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July 10, 1979
Fort Ross
Dear Shih Fu,
This letter is a rambling berry-patch of the thoughts I've had all week. The themes are: be happy, don't worry, Dharma-cultivation is good work. The harder the work, the happier we feel. Cultivation makes us happy for real.
The ancient immortal Sages had no other way, They were vastly happy by night and day.
PART I
A monk lights a stick of incense and bows respectfully to a statue of the Buddha. He sits down before the altar and crosses his legs. He picks up a dulcimer and strums a quiet, rhythmic tune. He begins to chant in English,
At that time the Bodhisattva Forest Of Merit and Virtue received the Buddha's spiritual might and entered the samadhi of the Bodhisattva's Good Thoughts. After entering that samadhi there were Buddhas in number like motes of dust in ten thousand Buddhalands who came from beyond worlds as many as motes of dust in ten thousand Buddhalands in each of the ten directions...
and on he goes, singing/reciting the Ten Practices Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. He does this every day as his Dharma-door of devotion; it's an offering to the Sutra and to his own wisdom-nature. When he's through, he transfers the benefits to all beings everywhere with a wish that we all will work for the good and avoid all evil. He is always happy with his work. Sometimes he sings his Sutra in public. The simple tune and the spell-binding stories of the Bodhisattva's conduct go right to the hearts of the listeners. He accompanies himself on banjo or autoharp, sometimes he just recites and lets the Sutra's words make their own rhythm in empty space:
My mind will dwell in peace in unsur- passed, unspoken, non-relying, unmoving, measureless, boundless, inexhaustible, formless, most profound wisdom. -- Avatamsaka Sutra
This is how it may happen as the practices of the Proper Dharma take root in Western soil.
When Bodhidharma set sail from India, fulfilling Shakyamuni Buddha's prediction that the Mahayana teaching would be transmitted to China during the time of the Twenty-eighth Patriarch, the Buddhadharma already existed in China, yet it was as if it were not there at all. Although there were men who studied, there were few who lectured or recited the Sutras and repentance ceremonies were seldom practiced. -- Master Hua, commentary on Sixth Patriarch Sutra
Sign posted on billboards and phone poles all over: Buddhadharma Fair! Come One, Come All! Come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas! Continuous Dharma-lectures! Free admission! Special Day-long Medicine Master Repentance Ceremony (reservations accepted at the City or by calling this number...) Vegetarian Food! No intoxicants or cigarettes, please. Art exhibit.
Booths: vegetarian cooking, natural health care, organic gardening.
Dharma Realm Buddhist University Demonstrations: T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Acupuncture.
Music: Buddhist choir, chanting, young people's concert.
Plays: Instilling Virtue Players' original shows. Buddhist Schools Graduation ceremonies and awards for academic excellence.
Meditation instruction. And fun for all.
This is how it could be as we expediently introduce the Buddhadharma to our family in the West.
Our generation has the inconceivable strength of good roots to have met our teacher in person. We are able to study and practice below his Dharma- seat day and night. The treasury of true principles that we receive is rich beyond counting. Decades from now our Dharma heirs will still be busy translating and gathering the wealth of Dharma that issues from our teaching-source like a never-ending spring.
Heng Ch'au and I are investigating the second of the Ten Grounds in the Avatamsaka Sutra. It is called "Leaving the Dirt." It's all about the basic rules for being a person, the Ten Good Deeds. It is like a medicine kit for the afflictions and suffering we all experience. In clear words it describes both the good and bad habits that beings practice in every move, all day long. The Ten Good Deeds are the real thing. The Sutra contains the ancient rules of proper conduct, the true Dharma. I go out to bow feeling on top of my faults and in charge. A test will arise, I miss my cue, attach to a state and find myself really unhappy. That night, as I review the second ground, I see my mistake on the Sutra page. It always comes with a remedy attached, spoken in a kind, wise voice. It's a shocker every time to see my demons and ghosts revealed to my eye. The Avatamsaka is a holy scripture; ageless and as yet unknown to the West. It turns into a mirror, it turns into a good friend, it speaks to our deepest hearts the way no other printed words have done.
