How to Develop the Bodhi-Cittawritten by Buddhist Yogi C. M. Chen
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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Chapter I What Does Bodhi-citta Mean |
Chapter II How to Develop the Bodhi-citta
of Will |
Chapter III How to Perform the Bodhi-citta
of Conduct |
Chapter IV How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance |
Chapter V How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Samadhi |
Chapter VI How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Kunda Which Contains the Red Bodhi and the White Bodhi in
a Psycho-Physical System of Holy Quality |
Bodhi-citta is a Sanskrit term which is borrowed from the one in the consequence position to be used as the one in the causal position (ed. note: a complete explanation of the positions of cause and consequence may be found in C. M. Chen's book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical.) Bodhi-citta, means "an enlightened mind" or "heart" or "the final awareness wisdom of a Buddha who is in the consequence position"; yet it can be borrowed by a Bodhisattva in all stages of his development in order to imitate and practice it in the causal position. Hence, it is a most important term; every practice of Buddhism starts with it and aims at it.
The public translation department of the T'ang Dynasty set up a rule covering five kinds of non-translatable terms, viz: 1) those with esoteric meanings 2) those with several meanings 3) those without equivalents in the translator's country 4) those which would be less impressive when translated 5) those which were old and established. This term Bodhi-citta belongs to numbers 4 and 5. Dr. Herbert V. Guenther in his translation of The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (p. 112) translated Bodhicitta as "enlightened attitude". I am not in agreement with this.
"Attitude" is a psychological term and can only partially cover the meaning of Bodhi-citta. The Chinese translation "Bodhi-Hsin" seems to be better as the word "Hsin" has an original meaning of "heart" in the physical sense which may also cover the esoteric meanings since the fourth kind of Bodhi-citta of Samadhi is visualized in the heart and the fifth Bodhi-citta of Kunda likewise lays most emphasis on Red Bodhi and White Bodhi, both of which are psycho-physical. "Hsin" also means "mind" psychically and means "essence" philosophically, which may cover the third category of Victorious Significance.
Among the five kinds of Bodhi-citta systematized by me are the following:
The term "enlightened attitude" only covers the first Bodhi-citta. The second kind has a clear meaning of action but not of attitude. The third one is philosophical. The fourth and fifth are more or less psycho-physical. All of these meaning are not included in the term "attitude". The Chinese word "Hsin" seems to be a better choice than "attitude" but the problem is that only Chinese scholars may recognize it. Hence, in my humble opinion it is better to do without translation.
ed. note: a complete explanation of the positions of cause and consequence may be found in C.M. Chen's book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical
Regarding the correspondence of Bodhi-citta with the three yanas we may say: The Bodhi-citta of Will is practiced by all yanas; the Bodhi-citta of Conduct is practiced partially by Hinayana and thoroughly by Mahayana and Vajrayana. As the Hinayana lays most stress on doing Goodness and holding steadfastly to their vinaya, whenever profitable Bodhi-citta conduct includes any evil, the Hinayanists would not be able to do it. For instance, Buddha converted a beautiful lady by accepting her evil request and saved 500 merchants by killing a robber. "Every sweet has its sour, every evil its good" - even Emerson who was a layman said such things; nevertheless, the Hinayana would not consent to evil action for the sake of good results. The Bodhi-citta of Samadhi and that of Kunda are only practiced by Vajrayana. As for the most important Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance, it should be practiced by all yanas, yet many practitioners neglect it. In this booklet I have to ask their attention so they may retain a deep impression of its importance.
To save a lengthy statement or dissertation a list of Bodhi-citta correspondences is offered below:
| BODHI-CITTA | DOCTRINE | YANA | POSITION | CONSEQUENCE |
| Of Will | exoteric | all three yanas | causal | nirmanakaya |
| Of Conduct | exoteric | Hinayana partly; Mahayana and Vajrayana entirely | course | sambhogakaya |
| Of Victorious Significance | exoteric | Hinayana partly; Mahayana and Vajrayana entirely | course | dharmakaya |
| Of Samadhi | esoteric | Vajrayana Yogic Tantra | consequence | sahajakaya |
| Of Kunda | esoteric | Vajrayana Anuttara Tantra | consequence | Mahasukha prajnakaya |
As the Vajrayana in ancient times had not breathed a word about its
own particular Bodhi-citta to the multitudes, all the essays on Bodhi-citta
written by the sages were limited to the first three kinds. Now, however,
the Hevajra Tantra has been translated into English; every reader
may purchase it. The Tantra is no longer like a needle in a haystack. It
comes to every man's and woman's ears. With the great convenience of world-wide
communication, international religious comparative study is going on very
East and each religion likes to put their most secret, most sacred doctrines
into the light of the whole world. In our age if one is still keeping the
Vajrayana in secret, he is like a thief who steals another's bell and hides
his own ears in hope that the sound of the bell would not be heard by the
other. It is really foolish!
Much the more since I am the only person of this age who emphasizes the whole system of Buddhism, I should connect the two doctrines, exoteric and esoteric, into one system. I shall deal with them separately in detail in the following chapters.
Before presenting the description of each Bodhi-citta, some terms which may be easily confounded should be discriminated in order to let the reader and practitioner get a clear understanding of the significance of those terms for their contemplations and performances.
A Chinese essay titled "Discriminations between Goodness, Love, Great Compassion and Bodhi-citta" was written by me many years ago, published in Hong Kong and was presented freely to various famous libraries of the world. I hope someone will translate this essay of mine into English someday. Here I can just translate a few points from that essay:
Bodhi-citta is not only goodness; the Bodhi-citta of Conduct surely connects with goodness, but the latter can not be called Bodhi-citta because the motive and the consequence of the former is aimed at full-enlightenment, and the latter at heaven only.
Bodhi-citta is not worldly love; a worldly love is a sorrow and a poison which causes us to fall into an animal state. A Vajra love is a reasonable love deriving from the sunyata truth but not from passion or emotion. Bodhi-citta even contains such a reasonable vajra love which is quite different from worldly love. On pretext of this some people refuse renunciation by saying "I should love my parents and my wife and my children; without loving them, what is my Bodhi-citta?!" This is quite wrong. Without Bodhi-citta one does not really love his family and renunciation is a practical step toward developing Bodhi-citta. He who leaves his family may still have the reasonable love when he practices Bodhi-citta in solitude.
Bodhi-citta is not the same as great compassion; great Bodhi-citta is a virtue possessed partially by Bodhisattvas, and completely by Buddhas. It is a term in the consequence position. Bodhi-citta, as I have said before, is a term borrowed from the consequence position yet used as a term in the causal position. One should develop Bodhi-citta first before great Compassion is gained. Many Buddhists, even scholars, confuse these two terms, thus confounding the issue. Some very well-known essays write of Bodhi-citta but actually only describe compassion.
"For the sake of ultimately saving others one must continuously practice until Buddhahood is achieved."
This definition consists of three parts: 1) "ultimately saving others". It is why Bodhi-citta has been confused with goodness, love, and compassion (but the adverb "ultimately" has been ignored). 2) "continuously practise". It is why every kind of practice is connected with Bodhi-citta. Hence, five kinds of Bodhi-citta influence the whole system of Buddhist practices, including the three yanas. It should not be confined only to compassion alone. 3) "until Buddhahood is achieved". It is why Bodhi-citta has the two great important parts: one is compassion, the other is wisdom. Both make the noble name of Buddha as the Noble-Two-Foot. Many have neglected the factor of wisdom, and overemphasized that of compassion. By practicing compassion without wisdom, Buddhahood will never be gained.
After all confused terms are clarified, we may then set forth the "5 Hows" in the following chapters:
Even in the realm of worldly knowledge men know will is a power. Clarence
Day who said, "Will and wisdom are both mighty leaders of our times," worships the will. Max Lerner said, "Man's will creates the things that paralyze his brain and brutalize his heart." The doctrine of three yanas all emphasize that practitioners should develop their Bodhi-citta of Will before any other practice is done. Where there is the will, there is the way. Even an ill will may get a chance to succeed. Two real stories may be mentioned here:
The next evening she had a small quarrel with her husband. The latter came to me and said, "I heard that when you were invited by Mr. Lee Pai Hwa of Quen-Min, with your forefinger pointing on Mr. Lee's body his demon departed and he felt his body become very light. Was it true?" I replied "yes!" Then he asked me to do the same to him and said, "If I get such a light sensation, I would like to leave my wife and follow you to be a hermit." I refused. It was because the demon of Lee was a demon only of the bad habit of opium! At that time I did not know that they had had a quarrel. And a most dangerous thing happened to his wife when C, C. Chang left her and came to me. She had taken a large quantity of poison adding some brandy and then made two Wills; one Will was intended to be given to the police. It said that her suicide was by her own will and in no way concerned her husband. The other Will provided for giving ten thousand rupees to her servant Mr. Wong Qua Chong.
It was extremely fortunate that her servant came to call her to dinner just after the Will was written for him. After finding out such a dangerous thing, he immediately called the doctor and all poisons were ejected through the doctor's treatment. She was saved!
Actually the contention of their quarrel as it stood was a pretty, lovely, beautiful private secrecy, as she told me frankly the next morning when I went to her house to perform the Homa. But as the ill-will invoked proved to be very dangerous, it almost resulted in divorce of one half and in death of the other. How powerful is the Will!! It is written in Confucius' Analects: "The commander of a force of a large state may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him." No one can rob us of our free will. He who is firm in will molds the world to himself, With will one can do anything; ill-will does evil, good will does good, Bodhi-citta of will leads us to Buddha's full enlightenment.
