For the general
populace, and even up to the great Dharma practitioners, their
objectives of Dharma practice should be more or less of the
following types:
1.
Praying for
worldly desires –
For example: to seek for oneself and one’s
own relatives to have “longevity, recovery from illness, success in
one’s career, good marriage, wealth increase, averting disasters and
relief from sufferings, as well as reunion with those deceased loved
ones”. Also, there are those who hope to get the “ease of heart and
security at the present life”, etc.; or for “fame, wealth, respect”
in order to study Buddhism; as well as for those who put in efforts
to practice the Dharma.
2. Rebirth
in the good realms –
For example: to hope and pray for rebirth in the heavenly realm, or
in the human realm, and not to fall into the evil realms (of
animals, hungry
ghosts and hells).
3.
Liberation from
the tractions of the “cycle of karmic existence” –
to hope and
pray for
the freedom
in deciding for oneself as to whether one would be reborn into the
six realms (of
heavens, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hells),
or whether to remain in the highest level of the “Realm of Form”,
such as the “Akanistha” (the “Heaven
at the
End-of-Form-Realm”),
which is beyond the control of the tractions. (Please
refer to the explanations on the “Three Realms” in the article on
the “Profound Abstruseness of Life and Death: The Meaning of
Near-Death Experiences” in Issue
17
of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
4.
Attainment of
Buddhahood –
The recovery of one’s “Primordial Nature” and the originally
possessed and boundless capabilities, which are free from any
bondages and to remain in the “Dharma Realm”.
(The “Nature of the Mind”, also known as
the “Buddha Nature”, or the “Primordial Nature”, refers to the
original
possession of that most crystal clarity of
awareness.
Please refer to the articles on “The Meaning of Near-Death
Experiences” in Issues
4
&
5
of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
What are the methods
that one can choose in order to achieve these four types of
objectives? What will be their effects? What are the
critical key
points that one should pay attention to when judging upon and in
choosing those methods of Dharma practice? Regardless of what kinds
of religions, the practice methods can be broadly divided into the
following types:
1.
Prayers
– Including confessions,
repentance of one’s conducts, and in the making of aspirations and
wishes;
2.
Recitations
– mantras, Buddhas’
Holy Names, or sutras;
3.
Visualizations
– themes include the
formulae for different types of “meditation”, or even the making use
of the internal functions of one’s body for coordination.
Irrespective of which
types of practice methods, it must include the training of one’s
“mental strength”. Otherwise, it would not be able to produce any
effects. One of the important points for judging which of the
practice methods are the most effective ones is the degree of
influence that these can have on one’s “mental strength”? What
percentage will they constitute?
The “Mind-Training
Episode”
The focus of
“mind-training” is on how to “visualize one’s mind”. Starting
from
Issue No.38 of the “Lake of Lotus”, the various articles on “The Wisdom
in Directing One's Dharma Practice” have clearly described those who
are able to “visualize the mind” could achieve complete liberation
and swiftly attain “Buddhahood”, and is the important guideline in
the “Mahâyâna Sutra
of Mind Ground Contemplation”.
Then comes the question as to how to “visualize one’s mind”? Whether
it will be fine by just “visualizing” oneself as the Buddha or the
“deity”?
What are the contents
and procedures of one's “Visualization”? In modern terminology, it
is the question of how to proceed with the programming of one’s
“visualization” in order to be most effective? There are countless
and endless methods of “visualization”, and so which kinds of them
are correct? To which levels of “visualization” do they belong? What
kind of situations are they specifically for? How are their
effectiveness being demonstrated? Are there any opposing effects, or
side effects? A series of such questions are the “important points
for consideration” in choosing one’s method of “Mental
Visualization” (please refer to the articles on “The Wisdom in
Directing One's Dharma Practice” from Issues 38 to 41 of the “Lake
of Lotus”
).
In the
“Mahâyâna
Sutra of Mind Ground
Contemplation”,
the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni had enlightened us on the
due process and conditions of “Mental
Visualization”. Hence, this Sutra can be said to be a pivotal
point and convergence of all kinds of “Mental Visualization”
methods, and is also the foundational basis for all the Dharma
practices which can help all sentient beings to swiftly attain
Buddhahood.
Then what
actually are the grading/levels, procedures and conditions for these
methods of “Mental Visualization” in Dharma practices? Can one jump
some of the steps in these practices? Before further explanations
are given, let us first have a look at the “Mahâyâna
Sutra of Mind Ground
Contemplation” to see how the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni had generally
classified the “Mental Visualization” methods, from shallow to deep,
and from the foundational basis to progressive elevation:
1.
Mental
Visualization on the Requital of Gratitude
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issues 40 to 49
of the “Lake of Lotus”
);
2.
Mental Visualization on the Repulsion of Desires(Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issues 50 to .... of the “Lake of Lotus”
);
3.
Averting the
Delusive Mind;
4.
