The Basic Beliefs of a Buddhist Practitioner——Lectures on the Huayan Sutra and Samantabhadra's Actions and Vows Mr. Nan Shi Huaijin January 1985 AD Speaking at the Shifang Zen Forest Winter Vacation Group Retreat In the past few days, you have been working hard to practice the Zhunti method. At the beginning, it was considered diligent and focused, but for several consecutive seven sessions, can you stick to this one thought and stick to it consistently? Betting in the boundless and profound sea of ​​Dharma of Zhunti Buddha Mother depends on whether each person's wish to achieve the supreme Bodhi is true or not.

Practice secret law, or the various methods of Sutra, why do you come here?What is important is not to practice in accordance with the Dharma and achieve complete success.When you achieve success, you will be liberated naturally, and you will become a Buddha naturally.Don't have the speculative mentality of doing business in the world, have interests in mind, and care about trade-offs. That is a trivial matter as big as sesame and mung beans, and it is insignificant.Fame and wealth are fleeting, and becoming a Buddha and a demon is also fleeting.Those who truly become a Buddha and liberated cannot even become a Buddha.There is no such thing as a Buddha, and there is no such thing as a demon. It is achieved at the moment, and all are liberated.

Some of you have attended lectures here and practiced for so long. Although some effects have been achieved, the fundamental serious illnesses of all sentient beings—self-contradictory, confusion of perception and thinking, as well as greed, hatred, and ignorance, etc.—still cannot be removed. why?Everyone thinks that they are already practicing hard, but in fact they are often just sitting there coveting their own pure feelings. This is not the way!Practice does not benefit from the fundamental changes in body, mind and temperament mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. The reason is that there is no sincere desire to seek the Dharma and the Tao, and the three karmas of body, speech and mind have not devoted themselves to the vast and deep sea of ​​vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. For the teachings taught by Shakyamuni Buddha earnestly, do you have them?

Therefore, there are many people who have studied Buddhism for a lifetime, why do they come here? "Because the place is not true, the result will be twisted." I have spent most of my life in a daze, and the world's laws and the world's laws have made both ends empty. Why bother? ! Let me solemnly tell everyone that there is no secret in practicing esoteric Dharma, it is kept in everyone's heart.The quasi-teaching method is a different method in the esoteric method, a particularly excellent method. It includes meditation, meditation, and the pure land at the same time, and it can completely rely on the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.So you have to put your body and mind into it thoroughly, where are you going to put it? !It's right to throw yourself into the sea of ​​self-nature that is perfect and complete without reservation or doubt.

Now that so many of you are cultivating together, the set of rules you have drawn up for practicing and beating ritual instruments is good for you to live in thatched cottages in the future, or to gather a few like-minded colleagues to practice together. is a good role model.You must know that the whole group is just one person, and it is necessary to use wooden fish, rocks, and drums to guide unity in the formation and dispersal of mudras during practice.Furthermore, a person is also a group. When you practice alone in the future, you must not forget that practice is to practice together with all sentient beings in the dharma world. Only with such a broad mind can you achieve rapid success in practice and you are truly studying Buddhism. monasticism.

I have basically told you about the basic concepts of practicing Zhunti method, the key points of chanting, ritual procedures, visualization methods, and many other related matters.In the past, when I taught the method of "Prajna Zhengguan" in meditation during the winter vacation, I first mentioned the foundation of all Buddhist teachings-the practice of Samantabhadra's actions and vows.This is the most critical belief in learning Buddhism and Taoism. Our minds should follow the example of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's vast and endless three thousand worlds like the void. Only then can we be a true practitioner and a true Buddha.

For example, when you are practicing Dharma visualization in the mandala, if you are still thinking about mantras while reciting mantras, then you are creating evil karma, and what has it to do with practicing Zhunti Dharma? !True cultivators practice wholeheartedly and diligently, following the rhythm of the magic weapon next to them, they are whipped down like a sharp whip. I don’t know how many opportunities for everyone to create bad karma, want to gossip, or talk about life. There is no time to complain about things.So many negative karmas have been created passively and accumulated to become positive karmas.Although what you are chanting now is the mantra, it is actually equivalent to fulfilling the vow of "praising all Buddhas" in the Huayan Sutra and the vows of Samantabhadra. , will be able to break through the evil karma that we have accumulated over many lifetimes, and then quickly achieve the Bodhi path and fruit, so why not doubt it? !

