9.5 The Essential Nature: The Use

The Bodhisattva bravely makes up his mind and practices with the brave mind. He overcomes thousands of the obstacles with a strong will and without discouragement; his power is enriched until reaching the Intelligence Power. The Intelligence Power is the intelligence of ‘vowing to save countless living beings’. This intelligence endures all, accords with all, harmoniously integrates all, and absorbs all to mature into the Most Practical Intelligence.

Moreover, the Intelligence Power of Virtuous Merit Dignity offers to the Tathagata-Buddha. The Intelligence Power has gone through limitless worlds gaining the Great Ocean Intelligence to accomplish the Most Practical Intelligence. It is difficult to explain everything about the Intelligence Power, even by using the entire Three Constitutions of Sutras to praise the Virtuous Merit Dignity: The Bodhisattva has saved living beings through countless lifetimes, each lifetime with countless virtuous merits. These virtuous merits have formed the intelligence, the wisdom, illuminating all over with the wonderful light, the spectrum, and countless light rays, achieving the capacity, the potential, the main force, the patience energy, and the non-regressive power, endlessly overcoming until reaching the other shore, where having the Most Practical Power, endlessly returning to the entire True Enlightenment. The Meditation Master looking into the endless relative-emptiness – it’s the same. —T. V.

C. DOCTRINE

‘Vowing to save countless living beings’ means that the countless living being natures and countless unreal thoughts must be fully recognized and completely saved until there is no more unsaved nature-seed left, the Intelligence Power will be achieved. The Intelligence Power called the Great Ocean Intelligence has achieved the Most Practical Intelligence. The Bodhisattva must bravely overcome thousands of evolving scenes, until there are no more obstacles or stops, considering evolving-scenes to be the Bodhisattva's food. He, therefore, has the solid will, no longer generating discouragement. He endures to save suffering, resolves it accordingly, and integrates all intelligence of living beings to accomplish the Most Practical Intelligence. The Most Practical Intelligence neither increases nor decreases, neither discards nor holds. The lack of virtuous merits has to be supplemented, the increase has to be reduced in order to clear the way of thousands of Dharmas coming in and out, out and in, to gain the intuition and righteousness, and to thoroughly understand the Prajñà Heart Sutra.

The Use of Intelligence is distributed in unlimited, boundless, and countless intelligences, throughout the Three Thousand Worlds, from the human intelligence, Divine intelligence, Fairy-Deity-Saint intelligence to the Bodhisattva intelligence and the Buddha intelligence. Being in the Use, from the system of Intelligence Use, even those of Meditated Intelligence, Enlightened Intelligence could not free from the Use, why? That’s because the Meditated Intelligence is still in the Use of Meditation, and the Enlightened Intelligence is not outside the Use of Enlightenment. Because of that, the Dharma practice by leaving the self and self-possession is precisely to leave the Use. Not clinging to achievements of the Dharma practice is leaving the Use, absorbing millions of intelligences to become the Prajñà intelligence; thoroughly understanding all the intelligence seeds without omission to acquire the Most Practical Intelligence Seed; without the Use, worshiping with One’s whole mind and becoming a Buddha. —T. V.

The nature is the Use of Tathagata, so is the intelligence; even the Dharma Body, Dharma Precept, Dharma Nature, or the Tathagata Constitution, the Suchness is also the Use. The Use of Intelligence is in countless strata, such as the human intelligence, the Divine intelligence, the Fairy-Deity-Saint intelligence, the Bodhisattva intelligence as well as the Buddha intelligence embracing all over the Three Thousand Worlds. Even the Meditated Intelligence and Enlightened Intelligence are the Use of Tathagata, too. Those who practice for the Enlightened Intelligence have also to leave their self and self-possession without clinging to achievement to be free from the Use. Because where there is still the Use, there is still precept. Need to absorb millions of intelligences harmoniously to become the Prajñà Intelligence, clearly knowing every intelligence seed without omission any of them to be able to acquire the Most Practical Seed Intelligence. A Tao practitioner who thoroughly understands the Most Practical Seed Intelligence still has to practice adequately tranquility and disturbance, form and formlessness; and only the Great Bodhisattva rank could thoroughly know and realize it in perfection. It is easy to say, read and understand, but the state of mind to realize liberation from the Intelligence Use is a great problem, depending on the will and courage to resolve the mind, making the mind clear. Otherwise, with attachment and clinging, the mind will be at a standstill and fall into quiet isolation. Need to overcome obstacles, and to rely on the Use to make the mind free from the Use. Such is the so-called liberation; nothing else means the liberation.

