Master Zhenlin’s Commentary on Lingmei’s Sutra-lecturing Trip to Mount. Sumeru

Master Zhenlin’s Commentary on Lingmei’s Sutra-lecturing Trip to Mount. Sumeru

Mount. Sumeru is the highest moutain in the Three Realms. I sent Lingmei for a sutra lecture there as many living beings dwelling in Mount. Sumeru could not enter the Heaven Realm. Mount. Sumeru is quite close to us. Therefore, the frame of mind of the living beings there is also similar to we humans’. Their mind, too, can be characterized by impatience. They could hardly wait having learnt that Lingmei would be visiting them.
Text:
While a mere single day has passed in the Mountain, it has been one thousand years in the secular world. So eager are we to hear the Dharma that one second seems longer than one thousand years.
Commentary:
“While a mere single day has passed in the Mountain, it has been one thousand years in the secular world.” At the outset, it is written that, one day in Mount. Sumeru is tantamount to one thousand years on earth. We cannot figure out how their state is unless we are there in person. It is a different state.
“So eager are we to hear the Dharma that one second seems longer than one thousand years.” This shows their eagerness to hear the sutra. It is like they have waited for it for one thousand years. They get impatient as we humans do.
Text:
Master told me that he would like to send me to visit Mount. Sumeru after I had returned from the Heaven of Neitehr-Thought-Nor-Non-Thought. I asked Master whether it could be delayed for one day. I had just been to San Jiang city during the day and was exhusted in the evening. However, the living beings in Mount. Sumeru could hardly wait. When I was sitting in meditation in the morning, I could feel many people were waiting for me. I said that I would go there in the evening. Then I saw them. They were weeping tearfully. It wrung my heart to see their tears.
Commentary:
Lingmei wanted to take a rest for a few days before visiting Mount. Sumeru. The living beings there, however, could hardly wait. Lingmei had just been to San Jiang city to see her child. She was tired from the trip. However, as she was sitting in meditation in the morning, she felt many people were waiting for her. She said she’d go there in the evening. After saying that, she saw many of them weeping tearfully.
She first felt them with her sixth sense. Later she saw them because she had been in the state. These people could hardly wait!
“It wrung my heart to see their tears.” Their minds were connected once Lingmei was in the state. She’d feel happy if they were happy, and sad when they were sad.
Text:
I then asked Master for bestowal of power. With a flash of golden light, I arrived at Mount. Sumeru. The mountain was boundless. There were as many people as I could see. They all knelt down, and said in chorus, “We have been waiting for Master for a long time. We gathered here as soon as we learnt you were coming. May the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have mercy on us…” They all looked different from each other in size and shape. Some were over 1,000 years old, with long gray beard, others looked teenagers, and still others were small immortals who made their way there by cultivating in different Paths. I knew I should not waste any time more. They just kept weeping in tears. They were anxious!
Commentary:
“I then asked Master for bestowal of power. With a flash of golden light, I arrived at Mount. Sumeru.” Why did she describe it as “a flash of golden light”? Well, this is how immortals manifest as they fly around. With a flash of golden light, they go to wherever they want. So, Lingmei arrived at Mount. Sumeru. Mount. Sumeru, in the eyes of the living beings, is a mountain. It is very very large. If you pay a visit there, you should know that the mountain is, in truth, boundless.
“There were as many people as I could see.” This line describes just how many people there were, and they were kneeling down. This shows how sincere and eager they were to hear the Buddha Dharma.
“and said in chorus, ‘We have been waiting for Master for a long time. We gathered here as soon as we learnt you were coming. May the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have mercy on us…’ ”: They had been waiting for Lingmei for a long time. “waiting for a long time” shows the extent of their sincerity and eagerness. They asked the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to show mercy on them. After all, they don’t get such an opportunity often.
“They all looked different from each other in size and shape.” Why is it so? Some of them are great immortals. They must have cultivated for thousands of years. A great immortal dwells above Mount. Sumeru, while a small immortal dwells under it. They exist with different in size and shape. Lingmei is correct in the description. It is beyond description. Some of them were so advanced in age that their beard reached the knees. That was why she felt they must be over 1,000 years old. The younger ones looked like teenagers. That was exactly how they looked. They were small immortals who practiced cultivation in different paths, including fox immortals, and Kitchen Spirit, Earth Spirit, Land Spirit, Househall Spirit, and so on. As Lingmei wrote, she knew she should not waste any more time. “They just kept weeping in tears. They were anxious” to listen to the sutra lecture.