To study Buddhism and practice any Dharma, one must fundamentally connect with the total power source that produces all immeasurable merits and virtues - Samantabhadra's actions and vows.Now let's turn on the light, open the recitation in this chapter of the "Avatamsaka Sutra", and review it again. Regarding the method of reciting the verse of Samantabhadra’s Deeds and Vows, for the time being, you can sing it in the usual way of chanting the "Gather of Confession" in the evening class. Now you sing the first four lines at the beginning of the recitation: With my pure body, speech and mind, I go all over [the original word is the double side + Bian - the proofreader's note, the same below] to make every effort. "

(Students chant in the same way) When reciting the mantra and thinking about practicing Zhunti method, at the beginning of reciting, when you think about it, whether you visualize the clear point or the moon wheel, or even the Zhunti Buddha mother, recite the mantra in your mouth, although there is no need to recite the words of Samantabhadra Four lines of gatha, but in the mind, it is necessary to make "all the worlds of the ten directions, all the Buddhas of the three times" be fully respected in the heart.Not only Zhunti Buddha mother, but also Buddhas of the past, present and future, and human teachers and sons--the great teacher among humans, the teacher of heaven and man, that is, the Buddha, all must be included in the visualization.You say that I can’t visualize, but you don’t want to imagine it, but you know it when you think about it. For example, I am reciting a mantra now, and at the same time, the thought of “I use my pure body, speech and mind” has been included in the practice.Body karma is now sitting in the mandala to practice Dharma, speech karma is reciting mantras, mind karma is practicing visualization, and visualizing all Buddhas in the ten directions and three times. All the lands of the three thousand great thousand worlds have arrived, and everything is in this thought. This is the visualization of Tantric Buddhism.

If you say that I still can’t see it, let’s make an analogy. Since you started studying Buddhism, you must have visited many temples. In this thought, there is someone who worships Buddha in the halls of the temples you have visited. Can you visualize it?Visualization is so easy!As long as the thought is carried lightly, it will be cultivated in the mind in an instant! It is not difficult to cultivate like this every day!If you can't do it for a while, you should also read these four lines of verses earnestly and earnestly. If you practice like this, you will know how to work hard in the next half of the project.As soon as you read the scriptures, you can visualize them in your heart at the same time, and when you speak them, you will arrive in your mind.Come again:

