4.13.1 The Arahant Conduct

The moral conduct of Arahants is called the conduct of Buddha form.[86] Tao practitioners who are attaining the Buddha form and clinging to that form, are called Pratyeka-Buddhas. In practicing the Arahant conduct, according to which attainment practitioners is clinging to and what level they have achieved, their true rewards are ranked from Divine Fairies to Great Fairies, belonging to the Corresponding Apparition and Direct Apparition forming the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, called the Three Realms. —T. V. 

Tao practitioners, who have acquired the truth of enlightenment, great enlightenment, or full enlightenment, are often mistaken for being the highest; wrongly believing that they have attained the extreme of the truth. They’re therefore clinging to this conduct and called the Precept-Buddhas. In fact, those who are clinging to this conduct and form are just Pratyeka-Buddhas, also called the Precept-Buddhas—the Buddhas clinging to one precept. Their comprehension is according to their achievement of enlightenment, great enlightenment or full enlightenment, resulting in the rank from Divine Fairies to Great Fairies. They are also known as Buddha-Fairies, still remaining in the stage of flowers of Dharma precepts, and in difficulty to escape from Dharma precepts to enter the open harmony of the Bodhisattva conduct in any lifetime.

Reaching to this state of attainment, those who realize the need of advancement, readily not clinging to the conduct and form of the Precept-Buddha are extremely rare. Even meeting the Buddha of Unsurpassable Supreme Rank True Enlightenment, it is also difficult for them to abandon their polluted habits of the Precept-Buddha to be guided to the Bodhisattva path. It is better to be a Bodhisattva continuing in practice and waiting for the right time to become a Buddha than to be clinging to the Precept-Buddha, being unable to advance further in Asamkhyeya of lifetimes.

4.13.3 The Pratyeka Conduct

Depending on the favorable or unfavorable conditions/situations to have the intuition, basing neither on the favorable nor on the unfavorable, without a discriminated and obstructed mind in the tranquility or in the disturbance to become withdrawn, attached or doubtful, acquiring uniquely through intuition, that is the realization of the Pratyeka conduct. [88] —T. V.

‘Depending on the favorable or unfavorable conditions/situations’ means that in the daily life, encountering the situation often progressing favorably or unfavorably, a Tao practitioner immediately recognizes that everyone in the world has their own situation, which is sometimes joyful and sometimes sorrowful, sometimes happy and sometimes miserable, sometimes full and sometimes empty. The practitioner therefore remains not reluctant and does not consider it to be strange, examining the situation with a calm mind and without opposition. No matter how difficult the situation may be, they remain calm and joyful, seeking for means to solve the problem until it becomes clear without differentiation and opposition. They have no doubt about the Buddhas as well as the Good-Intelligent-Awakened One, reaching the permanence, no longer belonging to the impermanence of living beings, and becoming peaceful and joyful. In the presence of favorable or unfavorable, tranquil or unpeaceful situations, those who intuit that all must be resolved  are called those of the Pratyeka conduct.

When a Pratyeka resolving the situation, they should not be concerned with the right or wrong solution. Even if the situation was incorrectly or inappropriately solved, they would remember it to use the defect as a lesson for their future success in order to accomplish the Pratyeka conduct, and that is essential.

Those of Arahant conduct, Sravaka conduct and Pratyeka conduct in the right signification usually acquired one of three qualities:

• The No-Birth Dharma of Endurance.

• The Equality of Nature and Mind.

• The Samadhi Dharma Subject of Real Form and Formlessness.

Nevertheless, these Tao practitioners still must undergo through many lifetimes of willing practice before achieving the enlightenment, great enlightenment and full enlightenment.

Unless they meet a Good-Intelligent-Awakened One, who is a Buddha or Bodhisattva, who has the real Mind-Seal of the Shakyamuni Buddha or Maitreya Buddha, that is extremely advantageous for them because they need only one lifetime—if having adequate trust, obedience, and respect toward this One—to reach the real enlightenment without waiting in many lifetimes.

There were many Tao practitioners who met Lord Maitreya, but still kept their selves, carrying with them an analytical scale to calculate the gain and the loss, so not obtaining the result in their practice. In my life, I witnessed and knew too much about those facts. On the Lord’s path of executing the Tao Dharma, He heartily gave them all. But it was difficult for them to receive because they were not diligent.  Many of them have been clinging to the emptiness, which needed to be detached in order to reach the enlightenment; unfortunately, they could not overcome. When Reverend Long-Hoa Sangha Chief left, they still have been clinging to the emptiness. What an eternal strait!

