Master Zhenlin’s Commentary on Lingmei’s Visit to Guanyin Bodhisattva

Master Zhenlin’s Commentary on Lingmei’s Visit to Guanyin Bodhisattva

Lingmei’s faith wavered. She was struck by fear, and kind of at a loss. Therefore, I sent her to meet Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva). Guanyin Bodhisattva has been our venerable master since innumerable long kalpas till now. He showed great care for us. With His great kindness and compassion, He has been rescuing the beings from suffering.
Text:
“A man’s body and mind are a Dharma vessel, as well as the twelve divisions of the Buddhist Canon. Since time beginless, it has been read and chanted…” It came right into my mind as I was sitting in meditation with some doubt in mind. Therefore, I decided to put into words what Guanyin Bodhisattva spoke to me when my soul traveled to meet him at Mount. Luo Jia.
Commentary:
This is an excerpt from The Buddha Speaks the Eight-Yang Spiritual Mantra Sutra of Heaven and Earth. It serves well to dissolve her doubt.
Text:
As if in a trance, I thought of what Master had told me and decided to go to Mount. Luojia to pay a visit to Guanyin Bodhisattva. I hence asked Master for a bestowal of power. In a flash of thought, I was there. Wow! Certainly it is a heavenly abode!
Commentary:
Why did she make such a comment? In fact, ours is a holy land where heavenly beings and immortals dwell, in the same space with us, except we ordinary people cannot see it.
For example, while many people have been to Mount. Potala, known as the Bodhimandala of Guanyin Bodhisattva, few visitors are unable to enter the state of Him. For one reason, Guanyin Bodhisattva, in truth, dwells in Mount. Luojia, instead of Mount. Potala.
You won’t be able to reach His state even you are in Mount. Luojia, unless you have gained spiritual power through cultivation. In fact, the Bodhisattva’s state there is both marked and unmarked. What I mean is that it manifests differently, depending you who you are. Zhi Ming (disciple), for example, saw something different when he was in the state.
Text:
Upon arrival, I immediately felt refreshed all over. First came into my eyes were the lotuses. The palaces were surrounded by the aureole of the cloud light. Gradually, the lotuses I had seen grew larger and larger, till they merged to radiating golden light.
Commentary:
So, this is what Lingmei saw there. Anyway, the state was empty and illusory. The mark was not a mark. Lingmei saw lotuses and palaces surrounded by the aura of cloud light, like in an empty space. She then saw the lotuses growing larger and larger until they merged to golden light. It was the manifestation of the mark.
Text:
Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared before me, sitting on a lotus, just when I was being amazed by it all. Exactly as I had thought, He was so amicable and respectable. I could not hold back my tears when I saw Him. I had been feeling at a loss in those days.
Commentary:
Lingmei was eager to see Guanyin Bodhisattva. Guanyin Bodhisattva made Him what Lingmei had thought He should look like. The Bodhisattva has numerous transformations. There is too much suffering living in the secular world. Lingmei could not hold back her tears at the sight of Guanyin Bodhisattva. After all, He has great affinity with we living beings in the Saha World. Lingmei bowed to Him.
Text:
I bowed to Him, and said, “Bodhisattva! I don’t want to return. Can I just stay?” Guanyini Bodhisattva smiled to me, and said, “The condition has not yet ripened. You have yet to complete the mission.”
Commentary:
“The condition has not yet ripened” is very thought-provoking. Much is to be understood and said about it. Many of you are born in the secular world to ferry the living beings over. You are here to propagate the Buddha Dharma and make it abide. The task is arduous. You are not supposed to leave before it is completed. Guanyin Bodhisattva knew well what Lingmei was thinking, without having to even contemplate it, except Lingmei’s mind was not awakened.
Text:
Guanyin Bodhisattva then spoken to me in verse form, “While the task is arduous and the journey tough, always keep in mind the Dharma talks. Cultivation is like climbing up a mountain. The goal is right before you. Keep your mind clean like the lotus, while cultivating in the secular world. Do not just look at what others are doing. You are fulfilling your vows, and shall return. Time is empty and passing by fast. There is no need to count how long it has been.”
Commentary:
The verse was spoken to remind us that we had made very ambitious vows before Shakyamuni Buddha. That is why “The task is arduous and the journey tough”, but always keep in mind the Dharma talks by the Buddha.
“Cultivation is like climbing up a mountain, and the goal is right before you.”
Yes, cultivating the Dharma is like climbing up a mountain. It can be tough, challenging, dangerous, and exhausting. Why did He draw such an analogy?
When on the top of the Mount. Tian’mu, in Hangzhou, for example, we get a bird’s view of the Xin’an River at one glance. The journey up the mountain, however, can be quite tough. The same holds true for cultivation. If we regulate our mind well, we enter Buddhahood. Nevertheless, it is a step-by-step process. It is unrealistic for one to let it go all and get enlightened in one breath.
