Master Zhenlin Talks on Faith

I -- Proactive Cultivation, Passive Transformation



Disciple: Master, I find that my temper has become much milder since I come to uphold and recite the Sutra of Longevity. It has been so long since I lost my temper last. Nevertheless, my anger just flames out from time to time in the dream. Why is it?



Master: Hatred remains deeply rooted in your subconsicousness. Easy to control the six consciousnesses, but hard to subdue the seventh.



Disciple: No wonder! Master, what can I do to solve it?



Master: Cultivate with a singular focus.



Disciple: Master, does that mean I will gradually overcome it as I keep reciting the Sutra?



Master: Yes. Cultivating the Buddha Dharma changes you before you know it.



Disciple: Yes, Master, I do feel it keenly. I never go out of my way to control my temper, and yet it just gets so mild (after I have been reciting the Sutra of Longevity for sometime). I think we are being transformed passively, by the Buddha Dharma. Master, am I right in saying so?



Master: Almost. Yes you are being transformed before you know it as you cultivate, but it only happens when you proactively practice cultivation with a singular focus. It is both a process both proactive and passive.



II--Having Faith is the Toughest Challenge



First, you believe in Master’s teaching and act in compliance with it. For sure you’d undergo changes. However, the speed of change depends on how dull you are. Being dull can be understood as being straight-minded. You don’t ask why but follow Master’s instruction. It is not easy to make it, as people tend to be too “smart”. If you can make it though, you’d make progress by leaps and bounds.



Disciples who have been to Flying-to-Heaven Cave know the story about Lingtiao. Since she first met Master in Flying-to-Heaven Cave, she dreamt of Master almost every night, during which Master would take her around to many wonderful states, until one day she got skeptical about Master having heard others slander against Master. She no longer had such a dream.



When the condition was ripe, Master asked her, “Did you stop having the dream since the day when you become doubtful of Master?”



She answered yes. She’s quite good. Quickly awakened, she changed her mind. The dream has been back to her since then. Well, Little Lingtiao is straight-minded. She does not lie. She told me directly how she felt when she was skeptical. When she decided to change, she did, in truth, change. We usually jokingly call her Little Neza (a fairy tale figure known to the Chinese for his naughtiness and smart)



We build the faith as we cultivate toward Buddhahood. We become a Buddha by the day when our faith is firm and unwavering without the least trace of doubt. Those who think building faith is easy do not really know what faith means. It is the toughest challenge, in fact.



When Master Chin-Kung met his Master Lee Ping-nan，Lee said to him loudly that “you need to have faith! Faith!” Master Chin-Kung was quite puzzled, as he had left the home-life for many years. How could he not have faith in it?



Not until Master Ching-Kung finally understood the meaning of faith did he realize that his faith-building was but in the infantile stage when Master Lee Ping-nan spoke it to him.



The journey towards Buddhahood is long. We have been cultivating since innumerable kalpas past till now to build faith. When our faith is firm without the least bit of doubt, we make it. Cultivation is done when we are not cultivating and we get to nothingness.



The True Mind is the best treasure of ours. The True Mind is omnipresent and yet no where to be found. There is nothing it cannot achieve while it seems to be doing nothing.



It is a pity that many people do not know where the treasure lies but keep seeking externally for it. It is like the story about a father and a son. The son ran away from home, without knowing that his father had padded the treasure inside his underclothes. When he returned to the hometown, impoverished, many years later, his father recognized him immediately. He felt sad to see his son being so pathetic. He stopped him, and told him, “I put the treasure in your underclothes. Why didn’t you sell it so that you could live a decent life?” It was not until then did the son know such a treasure was hidden in the clothes.



The treasure is analogous to the Buddha nature inherent in us, while the father is our Good-knowing Advisors, the Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas.



Background Story: Master Chin-Kung Talked on Faith



My master Lee Ping-nan warned me of it when I was learning the Dharma from him. I had talked of the story when I was lecturing. At that time I already had accepted the complete precepts. Once I visited him in Tai-chung. It is a must that one pays a visit to his or her master after one has accepted the precepts. Before I walked indoors, when I was still quite a distance away from the door, I heard him say to me, “You should believe in the Buddha! Believe in the Buddha!” He repeated for over ten times. I was quite confused. I left home-life seven years after I started to practice the Buddha Dharma. Two years after I left home-life, I accepted the precepts. I had been a teacher with a Buddhist Institute for two years. I was totally confused why my master still warned me that I need to believe in the Buddha when he saw me.



To be a Buddha Dharma cultivator, one has to follow the instructions of the Buddha. For many, it is easier to speak than to do it, as they lack in faith. It is just that difficult to cultivate firm faith. One has to have faith to make it efficacious. If it is not efficacious, one has to reflect within. Is it because I lack in faith? As is written in the Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom, “Faith is the source of Enlightenment, and the mother of virtues; it fosters and strengthens all good qualities.” If one can really make it to have pure faith, without the least trace of doubt or idle thoughts in it, one can be bodhisattva who has attained the realization of dharmakāya. This is the standard to measure one’s faith. Regarding faith, there are both delusive faith (superstition) and proper faith. Having proper faith means one understands it but has yet to act upon it. You have to place true faith in it, not only believing in it, but also acting upon it.