Since the good will is difficult to achieve, some suffering might happen in its course, yet sooner or later it will succeed. Tennyson has written:
"O! Well for him whose will is strong,
He suffers but he will not suffer long!
He suffers but he cannot suffer wrong!"
Many Buddhas have set their good examples for us. The Chinese Pureland School which has induced or lured many souls to its teachings is a school of will based upon the 48 great vows of Buddha Amitayus. The Buddha of Healing has 12 great vows. Gautama and the future Buddha Maitreya both have 4 great vows. The great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has 32 vows; Manjusri and Samantabhadra both have 10 great vows. I introduce here neither the too long vows numbering 48 nor the too short vows numbering 4. The 12 great vows of the Healing Buddha are listed below:
I was asked by the Ven. Bhikshu Sangharakshita: "Were those vows of Buddhas developed before or after their full enlightenment?" I replied: "Most of them were developed before their full enlightenment; as I have said, Bodhi-citta is a kind of practice in the causal position. Nevertheless, when one is already enlightened one may develop some special vows again which are not for practice but for blessing. It can be exemplified by Kuntu Zanpo's twelve vows in the Nyingmapa School; these twelve vows are repeated by every believer of their school:
I myself developed 10 vows when I was twenty-three. They have been translated into English in my book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and practical. I will not list them again here. Those are my general vows; I also developed a particular set of vows when I was thirty-nine. An astrologer foretold that I would die at the age of forty. I then developed nine vows of non-death. They can be translated as follows:
Developing the Bodhi-citta of Will belongs to practical knowledge which comes after the two knowledges of hearing and thinking. One should learn all those ancient Bodhisattva's Bodhi-citta from sutras, Tantras, and biographies A Mahayana sutra named Flower of Great Compassion contains many good vows of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Such a doctrine full of tears never has been paid attention to by those Hinayana believers. It is a pity.
When I prepared to pilgrimage to India, I passed Mr. Garma C. C. Chang's home and stayed there for a few days. I asked all his family, servants, and maidservants to each write their good vows, and promised that I would repeat them before Gautama Buddha when I arrived at Bodhi Gaya. The contents of their vows, nine out of ten, were centralized upon themselves and a little extended to their parents and relatives. From Chang's place I flew to Yunan province and stayed with Professor Lo. Ying-Chung who was a very learned Buddhist. I also asked him to do the same. He then developed ten vows which are worthwhile to translate below:
I was told by my Buddhist friend, Mr. Chang Shan-Chen, that he took all the vows of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas after I asked for his own vows. Such an attitude is representative of a large number of Buddhists. Was it right? It was not wrong, but it seemed to be too lazy and too cool. In our Kali age there are so many pitiful persons and events, and so many downs and ups of life that fall to one's lot. Each may have his special chapter of accidents which may be a motive to develop one's own good vows if he could be a kind Buddhist. That was why I asked all of my friends to develop their own good vows. In the following statement I would like to suggest some principles which one may use to develop his good vows.
After one has developed the Bodhi-citta of Will, certainly one should put
it into practice. "Conduct is three-fourths of our life and its largest
concern," Matthew Arnold warned. And the conduct of our lives is the true
mirror of our doctrine. If one's conduct does not follow his vows, it is
just like Samuel Butler's song:
"Oaths are but words,
and words but wind
Too feeble and implement to bind!"
Buddhists should not be like this! However, to develop a Bodhi-citta of Will is easy, but to put it into practice is very difficult. One has to train oneself in daily activities with the good vows, then one may carry on one's own vows in one's conduct until each action in daily life is fixed in one's special vows. There is very good bridge taught in the Avatamsaka Sutra. It is concentratedly collected in a chapter called "Pure Conduct". When I was 22, I practiced the repetition of the Pureland School. In this school of Buddhism two doctrines are emphasized; one is the performance of the good vows of the great Bodhisattva Samantabhadra; the other is the above mentioned "Pure Conduct." Both are chapters of the Avatamsaka Sutra. As the Sutra is in a large voluminous book, the chapter of Samantabhadra's good vows has been separately printed for a wide distribution. But the Pure Conduct chapter has been neglected. Therefore I wrote it in Chinese calligraphy in many copies to present to my Buddhist friends when I was twenty-three. I also encouraged Mr Lee Shih Hwa of Hong Kong to reprint it in many thousands of copies and to send it freely to all famous libraries in the whole world when I was forty-six. Now I translate the chapter completely below. I always thought that good vow without conduct is like a lie. It is like the delusive hope as Mary Wrother said in her poem:
Hope tells a flattering tale,
Delusive, vain and hollow.
Ah! Let not hope prevail
Lest disappointment follow!
But when the Bodhi-citta of Conduct is closely followed, the good vow adds leather to the heel "I will this, I command this, let my will be the voucher for the deed." One should thus encourage oneself as Juvenal did. However, the beginners usually make a vow at one time, but forget it at another time of practice. For them the following stanzas of the "Pure Conduct" chapter should be repeated and practiced daily.
When he serves his parents,
He must wish all beings,
To serve Buddha nicely
And offer all the best things!
When he is with wife and sons
He must wish all sentient beings
Be equal to kinsmen and foes,
And rid of lustful worldly things!
When he gets desirous things,
He must wish all sentient beings
To dig out the arrow of lust,
And abide in the most quiet realm.
When he joins in a music meeting,
He must wish all those sentient beings,
Enjoy themselves with only Dharma,
And know all good sound is nothing!
When he goes into the palace,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be enabled to go to the Pureland,
And purify their unclean things!
When he puts on some ornaments,
He must wish all those sentient beings,
To take off all those false honours,
Reach at the true palace of kings!
When one goes up to the tower,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Climb up to the Dharma attic,
Have a right view to all things!
When he is giving alms,
He must wish all beings,
To void all those desires,
Give up all worldly things!
When he joins into a meeting,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get all Buddha's wisdom,
And renounce all evil things.
When he falls into affliction,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To do all things at his will,
Without any obstacles therein!
When he leaves his family,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get ordination soon,
And gain liberty within!
When he goes to the Temple,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be enabled to give lectures,
As a right Dharma king!
When he visits his Gurus,
He must wish all sentient beings
To serve his Gurus nicely,
Work for Gurus out and in!
When he seeks to be a Bhikshu,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get the Avinivartaniya (no regress),
Have no obstacles within!
When he gives up the layman's dress,
He must wish all sentient beings
To take pains for all good Karmas,
And be rid of all the evil things!
When he is cutting his hair,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get rid of all sorrows,
Reach the holy and final realm!
When he is putting on the robe,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Practice the course of Buddhism,
Defiled not by any kind of sin!
When ordained as a Bhikshu,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To take the Buddha's best example,
and save all beings from many sins!
When he takes refuge in the Buddha,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To flourish the seeds of Buddha,
Develop a supreme being!
When he takes refuge in Dharma,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To study the profound knowledge,
and gain the ocean-like wisdom!
When he takes refuge in the Sangha,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To be able to control the group,
No obstacle happens within!
When he studies the vinaya,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To learn all silas skillfully,
And be rid of doing evil things!
When he listens to the Guru,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have all kinds of good manners,
Do all good things with blessing!
Accepting the Gurus's teaching,
He must wish all sentient beings
Get the wisdom of non-born,
Reach the state of non-dwelling.
Receiving the complete vinaya,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have all the convenience to
Get all the profound doctrine.
When he enters into a hall,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To reach the supreme Dharma home,
Dwell in the state of non-moving!
When he arranges the mattress,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Develop all good Dharmas,
Able to see the real truth within!
When he is sitting straight,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To sit on the Bodhi-seat,
Mind attached to no thinking!
When he crosses his two legs,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have firm foundation,
Reach the stage of non-moving
When he practices Samadhi,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Have Samatha to control mind
And no worldly thought remaining.
When he practices Samapatti,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Can see the entire reality,
And have no kind of rebutting!
When he stops his Samadhi
He must wish all sentient beings
See the actions of Dharma,
All vanishes into nothing.
When he is standing
He must wish all beings,
Liberate their minds,
Stand without moving!
When he starts to walk,
He must wish all beings,
Leave the ocean of death,
Keep on good practising.
When he wears trousers
He must wish all beings,
Wear the clothes of merits,
Always have shame within!
When he tightens the girdle,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Keep all the good merits well,
Don't let them be relaxing!
When he puts on the coat,
He must wish all beings,
To be a winner of Law,
Do have the other-shore-wings!
When he wears samahati (Bhikshu robe),
He must wish all sentient beings
To get the first position of the world,
And attain the Dharma of non-moving!
When he holds the branch of willow,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do get the wonderful Dharma,
Finally purify all sins.
When he chews the willow branch, (note: Indians used to chew
willow to clean the teeth)
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do have their mind purified
And cut off all the sorrow-twines!
When he goes to the privy,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do renounce all the sorrows,
And be rid of every sin.
When he washes his two hands,
He must wish all beings,
To renounce the Saha world,
With very speedy wings!
When he bathes his body,
He must wish all beings,
To become most holy,
Without any defiled things.
When he washes his two palms,
He must wish all beings,
To have two pure hands,
To do all the pure things.
When he washes his face,
He must wish all beings,
To enter the pure gate,
Be defiled by no-thing.