We should make our mind a lotus when cultivating in the secular world. A lotus stays clean from filth though its root is buried in the mud. Perhaps you are not aware of it, that the lotus blossoms and bears fruits simultaneously. This is analogous to cultivation. While there are many things we cannot put down at the moment, and heavy karma has yet to be removed, we are already accomplishing merits and virtues. That is why Guanyin Bodhisattva reminded us that we need to keep our mind clean while cultivating in the secular world. Refrain from manifesting a unique style as if we are different from ordinary people. I have emphasized this to you time and again. We should live an ordinary life, but our mind should be detached from the secular world. Refrain from excessive dining, drinking, let along prostitution or gambling. Contemplate the Dharma with the eyes, smell it with the nose, speak it with the tongue, feel it with the body, and comprehend it with the consciousness. If you can make it, your mind shall be as pure as a lotus and exist in the empty space.
“While cultivating in the secular world…”: Behave no different from ordinary people. Keep our mind pure and clean as if in the empty space.
The lotus of our mind blossoms as we cultivate. How many seeds it bears, however, shall depend on how vigourously we cultivate. The flower blossoms at the same time as the fruits are borne.
“Do not just look at what others are doing.”
Do not be a bystander. This is very thought-provoking.
By saying it, Guanyin Bodhisattva is criticizing those who only keep an eye on others while they themselves do not cultivate. How much can they inspire others? That is why the saying, “one has to ferry oneself over before taking others across”. Shakyamuni Buddha did speak the truth. First of all, we need to cultivate and take ourselves cross first. We then can inspire and transform others by how we behave. It won’t work if one tries to ferry others over while he or she had but read a few Buddhist sutras without applying real efforts to cultivating.
“You are fulfilling your vows, and shall return. Time is empty and gone. There is no need to count how long it has been.”
Some may not get the right point from it. It means that it is because of the vows we have made that we are here in the secular world. Nevertheless, we still shall return one day. Do not get lost. Everything in the secular world is illusive and empty. Keep this in mind. Do not take it as true.
“Time is empty and gone. There is no need to count how long it has been.”
Since unspeakable numbers of kalpas, we have been doing the same thing. We keep doing it since we first made the vows before the Buddha. Time is gone, and boundless like the empty space. There is no way to count how long it has been.
“There is no need to count how long it has been.”
It is impossible to figure out how long it has been anyway. Lingkong (disciple) said just now that she was to observe herself. Where is your Self? How to find it? Well, it is right within your mind! Lingmei did not get the point of what Guanyin Bodhisattva had told her.
Text:
Realizing that I did not understand it, He added, “It is accumulated bit by bit, and manifests accordingly bit by bit. Follow your Master’s instruction, and reflect within. Though having witnessed all the scenes, you should never overlook the mind.”
Again, very thought-provoking remark! He is inspiring us and exhorting us to apply real efforts to cultivation in the secular world. Bit by bit, our merits and virtues shall accrue accordingly. Our level of comprehension and spiritual penetrations shall improve accordingly as well.
Guanyin Bodhisattva then reminded you that you need to follow master’s instruction. Do not look outwardly but reflect within.
Why do we practice sitting in meditation? It is to reflect within and get our mind awakened. It is to think over what we have done in the day, how it is done, and whether it is ethically acceptable. There is no need to seek it externally. Lingmei is an example. She has witnessed it all from heavens to the secular world. There is not much more surprise left for her. After all, it is all but illusion. What matters is our mind. Never overlook it. Do not take it for granted or think low of it. It can house the whole universe, the Buddhalands in the ten directions, not to mention the Three Realms. It can do nothing and yet everything.
It is in the mind where true liberation is found, and the Buddha Nature dwells. Guanyin Bodhisattva was exhorting us to reflect within, and inspiring us at the same time. Some of you are impatient and want to achieve instant success. Wake up now! You have yet to complete the task and have to stay here.
Text:
Honestly, I still did not get the point. Guanyin Bodhisattva then spoke to me, “Don’t you want to take a look around? Go ahead.” Upon saying that, He disappeared. A voice spoke into my ears, “It is a different wonderland.” I looked around, and found it all changed around me. I was by a bamboo grove. Cranes were strolling at a leisurely pace. They were happy to see me and told me, “This is the entrance.” I soon got in. Certainly it was a completely different wonderland.
Commentary:
Lingmei confessed that she still did not understand it. Guanyin Bodhisattva then spoke to her, “Don’t you want to take a look around? Go ahead.” After saying that, He disappeared. It took less than a second for Him to disappear.
Then, a voice spoke to her, “It is a different wonderland.”
Surely it was still Guanyin Bodhisattva speaking. She got in, and saw a bamboo grove—it was the Purple Bamboo Grove. There were cranes walking at a leisurely pace in the grove. They were happy to meet Lingmei and pointed the entrance to her.