Visualization
of Entry into the Holy Wisdom;
5.
Visualization
Method of the Mind Ground;
6.
Mental
Visualization on the Bodhicitta;
and
7.
Visualization
on the Three Great Secret Dharmas.
In the
“Mahâyâna
Sutra of Mind Ground
Contemplation”, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni had enlightened us on the
“Mental Visualization” method for the “Mind Ground Visualization on
the Requital of the Four Kinds of Gratitude”. These four kinds of
gratitude and kindness that require one’s requital are:
1.
Filial
Gratitude to Parents
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issue 40 of the “Lake
of Lotus”
);
2.
Gratitude to
all Sentient Beings
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issue 41 of the “Lake
of Lotus”);
3.
Gratitude to
the King (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 42 of the “Lake of Lotus”
);
and
4.
Gratitude to
the Three Jewels : –
(i)
The Gratitude
to the” Buddha Jewel”
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issue 43 of the “Lake
of Lotus”
);
(ii)
The Gratitude
to the “Dharma Jewel”
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issue 44 of the “Lake
of Lotus”
);
(iii)
The Gratitude to the” Sangha Jewel” (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 45 of the “Lake of Lotus”
);
(iv) The
“Jewels” Have Ten Kinds of Meanings (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 46 of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
5.
The methods and fruitions for repaying the Four Kinds of Gratitude
and Kindness: -
(i) The
differences in the requital of gratitude under the ten kinds of
Almsgiving, Close and True Paramitas
(Please refer to the article on “The Wisdom
in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in Issue 46 of the “Lake
of Lotus”);
(ii) The gratitude
requital method through the Emptiness on the
Nature of the Three Wheels of Actions (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 47 of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
(iii) The
fruitions of requital in teaching
sentient beings the “Mind Ground Visualization on the Requital of
the Four Kinds of Gratitude” (Please refer
to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma Practice” in
Issue 48 of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
(iv) The
reasons for one to take rebirth again after
entry into the “Pure Land” (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 48 of the “Lake of Lotus”).
6. What are the
methods, focus, composition, process and
conditions for “Mental Visualization”? (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 49 of the “Lake of Lotus”).
7. What are the
foundational “Concentration Powers” one must
have for “Mental Visualization”? (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 49 of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
8.
What
are the differences between “Mental
Visualization” and “Sadhana Practices”? (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 50 of the “Lake of Lotus”).
9.
How can
one nurture high quality of “Nature of the
Mind” in the worldly mundane world? (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 50 of the “Lake of Lotus”
).
10.
How do
the “Five Aggregates (Panca-Skandhas)”
influence one’s “Nature of the Mind”? (Please
refer to the article on “The Wisdom in Directing One’s Dharma
Practice” in Issue 50 of the “Lake of Lotus”).
"Dharma
practices" must have to be based mainly upon one's "mind-training".
The main focus of one’s "mind-training" is
on how to "visualize one's mind". Those who are able to
"visualize the mind" could achieve complete liberation, and swiftly
attain "Buddhahood", which is the most important guideline in the
“Mahâyâna
Sutra of Mind Ground
Contemplation”.
In training “Mental Visualization”, the first step would be for one
to have the “Mental
Visualization on the Requital of Gratitudes” in order to broaden
one’s “capacity of the mind”, as well as to enhance and elevate on
the “softness of one’s mind”. The second step would be to remove the
“heavy impurities in one’s mind” and to correct the wrong
conceptions. Therefore, by acquiring the “Mental Visualization on
the Repulsion of Desires”, one should first have the correct
knowledge and understanding of the dangerous nature of worldly
desires, and then to further “develop a strong dislike of desires in
their minds so as to let go of them” before one can succeed.
In order to “develop
a strong dislike of desires in their minds so as to let go of them”,
one should first know what sentient beings love most, as well as on
what painful consequences would these most-loved things would bring
to sentient beings before one can work out the steps for one’s
"Mental Visualization on the Repulsion of Desires". According to the
Lord Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings, what sentient beings love most
is “one’s own self”. This so-called
"one's own self", which has undergone numerous cycles of karmic
existence in innumerable lifetimes, is formed by the
"Five Aggregates (Panca-Skandhas)". (Please
refer to the article on "The Wisdom in Directing One's Dharma
Practice" in Issue 50 of the "Lake of Lotus"
).
Therefore, the crucial point for one to
dismantle one's "karmic cycles of transmigrations" lies in the
"dissolution of the Five Aggregates (Panca-Skandhas)" in order to
recover one's own "Self Nature /Buddha Nature/ Awareness" so as to
attain Buddhahood, which means that one can become liberated
from the limitations of one's "karmic cycles of transmigrations".
