CHAPTER IV: TRANSMISSION OF THE PRECIOUS DHARMA

E.      THE TATHAGATA MEDITATION 

9. The Procedures of The Patriarchs Established the Meditation Sect

According to historical writings, there are a total of 28 Patriarchs in the Meditation Sect, who are ranked in order. Besides them, there are other enlightened ones who cannot be mentioned. In the period of dynasties, the Meditation Sect was very popular in the Vietnamese dynasties of Đinh, Lê, Lý, and Trần.

According to the spirit of the Meditation Sect, the Patriarchs have guided the practitioners, who must establish Reliability-Morality-Vow, associated with Precept-Contemplation-Result, which are the core of the Meditation Sect. Those who fails to establish either, they cannot succeed as a meditation practitioner. —T. V.

E.      THE TATHAGATA MEDITATION 

These twenty-eight Patriarchs are the Patriarchs, started from the time when The Shakyamuni Buddha transmitted to the Patriarch Maha-Kasyapa to the 28th Patriarch.

In the Period of [His] Return and Dharma-Ending Age, in 1956, the Supreme Maitreya Buddha focused His attention on the Supreme Meditation. To the request of many true Buddhist disciples, the Lord made His decision on establishing the Dharma Constitution Supreme Meditation in 1965. Later, it was officially legalized under the name, The Dharma Constitution Vietnamese Buddhism. There were 3000 true Buddhist disciples until the year 1975, but the meditation monasteries were not built. The true Buddhist disciples made their own houses the temporary Tao Places ranging from the Centre to all the Provinces in South Vietnam. They wore the yellow robes during the celebrations as the Divine Level. On normal days, they still dressed like lay people at home, in daily activities, and at work to make a living. The Lord made use of the Buddha Dharma without leaving the secular world to be enlightened, and established the Four Followers as follows:

• Tao Believers: Those are the newcomers into Tao. Later, after the evaluation of their conduct and vows, they will join whichever kind of follower fits them best.

• Wealthy Followers: Those who cares for the Tao places, offering incense, lights, flowers, fruits, and so forth at the altars, including the construction of the place.

• Dharma Protectors: Those who specialize in preaching the Dharma and taking care of realizing the Tao Dharma.

• Attendants: Those who serve the Sangha Chief.

10. The Supreme Secret

When practicing the sitting meditation, the Supreme Secret depends on the root capability of a practitioner to make its corresponding appearance. The practitioners, who were transmitted the meditation, sit meditating every night before going to sleep or every morning before going to work, from 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Especially in the Dharma Constitution’s meditation, when a practitioner is practicing meditation, no matter how slow they are, up to the seventh night, their body is moved as if by a strong electrical current running through the entire body: the head and the neck are shaken, and the body is in a whirl. 

The practitioner should keep calm: these phenomena are called the Supreme Secret, also known as the Dharma Secret, which can resolve their karma. Owing to the Dharma Secret, a practitioner can correct their nature, examine their own bad habits hindering so that their mind should disengage them and should not hold or attach to them. The Supreme Secret gradually changes at each stage according to the root nature of a practitioner in the past, which is now appearing correspondingly: sometimes the hands are forming the Mudrā, and at other times they’re performing the martial art… Be careful not to allow the outsiders to see one’s practice because these outsiders can’t understand the Dharma Secret moving and they will criticize, which will make one’s practice become difficult. Accordingly, a practitioner should act as follows: discreet body, discreet mouth, and discreet thoughts.

The sitting meditation is essentially to give rise to Buddhist Intelligence in order to relieve erroneous passions. Meditation is a Dharma subject that assists practitioners on their way to liberation through knowing, seeing, and solving. Those who know how to practice the Dharma, listen to the doctrine, they still cannot skip the practice of meditation. By the same token, a practitioner of meditation may not disregard doctrine to attain True Enlightenment. 

Only a few of disciples attested by the Lord are to be Venerables, Dharma Protectors who practiced meditating according to the principles with the ranks of Arahants, Pratyeka, Sravaka; there was only one Bodhisattva being the guide, receiving the inheritance, which was attested and transmitted by the Lord. The remaining great number of faithful followers in the Dharma Constitution also had the Supreme Secret, but their practice was not attested by the Lord.

The same situation was seen in the time of The Founding Master. Among His 1250 true Buddhist disciples, there was only 10 Venerables and a few Bodhisattvas in this Saha world — not everyone would succeed once they were transmitted the Dharma Secret. Even when The World’s Most Venerable Maitreya was still in the world, there was a disciple neglecting the Dharma practice, but he was self-satisfied and called himself Hoan Lạc; he also said he was a Buddha and considered himself equal to the Lord. The Lord silently shook hands with him, took a chair and invited him to sit; with the blindness of his ignorance, he didn’t realize... The Lord left no writing to attest him to be the Dharma protector. Accordingly, which lifetime will he enter the Holy rank?

Regarding the Meditated Intelligence, there are four levels of awareness and exploration of the practical truth to the comprehensive attainment, as follows: