What are the rules for Buddhist preaching?

In Buddhist tradition, there are certain rules when giving sermons. There are two main streams of this rule. One comes from the Nalanda Buddhist University in India, and the other comes from the Tradition of the Chaoji Temple in India. Both of these rules are correct. The rules of teaching at Chaojie Temple are to explain: first, the authoritativeness of the author of the teaching; second, the characteristics of the teaching itself; third, what the speaker and listeners should rely on rule. The first two are to let the audience know that the Dharma to be taught has a pure source (from the Buddha), has inheritance (the ancestors of the past generations), and has a basis (sutras, laws, and treatises), and to make the audience develop a sense of respect.

Lectures and sermons must have a pure inheritance. Anyone who wants to listen to or teach a Dharma method must first find out the source of its inheritance. If we are studying a treatise, there are some questions we must find out - Who wrote this treatise? What is the basis for inheritance? Should we inherit the ideas and inheritance of the masters of the Indian sects? Or is it the author's own 'creation'? If it is your own 'creation', and if the source, inheritance and basis cannot be determined to be pure and reliable, then what you have learned is not necessarily Buddhism! If you practice accordingly, the 'enlightenment' you obtain will most likely be an 'enlightenment' that even my master, Sakyamuni, has never heard of, and you will be in danger of being involved in crooked ways.

Oral transmission must be passed down from ear to ear, continuing through the generations. Many people think that they can just read the scriptures. In fact, inheritance is very important, and the blessing of inheritance is also very important. Because if you only rely on your own guesses and imaginations, understand with an ordinary person's mentality, talk freely, and say whatever you want, it is easy to misunderstand, distort, and even fall into fallacies, misleading yourself and others. This is really a misfortune for Buddhism. Therefore, "Master Fei Xiange of Hanshan" says:

It is easy to encounter difficulties in cultivation, but it is always idle if you do not meet a wise master;

It is useless to try to be smart and laborious, and to practice blindly is also in vain .

Getting advice from a master (see: Standards of Good Knowledge) is inheritance, which can avoid the danger of blind practice. If it's 'what I think', 'what I think', 'what I want', 'my opinion', 'what I think', etc., then it's probably 'I' Dharma is not necessarily Buddhism! It is best not to speak or listen to this kind of ‘I’ method, otherwise there is a risk of going astray. Instead, we should say: ‘How the sutras, laws and treatises were written’, ‘How the Buddha and Bodhisattvas taught’, ‘How the patriarchs taught’, etc. Buddhist disciples must maintain the purity and purity of this lineage and not allow it to become corrupted, distorted, or tainted. Otherwise, it will harm both others and ourselves, which will be a serious danger to Buddhism.

The rules of preaching are divided into four parts. The first is thinking about the benefits of preaching; the second is respecting the Dharma and the Buddha; the third is the correct method of preaching; and the fourth is the criteria for whether one should preach.

(1) Think about the benefits of preaching.

It is written in "The Sutra of Encouraging Development and Increased Intention and Joy" that there are twenty kinds of special benefits from preaching the Dharma, such as achieving wisdom, protection from Buddhas, etc. Although we do not preach the Dharma for our own benefit, preaching the Dharma can indeed inspire many benefits, and these benefits are also conducive to our practice.

The benefits mentioned above are not limited to those who give large lectures and preach the Dharma. In daily life, whether we are monks or lay people, or whether we are teachers or not, if we informally talk about Buddhism to our friends, recite mantras to animals to listen to them, or even visualize non-human beings while reciting sutras and mantras, People, dragons, ghosts, etc. also come to listen, and they are all Dharma donations, so they also get the same benefits.

(2) Respect the Dharma and Buddha.

When the Buddha was teaching the Dharma, he even had to show respect for the Dharma he spoke and arrange the throne with his own hands. When we are teaching the Dharma, we should also have respect for the Dharma that we are going to preach like the Buddha. At the same time, the speaker should also remember the kindness of the Buddha.

(3) The correct psychology and method of preaching the scriptures.

Inwardly, the speaker should not have the mentality of praising or slandering others, should not be secretive due to selfishness, nor should he delay teaching due to laziness, but should have compassion. The mentality of preaching for the sake of fame and attracting followers is the most unacceptable thing. At the same time, the six thoughts mentioned above for listeners of the Dharma, except that the fourth one does not apply to the preachers, the preachers should also have, that is, they must regard the listeners as patients, the Dharma as good medicine, and themselves as doctors. , recite gratitude to the Buddha and may the Dharma abide for a long time.

