So, I tell you that, for nowadays people to learn from Buddha, in fact, only if grasping the essentials of the dharma, that is generating the mind of renunciation and the mind for Bodhi, you can go to the Pure-land after death by repeating the Buddha’s name, can attain the samadhi through meditation, also can achieve the Buddha-hood in this life by practicing the esoteric dharma. Having generated the mind for Bodhi, you shall eliminate the hindrances of all past lives, and collect all your merits and virtues, thus your practice can be successful. If you merits and virtues cannot be collected, once you practice you will have vexations and hindrances, which proves the slightness of our blessed-rewards of all past lives. So, considering the most important issue in practice, Gure Neng Hai thought that it’s difficult for nowadays people to practice, and if our merits, virtues and Sambhara are not enough, we can hardly make achievements. So, during his practice he wrote a book, the ‘Eulogy for Sambhara’, advocating that Sambhara must be sufficient for attaining the Buddha-hood.

I often take the example that, one with enough Sambhara and much merits and virtues is just like a big piece of gold, which once being put here cannot be blew away no matter the wind blowing from what directions; while the other without enough merits, virtues and Sambhara is just like a big piece of cotton, which can be blew away only by gentle breeze. He’d collapse if someone just breezes near his ears. He’d immediately run there if a Living-Buddha comes to Ganzi canton, and again right away run here if a Khenpo comes. Such kind of people kept running here and there for a whole life time, even with calluses under their feet, however in the end, themselves’ vexations became more and more.

I have a disciple from the northeast of China, who went to study in the Wuming Buddhism Institute for 3 years. I’m not exaggerating that as soon as he walked into the gate of the mountain, the whole White Tower Temple was full of his bad smell of having not taken a bath for 3 years. After coming to the White Tower Temple, the first thing he did is taking off all his cloths, which take those kind-hearted Upasakas a whole day to wash. That is the first ‘achievement’ he got. The second one was that his vexation, greed and anger were more and greater than before. Hearing one comment from someone, he would jump more highly than any others. As a learner from Buddha, one should have learned to be heart-easy and less vexation. So, the more he learned, the more troubles he was in. Can one open up the wisdom by learning from others not to take paths, or by learning things that nobody can understand? The language we speak shall be understood by everyone thus can it work; the character we write shall be read by everyone thus can it act. E.g., the methods taught by me shall be useful if everybody can apply them to the practice; while your method shall not be called a method if proven useless through everybody’s practice, at least, it was not suitable for everybody.

So, for nowadays people, to learn the Buddha-dharma must grasp the essentials of its practicing, do not pursue the form, do not go to see who learns more or to hear who talks bigger. If having generated the mind of renunciation and returning to all beings that every good thing we did, every good wish we made and every sentence of the Buddha’s name we repeated, as well as wishing to rescue all beings with own merits and virtues, then you will be a very happy one. So, nowadays people of learning from Buddha shall not pursue the form. If only generating the mind of renunciation and the mind for Bodhi and corresponding to Avalokiteshvara, everybody can achieve the Buddha-hood in this life. This is absolutely true.

Talking of reciting more mantras, you couldn’t exceed me; talking of learning more methods, you also couldn’t exceed me. I began to learn Taoism techniques since 1996; as what I’ve told you before, not mention blowing a cloud, in those years, at least I was able to draw 108 Taoism symbols in one breath. Now I’ve given up all those useless tricks, because they are just acrobatics which couldn’t solve the problem.

So, if not generating the mind for Bodhi, not returning own merits and virtues to all beings, and not grasping the essentials of practice, one could at most get a few rewards for men and deva through previous practice, or at most learn some arguments of Buddhism to fool others. Now I found many monks just understood some arguments of Buddhism, and just use them to correct others instead of correcting themselves. Such people are not few. Nowadays learners and practicers shall get rid of such woeful situation and the present very unhappy phenomena; on the issue of practice, all of us must grasp the essentials, generate the mind of renunciation and the mind for Bodhi, return all the merits and virtues to all beings, practice not only for ourselves, contribute the wisdom that proven through own practice to the society, and do more good things.

Learning from Buddha shall not conflict with living and working. If setting your learning from Buddha against your living and working, then at least I can say that you didn’t learn according to the dharma. Because the Buddha-dharma is in harmony with the laws of the temporal world. The Buddha-dharma is for solving the problems of men, if the relationships of people between people, living, and working are inconsistent, well then the Buddha-dharma would lose its original features and true contents. What I’m advocating is that nowadays people to learn from Buddha must be practical, that is to grasp the essentials of the Buddha-dharma.