With reverence, we pay homage to Reverend Liao-ming, Guru Sakya Zheng-kong, Guru Thubten Dargye, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, and the Triple Jewels at the shrine.

Ritual Master (Master Lian-man), Shi-mu, masters, dharma instructors, lamas, fellow students, and students from across the internet, greetings to all of you.

Earlier, Lama Lian-bai sang two songs for us. Master Lian-man, in addition to his discourse on singing, also spoke of the first dharma teaching trip he had made with me. During that trip to Europe, as soon as he was picked up from the airport, he was brought immediately to a venue to give a talk. Since he had not had a chance to rest, he was tired and afterwards had no idea what he had talked about. Additionally, Master Lian-man is Cantonese, so his Mandarin was hard for people to understand.

《Wu Nian and Wu Zhu》

Lama Lian-bai sang two songs. The first song was about reminiscing, and the second song was about helping sentient beings --- what the lyrics "Amitabha in the World" refer to.

Let's first talk about the subject of reminiscing or "thinking." Each one of us has thoughts. Thoughts about the past, present, and future, as well as thoughts one may not have wanted to think about, emerge out of the blue. Every human being lives amidst thoughts unless the brain is no longer functional and one can no longer think.

A comatose patient with any sign of brain activity has thoughts. Only one whose brain activity has completely gone has no thought. Alternatively, if you happened to be walking in a dark alley and someone came up behind you and whacked your skull with a wooden stick or steel hammer causing you to fell and lose consciousness, at such a moment, you are also without thought!

Let's ask the master (referring to Master Lian-han) who has previously discussed the idea of "No Thought" to stand up. Here he is. (audience applause). During one exchange with me, he wrote down two words "wu nian" (No Thought). That was all he wrote. I told him that what he wrote was right. But later I chased after him to say, "That statement should come with a qualifier. That is, one can have many thoughts, but when none impacts you, that is No Thought."

When the Buddha talked about the state of No Thought, he was not talking about being brain dead. Neither was he talking about being knocked unconscious. True No Thought refers to a state where there are billions of thoughts arising, yet these thoughts have no impact on your inherent pure Buddha Mind. This is then true No Thought.

(to be continued)

(continued from issue #737 P.3)

Master Lian-han has also written these two words, "wu zhu" (Not Abiding Anywhere). Again I chased after him to tell him, "Not abiding anywhere does not mean you are going to roam the streets." In Taiwan we call the homeless "people who regard the streets as their friends." This is not what "wu zhu" means. "Wu zhu" means that whatever circumstance you are in, it has no impact on your pure Buddha Mind.

We have all heard the Buddhist phrases "wu nian, wu zhu, wu xiang" (No Thought, No Abiding, No Image) and make references to them. But, it is useless to mention these phrases without actualizing them. In "wu nian," not one thought has any impact on your pure Buddha Mind. In "wu zhu," not one circumstance has any impact on your Buddha Mind.

When one is dealt many defeats or faces many stressors, one becomes depressed. This is a sickness sentient beings fall prey to. Lama Lian-bai sang a song about "thinking" and this is exactly what I would like to address today --- cultivating the state of "No Thought." Having thoughts is natural, and as long as these thoughts do not pollute your pure Buddha Nature, you are free.

《Successful Responses from Smoke Offerings》

Secondly, Master Lian-han spoke about helping sentient beings in the world. This is not an easy task. The Buddha has employed many expedient methods to help people of this world. Many expedient methods also exist in Tantrayana, like the Smoke Offering I transmitted recently. Many people have had positive responses from doing this practice that result in reinforcement of one's faith. With stronger faith, you will engage in your practice more earnestly.

When Ms Organic, our translator at the temple, practiced her first Smoke Offering to bring enjoyment to all her karmic enemies, creditors, and friends, she had a good response. She had a vision and found that many people have descended upon her living room, wearing beautiful clothes and enjoying gourmet foods. They drove expensive cars and then returned to luxurious homes. It was like there was a huge party going on.

In Taiwan, another student, Hsu Hung-chun, whom Lama Lian-zhi is very familiar with, also had a positive response from the Smoke Offering practice. When I was living in seclusion in Taiwan, if I had even the slightest physical ailment, dharma brother Hsu Hung-chun, who owns a pharmacy and is knowledgeable about many medicines, would bring me remedies. This time Hsu Hung-chun, his wife, and his child came to Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple to receive the Smoke Offering Empowerment personally from me. When he returned to Taiwan, he immediately started the practice and on the day he conducted his first Smoke Offering practice at the pharmacy, business tripled. When he took a day off from doing the practice, business would return to normal. Business owners must be happy to hear this and look forward to performing the Smoke Offering to bring in more business.

