Summer Session Graduation

The 1970 98 Day Lecture and Cultivation Session, held at the Buddhist Lecture Hall, began with a week, called a Kuan Yin Seven, devoted solely to the recitation of the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Following this session, students dug in for 10 weeks of mediation and Sutra study, every day spending six hours in class, and eight hours on the cushion. The remaining hours was spent in recitation and study.

Upasaka Kuo Kuei happily receives his diploma from Professor Lancaster.

Following these ten weeks, on September 13th, an Ch'an Seven was held to complete the summer's work. Students arose at four every morning for seven days, and spent seventeen hours in meditation until the evening's rest period, which began at ten p.m. After the conclusion of the Ch'an week, graduation exercises were held. Professor Lewis Lancaster, noted scholar from he University of California at Berkeley, honored the graduating students with some of his thoughts on cultivation (see speeches, this issue) and then delivered diplomas. A vegetarian feast and Dharma meeting during which the Master Hsuan Hua lectured followed this on The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.

Graduation speeches, addressed to the Four-fold Assembly of Bhiksus, Bhiksunis, Upasakas. Upasikas, honored guests and friends, follow:

● Bhiksu Heng Ch'ien
Director of Publications, V.B.S.; Buddhist Text Translation Society

Once we received an excellent Dharma called the "Three Ons": "on the pillow"; "on the road"; and "on the john". Those of you who have studied here this summer may be going other places to do other things, but you should not forget the Buddhadharma, you should not forget what you have learned here this summer.

So, here is the dharma of the "Three Ons". When you are "on the pillow"...Usually when you go to bed, you think only of sleep and rest, how wonderful it will be until morning. But when your head hits the pillow, before you sleep you should think of the Buddhadharma. You should not just think about the Buddhadharma for certain hours each day, from 11 to 12 or 3 to 4, but should be mindful of the Buddhadharma at all times. So when you are on the pillow you should recall what you have studied, run it through your mind again, and you will certainly understand more each day. Every night review your actions of the day. Were they in accord with Dharma or not? Did you get angry? Did you get upset? Did you get jealous? In this way you can correct your conduct and change your erroneous thoughts.

When you are "on the road", wherever you are going, you should remember what you have studied, recollect the Buddhadharma, be mindful of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Cause your wisdom to daily increase.

The last is "on the John", a place most people do not even consider cultivating. Every day we spend a certain amount of time on the toilet; if we would use that time, it would be just that much more time studying the Buddhadharma. It is just in an instant that one becomes enlightened, but to meet that instant one must be mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha. If you constantly think of worldly difficulties, worrying about future problems, or bemoaning past mistakes, that instant of enlightenment is difficult to meet. But if you are always cultivating, then that instant of enlightenment will surely come.

The Buddhadharma is the Dharma of the minds of living beings, and so we should constantly pay attention to our own minds, and look inward to our own self-natures. It is not that you only study Buddhadharma here; you should use what you learned here as a foundation for your study of Buddhadharma. Study Buddhadharma at all times and in all places. This is very important. If you are able to study like this, to the point of having no free time at all, many wonderful results can be obtained.

Wherever you go, you should not only yourself be mindful of the Dharma, but should tell others about it as well. In these last few days of The Lotus Sutra lectures we have heard of the merit obtained from teaching Dharma to other living beings, even the very smallest bit of Dharma; this merit is extremely great, greater than that obtained from any gifts of material wealth. So it is important always to be mindful of the Dharma when talking to other people, to tell them about it, so that they might understand what you have understood, so that they might see what you have seen, and realize the wonderfulness of the Buddhadharma.

I hope you all study well and quickly accomplish Buddhahood.

● Bhiksu Heng Ching
Director of Translation, V.B.S.; Buddhist Text Translation Society

This summer we have heard a portion of The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. What is this "wonderful"? One day, one of the students said, "The text constantly praises The Lotus Sutra, talks about The Lotus Sutra and tells about the wonder of The Lotus Sutra But, aside from all these praises, just what is The Lotus Sutra?" This inability to put your finger on it is the "wonderful". You may look forever but you cannot quite touch the "wonderful". Its very elusiveness is its wonder, it is everywhere you look and yet you can never quite get hold of it. Ultimately everything is Buddhadharma, and everything is "wonderful". To understand this is to know what is meant by "cleverly making Buddha doings out of worldly dust".

