mind-awakening and enlightenment, we must truly comprehend the conscious mind and the Buddha nature. If you are an average person you have a mind that is deluded, defiled, and wandering. If you are a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, an Arhat, or a Pratyekabuddha, then you are a sage. Your mind is pure and radiant.
Now, I shall discuss how to attain mind-awakening and enlightenment. What is mind-awakening? That is to truly comprehend the root of our mind. What is the root of sentient beings’ mind? To attain enlightenment is to realize our Bhutatathata essence, to regain the true face of Tathagata, and to actualize our true face that is pure, radiant, omnipresent, and pervading the whole universe. That one is free to come and go [beyond the cycle of rebirth] without any obstruction.
Buddha Shakyamuni, in expounding the Shurangama Sutra, said: “The reason why sentient beings can not attain enlightenment is because they do not realize two fundamental roots.” It says that we do not attain mind-awakening and enlightenment because we are deluded about the two fundamental roots. What are these two roots? The first is the root of intrinsic Bodhi and, the second is the root of primordial ignorance. This is to say that we do not understand what is the root of intrinsic Bodhi and what is the root of primordial ignorance. Venerable master Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, expounded: “The Self-nature of Bodhi is intrinsically pure. Just use this [pure] mind and one will attain the Buddhahood.” The Buddha nature that we all innately possess is called Self-natured Buddha. We can utilize the Self-nature to seek the attainment of Bodhi. That is why we called it the Self-nature of Bodhi. Everyone of us has the Buddha nature that allows us to become Buddha. The Buddha nature is primordially pure, intrinsically radiant, naturally unwavering, omnipresent, and pervading the Dharmadhatu.
Our Buddha nature is obviously impure now. We ask why? This is because our six sense faculties constantly interact with the six sense objects. Through such never ending interactions, we derive our dualistic concepts, such as liking and disliking, accepting and rejecting, and consequently commit good and bad karma. Subsequently, we bear the fruits of the corresponding karmic retribution. As a result, we live in the unending cycles of rebirth. The more deluded we become the less we see our true Buddha nature, the less we remember our true “home.” But, you can use this conscious mind to directly attain the Buddhahood. If you cultivate mind development through the application of the conscious mind you can achieve total mind liberation. You can attain realization in this life through the practice of pointing out the true nature of mind. This is the supreme teaching of the Zen Buddhism. Sudden Realization or Zen of the Patriarch are the terms often referred to this teaching. The functions of the cognizant mind is based on the six sense faculties. The sages, i.e., Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas, can interchangeably use the six sense faculties. That is, one given sense faculty can perform the functions of all the others. We, the deluded sentient beings, can not use the six sense faculties interchangeably. The eye can only function for seeing; the ear for hearing; the nose for smelling; the tongue for tasting; the body for feeling; and the mind for knowing. So, if we want to seek the attainment of mind-awakening and enlightenment, we need to know our Buddha nature, the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six classes of consciousness.
The Bhutatathata of the eye faculty is called the essence of seeing; the ear faculty the essence of hearing; the nose faculty the essence of smelling; the tongue faculty the essence of tasting; the body faculty the essence of feeling; the mind faculty the essence of knowing. The six sense objects are forms, sound, smell, taste, feeling, and ideas and perceptions. The interactions among the six sense faculties and the six sense objects give rise to the six classes of consciousness [i.e., the eye consciousness, the ear consciousness, the tongue consciousness, the body consciousness, and the mind consciousness]. The six classes of consciousness are our conscious mind, the discriminative mind, the defiled mind. Thus, if you do not understand the nature of sense faculties, sense objects, and the classes of consciousness, it is very difficult to comprehend the Bhutatathata essence, the essence of seeing, the essence of hearing, and so on.
As an example, we can see things. The question is: is it the eye that sees things or our mind that sees things? Everyone knows that we use our eyes to see things. Right? Please raise your hand if you think that we use our eyes to see things. Please raise your hand if you think that we use our mind to see things. [One person answers both.] No, it is not both. Why? If it is the eye that sees things, then, a dead person still has eyes. But can a dead person see? If there is no soul/spirit the eye simply does not see. So, it is clear that it is not the eye that sees things. A blind person does not have eyes, or we may say that a blind person’s eyes were damaged. Can a blind person see things? Many people think that blind people can not see. That is not correct. Blind people indeed can see, though what they see is “dark.” We open our eyes to see light and close our eyes to see dark. Is it not right? If we are in a darkroom can we see light? In such a situation we open our eyes to see dark which is not different from what blind people do. The eye faculty has no function at all under this circumstance. So, it is our mind that sees things.
