That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of measurelessness.

The Dharma subject of measurelessness is the ‘hearing, seeing, and knowing’, which are thousands and thousands of Dharmas. The strict observance of the Three Constitutions of Sutras of the Buddha is not measureless, but limited. The Founding Master, during His 49 years of executing and teaching the Tao Dharma, was not enough time to explain completely the Sutras right in the secular world.  Therefore, we have to learn the Three Constitutions of Sutras right in the world in combination with those of The Founding Master to make the learning measureless. A Tao practitioner needs to acquire only an extremely tiny dust to immediately witness the measurelessness.

That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of boundlessness.

The Dharma subject of boundlessness is the Dharma practice without limit: in the temple, in the house, at work, all over, a Tao practitioner is able to recognize thousands of Dharmas in everywhere through hearing, seeing, and knowing; it’s not true that one needs to renounce their family and enter the temple in order to practice the Dharma. That erroneous conception is a bounded Dharma practice. A Tao practitioner needs to acquire only an extremely small area to immediately witness the boundlessness.

That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of the “Volcano King”.

Volcano King is the mountain king of all volcanoes, that means there is no mountain as high, as large, and as big as this; it’s in the category of the most-difficult-mountains to overcome; moreover, it spews extremely hot lava. The Dharma subject of Volcano King is the one by which a practitioner has to cross that most dangerous volcano by their own body-fate and by using their Buddhist intelligence.

For example, a married couple has practiced the Dharma for a long time by being on a vegetarian diet, reciting sutra, worshiping and praying to the Buddha, as well as frequenting temples for many years. One day, the wife suddenly notices that her husband is not following the practice as before. She notices that he is sitting for meditation, going to listen to the preaching Dharma, and correcting his nature, following another Meditation Master, not those at the temple as before.

Knowing that, the wife gets angry, shouting and roaring noisily, obliging the husband to abandon his way of Dharma practice. The husband does not give in. He tries to explain that his way of practicing is in conformity with the High Level (Mahayana); it is the very ‘Self-Nature’ and is more advanced than the former. The wife becomes rebellious and leaves the family, no longer looking after their children. Their family is broken and in chaos.

The husband sees that his wife does not understand, becoming rebellious, causing the whole family broken. Being very panicked and by the encumbrance of his consciousness karma, he willingly gives up his practice to exchange for the return of his wife. His wife is an illustration of his Volcano King.

On the other hand, once the husband could resolve to overcome his karma seed from his wife, he is overcoming the Volcano King and will be clear-sighted. Otherwise, by just praying and supplicating in reciting, a practitioner will never enter the Tranquility-for-Salvation World of the Amitabha Buddha.

The High Level (Mahayana) Dharma subject is that of resolving thousands of Dharmas, not sitting in stillness and supplicating. Must go in order to reach the destination; must practice in order to be clear. Profoundly understanding Dharma is profoundly attaining. In the Buddhist sutra, the Sumeru Mountain is commonly used to represent the insurmountable obstacle for Tao practitioners.

That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of tranquility.

It is only by completely resolving one’s own flowering Dharma natures seriously that one could have the tranquility. No Dharma is either arising or perishing; thoroughly understanding thousands of Dharmas, all are exactly the Dharma of tranquility. A stable spirit is precisely a peaceful and joyful place, the true happiness — That is the tranquility. A Tao practitioner with unstable thoughts could not have tranquility. How could one teach others to obtain the tranquility while they do not have the tranquility in themselves? Only those who acquired joyful peace could have the bright righteousness, they’re then able to resolve thousands of Dharmas by absoluteness. No resolution could be equal to that of the one who has entered absolute Dharma. Many people considered that way of Dharma practice as selfish. How could one show a patient the suitable medication while this one is not a doctor and being sick — Is that right? Besides, the patient feels more comfortable when a qualified doctor writes a prescription.

Tao practitioners who live with their families, must earn their living daily, are susceptible to be involved in conflict with others. By being happy and miserable, joyful and sad, gainful and lost, possessive and vanished, a Tao practitioner—who really knows how to practice the Dharma—has to resolve, and then once they resolve well, they will be peaceful and joyful right in the secular life. That is the tranquil Dharma, full of precious happiness without anything that could be compared with it. Gradually entering into thousands of Dharmas with more profundity, more activity, one will attain the great tranquility. The tranquility thus has different levels according to more or less effortful and virtuous deeds.  There are some Tao practitioners who practice throughout their life without a minute or second of seeing and knowing their own confused and obscure thoughts, yet still expecting to be acquired the Tao result. Whichever a Dharma subject is, a practitioner must practice in reaching the tranquility in order to attain the Tao result.

That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of joyful detachment.

Joyful detachment means the detachment of all bitterness with joy. A Tao practitioner who practices resolution will be accustomed to enduring thousands of Dharmas. In the presence of disagreements, they are still joyfully detached, neither angry nor hateful to those who have caused suffering to them. They will be at ease once their flowering Dharma nature resolved. Such a practitioner has conducted themselves well with morality and followed the path taken by Bodhisattvas in the practicing of the Sacred.

That means: to be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of contemplative intelligence.

The Dharma subject of contemplative intelligence means the profound knowledge never known and heard before. The knowledge in the past is restricted and petty, and that of today is unboundedly wide. The practice in the past was erroneous, and today, thanks to the Tao place, the knowledge having gradually gained is called the contemplative intelligence. A sermon being given to assist a Tao practitioner according to their exact level, neither being very high or very low, is called the contemplative intelligence [of the preacher].

A Tao practitioner finding out the perfect and all-embracing knowledge becomes clear-sighted, that is called the Dharma of Tathagata Constitution’s Eyes.