When he holds a monk's staff,
He must wish all sentient beings.
To be able to give great alms.
Show the true path within!
When he holds the Bhikshu's bowl,
He must wish all sentient beings
To become the best Dharma vessel,
Receive heaven's and men's offering!
When he starts a trip,
He must wish all beings,
To go on the path of Buddhism,
Reach the state of non-practising.
When he is walking on the road,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be able to practice Buddhist course,
And reach the Nirvana within!
When he passes over some land,
He must wish all beings
To walk on the Pureland,
No obstacles by any thing!
When he ascends a highway,
He must wish every-being
To pass beyond the three realms,
No fear or shame within!
When he descends a slippery way,
He must wish all beings
To have humility
And grow merit therein !
When he sees the declivity
He must wish all sentient beings
To renounce all evil paths
Get rid of all false views within!
When he sees the straight way,
He must wish all beings
To have straight and good mind,
No lie flatters therein!
When he sees much dust
He must wish all beings
To renounce all the dirt,
Keep pure Dharma within.
When he sees the dust on the way,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Have their minds kind and merciful
And practice the great compassion!
When he sees a dangerous way,
He must wish all sentient beings
To abide on the right path
And be rid of all kinds of sin.
When he joins an assembly,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be able to give profound speech
And make all in harmony.
When he sees the great pillar,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To be rid of all kinds of struggles
and renounce angry fighting.
When he sees the forest,
He must wish all beings
To be respected by men
And by the God as the best!
When he sees the high hill,
He must wish all beings
To have excellent merit,
None higher than him still.
When he sees a tree with thorns,
He must wish all beings
To cut off all obstacles,
Poisons couldn't harm upon.
When he sees tree with many leaves,
He must wish all sentient beings
To achieve the best of Samadhi,
Save men from hot place to leave!
When he sees the flower blossom,
He must wish all sentient beings
To get supernatural power
Which is like a flourishing plum.
When he sees tree with flowers,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have magnificent forms
Like the thirty-two manifestations.
When he sees the fruits,
He must wish all beings
To learn the best Laws
Leading to the Bodhi.
When he sees the great river,
He must wish all beings,
Swim in the Dharma sea
As Buddha's wise ocean.
When he sees the straight stream,
He must wish all the beings,
Quickly realize all Laws
In only one tasting.
When he sees the pool,
He must wish all beings,
Get verbal merits,
Be skillful in preaching!
When he sees the well,
He must wish all beings,
Utter good lectures,
Reveal truth as well!
When he sees the spring,
He must wish all beings
Increase all wisdoms
Without exhaustions.
When he sees the Bridge,
He must wish all beings
To save all the men,
From dangerous things.
When he sees water flowing,
He must wish all beings,
To get merit at will,
And wash away all evils.
When he sees the tendered garden,
He must wish all sentient beings
To cut off all lustful grasses,
Rid all the five desirable things!
When he sees the Ashoka forest,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To renounce the worldly pleasure
And get comes neither sorrow nor sin.
When he sees a green house,
He must wish all beings,
To practice Dharma,
Grow Bodhi therein!
When he sees a man with ornaments,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have thirty-two excellent forms
And get the full enlightenment.
When he sees a man without ornaments
He must wish all sentient beings
Renounce the worldly adornments
Practice Dhuta conduct as those saints .
When he sees the man of pleasure,
He must wish all sentient beings
To get best pleasure from Dharma,
He should practice without ceasing!
When he sees the man of non-pleasure
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
Toward every worldly task
Have no attachment or sin.
When he sees the happy man
He must wish all sentient beings
Always get happiness
And be glad to give offerings.
When he sees the painful man,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have the basic wisdom,
Rid of his sorrow and sin!
When he sees the healthy man
He must wish all sentient beings
Turn into the true wisdom
Never have any kind of pain.
When he sees the rich man,
He must wish all beings
To know impermanence,
Be rid of struggle and sin.
When he sees the gentle man,
He must wish all beings
To have faith in Dharma,
And in all holy men.
When he sees the ugly man,
He must wish all sentient beings
Toward all evil things,
Have no more pleasure within!
When he sees the grateful man,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Toward all those weak persons,
Don't return to them bad things.
When he sees a shramana,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To enjoy themselves in quietude
And get the first position.
When he sees Brahman,
He must wish all beings,
To have pure conduct,
Get rid of all sins!
When he sees the Dhuta,
He must wish all beings,
To learn asceticism,
Reach the state of Buddha!
When he sees the practitioner,
He must wish all kinds of beings,
To hold all kinds of practice,
Don't be apart from the Dharma.
When he sees man wearing armour,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Wear clothes of all kinds of goodness!
And be guided by the Dharma king!
When he sees man without armour,
He must wish all sentient beings
Do renounce every evil.
Don't commit any kind of bad thing.
When he sees man who likes debate
He must wish all sentient beings
Subdue all kinds of outsiders
Rid their heretic discussion!
When he sees man of right life,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get the pure livelihood,
Don't assume a good living!
When he sees the king,
He must wish all beings
To be king of Law,
Guide them free of sin.
When he sees the prince,
He must wish all beings,
Born in a good race,
As Buddha's offspring!
When he sees the elder,
He must wish all beings
To have a skillful learning,
Do no evil thing!
When he sees a great official
He must wish all sentient beings,
To keep the right mind often
And do all kinds of good things.
When he sees the city wall
He must wish all beings,
Keep their heal thy body
Have no disturbance as well.
When he sees the capital
He must wish all beings
To collect all merits
Let their mind be blessing.
When he lives in a forest
He must wish all beings
To be respected by all
Gods and all human beings.
When he goes to a village to beg,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Enter into Dharmadhatu
Their minds have no obstacle or sin.
When he stands by the gate,
He must wish all beings.
Come into the door,
Of Buddha-Doctrine.
When he enters into a family,
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings,
To get the Buddha's courage exactly,
Keep the three periods in equality!
When he sees the stingy man,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Never try to depart from
That belonging to the Doctrine!
When he sees the generous man,
He must wish all sentient beings
Ever renounce the three bad worlds,
In which there is nothing but pain!
When he sees his bowl empty,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Their mind is clean and so pure,
Within which there is no sin.
When he sees his bowl full,
He must wish all beings
To have accumulated all
Merits which will not fall !
When he is respected,
He must wish all beings,
Humbly to practise
All of the teaching!
When he is not respected,
He must wish all beings,
Do not do any evil,
Which may commit some sins.
When he sees a man of shame,
He must wish all beings
To get rid of disgrace
To keep the state of good fame.
When he gets sweet food,
He must wish all beings
Fulfill all good wishes,
Rid of lustful mode!
When he gets bad food,
He must wish all beings
To get good Samadhi,
Taste the nectars therein!
When he gets soft food,
He must wish all beings
To have great mercy,
Mind is meek therein!
When he gets coarse food,
He must wish all beings,
Be rid of worldly lust,
Mind is pure therein!
When he is taking a meal,
He must wish all beings,
To get the food of Chan,
With happiness to fill!
When he is tasting a sweet,
He must wish all beings,
To get supreme nectar,
As Dharma food to eat!
When he finishes the meal,
He must wish all beings,
To fulfill all Karmas,
Nothing is remaining still!
When he is to speak,
He must wish all beings
To get good ability,
Spread widely the teaching.
When he is going out,
He must wish all beings
To know the true wisdom
And leave the three realms, no doubt!
When he swims in water
He must wish all beings
To have no dirt
And all parts are clean.
When it is very hot
He must wish all beings
To renounce all sorrows
All pains are finishing!
When it becomes cool
He must wish all beings
To get the assurance
Purify the soul.
When he recites the sutra
He must wish all sentient beings,
To remember the Dharmas,
Never forget the teaching!
When he sees the Buddha
He must wish all beings
To be like the All-Good,
So handsome and well-being.
When he sees the pagoda
He must wish all sentient beings
To be respected as the temple
Receives alms as all Buddhas do.
When he looks at the pagoda
He must wish all sentient beings
To be respected by all gentlemen
And heavenly beings like a Buddha .
When he worships the pagoda
He must wish all zentient beings
To achieve the best realization
That his hair tuft could not be seen!
When he goes around the pagoda
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
To achieve all the Buddha's wisdoms
And do all things without mistaking.
When he goes around the pagoda three times
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
Follow Buddha's path with diligence
Have no laziness nor mistaking!
When he praises Buddha's virtues,
He must wish all sentient beings
To collect merits of sages.
And be praised by all men!
When he praises Buddha's countenance,
He must wish all sentient beings
To attain Buddha's body,
Realize the non-form experience!
When he is washing his feet,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have supreme power,
Walk without limit.
When he sleeps regularly,
He must wish all beings
To get the comfort,
Mind's quiet is keeping!
When he awakwes,
He must wish all sentient beings
To achieve all wisdoms,
Look in all directions!
The above stanzas exemplify a Bhikshu. When I was young I had a plan to add some more stanzas exemplifying five classes: scholars, farmers, laborers, merchants, and soldiers. I am sorry that I have had no time to do it. Some more important works such as meditations, yogic exercises, and other Buddhist literature works which cannot be found in the Tripitakas I have done by myself. This old plan was neglected so long I hope there are some other scholars who may be glad to do it.
When one follows these stanzas of Pure Conduct one's every action may be in correspondence with the Bodhi-citta. There are no limitations in these stanzas. One may develop the Bodhi-citta of Will in every action, in every profession, on every occasion, at all times, as John Wesley said in his Rules of Conduct:
Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the time you can,
As long as ever you can!