In other words, the purpose of the "Mental Visualization on the
Repulsion of Desires" is to completely and thoroughly
"dissolve the Five Aggregates (Panca-Skandhas)"
by the using of "Emptiness" in one’s "mental visualization". As the
"Five Aggregates (Panca-Skandhas)" consist of the five elements of:
“Form (material
substances), Sensation (feelings
and experiences), Perception (conception,
cognition, thinking), Mental
Formation (actions), and
Consciousness (minds)”,
they are inter-related, interactive and tightly inseparable from
each other, such that when they are dismantled, the situations of
"winning the head but losing the tail, or
vice versa” would often come by, and such kind of
entanglement is easily understandable.
Nevertheless, since
countless kalpas, from ancient times till now, the main reason for
innumerable Dharma practitioners of not being able to attain
Buddhahood, or to become liberated from the cycles of karmic
existence, as well as for those sentient beings who have touched
upon this matter to get downfall to the Hell
realm for rebirths, irrespective of whether they have
religious faith or not, lies in their
attachment to the "bodily form".
Such a phenomenon also appears within Buddhism, which is an aspect
that is difficult to understand.
Why is it so? It is because sentient beings are entangled in their
"patriarchal and sexist" thinking
pattern, thus inducing an evil karmic
phenomenon of female oppressions over
numerous kalpas. These people in turn would bear their own
"cause-and-effect karmic retributions" to get reborn as women who
are subject to oppressions. The incessant cycles of this kind of
evil karmas have unwittingly accumulated and thus conglomerated into
a tornado-like strong tidal-wave of dark
karmas that sweeps across the whole "Three Realms: the Desire
Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm". All those who have
contravened will be caught (into this
tidal-wave) to get downfall for their rebirths into the Hell
realm, suffering from all sorts of tortures due to a woman..
The phenomenon of
having the “Perception (conception,
cognition, thinking)” to influence the “Form
(material substances),
Sensation (feelings
and experiences), Mental Formation
(actions), and
Consciousness (minds)”
takes place when “education” has gone wrong.
In ancient times, when people’s general
civic awareness has not yet well
developed, females were perceived by males as part and parcel
of men’s property. They were treated as slaves to be freely
exchangeable, traded, abused, without any
guilty feelings. People born as females were given almost the
same status as animals and were very miserable. This has made many
women unwilling to be reborn as females again in their next
lifetimes to live in such an abject life again. It follows that in
many of the women’s minds, they loathed to be born as females, and
thus prayed for their rebirths in a male body in their next
lifetimes.
Because of this kind of mind-set on
social
injustice and inequality,
innumerable numbers of women, over many centuries of their past
lifetimes, have been thinking of themselves as a living being of a
lower order, and that it is impossible for them to become Buddhas no
matter how hard they would practice the Holy Dharma. They must,
first of all, have to change (from
the female form)
to the male bodies in order that they can attain Buddhahood. In
order to protect the male position and status in society, the
education of the
past kalpas:
including such areas as religious education, cultural education and
social education, all had publicized in promoting the
"patriarchal
and sexist" ideology.
In this regard, even
religious
scriptures
were even
tampered with
for the sake of achieving this goal and purpose. The above-mentioned
problem is exactly what had emerged during the translation and
propagation of the "Exoteric" Buddhism in the Chinese soil.
Fortunately,
there is no such
"tampering of scriptures that leads to one's downfall to the Hell
realm” in "Tibetan Buddhism". This kind of the propagation of
"Exoteric" Buddhism,
generations
after generations without putting the confused and wrong matter back
into the right perspective,
can be said to be a
mammoth
misfortune
for all sentient beings. Those people who
follow
this kind of ideology (and
mode of
thinking and saying)
are doomed to have downfall to the “Hell realm”, and is most
devastating to all others.
Amongst the "Exoteric" Buddhist texts and scriptures,
one would find many such sayings as "only males
can
attain Buddhahood, a female body is filthy, a woman
must
first
transform into a man's form, or else she would
never
be reborn in the Pure Land or to become a Buddha", and so on. These
"Exoteric" Buddhist texts and scriptures, which contain
unjust
gender discrimination
with the nature of
"permanence",
have thus downgraded the Buddhist teachings to become such a
"self-contradictory, anti-intellectual"
unjust doctrine.
In this way, they have turned Buddhism from "truths to
unreasonableness", which becomes identical to the other non-Buddhist
beliefs in their "emphasis on superstitions, on the pursuit of
non-truths, with eternity and
permanence", thus pushing
Buddhism into a real dark age of the
"Degenerate Era" (Sanskrit: kaliyuga)!
Why do we say that this kind of "patriarchal and sexist" texts and
scriptures have been tampered with? Are there any evidences and
rational principles behind this? Let us cite a few specific examples
as follows:
1.
"The Lotus
Sutra"
Volume 4 (Note:
the protagonist transformed into a man's body during the dialogue)
2.
"The Sutra
of the Ocean Dragon King"
Volume 3
3.
"Candrottara-darika-pariprccha-Sutra"
Last Chapter (Note:
the protagonist transformed into a man's body during the dialogue)
4.