How incredible the good is! How incredible the good is! From the mountains, the rivers, the continents to the whole suchness, all are mistaken in the Use of Intelligence, dreaming in the Use of Enlightenment. For the Bodhisattva rank, clinging but without clinging, they have left the Use; perfectly flowing, without attaining, but they are beyond the reach of Intelligence Use, even the Diamond Sutra’s Intelligence Use. The Tathagata did not preach the Dharma and Subhuti did not hear the Dharma either, aiming at the clearance of the Use of the attainment. Otherwise, if the Tathagata had preached the Dharma, and Subhuti had listened to it and acquired, then that acquirement would have been in the Use of Intelligence. How wonderful the Lord of Supreme Will was. —T. V.

In erroneous passion, being with the Transforming Intelligence in countless ways, the mind must be mobilized by the Use. The Bodhisattva has to dissolve the Use, thoroughly understanding it in order to resolve it completely and smoothly. The Bodhisattva with profound comprehension is clinging but without clinging, perfectly fulfilling and leaving the Use. Without acquiring but acquiring, He is thus free from the Use. Venerable Subhuti heard the Dharma preaching, but not being attached to his comprehension from the hearing, thus spontaneously knowing, aiming at his insight of the Intelligence Use. Otherwise, if the Tathagata had preached the Dharma and Subhuti had listened to it and acquired, that would have been the acquirement on the Dharma of the Tathagata — Venerable Subhuti would not have known it by himself, still being known in the Use of Intelligence. Neither following strictly the sutra nor leaving it, a Tao practitioner can be free from the Use of Intelligence, no longer dreaming in the Use of Enlightenment.

The Use of Intelligence is a play of thing-metamorphosis. All the living things are in metamorphosis and birth, birth and metamorphosis. From the vegetation, the mountains, and the rivers, all are under the Use, to the human life together undergoing the thing-metamorphosis through life after life of birth and metamorphosis into thousands and thousands of various forms. The one, who has gone through from a human being to becoming a Truly Enlightened One, has been living creatures in births and metamorphoses under the mobilization of the Use of Intelligence, numerous strata of the Use such as: animals, animal forms; birds in the sky, animals on the earth; humans from rich families, happy families to miserable families of all kinds. All the species—you have thought of or seen them— are all those you have been transformed into, that is the law of cause and effect in endlessness. What is the reason for all that happening? All that result from the Use in which things are metamorphosed and the Use is giving births. —T. V.                                                                      

All the mountains, rivers, vegetations, animals, as well as human beings cannot escape from the Tathagata's Use. Because of the Transforming Intelligence, everything is born from the Use into countless forms. If a human being has thought of or seen an animal, they have been that animal many times by generation of the Use. The Supreme Maitreya Buddha has deeply understood its endlessness, the Lord, therefore, wrote it down. It can be seen that the law of cause and effect does not spare anyone. Which nature-seed one is carrying, one will reincarnate in a species of that nature without error; it’s impossible to describe all of that adequately.

When accomplishing the True Rank True Enlightenment, becoming a Buddha, The Founding Master also said: Look at the sand of the Sanga River, how incalculable, immeasurable and unbounded it is, but each grain of sand represents one of the Lord’s lives, births and deaths. Knowing such metamorphoses and births of living beings, the Buddhas have heartily guided Tao practitioners to correct their natures so that they could avoid from falling back into the animal circle. Tao practitioners, who apply themselves to pray and supplicate without correcting their natures, will still be reborn as animals by generation of the Use—that is natural. One Use just finished then another Use came into being, that is the so-called transmigration of birth and death. The path of birth-death, death-birth, having undergone many lifetimes of change, is due to the impregnated habits created and thus becoming the formation. When one thinks evil, one does evil; they must enter an evil place to receive the evil karma, to be at inferior rank of animals. When inclining to rooted goodness and good will, one will go to the superior life to have the True Reward of human, Fairy, or Deity, that depends on one’s natures and actions to make the formation.

This Period of Return coming to an end, the Supreme Maitreya Buddha thoroughly understood living beings' mistakes. The Lord, therefore, wisely preached to human beings and the Four Species to follow the exact supreme principle pointed out to cultivate until achieving results. If human beings, in the present, were not wrongly practicing and still retained the exact principle of The Founding Master, the Supreme Maitreya Buddha would not need to return to this world! The inherited Bodhisattva has generated the great vow to completely save living beings; from now on, He continues to save living beings, aiming to awaken living beings. He also makes efforts to get in and out the birth and death without discouragement of death and birth, maturing into the Mahasattva. The Mahasattva Bodhisattva is clean; with His profound comprehension, He no longer has the arising of self-possession. He thoroughly understands that the self-possession is in the Use of Self, thereby entering the ocean of miraculous Dharmas—it’s really wonderful, He fully enjoys the Prajñà, the Maha Prajñà Pāramitā.