(Students chant in the same way) Now the visualization skill has gone a step further!Kungfu training is cultivation!It is to practice one's own mind and conduct, and to achieve immeasurable merits and virtues of worshiping Buddha in one thought.Just now I taught you to visualize, for example, when you practice the Zhunti method now, when you are mindful, in front of all the Zhunti Buddha mothers and all Tathagatas in the ten directions, I am respectful and prostrating. Do you think it is possible to do this?You should be convinced that this is the power of Samantabhadra's vows. Which one is Samantabhadra?It is you - the Samantabhadra of the Self.In fact, as soon as we talk about it, our hearts will naturally show up there.You think about your home, now you talk about your home, the door or the things in your home, and you get up when you think about it, this is Samantabhadra.The thought appeared as soon as it came, it was at the same time!How can you say you can't see it?But now our practice is to think about the realm of the Buddha, not the worldly realm, and visualize all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times, and I will respect each of them devoutly. Great power.Therefore, when viewing the Buddha, you are required to observe all the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, "appearing in front of all the Tathagatas", and there is a dedicated and respectful self in front of the Tathagatas. "Puxian" means "universal manifestation". With the power of Puxian Tathagata, you will be blessed with sincerity and purity in one thought.Every Buddha and Bodhisattva has me in front of it. You can sit here with your eyes closed, and your body with another thought goes out to worship. "One body reappears in the dusty body", sitting here, I thought to myself, I am praying everywhere, can I do this thought? (Students answer: can do it) it is true?Don't lie to yourself. (Some students did not answer) Someone did not answer, is it impossible to do it?If you can't do it, you have to repent.Because the principle of visualization has not been really understood, so it cannot be done.This is not a matter of effort, as long as you understand it, things will happen.If you can't do it, you can't make sense, and you don't have enough wisdom. You should get up at night and sincerely worship Buddha and repent.You say this.I understand.OK, let's try it now.I say now: Ladies and gentlemen, let’s first practice the first visualization—respecting the Buddhas.In all the worlds of the ten directions and three times, I am prostrating before all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Is this possible? (Students answer: I did it) Not only that, your outgoing body, that body is also changed by your thoughts and visualized by your thoughts. This visualization does not require so much effort. This body has billions of incarnations, and this world is endless.A Buddhist temple is a Buddhist temple, and this floor is a Buddhist temple, and this earth is also a Buddhist temple.There are innumerable dust particles in this field, each dust represents a field, and there are countless dust particles in a field, the so-called emperor's net is intertwined, endless, dense and dense, covering the void and all over the Dharma Realm, nowhere is not me, nowhere There are no Buddhas everywhere, and there is me in front of every Buddha, so I will continue to worship one by one.It seems that it is more difficult to "reappear in the body of Shachen" like this.If you do it, everything is very easy.Therefore, the most basic practice of Tantric Buddhism is to worship the Buddha one hundred thousand times. The physical body formed by the four elements must truly worship the Buddha, and you must also visualize thousands of billions of incarnations to go out to worship. In modern esoteric Buddhism, some lamas and living Buddhas come, go to give a crown, recite a mantra, and think they are practicing esoteric, but has the most basic merit of worshiping been accomplished?Prostration is the first step in learning Buddhism, like when we enter elementary school and start class, we have to bow to the teacher first!Have you really kowtowed to Buddhism?Therefore, according to what you said, you have to pay more than 100,000 yuan. "Worship the Shachen Buddha one by one", there is an infinite and boundless me, and there are Buddhas in front of me. I worship reverently and reverently. Everything is my teacher.Cultivate like this, every thought is like this, how can there be no achievement?That's why I printed the vows of Samantabhadra into such an exquisite scripture, and asked you to practice with this, have you done it?Sing these four gatha again, and you must understand when you sing, and put your heart and soul into this realm. (Students sing again) Up to now, I am still making the first vow of Samantabhadra, "respecting and asking Buddha".I told you that I started to learn Buddhism and followed this route, so the progress is fast!Then chant the following four lines: (Students chant in the same way) This is the state of kung fu related to just now, that is to say, in front of so many Shachen Buddhas, I am prostrating. "There are as many buddhas as there are dust in a mote", an earth is made up of countless dust, a dust represents a world, a world has countless beings, each sentient being also has countless dust, and every countless dust has countless beings Countless Buddhas are numerous and endless.The human world is a world of dust, made of mud, like this house is also made of mud, there are as many dusts in a mote as there are Buddhas, and there are countless dusts in a mote, the dust is innumerable, and the Buddhas are also innumerable, not only the Buddhas There are countless Bodhisattvas, but where are the Bodhisattvas?In the human world, in this physical world, there are Buddhas everywhere, even in the toilet and in the stool, because they are all dust!Heaven and hell are everywhere.And there are bodhisattvas in front of every Buddha, and bodhisattvas are also endless, "in the assembly of bodhisattvas everywhere", so we must be absolutely respectful everywhere and at all times, without dirt or cleanliness. "The dust of the endless dharma realm is the same." The dharma realm of the universe is boundless, boundless, and endless, so don't make your mind so narrow.There are immeasurable and uncountable dust worlds in this endless dharma realm. Therefore, during this prostration, all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and virtuous teachers have me in front of them. It’s just that your skill is not enough, so you can’t transform into tens of billions of bodies at once. Therefore, it is even more necessary to "convinced that all Buddhas are full", that there are Buddhas everywhere, and I am prostrating everywhere. Let's figure this out!Therefore, when practicing Zhunti Dharma, practice with this state of mind.Now, please recite the following four lines: (Students chant in the same way)