Furthermore, in the above stanzas, though the Bodhi-citta of Will corresponds with daily conduct, they are two things united. They are not the Bodhi-citta conduct themselves, as daily conduct is not actually based upon the Bodhi-citta of Will. Hence, to perform the Bodhi-citta of Conduct, which may not be the same as daily life action and since some more profitable conduct other than that of the daily layman's life may be followed, sentient beings should be guided by the Buddhist principles. I, therefore, offer them below. May they guide all my readers to perform the Bodhi-citta of Conduct fruitfully and meaningfully.
Coleridge said: "The more oath taking, the more lying generally among the people." It is because they have no principles to guide their conduct to be commensurate with the oath concerned. Cicero said, "An oath sworn with the clear understanding in one's mind that it should be performed must be kept." What is the clear understanding? It is certainly found in the principles of Buddhism; so the following offered principles should be carefully carried on:
Vinaya of five precepts; These five belong to every religion. If one commits the act of killing either man, animal or insect, one is not performing the Bodhi-citta of Conduct. I often see many Buddhist laymen who always kill chicken, fish, dove, prawn, duck and some other animals for their food. I dare to say 98% of Chinese Buddhist families have committed killing. On the other hand, in the West many have become vegetarians. They are hopeful Buddhists. The other four precepts must also be followed. One must abstain from stealing, lust, lying, intoxicants as well as killing.
Vinaya of right profession; When one takes refuge in the Three Gems, he
should exchange his bad profession for a good one.
One should not be an executioner, hangman, electrocutioner, firing squad member, headsman, scoundrel, robber, blackguard, cut-throat, jailbird, blood hound, bloodsucker, butcher, hag prostitute, siren fury, Jezebel, pimp or panderer. One should not make wine spirits, cigarettes, or sell them, or peddle poisons, such as opium and morphine, When I pilgrimaged to Varanasi I discovered some Buddhists and Hindus who took advantage of pilgrims and actually peddled some opium and morphine there where there is a center of poison business. I was very sad. I also felt entrusted by Buddha and the Bodhisattvas to advise them that anyone who does such a business will surely fall into hell. I did advise them, but only a few persons believed it.
A lie willingly told, even to save one's own life, is wrong. (Peter did not admit Jesus as his guru to save his own life for three times. It was a lie. Buddhists should not do so.)
To set all sentient beings on the path of the good and wholesome in general and of the Mahayana in particular.
To consider a Bodhisattva who has performed the Bodhi-citta as the teacher - the Buddha - and to proclaim his virtues in the ten regions of the world.
To love all sentient beings without ever behaving meanly to them.
There are 4 articles of those won by evils, 5 mulapattis of the king or a leader, 5 mulapattis of the officials or officers, 8 mulapattis of entering into the Mahayana, 46 pattis of Bodhisattvas, 14 ethics leading to acquiring the good Dharma, and 11 ethics leading to work for the benefit of others. Readers are advised to read my booklet No. 12 Mahayana Silas. All the above vinayas are included therein.
A vinaya of the four principles of Bodhi-citta may be a totality for all kinds of conduct; one should always keep them in mind;
There are eight fields of welfare within which one should act with
Charity:
1) Buddha, 2) Sages, 3) Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, 4) Acraryas, 5) monks
or nuns, 6) father or mother, 7) any sick person or patient.
In another source, the eight fields are described as follows:
1) To build good wells and roads, 2) To build bridges, 3) To repair
dangerous roads, 4) To honor one's parents, 5) To make offerings to Bhikshus
and Bhikshunis, 6) To help the patients, 7) To save those who are ill or
poor, 8) To offer food to the public without any condition.
One should try to be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, and enemy to none. Walk groundly, talk profoundly, serve roundly, give aboundly -- thus sleep soundly. Make yourself accessible to all; do not make life hard for any. Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, teach more; hate less, love more; and all good conducts are yours.
He whose power is sufficient to give his life in order to save others should do it. Many Bodhisattvas have set many good examples. I have introduced them in my other works (see page 24 of Booklet No. 36). I do not repeat them again here.
The Tantric methods of giving alms have some special rituals:
When one sees that somebody is going to do some good and beneficent action, one should think, "What goodness he is doing; I'm very glad to see it." He who thinks in this way will share the same merit as the doer.
For instance, when one sees that a monastery is making public tea for all the Lamas, if one puts even a blade of tea leaf inside the boiler, he might share the merit which comes from making offerings to the Lamas.
Bodhi-citta of Conduct through breath:
When one exhales one should think that the breath radiates forth to every evil being and takes their sin, disease, demons, distress, low-self, and high-self, and returns these to one's own body. When one retains the breath inside, he should think that those bad things taken from those sinful beings become a great force to destroy one's own egoism, pride, and the root of Avidya ("ignorance") until only the Bodhicitta remains.
When one exhales the breath again, one thinks that one's own wisdom, merit, Samadhi, and realization become a bright light which comes into every sentient being, making them fully enlightened. And last but not least, the being who receives this light will change his mind, habit, thought and attitude to be in accord with Buddhism.
The above four methods of good Bodhi-citta conduct may be practiced by even poor man who has no money.
One should practice the Bodhi-citta of Conduct according to the Patience of Prajnaparamita or "Perfection" in the following instances:
For saving sentient beings and practicing the Bodhi-citta conduct with patience one should pass all the eight hardships:
It is said of the effectiveness of Bodhi-citta conduct with patience in our lives, that even though we do not look for it, we become beautiful, healthy, famous, and long-lived and attain the position of a universal monarch in our lives. So we should always think of the benefit of the Bodhi-citta conduct done in patience, and also encourage our selves to do it very often.
One should practice the Bodhi-citta of Conduct with diligence.
One should know that self-nature without spiritual exercise is like a seed shut up in a pod, and Bodhi-citta conduct without performance is nothing at all. One must get rid of:
One must perform all the Bodhi-citta conducts with the following five kinds of diligence:
Ever active -- one must make continual efforts without getting weary in body or mind.
Devoted -- one should act with deep devotion: joyfully, eagerly, and quickly.
Unshakable -- when one meets some interruptions, conflicting emotions, and misery, one should keep patience and should not be shaken by them.
Never turn back -- even if one is hurt or mocked or upset by others, one should still go on with the Bodhi-citta conduct and never turn back.
Indefatigable -- one should exert oneself, but not keep any high opinion of oneself. One should act without pride or passion.
Charles Kingsley said, "Thank God every morning when you get up that you have some thing to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not; Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know." Much the more, one who has developed the Bodhicitta of Will must willingly do the Bodhi-citta of Conduct, but not by being forced by either God or man.
Shakespeare is so wise a poet but he is never proud of his wisdom, but only of his diligence, as he wrote in his work "King Lear": "That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is diligence". Hence, the person who practices Bodhi-citta of Conduct with only the previous Prajnaparamitas, but without diligence, will not be able to carry out all his good conducts to their full extent.
One should practice Bodhi-citta with concentration.
When one practices the Bodhi-citta of Conduct with concentration, one's mind has become harmonized; one sees every action and its related persons and circumstances according to their true nature; one may be steeped in great compassion for sentient beings. If one has no concentration, his tranquility is not realized; super sensible cognition does not rise; then one is unable to work for sentient beings reasonably and fruitfully, and one's movements, words, and thoughts are not restrained. Without concentration conflicting emotions are rampant; one is addicted to worldly talk, open to the attacks of Maras, and steeped in carelessness.
It is also written in the vinaya of the Bodhisattva that "a Bodhisattva should not neglect to practice concentration at least three times a day."
One should practice Bodhi-citta of Conduct according to the wisdom of Sunyata.
The most important discrimination between the good conduct done by non-Buddhists and the Bodhi-citta conduct done by Buddhists is what is called "Bodhi" -- Bodhi is the full enlightenment and this is of the sunyata truth which was discovered for the first time by Buddha Himself, but not by any God. Hence, our Bodhi-citta of Conduct should begin with this philosophic motive and continued through this philosophic course and ended at this philosophic embodiment of assurance of realization.
Each Bodhi-citta conduct should be qualified by this sunyata wisdom. To make this qualification strong and confirmed, one has to practice it according to the following course:
The three important essential points in each course of Bodhi-citta conduct have been taught by the great sage Milarepa.
Such a measurement is taken by the practitioner to certify his Bodhi-citta conduct. Such conduct is aimed at the full-enlightenment, and not at any kind of heaven. The practitioner is thus able to ultimately help sentient beings.
One must distinguish those merits for getting good rebirth in heaven and those for the PureLand. It all depends upon the manner of the doer. If he has some volition of egoism or he does not know how to turn the merit into sunyata, he will fall into heaven. If he has measured his conduct well with the measurement of sunyata, he will get the full enlightenment This important discrimination should be well-recognized. Otherwise even if he has taken refuge in the Three Gems, has practiced many kinds of meditations, has repeated incantations many times, has lived in a hermitage for many years, and has seen many visions or lights, he is still an outsider or a Buddhist who is only able to get rebirth in heaven, just as believers of other religions. As the sunyata is a very important condition, the third kind of Bodhicitta which is called "Victorious Significance", is especially practiced.
To sum up all the important practices in this chapter I would say:
As the previous two kinds of Bodhi-citta should be measured by the victorious signification of sunyata, and the aim of the Bodhi-citta is toward the victorious signification of sunyata, this third Bodhi-citta should be well-recognized and carefully practiced.
