Disciple: Master, if I have the faith that it can be settled well to my satisfaction, and so it will. Is this the power of the mind?
Msaster: Yes. Put it down. It shall be turned by our mind. It is called the mind turning the state around.
Disciple: The state is born out of our mind. The power of faith is limitless. As long as we act by our faith, nothing is impossible. Master, the “Mind-Dharma” you teach us is really useful.
Master: Amitabha-Buddha! Follow Master’s instruction. There is nothing you cannot achieve, nor anything you need to do. While you are busy here and preoccupied there, your mind is always in quietitude.
Disciple: Homage to Master! It is indeed enjoy leisureliness despite being busy.
Master: Being busy is the appearance, while staying at leisure is the state of the mind. Take me as an example. See, while I seem to be busy all day, with my business, family, cultivation, and propagation of the Dharma, my mind is free from it all. It is at purity and peace.
Disciple: Yes Master, that is why we practice cultivation vigorously. How do we distinguish the Small Vehicle, Middle Vehicle, and the Great Vehicle?
Master: One gains liberation by practicing Small Vehicle, enlightenment to emptiness by practicing the Middle Vehicle, and cultivates for non-cultivation by practicing the Great Vehicle.
Disciple: Master, do we gain release from the Three Realms through gaining liberation and enlightenment of the emptiness?
Master: One gains liberation because one feels it suffering; One gets enlightened to emptiness because one is attached to the empty state; One cultivates for non-cultivation because there is no emptiness nor existence, and that Pure Land is found everywhere!
Disciple: Master, is it a gradual process of progress from Small Vehicle, to Middle, and the Great Vehicle?
Master: Well, both yes and no. It all depends on what you practice for.
Disciple: Noted. Does it mean that I am practicing the Great Vehicle if I make a vow to ferry over all the living beings with whom I have affinities?
Master: By making a vow to ferry over both you yourself and others, you are practicing the Bodhi Way, and this is the Great Vehicle. However, it is the most efficacious only if you make the vow when you first see the Buddha.
Disciple: Master, are we acting according to our initial resolve since innumerable long kalpas past?
Master: Yes, you have been acting to fulfill your vows.
Disciple: Master, What are the qualifications needed to achieve Buddhahood?
Master: There is no “becoming a Buddha” to speak of. When you are enlightened, you shall realize that the wish to become a Buddha is also a thought of greed.
Disciple: Noted. So, it is all about cultivation of the mind.
Master: However, we need to make the vow that we want to achieve Buddhahood as we gradually progress in our cultivation.
Disciple: Master, the more I get to know you, the more amazed I am by how superb a cultivator you are.
Master: : ) The more advanced you are in your cultivation, you more keenly you shall feel it.
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