One day this summer the two pigeons came in for food and everyone was laughing at their antics as they pecked through a glass jar. We were told that it was not quite such a laughing affair and that while two people may both be feeding birds in similar ways there may be a world of difference between them. This is the wonder of the Buddhadharma.

What else is "wonderful"? The Mind Dharma; "I know, I know," you will say, "there are eight mind Dharmas and they did nothing but give me headaches all summer as I tried to learn them." It is just this headache over mind Dharmas that is wonderful. Certainly you all experienced a regular barrage of wonder from all the ten directions this summer. This is the wonder of the mind Dharma. Both Buddhadharma and mind Dharma are equally wonderful because there is no way to quite get at them and yet there is no place to avoid them.

Living beings are also wonderful. Bodhisattvas, about whom The Lotus Sutra talks a great deal, are a kind of living being. Bodhisattva means either an enlightened living being or one who enlightens living beings, In one part of The Lotus Sutra we saw billions of Bodhisattvas well forth from empty space beneath the earth. They were all wonderful Bodhisattvas and what is more, no matter how many of them there were, they did not crowd each other. This is just like the summer session at the Buddhist Lecture Hall, so many of you welled up out of empty space and came together to study and practice Buddhadharma. No matter how many people there were studying here, there was infinite room; for those who were not here to practice there was no room at all. This is an example of the wonderful dharma of living beings. Buddhadharma, Mind Dharma, and Living Being Dharma are all wonderful, and they all come with the wonder of this Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.

The first summer session was wonderful but we did not yet know it and so there were still a few afflictions and problems. The second year was a bit more wonderful. But this year, since you had to deal with people who were fresh from receiving hundreds of precepts and regulations you had a chance to really be immersed in "wonderful". There was not a moment free to run into the streets, to lounge in coffee shops, to take naps or be the least bit lazy. From every side someone was constantly throwing something wonderful in your way.

Now that the summer is over and you are going back to school, to work and to spread Buddhadharma, wherever you go you will be able to spread wonderful Buddhadharma.

You are a very rare thing now. While many people have heard of the Buddhadharma, few have come to know its wonderful aspects. Wherever you may be, on the road, on the pillow, and on the john, remember the essence of the wonderful, show other living beings too how to learn that the Buddhadharma, the Mind Dharma, and the Dharma of living beings: all truly wonderful.

Last night we were given a poem and it concluded,

"Sudden awakening in a ksana,
Obtain the rest within the wonderful."

Hoping that you've attained it, you'll now get a chance to rest.

● Bhiksu Heng Shou
Director of Administration, V.B.S.; Buddhist Text Translation Society

Now I have heard two people say that all of you will soon be leaving, that you will be scattering in the four directions, and rushing to far-away places. "Everybody is going to be leaving now!" I don't believe a word of it, because, try as you may, there is no way to leave what you have been taught here. There is not one single way to get outside of the Buddhadharma. I would really like to let this speech cease at this point and give you all a rest, to let you all enjoy a bit of silence. Perhaps that silence would really be wonderful! But, as the Abbot said last night when he closed the Ch'an Session, "When it is your turn to speak, only if you have true understanding may you remain silent." It is solely because of those words that now I feel compelled to continue talking. If you don't try and get outside of Buddhadharma, you will soon discover the wonderful. You will really obtain your rest and finally enjoy genuine understanding of the vastness within silence.

This summer, each of you had ample opportunity to learn. I can't say how well you have taken advantage of it, because in each case, there is a difference according to your vigor. Ultimately, only you and the Buddhas know. But now, you shouldn't consider the greatness of your learning so much as the overwhelming degree of ignorance, which still remains. That is a most important issue, because if there is still even a single principle, which you don't understand, there is still work to be done. There is still study to be accomplished and Dharma to be cultivated, for you must strive and certify to the perfect enlightenment of the Buddha, This is what we have attempted to teach you as a guide in cultivation and you must certainly understand. The enlightenment which we seek in Buddhism leaves nothing out and is totally complete. It is nothing short of Buddhahood. We must continue to work, for every moment is a test.

There is a poem, which has been spoken many times here, but I don't think it hurts to repeat it once again because no matter how often it is repeated, if it aids progress on the way, it is justifiable. However, if you say it even once and ignore the principle, it has been spoken far too many times. It is called "States":

Everything's a test to see how you will do;
Mistaking what's before your face,
You have to start anew.

