Purple Lotus Publisher > Journal > Volumn NO. 13

Millenium Teaching & the Ritual of Offering

A discourse by Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu after the Saturday group cultivation at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond, Washington, on January 1st, 2000

Translated by Janny Chow from Ch'ao Hsien Hsiang Ti P'iao Fu (Floating in the Realms of Transcendence), published in March, 2000

Masters, Fa-shi's (venerables), teaching assistants, and fellow cultivators, good evening! [audience applause] This evening we heard Master Lian-yin talk about "the Millenium" and Lian-chin Fa-shi talk about "Faith."

Everyone is talking about the Millenium now, but I do not really want to talk about it because it is, afterall, a manmade phenomenon. Just think, in the world of ants, will they be celebrating the "millenium" today? The ants don't seem to be flustered about it as the humans do. In the ants' world, they also have workers, male ants, and female queens, but their celebration absolutely will not fall on the same day as the humans'. So, isn't this millenium only a creation of the humans? In the eyes of the Buddhas, "time" is basically an illusory conception. Earlier, everyone was saying "Happy New Year" and "Happy Millenium".... I didn't feel like saying them. [audience laughter] I will say them when you are not saying them. When you are saying them, I will not say them. Do not think that only humans can do this and do that.... such a view is too narrow and shallow. Time is infinite and Space is boundless. Men always like to blow their own trumpets, saying how much they have achieved and how much progress they have made. Actually, the globe is just a grain of sand in the eyes of the Buddhas.

Last night on television, celebrations were broadcast of crowds and fireworks from all around the world --- at Times Square in New York, the Eiffle Tower in Paris.... Let me tell you, when the world of ants celebrates, it is more exciting than this; it is just that you cannot feel it. Expand your vision: the "millenium" is created by men, just as "time" is created by men. Basically, this phenomenal world is a world created by illusion. Just now Master Lian-yin talked about the issue of people coming to ask for spiritual consultation. I have said this before: if you don't go to seek consultation, you have no problems; if you seek consultation, you have problems. What is there to worry?

First, instead of worrying, ask yourself how has your day gone today? Have you done anything meaningful? Have you done any homework (cultivation)? Have you lived your day honorably and gloriously? If the answers are "no," then don't come to ask for spiritual consultation. The same goes for tomorrow. If you have engaged in actual practice today, your mind and spirit will be calm and peaceful. This is very good! You have lived splendidly and immersed yourself in meaningful deeds. These will accumulate and turn into merits! In the future you will definitely attain great accomplishments! The principles are very simple.

People of the world --- just as described by Master Lian-yin --- are very forgetful. They drag and procrastinate day after day and complain, "How come the number of sentient beings to be liberated can never be exhausted?" In my view, this is a good thing. Let me explain why. If the number of sentient beings to be liberated can be exhausted, wouldn't I be out of a job? [audience laughter]

It is very simple! If the sentient beings were free, what is there for me to amuse myself with? If all sentient beings were liberated and reborn to the Western Pure Land of Sukhavati, what would I do with myself? Alone here in the world? Could Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva remain as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva then? If all hells were emptied, for what would he keep watch? There has to be at least something for him to do! Therefore, the number of sentient beings to be liberated is inexhaustible! The karma of sentient beings is inconceivable.

To come back to the same point, if sentient beings, after hearing me teach, were able to immediately open their hearts and become awakened, they would all be liberated. If that happened, it would be my turn to make offerings to everyone. [audience laughter] How could I not make offerings to someone who is Enlightened? Today you have come to make offerings to me, that is of course a good thing. There are offerings because there are sentient beings. If there were no sentient beings, from where would the offerings come? I feel that it is a good thing that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can come here to teach and help the sentient beings! This way, they will not be too bored. If all sentient beings were liberated and the world returned to emptiness --- when everyone became a Buddha and Bodhisattva --- I believe there would not be much fun left for the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

What is the quickest way to reach Enlightenment? Earlier, Master Lian-yin said someone had asked him this question. In the future, there will be a day when a "quickest" method to Enlightenment will arrive. That will be when Maitreya Bodhisattva descends to the world. He will use His Mind-Only Transformative Power to send the Enlightened consciousness into the hearts of all sentient beings. This will cause the consciousness of the sentient beings to transform to that of the Buddhas. Everyone will be able to tap into the Buddha knowledge and attain the Buddhas' Consciousness, therefore becoming Enlightened altogether. This is the quickest method. I will talk more about it in the future.