Text:
I said to them, “At the behest of Master,, I have come to you to lecture the Sutra of Longevity, and wish that you gain release from the Three Realms as soon as possible.” I then read, “Now I will again tell you the only True Path. You should give thought to protect single mindfulness. The single mindfulness is known as The Bodhi Mind. The Bodhi Mind is also known as The Mind of the Great Vehicle. Because the root nature of the living beings is different, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach and differentiate the Three Vehicles. You should constantly be mindful, and look after the Bodhi Mind. Never should you forget it. Even if your body is burnt by the five skandas, is being swallowed and eaten by the four snakes, is being attacked by the three poisoning, is being invaded by the six thieves, and is being harmed and tormented by the devils and demons, you should remain firm and never should you change your Bodhi Mind." With the Bodhi Mind, your body will be as hard and firm as the Vajra. Your mind will resemble the empty space, where no one can really harm and destroy it."
Commentary:
This paragraph explains the Bodhi Mind aptly. The single-mindfulness is also known as the Bodhi Mind. Many think it is easy make it. It is in fact far from easy to achieve single-mindfulness. It is not achieved unless our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness are in harmony. It is not single-mindful if you want to eat more even being full. We have to harmonize and make in tune our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, consciousness, storehouse consciousness, and alaya consciousness. That is to say, you attain the Bodhi Mind when the eight consciousnesses are united as one. See, it is certainly not easy to attain the Bodhi Mind. The Bodhi Mind takes you into the realm of the Great Vehicle.
The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach Three Vehicles, namely, the Small Vehicle, Middle Vehicle, and Great Vehicle. Why do they do so? It is so we human beings are of different levels of comprehension. We may not understand whatever the Buddha says. Shakyamuni Buddha once drew an analogy. The secular world is like a large house in fire. We living beings are the kids playing around in the house while Shakyamuni Buddha the owner of the house. He is like the father. Once day, when he turns back home he found the house on fire while the kids are still frolicking inside. “It is blazing with fire. Come out!” He shouts to us, but none of us listens to him but continues with the game. We are not afraid at all and none of us wants to leave the house.
Shakyamuni Buddha then employs an expedient means. He says, “Ok, I have three wagons ready, one is sheep-drawn, another deer-drawn, and still another cattle-drawn. They are right outside the door. They belong to whoever gets there first. The kids are fond of the wagon toys, which is what the Buddha Dharma is likened to. The eighty-four thousand Dharma doors and the twelve divisions of the Tripitaka are like the toys. The sheep-drawn wagon is the Small Vehicle, the deer-drawn the Middle Vehicle, and the Cattle-drawn the Great Vehicle. When we run out of the house and get on the sheep-drawn wagon, we get liberated and are in the realm of the Small Vehicle. The deer-drawn wagon is analogous to the state of the Pacceka Buddha, while the cattle-drawn wagon the state of the Bodhisattva. That is why cultivating the Great Vehicle Buddha Dharma is also known as practicing the Bodhisattva Path.
“You should constantly be mindful, and look after the Bodhi Mind. Never should you forget it. Even if your body is burnt by the five skandas, is being swallowed and eaten by the four snakes, is being attacked by the three poisoning, is being invaded by the six thieves, and is being harmed and tormented by the devils and demons, you should remain firm and never should you change your Bodhi Mind.”
The five skandas refer to forms, feelings, thoughts, activities and consciousness;
The four snakes refer to earth, water, fire and wind;
The three poisons refer to greed, hatred and delusion;
And the six thieves refer to forms, sounds, fragrance, tastes, senses of touch and dharma.
They pester us. The four snakes sicken us and make it uncomfortable for us. We get to feel about it all through the five skandas. The three poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance are the root causes of all of our afflictions, while it is the six thieves that allow them in. If we are able to subdue them, look after the Bodhi mind well, and then no devils or demons can inflict harm on us. These are demons of our mind. They won’t be able to disturb us if we remain single-mindful. We shall thus attain the Bodhi Mind. With the Bodhi Mind, our body will be as hard and firm as the Vajra. Our mind will resemble the empty space, where no one can really harm and destroy it."
When our body is hard and firm as the Vajra, it is in a state where it is unmarked, formless, and tasteless. It can do nothing and yet everything. It certainly will be safe from any harm by then. Our mind will resemble the empty space and never get destroyed.