In fact, every time dharma brother Hsu does the Smoke Offering, many invisible beings are helping him. These beings are wishing to repay this pharmacist who has given them such good offerings. When an individual walks past the pharmacy, whether or not he may have been ill, he may suddenly find his throat scratchy and want to enter to purchase some cough medicine. Or, a sudden draft may make a pedestrian feel like he is coming down with a cold or feel as if he had sprained a limb so that he will go inside to get cold medicine, pain pills, or ointment. Or someone walking by may suddenly remember that he needed to refill his medicine cabinet. So, every time dharma brother Hsu practices the Smoke Offering, his business improves by three times. So, although the steps may be simple, this Smoke Offering Practice is indeed no simple matter! (Grand Master laughter.) When you receive responses from doing the practice, your faith will be reinforced.

《More Responses from Smoke Offering – Healing and Litigation Dismissal》

Dharma brother Lianhua Wentao is a student in China who used to be in the business of manufacturing fireworks. Most of the fireworks people light on the fourth of July are made in China, and he used to have a very good business exporting his products to the United States. Now, due to the many accidents caused by fireworks, many states have banned their sales. After the resulting decline in business, he switched to selling calling cards. He also came to Redmond recently to receive the Smoke Offering Empowerment directly from me. Upon arriving home, he started conducting the Smoke Offering practice and soon after, he saw a karmic enemy standing next to him, receiving the offering from him, and leaving. (audience applause) At the same time, he saw several spiders crawl out of the top of his head and many strange looking creatures exiting his body through his hair follicles. Suddenly, the illnesses and pains that used to afflict him were gone. And his business? At this point, we do not yet know its long term outcome. Nevertheless, he felt he had received positive responses from doing this practice.

Another student from the South Pacific, Lianhua Dongchu, had also come to Redmond to receive the Smoke Offering Empowerment. He had been involved in a lawsuit and lost his business. Due to a breach in contract with a large financial group, he was sued, lost his business, and sentenced to imprisonment. When he arrived home, he immediately carried out the Smoke Offering Practice. After conducting only one session of the Smoke Offering, that large financial group, on its own initiative, decided to have the lawsuit dismissed. After the second session of the practice, his prison term was lifted and, instead, he only had to pay a minor monetary penalty. He had broken several agreements in his contract and had been sued for each of them. His life would have been over. After the third session of the Smoke Offering, some partners from his former company regrouped and asked him to be their director. Although he no longer had any money, the partners were willing to put up money unconditionally and offer him the position. All these in just three sessions of the Smoke Offering. So, this Smoke Offering Practice is not a "simple" practice to be taken lightly. It is simply efficacious!

《The Smoke Offering Helps One Find Employment》

We know many people are having a hard time finding jobs in the Seattle area and in the United States. Everyone worries about the interview process. Here is a joke I may have told before. A man wanted to apply for a job as a hotel security guard. When the manager asked him if he had any experience, he replied that he of course had experience. He then took a look to his right and to his left, and saw a drunkard walking unsteadily towards him. Without saying a word, he ran toward the man, picked him up, tossed him on the ground and, with a kick, sent the man out the door. The applicant then turned to the manager and said, "Look, with all my experience, you should definitely hire me. I would like to meet with your director." The manager then replied, "Well, that would be quite difficult, since the director was just kicked out the door." (audience laughter.) What is the moral of this story? Had this applicant conducted the Smoke Offering before going for his interview, he would not have chanced upon the director and kicked him out! This practice may turn a seemingly unfortunate chance encounter into a serendipitous chain of events.

So, here in Seattle, whether you are looking for a job or looking for an employee --- the former likely more difficult --- how will you make this happen? You now have a good solution --- doing the Smoke Offering Practice. After conducting this practice, when you go in for your interview, many invisible beings will follow and help you. When the boss sees you, even if you are walking with a limp, you will remind him of his ex-girlfriend doing the Tango and he will find you appealing. In fact, many of the ladies at our temple here are quite past their prime, but if you all perform the Smoke Offering before an interview, when the interviewer sees you, he will find that you remind him of his mother. Although your face may be swollen with a double chin, there is no way he will not hire you.