If one fails his tests, he must start anew toward the enlightenment of the Buddhas. So, it is really necessary in every single thought, in every single move, to recognize the situation as a test, and not be fooled. Every state of mind is a test to match your actions with your understanding, to act consistently and thus serve as an example for fellow cultivators.

Recently, as The Lotus Sutra was being lectured, it was suggested that one should act in cultivation as if the Buddha were atop the head, to the left and right, in front and also behind. With such awareness, there is no way to neglect your cultivation or fall back from previous accomplishment. If you apply this principle you won't be a disappointment to yourself, to your teacher, or to the living beings you meet each day.

It is really important to apply in action all that you have been taught, and not be concerned solely with useless displays of word and thought. You must spread the teaching by example. Why? Simply because you are among the few Western people who have had an opportunity to study the proper Buddhadharma. There are many ideas which pass for Buddhadharma here in the West, but how many of them are really the Buddha's true teaching? Since you have had such a wonderful opportunity it would certainly be too selfish to hide your understanding and not spread it to the people you meet. If you vigorously spread an understanding of the principle of karma, just that is not trying to get outside of the Buddhadharma, even though you may have wandered far beyond the walls of this hall. It is necessary to apply this principle, whether in the Buddhist Lecture Hall or out in the world. With such an attitude and understanding, you may be like the Bodhisattva who remains in the world but is not defiled by the world.

That is all I really care to say. I hope that you all progress well wherever you go by not turning your backs on the inescapable principle of cause and effect. I hope that you will instead bravely use the principle to have a wonderful use and yet remain free of the great hazard of worldly delusion.

● Bhiksuni Heng Yin
Buddhist Text Translation Society

A disciple once went to the Sixth Patriarch and asked, "What man obtains the principle of the Fifth Patriarch?" The Sixth Patriarch replied, "He who understands the Buddhadharma obtains that principle." "Have you obtained it?" the disciple asked. The Sixth Patriarch replied, "I don't understand the Buddhadharma."

Now when all of you came here I think you probably came here because you understood that we live in a desire world. As such it is the world of Mara, the world of demons. The demons are thieves, and they steal from you. Only the Buddhadharma can teach you not only how to get completely out of the desire world, but out of the form world and the formless world as well. Other ways and religions do not take you that high. They can take you to some groovy formless heavens, but you are still stuck because you still are you.

I didn't spend much time in the great hall this summer, but every time I crawled out from where I was and came in here, I saw that people were working hard, compared to the other two summer sessions, people here now worked much harder. I was really impressed when everyone spoke at the end of the session.

In The Heart Dharani Sutra, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva relates how he got his thousand arms and thousand eyes. Hearing the Great Compassion Mantra he felt so joyful that he produced a vow and said, "I vow to help all living beings in this world forever. That’s all I am going to do, and if it is possible, may my body have a thousand arms and a thousand eyes". The instant he made that vow his body manifested a thousand arms and a thousand eyes.

The instant you decide to help others at that instant you are capable of it. It is not to say that you just study so many days, and know so many things, and when you are able to help somebody else. Practicing the Bodhisattva Way starts in your own heart because that is where the Buddhadharma is, that is where it originates. "The Way is awakened to from the heart." Start right now, and do not think about the past, present and future, because there is nothing to be attained, and nothing to lose. Bodhi is something we all have, it is just that we don't use it. The more we study Buddhism, the more apparent it becomes that we have it, and the more important it becomes that we use. If we only study and do not practice we are wasting our time. Remember the Sixth Patriarch, and try to imagine what he looked like when he looked down at that guy who was heckling him and said, "I don't understand the Buddhadharma." And if you can do that, then you probably do understand it.

● Bhiksuni Heng Ch'ih
Buddhist Text Translation Society

"Unite the light and welcome all living creatures." What does this mean? Well, over there are two lights, and up there is a light, and here there is a light, and up there is a light. Now all of these lamps are shining light, have you ever know a lamplight to fight with a lamplight? Have you ever known one lamp to look over at another lamp and say, "Wait a minute, your light is righter than mine? This will never do. We can't co-exist here together. I will have to put your light out." Or have you ever heard a lamp look at another lamp and say, "Your light is really small. If you don't make your light bigger then you can't be here with me. You can't be a light here." Lamplight and lamplight, all light, goes together somehow, wonderfully.

