Those who cultivate truth and awaken to the Way all know what it means to leave the world — but by what road? Now there has come to hand this book, whose twenty chapters are entirely a guide for returning to the root and going home. The intent of this book unites all three teachings from a single source: ten thousand differences, one root; many expressions, one origin. Let those who practise the Way today use it as a lamp in the dark passage.

The Yiguandao tradition understands "leaving the world" not as withdrawal from life but as liberation from the wheel of birth and death. These twenty chapters address the practitioner directly — you, sitting here, now — with a frank, unsentimental warmth. They do not flatter. They name the obstacles clearly: attachment, doubt, bad temper, scattered mind. And then they say: you can do this. This one era, this one life.

The text was composed in the late Qing or early Republican period, in the warm colloquial register characteristic of Yiguandao devotional literature. It circulates without named authorship, as is customary for texts understood to carry the voice of the tradition itself.

Preface

Those who cultivate truth and awaken to the Way all know what it means to leave the world — but by what road does one leave? People today still grope in darkness. We have now come upon a book called Essentials for Leaving the World, whose contents are entirely a guide for returning to the root and going home. We have had it printed, so that sincere practitioners of the Way may use it as a lamp in the dark passage. The intent of this book unites all three teachings from a single source: ten thousand differences, one root; many expressions, one origin. Let those who practise the Way today use this book as their resource for leaving the world — they will find it does not lead them astray. We offer these words as a preface.

Chapter One: On Karma and Cause-and-Effect

Above are the heavenly realms; below, the earthly realm; between, the human realm. Whether one becomes a spirit, an immortal, a person, a ghost, or an animal — all is within karma. The immortals and spirits are those who do not obscure karma. Human beings fall into karma and are swept about by its changes without knowing it.

If you want to know the causes of your past life, look at what you are receiving in this life. If you want to know the fruits of your next life, look at what you are doing in this life. The causes of a past life are the fruits of this life; the causes of this life will become the fruits of the next. While karma is not exhausted, birth and death are not exhausted — the six paths of rebirth, the four modes of the animals: womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, transformation-born.

For human beings there are two roads: wealth and honour, or poverty and low station. If you are wealthy and honoured in this life, it is because you accumulated virtue and did good in a past life — good causes bear good fruit. If you are poor and lowly in this life, it is because you created harm and made offences in a past life — bad causes bear bad fruit. Life after life, death after death, there is a ledger that has been kept for ten thousand years. The ten kings of the underworld administer it: what cause produces what fruit? They calculate it for you with perfect fairness, not a thread out of place. Good is rewarded with good; evil is rewarded with evil. But the reward may come early or late, in the open or in secret, calculated across several lifetimes with additions and subtractions — so there are rewards that can be seen, and rewards that cannot.

Where there is karma there is birth and death; where there is birth and death there is the reward of good and evil. Without karma, one cannot become parent and child. Without karma, one cannot become husband, wife, or children. Loving joy is karma; bitter enmity is also karma. It is not fixed by heaven and earth, not forced upon us by the king of the underworld — we bring it on ourselves. But we change our faces and our names — surname Zhang, surname Li — going back and forth on the road of rebirth in a stupor, not aware.

Good karma leads upward to heaven; bad karma leads down to hell. In the human realm, to be born in poverty is a thousand hardships; to be born in wealth is a moment of pleasure — but the wealthy must create much harm, and in the next life they return to poverty. If they make further offences, they descend in the life after that to animal form.

People in the world do not believe in karma; they say a person dies like a lamp going out. They do not believe in retribution; they say they have never seen a living person condemned or a dead ghost wearing a cangue. But they do not know that when a person dies, the body perishes while the soul does not. The soul is like the seed of fire — it can be blown across; it can be kindled again. As for living people suffering — floods, fires, the pain of sores and illness, the injustice of law and punishment — most of this is fixed in the underworld for offences made in a previous age and sent to be endured in this world. There are also people still alive whose souls have already been taken to the underworld for punishment. This happens everywhere; anyone can see it. If there are living people suffering, there are certainly dead ghosts wearing the cangue.

People in this world mostly do not believe in karma and retribution. But when the last breath leaves and the soul enters the underworld, when it stands before the mirror of deeds, there is no one who does not believe — only by then it is far too late to repent. Men and women across the land — who can escape the two words birth and death? Who can evade the hand of the king of the underworld? Can birth and death really be escaped? Can the king of the underworld really be avoided?

First, understand karma clearly. Know that whether one is human or animal, there is only this one spirit. The life before and the life after are not two different things. Karma is the root of birth and death; birth and death is the path of suffering. Whatever wealth and honour one has now will not last long. Whatever poverty and low station one has now offers no way out. When the final hour arrives, will you not be afraid before the hall of the underworld? If your good outweighs your evil, you can still secure a human body. But if your evil outweighs your good, once the human body is lost, ten thousand ages may not recover it.

The gravest karma is the karma of killing. A life answers for a life; a blade answers for a blade. Across a thousand hundred ages, there is no escape. This is why vegetarians keep to their vows — they fear creating the cause of killing, accumulating the fruit of killing. The practitioner who keeps the vegetarian precept is dissolving the harmful karma of past lives, obtaining the means of transcendence, and bearing fruit that leaves the world.

Chapter Two: On Opening Wisdom

In the red dust of this world, cleverness, sharpness, discernment, and calculation — none of these count as wisdom. True wisdom is this: to arouse the heart to practise, and to seek the Way of returning from suffering to the origin.

Men and women in this world who trust in karma, who know to do good and avoid evil, who say "I haven't cultivated in this life, I'll cultivate in the next" — these are good people. But being a good person only secures a human body for the next life. Even performing great acts of goodness only lifts you from poverty to wealth. Rising still higher, it only lifts you from wealth to the path of the spirits. These are all the blessings of the human and heavenly realms — small causes, small fruits, finite causes. When the fruit of a small cause is exhausted, one falls again. Moreover, in this turbid and corrupt age, can one truly secure human form life after life?

Even if one were human life after life, one cannot guarantee that not a single thought will waver, not a single moment be lost. Life, then death; death, then life again — one false step, and all the merit is thrown away. Those who are not freed from the bonds of birth and death cannot avoid the harm of birth and death. Where does that harm lie? In the pull of wife's affection and children's love. Where there is the tangle of affection and love, there will naturally be competition for name and profit, and wine, desire, wealth, and pride will all arrive together. Greed, anger, delusion, and craving are everywhere.

It is like a staged play — once you are on stage, you cannot help but perform your part. Who knows that husband and wife are old enemies, that children are old creditors? Affection and love give rise to countless vexations; affection and love produce countless resentments. Wine, desire, wealth, and pride — four great oceans of bitterness. Greed, anger, delusion, and craving — a bottomless pit. Think of it: when the last breath is gone, can a wife walk alongside you? Can children die in your place? Can rank and wealth stand against the king of the underworld?

Not only affection and love — all fame and profit are illusory flowers in a dream. Even this body is a false thing, the most unstable of all. One wound to the affections can threaten life itself. The body is unclean, reeking and foul, too much to contemplate. All kinds of suffering are borne by this one body; all kinds of harmful karma are created by this one body. We muddle through a few decades, and in the end we return to yellow earth. This false shell — even if it could live a hundred years or a thousand years, it is a burden. What pleasure is there in it?

The Buddhist sutras say: "The four elements are all empty." The human body is a false assembly of four elements: water, fire, wind, and earth. The blood and fluids in the body are water; the heat within is fire; the breath through mouth and nose is wind; the skin, hair, sinew, and bone are earth. When impermanence arrives, the blood and fluids dry up — the water is spent. The whole body turns cold — the fire is burned out. The breath is severed — the wind is scattered. The flesh decays — it returns to earth. When the four elements are empty, where am I?

A person of great wisdom sees through all these false things and lets them go together. Having a wife, they are not bewitched by a wife's affection. Having children, they are not bound by children's love. Not seeking this world's name, they seek a portion in heaven. Not coveting eastern earth's profit, they covet the benefit of the western land. They borrow this false body as a temporary lodging and quietly seek out a message: the original spirit is hidden within the false shell, and without someone to point it out, it is useless — but once pointed out, it is an invaluable treasure.

This world has many who are cleverly cunning and few who have true wisdom. Those who have not opened wisdom do so because their roots from past ages are shallow. Whoever has roots certainly has wisdom; with wisdom one can see far and look ahead, and will naturally begin to reckon carefully with birth and death. The small things of face and appearances in the red dust carry no weight at all. Trusting in the Way, trusting in the Buddha — that is the root. Seeking the Way, seeking a teacher — that is wisdom. From the time of entering the Way forward, one relies on wisdom to guide, with sincere heart from beginning to end, never allowing a moment of enthusiasm to collapse into lasting regret and a return to the ocean of suffering.

Chapter Three: On Setting the Will

The western road leads to the ancient home. Where did you come from at the beginning? Why not go back there now? Everyone has a portion; everyone can succeed — the only difference is whether the will is set or not.

You see that ancient trees of a thousand years can attain spirit; foxes and fox-spirits can also cultivate. For a human being to cultivate toward the immortals requires five hundred fewer years of hard effort than for the animals. In this era of cultivation, it is even easier. The three-assembly Dragon Flower gathering is gathering back the Way at the end of the age. Thousands of Buddhas and ten thousand ancestors have come down to the eastern forest; compassionate vessels are everywhere, ferrying all who meet the conditions. When you receive the initiation and make effort in a single age, you succeed. If you miss this rare connection, you will wear out iron shoes searching and find nothing.

You must set a will that pierces the sky — refusing to settle in the red dust, refusing to set foot in the fire pit, determined to walk the great road. And yet the western road has many obstacles. Too much husband-and-wife affection, too deep a love for children — these are all blockages. Then too there are relatives, friends, and family members who gossip, criticise, slander in every way — all of them are the old enemies who cut off the road. Moreover within the red dust there is much false excitement, the most bewitching thing: wine, desire, wealth, and pride; greed, anger, delusion, and craving. These are the worn familiar roads of many past ages. People can't give them up, can't let them go, can't cut them off — and so life after life, death after death, they plant the seeds of rebirth.

Some understand that the red dust is false and cultivation is good — but their tangles and hindrances drag them along and waste this one life. They never manage to set their will. Those with true will, when they hear, they act at once. What can't be given up must be given up; what can't be let go must be let go; what can't be cut must be cut. The ancient ones who became Buddhas and ancestors abandoned kingdoms and resigned offices; they left fathers, mothers, and wives; they left ease and took on hardship. What courage that will had — how fierce, how firm. The will is what we call the power of vows. Without vows there is no power; great vows bring great power. The vows of past lives bring power in this life. The vows of the present must not be wrong. When you make vows, vow to become a Buddha; vow to go to the western land; vow to ferry to liberation all the original people under heaven. If you vow only for a good next life and abundant fortune, that is a great error.

Chapter Four: On Clearing Entanglements

Who has no entanglements in the red dust? "Entanglements" are the visible manifestations of ripened karmic connections. Filial care for parents, the affection between husband and wife, the love for children and grandchildren — all relations are karmic connections, and while these connections are unresolved, they are all entanglements. The practitioner who cannot clear entanglements is shackled and chained until death, with no day of escape from suffering — truly busy in a pitiable way, anxious without purpose. That is what entanglements are.

Entanglements do not mean abandoning husband, wife, and children entirely. It only requires that you learn to settle them well. If husband and wife can cultivate together with children as companions — how wonderful. If one partner cultivates and the other does not, arrangements must still be made. If they truly cannot be of one heart, each should attend to their own affairs, and never pull at each other — a moment of affection is a small matter; ten thousand ages of birth and death is a great one.

Those with children: complete their marriages; do not cling and entangle yourself, missing the real business. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings — don't be their ox and horse. Once children are grown, the obligations you owe are discharged. Clear them as early as you can. If you honestly assess that there are obligations you simply cannot clear — let them go. Do not sit numbly planning this and that, dragging yourself along until the last breath, with still so much unfinished.

Husband, wife, and children are a staged play. When the drums stop, everyone disperses — what is there to say of joy and grief, of meeting and parting? Since you have seen through the red dust, since you do not want wealth, do not want rank, do not chase after the bustle of reputation, you will naturally have fewer entanglements. Open the gate of affection and love, and the entanglements grow lighter still.

Those who want to enter the Way should first make a careful reckoning: how is affection and love to be relinquished? How are the wife and children to be settled? Those already in the Way should put seven parts of their effort into cultivation and allow only one or two parts for managing ordinary affairs.

Look quietly at how many men and women, ostensibly learning the Way, in the end come up empty — because their entanglements are not cleared. Middle-aged and older people, even without the entanglement of a spouse, still have the entanglement of children. Some even retreat from the Way and break their precepts out of concern for children, willing to fall into hell for the sake of their children — truly confused.

Under heaven, the most carefree and joyful are the widowed, the solitary, and the childless. In the red dust these people think themselves unfortunate; for cultivation they have no entanglements at all, and can succeed easily. If they do not press forward urgently in their practice, it is a real pity.

To sum up: those who are entangled are still in the middle and lower ranks. A true person of the highest rank has no entanglements at all. If you awaken today, you can begin today. Fame, wealth, beloved children, a cherished wife — lay them down together; cut through like a nail, unmoved and unshaken. That is real ability.

For those of middle and lower rank, partly saintly and partly ordinary, it may not be possible to have no entanglements at all. Then: work diligently and live frugally, and you avoid the entanglement of poverty; keep to simplicity and conceal your sharpness, and you avoid the entanglement of trouble; reduce social obligations, and you avoid the entanglement of feeling; don't stir up greedy and false desires, and you avoid the entanglement of the heart; don't nurse grudges, don't cling to loved ones, and you avoid the entanglement of pushing and pulling with others.