The ultimate benefit and final goal of every good Bodhi-citta conduct are both related to sunyata. If sunyata has not been practiced, all good conducts will lead the practitioner to fall into heaven, which is one state of the transmigration. Therefore, readers are advised to pay much more attention to this chapter:
Emancipation has been wrongly used by those ambitious politicians. Actually, "Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree", as Rabindranath Tagore asserted. Most good people, after they become free from evil conduct, are fettered by good conduct from which grows the bondage of pride, selfishness, volition, and ambition. The so-called Bodhi-citta is a mind of both wisdom and compassion -- not only the latter one. For he who has not become free from the ignorance of egoism, all the good Bodhi-citta conduct becomes mundane and far apart from the emancipation of sunyata. One, therefore, has to practice the following meditations to make the Bodhicitta of Victorious Significance stronger:
- No form -- One should know in one's practice that every Dharma, either good or evil, has no form. It is changeable and transmutable. When one does a good action, one should not hold it as good, as something one should be proud of. It is just like the hair of a lady; at some times it is fashionable one way, but then it is no longer in vogue. That is why, "To make a vow for life is to make oneself a slave", as Voltaire said. It does not mean that one should not vow, but that one should know the vow should be identified with sunyata.
- No will -- Every will is itself of sunyata; as one's consciousness is of sunyata, so is one's will. One should develop the will within the sunyata, but not with egoism. Although the mirror is sunyata in nature, the shadow thereof is also sunyata in condition. We should have beautiful shadows in the mirror instead of ugly ones, peaceful ones instead of wrathful ones.
- No birth -- Everything, either of mentality or materiality, is of sunyata. When it arises it is like a bubble of water; when it vanishes it returns into the water.
Because every sentient being does not know this truth, he is always in sorrow and tangled by wills, either good or evil, and by forms,either beautiful or ugly. So he is transmigrating and turning around without ceasing in the circle of death and rebirth. One has to meditate on the sunyata of non-birth, and for those who do not meditate on the sunyata, one should develop the Bodhi-citta of Will and Conduct to lure them to learn the truth of non-birth.
When one does some good conduct, one should think that conduct is just like a flower in the air, which is like the real flower but not always there; sometimes maybe it disappears. All the surroundings and the people and things concerned with the conducts are in the nature of sunyata. There is no real thing which should be held to steadfastly.
When one establishes a Tantric Mandala for the sake of sentient beings, one should think that all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Gods in the Mandala, and the sentient beings in the six realms are like the second, or the shadow of, the moon reflecting in every river and ocean. They are not the real moon; the real moon has no egoism, no selfishness, nor entity, no existence, and nothing which should be held.
When one has converted somebody who recently has joined the Order of Buddhists, or when one has become disappointed by the lack of results to convert that one whom one has tried many times to persuade, one must think that the beautiful shadow in the mirror is like the former, and that the ugly one is like the latter. Both are only shadows; there is nothing to be delighted in nor to be hated. Yet one would like the ugly one to be a beautiful one in his doing; the ugly one may by and by become aware of his own nature of sunyata.
When one works in the plastic society and passes through all the showy cities, poor villages, and magnificent landscapes, one must think that one's self is in a long dream, the same as those short ones each night. The one who is angry with me or kind to me are both unreal, yet one has to try to make the angry one happy and the kind and lovely ones, right and merciful; in so doing, one will gradually recognize the truth.
When a good conduct is done, for instance, when a bridge is made completely for the passenger, one has to think of it: Every merit is not durable; it may be changeable For the time being it seems very new; after some time it may be broken and destroyed; yet for sentient beings at this moment, whatever I can do to help, I should do. There is nothing which is able to remain forever. Everything is like the dew on the grass; when the sun rises it will very soon be gone. One should not hold to things steadfastly.
When one honors his guru with many precious gems, or adorns some new monastery or pagoda, it seems very beautiful and delightful. One must then think of this simile. The lightning happens in the sky and suddenly disappears. One must not hold it tight in one's mind. Even though beauty is created to make Gurus happy and to make magnificent the monastery for luring sentient beings to believe in Buddhism, in the end all must recognize that every Dharma is itself void in nature -- temporarily appearing as does the lightning under certain conditions.
Besides the above six similes, there are eight negations and eighteen kinds of voidness which have been taught by Buddha in the Mahayana. Please refer to my book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical.
The sunyata truth does not mean that everything is void, but it is as we have seen from the above six similes. Everything has its appearance as a shadow inside of which there is no self. It is non-egoism. The common fool is always a slave of his self. If the ego is void, he is really emancipated. Hence, the only inner foe to cause one sorrow, to increase one's pride, to run up one's prejudice, to heighten one's anger, and to enhance one's lust is oneself, and not another. When I was visited by many visitors I was asked, "Am I disturbing you?" I always answered, "No! If I do not disturb myself even Mao is not sufficient to disturb me."
When one's ego is so strong, others such as his friends, his relatives, his nation. his society, his party, and his related sentient beings -- all will be victims of his selfishness; that is why Mao is the enemy of his members Liu and Pan and Ho and even other communist countries. That is why one should change his own ego with other's when one's ego is destroyed. Egoism will become altruism and all the Bodhi-citta conducts might be carried out rightly and profitably,
Furthermore, one must be aware of these following dangers: When one does the good Bodhi-citta conduct with vinaya, it may cause others to be more harmful; with patience to be more cruel; with charity to be more lustful; with diligence to be more idle; with concentration to be more heedless; with wisdom to be selfish. It seems that non-egoism is only helping one's self, and altruism is harmful to others. Hence, one must know that after the others have been lured into the Order of Buddhism, one has to teach them the same selflessness of sunyata; then they will be really and ultimately saved.
Hence, a Buddhist should hold the following idea:
- No man is more cheated than the selfish man.
- Human history is the sad result of each one looking out for himself.
- Selfish people are incapable of loving others; they are not capable of loving themselves either.
- He who lives for himself is dead to others.
- Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers and never emancipates.
- The more a man denies himself, so much the more will he receive from the Buddhas and Gods.
- In order that you may please, you ought to be forgetful of self.
- So by never preferring oneself to others you very readily find praise without envy and friends to your taste.
- Self-love is a golden calf.
- Self-love is the most forbidden sin in the Canon.
- The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of million of our fellow-beings.
- Whoever lives not somewhat for others, lives little for himself.
- The disease of men is this: What they require from others is great; what they lay upon themselves is light.
- He who keeps his food to himself, has his sin to himself also.
- By oneself alone is evil done; it is self-born and self-caused. Evil grinds the unwise as a diamond, a hard gem.
- The fools of little wit move about with the very self as their own foe doing evil deeds the fruit of which is bitter.
- All those virtuous terms such 35 good, righteous, noble, kind, delightful, faithful, pure, saint-like, and wise are used to praise others but are not used for becoming proud of oneself. All those vicious terms such as evil, wicked, wrong, mean, cruel, lazy, unworthy, shameless, corrupt, sinful, devilish, and stupid are used to check oneself, but are not used to blame others.
- It is due to selfishness that I have fallen into the endless transmigration for so long; now I should develop the Bodhi-citta to help others become as a seed to grow up in the Buddhist field until full enlightenment results.
One must always destroy one's ego with the above thoughts, with one's heart and soul, through fire and water, thick and thin.
The above three kinds of Bodhi-citta of Will, of Conduct, and of Victorious
Significance, were emphasized by ancients of India and of China. They are
exoteric in nature though the next two are esoteric. They have not been
connected into a complete system until now. As I am the man who was born
here for this great event during this very age to arrange all the important
doctrines into a reasonable, complete system for the whole world, I have
to introduce them to my readers without any imperfection.
The previous three kinds of Bodhi-citta lay most stress on the mentality. They have not been connected with the physical body, so the wisdom nerves have not been opened and utilized for developing the Bodhi-citta. This Bodhi-citta of Samadhi provides the technique and the function to complete the practice. The above three kinds of Bodhi-citta only succeed after three great Kalpas, but they may shorten their required period into only one life time or at the most, sixteen life times. So the earnest and quick-tempered Bodhisattva has to learn the esoteric doctrines: Samadhi Bodhi-citta first, and Kunda Bodhi-citta last.
For Samadhi Bodhi-citta I have written Booklet No.42 in which the theory of philosophy and the system and all their connections are dealt with in detail. Here I have to introduce the practical method in order to solve the problem "How?"
These methods were imparted by the great sage Nagarjuna who was an incarnation of an ancient Buddha before Gautama Buddha. He received the method from Vajrasattva in the Iron Pagoda in South India which was the third yoga called "Yogic Tantra" in the Vajrayana.
He wrote a very well-known essay titled "Developing the Bodhi-citta" in which he emphasized that anyone who practices this Bodhi-citta will succeed with his fresh body in, at most, sixteen lives. This doctrine has been practiced very earnestly in Japan where it has even been declared that one may get full enlightenment in this life time with this doctrine. They have also purposely mistaken the sixteen life times to mean the sixteen Bodhisattvas in the mandala. This is an error. In Tibet, this kind of Bodhi-Citta has not been paid reasonable attention. It is surely neglectful; I have written an essay giving some frank criticism to both Japanese and Tibetan Buddhists.