Text:
As I recited these lines of the Sutra text for them, the air was filled with all kinds of treasures which fell lightly upon me like rain. I realized just how sincere they were. Without hesitation, I transferred them to Master. Many of them seemed enlightened when they heard the lines. They offered with even their palaces. Again, I transferred them to Master. It is inexpressibly touching!
Commentary:
“As I recited these lines of the Sutra text for them, the air was filled with all kinds of treasures which fell lightly upon me like rain.” It happened in several of the trips and she was used to it. She knew how sincere they were in making the offerings. She accepted them, and transferred them, without hesitation, to Master.
“Many of them seemed enlightened when they heard the lines. They offered with even their palaces. Again, I transferred them to Master. It is inexpressibly touching.” If you had been there at the sutra lecture, you would know how touching it is! It was quite similar to what happened when I gave the sutra lecture in Hangzhou last time. It was deeply moving!
Text:
I found myself integrated with them all. I knew well what they were thinking and their sincerity. We humans can never ever match them.
Commentary:
She found herself integrated with the living beings of Mount. Sumeru. She knew clearly what they were thinking.
“We humans can never ever match them.” Lingmei was talking in terms of sincerity and understanding of the Buddha Dharma. Their sincerity is unsurpassed. Many people, for example, would make offerings to Master with what they do not use and still proudly think they are showing sincerity by doing so.
Text:
The King of Mount. Sumeru bowed to me, as I was about to leave, and said, “Having listened to Master’s talks, we feel the fairy tales about immortals told for thousands of years are now as real as right before our eyes. In no time will we gain release, and we will repay Master’s kindness once out of the Three Realms. By the time we meet again before the Buddha, we shall fulfill the vows to benefit all the beings. I now exhort all the immortals in the Three Realms. It is once in a blue moon that we get an opportunity like this, but it is presented before us today. Thanks to it, we are able to experience it again at the sutra lecture. From now on our minds should be connected, and count me in in achieving harmony and unification.”
Commentary:
The King of Mount. Sumera thanked her when she was about to leave, and said, “Having listened to Master’s talks, we feel the fairy tales about immortals told for thousands of years are now as real as right before our eyes.” While the King, in the eyes of we ordinary people, is an immortal himself, he is unable to get access to higher heavens, such as the Heaven of Brahman, or the Heaven of Thirty-three. Mount. Sumeru, after all, is not is a very high state. People dwelling there know the existence of the heavens and the Buddhalands, but they are unable to go there. It is like a fairy tale to them. However, they did see the state previously inaccessible to them as Lingmei was lecturing the sutra. That is why he went on to say, “In no time will we gain release, and we will repay Master’s kindness once out of the Three Realms.” They listened to the Sutra of Longevity, and would soon gain release from the Three Realms and Five Elements. They vowed to repay Master’s kindness after the release.
“By the time we meet again before the Buddha, we shall fulfill the vows to benefit all the beings.” We shall all return back to be with the Buddha. The King was exhorting all the immortals, the Earth Immortal, the great immortals, and the small immortals, of the Three Realms to protect the Sutra of Longevity as well as they could, and to serve as the Dharma protector wherever there are people reciting, copying, and upholding it. This is the fulfillment of the vows to benefit the beings.
The King of Mount. Sumeru told the living beings of the Three Realms that they would be able to hear the sutra lecture before the Buddha when they gain release.
“It is once in a blue moon that we get an opportunity like this, but it is presented before us today. Thanks to it, we are able to experience it again at the sutra lecture.”
Two thousand years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha sent a disciple to lecture Buddhist scripture at Mount. Sumera. Thanks to the opportunity, they were able to hear the sutra again what they had heard before.
From now on our minds should be connected: We should connect our minds.
“…and count me in in achieving harmony and unification”: This is the vow made by the King of Mount. Sumeru. We should all count ourselves in in achieving the harmony and unification of the Three Realms. By then, the heaven and earth shall be connected! Well, the heavenly beings look down upon as thinking we are filthy like some one goofing around in the toilet. After listening to the sutra, they realized that we should all stand together to propagate the Buddha Dharma. They also would accumulate merits and virtues by doing so, and gain release while the Buddha Dharma shall abide permanently.
Text:
Having said the verse, he again spoke to me, “Please take care of yourself. We look forward to seeing you again.” With that, I was back.