And yet every kind of entanglement is still too many to be fully exhausted — one must attend to things in person, and entanglement cannot be avoided. Even the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, to bring the ninety-two original people out of the ocean of suffering, have endured a great entanglement: the entanglement of clearing the way and leading them through; the entanglement of managing the practice site; the entanglement of calling the worthy and guiding the multitude, spending speech and spirit in endless toil; enduring wind and trials, with entanglements that empty a household, entanglements that endanger life itself — and even if the entanglement kills them, there is not half a particle of resentment. In the red dust, entanglements drag you down to hell. In the practice site, entanglements drag you up to heaven. Drag the great matter of birth and death to the shore, and you will roam free for ten thousand ages with no further entanglements.

Chapter Five: On Observing the Five Precepts

The three refuges and five precepts are the foundation of guarding the Way. If the refuges and precepts are not kept, it is like trying to cook sand into rice — how can hunger be satisfied? Practitioners must keep them not roughly and loosely, but with care and precision.

First, not killing. Not only must you not kill — you must absolutely not raise or eat animals. Not a single day's violation of the precept against killing. If you encounter killing along the road, recite the name of the Buddha silently.

Second, not stealing. Be upright and above reproach. Do not take advantage of another by even a single coin. Do not wrongfully take a single thing belonging to another. Do not covet a single object belonging to another. If there are many accumulated merits that have not been settled, or if you have misused another's merits, all of that counts as stealing.

Third, no sexual misconduct. Do not go to places of sexual misconduct. Do not associate with improper people. Smoking, gambling, watching lantern festivals, watching gatherings — all of these are improper matters and must be completely cut off. To refrain from licentiousness means not only stopping the acts of licentiousness but cutting off its root. Men: let the eyes not linger on women's beauty; let the heart not stir with impure thoughts. Women: be composed, sincere, and reverent, with not a trace of frivolity or playfulness. As for clothing and adornment, simple and modest is best; elaborate and decorative is not permitted.

To speak more precisely: the first priority is to keep the body without leakage. If by day you think wildly and at night the vital essence drains away in disordered sleep, with the soul scattered by dark forces — that is breaking the precept against licentiousness. What cultivation can there be? This one precept is the hardest to keep. It requires fully eliminating mixed desires and thoughts, being on guard at every moment, restraining the monkey and the horse, keeping the Mysterious Pass sealed and the elixir field constantly warm, with the breath rising and falling in the movement of wind and fire — only then can it be held. Of the nine stages of practice, the most important is laying the foundation. Once the foundation is laid — like the body of a youth of fifteen or sixteen — only then can one truly be said to keep the precept.

Fourth, no wine or meat. This precept is easy to keep. Even when eating a bowl of vegetarian food, do not be greedy for heavy flavours. Frugal and careful with blessings — that is the manner of the worthy.

Fifth, no false speech. Be honest and utterly sincere. When something should be said, say it clearly, without adding flourishes. What should not be said, seal the mouth and keep silence. Those who drag in trouble, who speak with honeyed words, who charm to the face and scheme behind the back — even if such people have some small ability, they are fundamentally floating and insincere, and their offences are not light.

Practitioners most need to guard against too much talk. First, it depletes the spirit. Second, it stirs up trouble. Except for encouraging goodness and transforming people, it is best to pretend to be a little foolish and silent. A person truly learning the Way spends every hour turning the light inward and building the bridge, silently guarding the Mysterious Pass — what spare time is there for chatting and laughing?

In the practice site, discipline yourself: don't be like others; do not proclaim things publicly. Public proclamation creates the heaviest harmful karma. Those who speak viciously and wound others will certainly face vicious retribution. Those who slander and harm others will certainly face heaven's reproof. In the Way, idle speech that causes people to retreat from good intentions and miss good deeds is an unpardonable offence. A single destructive word sends one to hell.

To sum up: great vows and great aspirations come first, with taking refuge and keeping precepts at the head. If precepts are broken, the vows cannot be escaped. You can deceive people in the open; you cannot deceive the spirits in secret. In the inner room you may deceive your own heart, but the eye of the spirit is like lightning; private speech among people, heaven hears like thunder. Each person should examine themselves closely: those who have not violated the precepts, redouble your effort; those who have already violated them, reform quickly. Later you will face the mirror of the lotus flower, and waiting for the whip of the spirit official, it will be too late to repent.

Chapter Six: On Severing Doubt

Those who cultivate rely entirely on faith. When faith is firm, their merit and fruition are complete. The Buddha does not ferry those without conditions — it is because they do not believe. Not believing gives rise to much doubt.

This great Way models itself on the full achievement of heaven and earth, encompasses the profound principle of yin and yang, and is attested by the scriptures of all three teachings. The ten thousand things all accord with the mechanism of the Way — there is nothing to doubt. Educated people develop doubts because they are obscured by written words — the clever ones confused by their very cleverness. People of lesser cultivation develop doubts because they are buried under karmic obstructions — shallow roots and thin blessings.

Some who have already entered the Way were sincere at first; after a long time in the Buddha's door, they begin to doubt. What do they doubt? One doubts that it is hard to succeed in a single life. Two doubts that the practice is hard to carry out. Three doubts that the universal ferrying is false and the time of gathering-back has no fixed date. Four doubts that the demonic trials are harmful and the Buddhas do not appear. Five doubts that managing things requires money and that the senior practitioners cannot be trusted. Six doubts that the practice-hall is in flux and the ancestral root is not genuine. Seven doubts that too many people fall away, and the heart grows cold and listless.

With these layers of doubt, people waver and are about to retreat. Then come those with shallow ears who listen to heterodox teachers speaking of many strange techniques and want to learn supernatural powers, or some false-patriarch demon-master who branches off in a new direction and wants something more mysterious — all of these lead to loss and failure.

True original people must cut off all doubts. Whether the practice produces results or not, follow the method consistently and press forward with vigour. Whether you succeed or not, keep the heart unchanged until death. If you apply sincere effort and deep practice, there is no principle by which you cannot succeed.

From ancient times, the transmission was singular and the true dharma was hard to encounter. In this era of universal ferrying, all receive the light of the Buddha. This is truly a thousand ages compressed into one age — those who arouse the heart in this one age can succeed in this one life.

As for the great matter of gathering-back: this is a major event in a cycle of one hundred and twenty thousand years, and it is absolutely not false. But heaven's mechanism cannot be measured — it may come early or late; heaven's compassion waits for the original people and cannot gather them all at once. When the gathering-back does not come on time, do not trouble yourself asking when the Way will be made manifest. Only clarify your own Way; gather-back the circle within your own body. When your own harmful karma is dissolved and your merits accumulate, you will understand the Way more deeply. When yin and yang unite within your body, the great elixir crystallises — that is gathering-back.

The trials are heaven's good intent. To receive one layer of demonic trial is to dissolve one layer of harmful karma. Half is brought from past ages — old debts paying back, a fixed fate that cannot be escaped. Half is brought on by oneself through insufficient cultivation of good merit, failure to follow the method, carelessness. False ones are tested away; true ones are made clearer by testing, better able to work. True and false cannot be distinguished without testing. Pure and turbid cannot be separated without testing. A person's fruition cannot be determined without testing.

As for contributions and donations: this is not for the senior practitioners to enrich themselves. Without water a boat cannot move; without resources the Way cannot be opened. Money prints books, which earn merit for you. Money manages affairs, which builds connections with countless Buddhas for you and supports the universal ferrying and gathering-back — not a single coin falls into emptiness.

As for the ancestral root of the practice-hall — who is true and who is false — heaven itself oversees this. Those who are senior practitioners will naturally investigate in detail. Listen to what the senior practitioners communicate. What accords with the Way, follow wholeheartedly. What does not accord, steady yourself in your own practice and cultivate independently — it won't hurt anything.

Those who can open new territories, persist with patient effort in leading people. Each step has merit. Only be careful not to let doubt arise. Even in an evil age when it is hard to move forward, sincere effort moves heaven, and heaven will certainly help you. Those who can form connections should be warm and patient; let many people share the light. Heaven rejoices. Never doubt that money is wasted — the original investment, ten thousand times returned; openly sent, secretly repaid. Those without doubt understand that the Buddha-dharma is formless: whether one rises or falls is invisible in the present. But when the visible moment comes and you wish to do good and correct your faults, it will be too late.

Each practitioner's conduct, every fine thread, is clearly observed by the protective spirits and recorded in the ledger. On the day of the three-courts reckoning, denial is impossible. We in the practice-hall are not yet deep in experience, not yet bright in wisdom. Seeing many violations and failures, it is hard to guarantee there will be no doubt. But know this: each cultivates and each receives; each person's birth and death each person resolves. If others do not believe, I will believe; from beginning to end, without deviation; holding up a solid strength, grasping a courageous heart — there is no question of not reaching the western land. Those who doubt much and doubt often are all people with shallow foundations, whose hearts are confused by harmful karma.

Chapter Seven: On Dissolving Karmic Debts

Since the beginning of the Yin Assembly, human beings have lived and died in rebirth, creating boundless harmful karma and exchanging enmity and grievance with no end. Today you enter cultivation; your declaration is received on high and known to the three courts. Those past-life souls with grievances against you are all waiting in the underworld — how would they let you slip away?

First is the account of killing karma, which is hardest to escape. Even separated by three, five, or eight lifetimes, hundreds of years, ten thousand li — they will find their way and demand your life. So wherever the Way is opened, there are karmic accounts coming to create trouble: sores and illness wearing you down, trials of wind overturning your life, disasters of water and fire, injuries from falls and blows, gossip and slander stirring things up. All kinds of disruption are karmic debts. Or you may see ghosts and demons come to collect their debts and take your life, leaving you restless day and night, mind scattered — their whole aim being to make you retreat from your will and break your precepts, so you return to walking the path of karmic debt alongside them.

This is why the patriarch teaches people to build merit upon merit: to hold the vegetarian precept and dissolve killing karma; to conceal faults and praise goodness and dissolve the karma of harsh words and divisive speech; to distribute holy books and dissolve the karma of every kind of deceit, theft, and misconduct. Distributing books requires money; those without money must apply sincere effort and diligent practice. Beyond this, opening new territories, leading people, managing practice sites, and forming connections — all of this dissolves your own karmic debts.

Karmic debts are like enemies — waiting day and night, looking for ways to harm you. If you slacken even a little, they find their opening. Once a karmic account attaches itself to you, the original spirit cannot act as master, and confusion deepens — how could there not be a collapse of practice?

Apart from cultivating and keeping the vegetarian precept, you must also regularly read the sutras and sacred teachings, regularly listen to good instruction, keep the mind clear and practise according to the method — only then can karmic debts be dissolved.

Men and women today have not dissolved their existing karmic debts, and moreover they are adding new ones: craving high position and false aspirations, flaring up in anger, competing for merit and fruit, stirring up trouble and gossip, disregarding rules, refusing instruction — all of this invites new karmic debt and accumulates still more. And so many original people are ruined by karmic debt. Practice halls in every place — nearly established and then collapsed again, just flourishing and then exhausted — all because of undissolved karmic debts.

Senior practitioners carry their own karmic debts; new learners carry theirs. More people means more debt, and the dissolving cannot keep pace — so wind comes and trials descend; great original people bear disaster and calamity, small original people have their souls scattered. Karmic debts are truly powerful. The truer the Way, the truer the karma — if you have not found the true Way, the karmic account can be delayed. Once you have found the true Way, the karmic account comes due at once. This ledger of debts — you yourself may not know how large it is. Clear it early, so you can have a clean body. As for the method of dissolving karmic debts, beyond keeping the vegetarian precept, nothing surpasses opening new territories, setting up practice halls, leading original people in — that is merit without measure, dissolving karmic debts without measure. Look at those who have merit and virtue: the spirits and humans rejoice in them, peace and clarity follow them — that is the sign that their karmic debts are dissolved. If things do not go smoothly and mistakes keep arising, the karmic debts are not yet clear. At the moment of death, if one dies unclean, with past karma manifesting at the last — how can the one true spirit leave for the western land? It will walk the road to the underworld after all.

Chapter Eight: On Transforming Temperament

From birth in the later heaven, every person has a temper. Temper is a disease; when the disease is heavy, it threatens life.

The first great disease is disrespect for heaven and earth and failure to be filial to one's parents. To respect heaven and earth is to embody the virtue of nurturing life, to hold a heart that loves all things, to have compassion for the old and poor, to help those in urgent need, to cherish written words, to be careful with the five grains, and to practise every kind of thoughtfulness — aligning your heart with heaven's heart. It is not merely a matter of burning incense and bowing. To be filial to parents is to guard your own body, do good and accumulate virtue, perform merit and cultivate fruition, transcend the ancestors' spirits, and finally return to bliss together with the good — that is true filial piety. It is not merely a matter of providing food and burial in life and death. A person who is disrespectful toward heaven and earth and thin toward parents — no matter what else they do well, they cannot be considered human.

As for the habits of the character: those who are violent and fierce must transform to peace and calm; the flippant and careless must become steady and grounded; those prone to anger must become patient; the arrogant and proud must become humble; those who speak falsehoods must become careful and truthful; the sly and deceitful must become fair and upright; the extravagant and wasteful must become plain and frugal; the selfish and narrow must become selfless and open; the cramped and impatient must become broad and magnanimous; the bold and reckless must become careful and discreet; those who grab advantage and chase small gains must become willing to endure loss.

Only acknowledge your own faults; do not speak of others' faults. Only reflect on your own shortcomings; do not blame others for theirs. That is what it means to transform all temper fully.

Entering the Way requires keeping the five precepts precisely because of temper. The ten thousand harmful karmas of human life are all brought on by these bad tempers. Transform the temper and the harmful karma dissolves. Ask yourself honestly: which temper is strongest? Begin with that one and reform it painfully. Moreover, the practitioner must set a good example, to transform others. If temper goes unChanged, if bad examples are set, people will take the Way lightly — and you bring more karma on yourself.

The general failing of this world is: we are sharp-eyed about others and blind to ourselves. Have you considered? Someone else does something wrong — you see it, you resent it inside, you speak of it aloud. By contrast, when you yourself fall into this very same temper, are people not laughing?