"The Sutra
of the Immaculate Lady"
(Note:
the protagonist transformed into a man's body during the dialogue)
5.
"The
Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra"
Middle chapter
The Case on the Dragon Girl’s Attainment
of Buddhahood
The Chapter 12
"On Devadatta" in
Volume 4 of the "The Lotus Sutra", as translated by Tripitaka Master
Kumarajiva of Kucha Country in late Qin Dynasty
(also known as Yao Qin, AD 384-417 years),
has expounded that (in modern language): "………. Bodhisattva Manjushri
praised the daughter of the Dragon King Sagara by saying that
"although she is only eight years old, her wisdom belongs to a
superb level. She knows well about sentient beings' various levels
of wisdom and behavioural karmas. She also acquires Dharani
(mantras) and is able to receive, retain and uphold the entire
stored treasures of the most profound, secret and obscure
teachings
as expounded by various Buddhas. She can go deep in meditation
(Sanskrit: Samadhi)
to thoroughly comprehend the meanings and principles of all Dharmas.
She can develop an awakened mind in an instant to reach the position
of no regression with unimpeded eloquence. She is compassionately
caring for and mindful of all sentient beings, like the pure
innocence of a child’s heart. Endowed with all merits, she can, in
instant of thought, interpret immediately and eloquently speak out
the Buddhist teachings in a wonderful, subtle, broad and deeply
profound way. She is compassionate and merciful, benevolent and
accommodating. She is peaceful and refined in her minds, with
aspirations and thoughts geared towards her attainment of perfect
enlightenment as a Buddha".
Chishaku
Bodhisattva said: "I saw that the Lord Buddha had performed the
austere practices throughout immeasurable kalpas without ever taking
rest, or a break, in order to accumulate merits for the arousal of
His awakened mind. As He had
visualized
on the three-thousand large thousandfold worlds, and there was not
even a place as small as the size of a mustard seed, where He as a
Bodhisattva did not renounce even His own life in order to save all
sentient beings. It is for the sake of saving all sentient beings
that the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni attained perfect enlightenment as a
Buddha. I do not believe that this Dragon Girl can achieve
Buddhahood in an instant moment of such a short time." No sooner had
he finished his words, the Dragon Girl suddenly appeared in front of
Chishaku Bodhisattva, bowing down with her head and face, and then
faced one side by saying the following verses of praise:
"Having deeply
understood the displayed characteristics of all evils or virtues,
illuminating and shining on all the ten directions
(that
is, in 360 degrees). The ubiquitous, pure and subtle Dharma body is
blessed with the thirty-two major features (appearances) and the
eighty minor characteristics (types of good forms). The adorned
Dharma body is most honoured and admired by all celestial beings,
and greatly respected by the dragons and gods. Of all sentient
beings, none would fail to abide to and revere it. Hearing about the
perfect enlightenment which only the Buddhas can attain and realize,
I proclaim the Great Vehicle (Mahayana)
teachings to liberate the sentient beings in sufferings”.
At that time,
Shariputra (one of
the ten disciples of the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni) spoke to the Dragon
Girl: “You say that you can attain Buddhahood very soon, but then
this event is hard for people to believe in. Why? It is because
a
woman’s body is filthy and defiled, which is not a vessel for Dharma
practices. So how can you attain Buddhahood? The Buddha Path is so
high, wide and broad that it is only after one has diligently and
ascetically performed and accumulated Dharma practices over
countless kalpas, as well as being acquainted with the various
methods of Dharma practices, in order that one would be able to
succeed (in attaining Buddhahood). Furthermore, a woman’s body has
five hindrances: first, she cannot become Brahma
(the God of a
higher-tier in the Heavenly realm); second, she cannot become Indra
(the God of a lower-tier in the Heavenly Realm); third, she cannot
become Mara (the King of Devils); fourth, she cannot become a
Wheel-Turning Sage King (Sanskrit: Chakravartin
चक्रवर्तिन्, Pali:
Cakkavatti); fifth, she cannot become a Buddha. So
how can a woman’s body swiftly
attain Buddhahood?
At that time,
the Dragon Girl proceeded to offer a precious jewel worthy of the
Three-thousand Large Thousandfold Worlds to the Lord Buddha
Shakyamuni, who had immediately accepted it. Then, the Dragon Girl
said to both Chishaku Bodhisattva and the Ven. Shariputra: “I
offered the precious jewel to the Lord Buddha, and He had kindly
accepted it. Did this event happen very quickly or not?” They
replied: “Very quickly, indeed!” The Dragon Girl then said: “With
your supernatural powers, you can visualize or watch me in achieving
Buddhahood at the same swift speed”. At that time, the entire
assembly over there
altogether saw the Dragon Girl suddenly being transformed into a
male, with all the characteristics of a Bodhisattva’s deeds. She
instantly set off to the Southern Immaculate World, sitting on a
precious Lotus Flower to attain the “Unsurpassed, Well-Balanced and
Equally-Abiding, Complete and Perfect Enlightenment”
(Buddhahood),
which was blessed with the thirty-two major features
(appearances) and the eighty minor characteristics
(types of good forms),
thus preaching universally the wonderful Holy Dharma to all sentient
beings in the ten directions.
