When The World’s Most Venerable was incarnate, no sects existed at all. After The World’s Most Venerable period was the time of the Patriarchs. Each of them acquired an enlightened subject and initiated a vow to maintain the Precious Seal. Each then formed a group to teach their faithful followers. These groups were known as sects. There were twelve in all, but only five were popular:

❖ The Meditation Sect,

❖ The Teaching Sect (also called the Visible Teaching),

❖ The Secret Sect,

❖ The Tranquility-for-Salvation (also called the Pure Land Sect), and

❖ The Avatamsaka Sect.

In any given period, from the Period of Superior Dharma to the Period of Return and Lost Dharma, Buddhism always has the inherited Patriarch to guide its followers. There are times when Patriarchs deliver many teachings, and times when Patriarchs delivers few. There is a time when a Bodhisattva correspondingly appears from the essence. At another time, a Buddha manifests the essence. At the time of the Buddha’s manifestation, the Buddha fully teaches the twelve sects, corresponding to the Ten Titles.

Either a Buddha or a Patriarch must be in accordance with the time and comply with the karmas of living beings to resolve them. Faithful followers, who are either laypersons or monks or nuns, are all capable of practicing Dharma, providing that they believe in the Buddha, Dharma subject, and Sangha’s guidance. The same goes for Tao practitioners, who can belong to any class or position in society; if they are faithful, eager, and hearty in seeking the Tao, then they are all capable of practicing Dharma.

Bright affirmation about the essential nature of meditation: That essential nature is formed by the karma seeds of living beings, which are divided into each precept. When people are unconscious, they immediately make mistakes, and mistakes lead to confusion. Therefore, people often oppose one another, compete with one another, and entangle with one another, giving rise to hate one another. But if they neither oppose nor hate one another, they will immediately be in sympathy and like one another, and then they will have a relationship with one another. This is still creating the karma of love-clinging. Even the two opposite positions of love and hate are still in the same chain of the birth–death transmigration. When being completely enlightened, one becomes aware that the essential nature is naturally calm and perfectly still. But erroneous unconsciousness has created the formation described above.

The essential nature is perfectly still, lucid, and inherent in human beings. However, people give rise to illusory thoughts, then chaotically think and constantly desire; they follow their desires and ambitions from one limit to another. Therefore, the essential nature becomes the seeds of nature. When distinctive seeds of nature are formed, the levels of high and low, wide and narrow are also established; thus there is a divide of four distinct classes called:

❖      The seeds of living being nature.

❖      The seeds of Bodhisattva nature.

❖ The seeds of Buddha nature.  The seed of Buddha nature, when it is still hidden, unconsciousness and enlightenment cannot be distinguished, where it is called the Buddha of nature. At enlightenment, it is called the nature of Buddha.

❖     The seeds of Tathagata nature:  Why does Tathagata have its nature? Tathagata is perfectly still and nowhere can be called Tathagata. Because the Bodhisattva observes Tathagata, requiring the nature of perfect stillness and all-embracement, and once having observed Tathagata, that is called Tathagata nature or the Tathagata Constitution’s Eyes.[11]


When the essential nature has been brightly affirmed, let us wonder what it can do. The essential nature can do everything and go everywhere; there is no need to pray to anyone, just need to know how to exploit the essential nature to use everything. That’s why human beings who practice Buddhism know how to rely on the essential nature to solve unconscious errors, being enlightened. When human beings practice sitting meditation by relying on the essential nature, they will be aware of meditation, which means being aware of meditation nature. Due to meditation nature, they fully comprehend the Three Realms and are aware of the Three Thousand Worlds without error or unconsciousness, and thus become enlightened.[12] Therefore, should not give rise to illusory thoughts to see the Three Thousand Worlds, nor usually expect to enter and attain the Three Realms through disembodiment. Even if a practitioner can attain both the Three Realms and the Three Thousand Worlds by illusory imagination while being away from the essential nature, the entered worlds are all insane, illusory thought formations; they are not enduring at all.

An intellectual person practicing sitting meditation needs to examine themself, from capability to deeds, from the morality of seeking for the Tao to the obstacle karma, and ask how this prevents the way of their practice. When recognizing an individual weakness, they must actively improve it; when discovering their own karma or bad character—which makes their practice unreliable, lacking in both conduct and vow, and unreformable—they should resolve and correct it. In this way, the practitioner lets the essential nature be harmonious and open, and is the one who know how to exploit the essential nature in their practice.

Once, it was known that the essential nature is in conformity with the original essential nature of the universe. But because of the dark unconscious error, which was caused by the obstacle of the consciousness karma’s initial illusory thought, one must stay in position among the seeds of living being nature. Then, in this position, one must reexamine oneself to see if one has individual characteristics that need to be guarded or gradually eliminated. There are four characteristics in living being nature that are worthy of attention:

❖  Increasing

❖  Decreasing

❖  Accumulation

❖  Stillness

The increasing sickness is often arrogant and self-satisfied. When one is arrogant, one looks down on others; when one is self-satisfied, one conceives oneself to be right, to be correct. Because of the sickness of increasing, one often falsely thinks that one clearly understands the Dharma Tao, thinks that one has acquired the Tao, is highly arrogant, and rarely learns from others in either practice or action. One also does not seek impressive Dharmas to practice. This is very dangerous: it makes this increased individual far away from the essential nature.