Are you listening? Do you use your ear or your mind to listen with? Is it the ear that hears sounds or your mind that hears sounds? Please raise your hand if you think that you use your ears to hear sounds. Please raise your hand if you think that you use your mind to hear sound. [Many people raise their hands.] Alas? Many of you really achieve enlightenment! Why is it not the ear that hears sounds? If it is the ear that hears sounds, a dead person still has ears, but can a dead person hear? No, a dead person can not hear because the soul/spirit has left the body. The ear faculty of a deaf person is destroyed. Can deaf persons hear sounds? Many people think that deaf persons can not hear. That is not correct. Deaf people can hear though what they hear is “soundless sounds.” There are two kinds of sounds: sound and no-sound. Deaf people use their mind to hear the soundless sounds.
Now, let us play a game.
“Gong! . . . !” [Grand master plays the large bell-gong.]
Please raise your hand if you think that there are sounds! [Most of the participants raise their hands.]
Let me play the bell-gong one more time.
“. . . . .!” [Grand master stops before touching the bell-gong.]
Please raise your hand if you think that there are sounds! [Several participants raise their hands.]
Really, you could hear the “sounds”!
I did not hit the bell-gong! I only hit the air. I think it is very hard to hear the sounds generated by hitting the air. So, there should be no-sound.
Let me play the bell-gong one more time.
“Gong! . . . !” [Grand master plays the bell-gong.]
Please raise your hand if you are hearing the sounds! [Most of the participants raise their hands.]
Very good. Let me play the bell-gong again.
“. . . . .!” [Grand master does not reach the bell-gong.]
Please raise your hand if you are hearing the sounds! [There are a few hands in the air.]
Please raise your hand if you are not hearing the sounds! [Again, there are only a few hands in the air.]
Are you confused?
Now, pay attention to the question.
“Gong! . . . !” [Grand master plays the large bell-gong.]
Are there any sounds? Please raise your hand if you think that there are sounds! [Most of the participants raise their hands.]
Very good. Let me play the bell-gong one more time.
“. . . . . !” [Grand master does not reach the bell-gong.]
Are there any sounds? [Most of the participants shake their heads.]
No-sound. Very good.
Let us play one more time.
“Gong! . . . !” [Grand master plays the bell-gong.]
Do you hear? [Most of the participants answer yes.]
Please raise your hand if you are trying to hear! [Most of the participants raise their hands.]
Very good. One more time.
“. . . . . !” [Grand master does not reach the bell-gong.]
Please raise your hand if you are hearing! [All participants raise their hands.]
Now, you all attain mind awakening!
“Gong! . . . !”
So what we can see, hear, smell, feel, and know/think is our mind, our Buddha nature. If there is no Buddha nature, then all functions of our physical body cease to exist. So, we need to know what is Buddha nature; what is the sense faculty; what are the sense objects; and what is the conscious mind? Within each of us there is the Bhutatathata essence that is beyond life and death. How many of you believe that we have Buddha nature? [Almost all the audience raise their hands!]
In expounding the Shurangama Sutra, Buddha Shakyamuni gave a discourse to King Prasenajit, who achieved the fourth stage of the Bodhisattva Path in his past life. During the process of reincarnation King Prasenajit forgot all his previous life’s attainments. So, before he took refuge from Buddha, King Prasenajit had been a practitioner of the annihilationism, one of the six heretic schools in India at the time.
Buddha asked him: “What does your nihilistic master teach you?”
King Prasenajit replied: “My Master taught me that all things will eventually become annihilated and extinct.”
Buddha asked him: “Do you think that this is correct?”
King Prasenajit replied by saying that he thought it was perfectly correct.
Buddha asked “Why?”
King Prasenajit replied “All the appearances that I saw and all my deceased loved ones were gone forever after cremation. I have never seen them again. Many houses, utilities, and tools vanished into the thin air after being burned into ashes. I have never seen them again. Similarly, the same consequence will happen to me and my body. I am sixty two years old now. When I was young I was strong and vigorous. Now I am old and become weak. I lost my teeth and my hair turns grey. I feel that I am getting older every second, every minute, every day, every month, and every year. It is a sure thing that I will die in the future. I will vanish from this world without a trace. Therefore, everything is annihilated.”
Buddha Shakyamuni told him: “Your are wrong! In your body there are things that will never vanish and that are beyond life and death.”