At that time,
all the Bodhisattvas, Hearers, the Devas, the Nagas and the Eight
Races of Non-Human Entities, human beings, and non-human beings in
the World of Endurance
(Saha World, Sanskrit:
Sahāloka) all watched from
a distance as the Dragon Girl attained Buddhahood, and preached the
Holy Dharma universally to all humans and heavenly beings. They all
rejoiced exceedingly, and thus paid their tributes and respects to
her from afar. Upon hearing the Holy Dharma, countless sentient
beings had gained their comprehensions and realizations, so much so
that they acquired the state of no-regression and were prophesied
(predicted) to attaining perfect enlightenment. The Immaculate World
quaked repeatedly six times; while in the
World of Endurance (Saha World, Sanskrit:
Sahāloka), three
thousand sentient beings came to dwell upon the Non-Regression
Ground (that is, “the Eighth Ground”), all receiving prophesies
(predictions) by virtue of their Bodhicitta. Chishaku Bodhisattva
and Shariputra, as well as all the attendees of the Assembly, were
convinced and accepted in silence. (They dared not contest or argue
against).
When
tampering with
the above-mentioned verses in the Sutra, these people
dared not
write that these patriarchal and sexist statements
were
directly
"expounded by the Lord Buddha", but simply wrote as being "told by
the Lord Buddha's disciples". Since these were not the exact
wordings of the Lord Buddha,
the "Exoteric"
Buddhist followers definitely should not grasp at and hold onto
these verses
by saying that: "Even the Dragon Girl has to be
changed into a male body before she could become a Buddha". After
all, the compilation of the "Buddhist Sutras" had relied upon the
memories of the Lord Buddha
Shakyamuni’s
disciples, and during the course of around 500 years there were no
such written records, so that all (those
scriptures and sutras)
had to be totally relied upon people's memories and their
recitations of them in order to propagate these to the future
generations. This was a very important historical factor, together
with the cultural background at that time, which had
become a cause for the
tampering of the "Buddhist Sutras".
Why is it so certain that the sentence of "altogether
saw the Dragon Girl suddenly being transformed into a male, ……., and
then attain Buddhahood instantly”
has been
inserted and
tampered with?
The reason is very simple:
simply because for all those sentient beings who are able to enter
into the "Dharma Realm" so as to achieve Perfect Enlightenment,
their
"nature of mind" must be in "oneness",
and thus could not have any forms of gender, nor should they possess
such a “mental consciousness” of
"dualistic mind
with
distinctions"
in
having the necessity of changing
to a male body in order to attain Buddhahood.
Otherwise, it
is just impossible for one to enter
into the "Dharma Realm" in order to become a Buddha.
With such
superior
wisdom as the Dragon Girl, why would she have to
grasp at the notion of
male
transformation
at such a critical point when she was about to attain Buddhahood? If
she did so, it would make her
impossible to
merge into
the "Dharma Realm of Oneness" in order to attain Buddhahood.
Therefore, it is for sure that this sentence of "altogether
saw the Dragon Girl suddenly being transformed into a male”
has been
tampered with, and framed-up with words so as to
"slander the Buddhas, and to slander the Buddhist teachings".
Only for those who
do not understand
the truths of Buddhism, but maintain such sexist views, would insert
such words as “Even the Dragon Girl has to be changed into a male
body before she can become a Buddha" in the Buddhist texts and
scriptures. To these people, if a direct narrative on the Dragon
Girl's attainment of Buddhhood was documented, wouldn’t it mean that
they would have to acknowledge that even filthy women can also
become Buddhas? Wouldn’t it also mean that "the Buddha Nature of all
sentient beings are the same, and that all sentient beings are
equal"?
This is something which is impossible for them to
accept.
Even up till now, in an era of widespread scientific
advancements as today, there is still a
large number of
Exoteric Buddhist preachers
who do not
know that the operating law in the "Dharma Realm, Attainment of
Buddhahood" is the
"Law of
Non-Attainment",
and that the "Law of Causes and Effects" is operated only in the
"Three Realms of the 'Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless
Realm'". Hence, they still continue to follow those traditionally
old, ignorant and deluded culture by
grasping at and holding onto those tampered scriptures as their
evidence and proof
of those so-called sayings that "only male bodies can attain
Buddhahood, while female bodies are filthy, and so all women must
first have to be changed into male bodies, otherwise they would
never be able to be reborn in the Pure Land, or to attain Buddhahood"
and so on, making such kind of remarks
so as to
"slander the Buddhas, and to slander the Buddhist teachings".