The hundred kinds of bad tempers that people have in this world — indulged freely in life — when you meet the king of the underworld after death, each kind of temper's harm is recorded in the ledger, and the accounts will be settled with you in due time. Nothing can be wrong by even a thread.

The practitioner, though the underworld king may not govern them, is watched by the spirits of empty space. Small offences may still be pardoned. But whoever commits great offences — deceiving the teacher and betraying the patriarch, violating the rules in disorder, defying heaven's command, misleading others' merit and fruition, colluding with demons and walking crooked paths, disturbing and confusing the root of the Way — how could such a person escape the lightning's punishment?

Many senior practitioners of great virtue: why have their endings been inauspicious? All ruined by their own defects of temper. Among all defects, a few are critical symptoms that cannot be violated.

The first is arrogance: relying on one's own cleverness, showing off one's own ability, refusing to listen to the teacher's instructions, disregarding the Buddha's rules, recklessly transmitting practices, looking down on others, acting however one pleases. Or in a wealthy family, unable to lay down one's prestige and unable to lower the heart. Or among the educated, propped up by learning, full of pride, unable to change one's nature — how can there be cultivation? Other defects are easy to treat; the disease of arrogance is hard to cure. This one disease has ruined more people than can be counted.

The second is greed: those who manage affairs should act according to conditions and allotments, accepting heaven's dispensation. Do not wildly aspire to high position. Some of those in charge are greedy for merit and indiscriminate in initiating people, greedy for the role of initiating teacher — when they can't get it, resentment and hatred arise, and deception of the teacher and demonic conduct follow. Great greed brings great demonic manifestation; small greed brings small demonic manifestation. In the practice-hall, more people than can be counted have been caught by the hook of ambition for high position. Reaching for high and landing low — this happens often. Sincere men and women need only perform merit and complete their vows, truly know and truly act — why worry about the lotus-platform not arriving?

The third is harshness and meanness: the heart must not be harsh and mean; the purse must not be harsh and mean. In dealing with fellow practitioners and new learners, generosity and magnanimity should be the rule. Understand others' difficulties; be patient with others' thinking. For your own food and clothing, frugality is fine. But for the people who work with you on things, you must be generous with money. Only then will people give their effort. If you are purely mean and love to punish people's faults, pinching both money and justice — you will attract resentment from many. How can the practice-hall be managed?

The sages of the three teachings set down the scriptures as medicine for people's defects. Defects are the later-heaven blood-heart — in the earlier heaven they were not there at all. Look at a child of two or three years: purely heaven's principle. Joy, anger, laughter, and grief are without a fixed heart — where is the defect? Only as the later heaven grows and grows, habits are learned worse and worse, so that every kind of defect appears. Now in cultivation, the very aim is to return to the state of a small child — that is the body of an immortal.

Chapter Nine: On Cultivating Magnanimity

Heaven's capacity is great — it encompasses the ten thousand forms. Earth's capacity is great — it generates the ten thousand things. The practitioner's magnanimity should be as vast as sky and earth.

Great capacity brings great blessings; small capacity brings small blessings. For instance, when living in hardship, even cold and hungry, know it is destiny and let not a single thought of resentment arise — let only the Way be your joy. When difficulties come, when even demonic trials arrive, know that there is a fixed allotment, and let not a single thought of retreat or regret arise. When someone slanders you or denounces you, don't argue with them — leave it, and in time it will pass of itself. When someone humiliates or berates you, don't listen; leave it, let it be, yield to it, don't avoid it. The Diamond Sutra says: if in this life you are slighted by others, your karma from past lives is dissolved. Let them trample you in every way — they are only dissolving your karma for you. You are getting the benefit; they are taking on a body's worth of offence.

Furthermore, the practitioner's heart must be open and spacious in order to carry out the practice. If today you argue about right and wrong, and tomorrow you deal with truth and falsehood, you will pack yourself full of resentment. How will you not disturb your thinking and stir up vexation? Always lay down the muddle of quarrels, inversions, and confusion. Only ask whether your conscience is clear — what does it matter if you take the loss? As for fellow practitioners in the same hall — there are gentlemen and there are petty people. Gentlemen are easy to deal with; petty people are hard. But treat them all with broad magnanimity: don't publicise others' shortcomings, don't take a hair's worth of advantage, don't put yourself above others, don't boast of your own merit and fruition. This way you won't offend the gentlemen and you won't attract the resentment of the petty. You can go anywhere.

But if the heart is cramped and shallow, always seeing others' faults, always speaking ill of others, unable to bear the smallest grievance, unable to contain the slightest matter — how can the fruition be complete? How can the joy of pure cultivation be had? In the practice-hall, the senior and junior practitioners — so many of them prone to anger, prone to temper — have ruined how many futures? A single spark of fire can burn ten thousand layers of green mountains. No matter how great your merit — one fire of ignorance, and it is burned away. When ignorance stirs, upward it offends the teacher, downward it wounds the fellow practitioners; the blood-heart takes over, the original spirit falls into confusion — how could there not be a collapse of practice?

To learn magnanimity: the whole thing lies in being able to forbear when anger arises. In great matters, forbear through it, and disaster can be avoided. In small matters, forbear through it, and save yourself vexation. With petty people, forbear through it, and avoid resentment. Forbear, and then forbear again. Over time the temper becomes calm and equable, and anger naturally ceases to arise.

Moreover, this red-dust world is called the five-turbid world — it is always a pit of vexation; there is no cool and clear realm. If your capacity is small and your heart cramped, you will be obstructed everywhere and quarrel at every moment — how unbearably bitter! What pleasure is there in it?

Consider: all things that are not as you wish — in a moment they are empty. There is truly nothing worth quarrelling over, still less worth getting angry about. Moreover, cultivation is only each person completing their own vow, each person giving of their own heart. At the moment, attend to your own real business — where is the spare energy to quarrel and become angry?

Chapter Ten: On Cultivating Virtue of Heart

Virtue of heart is the root of cultivation. If virtue of heart is not discussed, what good is cultivation? Much could be said about the contest of self-deception and failure of virtue — but a few things must not be violated; whoever violates them will certainly fall to hell.

First: forgetting those who introduced and witnessed your initiation. They are your benefactors who pointed you to the road. To forget the benefactor who pointed you to the road — is that not self-deception and failure of virtue? If their example is good, follow it. If their example is not good, don't follow it — but don't turn against them either.

Second: abandoning and betraying senior practitioners. Day after day the senior practitioners have opened the teaching and helped you out of suffering — their kindness is as heavy as a mountain. If you cannot take in their loyal words, and if within your heart you do not reprove yourself, but instead turn against them and go serve someone else — such self-deception and failure of virtue will not escape the punishment of true thunder. Or if a senior practitioner has strayed into the demonic way and betrayed the ancestors and forgotten the root — then you cannot follow them; manage your own affairs and don't yield to human sentiment.

Third: bullying fellow practitioners. Whether relying on learning, or boasting of family connections, or proud of your own merit — looking down on the poor and honest, harbouring jealousy when others manage things, secretly blocking and seizing — this is selfish and narrow-hearted, and is also a failure of virtue.

Fourth: those who are mouth-yes and heart-no, sly and deceitful — in front of the teacher saying nothing true, always proclaiming their own merits and dragging down others' efforts; then turning their back, scheming to break precepts and stir up trouble, speaking confused bluster to intimidate others — such self-deception and failure of virtue: heaven and earth will certainly not forgive.

Fifth: those whose floating heart is not cut off, whose desire-root is not removed — always thinking wildly, harbouring thoughts that cannot be said to others, and moreover secretly breaking precepts while keeping up appearances. Can this kind of thing be hidden from the spirits?

Sixth: the petty person greedy for money, who exploits and cheats others of their contributions, enriches themselves, and cannot think how to repay — with no merit and virtue to dissolve the karma, this kind of self-deception will certainly end in rebirth as an animal to repay the debt.

Seventh: those who overestimate themselves and rush to take on tasks they cannot carry through — with small capacity and a heavy burden, they press out a demonic manifestation. Going against the sky's command and violating the Buddha-rules — is that not self-deception and failure of virtue, bringing one's own fall?

Eighth: those who recognise the Way quite truly and even know how to perform merit and form connections, yet cannot change their character — hot-tempered and explosive, respectful toward senior practitioners at one moment and turning their face without mercy the next; thin toward parents, defiant toward the teacher; or brothers not in harmony, everyone quarrelling — when the foundation is at fault in this way, is that not self-deception and failure of virtue?

Many who lead practice-halls with great reputation have fallen because of a single moment of self-deception and a secret failure of virtue — heaven did not aid them, past karma clung to them — and they have come to a wretched end. Therefore practitioners must constantly fear self-deception and failure of virtue.

The method of prevention is as follows: first, be filial toward senior practitioners. Second, honour the teacher for the long term. Third, be harmonious with fellow practitioners. Fourth, be upright and without private interest. Fifth, at midnight examine yourself for anything shameful. Sixth, be clean with money and contributions — don't touch a single coin. Seventh, be content and accept your station, act in a mature and considered way. Eighth, attend to the foundation and set a good example.

Whatever cannot be done before heaven — don't do it at all. Whatever cannot be said before people — don't say even half a word of it. Better that others wrong me; I will never wrong another. If virtue of heart is truly cultivated, above it can move the spirits, below it can move people — spirits and people both rejoice. Naturally, demonic trials will not be attracted; merit performed will succeed; fruition cultivated will bear fruit.

Chapter Eleven: On Knowing Discretion

Heaven's mechanism is subtle and wondrous — it must not be carelessly revealed. In these times of evil people filling the world and those who slander the dharma being many, if things are proclaimed loudly, it will certainly attract the wind of persecution. In the Way, the first requirement is caution of mouth.

When visiting someone, if they possess one or two of the eight virtues, you may begin to share the teaching. For those who yearn for the Way, first send them a book to read. If they are pleased by it, spend a few occasions cultivating them: first time: speak of the reward of good and evil, of karmic debts between humans and animals, of the rise and fall between lives; second time: speak of the vexations of the red dust, the entanglement of affection for wife and love for children, the falseness of fame and profit, the suffering of old age, illness, and death — age after age of burning anguish. Losing the human body even once, one falls to animal form. Even doing good and cultivating blessings to secure human form — when the blessings are exhausted, one falls again; there is no escaping the road of rebirth, no evading the hand of the king of the underworld. Observe their faith; ask about their situation; third time: say that cultivating a future life is only the lower level. If one wishes to escape the king of the underworld, break the cycle of rebirth, leave the ocean of suffering, and transcend to heaven — only the great Way can do this.

Then set out the source and origin of the great Way: how in this era of universal ferrying, the Buddhas have come to earth; how this opportunity must not be missed; how a practitioner can transcend the ancestors, repay heaven's grace in transmitting the Way, and rescue themselves from suffering. If they can truly set their will to cultivate, then speak of the need to keep precepts, settle wife and children, and not create obstruction — only then is cultivation possible. If they can agree to each of these, then speak of how there are many roads of cultivation, some crooked and some straight, some true and some false — lay out how all the various methods cause harm to people, so they are not confused. Also speak of how the great Way is noble and hard to seek — without long and sincere devotion, with vegetarian precepts and ritual bathing, it cannot be approached. Wait until three or five months have passed and they are genuinely sincere in seeking the Way. Then speak of how across many past lives each person has brought boundless harmful karma — if one does not first dissolve these offences, good things are hard to accomplish. Read more teachings; perform more outer merit. If they follow these steps, then speak of the need to seek a true teacher. But never lightly speak of who the teacher is or where the teacher is. Only teach them to seek sincerely and feel out the teacher — after the teacher has been informed, do not go together. Senior practitioners must deliberate carefully before making the introduction.

If you encounter someone from a heterodox school wanting to return to the root, be still more careful in your examination — don't make an introduction lightly. If you encounter an official or a powerful family member, be still more cautious. The merit of clearing the way is not small — but if you do not know discretion, it is easy to stir up the wind of persecution. If you carelessly introduce a bad person, your offence is also not small.

As for setting up a Buddha Hall: it is a berth for the compassionate vessel, a gathering place for original people. Be still more careful. Those who walk the same Way but have a different teacher may not be brought in. Outsiders from another lineage who are vegetarians should not be received at all. In these times there are many cunning people who often mix in under false names — be watchful and don't respond carelessly.

Within the Buddha Hall, do not speak of one household to another. Affairs inside the hall need not be related to people from other halls. When bringing fellow practitioners in and out, choose the right moment. Sacred writings should not be scattered carelessly; rules and ancestral communications should not be pasted up or passed around for others to see. In leading people, don't be greedy for numbers — ferrying a thousand, ferrying ten thousand is not as good as ferrying one who becomes truly complete. Those working together in the same hall must not contend for merit. Helping others to succeed earns its own recognition in heaven. Those who seize others' merit have no merit. Quarrels within the practice-hall let people look down on it, and there is the offence of obstructing the gate of good.

Men and women: avoid suspicion; arrange things conveniently. Do not speak privately in secluded places; do not share a table or a bench. If a widow or a chaste woman is present, be still more careful. In and out of the hall, maintain proper sequence. For urgent matters, wait for the senior practitioner to arrive before proceeding. After one group leaves, bring in the next; after the men's practice is complete, receive the women's — men and women may not speak in the same hall. Respect the neighbours when performing Buddha rites and conducting the Way. Don't offend petty people. Associate with upright people who protect the dharma. When the wind is about to rise, devise preventive measures and arrange for discreet dispersal in time.

Those who run and carry messages must know how to answer with the right words. The mouth must be careful; information should be shared only with trusted associates. Clearing the way and conducting the Way require patience, endurance, ability to receive humiliation, ability to absorb loss. The eyes must be bright to read people's quality; the ears must be firm so as not to listen to idle gossip. Magnanimity must be broad to accommodate the multitude. Add to this discretion and carefulness, and things will naturally succeed, and oneself will be cultivated. Each person should keep to their appointed duties and not move about randomly.