Commentary:
We shall meet again before the Buddha and listen to him speak the sutra.
Text:
After I turned back, a voice spoke to me, “Amitabha-Buddha! Excellent! Excellent! Blessed by the Buddha, you have performed a hugely meritorious deed. Despite the passage of time, the love to the beings has remained unchanged as we move around in the Three Realms. Hold on to it, and in due time, you shall reap the fruit and enter Buddhahood. The time and space will be moved and it will be filled with joy in both the Heaven and Earth. Master shall feel hugely gratified if that state can be achieved.” It was with tears that I noted down these touching words. Master, the Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon shall testify to your earnestness! I have but felt one ten-thousandth of it.
Commentary:
It was spoken by Master. It happens only when one is in the state. Amitabha Buddha! It is certainly great! She could not have performed such a hugely meritorious deed without the blessing of the Buddha!
“Despite the passage of time, the love to the beings has remained unchanged as we move around in the Three Realms.” We have always loved the beings with our great kindness and compassion!
“Hold on to it, and in due time, you shall reap the fruit and enter Buddhahood.” Do not harbour any doubt about it. Try our best to propagate the Buddha Dhama, apply real efforts to cultivation. We transform others by leading as an example. We do not get someone and say to him that I am going to deliver you. No, it won’t work.
“The time and space will be moved and it will be filled with joy both in Heaven and on Earth.” It means that all of us in the Three Realms shall be doing it. It will be very harmonious and we are all well united. The heavenly beings shall come to protect the Dharma. This is what “the time and space will be moved” refer to. It shall be filled with joy both in the Heaven and on Earth. Master shall feel hugely gratified if that state can be achieved. It shall be deeply touching if we all work together to propagate the Dharma. Many miracles that hardly happen shall occur, too.
Lingmei was touched to tears as she heard it. She wrote it down tearfully.
“Master, the Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon shall testify to your earnestness. I have but felt one ten-thousandth of it.” Well, indeed the Buddha Dharma is inconceivably profound and esoteric. There is no need to be humble about it. Lingmei’s experience is but a tip of the iceberg.
Text:
This trip brings home to me why the Sutra of Longevity is so popular in the Heavens. The heavenly beings value it as much as their own life. Why is it so popular in Mount. Sumeru? It relieves them from the sea of suffering! It is such a good opportunity that one hardly encounters it once in ten thousand eons.
Commentary:
Certainly we hardly encounter such a great opportunity once in ten thousand eons. The immortals there are particularly sincere. Lingmei got to know how much they have gone through via the trip.
Text:
Why were the immortals so sincere in inviting me there? After all, they have undergone unspeakable suffering. Their fruit of cultivation may have ripened, but, when without the right guidance, they will get deviated and turned on the wheel of rebirth and have to start it all over again. Some fail to ascend to the Brahman Heaven even having cultivated for over a thousand years. Although the merits and virtues do accrue as they cultivate, their mind tends to be riddled by impatience and anxiety. Some, as a result, transform themselves into goblins and inflict harm on humans, which only brings them to a more miserable end. There is no way to tell how long they have to be subject to the cycle of birth and death before they gain release.
Commentary:
“Their fruit of cultivation may have ripened, but, when without the right guidance, they will be subject to rebirth and start it all over again.” How will they get reborn? They may be reborn in the Path of Animals, which is quite a pity. Some of them have cultivated for over a thousand years, and still fail to ascend to the Heaven of Brahman, not even the Heaven of Light Sound or Suyama. As a result, albeit the merits and virtues having accumulated, their mind may be rattled by different thoughts. They may get angry, hateful, arrogant, or unrealistic. They are impatient in cultivation, and the more they cultivate, the worse it is. They even become goblins inflicting harm to humans. Some of them get angry when they are about to die. In that case, their souls are reluctant to go to the hell. As they have some spiritual powers, they transform into goblins flying around. If they do not know where to dwell, they just stay attached to human body.
Their lifespan is finite. It is only more miserable for them when their life comes to an end. For sure they shall fall to the Avici Hell to receive retributions for ten thousand eons. After that, they shall be subject to the cycle of birth and death for numerous times before possibly seeing the heavenly sun again. By saying “seeing the heavenly sun”, I mean they get reborn as humans. See, it is just that tragic.