I think Shakyamuni Buddha mentioned that, in the future when Maitreya Bodhisattva is born into the world, He will be able to use the Mind-Only Consciousness to transform the consciousness of ordinary beings to that of the Buddhas. This way, all people with affinity will be liberated. However, only people with affinity will be liberated. Just like now, those who have the affinity to encounter a true Vajra Master will be able to open their hearts to untie mental knots. If, at the moment of dying, a true Vajra Master comes to do the "Powa" for you, allowing your consciousness to exit through the crown chakra, and if, at the same time, there is the Luminous Buddha using a purifying method to transform your consciousness into a pure one, you will be guided immediately to the Pure Lands of the Buddhas. Only a true Vajra Master can accomplish such a deed. If you encounter such a Vajra Master and you are lying there at your deathbed, he will at once perform the "Powa" for you and invoke a Personal Deity to descend upon your crown. Then he will draw your consciousness all the way up to your crown aperture. He will open the crown aperture, and you will ascend together with the Personal Deity to the Pure Land. A true Vajra Master can do this. This is a method of "transference of consciousness." As long as one's consciousness becomes purified, one can be transported to the Pure Land of the Buddhas. This is based on the affinity one has with the Vajra Master.

It would be best if one has the affinity to encounter a true Vajra Master who would perform the "Powa" for one and help transport one's consciousness to the Pure Lands of the Buddhas. However, I feel that this kind of affinity is very rare and precious. Think about it, how many masters in this world are true Vajra Masters? The opportunity to encounter such a true Vajra Master indicates an accumulation of merits over many lifetimes. Yet when some people encounter this kind of Vajra Master, they choose to brush past them. This means they are, indeed, down on their luck. This is because they simply will not believe in him, even though they have encountered a Vajra Master.

Earlier Lian-chin Fa-shi talked about the issue of "faith." If you had the opportunity to encounter a true Vajra Master, yet you just walk by without taking advantage of the situation, then you too, are truly out of luck. A true Vajra Master can purify your consciousness, open the crown aperture for you, and invoke the Personal Deity to come to guide and lead you to be born in the Pure Lands of the Buddhas. Even if you had not done any practice, he would still do the same things: open the crown aperture, invoke the Personal Deity, and help to transport your consciousness. Although you had not done any practice, to tell you honestly, you must have established a very strong affinity with this Vajra Master in your previous lives. You have to be very blessed already to be able to encounter him at all.

Therefore, events in the human world are also manifestations of karmic causes and consequences. Like the "millenium" discussed earlier, even though it is a creation of men, it is still not easy for one to encounter the beginning of a new millenium.

When you encounter a true Vajra Master, you have to use a careful and rational wisdom to observe him. If he is, indeed, a true Vajra Master, then you must engender a kind of strong and firm faith in him. In the past when I first encountered the world of the spirits, my invisible teacher came every night to teach me. Alone in my room, I would join my palms and practice walking the steps as instructed. He helped me to lift up the leg and walk footsteps by turning different angles. I was not walking on my own. First he showed me how, by lifting my leg. Then I had to commit the instructions to memory. At that time, I thought to myself, "What a nuisance, why does he want me to remember all the basic steps and work on them? Can't he just come to lift up my legs in the future when I have to do the rituals?" That was how I thought at that time! He got upset at me and, Shurp! He left me. The next day, I got out of bed and waited for him, but he didn't come. The third day, I was there waiting again, and he still did not come. He told me, "You have to learn to do it on your own."

Even though you have faith and confidence in your own root guru, you still have to do the practice yourself. Your master cannot do the practice for you! Don't be mistaken! Do not think that after engendering a faith in the Grand Master, I will help you to do the practice. You have to do it yourself. That time when the invisible teacher refused to come, I have learned a very important lesson!