“I soon got in. Certainly it was a completely different wonderland.”
This is a transformed state. Everywhere Guanyin Bodhisattva presents the Buddha Dharma to us. The wonderful scene, too, was a means employed to enlighten us.
Text:
I walked to a brook. The water was limpid and clean. It is rushing downward rapidly from its origin in the upper reach. I then saw an elderly gentleman sitting by the brook fishing. I said to him, “Grandpa, the water runs so rapidly and is crystal clean that we can even see right to the bottom. How can there be any fish in it?”
The gentleman replied, “Yes, no fish can survive in such clean water, and rushing water flow takes away everything. Why fish here?”
I soon understood why. It was Guanyin Bodhisattva trying to enlighten me. The elderly gentleman disappeared before I knew it. The air was filled with Bodhisattvas. A voice resounded from above: “With myriad transformations, I relieve the beings from suffering by contemplating their sound. Mindful of the Buddha, and you get liberated in due time.”
Commentary:
Lingmei saw a brook whose water was extremely clean that she could see its bottom while its water flow was running down rapidly. Then, she saw an elderly gentleman fishing by the brook. She asked him, “Grandpa, the water runs so rapidly and is crystal clean that we can even see right to the bottom. How can there be any fish in it?” The gentleman said to her, “No fish can survive in such clean water, and rushing water flow takes away everything.”
We don’t need to manifest a unique lifestyle as if we cultivators have transcended the secular world and are therefore different from ordinary people. How can we ferry people over if we act like that?
“No fish can survive in extremely clean water. Rushing water flow takes away everything.”
Refrain from being impatient or hasty no matter what we do, be it everyday business or cultivation. Get impatient, and we reap nothing.
The next line makes it clear: “Why fish here?”
We’d get nothing. By then, Lingmei realized what had happened: “It was Guanyin Bodhisattva trying to enlighten me.”
Guanyin Bodhisattva was happy to see Lingmei enlightened. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas show themselves up when they are happy. He transformed into numerous Bodhisattvas. Lingmei did not know how to describe it but simply wrote “the air was filled with Bodhisattvas.”
A voice resounded from above: “With myriad transformations, I relieve the beings from suffering by contemplating their sound. Mindful of the Buddha, and you get liberated in due time.” Guanyin Bodhisattvas are omnipresent. He is everywhere, with His numerous transformations, to rescue the beings from suffering by contemplating their sound.
“Mindful of the Buddha, and you get liberated in due time.”
Lip services won’t work. You have to be truly mindful of the Buddha. If you can make it to contemplate the Dharma with eyes, listen to it with ears, smell it with nose, speak it with tongue, experience with body, and comprehend it with the consciousness, then you are truly mindful of the Buddha. You shall achieve the target, that is to get liberated in due time. What is to get liberated in due time? You shall gain release from the Three Realms and Five Elements.
Text:
In less than a second, I was back. I thought over what Guanyin Bodhisattva had said to me, and realized it served well to address the challenges I faced in cultivation. More and more, I dislike socializing with others. The other day, my husband warned me, “Are you not going to live like a human anymore?”
Guanyin Bodhisattva was reminding me that I should not behave as if I had transcended the secular world. After all, there are many things waiting for me to do and I need to keep the mind pure as the lotus, and improve myself by practicing the power of Buddha in the very secular environment. Do not just look. Practice it, but refrain from being impatient. Bit by bit our merits and virtues shall accrue. Be patient, and persistent in sutra recitation and meditation sitting. Follow the Master’s guidance, and reflect within. Place the focus in the cultivation of the mind.
Commentary:

Lingmei returned instantly when she heard it. Nevertheless, she kept pondering over what Guanyin Bodhisattva had spoken to her. It served well to address her challenges. In fact, that was also why I arranged such a trip for her.
As is written here, “More and more, I dislike socializing with others.”
Even her husband asked whether she was a human or an immortal. At that point, she understood it. Guanyin Bodhisattva told us that we should not behave as if we had transcended the world. Rather, we should be no more than an ordinary person in the eyes of others. After all, there are many things to be done by us. We should keep cultivating and improving ourselves in the secular world while at the same time try to transform others by how we behave and ferry them over. We want to make the Buddha Dharma abide permanently and get spread widely. Guanyin Bodhisattva warned us against being impatient. Merits and virtues accrue bit by bit. “Be patient, and persistent in sutra recitation and meditation sitting. Follow the Master’s guidance, and reflect within.” Anyway, while you may get the point, can you make it in practice? Keep reflecting within so that you can!

May the merit and virtue accrued from this work,
Adorn the Buddha’s Pure Lands,
Repaying the four kinds of kindness above,
And aiding those suffering in the paths below.
May those who see and hear of this,
All bring forth the resolve for Bodhi,
And when this retribution body is over,
Be born together in Ultimate Bliss.
Amitabha-Buddha! May we all be filled with the joy of the Dharma!