"Welcome other living beings." Welcome means two things. It means to receive them and make them happy, and it means to induce them—to beguile them with those Dharmas you have now so that they can cross themselves over.

● Upasaka Kuo Ti
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, V.B.S.

This year has been the beginning of the push toward a strong Vinaya—the establishment of the rules, and the practice of the rules. But if you don't follow those rules, if you don't do what you have been taught this summer, what good is it? If you don't take that Buddha and put him up on top of your head and pay homage to that Buddha and behave as if there was a Buddha watching your every little move, what did you learn, an what good is what you learned going to do you? You have to do the Dharmas, put them right into practice.

There is a little trick, a little secret in this point. You don't even want to tell anybody what you are doing, and you do not even want to talk about what is happening to you. Pay no attention to it, like the Sixth Patriarch who said, "I don’t know." "I don't know, but do it." Pay no attention to any freaky thing that comes along. It is like building a haystack one straw at a time, one recollection of the Buddha at a time, one observance of a Dharma at a time. Eventually the haystack becomes a big one.

I'll change that around and get right in your pocket a little bit. There is a bank and most people like money. And when you have a little money in the bank, ahh, it feels good doesn't it? A penny here, a penny there, fifteen dollars there, you put the money in the bank. What about that cosmic bank, that great Tathagata Store? You recite "Namo Bodhisattva Who Contemplates the Sounds of the World", that is just like taking a penny out of your heart and putting it in the bank. Which bank? You have to do what you have been taught, or you might just as well have not been taught, it was just wasting your teacher's time. It is almost an insult to say that your teacher sits on top of your head if you don't do what your teacher has taught you.

● Upasaka Kuo Jung
M.A., University of Washington; President, V.B.S.; Buddhist Text Translation Society;
presently in the doctoral program of the Dept. of Oriental Languages and Literature, University of California at Berkeley

First, for everyone here, I would like to welcome back Professor Lancaster from his trip. We are extremely pleased and grateful that you are able to be here with us again. Now I would like to say a few words about conditions here in the past and how they are now is especially encouraging that now everyone is able follow such a rigorous schedule so well. Everyone has clearly come a long way. I remember that during the first summer session we had the great pleasure, which is of course, also the great suffering, of establishing all kinds of bad precedents such as sneaking out and drinking coffee, instead of meditating. During that first summer nobody knew how to do much of anything. In the week meditation session which took place in the spring before the first summer session, many of the people here now first came to meditate. Then most came to the summer session. We all came probably for pretty much the same kinds of reasons that all of you came: we probably got a flash sometime—there was something that we had seen, or something that we had seen through which we wanted to get into focus a little more clearly. Since we didn't really know quite how to do this by ourselves, we came here to try and find out.

I remember that was quite a week of sitting. We didn't know what we were doing to such an extent that it only did the Abbot have to babysit us all week by sitting here with us and talking to us about every two hours so that we wouldn't get totally discouraged and flee out the door, but he also had to cook for us because nobody knew how to cook properly. But slowly from that time, things have come around so that the Abbot doesn't have to spend all his time in the kitchen and when he babysits, he doesn't have to babysit out here in the hall all the time. People are slowly learning how to do things; people are slowly learning that if we just do what he tells us that it really does make everything a lot easier.

All this summer you have heard about all the rules, the precepts; you have all heard over and over again that if you follow the precepts then that is the way hat you get samadhi, and from samadhi comes the wisdom of the Buddha. And so very slowly everyone has been learning to follow the path of Buddha here. Last summer was a lot better than the summer before and this summer is a lot better than last summer and I am sure that next summer will be even better.