To sum up: follow rules and principles, and you will not attract the wind, and not incur offence. The reason practice-halls are exposed and those who manage affairs face trials is precisely due to a lack of rules and principles. Without discretion, those clearing the way act recklessly, are greedy for numbers and bring in indiscriminately; those conducting the Way enter and exit conspicuously and let bad people mix in. When the wind rises, everyone pulls at everyone else, and no one can hold back — slandering the Buddha and offending others becomes unavoidable, and the offence is not small.

True practitioners follow the method, are careful and discreet — the trials of wind are less. If misfortune comes and heaven sends a remarkable trial, and the fixed allotment cannot be escaped — endure it alone, preserve loyalty and filial piety, bear disaster and save the world. Those who die in this will certainly attain the highest rank. Those who drag in others, implicating teachers and companions, will die still carrying offence.

As for women practitioners: do not go far away alone. Those who have no impediment and are determined to manage the Way should be still more careful and precise. If person and place are not a match, do not go carelessly.

The method of discretion lies entirely in careful speech and the choice of whom to associate with. Speech not guarded brings trouble and vexation and incurs offence. Association without discrimination leads to loss and implicates the practice-hall. When junior learners must be discreet, senior practitioners must be still more discreet. Senior practitioners are the foundation of the junior learners; their movement and rest, advance and retreat — hidden is best. If they appear everywhere in public, and their name gets out, it is easiest of all to attract the wind. Men and women practitioners must not use senior practitioners as a sign to advertise. Those who manage the Way for many years have mostly no home, relying entirely on the junior learners to be their home. Therefore practise ordinary discretion, and the senior practitioner can settle in peace. Without discretion, how can the boat be kept at anchor?

Chapter Twelve: On Enduring Demonic Trials

Demonic trials come in many kinds: inner trials, outer trials, extraordinary trials, trials of anger, trials of prosperity, and trials of adversity and inversion.

Inner trials: sores and harm to the body, disasters of water and fire, the harm of theft, being bitten by snakes and insects, injuries from falls and blows.

Outer trials: slander from neighbours, prohibition by authorities.

Extraordinary trials: the ruin of the household, criminal punishment, the death of children.

Trials of anger: receiving layers of unjust treatment, with no words to defend yourself, kindness repaid with enmity.

If one is wealthy and honoured, the trial comes by prosperity: wine, desire, wealth, and pride — fame, profit, affection, and love — placed right before you, a brief excitement that cannot be released and cannot be overcome — certain to cause a collapse of practice. If one is poor and lowly, the trial comes by adversity: hard up for food and clothing, running and labouring, with bad luck in everything — the trials press until the mind is confused and the spirit scattered, and retreat from the Way is easiest. There are also those who were wealthy first and then impoverished — unable to endure the hardship, they change their minds and complain that they should not have cultivated. This kind is called the inversion trial.

To sum up: trials are heaven's intention, the Buddhas' compassion. Within them are several layers of meaning.

First layer: to distinguish the pure from the turbid. Buddhas and immortals come down to this world as the pure; those of different kinds who love this world are the turbid. When universal ferrying opens, the pure and turbid enter together. Heaven specially sends the demonic trials. Those with deep roots — the purer — grow deeper with each trial. Those with shallow roots — the more turbid — retreat at a single trial. Just as when frost and snow descend, all the plants change colour, while the pine and cypress alone remain green. Or like rice: one sweep of the wooden shovel, one beat of the wind-fan — the coarse chaff and wild seeds all fall to one side, and the ten sound grains are kept as true seed, forever self-renewing.

Second layer: each trial dissolves one layer of harmful karma. Since the beginning of the ages a person has accumulated karma like a mountain. On the day of entering the Way, the karmic debts absolutely will not let go. Even with cultivation and the vegetarian precept, they are hard to dissolve completely — so heaven sends the trials. You suffer a loss, endure a hardship, your heart is tested for firmness. If the true heart does not retreat, one trial dissolves one layer of harmful karma — secretly shifting the heavy to the light. There are many places where the death-sentence is changed to a life-sentence. If the karma of a past age is heavy and one was destined to become an animal in the next life — one life with several trials, and the calamity of the next life is pardoned. Who understands this mechanism?

Third layer: to determine each person's rank among the fruitions. The Buddhas come down to set the bounds of this age; the nine-rank lotus platform is awarded according to merit. Those who have made great vows and bear disaster for the ninety-two original people often receive the greatest demonic trials — great demonic trials bring great rewards. Those who sacrifice their bodies and achieve the Way as a model for ten thousand ages attain the highest rank of the three heavens. From this, understand: without sending trials, how can the height of the lotus platform be determined? In the universal ferrying, how many great true people have been proved by trials? Without demons there is no true person; without trials there is no Way.

There is also a kind for whom it is determined in a past age: the karma is heavy and cannot be dissolved without giving up the body. For these, a thousand ages of harmful karma is dissolved in one age.

There is also a kind among leaders who have been long in the Buddha-door and have grown greedy and ambitious, or have privately accumulated merit for themselves, enriching their households, or have blocked the worthy and concealed others' merit. Meanwhile the junior learners, with hard effort and hard practice, years of diligent toil, have been unjustly suppressed and cannot rise. Heaven sends the trials: the false leaders are exposed and turn demonic, their practice collapses, and the worthy who endured injustice rise up to manage affairs — the new replaces the old.

Moreover, defects and bad tempers can only be transformed through trials. New practitioners may be arrogant, bold, showing off their ability, talking too much — every kind of defect original people also have, but after a few rounds of difficulties, they naturally learn caution.

Furthermore, think about it calmly: when trials come and demonic manifestations occur, the ledger of merits and offences is made clear. Heaven watches without pause. Whatever offence was committed here — a demonic manifestation will arrive there accordingly. Those who understand acknowledge their offence and repent, asking the spirits to forgive the offence and vowing never to commit it again — and so misfortune can be turned to good fortune.

Consider how Tang Sanzang on the journey for the sutras — heaven had fixed eighty-one ordeals. Until they were complete he could not become a saint. If he had succeeded without going through the difficulties, five hundred years later a single movement of ordinary human feeling and he would have been cast down again. Only by exhausting all the vexations of the red dust until the ordinary human heart is completely dead can one be finished with it once and for all, never returning, never coming down again.

This is why demonic trials help people complete the Way, as a chisel and hammer help shape the material. If a person is true, being worked by the demon produces a true person. If a person is not true, being worked by the demon ruins them.

Put life and death in heaven's hands. Whatever demonic trial comes, take it as the old karma of past merit. Settle the heart and endure. Don't speak words of retreat and regret. Don't stir up a heart of resentment. Even if you die of hunger or cold, die by blade and weapon — take it as completing the great matter of your birth and death. That is the iron man of the Diamond.

Men and women in the Way each have their own demonic trials. The great wind and dark rain are the demonic trials that come from outside. But at ordinary times at home, there are also the fine scattered demons — easiest of all to disperse the heart and retreat the will. Senior practitioners or fellow practitioners with bad tempers, speaking in anger, quarrelling in the management of things, morning after morning, evening after evening — hard to endure. Children's entanglement and deep love — knowing it is debt, unable to push it away; joy and vexation are both obstructions to the Way. Then come acquaintances and friends, obligations and social life, noise and bustle, constant disruption. Every ordinary matter pulling you along to deal with it, all manner of idle talk discussed east and west — how many important affairs are delayed without knowing it.

These layers of everyday demonic trials, without awareness, will waste the cultivation entirely. In truth, cultivation relies entirely on oneself being master. Endure, be patient. What can't be let go — let it go by force. What can't be relinquished — relinquish it by force. There is no principle by which things truly cannot be let go or relinquished.

See things as light; steal a moment of quiet. Give weight to the sacred and give lightness to the ordinary. All false affection and busy appearances cannot substitute for my great matter of birth and death. To cultivate purity within the impure; to plant a lotus in the fire pit — that kind of person is truly wise, truly worthy. For those whose heart is upright and sincere and who do not retreat from the Way unto death, heaven will certainly cherish them, help dissolve their disasters and calamities. Even when demonic trials come, the protective spirits are secretly present, can turn great things to small and dissolve small things to nothing. This understanding comes from our own experience, so we have laid it out layer by layer. Everyone: keep it firmly in mind. When demonic trials come, you will have something to hold on to, and the spirit and mind will not fall into confusion.

Chapter Thirteen: On Establishing Outer Merit

In this time of ten thousand Buddhas coming to earth, the last one act at the end of the age — the spirits and humans are all busy together, the three courts are in session. Everything rests on merit and virtue. Without outer merit, inner fruition is hard to cultivate. The more merit, the stronger the fruition.

In the time of singular transmission of old, first the inner fruition was cultivated to completion, then outer merit was established to fulfil the vow. In these times of universal ferrying, performing merit comes first, cultivating fruition comes second.

The first and greatest merit is to receive and lead original people on behalf of the Eternal Mother — with whole heart and full effort, sparing no toil, with rescue and crossing-over at heart at every moment. In the five-turbid world with so many evil people, where slander of the Buddha and denigration of the Way is everywhere, merit is the hardest thing to perform. What is hardest to perform and yet is performed — that is extraordinary merit.

If you have found the great Way and only seek quiet comfort for yourself, thinking only of yourself and not of others — that is a selfish heart. It is not what heaven wishes. How can the Way be attained? Moreover, each person carries layers of harmful karma from past ages. Without performing hard merit, how can it be dissolved? If you merely guard yourself alone, that cannot be called performing merit. If there is even the slightest opportunity, establish merit at once. If you delay, there may be no merit left to perform. But perform it according to the rules; do not perform it haphazardly.

In this universal ferrying, all have made vows in the heavenly palace. Many senior practitioners, having endured ten thousand difficulties, even when household members misunderstood, even in moments of danger that ended life itself — not a single particle of complaint. As long as one breath remained, they carried on as before. Even if there were few fellow practitioners in the practice-hall, they would put it back together with full effort, restore the compassionate vessel. All because of vows made at the beginning — without fulfilling them, the vow cannot be settled; if the vow cannot be settled, one cannot return home and cannot see the Eternal Mother.

Those who perform great merit never retreat. There is no such thing as retiring to cultivate alone. Don't worry that the inner fruition is not yet completed while all the work is on outer merit — that you'll have no proof. Know this: when merit is complete and karma is exhausted and the spirits come to assist, then help comes naturally. But do not let the word "no leisure" harm yourself. Even if busy all day and unable to cultivate inwardly, find a moment at dawn or evening to rest in stillness. Otherwise, when the moment of the last inch of breath arrives, it will be too late to establish fruition. Moreover: in motion, ferry others; in stillness, ferry yourself. In a stolen quiet moment you can do inner work. Above all, in ordinary days, first set a good example: sincere, reverent, steady and sure, humble and careful, not greedy for money, not prone to anger — with inner virtue, with a look of the Way about the face. Only then can the Way be conducted.

A true original person enters the Way and immediately thinks of building outer merit and inner virtue. Those who do not think of advancing in merit and virtue — even if they are true original people, they are only small-cause, small-fruit practitioners who will serve as attendants on the side. Opening a hall and forming connections is absolutely essential. The Buddha Hall is a heavenly bridge; it is the road by which original people return to the west, receiving above and leading below. This is the critical pass. One Buddha Hall underground — one lotus blossom in heaven. Establish one Buddha Hall: one thousand three hundred good deeds. All who cultivate are aboard the dharma-vessel of this Buddha Hall. The day they cultivate to completion, they will also repay the merit of those who led and ferried them.

Next: those who donate money to support the Way are planting the blessings of heaven and earth, the best investment. As it is said: take this money of the eastern home, which cannot be brought away, and store it in the merit and virtue of the western land. This calculation is worth making. Even leaving behind ten thousand taels of gold cannot buy off birth and death.

For the poor and suffering: give more of the fearless donation. When the moment comes, do not push it away. To be able to absorb loss, endure suffering, persist without retreat — naturally merit will succeed. Likewise even helping others in their work — the merit and virtue is still greater. Let us be thankful that our roots are deep and our source is broad — that we even have this chance to conduct the Way. As long as we give wholeheartedly, the merit and virtue is naturally within it.

And yet merit can contain offence — this must also be known. Opening new territory is merit, but without following the rules and recklessly pulling people in, that is offence. Setting up an altar is merit, but without discretion, reckless attraction of the wind, that is offence. In the practice-hall: carelessly wasting money, greedy for worship and offerings, love of wearing fine clothes — or treating people harshly, without generosity, selfish and jealous, seizing by force — or using the name of the Way to extract other people's merits and enrich your own household — all of these are offence within merit. One offence cancels one merit.

Men and women today: some who cannot give up smoking and gambling; some who disregard rules and act recklessly; some proud and angry; some spreading gossip and telling lies; some lazy and dissolute, not practising; some whose five precepts are impure, hard-mouthed and hollow-hearted; some crafty and scheming, with bad intentions; some talking about calamities in confused terms; some whose minds are scattered, afraid of demonic trials; some who work against the teacher and forget the teacher's kindness; some who do not recognise the root and set up their own lineage; some who speak demonic and inverted words to confuse people's hearts; some who court favour and play both sides; some who are stingy and will not let go, treating money as life; some with violent tempers who fight with people; some who set bad examples and bring a ruined path — all of these kinds, though in the Way, are still offenders. Even if they manage to introduce one or two people, burn a few sticks of incense, recite a few lines of scripture, the merit still does not compensate the offence.

You must transform the defects, cultivate virtue of heart, return to the rules, heed what is communicated, and constantly reflect on what offences you have committed in the Way. Thinking deeply until nothing remains unknown — when you know the offence you will certainly correct it, and naturally there will be no offence. Then each merit performed counts as one merit. At the present time distinctions may not be visible; but at the Dragon Flower Assembly, merit and offence will be clearly distinguished, not one thread deniable. Then repentance will be impossible. Now let each person ask their own heart: what faults are there yet to repent? It is still up to you to repent now. Don't say there is no offence; don't take it as unimportant. And take up the vow made at the golden censer — recite it aloud, think of it in the heart. Don't deceive yourself, or you will be deceived down into hell.

