Subtitles: It's well said in the sutra opening verse. I wish to interpret the true meaning of the Tathagata. 10:00 But you misinterpret the true meaning of Buddha. This is especially difficult for beginners. To be honest, this is due to karmic hindrance. When I was a beginner, many of my fellow students were very enthusiastic. This student said that chanting Buddha was good, and that student said that chanting was not good, and Chan was better, then another student said Chan was not good, only by studying Tantric Buddhism could one become a Buddha in this life. Well, with so many warmhearted friends here, I don't know which one to go for. They are all enthusiastic and kind people who are here to guide you, they instruct you, and you are at a loss as to what to do, pointing you to no way out, you get confused at the beginning of study. 11:00 The Buddha has clear teachings in both the Mahayana and Hinayana sutras. The first requirement for us to learn Buddhism is to find a good teacher. If you want to achieve success, you must understand this reason. You must find a good teacher and learn from one teacher. In China, for thousands of years, the transmission of the secular and Buddhist teachings has been called the teacher succession, which is to learn from a teacher. I have talked about this many times in my lectures. 12:00 But fellow practitioners did not pay attention after listening, and did not take it seriously, so you did not benefit. The path of a teacher succession has been hard since ancient times. It is a matter of fate, not just one lifetime, but the result of many lifetimes in eons. On the first day in this place, I told the fellow practitioners that we rely on the teacher. We rely on the teacher's experience to move up, 13:00 and that this is an important thing in the teacher succession. In Buddhism, especially in Chan sect, it often says, "Walking on the top of Vairocana". Vairocana Buddha, the Dharmakaya Tathagata. The Avatamsaka Sutra talks about the Three Tathagatas: Vairocana is the Buddha of Dharmakaya (body of essence), Locana is the Buddha of Sambhogakaya (body of enjoyment), and Sakyamuni is the Buddha of Nirmanakaya (body of transformation). These are the three bodies of the Buddha. Buddha is our teacher. We rely on him, step on his shoulders, step on his head, and then we will transcend. 14:00 This is the way to go. Other than this practice, You are starting from scratch. When will you achieve success? The same reason applies to both secular and Buddhist teachings. Modern technology is very advanced. If a developing country wants to make progress in technology, For example, if we want to build an airplane, we should study other's advanced technology and improve it, then our airplane will be more advanced. You are building on the foundation of others and moving forward. You can't go back two hundred years to that two-winged propeller 15:00 that flew dozens of kilometers an hour, and you start from there? You can't. The worldly law also understands this principle. We constantly improve and upgrade based on the experience and achievements of our predecessors. Thus, we make progress. Improve the predecessors' flaws. When you correct them, you will make progress. So we need to follow a teacher and only learn from him. To study Buddhism in ancient times, whether one was a layperson or a monk, one should study the precepts for five years. This was the foundation. 16:00 This is a very simple sentence. However, when we read this sentence, we interpreted it according to the context and misunderstood its meaning. What do we learn in five years? The 5 Precepts, the 10 Precepts, the Bodhisattva Precepts, the 8 Precepts. Are those what we learn? No, that's not the precept we are learning. The word 戒 is the teacher's commandment, not the precept. In other words, during the five years, you must obey the teacher's commandment, and it's not about those precepts. So, it means the students should be absolutely bound by the teacher and should not violate. 17:00 Teachers have absolute responsibility for their students. If he points you in the wrong direction, he takes the karmic responsibility. The karma pointed in the wrong direction is huge. If you took the wrong road, you deserve it. You can't blame others. But if you gave others wrong directions, how terrible is it? Therefore, in the past, the relationship between a teacher and his students was like that between a father and his son. Sometimes, the grace between a teacher and his students was even greater than that between parents. You can understand this by reading ancient books. That's why teachers were honored in ancient times. Every teacher is respected in the society. 18:00 All worldly laws are like this, let alone Buddhist dharma. How could you point someone in the wrong direction? The most important thing is to get close to good knowledge. We have to ask, which one is good knowledge? Actually, there is no standard for good knowledge. When we look at these quotations from ancient times, if you observe them carefully, you will understand that there is no standard for good knowledge. However, the most important condition for good knowledge is the person you admire the most and respect the most in your mind. Then this person is your good knowledge. 19:00 Why? You listen to him and obey him 100%. This is good knowledge. No matter how good his knowledge is, if you don't respect him and don't listen to him, it is useless, and he is not your good knowledge. Even the Buddha is here, he is not your good knowledge. When others say the same word, we don’t believe it and cannot accept it. If you can accept and believe what he says, and follow his teachings 100%, then this is your good knowledge and he is your good teacher. So here are the criteria for choosing a teacher. In China, this is pretty much what we see in the discourses of the various sects. 20:00 When a Buddhist practitioner, whether a layperson or a monk, visited a great master, the master would tell him: Your destiny lies somewhere, visit that place, and you will have achievement. He went there. Surely enough, in 3 or 5 years he became enlightened and he achieved. Let's think. If he give guidance to this person, can't this person be successful in his temple? He has this ability to direct him to a certain place where he can achieve success. Does he not have this ability himself?