As for the decreasing type: decreasing is a backward sickness, where one’s essential nature is going down. The decreased person is not reliable in themself. Instead of controlling one’s own body and life, one brings one’s own body and life for Heaven, earth, demon, or deity. One blames oneself for heavy karma and labels oneself darkly ignorant, and thus one depends on salvation from superiors.

The two sicknesses of increasing and decreasing cause divergence from the essential nature. Therefore, the Buddha advised Tao practitioners to leave their ego and self-possession, with the intention of gradually ending the sickness of increasing. The Buddha also used the Dharma subject of advancement to aid living beings with the illness of decreasing.

In regards to accumulation, accumulation is a disease of obstinate composition and preservation. Accumulation gives rises to habitual acts and usually pollutes in holding ego, and habitual ego is caused by accumulation. When one is often in dreamy illusory thoughts, one accumulates dreamy imagination that becomes one’s karma. Because of accumulation, there are thousands and thousands of existing shapes and forms and the Three Thousand seeds of nature.[13] Because accumulation Dharma is a Dharma of the birth–death transmigration, the Buddha taught benevolence, compassion, joy, and detachment for the purpose of building morality. On account of accumulation, there is the Dharma subject of Prajñāpāramitā. With no-accumulation, however, the mind is empty and perfectly still; if there is no accumulation, the essential nature is harmonious and open. The seeds of living being nature with accumulation are very worried. Accumulation is the boundary, the limit of living beings.

As for the aspect of stillness, it is a means of salvation for unrest. Stillness is like a sleeping pill that relieves the patient of pain. But living being nature often takes pure stillness to nourish feebleness or to benefit them in old age. It is the same with Tao practitioners who practice and act by enduring all humiliations or patiently giving in, with the aim of ending competitions and quarrels. Therefore, this is called stillness to save unrest.

Looking at the essence of stillness, sitting-meditation practitioners at the beginning do not thoroughly and brightly affirm whether their own essential nature or meditation nature. Being in the state of mad, unsettled, confused, and illusory thoughts, they use stillness to salve these things. When the salvation is completed, a practitioner lightens up and becomes fully aware of the mad confused illusory thoughts. This is called the enlightened stillness. Must practice on still enlightenment to be fully aware of either the meditation nature or the essential nature, which is just one. Otherwise, not acquiring the still enlightenment, practicing stillness by using stillness itself or by accumulated stillness, which could gradually lead the practitioner to isolated stillness. When being in isolated stillness of the meditation subject, the practitioner is darkly dreamy. This creates a disease of hollowness at the top of one’s head, which is very uncomfortable and could lead to insanity.

Increasing, decreasing, accumulation, and stillness are the four precious gems to a well-informed Tao practitioner who can manage and discipline themself. When the practitioner is informed, they can come back to the original essence from the lost way of their wrong practice. But if one does not know how to practice, utilize, and manage, then the more one practices, the more one is poisoned. Why does a practitioner need to know how to manage themself? This is because one who can manage oneself, and one who witnesses the moment seeds of nature give birth to boringness, laziness, and tardiness into Dharma practice, must increase one’s regular meditation—such as increasing the time of meditation sessions— and liveliness; this is someone who knows how to manage and discipline themself. And when one is overly lively and active, one’s essential nature will examine and be aware, and thus decrease to reach a state of balance; this is someone who knows how to manage and discipline themself.

As for accumulation: when accumulation abounds, it creates karma. Even without accumulation or with the elimination of it all, karma is still carried. On accumulation, one knows how to utilize the accumulation, where it’s called training in absorption-for-salvation. Training in absorption-for-salvation and practicing accumulation are aimed at enlightenment. The enlightenment of accumulation naturally leads to the state of harmony. It is like the way stillness salves unrest: awareness of unrest leads directly to perfect enlightened stillness.

This explanation allows us to understand whether thousands and thousands of Dharmas are utilized or not. In this world as well as outside it, every job or business must be lively and flexible. In an industrial factory, the machines are always being managed and operated; as for the infinite universe, it still lives in the clouds and the winds. The truth always proceeds in an extremely lively and active way in the view of one who knows how to practice Dharma.

A Tao practitioner who knows how to practice Dharma can see Buddha in any period. This is not through admiration or imagination of the Buddha. Rather, by following the footsteps of the Buddhas who have left, the practitioner today gradually steps; the farther they step, the clearer the Buddha’s teaching becomes. That is the real sighting of Buddha.

