CHAPTER IV: TRANSMISSION OF THE PRECIOUS DHARMA

C. DOCTRINE

4. The Suchness Truth Period: Salvation at The High Level (Mahayana)

4.12 The Samadhi Dharma Subject of the Real Form and Formlessness

When The Founding Master showed the stem of a flower during the conference, only Maha-Kasyapa who immediately received it, attestedly witnessing it to be the Samadhi Dharma Subject of the Real Form and Formlessness. Is that a communication with the power of the Buddha? —T. V.

I heard the following:

One day at the Central Superior Association, at number 42, Hồng Bàng street, Nha Trang, Reverend Tịnh Vương Nhất Tôn, incarnating Long-Hoa Sangha Chief Supreme Maitreya Buddha taught: “The Venerable Maha-Kasyapa attestedly witnessed the Samadhi Dharma Subject of the Real Form and Formless. Then what is the real form and formlessness?”

C. DOCTRINE

The rose is a real form. If we brought a worm living in the rose to the chrysanthemum or to any other flower, it would not survive because it was neither accustomed to eating chrysanthemum substance or any other flower substance nor accustomed to another environment. It is only suitable for the environment and substance of the rose —That is the formlessness. Therefrom, the Venerable Maha-Kasyapa intuited that living beings of a certain world knows only its own world; outside of their world, they do not know and could not survive. In the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, each world has its own environment of life, its own nourishment, furnishings..., which are all suitable for it, cannot be otherwise.

For example, a fish, living in fresh water, would die if it were brought on the ground or into salt water. For instance, we, human is living thanks to the air; we would certainly die if the air was lacking or if we went out of the atmosphere without air (to be able to live temporarily, we need an oxygen tank to breathe). From the character, impregnated habit, gestures, to the lifestyle, all are connected to its precept correspondingly.

Those, who knows the real form, the formless, and their own unconscious error, are those knowing the three unconscious errors in themselves. So, they’re able to solve the Samadhi (the Three Ignorance). That is the Mind-Seal taught by the Buddhas to help faithful practitioners completely dissolve the belt of Dharma precepts; that is the wonderful Dharma to attain the True Contemplation of Samadhi.

The real form and formlessness are essential in dissolving unconscious errors in the presence thousands of Dharmas. If a Tao practitioner intuits this, it is exactly the Middle Way. In order to enter into the Middle Way, a Tao practitioner must have the ‘Self-Nature, Awareness of Nature’, without intransigence, without objection, and with an empty mind to be achieved. The real form and formlessness are also called the two Dharmas of fullness and emptiness. If a Tao practitioner avoided the fullness to take the emptiness, they would fall into the Fairy path. On the contrary, if they avoid the emptiness to take the fullness, as do the conduct of an ordinary person, they are often caught in the attachment, being intransigent, opposed, and subject to submerging in the transmigration of birth and death.

The Patriarchs from the old time, when they did not acquire the truth yet, they were also in unconscious errors like living beings. Initially, they had been also reciting the Buddhas' appellations, listening to the Dharma preaching, and reading the sutra; also, being superstitious, habitually generating thoughts, and being attached to the Dharma of fullness-emptiness, heavily or lightly, changeably. Nevertheless, by their instinct of resolution seeking enlightenment, they corrected the breakout of their natures and resolved thousands of Dharmas, but not preoccupied with reading and reciting the Buddhist sutras to know it by heart. The purpose of the Patriarchs was to know by themselves, not desiring to be known, not being attached to the self, neither holding the real form nor holding the formless. They, therefore, had no more doubts and comprehended thoroughly the Dharma nature—being perfect in everywhere.

Even Maha-Kasyapa attestedly knew the Samadhi Dharma subject of the Real Form and Formlessness, he would have to experience countless Samadhi, through thousands of Dharmas of the Supernatural Power of Samadhi in order to attestedly know how to renounce the fullness to take the emptiness, deeply penetrating to infinity of the nothing of emptiness and reaching the Buddha form—the Enlightenment about Form. —T. V.

