3-8-2011 Cultivation of the Mind

The Art Of Meditation 

By Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated and published by Lei Zang Si Singapore

This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 45th book, 坐禪通明法.

CHAPTER 1 - Cultivation of the Mind

In most religious sects, such as Wen Xian-ming's Unification Religion, People' Church in U.S., Lin Yun's Bon Sect in Tantric Buddhism, Brahman in India, they either practice heretical ways or go in for extreme leadership.
Although they might be in vogue for a time with numerous disciples, none of them advocates the cultivation of the mind.
They are superficial and spread unchecked.

As regards Islam and Christianity, there is some blind faith in one god; one is Allah and one is Yehovah.
Their teachings are simple as long as the believers do good, they all finally go to the Heavenly State.

Such is the traditional belief among westerners and some people in Arabia.
There is no cultivation of the mind.
They only believe that there is a Heavenly State where they can finally go and remain eternal.
When they pass away, the kind-hearted go to Heaven, while the evil souls go to Hell.

Confucianism, represented by Confucius, teaches the etiquette as the ethical code.
It does not encourage the cultivation of the mind either.
It is still within the confines of distinguishing kind souls and evil souls.

Only Buddhism teaches people to become Buddhas by themselves;
only Taoism teaches people to become gods by themselves.

In this case, Buddhahood and god-hood is attained by one's own efforts to cultivate one's mind, not sent by a God high above the believers, who are his children.

If you practice Buddhism or Taoism, you can cultivate yourselves to become Buddhas or gods and gain complete freedom and self-mastery, which is "Realization".
The mind-cultivating method is the ultimate supreme Dharma.
I call this Dharma of cultivation for Enlightenment upon firm ground The Art of Meditation or Meditation for Luminosity.

The Pure Land in Buddhism has the adornment of the Seven Treasures (gold, silver, lapis lazuli, Crystal, agate, rubies and carnelian);
the Fairy Land in Taoism has jade cities and red palaces with thriving trailing plants and doorsteps broad and high.

These pure lands and jade cities do exist not only in Buddha lands, but also in every individual. 

It is the "Ling Tai" for Buddhists and "I luang Ting" for Taoists.
This place is on your face, the central point between the two eyebrows but slightly above the eyebrows.

This central point is called "Heavenly Heart".
If it emits colored-golden light, it means the individual has achieved Enlightenment.
(Those who are trained in observation of light, would focus their attention on the light emitting from here.)

If gold light is emitted, the person is a realized monk.
If there appears red light, the person is a sage.
Grey light foretells misfortune or bad luck.
Black light predicts great tragedy or evil.

If the light from the central point is focused, it means you have got the Truth.
If you have the lights of the Buddha wisdom concentrated there, you become a Buddha by nature.
If the light is not focused but scattered, it is difficult to tell whether you will become a Buddha or a celestial.

When the light is not focused, your spirit is not concentrated and cannot be its own master yet.
Without self-mastery, you are still tied to the cyclic rebirths, which means you have not realized and are far away from sublimity.

"Merging your own heart with the Universe Heart" simply means making your own "brow-point" conform to the Universe Heart.
At the superficial level, this is to follow the Five Precepts and Ten Virtues.
The Christian and Catholic teachings encouraging people to do good are in fact teaching people to behave as required by the Universe Heart.
This is the least that humans should do.
When they fail to do so, they lose their human form and fall to the category of animals.

The cultivation of the Heavenly Heart, however, is not that simple.
It is cultivation of one's nature which goes right into the ego.

It is genuine cultivation to "awaken to the One Mind and see one's Original Nature under the lineage guru".

We know that the light spot that concentrates at the brow-point is the celestial root of the Buddha Child.
It resembles the Emperor seated on his Throne, with his ministers and generals standing on both sides, ready to take orders from their Emperor, never to go against him.

This spot of light I am advising you to cultivate is what the Surangama Sutra says: "Purified thinking is sure to ascend to Heaven."

Having read these lines, intelligent readers would know that what I am writing is the truth.

The Art of Meditation relies on this spot of light to gain Buddhahood.
This spot is not to be confused with the spot the Xian Tian Sect (in Taiwan) talks about, but a spot of light that gathers from meditation.
So the light settles on the eyebrows centre, but its force of concentration comes from meditation.