As for us ourselves, since we began conducting the Way, the merit is not little — but the offence is also very great: first, the offence of carelessly opening the door to bad people; second, the offence of failing in discretion; third, the offence of misleading others' merit and fruition; fourth, the offence of not avoiding suspicion and not following the rules. For these we have attracted heavy trials. If, because the conduct of the Way has failed, we were to stop conducting it from this point on, we would carry still deeper offence — would we not in the end return to hell? Therefore we dare not rest our hand. Whatever the violent wind and great wave, we still hold the rudder and ply the oar. We wholly hope that the men and women of the Way will be of one heart and one virtue, giving full effort to assist: those with resources assist with resources; those with strength assist with strength; those who can speak assist with words. Let us cross this boundless ocean of suffering, and enter into free-ranging ease, returning together to supreme bliss. Is that not joy?

Chapter Fourteen: On Cultivating Inner Fruition

At the Dragon Flower three-assembly, the medicine and fire are transmitted in full. The Buddhas come down to this world to complete their vows and their karma — all of it is the completion of inner fruition. Without cultivating and performing it, how can one return home?

Walking, standing, sitting, lying: keep the will at the Mysterious Pass. Apply diligent effort. By day, steal a moment of stillness; at night and in the early morning, these are times of guarding. At the hour of zi when yang is born, stillness is essential. The first requirement is to conquer the sleep demon. The sleep demon steals the treasure — that is a great harm. Best is to stay awake through the long night, guarding the elixir. When drowsiness comes, let the body sleep, but lift the original spirit to the crown and do not fall into deep snoring sleep. If you have children and grandchildren, first regulate desire; then set the will to cut off desire entirely. What the practitioner most fears is the loss of the true yang. Walking, standing, sitting, lying: guard the Mysterious Pass above. Let the breath follow its natural course; the qi in the elixir field will naturally rise. As when one is about to urinate or defecate — don't relax the hold.

When there are affairs: turn back to the light of the formless, and use the will to guard it. When there are no affairs: turn back to the light of the form, uniting the two in return reflection. At ordinary times do not let the eyes roam east and west, letting the true light fly and grow accustomed to departing.

When the true light does not scatter, the spirit does not wander far. Keep it at every moment — walking, standing, sitting, lying alike. Taking "sitting" as an example: the character "sit" (坐) is two people sharing one earth — the earth being the square foot of earth at the Mysterious Pass; the two people cannot leave it. Observe it with the eyes; and especially listen to it with the ears. The eyes watching constitute the external sun-and-moon meeting their light; the ears listening constitute the internal sun-and-moon meeting their light. This one aperture, the Mysterious Pass, is worth ten thousand gold — all Buddhas and all ancestors attained completion through this one aperture; ten thousand sutras and ten thousand texts all attest to this one aperture. The Confucian writings say: "Constantly keep the eyes here." The Daoist writings say: "The mechanism is in the eyes." The Buddha says: "The place where heart and eyes are." The Way is right before us — who can recognise it? To recognise it and not cultivate it is truly foolish. When the Mysterious Pass is opened through and through — one aperture opens and all apertures open. After that, the practice is easier.

Every hour of the two-six-hour day, never leave this. Even when the hands are working and the mouth is speaking, the heart and will can guard it secretly. The prior-heaven original spirit is stored in the Mysterious Pass — that is the true person of your own nature, the bodhisattva without form. The whole body is false; this point is true. If the Mysterious Pass is not opened, you have closed the road to heaven yourself. At the moment of death, that one point of spirit will still exit through the four gates of eyes, ears, nose, and tongue — and still cannot escape the hand of the king of the underworld.

The second level of practice: use the li-fire descending to burn and simmer the elixir field. Do not grasp at appearances; follow nature. If it is constantly warm, only then is the earthly gate closed.

Sitting meditation most easily attracts demons: the hands and feet move uncontrollably, the heart pounds, the flesh trembles; or the eyes see white light and red light, all kinds of objects and shapes, birds, animals, plants; or the ears hear the sound of bells and drums — all of these are signs of karmic debts not yet dissolved. Or one sees scenes of heaven; or bodhisattvas passing to and fro — all of these are illusory scenes of the discriminating-consciousness spirit.

Also read more sutras and teachings; cultivate more outer merit — only then will the practice go as desired.

The practice must produce results. Right up to the moment when, if you stop guarding, the whole body is uncomfortable — the more you guard the better, unwilling to leave the elixir field. That is the joyful realm. Where is the suffering? Only at the start must the sleep demon be conquered. Spend a few months of hard effort; after that, with practice it becomes familiar, and no further effort is needed.

These oral instructions must not be taken lightly — they contain a thousand layers of subtlety, interlocking with yin-yang and the five phases, qian-kun and the eight trigrams, the heavenly stems and earthly branches, sun, moon, and stars, the four seasons and eight nodes, cold and heat, day and night, and the principle of the ten thousand things' generation and transformation — all within this. The flight of birds, the leaping of fish, the blooming of flowers and plants, the ripening of the five grains — all are the mechanism of the Way within my body. My body is heaven and earth; heaven and earth are my body.

But knowing the oral instructions is still only the old pattern. Within each level there is the subtlety of each level, and within each level there is the danger of each level. There is true medicine and false medicine; there is the true elixir and the illusory elixir; there is the true pass and the false pass. The inner and outer medicines may be lost; the advancing and retreating of the fire has its slower and faster applications. If stillness practice is done without the right method, illness can arise. The levels and gradations of the practice — all must be pointed out by senior practitioners and understood through one's own contemplation.

In general: guarding the Mysterious Pass means the spirit and will must settle — do not exert force to draw up the qi, lest the floating fire rise and cause dizziness and heat in the head. Everything depends on the heart and will being single-pointed. Don't exert force to press and constrict — there must be natural flow. The body should be relaxed. Too tight and the wandering fire is produced. Gathering the medicine and opening the pass — do not exert force to draw and guide; only follow along. What is most feared is drawing in the floating fire, burning the gate of destiny, mistaking it for turning the pass — then illness is produced.

Laying the foundation to clear the turbidity: the important part is in seizing the beginning firmly. When there are wandering thoughts, the medicine does not arise. Before the turbidity is fully cleared, if the yang contains mixed yin qi, absolutely do not draw it up. First priority is not leaking — then the vital essence and qi are sufficient, the sweet dew will be plentiful, irrigating above and below, and the floating fire will not flame up; naturally there is no illness.

Many who have produced illness: first, by exerting force to assist the fire. Second, by an insufficiently open heart, too constricted and pressing. Third, by an unestablished foundation with continued leakage. Fourth, by turbidity and impurity mixed in, forcing the upward movement. Fifth, by the sleep demon drowsiness, yin qi blocking. Sixth, by scattered thoughts, heart-source unclear, illusory scenes arising and mistaken for real. Seventh, by karma not yet dissolved, demonic harm arriving. Eighth, by the aperture not truly open, confused with the nasal breath, using intention to raise and lower. Ninth, by the sweet dew being impure, swallowing saliva instead, actually harming the inner breath. Tenth, by daily life out of rhythm, the pores catching wind, cold and heat pressing in. There are also those with old illness not yet gone who press ahead recklessly, with fire of the heart blazing upward and the illness worsening. And there are those who do not follow the method and consider themselves clever, taking false results as good practice, producing untreatable illness. And there are those who catch a glimpse of results but then, prone to anger and ignorance, burn the elixir-root with fire, falling ill without recovery. There are certainly also those with desire-root not cut off who, while sitting in stillness, suddenly have the desire-fire stir, the kidneys wildly moving, the vital essence on the verge of flowing — who hold it back and produce illness; or with evil toxin lurking inside, breaking out as serious sores. The many kinds of ailment cannot all be listed. It is not that the practice causes illness — it is that one does not know how to practise correctly, and so illness naturally arises.

These oral instructions: they must be known, but they also must not be held in mind with grasping. For they are ultimately about the spirit-transformation of shedding the shell, which is called non-action — with no oral instructions at all. Even when that stage arrives, senior practitioners are needed to point the way.

Men and women today mostly use the method of the celestial circuit. Each person: what stage have you actually reached? True or false — uncertain. At any point of doubt, you must ask. Do not be vague. Whether there are results or not, press forward with vigour. Each day still the heart; make a habit of it. Do not say "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'll wait until the day after." Wait until the king of the underworld sends his notice, until illness comes from every direction, and then stir in a round of suffering and illness — one who has only heard of the aperture of the Way and nothing more. At this point, whether there is fruition or not depends on one's own cultivation. Who will take care of you? When later disasters arrive, when mountain-spirits and water-monsters come to harm people, and blade and weapons are everywhere — those with fruition: guard the Mysterious Pass, let the threatening light radiate out, and the demons can be subdued. Those without fruition: hearts frightened and souls scattered, just as lost as ordinary people in the midst of the calamity. Who will you blame then?

We cultivate the Way to escape the calamity of ten thousand rounds of rebirth — not merely to escape one moment's blade and weapon. But when the three disasters and eight difficulties arrive, they are real. The calamity encounters those it must: it gathers evil people into hell and sends good people up to heaven — precisely to urge original people to return to the west quickly. Those at the lower level: practise merit and fruition together. Those at the middle-lower level who cannot perform merit: must read sutras and sit in practice. Those with merit: first merit, then fruition — fruition is easier. Those without merit: they attract many demonic obstacles and fruition is harder. Therefore: practise hard; practise quickly. Fruition has greater completion and lesser completion. Greater completion: the elixir crystallises and the spirit exits; warm nurturing allows the shell to be shed. Lesser completion: one aperture opens, the three passes open, the true yang rises, the dharma wheel constantly turns. Both greater and lesser completion are spared the road of rebirth.

In this era of universal ferrying, the great account of karmic connections across sixty thousand and more years — original people each have their own prior cause of birth and death, and it is not all the same. Those with deep foundations and great karmic connections find merit and fruition easy; at the time of passing, the elixir-warrant descends and it is all naturally clear. Those with shallow foundations and small karmic connections find merit and fruition harder; even at the critical moment, they cannot avoid demonic illness. Without illness and without demons, the harmful karma is not yet dissolved — but as long as the original spirit acts as master and the heart does not fall into confusion, this person after death will continue to cultivate and await the Buddhas' lifting. And there is a kind for whom the karma of past ages is heavy, the demonic trials cannot be dissolved, and at the great moment they must give their body and stake their life — even if they have not visibly cultivated merit and fruition, they are still in the class of those who rise. For what heaven values most is the heart of loyalty and filial piety; what heaven loves most is the spirit of chastity and righteousness. Such people will certainly receive extraordinary grace. As for those without heavy trials — one must not say that death alone is enough. Those with merit can receive further rank after death. Those with no merit and fruition have only wasted their own future — but the two words birth and death are not in one's own hands to command. One must truly and sincerely move the spirits in feeling, who can then add blessings and years in secret.

Since you have cultivated, always aim to succeed fully and reach the shore. Never think of cultivating only for the next life. This most noble and precious Way — is it there for you to cultivate your next life? Never say you cannot cultivate it to completion. Give full heart and full effort until death. Greater or lesser — there will be completion. Heaven awards according to merit performed, bearing fruition according to causes — that is all.

Chapter Fifteen: On Understanding Dana — Giving

Managing merit requires asking people to donate resources — that is itself one of the great tests. Those who see clearly and look ahead know that donating resources is a good thing. For instance, releasing animals and printing books: the benefit is easy to see. In the practice-hall there are also many things requiring funds to arrange.

First: conducting the Way and forming connections is a great matter in the universal ferrying. Now that the great Way is spreading and compassionate vessels are everywhere, a large vessel needs a large berth; a small vessel needs a small berth. Every region needs a gathering place. Receiving above and leading below, managing all Buddha affairs — this is the most urgent and difficult, and entertaining guests of all ranks is still harder: for officials and those of standing there must be an appropriate reception; for the wealthy there must be a wealthy-household atmosphere; for scholars and literati there must be a scholar's proper courtesies. Between clothing, food, and related expenses: of course not extravagant or showy, but still appropriate to the person and fitting the situation, and also blending with the customs of the world. Moreover, the noble ones exert mental effort and cannot receive too little in offerings; the ordinary ones exert physical effort and their food and clothing must also be adequate. By water and by land, boat and carriage, food and travel expenses — moving across a thousand li — when the whole reckoning is made, without ample resources the expenses cannot be managed. Without resources, mutual coming and going cannot happen; upper and lower cannot open the road for managing affairs. That would be defeat. Therefore the patriarch established the procedures and set the rules: teaching the worthy ones of heaven — of one heart and one virtue, working as one body — the upper level governing the lower, the lower receiving the upper. The patriarch stewards the whole; assignments are given to the leaders of the ten lands; the leaders assign to the ten headsmen; the headsmen assign to the ten thousand grace-halls. Affairs in this world cannot but go through mutual merit-support for the Way — using the wealth of the world to dissolve the karma of the world, rescue the lives of the people of the world, and complete the merits of the world.

Utterly public and selfless, bright and upright. All in the Way, men and women who are poor cannot be compelled. But those with means must give. If you cannot give, you cannot dissolve karma; if karma is not dissolved, birth and death cannot be resolved. Moreover: because of past-life cultivation, heaven granted you this money to use in this life. Heaven does not have you enjoy it alone; heaven also wants you to do much good with it, using your surplus to supply others' want.

For practitioners today: clothing and food expenses can be cut back; wedding and marriage expenses can be cut back; social obligations in the red dust can be cut back. Save the money saved, keep the vegetarian precepts, dissolve killing karma, print more books, form wide connections of goodness, and additionally donate to the Way according to your means.

For instance, donating to the upper hall to supply travelling teachers and guests — you will certainly receive much of the Buddha's light. Donating to fellow practitioners — they open new territory and share merit with you. Donating to your own senior practitioner — used by both above and below, your merit is recorded. If donating to your local hall to sit and form connections — the spirits and humans rejoice, bringing much honour. As for relieving people and benefiting things, practising moment-to-moment thoughtfulness — all of this cannot happen without giving resources.

