Q: Shakyamuni Buddha cultivated for as long a time as three great eons before he became a Buddha. Is this length of time fixed?
A: Have you heard of Dhyana Master Gao Fongmiao? The one who sat at Xitianmu (Eye of Western Heaven), where the cliff was shaped like an inverted lotus. He fell over the cliff when he dozed off, but Weitou Bodhisattva saved him and carried him up back up.
Disciple: I've heard of him.
A: You've heard of it. What happened to him ought to answer your question.

Q: What will happen to Taiwan?
A: If everyone in Taiwan avoided killing, became vegetarians and recited the Buddha's name, then the state of affairs in Taiwan would improve. If people in Taiwan continue to kill and create unwholesome karma, Taiwan will collapse. Don't do anything that is bad and do everything that is good, then Taiwan will improve as a result. If everything you do is unwholesome and nothing you do is wholesome, then Taiwan will always be in danger.

Q: Master, how can I use skillful means to control and overcome sexual desire, fear, and skepticism?
A: Don't eat meat, don't eat onions, and don't eat garlic. Don't eat anything that acts as a stimulant in general. Contemplate that "Every man has been a father to me and every woman my mother." If you think along these lines, your sex drive will vanish.

Disciple: I know that the Master doesn't like to hear people say thank you, but I am grateful for the Master for saving my life on several occasions.
A: Expand your mind, don't be so petty. Hurry up and reflect, restore your original purity!

Q: Master, you made every one of the ten thousand Buddhas in the Buddha Hall of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas!
A: It's all in the past. Why mention it?

Q: While meditating in the last several days, the pain in my legs have intensified, especially in my left knee. This pain gradually rolled into a ball and stayed on my kneecap. When the pain heightened yesterday, it exploded and became a clean and warm energy that's yellow. It went from my knee to my ribs and to the upper part of my body. This warmth didn't make me drowsy, but happy and comfortable. Later I saw a throne surrounded by white lotuses. The edges to them seemed blurry, but their centers have purple buds like an inverted wine glass with a wide rim. They would suddenly change into mountains of gems, the bright light of which are unprecedented. At times, they would also look like European castles or lotus diases that Bodhisattvas sit on. There was a flat headed snake that climbed to the top of the throne. Sometimes the scenes were transparent like a movie and would just flash by so I couldn't remember well. I only remember that I seemed to be walking along on the seashore by myself. No one else was in sight. The place was quiet and beautiful, charming. There was only the sound of seagulls that occasionally broke the silence. Now, I want to know if this was real or was it a result of my discriminating consciousness?
A: Visions of Buddhas or flowers are not real when you have tried to visualize them and want to see them. Anything that you want to see is not real. The only significant state that's real is the one before a single thought occurs; though even that can be illusory at times. It's best not to encounter any state during meditation. There's nothing at all, just emptiness. Don't be shocked or happy. Either shock or happiness could cause you to become possessed by demons, such as the fifty skandha demons listed in the Shurangama Sutra.

Q: The Japanese Dhyana Master Daoyuan said "anybody can become a Buddha." But I am skeptical about these words. Other people may be able to become Buddhas, but not me.
A: "All living beings have the Buddha nature; all can become Buddhas." Shakyamuni Buddha said that, not the Japanese Dhyana Master Daoyuan-what an imagination.

Q: Venerable Master, please tell us the difference between our rules and the rules in the meditation centers of China.
A: Obviously there are lots of differences. But here we must assert our independence and uniqueness. We only choose what is good and we discard what is wrong. We will reform all the problems that plague us within Buddhism. Meditators in China require three meals a day: porridge for breakfast, lunch, and stuffed buns for the evening. Every meditator has to be beaten. The proctor beats the participants one by one. You're beaten whether you act correctly or otherwise. The harder you're hit, the more the monastery gets to show how strict its rules are. Gaoming Monastery, for example, is famous for its beatings. Sometimes they break their whipping stick from beating people. None of you have been beaten yet this year. You have been hit in the past. I'm probably more compassionate this year and your karmic obstacles are lighter too. These are some of the differences. Those monks in China are really scary. They don't have any smile on their face at all, looking as stern as Sangarama Bodhisattva. When you go the Chan Hall, you would be so scared that you're afraid to lift up your head, like mice seeing a cat.

We don't beat people for no reason here. I am pleasant and I give you talks every day as if I'm babysitting. Why do you have to suffer the way you do? It is because there's a tremendous amount of blessings for people in this country. If I don't make you suffer a bit, you will not develop any major commitment to cultivating. You give up wearing nice clothes, eating good food, living in a nice house, and forgoing all kind of luxury to come and suffer here. This is the only way to eliminate your arrogance, so that you can honestly cultivate and become liberated from birth and death.