Text:
I would like to share with you how I feel now and I feel about it keenly: as a cultivator, we are different from ordinary people, and should learn to discard all the attachment. Broaden our frame of mind. Cultivation of the Way is a must. Be a good person. Keep in mind the Proper Enlightenment. Do not be attached to whether it is a win or a loss. Heaven and Earth know it well.
Commentary
Lingmei has realized it and said, “As a cultivator, we are different from ordinary people, and should learn to discard all the attachment.”
Many people find it difficult to discard desires, emotions, and the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance. Be sure to broaden our mind. Keep cultivating the Way and be a good person!
“Keep in mind Proper Enlightenment.” What does Proper Enlightenment refer to? I have stressed many times to you that we need to contemplate the Dharma with our eyes, listen to it with ears, smell it with nose, talk it with the tongue, feel it with the body, and comprehend it with consciousness. This is the path leading us to Proper Knowledge and Proper Enlightenment.
“Do not be attached to whether it is a win or a loss.” Do not be delighted if it is a win, nor distressed if a loss.
“Heaven and Earth know it well”. Heaven and Earth know it well if you can make it. Do not think that what you are doing is not known by Heaven and Earth. Some people are in the habit of deceiving others and themselves, but never can they deceive the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Text:
The Sutra of Longevity is such a treasure! It can dissolve all of our afflictions, as long as we show faith in it! This is the conclusion I come to from the trips. In one word, reflect and find the answer from within. Always remember to cultivate the mind!
Commentary:
“The Sutra of Longevity is such a treasure. It can dissolve all of our afflictions, as long as we show faith in it! This is the conclusion I come to from the trips.” She woke up to it through the trips and to sum it up, “reflect and find the answer from within”. It is so because a fundamental principle underlying the Buddha Dharma is that everything is made by the mind! Always remember to cultivate the mind!
Text:
Below is what I heard when in the state. Hopefully it can prove to be thought-provoking for you. “Riding an armoured horse, you go through half of your life fighting the battle. At east you should be even when wielding the golden spear riding the horse. You will be able to do what an immortal does. Waver in the faith, and you shall fall off the precipice. From now on, always reflect within and listen to your mind. You need to make obeisance to and fall down before your Master when he is expounding the Dharm for you, just as how you would do when before the Buddha. You need to cherish each and every second when with the Master. There won’t be anything left in your mind. When looking back, you’d find it is like a piece of cloud dwelling in the emptiness, and laugh happily that your life is not spent in vain. By the time when you fulfill the mission and get back to the Buddha, you brothers shall be filled with joy.”
Commentary:
The following passage of the text was spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha. He did not appear when speaking it. His voice filled the empty space.
“Riding an armoured horse, you go through half of your life fighting the battle.” He is sending a message to us the disciples. We live the first part of our life without the Buddha Dharma nor do we cultivate it. It is like fighting in a battle.
“At east you should be even when wielding the golden spear riding the horse. You will be able to do what an immortal does.” If we can take it easy, forget what happened in the past, do not worry about what is coming in the future, and we shall be able to do what an immortal does. What can be done by the immortals is within our reach, too.
“Waver in the faith, and you shall fall off the precipice.” Why the wording “precipice”? Living in the secular world is like standing at the brink of a precipice. It is very dangerous, and one may fall off it unwarily. Therefore, always stay cautious! Refrain from transgression. Our mind is always changing, wavering between proper knowledge and deviant knowledge.
“From now on, always reflect within and listen to your mind.” We need to reflect inwardly, turn the light on our inner world, and follow the instructions of Master.
“You need to make obeisance to and fall down before your Master when he is expounding the Dharm for you, just as how you would do when before the Buddha.” We need to cherish each and every second when with the Master. If we can value each and every second, apply real efforts to cultivation, it shall all change. Nothing will be left in our mind.
“There won’t be anything left in your mind.” It indicates we are already in the state of emptiness. Our mind will be unhindered, and dwells nowhere.
“When looking back, you’d find it is like a piece of cloud dwelling in the emptiness, and laugh happily that your life is not spent in vain.” By the time we return back to the Buddha and reflect upon our present life, we will find it very interesting and funny like a dream, but we shall also feel gratified that it is not spent in vain.
“By the time when you fulfill the mission and get back to the Buddha, you brothers shall be filled with joy.” Eventually we shall all successfully complete the mission and get together before the Buddha. By then, we shall all be filled with joy.
OK, we now come to the end of the lecture.
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!