Look at people in the red dust who waste money and in return purchase a body's worth of harmful karma. As for donating for the Way — take this eastern household's money that cannot be brought away and use it to buy the Buddha's land in the west — the original investment ten thousand times returned, stored in heaven. That is a great bargain.

As the saying goes: "Gold is empty, silver is empty — who has ever taken it along at death?" Let us awaken quickly. Don't wait for impermanence to arrive and find that ten thousand things are empty. See through money early. Rather take this empty treasure of the state and exchange it for a rank of fruition that is not empty. What a bargain. In a human life of several decades — if one is careful with blessings and makes no harmful karma — eating and wearing: how much can one use? Why cling so painfully to this money and be unwilling to release it? In the blink of an eye the breath is cut; everything is left for children and grandchildren to waste — or distributed and taken by outsiders. You yourself go to meet the king of the underworld with two empty hands. Is that not finally confused?

As for senior practitioners asking for money: it is not that they want money for themselves. Without it, the work above and below cannot be done. From now on, all men and women of the Way: if faith is truly without doubt, each according to their means — beyond adding to the practice — make donations regularly. Only keep in mind the four words: establish merit, dissolve karma. Senior practitioners would never dare to waste your money carelessly. Heaven and the spirits know every coin. If a senior practitioner privately enriches their household, the Buddha-dharma will not tolerate it. How many worthy ones have spent their own family wealth, spent all their money, and still run about toiling for original people — they came precisely to rescue beings from suffering, not for the sake of money. But without resources they cannot move, cannot manage affairs, cannot employ people, cannot respond to those above and below. That is why people are taught to contribute money and support the Way. Perfecting others dissolves one's own karma; when karma is exhausted and merit complete, you will understand the benefit of giving money. At this time, not giving — when later fruition is not complete and you are left behind — you will blame the senior practitioners for not making the principles clear earlier, causing you to miss this rare opportunity. Now while the Way has not yet spread broadly and affairs must be managed, the funds for arranging and settling things are needed — those who donate are donating at the moment of greatest usefulness and need. The merit is without limit. Today you don't give — when will you? Once the gathering-back is concluded, there will be no more Way to cultivate, no more merit to perform, the Way will no longer need managing — then the Way will walk among ordinary people, universal worship, inner and outer as one family. Your money will not be needed then — and even if you have money you won't be able to donate it.

Think of all of us living beings: across past ages we have accumulated boundless harmful karma, most of it created through money. In this round of cultivation, how is the harmful karma to be dissolved? The only way is to use the money to redeem it. That is why people are asked to donate. The patriarch's compassion: devising a method for you to repent of harmful karma, establish merit, cultivate virtue, and seek to leave the ocean of suffering. The ten-thousand-empty song says: "Gold is empty, silver is empty — who has held it in hand after death?" Let us awaken quickly. Don't wait until impermanence comes and ten thousand things are empty. See through money quickly. Rather take this empty national treasure and exchange it for a rank of fruition that is not empty. What a bargain. In a human life of a few decades — if you cherish blessings and make no karma — eating and wearing, how much can you actually use? Why hold this money so painfully, accumulating and unwilling to let go? In the blink of an eye the breath is cut; it is all left for the children to spend carelessly — or divided up and taken by outsiders. You yourself go empty-handed to meet the king of the underworld. Is that not final confusion?

Now with regard to senior practitioners asking for money: it is truly not to enrich themselves. Without it, the upper and lower management of the Way simply cannot function. From now on, all men and women of the Way: if faith is genuine and without doubt, each according to means — beyond intensifying the practice and doing whatever tasks arise — give once a year, more if you have more, less if you have less. Keep in mind only the four words: establish merit, dissolve karma. Senior practitioners would never dare waste your money. Heaven's spirits record every coin and will not fail you in your merit. Do not multiply doubts and waste your own future. I have set it out layer by layer now — it was necessary and came from difficulty. If this were for private benefit, I would certainly face the punishment of the five thunders and fall forever into hell.

Chapter Sixteen: On Refining Heart-Mind

This false body is a great source of harm — ten thousand kinds of planning, scheming, and mischief, all for the sake of this false body. Yet the fault is not entirely the body's — this body is a lump of dead flesh. It is the qi that animates it. The master of this body is the heart and mind alone. What heart and mind generate — the action of heart-intent — is what can lead to heaven, can descend to hell, can become an immortal or a Buddha, can turn into an animal. All is shaped and created by heart-intent. The heart-monkey and mind-horse race through ten thousand lives and ten thousand ages without rest. Cultivation requires entirely the refining of heart-mind.

To refine the heart is to put the heart to death. How is the heart put to death? By not stirring the ordinary human heart, not indulging the heart of desire, not giving free rein to the blood-heart — as if dead. When the human heart is dead, the Way-heart comes alive. Following the three refuges, keeping the five precepts — these are precisely the method of a dead heart. Without a dead heart, one simply cannot follow the refuges and keep the precepts.

Those who take up the Way halfheartedly, sit in practice without results — all of this is because the heart-intent has been allowed to run loose. When the ordinary-heart has been loose for a long time, when an improper path or a bad thing comes along that can stir the heart-intent, one cannot hold on; the precepts break and the rules are violated — and in a single instant all the layers of harmful karma arrive along the path of the heart-intent.

The changes of heart-intent are a thousand threads and ten thousand heads — but in total they do not go beyond three hearts. The three hearts are: first, the past heart — everything that has already happened, good and bad alike, is a dream. Joy and vexation are empty once they have passed. Whether friend or foe, what is gained by ruminating? But people in the world insist on fixing past events in the heart, this and that, back and forth — when meeting people, they always discuss past things. Is that not foolishness?

Second, the future heart — future things cannot be seen and cannot be fixed. Planning today for tomorrow's affairs, there are still uncertain tomorrow-affairs that cannot even be imagined today. But people in the world insist on empty imagining and wild speculation: currently poor, wishing to be rich later; currently rich, afraid of being poor later. Young couples plan for companionship in old age; when a child turns one, they already plan for their wedding. With a house they want to renovate it; with land they want to add more. Middle-aged people plan into their eighties; past sixty they plan for a hundred springs. But things in the red dust shift with each step and change in a moment. Drinking together today at a feast — who will be alive next year? Tonight you take off your shoes and socks — will you put them on tomorrow? One breath doesn't come — and you are a corpse. Yesterday walking the street like a horse in motion; today lying still as a corpse in the coffin. Life and death are between one breath and the next — how can thinking and planning help? Moreover, ten thousand things and a hundred affairs are all fixed by destiny; even a single drink, a single meal — nothing is without prior cause. Think through ten plans for the future and nine out of ten will not go as wished — why labour with that fruitless heart?

If one does not keep the past heart, does not give birth to the future heart, the heart within is clear and natural. Beyond past and future, there is still the present heart. The present heart: for things that go as wished, we take the joy as real; for things that don't go as wished, we take the vexation as real. Whatever we are attached to and love, we paste the heart-intent onto it. But present things are also an obstacle. Merely thinking in empty speculation is also futile. Affairs have their difficult moments, their urgent moments, their busy moments, their worried and gloomy moments — the more you think and plan, the less you get there. When the plan is settled, when you can act, act. When you cannot act, let it go. As for present food and clothing — if you can get by, that's enough. But each person keeps to their appointed duties, with poverty and wealth left to heaven. Wild thought and speculation — what does it help?

The practitioner: going with conditions and one's allotment — not dwelling on the past, not calculating the future. Sweep the three hearts and return to the one heart — that is all. But the heart is most quick-witted and the will most active. Coming and going without fixed time, with no fixed dwelling — how to manage it? Students of the Way often, even with no bad or evil thoughts, still have floating thoughts and floating notions that cannot be cut off. Floating thoughts and floating notions: with no fixed content, no fixed thought — now thinking of this, now thinking of that, within a single moment imagining up and down, east and west — how many intentions are stirred without knowing it, like tangled thread without head or tail.

When thoughts arise, even one's own body is forgotten — where it is? The heart-intent departs through four gates: the eyes see colour and the heart follows colour; the ears hear sound and the heart follows sound; the nose smells fragrance and the heart follows fragrance; the mouth craves flavour and the heart follows flavour. The heart goes out, and with it the spirit; the spirit goes out, and with it the qi; when qi goes out, the blood and vital essence wither — rapid ageing, rapid illness, unto death. The one aperture of the Mysterious Pass is precisely the method for refining heart-intent: the nine stages of practice are all, at each stage, the refining of heart-intent. Lock the heart-monkey within the Mysterious Pass; tie the mind-horse within the Mysterious Pass. Every moment not departing from the Mysterious Pass is every moment refining heart-intent.

When heart-intent is forgotten, a wild movement will arise. Keep returning to guard the Mysterious Pass, applying the reverse-illumination vigorously — the wandering heart will subside on its own and scattered thoughts will dissolve. Over long time, the heart-intent refined to the point of ripeness — whatever splendour, excitement, joy, or love comes along, it cannot attract me. Whatever hardship and difficulty, whatever is fearsome or frightening, it cannot shake me. The Heart Sutra says: "No eyes, ears, nose, tongue, heart, or mind; no colour, sound, scent, flavour, touch, or mental object." That is precisely the result of refining heart-intent.

In ordinary times, when the heart-intent is settled and you must speak, you can speak; you must manage affairs, you can manage affairs; you must socialise, you can socialise — but the will does not run loose or wander far. When it occasionally goes out, immediately turn the light and bring it back.

Where the heart is, the spirit gathers there. Where qi returns, the vital essence also transforms into qi and unites with the spirit. Spirit and qi united — that is the work of refining the hun-soul and controlling the po-soul. The hun-soul is the discriminating spirit — it is the seed of rebirth across ages: greedy for wealth, desiring beauty, making demonic mischief; by day wildly thinking, by night dreaming in confusion — harming the three treasures of vital essence, qi, and spirit. But the heart-intent, which is divinely aware, has in turn been used as a servant by the hun-soul. Cultivation puts heart-intent in charge as master, integrating and directing the three treasures of vital essence, qi, and spirit — then the hun-soul is under governance and can no longer cause inverted harm.

Refining heart-intent is thus the refining of hun and po alike. Refine it and keep refining it — the creative transformation becomes one body with empty space. Impermanence will not dare to appear; the king of the underworld will not be able to find us. Therefore in stillness: release the ten thousand conditions; complete heart and mind. At each stage of the practice, heart-intent must be fine and yet finer, still and yet stiller. Heart-intent scattered — the medicine has also gone; the elixir is ruined; the fire is cold; the breath is no longer even. Before the true yang arises, one relies entirely on the heart-intent to gather into a mass. When the great medicine is turning, one relies entirely on the heart-intent to push it through. Advancing and stopping the fire: heart-intent cannot be coarse even for a moment, cannot be let loose even for a moment. A person with practice cannot let the heart-intent be turbulent and agitated, cannot get angry, cannot have great joy or great sorrow, cannot grieve or be delighted to excess. For turbulence, anger, excessive joy and grief — all of these can attract demonic obstacles. When harmful karma harms people, when demonic strangeness attaches itself — all of it takes advantage of the running-loose of the heart. If every hour of the day and night the heart does not run loose, how can harmful karma be attracted? A thousand sprites and ten thousand monsters will not be able to come near. All the burning incense and bowing are methods for settling the heart — and guarding the Mysterious Pass is the first step in refining heart-intent.

This heart-intent: it is the treasure without price that penetrates heaven and earth. A pity that in the red dust it is not used well — only known to be applied to ordinary feeling and worldly affairs, life wasted, ten thousand ages of rebirth, suffering beyond words. Who knows that the sages, immortals, and Buddhas, elevated above the three realms, leaping free of the five phases — all relied on heart-intent for their practice? As it is said: the thought of the Way is like the thought of dust. When becoming a Buddha, the dust-heart loves to become the Way-heart — the ordinary person is the Buddha. People in the red dust who use heart-intent: clever and sharp, grasping and calculating — in the end everything comes to nothing. We who cultivate, having refined heart-intent, no longer grasp or calculate. Learn to be a little like a simple person, put on a bit of the manner of a fool. Refine it until merit is complete and fruition is round — then from heart's desire to spontaneous transformation. Is that not free and joyful?

All of you say the practice is hard to do and that you have no spare time — this is mostly deceiving yourselves. Ask yourself: in a single day, in how many hours is heart-intent at the Mysterious Pass? In general: start talking, and you forget it. In vexation, you forget it again. In happiness, you forget it again. When busy doing things, you forget it again. When someone comes and you go to greet them, you forget it again. When going out on the road, you forget it again. If one heart has three thoughts and inner guarding is unbroken at every moment — how could there be no results? The sutras say: "Offering to one arhat is not equal to offering to one person of no-heart." No-heart: no ordinary human heart, blood-heart, desire-heart — only the Way-heart flowing continuously, dimly, wholly undivided; having a heart and yet having no heart. Good and evil among ordinary people are uncertain, yet are made visible in what they actually do. One stir of the heart, one movement of intention — the spirits already know. Each person has their original spirit, and the original spirit is at the light of the crown. When thoughts are good and upright, the light is bright and clear. When thoughts are devious and evil, the light is dim and dark. The spirit-beings are at every moment in empty space observing — immediately following the brightness or darkness of the person's crown-light, examining good and evil. This thought can be hidden from nothing at all.

The worst thing for a practitioner is for wild thoughts to stir. But the work of upright heart and sincere intention is precisely to stop wild thoughts and settle wild desires. The Heart Sutra says: "Far removed from inverted dreaming." Stopping and settling the wild — that is being far removed from inversion. Moreover, the suffering of rebirth all arises from heart-intent. When heart-intent is turned toward desire, at the moment of death it is drawn into rebirth and suffers the suffering of desire. When heart-intent is turned toward wealth, at the moment of death it is drawn into rebirth and suffers the suffering of wealth.