To be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of individual difficulty.

Individual difficulty means individual’s difficult situations, which are hard to solve. In the Dharma subject of individual difficulty, whenever encountering thorny, difficult-to-solve Dharmas, a Tao practitioner has to determinedly resolve them until success in order to be clear-sighted. That is the Dharma of Tathagata. An earnest and sincere Tao practitioner has to judge rightly the way of practice, they need to resolve thousands of Dharmas through dire straits obstructing their own life. Otherwise, no matter how great their earnest and sincere mind may be, they could not obtain the result of knowing and seeing. Those who practiced, only by praying, supplicating and severe vegetarian diet, even with an earnest and sincere mind, would still not be able to remove the situation.

To be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of being uninterrupted.

Being uninterrupted means being without interruption. In the presence of a difficult situation, if a Tao practitioner could not clearly see the precious Dharma’s value, they would readily interrupt their Dharma practice. The discouragement will make Tao practitioners to interruption, difference, and demolition. Overcoming it will bring about clear comprehension. That is the Dharma of Tathagata.

With lack of material in daily life, a Tao practitioner readily engage themselves in this worldly life intensely, seeking more materials to adequately meet their needs. In such situations, only the brave intelligent practitioner will not abandon their Dharma practice. Ordinary Tao practitioners, not recognizing the true value and the advantage of the Dharma practice path, which saved us from sinking in the sea of sufferings, will never obtain a result even though a sacred guide accompanied them.

To be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of “without being self-proclaimed”.

“Without being self-proclaimed” means without self-proclaimed reputation of attainment, which inherently belongs to the no-self. Living beings, attached to their selves, usually proclaim themselves reputations, making them become more self-conceited. Such manner of Dharma practice is still erroneous and obscurely hidden by ignorance. The successful Tao practitioner, recognizing well the no-self Dharma, never proclaiming himself or herself reputation, readily reaches the Tranquility-for-Salvation World.

When the Buddha taught the Dharma of no-self, the Lord implied that there is no-self in the place of chaos. So that living beings could base on it to practice without error. Without self-proclaimed reputation, a Tao practitioner could find out the TRUE SELF, being liberated through knowing, seeing, and solving. Because living beings defend their reputation and their ego form, greed is generated. Beginning with greed, they are attached to competition giving rise to hatred, and thus being ignorant unconsciously. That precisely is the path of birth and death. The reputation is inherently insubstantial — erroneously admitting the false ego as oneself; it is precisely an appellation, unreal reputation. From the Highly Virtuous Ones, the Venerables to the Most Venerables, all should carefully judge in your practice through thousands of Dharmas to find out what really is yours. It is the use of Tathagata.

For example, from the paddy we make rice and from the rice we make flour. From the flour, we make all kinds of cakes, each having its own name, but all are, in fact, paddy. It is transformed and bears a self-name, a self-form.

For example, the carpenters use wood to make tables, chairs, cabinets, beds, windows, doors, etc. They all are originally from the tree. The carpenters saw, carve, and cut wood to produce them. They are transformed and bore various self-names, self-forms, such as table, chair, carbinet, bed, window, door, etc. Each of them has different usage, like the chair is used to sit on, the table to write on, the cabinet to store used things, the bed to lie on, etc. It’s not natural to use the chair to store used things and the table to sit on. Once a use has been formed, it must be used properly.

Everything bears its self-name, self-form. Therefore, a true Tao practitioner never proclaims himself or herself reputation to be clear-sighted. That is the Dharma subject of “without being self-proclaimed” of Tathagata. The self of permanence and constancy does not admit the insubstantiality as ourself. A Tao practitioner needs to raise their awareness to observe “without being self-proclaimed.” In this way, they will clearly comprehend the no-self, making their karma reduced, no longer admitting the insubstantuality as truth. That is precisely the Dharma subject of High Level (Mahayana), practicing for liberation through knowing, seeing, and solving. Every living being inherently has the same constitution as the Tathagata of Ten Directions, without any difference.

To be able to enjoy happiness in the extremely joyful world of the Amitabha Buddha, to be peaceful forever, we have to practice the Dharma subject of Tathagata, which is that of super sun and moon.

“Super sun and moon” means that the day and the night are all bright and there is absolutely no obscurity — A Tao practitioner continuously preserves the Self-Nature without any minute of neglect, and neither thinks nor calculates the limited quantity and the boundary. Should not be rebellious in the presence of difficult situations or thorny problems, to be free from obscurity. Solving with super morality, one’s mind is tranquil and thousands of Dharmas are resolved brightly and righteously; the practitioner achieves the complete comprehension, resulting in perfect harmony, immediately coming to the Peaceful Nourishing Nation, Extremely Joyful World, Amitabha Ocean Association.

Tao practitioners must worship with their whole faithful mind, the earnest unwavering mind, in order to receive completely. That is exactly The Founding Master Shakyamuni Buddha’s words with attestation pointing out. A Tao practitioner, even with sincere and earnest mind, but without disengaging in order to resolve thousands of Dharmas, only keeping on praying and supplicating for supernatural efficacy, still go astray in a different direction from the path taken by the past Bodhisattvas, who have left, and by the present Bodhisattvas, who are conducting their vows.

The essential practice of Tao Dharma is to carry out the 12 above vows, that is the exact practice following the True Supreme Principle’s path in the direction of the Bodhisattva Conduct. Therefore, Tao practitoners should not be preoccupied only with their long or short time of practice. They only need to correctly conform to the above spirit to immediately enter into the flow of Bodhisattva Conduct.