Subtitles: 21:00 In fact, his morality, knowledge, and cultivation are absolutely no worse than that person's, it's just that his root nature is different. For example, a person is very interested in Chan. He comes to me and chants the Buddha's name. Although he chants, his mind cannot settle down and he is always thinking about Chan. We know he can neither recite the Buddha well nor meditate well in this place, and it is a waste of time for him. So why don't we introduce him to learn from someone who is good at practicing Chan? After he went there, he was completely devoted to it and did not have any delusional thoughts, 22:00 so he achieved success easily. From this we can see that we have one Dharma door for each temple. This is what has been called building a temple and raising a Dharma banner since ancient times. People with a single-minded understanding and practice should come here with the same ideals. Everyone has achievements. If you are not interested in this dharma and do not want to practice it, we will introduce you to other Dharma to practice. It's not you can achieve everything in this place. That doesn't make sense. Therefore, all Dharma are equal and all paths lead to the same destination. We must help him achieve success and not hinder him. If we hinder him, it will be sinful. 23:00 In ancient times, there were many temples, and each temple was like an academy and college today, making it convenient for the public to study. Indeed, every temple has its own purpose, its own scriptures and theories that it is based on, and its own methods of practice and study, and each temple has different feature. The individual temple is slightly different from each other with the same sect. For example, when chanting the Buddha's name, the intonation and speed of chanting vary from one chanting hall to another. 24:00 I like fast, chasing the top chanting Buddha "Amitabha..." That person likes to chant slowly, "Amitabha", one chant of the Buddha's name takes 2 minutes. Don’t you think these two people will fight when they are together? How can these two people chant the Buddha in the same Buddhist chanting hall? They must be separated into two temples. Master Chanyun recites the Buddha's name very slowly, dragging out the sound of one word after another. He also worships the Buddha very slowly. Some young people can't get used to it after watching it and they can't stand it. This is because the styles and facilities are different. If you see somethings interesting, you can learn from him, so this is the way to choose a teacher. If you want to ask me which teacher is good, 25:00 I will tell you this principle. You can choose by yourself. I cannot say that this teacher is good or bad. It doesn't make sense. Further, a common phenomenon among young people, who aim too high, have their eyes set on the top of their heads and look down on everyone, and think that the secular and supra-secular knowledge in this world are futile. What to do? If you can't find one nowadays, you can try to find one in the ancients, and become a informal disciple of the ancient masters. 26:00 In our Buddhist community, the renowned Master Ouyi (1599～1655), a remarkable founder of the Pure Land School in the late Ming Dynasty. He also learned from the ancients. Who was his teacher? Master Lianchi. By that time, Master Lianchi had been reborn and was no longer alive, but his writings are still around and have been passed down to this day without being lost. Now it has been published in Taiwan, four thick hardcover volumes. Master Ouyi specialized in reading the works of Master Lianchi. You have to learn from one person, as I mentioned, for 5 years. During the 5 years, you definitely can not read anything from a second person. Only learn from this person's ideas. 27:00 If you learn from someone, you are stepping on their shoulders and heads to climb up. If you learn from 3, 4, 5, or 6 people, and you step on it and then fall down, there is nothing you can do about it. You can only achieve success if you learn from one person. Ancient teachings, both Buddhist and secular, follow this principle. I am very lucky to be studying Buddhism. I don’t know how about teacher succession. I came across it, it's fabulous, I didn't know about this, I just stumbled upon it.
Thank you
You are welcome.
