1.   WHY IS THE MEDITATION SECT MIND-TRANSMITTED-TO-MIND FOR FULL ENLIGHTENMENT?

Because the Meditation Sect specializes in the essential nature of self-enlightenment, it does not use writing; even though it does use writing, it is only the finger to point out the intuition. Thus, relying on meditation nature is aiming to be aware of one’s own nature, not to be attached to meditation for enlightenment. Therefore, this is called the mind essence, or the mind-transmitted-to-mind for full enlightenment.

Those practitioners who practice sitting meditation, who are disconnected from the essential nature, who are not yet aware of meditation nature, and who self-form fixed thoughts, regular thoughts, research, or prediction, are all going in the wrong direction. It is no different from someone who uses lime to make cake. Because flour is flour, one cannot use flour to make lime, or lime to make flour. The Meditation Sect must determinedly be based on the essential nature to accomplish the true enlightenment. The practice of meditation proceeds in four stages, which follow.

Image illustrated by unknown artist.

Could be found in evdharma.org or phatphapungdung.com

THE FOUNDING MASTER SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA

Image illustrated by unknown artist.

Could be found in GodsYou.com or baophapluat.vn

2.   THE FOUR STAGES OF SITTING MEDITATION

The primary stage is not-yet-reached contemplation.

The middle stage clearly examines and has awareness.

The next stage is absorbing for correction.

The ultimate stage is bright and splendid.

The practice of meditation has four ranks of achievement. The primary meditation passes on the secondary meditation, and the third meditation to the fourth emptiness of meditation. The Dharma sutras of the Lord of Supreme Will expounded these four ranks in the principles of meditation sitting.[14] Meditation intelligence also has four ranks of consciousness and the exploration of the realistic truth to the comprehensive acquisition, as follows:

[14] The Lord of Supreme Will is another appellation of the Shakyamuni Buddha.

2.1 THE PRIMARY MEDITATION

Practitioners who are in the primary meditation rank rely on their effortful deeds and virtues to resolve, or use reason to realize that the Buddhist Dharma [is] without leaving the secular world to be enlightened. They can clearly see, clearly know, and clearly hear things in the human world that are not perceived by ordinary people. The primary meditation practitioner perceives things more thoroughly, for example,

I am pulled by karma, causing laziness and tardiness. I am entangled in unavoidable circumstances that I wish to be free of. But the more I want to escape from it, the more closely and endlessly it follows. I am metamorphosed through hundreds of paths and thousands of ways by thousands and thousands of Dharmas. I must overcome, aiming to not be given birth to Dharmas. I must practice overcoming obstacles, managing and controlling thousands and thousands of Dharmas to acquire the knowledge of the Buddha Tao.

When practitioners of the primary meditation advance further in their effortful deeds and virtues, their realization is immediately more thorough than before. For example,

It is our body and mind that metamorphose into thousands and thousands of Dharmas. We ourselves give birth to all karmas, and there is no reason to complain to anybody. We tie ourselves and at the same time we entreat to escape from it.

Those who are able to realize this readily move on to the secondary meditation rank without getting lost from the Supreme Meditation.

2.2 THE SECONDARY MEDITATION

The topic of management and control is an important precept in meditation. Management and control lead to the discreet body, the discreet mouth, and discreet thoughts. It is through the discreet body-mouth-thought that the meditation can manage and control the motion of thousands and thousands of Dharmas. Why? This is because the body sitting in meditation is moving and transforming: at times it is smaller, in others, it is bigger; The eyes can see trees, sceneries, mountains, and rivers, and the ears can hear the divine music, but the thoughts should not be happy, and the mouth should not speak of what happens during the meditation sitting to avoid entanglement in self-attachment.

All secondary meditation practitioners recognize that most of us are erroneous in one another because scenery induces sentiment and disagreement creates circumstance. We each conservatively accept the right only in ourselves, which leads us to discord with one another: whether we want or not, discord always happens. Those of the secondary meditation are fully aware that these things result from accidents of the Dharma metamorphosis, which stem from the thought and mind of each individual, and also from their level and position. Each stratum of Dharma metamorphosis people is also influenced by their career. The Dharma metamorphosis is founded on two bases: the lovely, agreeable Dharma metamorphosis and the hateful, disagreeable Dharma metamorphosis. Dharma metamorphoses in each individual and each stratum of people give rise to competition and disputation. Consequently,

Life has countless faces. The Earth has infinite directions.

