黄檗と臨済全4回の３回

So it’s no good that a person does not learn to realize the God and wisdom within himself, whether due to ignorance or ego. Both are very serious sins. Even after we’ve practiced spiritually, we still need to be cautious in this aspect. The worst thing is the ego. If, in doing anything, we think that we, such as sister Wang or resident Tong something, are doing it, instead of giving the credit to the almighty power of the universe, or to the power of the Supreme Master, then we will be in big trouble. It is because we have confined ourselves in our personal room, and do not allow ourselves to be connected with the universal oneness. So of course, we would be very lonely with very limited power. Such a little difference in concept could make a huge difference. That’s why it says, “All is created by the mind.” 

Our concept must be correct. If a person needs to put a lot of effort into studying and understanding the teachings before he can practice well spiritually, then this person is not bad. If a person comes because of blind belief without understanding the teachings, he may also make rapid progress in spiritual practice, but after a while, he can be easily misled and pulled away by those who are eloquent. It’s because his foundation is not stable. Therefore, Bodhidharma said that there are two doors to get into spiritual practice: One is the teachings, the other is meditation. One is to put the teachings into practice, the other is to understand the teachings first before applying them. 

Blindly meditating everyday and believing in Master’s power is not yet a very high level. That’s why some people fall as soon as they are tested. If we have a very correct concept, and understand the teachings very well, we definitely won’t fall, because we know why we believe. Our mind is not something insignificant. It has created the Three Realms. So it won’t listen to you if you simply tell it to be quiet. It wants to know the reason. That’s why we need to practice. Otherwise, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas might as well use their magical power, then everyone just unknowingly goes to the Western Paradise, taking along their cats, dogs, and children. Why bother to practice so hard? Understand what I mean? 

Since the Three Realms have been created already, we must eliminate them ourselves. But with what? They can only be eliminated by our own consciousness and understanding, with the power of realization and enlightenment. Destroying them doesn’t mean incinerate them or barbecue them with fire. No. It’s just an inner realization that originally, the Three Realms don’t exist and have no attraction. Whether they exist or not doesn’t matter so long as they have no temptation to us. Understand? It’s like sometimes when we were watching television, but our mind was occupied with other things. We were there watching television, but we didn’t know what the programs were all about. Later when someone asked us about the progress of the drama, we’d say, “Oh! I wasn’t watching just now.” We sat in front of the television, but we didn’t see anything – it happens. It is like that sometimes, isn’t it? (Yes.) Similarly, we have created the Three Realms, and now we have to destroy them ourselves, through the method of ignoring them. We know that they don’t interest us, and there are better things. Understand?