These are
all
unknowledgeable and ignorant
people in deceiving both themselves and others.
They have slandered and retarded the progress of Buddhism, while
making it to become a
mockery
to other religious believers as well as knowledgeable people. In
fact, they have brought the whole of Buddhism into disrepute, making
way for its formal entry into the dark age of the “Degenerate
Era”
(Sanskrit:
Kali Yuga).
Because of this, the standards of the Buddhist Dharma have been
regressed
to an uncivilized era. [For
details of the Law of "Non-Attainment", please refer to the DVD on
“The Mind-Training Episode (7): The Essence of the "Heart Sutra",
and the corresponding relationships between "fusion into one" after
death and the "Mind-training and Emptiness", or visit the Dudjom
Buddhist Association YouTube TV Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/DudjomBuddhist
for viewing.]
During the Liang Dynasty (AD
502-557 years in Nan Chao),
Master Fayun
of Guang Zhai Temple wrote eight volumes of the
"Fa Hua
Jing Yi Ji"
(or
simply called
"Fa Hua Yi
Ji").
This
"Fa Hua Yi Ji"
is the annotations (commentary
and explanatory
notes)
for the
"The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower
Sutra"
(or simply the "Lotus
Sutra",
Sanskrit:
Saddharma
Pundarika Sutra; Chinese:
miàofǎ liánhuá jīng),
which were written on the basis of the original translated version
of the twenty-eight chapters of the "Lotus Sutra" as translated by
Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva
of Kucha Country
in the late Qin Dynasty (also
known as Yao Qin, AD 384-417 years).
However,
Master Fayun had deleted the twelfth chapter on the
"Lotus Sutra: on Devadatta",
so as to make the case on "the Dragon Girl’s attainment of
Buddhahood" to have disappeared altogether, thereby its explanatory
notes and commentary only covered twenty-seven chapters. This is a
strong evidence showing that the "Buddhist Sutras"
had been
tampered with intention,
and is also a strong proof on
the sexual
discrimination against women.
What was the main reason behind the fact that
Master Fayun has
tampered with this Buddhist sutra? We
will discuss this matter later on if the opportunity arises.
Although the
translated version of the “Lotus Sutra” done by
Master Kumarajiva is still being kept and passed on through
generations, allowing the case of "the Dragon Girl’s attainment of
Buddhahood” to come to light, yet as a condition,
it was made with
the insertion of the wordings that "Even the Dragon Girl has to be
changed into a male body before she could attain Buddhahood" in the
text.
The Chapter 14
of the
“Jewel
Brocade Girl Receives the Prediction” in Volume 3 of the
“Sutra of
the Ocean Dragon King”, as translated by Tripitaka Dharmaraksa of
Yuezhi in the Western Jin Dynasty, had mentioned (in modern
terminologies) that: [The Ocean Dragon King has a daughter named
“Jewel Brocade”, who comes with thousands of the Dragon ladies to
revere and praise the merits of the Lord Buddha, praying that they
can attain complete Enlightenment in the future, and follow the Lord
Buddha in saving the sentient beings…….. At that time, Mahakashyapa
(the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni’s chief disciple) told Jewel Brocade
Dragon Girl and the Ladies that “the Unsurpassed ,Well-Balanced and
Equally-Abiding, Complete and Perfect Enlightenment
(Buddhahood)” is
indeed very hard to attain. One could not achieve the Buddha Path by
a female body”.
Jewel Brocade
Dragon Girl then said to Mahakashyapa: “One’s mind and aspirations
are originally clean and pure. It is not a difficult thing for those
who apply the Bodhisattvas deeds as their methods of Dharma
practices to attain complete Enlightenment as Buddhas. The
Bodhicitta
(the enlightened
mind) so aroused from these Dharma practitioners would make one’s
attainment of Buddhahood as equally easy and assured as to watch
one’s palms. It is because so long as such Bodhicitta (the
enlightened mind) is aroused, it can access to all Wisdom Minds such
that one can draw-in and absorb the essence of all the Buddhist Dharmas. As such, how come then there is such a so-called saying
that “one cannot achieve the Buddha Path
by a female body”? If it is really
that “one cannot achieve the Buddha Path by a female body”, it is
also true with the case that one cannot attain Buddhahood with a
man’s body! Why? It is because those people who have really aroused
the Bodhicitta (the enlightened mind)
are neither men nor women. The
“Mind” itself is also non-differentiated as either male or female.
As what the Lord Buddha has expounded: “the Eyes, for instance, have
no gender distinction of male or female”. Even the ears, noses,
mouths, bodies and minds are also of the same, in that they have no
gender distinction of male or female, and so that is why they are
neither men nor women.
Why is it so?
It is because only those benevolent people’s eyes see things through
“Emptiness”, without
ever grasping at their shapes of “Form”. As they perceive things
through “Emptiness”, and so there is no distinction of men or women.