Subtitles:
It's well said in the sutra opening verse. I wish to interpret the true meaning of the Tathagata.
10:00
But you misinterpret the true meaning of Buddha. This is especially difficult for beginners. To be honest, this is due to karmic hindrance. When I was a beginner, many of my fellow students were very enthusiastic. This student said that chanting Buddha was good, and that student said that chanting was not good, and Chan was better, then another student said Chan was not good, only by studying Tantric Buddhism could one become a Buddha in this life. Well, with so many warmhearted friends here, I don't know which one to go for. They are all enthusiastic and kind people who are here to guide you, they instruct you, and you are at a loss as to what to do, pointing you to no way out, you get confused at the beginning of study.
11:00
The Buddha has clear teachings in both the Mahayana and Hinayana sutras. The first requirement for us to learn Buddhism is to find a good teacher.
If you want to achieve success, you must understand this reason. You must find a good teacher and learn from one teacher. In China, for thousands of years, the transmission of the secular and Buddhist teachings has been called the teacher succession, which is to learn from a teacher. I have talked about this many times in my lectures.
12:00
But fellow practitioners did not pay attention after listening, and did not take it seriously, so you did not benefit. The path of a teacher succession has been hard since ancient times. It is a matter of fate, not just one lifetime, but the result of many lifetimes in eons. On the first day in this place, I told the fellow practitioners that we rely on the teacher. We rely on the teacher's experience to move up,
13:00
and that this is an important thing in the teacher succession. In Buddhism, especially in Chan sect, it often says, "Walking on the top of Vairocana". Vairocana Buddha, the Dharmakaya Tathagata. The Avatamsaka Sutra talks about the Three Tathagatas: Vairocana is the Buddha of Dharmakaya (body of essence), Locana is the Buddha of Sambhogakaya (body of enjoyment), and Sakyamuni is the Buddha of Nirmanakaya (body of transformation). These are the three bodies of the Buddha. Buddha is our teacher. We rely on him, step on his shoulders, step on his head, and then we will transcend.
14:00
This is the way to go. Other than this practice, You are starting from scratch. When will you achieve success? The same reason applies to both secular and Buddhist teachings. Modern technology is very advanced. If a developing country wants to make progress in technology, For example, if we want to build an airplane, we should study other's advanced technology and improve it, then our airplane will be more advanced. You are building on the foundation of others and moving forward. You can't go back two hundred years to that two-winged propeller
15:00
that flew dozens of kilometers an hour, and you start from there? You can't. The worldly law also understands this principle. We constantly improve and upgrade based on the experience and achievements of our predecessors. Thus, we make progress. Improve the predecessors' flaws. When you correct them, you will make progress.
So we need to follow a teacher and only learn from him. To study Buddhism in ancient times, whether one was a layperson or a monk, one should study the precepts for five years. This was the foundation.
16:00
This is a very simple sentence. However, when we read this sentence, we interpreted it according to the context and misunderstood its meaning. What do we learn in five years? The 5 Precepts, the 10 Precepts, the Bodhisattva Precepts, the 8 Precepts. Are those what we learn? No, that's not the precept we are learning. The word 戒 is the teacher's commandment, not the precept. In other words, during the five years, you must obey the teacher's commandment, and it's not about those precepts. So, it means the students should be absolutely bound by the teacher and should not violate.
17:00
Teachers have absolute responsibility for their students. If he points you in the wrong direction, he takes the karmic responsibility. The karma pointed in the wrong direction is huge. If you took the wrong road, you deserve it. You can't blame others. But if you gave others wrong directions, how terrible is it?
Therefore, in the past, the relationship between a teacher and his students was like that between a father and his son. Sometimes, the grace between a teacher and his students was even greater than that between parents. You can understand this by reading ancient books. That's why teachers were honored in ancient times. Every teacher is respected in the society.
18:00
All worldly laws are like this, let alone Buddhist dharma. How could you point someone in the wrong direction? The most important thing is to get close to good knowledge. We have to ask, which one is good knowledge? Actually, there is no standard for good knowledge. When we look at these quotations from ancient times, if you observe them carefully, you will understand that there is no standard for good knowledge. However, the most important condition for good knowledge is the person you admire the most and respect the most in your mind. Then this person is your good knowledge.