Although acquiring the truth theoretically, a Tao practitoner must practically penetrate into Dharma precepts, having to experience millions of thousands of the real form and formless Dharmas to understand thoroughly, to be free from mistakes. Only after  clearing out  Dharma precepts, that means clearing out the living being natures, profoundly comprehending without any attachment to a Dharma precept, a Tao practitioner is  able to reach the Enlightenment about Form, being able to tread from the Bodhisattva vows, Bodhisattva conducts to the Bodhisattva rank. The emptiness of the one with the Enlightenment about Form, who has experienced in millions and millions of Dharma precepts, entering and exiting without fearlessness, is not the emptiness “acquired” by merely still sitting.

For the place of SEEING NATURE, it maximizes its faculty, still SEEING and KNOWING even the formless and colorless. It is generated from the true nature and discovered by the examination and correction of one's nature, who is therefore able to see natures by themself. Thanks to the practice of the liberation-through-solving Dharma subject that a practitioner, who often brightly examines their natures, still see even the formless natures. —T. V.

For living beings, they can see and know only in the presence of a form or a sign. A Tao practitioner, who often minds on correcting their nature, examining their nature at a considerable level, spontaneously discovers the true nature. From the true nature, they are naturally lighted and therefore, when Dharma manifesting the scenes, they could see and know the formless, called seeing even the formless.

For example, there are two close friends who have been in intimacy for a long time. One day, because of a complicated situation, one gets angry with the other friend, saying unpleasant words, and cuts off the friendship. The other, by cultivating on correcting his own natures, overcomes hatred. Nevertheless, he calmly examines to see the reason why his friend said such words. He readily understands thereafter the cause, knowing from what circumstances caused the hidden state of mind of his friend. That is the seeing through the formless. The friend observes well and resolves adequately, called a miraculous observation. The liberation-through-solving Dharma subject has cleared his true nature, that is the way to the Six Supernatural Powers[85]. From the Six Supernatural Powers, a Tao practitioner will complete the Samadhi.

Should not use love, hatred or reasoning to see; should not  think only in one way, but  must examine naturally and carefully to know by oneself.

[85] Those are the supernatural power of Divine Eyes, the supernatural power of Divine Ears, the supernatural power of understanding the minds of others, the supernatural power of knowing the wishes/thoughts of others through one’s thoughts, the supernatural power of knowing the former life and past lives of one’s own and of others, and the supernatural power of ending the suffering.

For those with the rooted capability but without sufficient knowledge, the two sects of the High Level (Mahayana) and Low Level (Hinayana) are often separated and in opposition. For those who have known well or better, these two sects have moral conduct and Buddhist intelligence in common, but each sect has its own path of heavily practicing in one field and lightly practicing on the other, and thus there are the common and the particular, the Corresponding Body and the Dharma Body of the truth. Once the parallelism of the Dharma Body and the Corresponding Body combined in the practice will lead to the perfect enlightenment, that is the unique complete supreme principle on the path to liberation through knowing, seeing, and solving. —T. V.          

The Low Level (Hinayana) belongs to the moral conduct, the High Level (Mahayana) to the Buddhist intelligence. The Low Level (Hinayana) practice results in the Corresponding Body acquiring the truth, whereas the High Level (Mahayana) practice results in the Dharma Body acquiring the truth. Therefore, those who have practiced adequately the Corresponding Body needs to also practice the Dharma Body. Achieving a complete Corresponding Body and Dharma Body will bringing about a True Rewardable Body, those are the three bodies of perfection. All the Buddhas have three bodies.

Some Tao practitioners have heavily practiced on the moral conduct but lightly on the Buddhist intelligence. There are also others who have heavily practiced the Buddhist intelligence but lightly on the moral conduct. As a result, neither could clearly comprehend and attain the perfect enlightenment. The Buddhist intelligence and moral  conduct must be in correspondence. The Low Level (Hinayana) is inclined to the organization, the form: from the walk, stand, gesture to the words…, all are beautiful, being preferred by many Tao practitioners. While the High Level (Mahayana) practices the Dharma Body, that is to practice the hearing, seeing and knowing in the life, dissolving unconscious errors and attachments, making the body-mind cleared and liberated, and the life unaffected. Tao practitioners of the High Level (Mahayana) have followed the way of practical truth, not always having an empty mind, not rejecting thousands of Dharmas from the hearing, seeing and knowing.