In the process of teaching, we should first take a bath and put on clean robes.

When walking towards the Dharma throne, you should have a pure motivation for preaching (to benefit all living beings and wish to become a Buddha), and (in Tibetan Buddhism) visualize the ancestors of the past generations who will preach the Dharma that day. The top one is the first generation patriarch. At the bottom is the teacher who received the inheritance of this Dharma. Then we bow to the Dharma throne three times before taking the seat. After taking the seat, watch the first-generation Patriarch descend and merge with the second-generation Patriarch, and the second-generation Patriarch descend and merge with the third-generation Patriarch? Finally, they all merged into their own guru, and then the guru descended and merged into the seat of the Dharma. in your own body and mind.

After sitting down, you must recite the words of the Diamond Sutra:

All conditioned phenomena are like bubbles in dreams, like dew or lightning, and should be viewed as such.

This is to remind myself: ‘Although I am temporarily speaking from a high seat, this is also impermanent! ’ To prevent yourself from becoming arrogant and thinking that you are a great mage.

Then, the listener and the speaker recite the "Prajna Heart Sutra" together, and then the listener offers a mandala and recites verses for seeking Dharma. The speaker first touches the forehead to the sutra to show it. Respect, and then all recite the refuge words together.

When the refuge words are recited in the Dharma assembly, there is a slight difference between the content recited by the audience and the speaker.

Listeners should recite:

Practitioners take refuge until they attain enlightenment, the Buddha’s Dharma and the holy Sangha,

Because of the various practices such as listening, learning, etc., I wish to Achieve the Buddha's realm and benefit sentient beings.

The speaker of the Dharma recited:

Practitioners take refuge until they achieve enlightenment, the Buddha’s true Dharma and the holy monks,

Because of the sermons and other practices, I wish to Achieve the Buddha's realm and benefit sentient beings.

Finally, the speaker should perform the Dharma mudra and recite:

Heavens and non-celestial beings and non-human kings, as well as emperors and Buddhas and others who protect the righteous Dharma,

The Buddha is good at preaching the cause of tranquility and happiness. I now declare that please come and listen to the true Dharma.

Some gods and non-human beings also believe in Buddhism, but they have extreme mysophobia by nature and cannot bear to sit on the ground with others. Although we do not have the eyes to see gods and non-human beings, they may come to listen to the Dharma, so we allow them in our hearts to sit in the void and listen to the Dharma.

Then we can start speaking. When teaching the Dharma, one should base it on the sutras spoken by the Buddha, supplemented by various treatises, and add on personal or one's own master's experience. You should never speak subjectively based on personal conjecture, nor speak in a mixed or unorganized manner. Do not skip the difficult parts and focus on the easy ones. Under normal circumstances, we should try our best to maintain an elegant manner and a comfortable smile, so that the listeners will feel happy about the Dharma.

(4) Criteria for whether the scriptures should be preached or not.

Except for special circumstances, we should not take the initiative to make formal statements when no one requests it. Those who stand should not preach to those who sit down, those who sit should not preach to those who lie down, and those who sit on low seats should not preach to those who sit on high seats. In addition, we should not teach the Dharma to those who come to listen to the Dharma while wearing weapons, riding horses, or wearing hats to show respect for the Dharma. Of course, these are rules that exist out of respect for the Dharma. In some cases, we can be slightly more permissive. For example, when the person listening to the Dharma is too sick to sit up, because he is not lying down because of disrespect for the Dharma, we can also give the Dharma; in the national culture of some areas, they are Wearing a hat is mandatory for life, and this is not disrespectful to Buddhism. In these cases, it may be allowed at the discretion.

In fact, those who listen to the Dharma should also pay attention to these matters. For example, they should not wear hats or weapons when listening to the Dharma. They should respectfully invite the speaker to sit on the throne and speak the Dharma, etc. These are Buddhist teaching traditions and are meant to show respect for the Dharma, not to make the speaker feel superior.

The above may be boring, but if we don’t get the initial part right, everything we do later will be a waste of time, so we must pay attention to these previous details.

When everyone listens to the Dharma in the future, and even when everyone has the opportunity to speak the Dharma upon request in the future, you should follow it.