Also, you absolutely cannot stretch out your legs in the meditation halls of China. You'll definitely get hit that way. They won't be a bit polite. The lead gets beaten too if he violates the rules. For instance, if the lead snoozes on occasion, the proctor will have to kneel on his right knee before hitting him, which is different than hitting the rest of the group.

Also, there's a certain way to hold one's teacup too because the cup has no handle. You have to place your thumb on the rim of the cup and use the rest of hand to hold the cup from the bottom. With your cup at hand, you extend your arm to let the attendant pour you tea. After you are done with the tea, you place it in front of you and the attendant will take it away. This is done in complete silence. We drink ginseng tea here, so our rules are substandard. We can study these rules and improve upon them over time. But we don't have to imitate China for sure. The rules have to fit the culture here. Meditators in China absolutely cannot go outside the hall to drink tea, to sit down, to stand around, and to chat. They return to the Chan hall for walking meditation immediately after their meal. They don't waste one second of their time. They don't do anything else at all. They don't go upstairs to rinse their mouths, stretch their backs and legs after eating. We'll change these little problems later so that we'll be on the right track.

Q: Some lay people will tell us that the reason they don't want to advance but want to retreat is because their karmic obstruction has shown up. How should we respond to them if this kind karma is fixed? Do we force them to continue to be diligent?
A: That depends on the situation at the time. Prescribe medicine according to the specific illness. Afflictions and Bodhi are like ice and water. Afflictions are Bodhi. One is born after one is put to death. It is right to bear what one really cannot bear and to go through what one really cannot go through. No need to corner yourself; there's no dead end.

Q: We often talk about how arhats and Bodhisattvas are different and similar. Will the Venerable Master please explain the differences between arhats and Bodhisattvas for us?
A: "Arhats" and "Bodhisattvas" are just terms. This is a matter of difference between people. Bodhisattvas benefit other people while arhats only cultivate for themselves. These are stages of cultivation. As ordinary people, we don't understand the states of arhats. As we go back and forth, deducing and imagining, we will have wasted all our time.

Q: How should we deal with resistance to cultivation, which becomes obstructive?
A: Would you bite the tiger that comes to bite you? This is resistance. Is it okay that you do that?

Q: I've been a criminal for nine years. I know that my offenses are grave, but I want to cultivate. How should I eliminate my obstructive karma?
A: Offenses as huge as the universe are gone as soon as we repent. The most important thing is for us to be extremely ashamed and remorseful. By repenting before the Buddhas, offenses melt away like ice before the sun-like Buddhas. If your offenses don't disappear, I will go to the hells with you!

Q: How can I quickly eliminate such grave offenses that I've committed?
A: Offenses as many as grains of sand in the river vanish as we bow to the Buddhas. We must repent sincerely and change.

Q: How can I overcome the sudden onset of drowsiness and paralysis in my arms and legs?
A: We have to have the guidance of good teachers while learning to meditate. We can't blindly practice it on our own.

Q: What are the effects of the Shurangama Mantra?
A: It develops wisdom. As it is said, "if we want the Buddhadharma to flourish, first study the Shurangama Sutra; if we want to do battle with kings of the underworld, first recite the Shurangama Mantra."

Q: Is it in accord with the Dharma to make Buddhist songs with popular music? Will it invite criticism?
A: If you're afraid of being criticized by others, then you might as well not do anything. Just ask yourself if anything good happens in the world without criticism? If you're scared of criticism, then don't do it. If you're not afraid of criticism, then go ahead and forge ahead.

Q: But some people criticize Buddhism for not creating its own music, that it uses popular songs instead.
A: Every one of the 84,000 practices is the best.

Q: Why doesn't the Master go and visit high ranking officials in the government?
A: The Precepts makes it clear that monastics should not visit politicians.

Q: Master, I obviously know that I'm wrong, but once I had this false thought, I lost my energy. I'm afraid that I cannot sustain myself.
A: Your selfishness is the source of the trouble! If you had been selfless and had forgotten yourself for the sake of Dharma, how could you have an "I" that can't stand a situation? You would have forgotten all this long ago.