King Prasenajit said: “Why did I not know that?”
Buddha asked him: “Have you ever been to the Ganges river? Have you seen the waters of Ganges river?
King answered: “I have been to the Ganges river three times. I still clearly remember the water of the Ganges river. The first time was when I was three years old. My mother took me to there to have a bath. The second time was when I was in my twenties. I went for sightseeing. The third time was quite recent, not too long ago. Again, I went for sightseeing.”
Buddha asked: “Did you see any differences in the scenery and the water of Ganges river those three times?”
King replied: “It was very different.”
That is quite natural. For example, you have left your hometown for thirty years. Will there be any differences between what you see today and what you saw thirty years ago? Of course, it will be very different. There are more houses and less plantation fields. There are a few more highrise buildings, and so on.
Buddha asked further: “In the three visits does the nature of your seeing change or not? Is there any differences in your nature of seeing when you visited the Ganges rivers at three or at twenty years old?”
Prasenajit replied: “The nature of seeing has never changed!”
Buddha Shakyamuni expounded to him: “Things which change, decay, arise, and disappear will be annihilated. The appearances of things which are illusory will vanish but their Dharma nature will never be extinguished. The nature of your seeing which is never getting old is always with you whether you were three years old, in your twenties, or sixty two years old.”
The nature of seeing does not depend on conditions and circumstances. It does not follow the cycle of appearing and disappearing. It is neither stained nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. It is the Bhutatathata essence! We all possess the Bhutatathata essence though we may not realize it.
Now, how to seek the attainment of mind-awakening and realization? We need to truly comprehend the dependent origination and to actualize that all things have no inherent nature of existence. Only realizing how we got here [how we were born into this world] could we know how to regain our true face of Tathagata [true Buddha nature]. Our physical body is not the real face of our true Self. Our conscious mind is constantly having the conceptual ideas, unending discriminative thoughts. Our six sense faculties constantly interact with the six sense objects. All these are manifestations of our Buddha-nature, and is not the real face of our true Self.
Then, how to regain our original face, the Bodhi Self-nature? By knowing the fact that nothing is permanent including our physical body, we should learn to let go of desirous cravings and possessions. Then we will be free from constantly responding to conditions and circumstances. Otherwise, we will repeatedly commit good and bad karmas, and, consequently, we will suffer the corresponding good and bad retributions. As a result, we live in the unending cycles of rebirth. We will never have the chance to regain your true face of the Tathagata.
In expounding the Shurangama Sutra, Buddha Shakyamuni talked about the origination of the universe and the birth of human beings. Both of these are composed of the six great elements, namely, the earth element, water element, fire element, wind element, emptiness element, and consciousness element. Before the birth of the universe there is the Bhutatathata essence which is innately pure and radiant, omnipresent and pervading the whole Dharmadhatu [universe]. This is equivalent to the Christian claim that “in the beginning the Way and God coexist.” God creates the Sun, Earth, and myriad things. Before the creation there is the Way which is the Holy Spirit. The Way is the God, the Bhutatathata essence.
Before the arising of the conceptual ignorance, our Buddha nature and the Bhutatathata essence are one indivisible entity. But how we end up born as human beings in this world? This is because the consciousness element is generated from the arisen conceptual ignorance. This consciousness element is the Sugatagarbha which is the embodiment of the Bhutatathata essence and the primordial ignorance. Because the suddenly arisen conceptual ignorance is out of harmony with the Bhutatathata essence, the pure radiant space becomes impure and hence contains the bright and dark aspects. The translucent and dark space form the emptiness element. The imbalance between the bright and dark spaces generates the wind element. The circulation of the wind element cause spiral motions resulting in the creation of the earth element which is the smallest unit of matter. Buddha Shakyamuni called it the “nearest-to-emptiness-dust” (paramanu in Sanskrit).
From the scientific point of view what is the smallest particle? Atoms were thought to be about eighty or hundred years ago. Later it was found that an atom consists of electrons, protons and neutrons. The most recent finding is the J-particle discovered by an international research team led by Dr. S. C. C. Ting of MIT. Its mass is much less than that of a proton. It exists in a state of energy-wave package. Is this the smallest particle? Maybe. Maybe not. However, it is the building block in the formation of matter.
The accretion of earth element forms the stars and planets. Our solar system consists of the Sun and nine planets. The mass of the Sun is quite immense. It is a fire ball. The high temperature is called the fire element. The hottest, densest part of the Earth is in its center where the magma locates. The magma also belongs to the fire element. The space is quite porous in material content. Thus, the space is called the water element characterizing with low temperature.