Therefore, there are many benefits to doing the Smoke Offering, an expedient practice. From this practice you will strengthen your faith and your resolve to reach Enlightenment. Remember, every one of us starts out on the path of the Buddhadharma with so-called expedient methods pertaining to the mundane world. Nowadays, many temples, monks and nuns are helping sentient beings by employing expedient or skillful means. It is not possible to start off right away with the sacred methods. Use the worldly practices first to increase faith, then teach the next level of sacred Buddhadharma.

《From Mundane to Transcendental》

In Taiwan there are several large Buddhist organizations, and they all use expedient means to help sentient beings. Initially, some employed tourism to attract people, building large and magnificent temples with beautiful Buddhist statues, scenic sites, and landscapes. Tour buses came one after another, bringing people in for tours and they purchased tickets for the vegetarian meals and also made donations. What started as tourism became a large Buddhist organization. Today, temples must also employ this kind of expedient means to bring more people into contact with Buddhism.

Another expedient means is through free medical clinics. Some of my students are doctors, and they can form a medical group offering free medical services in rural areas. They can then also share a little about Buddhism and attract these people to the temples to listen to the dharma teaching. What may start out as a small clinic may develop into a large hospital. This is another skillful means. It is important to know how to run a business when managing a temple to keep your organization running.

Therefore, there are both personal as well as public aspects to our practices. In the times of Shakyamuni Buddha, a practitioner focused primarily on personal cultivation. After listening to the Buddha's teaching, every one returned to his own cave to meditate and bring out his Buddha Mind. Today, when you come to do cultivation here at the Ling Shen Ching Tze, I will also tell you to go home and read Buddhist sutras, hold a retreat at home, and meditate. To practice the Tantrayana pathway, you should engage in daily sadhana practice and chant mantras and the names of the Buddhas. If you find your home too noisy, you can find a temple far away in the mountains to do retreat, or come to the Rainbow Temple to do a retreat. This falls into the category of personal sacred pursuit.

Temples, however, need to take an entrepreneurial approach to spreading the Buddhadharma. I have in the past emphasized personal cultivation. As for public events, I advised you merely to go on Saturdays to the Lei Zang Temples or local chapters for group cultivations. And I have found that it is quite difficult this way to further expand your temple congregation and disseminate the Buddhadharma to others. We must catch up with the trend.

Let us take a look at some of these large Taiwan organizations and how they built themselves from the ground up. One started with tourism, one with a medical clinic, one by providing education, another through the media, and another through charity. When your followers increase in numbers and strengthen their faith, you can then teach them the next step of personal sacred pursuit of the Buddhadharma. I think such an approach will be helpful for our school. So start with education and build a school. Start with medicine and form a free clinic in rural communities. Start with charity, and you must first serve the villages and towns surrounding you. You cannot become totally disengaged and isolated from your communities. You cannot do that.

《Get Involved in Your Community》

Therefore, you must get the Lei Zang Temples involved with your communities and cities and offer services to them. This way, people will come to your temple and you can help them. It is not right to hold the attitude that "I am a sacred practitioner and won't interact with worldly people." All the successful religious organizations started with worldly endeavors that then progressed to offering personal sacred pursuits. This is what Buddhadharma should be, the integration of mundane business enterprise with the sacred Buddhist pursuits. Here I would like to appeal to everyone --- all of the temples and local chapters must strike roots into their communities, understand the needs and sufferings of the locals and offer help with expedient means. After individuals take refuge in Buddhism, teach them the sacred practices. Everyone, Ritual Master, and all fellow students, does what I have just said makes sense? (audience applause.)

Of course, we are not limiting ourselves to just hospitals, universities, TV stations, or temple tourism. We have to be mindful at the same time of the ultimate goal of attaining the sacred. If you are only proselytizing through television or other media, running a school, a clinic, or a charity organization with expedient means and fail to teach people the sacred Buddhadharma, this is wrong. There must be the union of "expedient means" and "wisdom." Compassion and wisdom, the mundane and transcendental, must be integrated. The Buddhadharma is both mundane and transcendental and we have to get people to develop their faith and succeed in their spiritual accomplishment. This is the union of the "generation stages" and "completion stages." There is no separation between Cyclic Existence and Nirvana. This is the "Essence of Union." While my Personal Deity is in the Western Realm of Ultimate Bliss, I am sitting here today at the teaching dais to preach, and this is a demonstration of "expedient means." My travels around the world lecturing are merely displays of "expedient means." The achievement of True Perfection abides in the state of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Do you understand this explanation? (audience applause.)

Actually, we have not done enough in the realm of mundane endeavors. From now on, we should strike a balance in the development of both mundane and transcendental accomplishments. Remember, they are both important. Om Mani Padme Hum.