This is why we say how lucky we are and how happy we feel time after time. Who wouldn't want to share this magic with everyone? Who wouldn't feel a huge debt of gratitude to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and Wise Advisors? They have brought the wisdom and the goodness of the Great Vehicle to us and laid it in our hands. Our job is to recognize this priceless gift and to make it available to all people. Most important: to practice the teachings with pure faith and boundless energy.
What's spoken is Dharma; What's practiced is the Way. Speak of it well, Speak of it wonderfully, But if you don't cultivate, It's still not the Way.
Cultivation shouldn't sound burdensome, it's a light, a joyful way of life. Before we meet the Dharma, life is like standing in a pit of fire. The Buddha taps us on the shoulder and says calmly, "There's a sturdy ladder over here. You can climb out of the flames if you wish to. Oh, and let the others know about it on your way out, won't you?" You bet we will!
The work of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is to lay the foundations of the Proper Dharma here in the West. As the City is the body of the new, healthy, baby-Buddha, establishing the rules, bowing the repentance ceremonies, investigating the Sutras and translating them, participating in morning and evening devotions, holding the precepts, and daily practices will be the beating heart of the Dharma-body.
There is so much good work ahead, it's like hearing the Buddha say, "You're going to be working on this mountain of jewels for the rest of your lives, you should bring forth a great heart of vigor and boundless joy." We have the world's best job: givers of the unsurpassed Dharma. Whether we translate it, recite it, meditate upon it, type it, lecture it, bow it on the highway, radiate it from happy thoughts, are mindful of it as we mow grass, answer the phone, and fertilize the crops, we are all practicing the giving of peace and happiness, good energy, and Buddha-light. What could be finer? When we cultivate the Bodhisattva Path by practicing a Dharma-method with the mind and holding the precepts with the body, then we are healing ourselves naturally. We are getting well! We all become Buddhas, perfect beings, when our practice is done well with energy and concentration, and that's the best news I've ever heard.
Monk: Master, some people try to convert us by saying, "The Buddha can't save you. He was only a man. You shouldn't try so hard. You can't be saved by works, either."
Ven. Abbot: So you tell them, "I have food to eat, clothes to wear, I can bow to the Buddhas, who needs to be saved? I save myself."
Monk: They say "You're in bondage!"
Ven. Abbot: You tell them, "Good, I like it. I'm happy."
The Bodhisattva always shows great
happiness to all beings.
-- Avatamsaka Sutra
Sometimes when you return the light and look within it feels like a deep dive into a cesspool. There's a whole lot of filth and nastiness inside one. Before I began to cultivate I didn't recognize it. Cultivation is all about getting right in there and purging the poisons, slogging through the mud of self and greed, hatred, and stupidity. You have to shovel it out bucketful after bucketful. But the Buddhadharma is the great purifier, it's mind medicine, the heal-all herb for the poisons that afflict us.
Like the agada herb
Which can purge all poisons,
The Buddhadharma is the same;
It eradicates the disaster of afflictions.
Avatamsaka Sutra, Chapter 24
"Praises in the Tushita Heaven Palace"
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva instructs us to "repent and reform of all karmic faults," and that's what repentance ceremonies are all about. Every time we sincerely call ourselves on our faults, recognize them and vow to change, the mind gets a little brighter inside. Those are my afflicted beings inside. I've vowed to save them all. No matter how much trouble I give myself due to my past greed, hatred, and stupidity, I'm going to keep on with this good work of cultivation until the mirror of my mind has no specks of dust remaining. Will it be tomorrow? Will it be nine aeons from now? Can't tell. Even if it takes forever, I believe that we will all become Buddhas and I make it my job to take my inner living beings across first.
At the same time, I don't have to wear my afflictions like a merit badge. This is seeking approval. I caused all my own troubles, I should bear the results in silence, not be such a weak crybaby and certainly not afflict others with the details of my daily ups and downs. How does a Bodhisattva do it?
He is universally a good and wise ad- visor for all beings. He speaks the Proper Dharma and causes them to culti- vate. It's just like the great ocean: no amount of poison can change it or spoil it. And the Bodhisattva is the same. All those he meets, be they without wisdom...all types of oppressive afflictions from these...beings cannot move or confuse him. -- Avatamsaka Sutra
With faith in the Way,
Disciple Kuo Chen
(Heng Sure)
bows in respect