Even the ears, noses, mouths, bodies and minds are functioning
within “Emptiness”, they are tranquil and still as the empty space,
with neither male nor female. If one can truly “understand,
distinguish” the self-nature of Eyes, then it would be known as the
“Path and Reason: Ways and Methods”. The same also for the ears,
noses, mouths, bodies and minds. The real path or method of Dharma
practices is “the Law of Non-Distinction” of neither male nor
female. Hence, Mahakashyapa, the various worldly methods and
operating laws are all based on the “free operation of Nature”. The
same is with the “Path” which is natural, and so am I also to be
natural. (This is the truth of Nature)”…….(For details on the Law of
“Emptiness”, please
refer to the DVD on “Emptiness: Neither Existence nor Voidness”, or
visit the Dudjom Buddhist Association YouTube TV Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/DudjomBuddhist
for viewing.]
At that time in
the Assembly, all celestial beings, dragons, ghosts and gods,
non-virtuous gods, gods
of incense and sound
(Sanskrit: Gandharva),
and so on, were thinking in their minds: “when would this
Jewel Brocade Girl (whose level of wisdom is so
high) attain the truth of Unsurpassed, Well-Balanced and
Equally-Abiding, Complete and Perfect Enlightenment
(Buddhahood)?”
Knowing what
the celestial
beings, dragons, gods, gods of incense and
sound (Sanskrit:
Gandharva) were
thinking in their minds, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni informed the
various bhikṣus
that: “ this Jewel
Brocade Girl would attain Buddhahood after about three hundred
kalpas with the Buddha name of Universal Tathagata, Ultimate Truth,
Well-Balanced and Equally-Abiding Enlightenment. Her world will be
known as the Bright Light, and the then kalpa will be called as the
Clean Purity…………]
Again, in the above-mentioned text, it was the
disciples of the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni who spoke out the
words that
“one could not achieve the Buddha Path by a female body” so as to
"slander the Buddhas, and to slander the Buddhist teachings".
They
were not the words coming from the mouth of the Lord Buddha.
The Lord Buddha
had never
mentioned
any gender discriminatory words in any of
the texts and scriptures. Neither had
the Lord Buddha ever
mentioned anything that is not in
congruency to the truths of Nature,
such as “the Buddha Nature of sentient beings differs, all of them
are not equal, one must first be transformed into certain kind of
sentient beings in order to attain Buddhahood”, etc.
As the chief
disciple of the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni,
Mahakashyapa should not have made
any remarks that were contrary to his Guru Master’s views. This has
necessitated the verbal elucidations from the Dragon Girl to
teach
him a lesson. It is, of course, likely that this sentence, which
carries gender discriminatory words, would have been
inserted
by others.
The
above-mentioned verses have clearly stated that
"there is no gender distinction in
one’s attainment of Buddhahood", which is "neither men nor women".
This is the operating Law in the "Dharma Realm", and is also the Law
for “Attaining Perfect Enlightenment as Buddhas”. These have further
illustrated that all those sayings or thoughts that "slander the Buddhas, and to slander the Buddhist teachings", such as "only males
can attain Buddhahood, a female body is filthy, a woman must first
have to be changed into a man's body, or else she would never be
able to be reborn in the Pure Land, or to attain Buddhahood. Even
the Dragon Girl first had to be changed into a man’s body before she
could become a Buddha" are most absurd, which came down to us
through the tampering of the Buddhist Sutras. These kinds of sayings
and thoughts to "slander the Buddhas, and to slander the Buddhist
teachings" show the
kind of extreme ignorance that these people have on the truths of
the Buddhist Dharma.
For example, [in Master Chin Kung (AM,
b. 1927)’s
lecture on
"Hui Ji
Ben"
of the
"Forty-Eight Great Vows of Buddha Amitabha",
he talked about "When
I
(Buddha
Amitabha)
attain Buddhahood, my country
(the Pure Land)
will have no women".
He said that, "the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is very
solemn and has no women
in it.
Perhaps, some Dharma practitioners will ask what would our women do
if they ever want to be reborn? Here is the answer. The answer lies
in the following: < If there are women who, having heard my name,
acquire clean and pure convictions with the arousal of their
bodhicitta, loathe and detest their female bodies, and aspire to be
reborn in my country (Pure Land),
they will change into men immediately
after death, and come to my Pure Land.> All those who will be reborn
in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss
will all be in male forms."]
(The second Episode 1990/6 at the
National Heroes of Armed Force in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Filename:
02-006-0002,
http://wlsj.foz.cn/article-3131-3.html ).
Unfortunately, even the
"Forty-Eight Great Vows of Buddha Amitabha"
has also been tampered with so as to contain sexist and
discriminatory wordings.
Please refer to
the article on “The
Meaning of Near-Death Experiences” in
Issue 51 of the “Lake
of Lotus”
for the evidences and details of such tampering.