The optical astronomers tell us that there are two hundred billion galaxies in the universe. Every galaxy contains about ten billion suns. All galaxies are spinning at inconceivable speeds as above-mentioned by Buddha Shakyamuni. So the universe is originated from the creation of the wind element and subsequently the earth element. The constant spinning, spiraling, and expanding results in the accretion of the earth element into the formation of stars and planets. After the formation period, the sun and galaxy will then go through the periods of stabilization, decaying, and disintegration. That is, eventually the sun will disintegrate [explode] and disperse into the space.
The universe repeatedly goes through the cycles of constant formation, constant stabilization, constant decaying and constant disintegration into emptiness. The processes of our birth as a human being are similar to the origination of the universe. It is obvious that we did not attain high level meditation practices in our previous life. So we are reborn as human beings. Otherwise, we would attain Dharmakaya and abide in the Pureland of Calm and Illumination. And, should we decide to reincarnate in this world, we would simply come and go at will. Because we did not attain high realization we still have strong delusion and heavy ignorance. That is why in the bardo state we still grasped on the worldly passions; we could not forget the resort house; we could not let go of cars; we strongly attached to our loved ones. So, following our karmic forces we, in the bardo state, searched for the future parents. Seeing our future parents who were making love, the ignorance of sexual desire arose. As a result, the bardo got into the fertilized egg. The genes in the semen and egg, the nutrients from the mother include the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. After ten months we were born as babies. All the inherited ignorance, defilements, and karma of the babies are called the consciousness element and the space element. Thus, our body is also composed of the six elements, earth, water, fire, wind, emptiness, and consciousness. The consciousness element embodies our soul, ignorance, and defilements. This is the processes of our rebirth. If we understand how we were born/reincarnated, then we also readily comprehend how the universe was formed. They all originate from an arising ignorant thought. That is why Buddha Shakyamuni always taught us how to regain our true face of the Tathagata. Therefore, during meditation if our seventh consciousness, Manas, is free from discrimination and the six sense faculties detach from interacting with the six sense objects, then the primordial ignorance in the Tathagatagarbha of the eighth Alaya consciousness will not arise and be pacified. The Bhutatathata essence will then spontaneously present itself. That is the true face of our Tathagata. By accomplishing this we attain mind-awakening and enlightenment.
The principle and doctrines of Buddhist teachings can be accomplished by the “Sudden” apprehension, but the realization of them requires “Gradual” practices. Thus, in expounding the Avatamsaka Sutra, Buddha Shakyamuni gave the detailed discourses about the fifty-two progressive stages for a commoner to become a Buddha. The “pointing-out” teaching provided by the Zen school allows one to attain enlightenment and become a Buddha at the present moment. That is the school of the Sudden Approach. As for the school of the Gradual Approach, one needs to fulfill the realizations of the fifty-two stages which include ten stages of faithful beliefs, ten stages of stabilization, ten stages of performances, and ten stages of dedications. After the fulfillments of these forty stages one enters the first Bhumi (stage) of the Bodhisattva Path. This is the stage called mind-awakening and enlightenment. There are ten Bhumis in the Bodhisattva Path. After that, the stage of complete enlightenment and the stage of supreme enlightenment which is the ultimate, perfect stage of Buddha. Thus, the Zen of Patriarch, the Gradual Approach, requires the accomplishment of the fifty-two stages. This is the progressive path for us to follow in our seeking to attain the Buddhahood.
Next, I would like to briefly explain to you the background of the Buddhayana Order Mahayana Zengong. The teaching was handed down by a Saintly monk, Miao-Kung, during the turn of the 20th century. Miao-Kung is the manifestation of Vairochanna, the Great Sun Tathagata, and the Da Zi Zai Wang Fo. He founded the Buddhayana and integrated the teachings of the eight major Chinese Buddhist Schools for the One Great Cause — to deliver sentient beings from sufferings. The teachings given by Buddha Shakyamuni have become fragmentary in nowadays. For example, the three most popular Schools among the eight are the Pureland, the Zen, and the Tantric Schools. The Pureland School has traditionally three main meditation practices which are the Upholding of the Buddha Amitabha’s Name for the beginners, the Visualization of Buddha Images and the Contemplation of Buddha in Samadhi for the advanced practitioners. However, the practice given to the followers of the Pureland School nowadays is mostly limited to the upholding of Amitabha’s Name. In the Tantric School the Visualization of Buddha Images remains as an important routine practice, but not the Contemplation of Buddha in Samadhi.