The esoteric doctrine is based upon the philosophy of causation of six elements in which the first five belong to the materiality, the last one to the mentality, i.e. in the former group are earth, water, fire, wind, and space, and in the latter category is right view. These six elements are not separately independent but perpetually harmonized with any kind of yoga and its function.
The Bodhi is not only in psychical enlightenment but also in physical light. It is known as the "will" in psychology and as the "heart" in physiology. Its conduct is a function of physiology, but its victorious significance is a function of both psychology and philosophy. The Samadhi Bodhi-citta is more psychical than physical while the Kunda Bodhi-citta is more physical than psychical. Eventually the wise practitioner must skillfully employ the identification of mentality and materiality when he is practicing Yidam even in the position of cause in Vajrayana.
This kind of Bodhi-citta of Samadhi is called "The Five Forms to Develop the Buddha-body" while the essay written by the above mentioned Guru Nagarjuna is called "The Essay of Developing the Bodhi-citta". His essay deals with the same thing as the Five Forms. From these different names one should recognize that the body and the Bodhi-citta, or the enlightened heart or mind, are the same thing. This recognition fixes the philosophy of the identification of mentality and materiality. The following five steps are translated from the Yogic Tantra ritual of Japan. The same tradition is available in the Tibetan Tripitaka, but the Tibetans do not practice the tradition as earnestly as the Japanese.
To realize the original mind, one should:
OM (Dharmakaya) CITTA (mind and heart) BOR RO DHI PHY DAR (realize) KAR RO ME (as I do).
He should visualize himself and all phenomenon as unified in oneness of the truth, which may be called "the original mind", but eventually is neither only mind nor only body, neither present, nor future, neither haveness nor voidness. There is nothing new to be gained, nor is anything lacking. The practitioner should keep this kind of meditation as long as he can.
The practitioner should visualize this Bodhi-citta as symbolized by a full moon, perfect and round and bright, eight inches in diameter, situated in his heart, and consisting of great compassion and deep wisdom.
He should repeat the following incantation one time:
OM (Dharmakaya) BODHI-CITTA (enlightened mind or heart) BHU DAN BAR RA (develop) WA ME (as now I do).
Although the original size of the symbolic moon is eight inches in diameter, after this visualization is clear and confirmed the practitioner has to enlarge its size until it fills his hermitage, then until it fills the sky, and then until it fills the Dharmadhatu -- the universe in Buddhist cosmology. After the enlargement is finished and confirmed, one should draw it back to its original size by reversing the order given above. One should think that the blessings of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are gathered into the full moon.
To realize the Vajra-citta: The Bodhi-citta symbol of the moon contains only the great compassion in mentality, but not the great function in materiality. Therefore, a symbol which contains the five wisdoms in its upper part and the five elements in its lower part joins these two important factors and produces many functions for saving others effectively and fruitfully. One should visualize a vajra standing on the full moon. This vajra is called "vajra-citta". It is able to serve the purpose of good vow as well as the yeoman's service or help in need. The enlargement of this vajra should be visualized in the same manner as that of the full moon, and its diminution should follow the reverse order as explained previously.
One should repeat the following incantation one time with the visualization:
OM (Dharmakaya) DHI SYIA THA (abide on) VAJRA (the Dharma instrument).
One should repeat the following incantation one time:
OM (Dharmakaya) SAMADHA (all) PADHALEN (goodness) HOM (I am).
One should visualize one's self as being the same as Vairocana when one is given initiation; and the same as Samantabhadra when one is carrying on one's Bodhi-citta of Conduct. Both are seated on the Lotus throne and wear the crown with five Buddhas as the highest blessing or ornament. All the Bodhi-citta of Will will completely succeed through such a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Hence, all conduct will be performed by such a holy being.
From the above five steps, one might recognize that the Tantric philosophical background continually penetrates all samadhis of identification of mentality and materiality In the first step the original mind is not only mind in the psychic sense but also holy matter in the philosophical truth sense. In the second step the Bodhicitta symbolized by the moon is somewhat material though its light is mental. When visualized in the heart it seemed material, but it included the great compassion of the heart which is mental. In the third step, the vajra has two parts: the upper is a symbol of wisdom which is mental, while the lower is d symbol of elements which are material. In the fourth step the body is material, but the samadhi with the body is mental. In the last step the signs or forms are material but their source and denotations are all mental. These are the special functions from the true philosophy of Tantra which are not possible in the exoteric school.
Nevertheless, though materiality has been visualized and accompanied by mentality, the actual function has not been practiced with the breath, nerves, and drops in the wisdom system of the Tantric body. Hence, the fifth Bodhi-citta of Kunda is needed.
The Buddha-body visualized in the Bodhi-citta of Samadhi course consists
only of outer appearance, and the vajra's lower part of five elements has
not been utilized completely. Inside the Buddha-body are his wisdom nerves,
wisdom drops, and wisdom energy, or breath. Without practicing the Anuttara
Yoga but only the Yogic Yoga, one could not develop the real Buddha-body
-- much less its functions. The identification of mentality and materiality
in the four kinds of Bodhi-citta of Samadhi has only the philosophic theory.
The real five elements have not yet taken place in that samadhi. But in
this fifth Bodhi-citta, the eventual union of the Red Bodhi and White Bodhi
of the practitioner's body with that of his Dakini is quite a psychological
matter, in fact. Readers who read over the following lines will recognize
the Bodhi-citta of Kunda is quite a must.
Through the practice of wisdom breath, the red Bodhi ascends and the white Bodhi descends. Both become harmonized and prevail in the whole body of Heruka or Buddha.
When one gets the third great initiation one is given a Dakini by his Guru
in order to practice the Vajra love. His accomplished white Bodhi-citta
harmonizes with the red Bodhi-citta of his Dakini. Since the male Heruka
has more white Bodhi than red Bodhi, the Heruka needs to exchange and to
identify with the red Bodhi of the Dakini. As the female Dakini has more
red Bodhi than white, both are benefitted through the action of Vajra love.
By such practice it is said that one easily and quickly develops the power
of salvation in this life time, and that the ultimate Bodhi-conduct and
the success of the Bodhi-will are finally achieved.
Padmasambhava practiced the Vajra love and attained the full enlightenment and immortality. Tsongkapa had a good idea to keep the Vinaya perfectly and to show that the Bhikshu rules clearly forbade him to use a Dakini personally and only allowed him to visualize a Dakini. Thus he could only get the full enlightenment in his Bardo state This has been written in his biography and the believers of the Gelugpa School all admit it. These two sages very clearly have set a good example for us.
It is said that Buddha can save sentient beings without even arising from his seat. This is because a meditative seat of Vajra love which acts with white and red Bodhi passing through the secret and sacred mandala of the Lotus of the Dakini may perform every kind of Karma -- either to get rid of sins or diseases or increase wealth and health, or induce power and love, or subdue demons or devils. All can be achieved with one practice of Vajra love on this meditative seat.
When one is given the fourth great initiation, one's Dharmakaya light is attested to by the Guru and is identified with either Mahamudra or Mahaperfection, Then full enlightenment for both the practitioner and his believers or sentient beings is realized and there is nothing to do again. The Bodhi-citta has arrived at its perfect completion which is called "Samyak Sambodhi".
To know this Kunda Bodhi-citta more in detail, please read my booklet How to Transform Human Body into Buddha-body.
Here I should give some discriminations between Vajra love and worldly love in order to clarify the doubt of my readers:
Francis Bacon said, "It is impossible to love and to be wise," while Antoine Bret said, "The first sign of love is the last of wisdom." Ovid said, "Love draws one way and reason another." Publius Syrius also frankly confessed that "when you are in love, you are not wise; when you are wise, you are not in love."
But Vajra love is seriously held in the Samadhi of Sunyata. Even a kiss should be identified with the meditation of sunyata. The great sage Milarepa said, "Sunyata and pleasure should always be balanced; if either one is more, falling follows immediately." Hence, it is only the wise man who is able to practice Vajra love; those who lack in sunyata meditation are forbidden to practice it. The result of Vajra love is that the one who is wise will receive more pleasure practicing it; the one whose pleasure is increased is just the one whose sunyata meditation is strongest. When the wise man achieves the Vajra love practice, he is able to carry on all his great vows in particular, and to do all the salvation Karma to save every sentient being in general.
A Spanish proverb runs, "Where there is love, there is the pain, and fools treat pain as being sweeter than pleasure." John Dryden also writes in a poem:
"Pain of love be sweeter far,
Than all other pleasures are!"
It is said that Vajra love is sixteen-fold that of the love of d new couple of worldly marriage, since the practitioner of Vajra love has the accomplishment of controlling the white drops and to increase the great pleasure by identifying it with sunyata meditation. As far as the sunyata force is projected, the pleasure thereof is also projected, which is why Jean Nathan gave his mournful sigh saying, "Love is an emotion experienced by many but enjoyed by few." Much the more, the sunyata meditation is practiced by many but is realized by only the few!
At its causal position -- One has to choose the Dakini according to Tantric secret instructions. Each kind of Dakini has her special sign on face or body.
At its course position -- Every love action should be done very carefully; within only one minute a practitioner who leaves his meditation of sunyata will fall.
At its consequent position -- It is said, "If one drop of white Bodhi (enlightened semen) is discharged, the Holy wisdom Dakini will weep." Profane love is entirely buried in the ocean of desire, which is why Thomas Hardy so foolishly advocates: "Love without indiscretion is no love at all." What a pity it is!