19:00
Why? You listen to him and obey him 100%. This is good knowledge. No matter how good his knowledge is, if you don't respect him and don't listen to him, it is useless, and he is not your good knowledge. Even the Buddha is here, he is not your good knowledge. When others say the same word, we don’t believe it and cannot accept it. If you can accept and believe what he says, and follow his teachings 100%, then this is your good knowledge and he is your good teacher. So here are the criteria for choosing a teacher. In China, this is pretty much what we see in the discourses of the various sects.
20:00
When a Buddhist practitioner, whether a layperson or a monk, visited a great master, the master would tell him: Your destiny lies somewhere, visit that place, and you will have achievement. He went there. Surely enough, in 3 or 5 years he became enlightened and he achieved. Let's think. If he give guidance to this person, can't this person be successful in his temple? He has this ability to direct him to a certain place where he can achieve success. Does he not have this ability himself?
Subtitles:
21:00
In fact, his morality, knowledge, and cultivation are absolutely no worse than that person's, it's just that his root nature is different. For example, a person is very interested in Chan. He comes to me and chants the Buddha's name. Although he chants, his mind cannot settle down and he is always thinking about Chan. We know he can neither recite the Buddha well nor meditate well in this place, and it is a waste of time for him. So why don't we introduce him to learn from someone who is good at practicing Chan? After he went there, he was completely devoted to it and did not have any delusional thoughts,
22:00
so he achieved success easily. From this we can see that we have one Dharma door for each temple. This is what has been called building a temple and raising a Dharma banner since ancient times. People with a single-minded understanding and practice should come here with the same ideals. Everyone has achievements. If you are not interested in this dharma and do not want to practice it, we will introduce you to other Dharma to practice. It's not you can achieve everything in this place. That doesn't make sense. Therefore, all Dharma are equal and all paths lead to the same destination. We must help him achieve success and not hinder him. If we hinder him, it will be sinful.
23:00
In ancient times, there were many temples, and each temple was like an academy and college today, making it convenient for the public to study. Indeed, every temple has its own purpose, its own scriptures and theories that it is based on, and its own methods of practice and study, and each temple has different feature. The individual temple is slightly different from each other with the same sect. For example, when chanting the Buddha's name, the intonation and speed of chanting vary from one chanting hall to another.
24:00
I like fast, chasing the top chanting Buddha "Amitabha..." That person likes to chant slowly, "Amitabha", one chant of the Buddha's name takes 2 minutes. Don’t you think these two people will fight when they are together?
How can these two people chant the Buddha in the same Buddhist chanting hall? They must be separated into two temples. Master Chanyun recites the Buddha's name very slowly, dragging out the sound of one word after another. He also worships the Buddha very slowly. Some young people can't get used to it after watching it and they can't stand it. This is because the styles and facilities are different. If you see somethings interesting, you can learn from him, so this is the way to choose a teacher. If you want to ask me which teacher is good,
25:00
I will tell you this principle. You can choose by yourself. I cannot say that this teacher is good or bad. It doesn't make sense. Further, a common phenomenon among young people, who aim too high, have their eyes set on the top of their heads and look down on everyone, and think that the secular and supra-secular knowledge in this world are futile. What to do? If you can't find one nowadays, you can try to find one in the ancients, and become a informal disciple of the ancient masters.
26:00
In our Buddhist community, the renowned Master Ouyi (1599～1655), a remarkable founder of the Pure Land School in the late Ming Dynasty. He also learned from the ancients. Who was his teacher? Master Lianchi. By that time, Master Lianchi had been reborn and was no longer alive, but his writings are still around and have been passed down to this day without being lost. Now it has been published in Taiwan, four thick hardcover volumes. Master Ouyi specialized in reading the works of Master Lianchi. You have to learn from one person, as I mentioned, for 5 years. During the 5 years, you definitely can not read anything from a second person. Only learn from this person's ideas.
27:00
If you learn from someone, you are stepping on their shoulders and heads to climb up. If you learn from 3, 4, 5, or 6 people, and you step on it and then fall down, there is nothing you can do about it. You can only achieve success if you learn from one person. Ancient teachings, both Buddhist and secular, follow this principle. I am very lucky to be studying Buddhism. I don’t know how about teacher succession. I came across it, it's fabulous, I didn't know about this, I just stumbled upon it.