The truth is a true reason. By relying on the true reason, one really acquires the truth. Tao practitioners who seek the true nature of practicing gradually come to understand the essential nature and become fully aware of the meditation nature, which leads to lively practice and flexible enjoyment. By using intelligence to resolve and effortful deeds to overcome obstacles of reasons and facts, one admits that the Buddha path of salvation is appropriate in the present and its adaptation is evident. In truth, the Buddha path does not have any Dharma that is the Dharma of kindness or evilness, good or bad, gentleness or cruelty at all. It only appears so for those practitioners who have not thoroughly understood the liveliness and flexibility of thousands and thousands Dharmas. They read sutras but do not understand the sutra meaning, practice Dharma but do not resolve, that is the Dharma practice of following the corpse of thousands of years ago. On the other hand, in the Dharma practice of using Buddhist intelligence to resolve, of understanding the Dharma sutras’ meaning, and of fulfilling to practice Dharma, it’s the Tao practitioner who knows how to practice at present of the open and accomplishing present.

The essential nature is always lively. When a practitioner performs sitting meditation—how their arising illusory thought is, how their virtue and intelligence are, how their conduct is, and how their vows are—then that meditation is the nature of the practitioner. This is manifested at each stage in the practitioner. However, the practitioner falsely thinks that this is the corresponding meditation. They attach to meditation and become immersed in it. This is why the Buddha said, “No matter how one desires, meditation nature responds in accordance with that desire, leading it to proceed as if it is reality. However, one falsely thinks that one’s soul is in and out, and thus one has expectations of and attachment to meditation nature.”

Upon realizing the Buddhist Dharma, a practitioner pursues the practice of some subject. They also must consider how to practice in harmony. With harmony, there is Buddhist intelligence to dissolve each stage of separation or attachment. If there is isolated opposition, practicing by one’s logical intelligence and arising wish, it directly creates dreamy and confused illusory thoughts. One must implement and use: Buddhist Dharma is inseparable from enlightenment in the human world. The human world is a position to meditate on, aiming at enlightenment about the Buddhist Dharma; it is an immortal material.

For example, when suitable substances are combined, they are immediately metamorphosed into a new substance; similar sounds respond to one another; close friends help each other. The Buddhist Tao still has to progress in the same way in both sentiment and reason, still practicing and acting on a similar combination, similar metamorphoses, which is called the metamorphosis for salvation of unconscious errors. The Buddha’s mind and living beings’ minds are not different, but they are different. Because living beings are not compatible with the Buddha’s mind, they have not become the Buddha. If the mind wishes for accomplishment, in the Dharma practice, it must know how to rely on so that similar combinations immediately lead to the desired metamorphosis. This is why the Bodhisattva must practice and fulfill those Dharma subjects that the Buddha in the past used to practice. Now the Bodhisattva must practice them, aiming to be compatible with the mind of the Buddha to become the Buddha.

Today, Tao practitioners seek the truth to make gradually progress in their practice. In the past, the Bodhisattvas did the same. When the Bodhisattvas realized the reason and fact of similar combinations, similar metamorphosis, they took great vows of compassion, will, courage, and fulfilled the six Pāramitā, aiming to reach compatibility with all human beings, thus metamorphosing into the Tathagata essence and becoming the Buddha.

From the infinite universe and human beings everywhere to the lands of dragons and beyond, all is called the natural essence or the Tathagata essence. For Tao practitioners, the essence appears in the form of individual nature, where it is called the essential nature; when one is in sitting meditation, it is called the meditation nature; when one is acting badly, it is called the bad nature; when one is acting beneficially and peacefully, it is called the good nature. Therefore, it is not outside the essential nature. Furthermore, in each practitioner the essential nature has ability for natural self-enlightenment. Due to this, the practitioner is capable of compatible metamorphosis with the universe of the natural essence.

When Tao practitioners practice Dharma but do not use effort to create great virtues, which are the embraceable virtues of joy and detachment of one’s fettered karma, amining at the ultimate enlightenment, then how can they have virtuous deeds to offer Tathagata? If one has no virtuous deeds to offer, how can one reach enlightenment?

As the Dharma practice of similar actions leads to compatibility, and compatibility leads to similar metamorphoses, Tao practitioners have to follow in the footsteps of the Bodhisattvas who left. Practitioners today must practice, learn, and act in the same way as the Bodhisattvas. In the past, the Buddha used compassion, vows, and open enlightenment completely; thus, the Bodhisattvas also had to fulfill the conduct and the vow so that they could accomplish the complete enlightened open: this is the only way.

[11] The Eyes that can see the Tathagata Constitution.

[12] The Three Realms are the three heavenly worlds of desire, form, and formlessness.

     The Three Thousand Worlds is also called the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds:

There are countless living species in our world, each having its own way of living in an appropriate environment called a sub-world. One thousand sub-worlds form a small thousand worlds. One thousand small thousand worlds form a middle thousand worlds. One thousand middle thousand worlds form a great thousand worlds. Here, the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds means: that Great Thousand Worlds are formed by the Three Thousand—small thousand, middle thousand and great thousand worlds. Inside our globe, there are Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, and outside is the immense Universe, with countless other Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds.

[13] Here, the Three Thousand seeds of nature is related to the Three Thousand Worlds.