Q: My parents refuse to let me leave the householder's life. They think leaving the householder's life is not a good thing. I want to use Buddhism to change my parents, but they will react negatively to my leaving home. Will the Master please show me a way for them gradually accept Buddhism and meditation?
A: Okay, it will be very easy for your parents to agree to your leaving the householder's life. There was a monk in Malaysia who saw that monks and nuns at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas wear the precept sash. He had wanted to wear it too, but his teacher forbade him no matter what, claiming that monastics don't need to wear their precept sash. He asked me what he should do? I told him, "Ask your master what to do about this: tell him that if you wear the Precept sash, you'll know that you're a monk and will not have sexual desire; whereas if you don't wear the precept sash, you will always want to go and find a woman. See if he will let you wear your precept sash at that point?" He did go back and ask his teacher. His teacher agreed to let him wear a precept sash having heard that explanation.

In your case, you could tell your parents, "If I don't leave the householder's life, I will want to go and overeat, drink, prostitute, gamble, smoke dope, murder, commit arson, and everything else. Since the precepts for monastics prohibit killing, I will naturally not do any of these shady things." Ask your parents what you should do at this crossroad? Will it be better for you to leave home or not?

Q: Theravadan Buddhism uses the practice of reciting the Buddha's name less. I would like to ask the Master what kind of practice I should try to make me have more faith.
A: Faith is just like the five flavors. The various practices that the Buddha had described are just like these flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. No one can say sourness is the best, sweetness is the best, or bitterness, spiciness, or saltiness. Everyone has a favorite, that's all.

Q: Most people think that meat is more nutritious and better for the body. What does the Venerable Master think?
A: Actually, meat is no more nutritious or better for one's health. There are lots of people who eat meat and develop cancer.

Q: 1. According to Theravadan teachings, the mid-skandha body is reborn instantly. But Mahayana Sutras say that it is reborn after seven to 49 days. 2. Where did humans come from? How come there are so many people?
A: 1. There's no specific length of time that the mid-skandha body lasts. Some don't become reborn until after several great eons. Some will become reborn immediately. 2. People don't necessarily reincarnate to become people again. Some become chickens, some becomes dogs, or other animals. According to individual karma and retribution, living beings are separated into those born from the womb, from eggs, from moisture, and from transformation. They go from one type to another just like people can go to Belgium all of sudden, and go from Belgium to China all of a sudden. Nothing remains static. Anyway, knowing these things don't necessarily help cultivation.

Q: Your Buddhadharma seems different than that of Asia's?
A: During the Dharma-ending Age, Buddhism has been focused on superficialities. Corruption and deficiencies are rampant in Buddhism. If we don't rescue it immediately by revolutionizing it, then the lifeline of the Buddhadharma will also be cut off. We need to improve many different aspects of Buddhism for this time and age.

Q: What are some guiding principles for propagating Buddhism in the United States?
A: The most fundamental are the Six Great Guiding Principles: no greed, no fighting, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuit of self-benefit, and no lies. These six mirrors show up monsters by reflecting them. These six pestles tame demons too. If we can base ourselves on these Six Great Guiding Principles at all times, then demons, heretics, and phonies will have nowhere to hide, they will be exposed for who they really are. Our principle will create more proper energy for the universe, shatter and eliminate the heightened violence and toxic resentment that permeate the entire globe.

Q: Most people think that to believe in Buddhism or to leave the householder's life is to escape reality, is that true?
A: The Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra says, "The Buddhadharma is in the world. Enlightenment is not found apart from the world. To look for Bodhi beyond this world is to search for horns on hares." The Buddhadharma is not out of touch or contrary to the dharmas of the world. It enters the worldly and transcends the worldly. It is in the dust and leaves the dust behind. It is form and yet it is apart from form.

Q: What does it mean to return to the origin and to go back to the source?
A: To cultivate what is true, to restore one's virgin-like physical purity, and to make this stinking skin bag of ours into an indestructible vajra body. By stopping any harmful behavior that we have been doing, turning away from the objects of defilement and uniting with enlightenment, we have a chance to restore our original purity.

Q: Some people say that we don't have to take refuge with the Triple Jewel just because believe in Buddhism. Is that right?
A: Take education, for instance. If you want to graduate from elementary school, you must finish your courses for elementary school. If you want a high school diploma, you have to finish your high school courses. If you want to obtain degrees for bachelors, masters, or doctorates, you would naturally have to complete the required curriculum for those levels, pass your tests, and receive your degree. The same principle applies to taking refuge with the Triple Jewel.

Q: How do we tell the difference between good teachers and bad teachers?
A: That's easy, just observe him to see if he is greedy for money. Is he licentious? Let these two be your standards of measurement.