Sometimes I also had this strange question --- why do the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas need offerings from us humans? Every day I would do the offering by sprinkling rice and nectar. I have thought to myself, "We have all these supermarkets here in the United States. Why can't they go and help themselves at the supermarkets when they are hungry? Why do we have to place a few pieces of fruit on a platter as offering? Then we pray and visualize the multiplication of the fruit. We chant the Mandala Offering Mantra, and we visualize the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas descending. Besides the supermarkets, there are also many restaurants around. Why can't they go there and help themselves? [audience laughter] It would be a good thing if they could go help themselves. These offerings that we have to make everyday are a waste of our time!"

Actually this kind of thinking is wrong. The Mandala Offering is a practice to train and cultivate one's mind. When we concentrate our mind in doing the offering to the Buddhas, we are communicating with them. If we do not do this, we would not be able to communicate with them. Letting them get the food on their own is tantamount to having no communication between us and them!

When I was in Taiwan, I had many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas at the shrine in my house and I did many offering practices. Sometimes I got upset with them, and I would say, "You did not treat me well today, I am not going to make offerings to you. I am mad. If you want food, get it from the refrigerator yourself." [audience laughter] But each time, my heart would turn soft and surrender, and I would eventually go to obediently do my offerings. It is futile to get upset with the invisibles! The one who would lose would oneself! It is also futile to get upset with one's teacher. Here also, the one losing out is oneself. This is very simple.

Talking about faith, have you been making friendly contacts with your teacher, master, Personal Deity, and Dharma Protector? Is the "Samaya Pledge" still intact? Do you have strong faith in the "three basic roots": your Dharma Protector, Personal Deity, and Guru? If your faith is strong, it will be reflected in the way you make offerings. You will not perfunctorily walk by the shrine to casually place something there and walk away. When doing the Great Prostration, if your head turns away to see what is happening, and you hurriedly get up to leave after making one prostration, it shows that there is no sincerity in your heart. When you are doing the Great Prostration, you must face the shrine and concentrate on bowing respectfully. When you make the offering of water, milk, flowers, or incense, doing so sincerely with a quiet and focused mind, paths will cross and interactions will occur. If you want psychic or spiritual responses, you don't just ask the guru or the Buddhas to give them to you. The key lies in whether you are able to merge and become one with them.

Each time when I make an offering, I do so with great concentration of my mind. What is happening during the act of offering? When one enters totally into the act of offering, one's mind will fly into the hearts of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. At such a moment, the Deity is aware of your thoughts and He will give you responses, the two minds will merge into one, and you will know then that He has accepted your offering. In this moment your prayer will become effective. You can't just say to yourself, "There is a lot of food in Safeway and also in my refrigerator. When I finish cooking, just come and enjoy it! Why do I have to call upon them every meal?"

Each day when I have my meals at the Ling Shen Ching Tze Library Restaurant, I join my palms respectfully and visualize the Deities with total concentration. Then I visualize the food multiplying into infinite quantities and to be offered. Why do I do that each time? Because I want to turn my thoughts to them at those moments. At those best moments, I turn my thoughts to my Personal Deity, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the beings in the six realms of existence, the four holy realms, and the guru. Such a moment is the best time for minds to cross and make contact. You will immediately feel their presence and acceptance of your offering. But remember not to make the process too complicated. There is one master who takes too long to do the visualization and, when he finishes, all the food is cold. When he does fire puja, the fire dies out because he takes too long to do the visualization. There is no need to visualize the Buddhas picking up the chopsticks to eat your food or using the spoon to drink the soup. You only have to visualize the food being displayed in front of them and filling up the whole spiritual realm. That will be sufficient. How can you worry about how they are going to eat the food? [audience laughter] There has to be a balance in your visualization --- not too overzealous and not too sloppy.

Many people have asked me, "When I offer noodles, should I offer a fork or a pair of chopsticks? Or should I let them suck up the noodles without any utensils?" [audience laughter] Please, utensils will not be necessary! Someone also asked me this, "Grand Master, I have some sticky rice balls here, red ones mixed with white ones, do I have to visualize both colors?" I told him there was no need. Just visualizing bowl after bowl of this dessert appearing to fill up the whole universe will be enough. And don't even tell me that you want to visualize exactly how many sticky rice balls there are! So, while some students are too rigid, some are too relaxed. The too relaxed ones will say, "Help yourself at Safeway." The too rigid ones try to visualize the exact number of sticky rice balls in his offering.