The King Buddha and the Buddhas, all have the only source of the intact enlightenment.

The progression of Dharma metamorphosis is the truth of eternity.

With a heart free from passions, how can we be entangled in sorrow?

Practitioners of the secondary meditation have acquired the meditation nature: Because of the mind and thoughts of expectations and wishes, the meditation Dharma has correspondingly appeared. When the mind and thoughts expect a Deity or pray to a Saint, the meditation Dharma appears in a Deity or a Saint accordingly. Sometimes there is still an apparition corresponding to neither expectation nor wish, but this will also not be erroneous for those of secondary meditation. Why? This is because meditation is a subject of realistic truth. It aims to acquire the meditation intelligence. Outside of the meditation intelligence, all are the self- reputations and unreal forms, and thus there is no error.

From thousands of years ago until now, this Period of Incarnation Return,[15] the Dharma has been lost only because Tao practitioners are cultivating what they want without the basic guidance of the sealed decision. Why? This is because by following the sealed decision, they would fall into the dogma, but by following their wishes they will go astray. Therefore, in the subject of meditation, it is rare for a practitioner to be able to carry out the correct process of sitting meditation to attain up to the level of the Fourth Emptiness Meditation.[16] Even if there is a practitioner who achieves the Fourth Emptiness Meditation, that meditation still belongs to the Fairy Tao’s meditation; it is not as perfect as the Tathagata Meditation.

Today, I clearly explain that the essential way of meditation subject is a dragon vein of practical truth and meditation intelligence, whereas the aspect of sitting meditation is a way of creating effortful deeds and virtues, nourishing the development of meditation intelligence. Certainly, a practitioner cannot rely only on the meditation forms to be enlightened; nor can they use the sound in the divine lands to be awakened. The only way is the meditation intelligence, which passes on to the enlightened intelligence. The enlightened intelligence returns to the suchness intelligence, and this is the most practical intelligence: it can be clearly aware of every seed of intelligence — complete True Enlightenment.

For the Meditation Sect, all things in this Period of Return are the zero of basic full enlightenment. Most or all of the practitioners meditate by using observable meditation of forms or sounds, by which they aim to reach the corresponding apparitions. These apparitions become the main purpose of meditators. As a result, their ways of practicing are lost and diverge from those of the principal sect, and now more branches are developing, such as the telepathy meditation, the disembodiment meditation, the therapy meditation, and the study meditation for the purpose of attaining the holy spirit. Practitioners of secondary meditation are clearly aware of these happenings. Why? This is because the meditation nature is moving and metamorphosing in accordance with the illusory minds and the wishes of meditators. A practitioner who intends to acquire the Buddhist intelligence and penetrates to develop meditation intelligence is very rare.

For a practitioner of secondary meditation, owing to the management and control of the body, mouth, and thoughts, the self-examined consciousness of pettiness becomes the joy-and-detachment place where generosity is perfectly achieved. With a discreet mouth, the practitioner will express in words only what is necessary; if the time is not suitable for speaking, they immediately keep silent to brightly inquire into reality, and then speak only at the right moment. Their body-mind is maturing simply, but with a profound understanding and attaining the meditation nature. With that achievement and maturity, the practitioner is completely aware of Dharma precepts, and thus penetrates each Dharma precept. The practitioner is called the Great Person of Management and Control, and moves up to the third meditation without wrong direction.

[15] The Return Period of Lord Maitreya.

[16] It’s rare because most sitting meditation practitioners do not have the Supreme Secret.

2.3 THE THIRD MEDITATION 

This is the subject of the Master of Devas and Humans. A practitioner of the third meditation rank has no predetermined habit. His or her Buddhist intelligence has surpassed the advanced stage, he or she therefore has neither desire for the past nor expectation for the future, only using the present to progress. This is why the practitioner of third meditation reaches clear awareness of the meditation nature. He or she clearly see all living beings, who generate and generate [Dharmas], who then are metamorphosed and metamorphosed at certain times and in certain circumstances. They tend only to live together, from their inner feelings to their outer lives. They look and talk together; they are intimate and then leave one another. Their bodies and faces change and changed by happiness, sadness, fortune, and misery. These changes result from error, thereby being in the Dharma metamorphosis.