In the past, Li Boshi was skilled at painting horses — his whole heart and entire intention was focused on horses — and at death he was born in a horse's womb. There was a monk who loved snakes all his life and kept snakes — at death he was born in a snake's womb. You see: the two words heart-intent — are they not dangerous?

The sutras say: beings ferry themselves; the Buddha cannot ferry them. Within this one body there are many beings. Eyes and ears are beings; mouth and nose are beings; heart-intent changes and transforms into countless beings without limit. When the eyes do not covet colour, that is ferrying the beings of the eyes. When the ears do not covet sound, that is ferrying the beings of the ears. When wild thoughts do not arise, that is ferrying the beings of heart-intent. When the heart gives birth to ten thousand dharmas, those dharmas give birth to ten thousand kinds of suffering. When the heart extinguishes them, ten thousand dharmas are extinguished. When dharmas are extinguished, ten thousand kinds of suffering are crossed over and one returns to nirvana.

The Diamond Sutra says: "The mind should be produced with no attachment to any place." That is: with no attachment to the human heart, the Way-heart naturally arises.

Chapter Seventeen: On Distinguishing Heterodox Paths

Within and beyond the three realms, from immeasurable ages, all is governed by the cycles of heaven. At the beginning of a cycle, heaven and earth open; at the end of a cycle, heaven and earth close. Heaven and earth arose from the Limitless. The heaven of the Limitless, the heaven beyond heaven, is the place where all Buddhas and bodhisattvas return to the root. The beginning and end of each cycle — only the Limitless knows it. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas must also respond to the turning of the age and come down to maintain the world.

Heaven opened at the hour of zi; earth was divided at the hour of chou; human beings were born at the hour of yin. At the beginning of human life, the five elders refined form, and the one true spirit descended from the Limitless. By origin this is the seed of immortals and Buddhas. Across the ages, changing faces and names, years and months deepening, the road home was forgotten. The ninety-two original people drift in the eastern land, captivated by the red dust — without immortals and Buddhas coming down to bring awakening, how could they return to the origin?

Why must these original people be ferried back? Because when the cycle concludes, heaven and earth will dissolve and all living things will be transformed. The true spirit-light will also scatter and be lost. When the cosmos is re-created, each divided spirit must return to its position — which is why in this waning of the noon-assembly they must all be ferried back, as the basis for the generation of human seed across immeasurable future ages.

At the Dragon Assembly of the chen period, the first Dragon Flower gathering: the Lamp-Lighter Buddha held the Way and ferried back two hundred million. At the Dragon Assembly of the si period, the second Dragon Flower gathering: Shakyamuni Buddha held the Way and ferried back two hundred million. Still the ninety-two original people remained stranded in the eastern land. This universal ferrying is the third Dragon Flower gathering. Heaven prepared for this great affair of universal ferrying thousands of years in advance — all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas came and went, building the foundation. At the end of the Zhou dynasty, the three teachings rose together, each a single great lineage transmitting the earlier-heaven great Way in singular succession. From Qin and Han onward, governance and culture flourished overmuch; the world grew elaborate and ornate; the true Way hid and did not show itself; the Confucian teaching also declined. In the Liang dynasty of the Five Dynasties period, the twenty-eighth patriarch of the western region, the Venerable Bodhidharma, came east under heaven's command and became the first patriarch of China. Sweeping aside written texts and pointing directly at the earlier-heaven great Way, he was the true lineage of universal ferrying.

From Bodhidharma the transmission went to the second patriarch Shenguang, the third patriarch Pu'an, the fourth patriarch Caodong, the fifth patriarch Huangmei, the sixth patriarch Huineng, the seventh patriarch Bai Ma. In the Tang dynasty, the seventh and eighth patriarchs transmitted the dharma to householders, and the Way returned to the Confucian line — but universal ferrying was still early. Heaven took the great Way back; the lineage did not transmit; over eight hundred years, until the late Ming and early Qing, when heaven commanded the ninth patriarch Huang Yizu to receive the patriarchal position at a distance. Three periods had arrived. The ninth patriarch transmitted to the tenth patriarch Wu, who transmitted to the eleventh patriarch He, who transmitted to the twelfth patriarch Yuan, who first opened the universal ferrying and transmitted the root of the Way broadly — and then transmitted to the thirteenth patriarchs Xu and Yang, who bore the calamity and returned to the earlier heaven.

The five elders settled in the Silver City; heaven and humans met; the procedures of universal ferrying were fixed. The fourteenth patriarch Yao, the fifteenth patriarch Wang, the sixteenth patriarch Liu — this completes the red-yang sixteen patriarchs. The Way transmitted to the white-yang era; Maitreya responds to the age. The first patriarch of white-yang opened the universal ferrying broadly; afterward the Gong-Zhang patriarch continued to manage the final one act. The three courts transmitted broadly; the ten thousand teachings gathered; the ten directions and ten lands, fifty-four headsmen, the grace of ten thousand halls spread out — the great Way extends to the nine provinces, to the ends of the sea and sky. The original people return to the origin. This was all done under the edict of the Limitless; the thousand thousand Buddhas and ten thousand ten thousand bodhisattvas all must take refuge in this procedure to succeed in establishing their fruition.

From this one can see: what a rare and unheard-of great matter this is — what a rare opportunity, what an unlikely encounter. Ten thousand ages, one transmission — there is only one gate and no second Way. Why is it that beyond the right Way there are also so many heterodox paths? Because across the world, men and women are not all original seed. There are celestial sprites, earth-demons, mountain-spirits and water-monsters, tree- and plant-sprites — though in human form, they have no Buddha-nature at all. Heaven commands the myriad immortals and Buddhas to come and receive the original people, and also commands the myriad demon-kings to come and receive their own kind. Each does their own work, and heterodox paths are more numerous than the right path.

Such as: the Pan lineage, the Yao lineage, the Mahayana gate, the Daoist clear-quiet gate, the Buddhist Three-Treasure gate — though they have no true merit, they can still provide deliverance. There are also the twenty-four gates of the greater golden elixir, the seventy-two gates of the lesser golden elixir, the civil-opening gate, the martial-opening gate, the four gates of joy-anger-grief-joy — all of these are methods with form and appearance, attracting demons and attracting illness; do not touch them. And there are the demonic gates that specialize in techniques: those who imitate Guanyin and false Maitreyas, who ride clouds and mist, fly sand and walk on rocks, can release flying swords, can direct thunder, with the power to move mountains and reverse the seas. In these times when the six yangs are nearly exhausted and the one yin has arisen, six thousand years of cultivation have produced sprites and monsters — all of them coming out to harm people and disturb the world. And there are the five-dipper celestial demons who only stir up warfare, making heaven dark and earth dim, ghosts wailing and spirits howling — however iron-hard a man may be, it is hard to escape the three periods. How could original seed endure this white-yang great calamity?

That is why ten thousand Buddhas come to earth and broad compassionate vessels float everywhere — to receive the Eternal Mother's children and lead them onto the compassionate vessel. This compassionate vessel is also formless and imageless, yet the Buddha-dharma is boundless and divine power is vast. Sprites see it and lose their souls; ghosts see it and lose their form. It ferries only original people and does not ferry different kinds — while the ten thousand different kinds each burrow into ten thousand heterodox paths, demons attracting demons, each following its own class.

When the great Way becomes manifest, those different kinds are all extinguished together. Only the right dharma can attend the Dragon Flower — those who are truly original people, who have genuine wisdom-mind, would never take the road of no-return. There are also those of different kinds who — loving this false cultivated-true-person — return to right awakening, though they originally do not share the same Way. How much harder it is to manage.

Within a single Way, when the right turns into the heterodox and the heterodox confuses the right, and demons arise inside the Way — that is the testing-ground of testing. Many great figures, tested until heart is dim and eyes are blurry, cannot recognise the theme; their essay is wrong; their name is removed from the register of the Buddha-selecting ground.

Every time there is a change of administration, there is one generation of true patriarchs and also one generation of false patriarchs-turned-demons. When the Water Ancestor managed affairs, Zhou and Ge called themselves supreme and set up their own lineages with swords and banners and marks — with form and appearance, confusing people's hearts, filling the world, trapping the worthy — those were the celestial demons. When the Gold Ancestor managed affairs, there were false five-phases people who claimed to be gathering-back, confusing the system — also great celestial demons.

To sum up: everything is a matter of removing the turbid and keeping the pure — and also of using tests to test practitioners. Those with shallow roots and heavy karma, who desire high position and wild aspiration, who do not follow the rules and methods, who have every kind of defect — all of them break into the demonic path together and are destroyed together.

As for true original people: they must raise the wisdom-eye high and recognise the theme clearly. Why? Because where the root is, there the ancestor is. To be able to return to the root is to be able to recognise the ancestor. Where is the ancestor? The root of the Way is the ancestor. Men and women, with little information and limited experience, not knowing, not recognising, go with the flow. Those of ordinary capacity have no great ability. As for the large and small grace-halls: the eyes must be bright and the ears firm; stand steady on both feet. If you abandon heaven's principle and trust in demonic speech — seeking advantage while entering the demon-army — deceiving yourself and deceiving others, misleading both yourself and the many — then one fall means ten thousand ages without recovery.

Only firmly depend on the root of the Way, be just and correct, from beginning to end without deviation — and you will naturally succeed.

To sum up: whatever is new and strange and exciting, whatever changes the oral instructions, speaks of heaven's mechanism, and says the gathering-back and the manifest Way are right before your eyes — all of that is demonic. This year no change, then pointing to next year — delaying and wasting time, until self-exposed by its own failure. Confused men and women willingly accept the deception, miss the good matter of this life — all because of past-life karmic roots. Truly pitiable, beyond rescue. If one truly returns to the root and manages affairs according to the method, then maintain the cold and quiet household manner, follow ordinary principle, do not wildly scheme for heaven's mechanism, do not lightly speak of calamity and fate, conceal the radiance and nurse the obscurity, silently await heaven's heart, give full effort according to conditions, until death — that is choosing the good knowledge.

The two words right and heterodox are most critical. Only receiving what is right and supporting it — no matter how great or small the ability, no matter how large or small the merit — all is reliable, all receives the light. Altogether one is in the ranks of those at the Dragon Flower. If wrongly supporting the heterodox — though the ability is great, the talent is wasted; though the merit is there, the work is given away. Even filial piety performed is, inversely, disloyal and unfilial — all because of heaven's command. Those who obey heaven survive; those who disobey heaven perish. Should we not be in awe?

Chapter Eighteen: On Venerating the Teacher-Transmission

Among the sages of the three teachings, none was without a teacher. Among the ancient emperors and kings, none was without a teacher. In this time of universal ferrying, there is the teacher who holds the transmission of the Way, and at the end there is also the patriarch who manages the gathering-back. Not venerating the three teachers is ingratitude — how can the Way be attained?

Venerating and honouring those of higher standing means: honoring those who have the Way. Even if their age is younger than mine, their learning less than mine, their rank below mine, their words inferior to mine, their manner not above mine — since I have received the grace of their opening teaching, I must honour and respect them. If the teacher's age is greater, learning high, rank present, words and manner all admirable — then honour and respect go without saying.

Veneration and honour have several levels of meaning:

First: be sincere in heart and real in intention — do not deceive the teacher.

Second: speech must be careful — do not offend or affront the teacher.

Third: propriety must be thorough — do not treat the teacher with lightness or contempt.

Beyond these three, further: listen to the teacher's communications; obey instructions in all things; do not disobey. Even when able to carry out a task that should be carried out, receive the teacher's instruction before going — spare no toil, give full effort. When you cannot fully accomplish it, still give the heart. If you yourself have faults, and the teacher admonishes or corrects you; or if you violate the rules and the teacher disciplines you — be humble and quiet, receive the teaching, and correct the fault. Never secretly stir the private heart.

Even if the teacher has an error or a wrong reproof, do not get angry and argue. With time, things will be clear of themselves. In ordinary times, when the teacher arrives: food and drink must be clean; offerings must be sincere; illness must be tended with care. Money and merit-contributions handed to the teacher must not give rise to a suspicious heart.

The greatest form of venerating the teacher is to open new territories for the teacher, to manage affairs for the teacher, to lead original people, to spread the practice-hall — with full loyalty, full filial devotion, persistent diligence. Making a model of venerating the teacher, so that people all know to venerate the teacher — then the merit is great.

Next: some run and help, some support with words — in all things keep the great justice of the Way, display the good of the Way. All of these are matters of venerating the teacher.

If a wind-trial comes, first devise ways to protect and preserve. Or if the teacher has a moment of carelessness and makes an unavoidable mistake — it is not wrong to counsel privately, gently and indirectly, according to the rules. If the counsel is not heeded, then only guard your own correctness and do not follow their conduct. Do not reverse face and break propriety, publicising the teacher's faults and parading your own virtue. The teacher's good or bad is for heaven to observe and examine. Heaven's testing and examining has nothing to do with you the junior learner. You only need to be truly good yourself — even if the teacher has made a mess of things, it will not implicate you. Just keep venerating the teacher to the end; keep honouring the Way to the end. The spirits will record the merit; you will certainly not be left unrewarded. Moreover, since the teacher has resources and has managed the practice-hall for many years, has opened so many original people, has endured repeated wind-trials — the foundation and karmic connections are always superior to those of the junior learner. It is not necessarily true that the teacher has truly done something bad. What is called "doing bad things" — often it comes from distorted reports and hearsay, caught between suspicion and misapprehension, often unjustly accused. As junior learners, understand the situation and reason, think it through on the teacher's behalf. How can one carelessly speak falsehood and slander, falling into the great offence of deceiving the teacher?

Think of when the teacher first ferried you: a thousand words, ten thousand admonitions, earnest and tireless — wishing that within a year or half a year, the teacher could bring you straight to heaven. We junior learners, from the first day we entered the gate: following the method, practising correctly, gradually having karma arrive — gradually developing the disease of doubt, gradually growing slack, and then beginning to take the great Way lightly. Taking the Way lightly naturally leads to taking the teacher lightly; taking the teacher lightly naturally leads to deceiving the teacher.