The teachings provided by the Zen School also become incomplete. Bodhidharma, the Patriarch of Zen School, came from India to China. In the Shaolin Temple he handed down teachings including teachings of the philosophy of Buddhism, meditation, Inner-Kung Fu, Chi-Kung, and remote healing. But now, the monks in the Shaolin Temple, China, only learn the martial arts, the Inner-Kung Fu, Chi-Kung, and remote healing. There are no more teachings of Philosophy of Buddhism and meditation practices. So, when a team of more than one hundred monks visited Taiwan from the Shaolin Temple two years ago, they only demonstrated martial arts. There was no Dharma Assembly and no meditation teachings. Contrary to this, the Zen masters in Taiwan mainly emphasize the aspects of Buddhist philosophy and meditation practices. In other words, the two aspects of Zen teachings, namely, the mind development and physiological cultivation, have been segregated. As a result, there are quite a few Zen practitioners in Taiwan, yet it is very hard for them to achieve high level realization simply because of the lack of a complete practice of Buddhist teachings.
To remedy these shortcomings, Patriarch Miao-Kung integrated the quintessential teachings of the eight major Schools and founded the Buddhayana Order. The teachings of Mahayana Zengong include eight levels of mind development and nine levels of physiological cultivation. It has the following three important features:
(1) it unifies the body and mind. The teachings include both the mental and physical development. (2) it includes essence and application. The teachings given in the beginning class allow you to heal the ailments that are difficult to treat by either traditional Chinese medicine or Western medical care. The advanced class teachings allow you to perform remote healing for yourself and others. The specialty class teachings allow you to perform healing at a distance of more than ten thousand kilometers away. The case in point, Professor George Wen of Vancouver, Canada, suffered Bell’s palsy so that his facial muscles were paralyzed and his eyes and mouth twisted. I performed remote healing to heal him twice from Taiwan and twice from Los Angeles. According to western medical doctors Professor Wen’s condition needed four to eight months in order to have a 50% recovery. However, it only took him one month to achieve a 90% recovery after receiving my four remote healings. A detailed account of this case has been given in the book of Zen Meditation and Energy Emanation. Furthermore, George will tell you the story in person later. (3) if there is practice there will be realization. The teachings include philosophy of Buddhism, Chi-Kung, and meditation practices.
The contents of the eight levels of mind development are:
The first level: Conditional Cultivation for the beginning Bodhisattvas.
The second level: Realization Cultivation for the First Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The third level: Manifestation Cultivation for the Second Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The fourth level: Transformation Cultivation for the Third Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The fifth level: Uncontrived Cultivation for the Fourth to Eighth Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The sixth level: Manifested-Pureland Cultivation for the Ninth Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The seventh level: Full-Awakening Cultivation for the Tenth Bhumi Bodhisattvas.
The eighth level: Da Zi Zai Cultivation for Bodhisattvas seeking the attainment of Complete and Supreme Enlightenments.
The nine levels of physiological cultivation are the complementary practices. They include thirty six dynamic exercises, supreme meditation methods, many marvelous application and remote healing techniques. In short, Mahayana Zengong offers both meditation practices and techniques for practical application. We have held Seven-Day Zen Retreats in the Nan-Shan Temple, Kaohsiung, Taiwan every year. There are more than one hundred of them that have attained the meditation experience of seeing the Bhutatathata essence in the Seven-Day Zen Retreat. According to the terminology of the Zen school they have achieved mind-awakening and enlightenment. Among the ten thousand students there are more than seven thousand of them that have the ability to perform remote healing. Three thousand of them can perform healing at a distance of more than ten thousand kilometers.
Finally, I have three hopes. My first hope is if you have practiced in other religious groups or other schools of Buddhism but saw few results, you are welcome to join Mahayana Zengong. It will allow you to attain enlightenment in this life. Secondly, if you want to learn the traditional Chi-Kung to improve your well being and want to help others by studying remote-healing, we welcome you to study our accelerated healing techniques. Thirdly, if you or your relatives and friends are plagued by illnesses difficult to treat through traditional Chinese or Western medicine, you should register at once to study Mahayana Zengong. The practice will quickly allow you to strengthen your body’s resilience against disease and you will also be able to help others.
I would like to congratulate and wish all of you, honored guests, and fellow practitioners, happiness, joy, and success in whatever you do and in the Dharma practice. Praise to Amitabha Buddha. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
(July 13, 1997 in Los Angels, California USA )