Those of the third meditation say, “Your metamorphosis frequently occurs in conformity with your mind and nature.” In all the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, on every place and in every precept scene, from Devas to dragons and humans, from the Ghost King, demons to flying creatures, sea creatures, to all kinds of ground animals; from each species to millions and millions of species and uncountable other species boundlessly; it’s impossible to tell all of them; Each of them has their own particular mind and nature. They act, walk, stand, lie, sit, and gesture in accordance with their own races; and in accordance with their races’ gestures, they act and talk, or roar, or hum-ha to communicate with each other. They’re intimate, love, and living together; they share joyfulness and favors with one another. It is no different with the human world: we live together in cities; we are happy, dancing, singing, enjoying together, fighting together, and arguing together. When we are in agreement, we consider it to be right; but when in disagreement, we consider it wrong. The hearing and seeing of each world or precept scene is both homogeneous and inhomogeneous, in complete contrast to that of those with meditation intelligence. This is because Practitioners of the third meditation use enlightenment to see the forms while all others use the forms to see the forms, so they have difficulty recognizing the Enlightenment-about-Form.

The Practitioner of third meditation rank, truly attesting and examining their own body on the basis of the nourishment of the Meditated Intelligence, discussing and illuminating errors of the mind and nature in the Dharma metamorphosis, and therefore says, 

It is wonderful! The virtuous level of unconscious error is terrific! I just realized it! When I am, in this body, standing in front of people, standing in public, they all admire me and call me Venerable. But at that moment, no one thoroughly knows my mind and nature. At that moment, my whole body-mind is metamorphosing into the evil Deity or playing a scene of the devilish invader, the Devil King, or the demon. And who can see and recognize me to obtain a thorough realization?

The third meditation Practitioner continues,

I have thoroughly realized the Dharma metamorphosis. When I began metamorphosing into the Buddha, I was not happy. At the stage of transforming into a devil or ghost, I was not afraid. I often metamorphose while my mind and nature are still pure. I consider metamorphosis to be a food with its adequate procedure. Therefore, my mind is not fearful, my thought is not entangled, and my consciousness is self-masterly. Nevertheless, I am completely aware of everything, because I myself have metamorphosed into everything.

I never enjoy emerging from meditation, but I often make metamorphosis, and that is emerging from meditation naturally. I don’t recognize the place of entering into meditation. However, I illuminate the Eternal-Tranquil-Miraculous Light, and this becomes naturally entered into meditation. For me, no place is true or false because I have gone in and out of worlds. In one place there is fullness, in another, it is emptiness; there is plenty in some places and deficiency in others; therefore, there is a subject of matter taken here and a course given there. For that reason, I have never thought of the practice as a wish of mine, I’m only afraid of practicing by tripping into attachment.

The third meditation Practitioner has almost completed the Prajñā Intelligence, which passes on to the transcendent level of Meditation Intelligence. This fully good accomplishment is due to the relying on His or Her vow to serve the Tathagata respectfully. He or She thus is called the Master of Devas and Humans.

2.4 THE FOURTH EMPTINESS MEDITATION

As for the fourth emptiness of meditation rank, when The Founding Master was still in the world, it was very rare for any sitting meditation practitioner to attain this ultimate rank. The World’s Most Venerable was the unique exception. Therefore, some practitioners, who practice in the wrong direction, pass on the place of confused-imaginary thoughts. They make mistakes only on the place of emptiness, but the consequences are disastrous.

This place of EMPTINESS is a place of full brightness and eternal stillness, which is pure from the Primary Meditation to the Fourth Emptiness – Full Brightness – True Enlightenment. It is called the FOURTH EMPTINESS.

The Supreme Maitreya Buddha –

The Secular World Solver

Portrait of the Supreme Maitreya Buddha strolling downtown wearing Western clothes.

When attending social events, the Lord wears a suit as a secular man.

The layman does not wish for unreal reputations.

He vows from the bottom of his heart,

To assimilate with human beings.

Use the secular life to show the perfect brightness.

Who can realize that that is his journey?

 

The layman comprehends the cause of every evolving scene.

Wouldn’t he entangle with this world?

Enjoy together with enjoyment in harmony.

The Tao places are everywhere,

Which could be told in endless words. —T. V.


Souvenir, February 14, Lunar Calendar.