Therefore, Buddhism teaches about the "Middle View" and "Middle Path," which is a kind of philosophy pertaining to the striking of a balance between two extremes. Similarly, in our cultivation we cannot be too tight or too loose. When a string is too tight, it will break. When a string is too loose, it will not produce any wonderful sound.

Let everything take its natural course and keep its balance. This is the basic principle guiding our spiritual cultivation. In reality, this world is pure and just "as-is." Dharma practices are inherently non-existent, but you must rely on the practices to help you experience and merge with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Similarly, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not need to feed on your offerings. In fact, the offering ritual is used to train one's mind to become focused. If you don't do this kind of training to bring your mind into focus, how can you experience their presence?

Of course Tantrayana teaches that one has to practice and have faith. I also teach everyone to have a rational faith. For example, after listening to me expounding on the principles behind these Buddhist practices, you have to decide what you should do. This is based on reasoning and wisdom. These are not empty talks. If you believe in them, then you have to enact them. When you actually go and do the practice, you are training your mind to enter into a union with the minds of the Guru and the Personal Deity. When you employ this kind of practice to engender a kind of power, the Dharma Protectors will come to help you.

Some people think there is no need for them to tell the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas about their affairs, as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are supposed to know everything. So they think there is no need for any prayers. This is wrong! At the moment when you talk and pray to them, you enter into a state where there will be the communion of minds. If you don't talk or pray to them, if you don't do your practice or make the offering, they of course will know. The point is, when you maintain only a lukewarm relationship with them, they will also keep you at arm's length. Therefore, you have to be with them every day. When you spend every day with the spiritual lights of your Personal Deity, Dharma Protector, and Guru, you will definitely enter into a state of communion with them. This is the method I use in matters related to spiritual cultivation. Each time, after telling my Personal Deity about what is in my mind, I feel relieved and calm. There are many things you must tell your Personal Deity, Guru, and Dharma Protectors. This is something that needs to be done daily.

That is why Tantrayana teaches that one has to devote four periods of time each day to turn one's thoughts to the Personal Deity, Guru, and Dharma Protectors: at sunrise, noon, sunset, and bedtime. During these times, you enter into union with them. Moreover, when you one day attain true accomplishment, your Personal Deity, Guru, and Dharma Protector will be united with you every single moment --- you have become the Personal Deity! At the time of One Taste Yoga, you are constantly together with your Personal Deity. At such a time, every movement or action you make will be that of the Personal Deity's!

Therefore, you have to learn the secrets and essences in doing practice. When you do your practice, you are turning your mind to the Deities and entering into communion with them. When you chant his mantra, visualize him, hold his mudra, enter into his Samadhi, he will become one with you. This is what practice is about!

To be a believer is to go forth and actually do the practice. One day when you attain the response, a great response, and you become inseparable from your Personal Deity, you will succeed in the practice. In the future, when you become the Personal Deity, you will be able to go to the Pure Land of the Personal Deity. Take me as example. When I make offerings to them every day, they all arrive to accept my offerings. When the time comes for me to leave, they will definitely come to receive me, so how can I not be able to go their Pure Land? I will definitely be able to go there! I am full of confidence of that, and because of this certainty, I feel and live very happily. Whenever I chant their names, they will come. Whenever I think about them, they will come. Whenever I make offerings to them, they will come. So when the time comes for me to depart from this world, when I close my eyes and chant their names, they will come too and I will be reborn to their Pure Land. So, what is there to be afraid of? Regarding the future, there is nothing to worry about. At such a time, your life will assume a clarity and luminosity that is very wonderful. There is no worry. You will not be afraid of living or dying, as you have mastered over life and death.

I hope that at the beginning of this new year, you will make a resolve to uphold this faith to do your practice. One day, when you arrive at your accomplishment, you will realize that spiritual cultivation is indeed the most meaningful thing one can do while incarnating in this world. [audience applause]

Om Mani Padme Hum.