The Art Of Meditation 

By Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated and published by Lei Zang Si Singapore

This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 45th book, 坐禪通明法.

CHAPTER 15 - Tantric Practice of Meditation (1)

When a practitioner has attained "perfect realization," his own Original Nature will appear and he will become a Buddha, feeling that "between Heaven and Earth I am the most revered one."

In his concentrated meditation, he can invite all Buddhas to empower him by shooting up great lights which flash three times. When all Buddhas in the Ten Directions see that someone has attained "Perfect Realization," they will inevitably come to the shrine to celebrate, flashing beautiful lights; Buddhas and Bodhisattvas circle around the Shrine three times and then stay in the space.

At the moment, the heaven Gate is opened, and many celestial maidens come out of the Heaven Gate to scatter flowers on the practitioner. The Flying Musician Gods will play heavenly Music and all Heavens will shower great Dharma rain and great nectar. Flying maidens will dance and the Eight Kinds of Gods and demi-gods (Devas, nagas, yaksas, asuras, garudas, gandharvas, kimnaras, and mahoragas) will come to cheer. A rainbow appears to beam down beautiful lights, and great sound of Dharma thunders and Dharma drums rumbles across the Earth. All Buddhas praise the inconceivable "perfect realization."

Among the Eight Kinds of Gods, the devas and nagas spout out clean water from their mouths, the garudas fly around the protect the Dharma, the yaksas hold scepters to protect the Dharma, the gandharvas spray fragrance, the Musician Gods come to play music, Python Gods and Flying Generals all come to offer protection.

How great the "perfect realization" is! As the practitioner knows that he has realized, he should work even harder for the ultimate Enlightenment of humanity, and use all kinds of expedient methods to embrace al human beings so that they too become Buddhas. To consummate the aspiration, the practitioner can flash out three rounds of strong lights, chanting "Hom! Hom! Hom!" Suddenly, all the beings from the Ten Spheres of Dharma appear in front of the practitioner, walking around the Shrine seven times. Then they stay quietly down there to listen to his lectures on the Dharma, each getting their own stage of fruition. The ten groups of beings include your parents in the past seven life times and parents of the present period; your spouses of the past seven lives and your wife of the present; your children and grand-children of the past seven lives and those of the present; your brothers and sisters of the past seven lives and those of the present; your friends, teachers, and students of the past seven lives and those of the present. No matter whether they are born from an egg, or from a womb, or from heat and moisture, or a miraculous birth, no matter whether they are Asuras, or hell beings, or hungry ghosts or animals, they all come together at your feet impelled by the Dharma force of the "Perfect Realization."

Perfect realization benefits yourself.

Great Bodhicitta benefits others.

So these are the stages of fruition in Tantric cultivation of meditation: to attain perfect realization, to generate great Bodhicitta, to embrace all sentient beings with affinity, and teach those beings without affinity. The feeling that "I am the most revered one" is by no means conceit, but the kind of lofty aspiration that "Who else except me would deliver the suffering beings? Who else except me would go to Hell to save the Hell beings? The Realized one is not only willing to be born into and stay in the mundane world for a long period, but also ready and willing to stay in Hell for the sake of liberating the Hell beings. At this moment, you are an enlightened Buddha, with Buddhas of the past period above you, Buddhas to-be in the future period below you. This is a state that links up the past, present, and future periods, which is called "vertical amalgamation of those periods at one moment." This state breaks down the barriers of time and generation, transcending time and space.

Thanks to the "power to be anywhere to do anything at will," you can come and go freely in all the worlds, in the ten directions: upward, downward, central, East, South, North, West, past, present, and future. All these worlds are amalgamated, thus breaking down the barriers of space. This state transcends space, called "horizontal amalgamation of ten directions." By now neither time nor space exists, and you are in a Dharma Ream Dhyana.

In a Dharma Realm Dhyana, the world does not exist, nor is there difference in time or space. The practitioner himself no longer exists, with his own luminosity resembling Void, and this is the amalgamation of the self and the Universe. Some people say this is "Dhyana to return to the Ocean of Mahavairocana." In Tantric practice, the practitioner's body changes into a mass of light, and the Buddhas from above change into spots of light which flow into the practitioners' mass of light. Thus, the whole Universe is just a mass of light-- no more difference among the Unierse, the practitioner and the Buddhas from the Ten Directions. This is what happens when a practitioner attains Perfect Enlightenment in the Ocean of Light of the Dharma Realm, the small self and the big self amalgamate, and the Self-Nature merges with Buddhas from the Ten Directions and with the Universe. This is what the Diamond Sutra describes: "There is no form of self, of others, of sentient beings, nor of Universal self." There is only the Void, with no self or others, male or female, superior or inferior, nothing! In this Realm, there is no Buddhahood to attain from above, no Dharma to practice in the middle, no sentient beings to liberate down below.

As far as I know "the Great Void" is a proof of "perfect enlightenment," but the Self-Nature can reappear in the Void. This is a rebirth after Enlightenment, a return to the "world of endurance," in order to save the sentient beings and become Buddhas together with them.

Please note, my dear readers, that I hold equality between the Buddha and myself, making no distinction in between, for the claim "I am the most revered on" is a claim for the amalgamation of the Buddhas in the ten directions and Myself.

There was once a presumptuous man who told me the following: "I am the most revered one, so I need no more cultivation." "Why is that?" I asked. "If I go on practicing, I would be superior to the Buddha." "What are you now then?" I asked again. "No one is my equal."

His three answers are all faulty. With the first answer, though there is the Realm in which one can feel "I am the most revered one" as discussed in this chapter, something is wrong with "I need no more cultivation" which shows he has not realized. For when the self-nature becomes a Buddha, the highest realm no longer makes any distinction between self and others, and the self-nature of all Buddhas in the ten directions becomes one and the same thing, returning to the Ocean of Mahavairocana. "I need no more cultivation" shows he has not reached the other shore and that "I am the most revered on" is also false.

With the second answer he is even more ignorant. It not only shows that he has not returned to the Ocean of Mahavairocana, but shows that he still makes distinction between the Buddha and himself. he does not know that the Empty Nature is equal. His remark, typical of off-springs of demons, shows his conceit as well as his ignorance of Buddhist teachings.

The third answer, "No one is my equal" is a favorite phrase of the Maras. Such people are crazy or have been led astray by devils. Not long afterwards, this person did have a nerves breakdown and was sent to an asylum. Asylums are filled up with super great men who "are the most revered."

This chapter is about what happens when one reaches the highest Realm in Meditation. I want everybody to understand that the ultimate goal is get to the Ocean of Mahavairocana where everybody is equal. Huamn beings are confused about the self-nature; after enlightenment, they return to the Ocean of Mahavairocana, to become "the most revered," never again to fall into the cyclic forms of existence.

Then, coming out of the Ocean of Mahavairocana, the self-nature shows itself again. Out of benevolence and compassion for the entient beings, you come back to the human world to save the suffering beings by compassion and wisdom. Whatever the methods, as long as you can put the sentient beings onto the correct path, they are skillful, expedient methods.

I feel deeply that the ultimate goal for all practices is the Realm of "Great Void Samadhi" (in which everything is empty, formless and desireless), the state that the Taoists call "The Ocean of Nothingness" ("An Illumination Sea of Dharma Realm"). All sentient beings are imperfect before realization. Once they reach that Realm, they understand the equality of the Buddha Nature. As I take pity on today's spiritual cultivators for their ignorance, I have first described the highest, the most extraordinary Realm of cultivation.

Source: http://www.padmakumara.org  

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