One former life of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng was Channa in the time of the Crown Prince Siddhartha. When The Founding Master becoming a Buddha, Channa was also practicing in the Sangha, not being attested in the Holy Venerable rank yet. At that time, Sariputta and Moggallana were the two active Venerables, they both are now present at Long-Hoa and still conducting their vows to go from Venerables to Bodhisattvas, how could a story be told of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng (was Channa) who became a Buddha!

The five later Patriarchs who passed down to China, from Patriarch Bodhidharma to the Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng, all acquired the emptiness, but none of them were enlightened.

Neither speaking well nor writing well is mine; when encountering the situation, being able to give the appropriate solution, that is mine. —T. V.

Beside ‘Self-Nature, Awareness of Nature’ allowing to clear living beings’ natures out, a Tao practitioner must lean on thousands of Dharmas to resolve, accepting tranquility as well as disturbance, aiming at creating effortful deeds and also relying on virtuous deeds to be able to acquire the truth. According to the shallow or deep level of effortful and virtuous merits, a Tao practitioner will achieve from enlightenment to full enlightenment. A Tao practitioner needs to have a firm standpoint, to review and brightly examine their consciousness-karma, suffering-karma and longstanding-fixed-fettered-karma to resolve their unconscious errors, completely moving thousands of Dharmas in order to attain True Enlightenment.

Tao practitioners seeking for liberation through knowing, seeing, and solving should practice all subjects in order to make Dharmas return to the mind. Only the right Dharma-subject of liberation (through solving) leads to the destination. Otherwise, the practice of only a subject of Gradual Teaching, Sudden Teaching, Visible Teaching, or Secret Teaching will be difficult to reach the liberation.

Because practicing the Sudden Teaching is only understanding the Sudden Teaching, practicing the Gradual Teaching is only understanding the Gradual Teaching, that is not fully understanding the Dharma subject of liberation. Practicing the Visible Teaching is only understanding Visible Teaching, practicing the Secret Teachings is only understanding Secret Teaching, that is not practicing the Dharma subject of liberation.

4.13.4 The Bodhisattva Conduct

When the above three dignities are adequate, a Tao practitioner will naturally generate their mind to enter courageously and strongly in the path of practicing Bodhisattva conduct. Why? That is because the conduct of Bodhisattva, according to the rooted capability, has the Appearing Intuition about solid characteristics staying in the Bodhisattva. When the Bodhisattva fulfills the corresponding body in himself, the Bodhisattva pretends to be unconscious. Nevertheless, the adequate dignity, the majesty, and the righteous words have already existed in his own nature naturally which, when emitting, neither depends on the dogma nor damages the Dharma sutras instructed by The Founding Master. —T. V.

The conduct of Bodhisattva is that of willingness; ‘Appearing Intuition’ here meant the self-consciousness on practicing one’s own natures, deeply digging of all fettered karmas in one's body-fate to be able to intuitively see and know, so resolving thousands of Dharmas. It’s no longer inclined to worshipping and supplicating. Once attested by the Buddhas to become the Bodhisattva Tao, although the Bodhisattva returning to the world is not yet reaching the stage of intuition, called the Bodhisattva pretending to be unconscious, nevertheless as young in age, he still has the dignity and majesty of a Bodhisattva. He will return to become a Bodhisattva at the same age of the previous life, when intuition suddenly appearing, not being covered by ignorance like living beings.

If he is a true Bodhisattva formed by the Buddhas, he doesn't make mistakes anymore — that fact could not be seen and known by those of lower level; only the Tathagata could teach him. Therefore, his thought, speech, and acts, all are naturally emitting the tranquility or disturbance without any error. All are carrying out the order of the Buddhas in teaching the Four Followers, aiming to enlighten them.

Because the words of intuition are all those of the Buddhas’ manifestation, the Bodhisattva is now executing the Buddhas’ order, and thus emitting these words. You should neither criticize the words of intuition, self-enlightenment spoken, nor be attached to the doubt to be stopped and clinging —if you do, you will never reach the Bodhi fruit. Because of my love for you, these words are aimed at keeping you from harming your Dharma practice achievement. —T. V.

Ordinary people criticize what a Buddha or Bodhisattva doing — that is the ordinary often happening. Reverend Long-Hoa Sangha Chief is now reminding faithful Tao practitioners, who seek for liberation, not to cling to the doubts nor to criticize, because their virtue was fragile and their effortful deeds were too much less than that of the Bodhisattvas. If they criticize those of intuition of the Bodhisattva rank, they will harm greatly their own virtuous merits. They should carefully preserve their fragile virtuous merits, accumulated through many lives of Dharma practice, but not attested by the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas.

In this Period of Return, I witnessed that a number of Tao practitioners, who clung to the doubts, unintentionally destroyed Dharma and harmed the Bodhisattva, creating immeasurably disastrous consequences. So, we can see that the words “The Great Virtue frightens even Devils” from the ancient time until now, are eternally true.

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