Much the more, the fundamental practice of the yidam in the causal position, the vinayas of the Tantra in the course position, and the realization of Tzoying (perfect yoga) in the consequent position are all very important conditions of Vajra love, and are never learned or experienced by the common person who knows only the profane love.
Worldly love is based upon Haveness, but Vajra love on Voidness. John Keats said in his poem:
In Tantric love the beauty should be identified with the nothingness of sunyata meditation. It is taught that nine kinds of lovely attitudes and countenances of a Dakini are the signs of Dharmakaya which is the nature of sunyata. Also the sixtyfour different lovely actions should be practiced in the Samadhi of sunyata. Even a little or a subtle thought falling into the profanity of Haveness will be the practitioner's downfall.
Worldly love never cares for anything other than itself, but Vajra love is one thing which includes every merit.
Sigmund Freud said, "When a love relationship is at its height, there is no room left for any interest in the environment. A pair of lovers is sufficient to themselves. " Such a kind of love is available to animals.
Ugo Betti said, "When you put a man and woman together, there are somethings they simply have to do. They embrace, they warm each other, all the rest is dead and empty."
Vajra love is not centered within, as with animals, but includes all three principles of beauty, goodness, and truth. When the pleasure is identified with sunyata, a Sambhogakaya achievement of beauty is attained. When the Bodhi-citta of Kunda is identified with sunyata, a Nirmanakaya achievement of goodness is attained. When the light between the vajra and lotus shines forth, a Dharmakaya achievement of truth is attained. How can worldly love be compared with Vajra love!?
Those hypocrites who keep lustful poison in their own minds and assume the air of serious pedant, saying that there is no such doctrine as Vajra love in Vajrayana are like the thief who steals another's bell and hides his own ears in hope that no sound of the bell has been heard by others. He is only a fool himself. In ancient times most sages kept the doctrine of Vajra love in secret; one should never say, however, that this doctrine does not exist. It is said that he who does not pay respect to Vajra love will fall into vajra hell. The only exertion we should make is keeping the vinaya of Vajra love and practicing it carefully in the Samadhi of sunyata and compassion. I have made a chart concerning Vajra love and all its vinayas and Tantra Silas which is collected in two booklets. Readers may borrow these from some libraries.
The three important parts I shall deal with in this Chapter are, viz: 1. The connection between the five Bodhi-cittas 2. The seven steps in practicing the Bodhi-citta. 3. The stanzas of Bodhi-citta which should be repeated to develop the philosophic background and to form a motivating force to encourage the continuity of the practice.
1. The connection between the five Bodhi-cittas.
Among the five, it is the third Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance which is the most important connecting link. For instance, if one holds these five Bodhi-cittas on his shoulder, the middle point of the fulcrum on which the balance depends when placed across the shoulder is the Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance. As I have already said many times, the great compassion is only one part of the Bodhi-citta; the other part which has been neglected even by the ancients is the victorious signification of sunyata wisdom. He who only practices the great compassion cannot succeed in developing the Bodhi-citta. Hence, both the great compassion and the sunyata wisdom should be identified in practice. Most practitioners ignore the latter and lay more stress on the former. They should take my advice to balance themselves.
Again, the previous two Bodhi-cittas, viz: Bodhi-citta of Will and that of Conduct should be measured by the Victorious Significance. If they are identified with it then their aims are directed towards full enlightenment; if not, their goal is only to reach the heavenly states. The last two Bodhi-cittas, viz: Bodhi-citta of Samadhi and that of Kunda should also be measured by the Victorious Significance. If they are harmonized with it, their samadhi is beyond the heavens, their Vajra love is different from profanity.
One should lay most stress on this Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance. If one feels that it is very difficult to recognize, one has to learn from a skillful Guru, repeat the Prajna Paramita Sutra many times, pray to the most wise MahaBodhisattva Manjusri for blessings, and repeat my stanza which is mentioned in the third part of this Chapter.
2. The seven steps to develop the Bodhi-citta as taught by the ancients.
Why haven't the seven steps to develop the Bodhi-citta as taught by the ancients been quoted in the booklet? Those members of the Yellow Cap sect of Tibetan Buddhism have obeyed and practiced these steps very often, as their founder Tsongkapa included these seven steps in his very well-known "Bodhi-path" essay (lam rim). I myself have also followed and practiced them for some years. The Indian sage and Bodhisattva Shantideva who began to teach these seven steps had grasped the good human nature as a motive of Bodhi-citta. Every good person loves his mother even more than his father. This love which inspires the seven steps inclines to the side of compassion, but neglects the other side of sunyata wisdom. The seven steps are as follows:
As to my opinion concerning the practical order of the steps -- the fourth and fifth, kindness and compassion, succeed only after the Bodhi-citta is developed. They are the results of Bodhi-citta, but not its precursors. Again, the first five steps are all based upon great compassion, not on sunyata wisdom, and when one practices the third Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance these steps lose their importance. On the other hand, even the great compassion of non-conditionality and that of non-entity are both far apart from the condition of one's mother and her individuality. The practice seems somewhat connected with egoism or selfishness.
Because of this, besides this mother idea, I found some more important ideas concerning the practitioner and the sentient beings during my practice of the Bodhicitta.
The above eleven ideas if held by the practitioner will bring him success in the whole Bodhi-citta system even more quickly than the practitioner who knows only the seven steps. All these ideas are described in the following stanzas. May all my readers carefully repeat them. As it is my essential experience and practiced and collected for more than thirty years, one cannot find it elsewhere, neither in the Tripitaka, nor in modern essays.
3. The Stanzas of the Complete Bodhi-Citta System:
2.
Just like the spirit comes down to man for divination,
I get the inspiration from Buddha for salvation!
Again, like the evil ghost asked the sick man or woman
And got something; I also receive it from Buddha's compassion!
3.
From my parents my body takes birth.
My wisdom is the blessing of Buddhas!
I could not find who is my self,
Besides serving others, nothing else!
4.
Buddha has blessed me to help beings!
I guide beings to take refuge in Him;
Breath after breath it does not cease,
Bodhi-citta should be like this!
5.
Every being is within Dharmakaya!
No being -- no merit of Sambhogakaya!
No being -- no mercy of Nirmanakaya!
If there is no being, there is no kaya!
6.
No sentient being -- no Bodhisattva!
No sentient being -- no Bodhi-citta!
Many beings have been my pa and ma!
For beings' sake all sages did their Karma!
7.
Some beings incarnated from Buddha,
In his past lives as Gautama,
He appeared in some animal Kaya,
To save the same kind from Karma.
8.
To harm beings brings the three evil states!
To help beings one attains the three Kayas!
To help beings makes Buddha happy.
To harm beings is to shed Buddha's tears!
9.
One is with beings and Buddhas,
Three connected with this Bodhi-citta;
One knows this will become Buddha,
Have to practice Bodhi-citta.*
10.
Samadhi Bodhi-citta is like the full moon,
Standing on which is Vajra-citta with wisdom,
From them Holy light shines over the whole world,
One practicing it will become Buddha soon!
11.
All Buddha's power and wisdom,
Shine light forth upon my body;
I then impart it to all beings,
Buddhas they may become and steady!
12.
Most sentient being's Karma is sin;
Become light and come to my being,
I, then, transform it into light,
With which I make my offering!
* The above stanzas are the right view on Bodhi-citta as introduced in the eleven ideas this Chapter.
13.
Manjusri who gathered much wisdom,
Shines light forth into my own body;
I give his holy sword to all beings,
May they cut off darkness so cloudy.
14.
May my spirit pervade all being's minds,
May I agree with their wishes of all kinds;
May I be enabled to make them happy,
Metta* follows the wisdom behind!
15.
Kwan Yin has gathered much metta,
It becomes light and comes into me!
I use it to wash the pain from beings,
May all beings from their pain be quite free!
16.
May I read all sentient beings' minds;
May I change them to spiritual kinds;
May I open their natural truth,
Wisdom follows the metta behind!
17.
Vajrapani has many powers,
They become light and come into me;
I use it to subdue the demons,
Let all sentient beings be very free!
18.
May I dig up the seed from beings so soon!
May I remove the obstacle of demons being so long;
May I help them to get the ten great Dowers,
Power, metta, wisdom -- all become strong !
* Metta means "great compassion."
19.
In the East I beg Buddha Aksobhya,
Whose Pureland manifests unmovable virtues;
Would you be so unkind as to see all beings disturbed?
Bless them to return to their unmovable nature!
20.
In the South I beg Buddha Ratnasambhava,
Whose Pureland manifests equality of mind;
Would you be so unkind as to see beings stingy?
Bless them to be generous and kind!
21.
In the West I beg Buddha Amitabha,
Whose Pureland is full of longevity;
Would you be able to see beings with short life?
Bless them to live long in reality.
22.
In the North I beg Buddha Amoghasiddhi,
Whose Pureland is full of best Karma;
Would you be able to see beings lazy?
Bless them to stabilize the perfect yoga!
23.
In the center I beg Buddha Vairocana,
Whose Pureland is the nature of Dharma;
Would you be able to see beings lose their nature?
Kindly bless them to attain Dharmakaya!
24.
Just like you do best Karma in your land,
In Saha, bless me to do the same at hand!
And in all the other five realms as well,
May all Karma be established with your good will!*
* The above stanzas pertain to the fourth Bodhi-citta of Samadhi.
25.
Buddha's mirror wisdom comes into my mind,
My holy light comes into the mind of beings;
May they realize the mirror wisdom free from anger,
In service, I use the Great Anger as offering to Him! 1
26.