Men and women today who deceive the teacher: most have fallen into collapse. Some, unable to endure the discipline, lose patience and anger and take the teacher lightly. Some scramble for merit and fruition, say the teacher is biased, change heart and deceive the teacher. Some greedily manipulate money, deceive the teacher regarding merit-contributions, and enrich themselves. Some of arrogant character and strange temperament, relying on influence to bully the teacher. Some of crafty mind who reverse the facts and make slander, deceiving the teacher with a clever mouth. Some with private schemes unfulfilled, secretly breeding resentment, inventing pretexts to deceive the teacher. Some seeking external rewards, going to someone else and deceiving the teacher. Some with false flattery, affecting poses and postures to deceive the teacher. Some who monopolise a locality and compete for students while deceiving the teacher. Some who, when trials and winds come, turn to retreat and regret, deceiving the teacher.

These layers of karmic obstruction cannot all be told. To sum up: deceiving the teacher is deceiving the heart; deceiving the heart is deceiving heaven. Heaven's punishment will certainly follow.

All men and women in the Way: wholly give the heart to honouring the Way; wholly give the heart to venerating the teacher. Listen to the teacher's words; follow the teacher's conduct; rely on the teacher — and you will certainly receive the teacher's light and repay the teacher's grace.

In these times, a multitude of demons arise and stir confusion — people's hearts are dim and eyes blurry, not knowing who is true and who is false. One moment of uncertainty, one wrong step — and it is wrong. Now you must use your own wisdom to judge their origin and source, and you will not get lost on the road ahead.

Where there is a true teacher, there is a true root; where there is a true root, there is a true ancestor. The teacher's reliance is precisely on the true root and true ancestor. Following the ancestor means returning to the root; returning to the root means venerating the teacher. If you do not venerate the teacher, you will have no teacher. Without a teacher you have no root; without a root you have no ancestor; without an ancestor you cannot return to the origin.

There is only one unfortunate circumstance: if the teacher has been used by harmful karma and has trusted in the demonic and entered the demon-way, betraying heaven's command and destroying the ancestral root — then absolutely do not follow. Those who can remonstrate: remonstrate with full strength. Those who cannot: let the teacher do their own demonic work. Do not yield to the old face-to-face relationship and compromise the great matter of life and death. One can only follow the teacher to heaven; one cannot follow the teacher to hell. If one encounters such a teacher: there is no choice; seek out the higher return to the root and recognise the ancestor. If there is no road to seek and no message to get through, then close the door and cultivate oneself, practise according to the method — heaven still has provision; in time one will be able to return to the origin. Only: do not form karmic connections with the demonic faction, do not trust in the demonic faction's affairs.

Chapter Nineteen: On Returning to the Lineage System

All of us who cultivate the Way should understand the transmission and inheritance of the Way-lineage. Tracing back to the root, pursuing the source until the very beginning. Proceeding step by step, venerating the teacher and honouring the Way — it cannot be skipped over or approached rashly.

For instance, every household and every nation has a system of inheritance passed down from generation to generation, which cannot be skipped and cannot be looked down upon. So adhering to the household's norms and the nation's laws is called: following the rules and keeping order. When all things are kept orderly and without confusion, then every household and every nation can be expected to flourish year by year.

In the cultivation of the heart and the nurturing of the nature, this is equally so — and one should understand still more clearly the source and the line of the Way-transmission. Some people have their own lineage and yet abandon the root to pursue the illusory, not knowing the source of the Way-transmission to which they belong, following the side-roads in confusion, even making light of their original lineage and slandering it. Not only this — they even disregard the initiating teachers, introducing teachers, and witnessing teachers who guided them and introduced them to benefit, as well as all the worthy elders who transferred and managed their affairs, seeing them as nothing. Such people are called people who forget the root. Those who forget the root — how can they keep the Mysterious Pass of the ancestors?

Therefore sincere people, though working diligently every day without pause, often cannot succeed — most people have this particular defect. As Zhuangzi said: the fish-trap is made for catching fish; once you have caught the fish, the trap is not important. Someone who has fallen once has had the lesson — they will not fall again. Yet those who think "from now on I will not fall again" forget the lesson of having fallen. Those who discuss the Way are there to hear the true teaching of the Way — yet those who hear it afterwards set aside the teacher who discussed it, without grasping the root and pursuing the illusory. Such people rarely fail to fail.

Even plants and trees need firmly established roots before they can grow flourishing branches and leaves, open flowers and bear firm fruit — how much more so the cultivation of the Way? How then can we not understand our Way-lineage and transmission-line?

Although most people in our practice-hall do understand our Way-lineage and transmission-line, those who do not understand are also not few. Therefore we must clearly know: our Way is the single unsurpassed gate transmitted to us by the Ancient Buddha of Heaven's Nature. Therefore all who have heard the teaching of the Way and been lifted and benefited must follow the instructions of the benevolent teacher. The teaching given to us by the benevolent teacher is most precious — it is forever our Way-lineage and transmission-line.

Those who cultivate the Way, if they can all understand our Way-lineage and transmission-line, will certainly work hand in hand to return together to the side of the Eternal Mother, going home to the original root. This small and sincere intention: let all the worthies and virtuous ones encourage each other in it.

Chapter Twenty: On Attending the Dragon Flower Assembly

The Dragon Flower Assembly of the three periods is something everyone can attend — it is not difficult. Only set the will and carry out the practice; honour moral virtue; in one's conduct, begin first with the human way.

In serving parents: be filial, embody their heart, accord with their will, without the slightest transgression. In serving older brothers: be respectful, be deferential in all things, be harmonious in all encounters, without a stubborn and wilful heart. In serving one's employer: be loyal and honest, give full effort in all things, harbour no craft or cunning. In making friends: be sincere and trustworthy — do not deceive. Toward those of higher standing: honour them with propriety, do not be disorderly or arrogant, follow rank and sequence. At funerals, rites of remembrance, marriages, and social encounters — let there be nothing that is not regulated by propriety. In treating others with justice: at all encounters be appropriate and measured; only need to understand the great justice; do not be petty and demanding in all things — that is what it means to see justice and act with courage. As for integrity and shame: still more must these be held to. When facing wealth, do not take it unrighteously. When facing difficulty, do not shrink away. Whatever would injure one's integrity — do not force yourself to do it. In this way the eight virtues can be honoured, and the human way will be complete — and heaven's way naturally accords. When heaven's way accords, the cultivation of the Way naturally reaches completion.

When the Way's cultivation is complete, the Dragon Flower can be attended. But one must still be resolute of heart, moving forward together with vigour and directness. Cultivate outer merit abundantly; press inner practice hard. Cultivating both inner and outer, be resolute in your determined practice; be clear in your settled understanding. Do not move against the situation before the fact; do not waver about it after the fact. Do not be seized by appearances and sounds; do not be shaken by money and profit; do not be bent by power and force; do not be held back by wealth and rank; do not be stopped by poverty and hardship.

For those with wealth: give up wealth and cultivate virtue. For matters that relieve people and benefit things: carry them out with full heart. Do not be a miser.

For those with strength: give full effort — do not sit by and miss the moment.

For inner virtue: follow the method and carry it through; from day to day, never stopping — days accumulating into months, months into years — until merit is complete and fruition is full, and the day of attending the Dragon Flower will naturally come.

If everyone is like this, everyone can attend. Though it is a deed without precedent in the ages past or ages to come, it is also the most achievable of honourable things. If you do not believe my words, stretch forward and look — it is there.

Colophon

Essentials for Leaving the World (出世必要) is a Yiguandao cultivation manual in twenty chapters. The text circulates without named authorship, in keeping with the tradition's practice of presenting received teaching rather than individual composition. Internal references to the patriarchal transmission — naming the lineage from Bodhidharma through the red-yang and into the white-yang era of Maitreya — place the composition in the Republican period (1912–1949), most likely in the 1920s–1940s during the peak of Yiguandao's organisational expansion across the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia.

The text is written in warm colloquial modern Chinese (báihuà 白話) with elements of classical syntax. The register is plain, direct, and urgent — the voice of a teacher speaking without ceremony to practitioners who must act now. The twenty chapters address the full arc of Yiguandao practice: right understanding of karma and rebirth (chapters 1–3), clearing the conditions for practice (chapters 4–5), the inner obstacles (chapters 6–8), character cultivation (chapters 9–10), discretion and communal conduct (chapters 11), demonic trials (chapter 12), outer merit (chapter 13), the inner cultivation of the Mysterious Pass and the elixir-field (chapter 14), dana and financial contribution (chapter 15), refining heart-mind (chapter 16), distinguishing the right Way from heterodox paths (chapter 17), venerating the teacher-transmission (chapter 18), the lineage system (chapter 19), and finally the Dragon Flower Assembly — the eschatological gathering at which all original people return (chapter 20).

Key Yiguandao terminology used throughout: 無極 (wújí, the Limitless, ultimate source); 老☉ (lǎo mǔ, the Eternal Mother, with ☉ substituting for 母 in the source text); 玄關 (xuánguān, the Mysterious Pass, the seat of the original spirit); 三寶 (sānbǎo, the Three Treasures — body/mouth/mind or vessel/word/practice, context-dependent); 白陽 (báiyáng, the White Sun era, the current eschatological period); 龍華 (lónghuá, the Dragon Flower Assembly, the gathering at the end of the age); 九二原人 (jiǔèr yuánrén, the ninety-two original people, the souls to be gathered back); 點傳師 (diǎnchuánshī, the initiating teacher who transmits the three treasures at initiation); 佛堂 (fótáng, Buddha Hall, the local practice site). The ☉ symbol in the source text is an unusual typographical substitution for 母 (mǔ, mother), likely used to indicate the sacred or divine character of the term.

This is believed to be the first complete English translation of this text. Translated from the Chinese source text by Rōka (translator-02), Good Works Translation, 2026-04-30.

The Blood Rule is satisfied: this translation was derived independently from the Chinese source text.

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Source Text

出世必要

前言

出世者，修真悟道之人所共悉，然出世之路何從也？當今世人尚在盲然，今偶遇「出世必要」一書，內容盡屬返本皈家之導路，採取印刷，以備修道之上士作為暗途明燈。此書之意三教同宗，萬殊一本，其說不一，出源無異；惟今修道善信，以此書作出世資料，庶乎無所差謬矣！謹以此為引證前言。

明因果第一

上而天界，下而地界，中而人界，為神、為仙、為人、為鬼、為畜生，皆在因果之中。蓋神仙是不昧因果者也，人而落於因果，顛倒變化而不知。欲知前世因，今生受者是，欲知後世果，今生作者是。前世之因，今生之果也，今生之因，又出來世之果，因果不了，生死也不了，六道輪迴，畜生四道，胎、卵、濕、化。人有二道，富貴、貧賤。今生富貴，是前世積德行善之因，好因結好果；今生貧賤，是前世作孽造罪之因，壞因結壞果。生生死死，有本萬年簿子，十殿閻羅王掌管，甚麼因結甚麼果？他替你算得公公道道，絲毫不錯。善有善報，惡有惡報，但報有遲有早，有明有暗，有合幾世算結，乘除加減而報，故有看得見之報，有看不見之報。有因果就有生死，有生死就有善惡之報。無因果，不能成做父子；無因果，不能成做夫妻兒女。親愛歡喜是因果，冤家煩惱亦是因果，不是天地定的，不是閻羅王強派的，仍然是人自造自受。無奈改頭換面，姓張姓李，輪迴路上，往往來來，昏迷不覺！好因果上至天堂，惡因果下至地獄，人道之中，生在貧賤，千苦萬辛；生在富貴，暫時作樂，然而富貴必多造孽，來生又轉入貧賤，若再有罪，來世便降為畜生。世上人不信因果，說人死如燈滅；不信報應，說紙見活人受罪，那見死鬼戴伽。豈知道人之死也，形滅而靈魂不滅，靈魂猶如火種，可以吹得過，可以點得著；至於活人受罪，如水火之災，瘡病之苦，王法官刑之冤枉。大半由前劫所造，在陰司則定罪案，發到陽世來受，又有人生未死去，而魂已拿入陰司受刑，此活靈活現，到處皆有，可知有受罪之活人，定有頂伽之死鬼。死人罪重了，在陰司自然頂伽，即或托生陽世，亦必做受罪之活人。試看都市之中，大路之上，多少殘疾不成形的，惡瘡腥臭、流膿出血、終日叫喚，豈不是活地獄即在眼前？人在陽世多不信因果報應，到了三寸氣斷，魂入陰曹，孽鏡臺前一照，沒有不信的，然到此時，悔之已甚遲了。大地男女，誰能逃脫生死二字？那個躲過閻君之手？究竟生死也可以逃得？閻君也可以躲得？先要把因果看得明白，知道為人為畜，只此一靈，前身後身，原非兩個，因果是生死之根，生死是受苦之趣，現處富貴，總不長久，現在貧賤，那有出頭，大限一到，閻羅殿前可不駭怕乎？如果善多惡少，尚保人身，若是善少惡多，則人身一失，萬劫難復矣。因果中最重者殺孽，一命抵一命，一刀還一刀，千百劫後，躲脫不了。所以持齋者，正是怕結殺因，積成殺果，亦修行者了前世之孽，得超脫之法，成出世之果也。

(Source text continues — full Chinese text preserved in source file: Tulku/Tools/yiguandao/chushi_biyao_source.txt, lines 48–921)

Source Colophon

Source text: 出世必要 (Essentials for Leaving the World), Yiguandao cultivation text, anonymous. Extracted from the Shanben Library (善書圖書館 / Good Books Library), a digitised collection of Taiwanese Yiguandao devotional texts, via staged local copy at Tulku/Tools/yiguandao/chushi_biyao_source.txt. Source language: modern colloquial Chinese (白話) with classical elements. No publication date given in the digital source; internal evidence suggests Republican-period composition.

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