It is also "Illumination of Quietitude".
This method is the Heart Mudra, both natural and cultivated, since it is our original nature and original spirit which cannot be seen.
People who practice this method must be most intelligent, and most calm and quiet.

Work all the spiritual light upwards to gather together at the brow-point to form one spot.

The only secret is: visualize the Heavenly Heart of the Sun and the Moon.

The gold light at the central point is your true self.
When your Heavenly Heart merges with that of the Universe, you become a Buddha.

The present writer knows clearly that most sentient beings in the mundane world mistake the "smelly skin bag" for themselves.
In fact this "skin bag" is some false combination of various things on Earth; when the time comes, it returns to Earth.

The real master is your soul, which in one Realm of Transmigration becomes a human and in the next Realm may become a pig, or a snake (that everyone is afraid of), or a bird for what I know.

This cyclic transmigration goes on and on, but never beyond the Six Realms of Existence.

Therefore I want my readers to know clearly that the form of our human body is temporary and illusory and that we are living in a mundane world as ordinary men.
We must see through this "smelly skin bag" and start cultivating now so as to discover our true essence inside it.

Once the Six Harmonies are brought into one united whole, the Heavenly Heart will emit light, and your Original Nature will appear, which is your true ego.
Your true nature is Buddha; your true nature is god.
Don't be blinded by the Six Senses, the six objects of sensation, or the Eight Consciousnesses, so as to forget your Original Nature.

I have a picture of myself in which my forehead is surrounded by some strong gold light, radiating quite some distance from the centre. This picture was taken by Dr. Xia Yong-han from New York.

You don't usually see such light, but it came out when I suddenly concentrated for the camera.
Your true ego reveals itself by rays of golden light radiating from the central point when you stare at the Void, hearing nothing, smelling nothing, tasting nothing, touching nothing, thinking no unhealthy thoughts, making no distinctions, with neither love nor hatred, with nothing to possess or to abandon, treating all as equals.

Today is the latter period for the Dharma.
Many strange religious sects are raising their heads, even among Christianity and Catholicity.
These new sects have very irrational doctrines.
There are also many collateral branches in Buddhism and Taoism.
Some people indulge in empty talks about Buddhist doctrines but have achieved no realization in practice. They shout themselves hoarse, yet to no avail.

The Bon Sect in Tibet is such a group.
The strange thing is that there are even people who support and advocate it, trying to turn backwards the Wheel of the Dharma, a disgrace to the cultivation of the mind in Tantrayana.

The true doctrines of Buddhism have been gradually forgotten.
Many masters are no longer aware of "the art of mediation" or the essence of Buddhist or Taoist doctrines.

Some masters now specialize in delivering souls of the deceased by chanting sutras, letting off fire-crackers or singing like actors or singers.
Monks are doing even worse; they are now professionals in taking part in funeral processions, seeing the coffin to the top of a mountain amidst drums and gongs.

It is a great tragedy that Buddhism and Taoism, which are paths leading to Buddhahood or godhood, should have deteriorated to such a state!

There are people who have great affinity with Buddhism or Taoism and search for true ways of cultivating, but they find not a practice site nor a correct method for cultivation of the mind or true nature.

Temples and monasteries built for tourist purposes are getting bigger and bigger, but with few pious monks in them.
Real practitioners have no say in these temples; things are drifting along with the Karmic Wheel.
Isn't that a shame!

Just at this time, the present writer intends to lay bare, unconditionally, the Heavenly Heart Method for the Illumination of Meditation, so that the correct doctrines come back to the world again for the deliverance of sentient beings.

This is like the emission of true Dharma light when Buddhism is waning.
The Illumination contains the essential teachings of Meditation, highlights of Tantrayana, and the greatest achievement of the Pure Land.
The method takes the Land of Eternal, Tranquil Light as the final refuge, and attaches great importance to practice rather than empty talks on theory.

I do not make empty promises, whoever practices it, be it a thousand or ten thousand, will all go to the Land of Eternal, Tranquil Light.

Remember: our Heavenly Heart should merge with the Heavenly Heart of the Universe.
When all the lights from the body condense at the Heavenly Heart (the brow-point), that spot of light is our Original Nature.

The awakened Nature is innate in us, and can be realized by cultivation.
Empty talk brings no benefit.
Don't miss this chance.
I hereby issue this appeal to my dear readers!

Amituofo

Lotuschef

Pure Karma

True Buddha School