Buddha's equality wisdom comes into my mind!
My holy wisdom light comes to all sentient beings;
May all sentient beings realize the wisdom free from pride!
In holy service I use the Great Pride as offering to Him! 2
27.
Buddha's profound wisdom comes into my mind!
My holy light comes into all sentient beings;
May all beings realize deep wisdom free from love,
In service, I use the Great Love as offering to Him! 3
28.
Buddha's Karma wisdom comes into my mind,
My holy light comes to all sentient beings;
May they realize this wisdom free from doubt,
In service, I use the Great Doubt as offering to Him! 4
29.
Buddha's nature wisdom comes into my mind,
My holy light comes to all sentient beings;
May they realize this wisdom and be freed from stupid dullness,
In service, I use the Great Dullness as offering to Him! 5
1 The Great Anger as practiced with the wrathful Yidam.
2 The Great Pride means the holy pride of Buddhahood.
3 The Great Love is Vajra Love.
4 The Great Doubt means the Hwa-tou of Zen.
5 The Great Dullness means the dream yoga.
30.
The Yellow Dakini of earth element,
Favours me with earth-essence in my body;
Which enables me to get the growing force;
This force produces all kinds of Bodhi!
31.
The White Dakini of water element,
Sends water-essence into my body,
Which enables me to get the Dharma force;
This force then flourishes all kinds of Bodhi!
32.
The Red Dakini of fire element,
Sends some fire-essence into my body,
Which enables me to get warm devotion;
This force may mature all kinds of Bodhi!
33.*
The Green Dakini of wind element,
Sends some wind-essence into my body,
Which enables me to get the preaching force;
This force may achieve all kinds of Bodhi!
* Stanza 33 has been filled in by Yutang Lin in accordance with the Chinese original.
34.
The Blue Dakini of space element,
Sends some space-essence into my body,
Which enables me to get the embodiment force;
This force makes the perfection of all Bodhi!
35.
My father Buddha and mother Dakinis!
Your merciful eyes have surely seen my mind,
And seen all other minds of all sentient beings,
Either in the heaven or world of mankind!
36.
When five shortages of the heavenly ones appear,
They will fall into low states and suffer long;
May I bear their pain in my own body,
May all heavenly ones Ratna Buddha become!
37.
All Asuras are full of hatred and doubt,
They will fall into painful realms and suffer long;
May I bear their pain in my own body,
May all Asuras Amoga Buddha become!
38.
All human beings have done many sins;
They will fall into worse states and suffer long;
May I bear their pain in my own body,
May all humans Ratna Buddha become!
39.
All animals have done evil and killed,
They will fall into bad states and suffer long;
May I bear their sins in my own body,
May all animals Aksobhya Buddha become!
40.
All ghosts are in hunger and thirst,
They have unendurable pain and suffer long;
May I bear their pain in my own body,
May all ghosts Amitabha Buddha become!
41.
The Hell-dwellers are full of different pains!
They continuously suffer ever so long!
May I bear their pains in my own body,
May all Hell-dwellers Vairocana Buddha soon become!
42.
When anger does appear in my mind,
Hell too appears close behind!
May I know it is sunyata,
The great Hevajra soon will I find!
43.
When Pride does appear in my mind,
Heaven too appears at its behind!
May I know it is sunyata,
Guhyasamaja will soon I find!
44.
When lust does appear in my mind,
Ghosts too appear close behind!
May I know it is sunyata,
The Mahamaya soon will I find!
45.
When doubt does appear in my mind,
Asuras too are close behind!
May I know it is sunyata,
Yamantaka soon will I find!
46.
When ignorance rises in my mind,
The wild beast is at its behind!
May I know it is sunyata,
Great Samvara soon will I find!*
* The above stanzas Pertain to the fifth Bodhi-citta of Kunda
47.
When one feels the pain of departed love,
May my mind's light become his right view;
May he know the impermanence,
Even endure well the departed Dharma new!
48.
When one feels the pain of foe's meeting,
May my mind's light become his right view,
May he know renunciation at once,
Even the Dharma foes do become few!
49.
When one feels the pain of sorrows,
May my light become his right view;
May his sorrows be transmuted,
Into Dharma Sunyata new!
50.
When one fears birth, sickness, old age, and death,
May my mind's light become his right view;
May he know the story of the four gates,
Ordained into a Bhikshu new!
51.
When one feels its too hard to get Siddhis,
May my mind soon become his Bodhi;
When one feels there are many demons,
May my light soon become his will strong!
52.
When one practices without progress present,
May my mind become his patience;
When one plans to stop his practice,
May my mind become his continuance!
53.
When one suffers from calamity,
May I be able to save him from it;
He might take refuge after being saved,
Thus Buddha's metta and my mind meet!
54.
When all one's evil Karma matures,
May I be able to save him from it;
He might take refuge after being saved,
Thus Buddha's metta and my mind meet!
55.
When all his kinsmen and friends depart,
May I be able to save him from it;
He might take refuge after being saved,
Thus Buddha's metta and my mind meet!
56.
When he wanders in Bardo alone,
May I be able to save him from it;
He might take refuge after being saved,
Thus Buddha's metta and my mind meet!
57.
When he is presented at Yama's palace,
May I be able to save him from it;
He might take refuge after being saved,
Thus Buddha's metta and my mind meet!
58.
Buddha's mind pervades in mine;
Mine pervades in sentient beings;
May Beings' minds pervade in mine,
Mine pervades in Buddha's fine!
59.
When Buddha's mind comes into mine,
I might get Buddha wisdom fine;
When my mind comes into all beings,
Carry on my great compassion,
60.
When beings' minds come into my mine,
Thereupon faith is theirs to find;
When their faith meets my compassion,
They will surely become the Holy kind!
61.
I cannot see Buddha all the time,
But Buddha can see me at anytime;
Though not all beings believe in me,
Yet I have compassion for all of them.
62.
May compassion and faith both unite soon,
I and beings become Buddha before long!
May pity and metta both join soon;
Karmas of Buddhas and mine be strong! 1
1 The above stanzas pertain to the first Bodhi-citta of Will.
63.
Thinking of beings pain, I have more pity,
From which Nirmanakaya is born;
Get ten powers, five wisdoms soon.
All may be saved by me thereupon!
64.
Thinking of Buddha's wisdom, I become wise,
Metta without condition comes likewise;
May I have all the thirty-two influences,
May I save all those beings not otherwise!
65.
When wisdom and compassion are united,
Many upayas will happen and be right,
Use these upayas to save sentient beings,
Let all Buddha's wills be fulfilled outright! 2
2 Upaya means methods or means to save others.
66.
My body is for the service of Buddhas,
My mind always prays for sentient beings;
I know Buddha's vows and mine have no end,
If one being is left, I keep my long life in hand. 3
3 The above stanzas pertain to the second Bodhi-citta of Conduct.
67.
There is neither Buddha coming into beings,
Nor are beings coming into Buddha's realm;
Nor does the practitioner go between,
The pure Bodhi is without action!
68.
There is no mind which awaken the Bodhi,
When it rises one should not hold to the mind;
What a victorious Bodhi-truth!!
May all beings abide in such a kind,
69.
Buddha's coming is not really coming,
My going to beings is not really going;
The current Dharma is turning around,
The light of it has no end to be found!
70.
The vertical line in three periods,
The horizontal line in ten directions;
This Dharmakaya is my body,
May I manifest all conditions! *
* The above stanzas pertain to the third Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance.
Some preparations should be made before the repetition of the stanzas:
If you are a dropout and practice in a cave, arrange a stone in place of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Herukas, Dakinis, and protectors.
If you are able to arrange all the Holy images according to the following visualization, this is very good. If you are my readers for many years and have received my Quinkaya gift, please arrange Padmasambhava at the top, the mandala of Samvara in the middle, and the 300 images at the bottom of the upper part of a west wall with the images facing east.
Offer everything you have:
If you are a dropout, to offer a drop of water is enough.
Toward those images, do prostrations at least three times if your age is over eighty. If you are not so old, do twenty-one prostrations or as many as accord with the number specified in your special vows, if you have made such vows.
Sit quietly, make the breath subtle, then visualize the ten Dharmadhatus (the great universe in Buddhist cosmology) all become sunyata from which Padmasambhava suddenly appears. He transforms himself into the Adi Buddha under whom there are five Herukas (see stanzas 42-46) with five Dakinis (see stanzas 30-34). Under the five Herukas are five Buddhas, encircled by many Boddhisattvas. Among them Manjusri, Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapani are standing very clearly in front of the other holy beings who are in the front upper space before the practitioner Before him stand the demons and enemies, and on his right side is his father, on the left his mother. Behind him, in the following order are all those six realms of sentient beings, viz: hell beings, ghosts, animals, insects or beasts, men and women, Asuras, and heavenly beings. Whenever the meaning of the stanzas mention these holy beings and these sentient beings, the practitioner should visualize them accordingly.
I have registered more than 500 readers. Among them half are still in the plastic society, half are dropout-Hippies. Below I give thanks to them with one Poem each:
1.
With patience you have read so long!
From other source, have you ever found?
When you are reading, think; thinking, act!
Be fast, no sooner said than done.
2.
For Hippies who have dropped out,
Be not lazy and live in nought;
This step is most important,
Save the Plastic Society a lot!
With metta by C. M. Chen
25/8/1971