These people
who have tampered with the Buddhist Sutras
believed that as long as they
think that "everything is empty, and so the sinful nature is also
empty", then there will not be any "Hells", and also there will not
be any downfall for one of lower rebirth into the "Hells". Such kind
of naive thinking is only deceiving oneself and others, while
showing the kind of poor standards in the Buddhist Dharmas that
these people possessed. One should be aware of the fact that the
"Law of Causes and Effects" is operating in the "Three Realms:
of
the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm", as such
there must be "Hells", as well as "causes and effects". It is,
if
and only if, when one has truly and formally entered into the
"Dharma Realm" as a Buddha that the “Hells” will no longer exist,
and neither will there be "causes and effects". This is because
the
"Dharma Realm" is operating on the “Law of Non-Attainment”.
Those cunning
and deceptive people who, do not know what the "Dharma Realm" really
is, break their "silas and precepts", while disguising themselves as
devotees with good knowledge foundation in Buddhism. They do not
possess any actual Dharma practices and experiences, nor do they
have any accomplished spiritual realizations behind them. Therefore,
they believe it is
unnecessary to observe and uphold the "silas and precepts", but
thinking that by only reciting a few verses of the "Diamond Sutra"
such as -- “All conditioned things are like dreams, illusions,
bubbles, shadows, like dew and also like lightening. Thus should
they be so contemplated” -- there will not be any "Hells" for them.
But instead, they would think that they can escape from the "Law of
Causes and Effects" to enter into the "Dharma Realm" in attaining Buddhahood. This is, indeed, a very foolish kind of "not falling
into Causes and Effects, and unrealistic" kind of ostrich policy. It
is impossible, and also a farce, for those people having such
inferior nature of mind to enter into the "no-hell
Dharma Realm" so
as to achieve perfect Enlightenment. In fact, the door to the
"Hells" has already been opened for them. [For the differences and
consequences of "Not falling into Causes and Effects, Not ignoring
Causes and Effects", please refer to the video clips on the
"Wild-Fox Koan" and the "Wrathful Yamantaka in the Hell Realm", or
one can visit the Dudjom Buddhist Association YouTube TV Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/DudjomBuddhist
for viewing.]
Other than those widely-criticized ridiculous remarks
made by Master Chin Kung, his other
misleading and
misguiding deeds to other sentient beings
have also been subjected to
direct
stricture
from a lot of Buddhist practitioners. For details, please go to the
following link to see the
severe
criticisms
against Master Chin Kung
from the
Venerable Master Ben Huan
(1907-2
April 2012,
an esteemed contemporary Zen Master aged 106 years
old)
at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03F6RN5ctNI
Fortunately, in
ancient
"Tibetan Buddhism", there were great practitioners with
sufficiently
profound wisdom, superior levels of standard in Buddhist teachings,
and great accomplished realizations in their authentic Dharma
practices, who were well aware of the fact that
"denigrating
women's self nature of wisdom" would cause downfalls of the
followers to lower rebirths in the "Vajra Hell",
in which it will be almost impossible for one to escape from. Hence,
they had put this as a "Precept" so as to protect the Dharma
practitioners. Unfortunately in this Degenerate Era, there are too
many "Tibetan Buddhist" preachers who
pay no regards
to the "precepts",
who
have neither the profound Buddhist knowledge and
insights, nor any accomplished realizations in their Dharma
practices.
They only have the naive thinking of the so-called "modernization
and
secularization
of Buddhism
by relaxing or removing the precepts, equating those care-free
unfettered behavioural actions to the practising and upholding of
Dzogchen practices, letting those ritual ceremonies and blessings to
take precedence over the Buddhist doctrines and its practices", thus
tarnishing the
high levels of wisdom
of the
"Tantric Buddhist teachings
and practices".
"Precepts" are
the most important guidelines and codes of practice
to assist all Dharma practitioners "to know what should be adopted,
and what should be rejected". These "precepts" were well developed
and formulated by the Buddhas and great Dharma practitioners who
were endowed with accomplished spiritual realizations and superior
levels of wisdom. They know that violation of these guidelines and
codes of practice will induce severe "dark karmic retributions",
thus making these as a strong reminder. Therefore,
"precepts" are
neither constraints, nor alarmists; but instead, they are important
guidelines and protective covers to help prevent sentient beings
from falling into the Lower Paths of the “Hells, Hungry Ghosts,
Animals”. Those people who have no sufficient accomplished spiritual
realizations and Buddhist Dharma knowledge, but tamper with the
"precepts" casually, either abandon, or having contempt with them,
would constitute a kind of "dark karma" which is both "self-hurting
and hurting others".
In the next
Issue, we will further discuss a few more sutras and scriptures,
which can be used to
further prove that the
Buddhist Sutras and
scriptures have been tampered with
by some people with powers, with conflicts of interest, translators,
and Dharma preachers.........................
(To
be Continued).
