Loneliness is a precursor to enlightenment

The truth can be enlightened suddenly, but the things must be gradually eliminated

Enlightenment is not cultivation, let alone enlightenment. Enlightenment is just the understanding of "principles"; the practice of ending worries and realizing Bodhi is the "thing". "Principles can be enlightened suddenly, but things must be gradually eliminated." Therefore, it is wrong to call an enlightened Zen master "a Buddha". Enlightenment does not mean becoming a Buddha. After you understand your mind and your nature, you still need to learn. If you don’t know the written language, start by learning the written language.

For example, although the Sixth Patriarch was able to understand his mind and see his nature, he had to have others read the scriptures for him because he was illiterate. From this we can also see that principles can be enlightened suddenly, but things must be gradually cultivated. On the other hand, we know that Shakyamuni Buddha only prophesied about Maitreya Buddha and not others, so we can also know that knowing one's mind and one's nature is not the same as becoming a Buddha. Enlightenment is just understanding, becoming a Buddha also requires the merits of practice.

When practicing Zen, you must understand that there is no difference between your own mind and that of the Buddha. This "understanding" is not achieved through cultivation, but through attainment. But we who study the doctrine will have to go through 10,000 eons before we can reach the level of tenth faith and full heart. Ten thousand kalpas is a long time - a person's life span increases by one year every hundred years from ten to eighty-four thousand years, and decreases by one year every hundred years from eighty-four thousand years until ten. Years, such an increase and decrease is a small calamity. A thousand small tribulations constitute a medium tribulation, and a thousand medium tribulations constitute a major tribulation.

Becoming a Buddha requires three great asamkhya kalpas. An enlightened person is only equivalent to achieving the first great calamity, and after that, he must cultivate a career that benefits all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas must seek from the five luminaries, and Bodhisattvas must learn medical prescriptions and skillful craftsmanship. In Zen Buddhism, the idea of ??becoming a Buddha by knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature, and being indistinguishable from the Buddha, is doctrinally referred to as the "primordial Dharmakaya". Therefore, although our body and nature are equal to those of all Buddhas, the so-called enlightenment of one's mind and one's nature as a Buddha in Zen Buddhism cannot be compared with the Buddha's merits. The Buddha has merits and virtues that benefit countless sentient beings. What is achieved by understanding one's mind and seeing one's nature is only the heart, not merits that benefit sentient beings.

A scholar reciting sutras will make an old monk laugh to death

So, don’t misunderstand when reciting sutras. When I was in Nanputuo, an old professor came to Nanputuo and saw the scriptures of the Lotus Sutra on the wall: "If people with distracted minds enter the pagoda and temple and call them Namo Buddha, they have all become Buddhas." "The slogan on the wall is wrong. I put my palms together and kowtow every day, but I don't just put my palms together and bow my head. But why haven't I become a Buddha yet?" This is what makes a scholar laugh to death. monk.

I told him: "This is a wrong understanding of the scriptures. What anyone can achieve by clasping his palms together and bowing his head slightly is the cause of becoming a Buddha. Only on this basis can you start practicing and become a Buddha. So. What determines becoming a Buddha is not now, but what can be achieved after a long period of practice on the basis of the reasons for becoming a Buddha. "The Lotus Sutra has prophesied to all sentient beings. This is the correct understanding of Zen practice. To put it more simply, Zen is life, guiding life with your heart.

The scope of Zen is very broad. In other words, Zen is Buddha, and Buddha is Zen. As we said before, Zen is a very simple teaching. What it teaches is that everyone has the same Buddha nature as the Buddha and everyone can become a Buddha. Just like everyone has the right to study at Fudan University, but whether you can get into it depends on your personal efforts and struggles. For the goal of becoming a Buddha, not only people, but even an ant has Buddha nature. From the Buddha's point of view, human nature, animal nature, and the nature of all living beings can all achieve Buddha nature.

We know that "Buddha" is the transliteration of the Indian Sanskrit word Buddha. After Buddhism was introduced to China, the Chinese gradually omitted Buddha as "Buddha". The meaning of Buddha is enlightened, enlightened and wise. And this kind of awareness is not limited to oneself, but can also make others aware. One evil thought has been eliminated, and the good deeds of the body, speech, and mind have reached their ultimate conclusion. Therefore, Buddhism is the way to achieve goodness, enlightenment, and wisdom.

If you live without losing awareness, you will achieve the Buddha's path. Zen allows us to never lose our thoughts in life, so Zen covers a wide range. For example, in front of the Zen hall, there are three words "Buddha Choosing Field" hanging, which means that people can understand the Buddha's way through Zen through Zen.

The heart in "Knowing the Heart and Seeing the Nature" is not the heart in our body. The scope of this heart is extremely broad, including the three thousand worlds, the Western Paradise, and other things expressed in words are all in the heart. This mind, this entity, or what the sutras often call "awareness" is equal to the mind nature achieved by the Buddha. The only difference between ordinary people and Buddhas is this mind. And the mind we are using now is not this "true mind", but false consciousness. This false consciousness is the attachment of the seventh consciousness, Manana consciousness, as the mind, and the seventh consciousness is attached to the eighth consciousness, Alaya consciousness. There is one part sincerity and one part delusion. The delusion is the shadow of the sincerity.

"Knowing the mind and seeing one's nature" has reached the "Ten Faiths" in the teachings. At this time, if you have enough faith, you will no longer have evil thoughts and create bad karma. After achieving the Ten Faiths, you enter the "first abode" and live in your heart. The difference between those who practice Zen and those who simply study the teachings is that those who practice Zen can achieve clarity of mind and nature, which is exactly what the Zen hall preaches. Those who simply study the teachings are far away from this, and have not even entered the ten abodes, let alone the ten lines, ten directions, ten grounds, equal enlightenment, wonderful enlightenment and other places mentioned in the Avatamsaka.

The evidence is that the Bodhisattva who has entered the first abode has great spiritual power and can appear as Buddha and great Bodhisattva in a hundred worlds to save all living beings. Only with such supernatural power can it be shown that the Bodhisattva who has truly entered the abode has attained enlightenment when he first aroused his aspiration. And we often talk about generating bodhicitta, but what we generate is only "happy mind." It’s just sincerity and trust in the Dharma, not true bodhicitta.

What we usually call an "enlightened person" is one who no longer creates bad karma and understands that his own mind is the same as that of the Buddha. But after you achieve enlightenment, you still need to continue practicing. An enlightened person does not even have the supernatural power of a Bodhisattva. He cannot manifest the Buddha's body and preach to all sentient beings in this world, let alone a hundred worlds.

This is like a step-by-step education from elementary school, middle school, high school and finally to university. Each step is preparation for the next step. The same is true for the practice in Buddhism. One step at a time without jumping is definitely not what Zen says: "Sudden transcendence and direct enlightenment, establishing Bodhi." This attainment of Buddhahood can only be said to be the enlightenment of one's mind and one's nature. Unlike Sakyamuni Buddha's great enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Sakyamuni Buddha achieved great enlightenment after three asamkhya kalpas of practice.

If you are really lonely, you can find a friend to enlighten you.