Now the summer session is over. When you graduates go out there, it is going to be a lot different world that faces you. If you decide to go out the door, if you want to go out the door, and you pretty much have to be crazy or a Bodhisattva, or maybe one moment crazy and the next moment a Bodhisattva. I think you will be pretty surprised with the way things seem when you go out there; especially if you go back and visit any of your old worlds, your old states. I don't think that there is anything to be afraid of, but I think that you will just find that it is all a big shuck> out there and there really isn't much else for you to do anymore but cultivate. You have learned enough about what it is all about here, so that you just can't fall back into that kind of stuff because you will know that it is all a big shuck. The wonderful thing about the Buddhadharma is that it helps you wash away all that sticky stuff that is attached to you out there, all that sticky mess out there and all that sticky mess inside. It is the kind of stuff which helps you do away with your old friends, Mr. Affliction and Mr. Karmic Obstacle. And so if you get out there and you have some difficulty dealing with some people, dealing with some sticky situations...like was said before, just shine a little light on them and don't get upset. Shine a little Buddha light on them and what could possibly go wrong. If a little Buddha light won't do, then shine a lot of Buddha light on them. Well maybe you are saying, "What if I can't find a little Buddha light to shine?" If you can't find a little Buddha light to shine on them, then what are you doing paying any attention to them in the first place? You ought to be looking inward to see where the Buddha light disappeared, and forgetting about the outside, then maybe suddenly it will be bright again.

So now the summer session is over and some of you are staying and some of you are going. That those of you who are going will certainly be back I am sure. And I wish you all the very quickest path to success in your cultivation. I hope you all come back and help us in our work here, because there is plenty for everyone to do. Right now there are few people and a lot of work. So now that your set tasks are over and you can decide for yourselves what you want to do, please stay and help. Thank you.

● Upasaka Kuo Chan
Editor-in-Chief, V.B.S.; Buddhist Text Translation Society

Not everyone here today who attended the summer session is as fortunate as you who have made it all the way through. And some of the things which you probably see, which those who didn't stay perhaps don't, is that people don't always speak and act out of the same face, that people have different faces. Not only do people have different faces but they also have different places in which they rest when they are still.

Although there are probably as many of these places as there are human beings, they have been summed up basically into six paths. There are some who suffer the torments of the hells, the afflictions of alienation, frustration, anxiety. There are those who suffer the cravings of hungry ghosts, going around with bellies like barrels and throats like needles, not getting enough to eat. And there are those who suffer the craving of animals, constant desire. There are those who are supremely human and use their reflective thought to seize on all the false thinking in their heads as real. There are others who are asuras and are continually fighting. Finally there are those heavenly beings who enjoy vacuous mindlessness for thousands and thousands of years until they finally fall.

You, unlike your companions who left the session early, not only are able to pick up on the six paths, but also see that there is another way, that it is possible to turn one's attention toward a different way, the Bodhisattva Way.

But now the summer has come to an end...this seems to be the theme...the summer has come to an end and some will split and some will stay. Those who are going to leave are perhaps worried about what will happen, and how they will maintain the vision of the Bodhisattva Path and not lose sight in the six paths. This problem perhaps can be lightened:

When beings in the hells read Vajra Bodhi Sea,
their afflictions are cast away.
When animals smell Vajra Bodhi Sea they forget about eating.
When hungry ghosts read Vajra Bodhi Sea, their bellies are filled.
When human beings read Vajra Bodhi Sea, they seek out the Bodhisattva Path.
When asuras read Vajra Bodhi Sea, they forget about fighting.
When heavenly beings see Vajra Bodhi Sea, they bow to it all day.

I would like to add...this is a graduation and it seems appropriate...that when scholars read Vajra Bodhi Sea, their wisdom becomes clear and bright. When professors read Vajra Bodhi Sea, their students are obedient and attentive. And when students read Vajra Bodhi Sea they get what they want.

I would like to wish all of you great success in your cultivation.

● Upasaka Kuo Tsun
Upasaka Kuo Tsun has done graduate work at the University of Washington and is presently teaching.

Honored guests and honored hosts...that is not to discriminate between those who have obtained the host position from those who have not...we are all here today as testimony and proof that Buddhism has indeed come to America. Some people, when they meet with the orthodox Buddhadharma as it is practiced here at the Buddhist Lecture Hall, say, "This is very strange stuff, this inscrutable. Oriental religion which has invaded our peaceful shores. It is indeed alien to our country." This is not so. After studying Buddhism for a few years I think it can be truly said that Buddhism is more American than apple pie.

In defense of this view let us look back over the history of this country. America has been populated by Europeans. Originally people came here seeking freedom and peace. America became the country in which people could express their own way of life and experience a new sense of liberation. Perhaps these early Americans were ignorant people who did not know deep truths, but their intentions were sincere. More people came and populated this country, the cities grew into oppressive monsters and people now experience suffering in a place where they thought they could find bliss. The people moved out of the cities and kept searching to escape oppression and find peace. They weren't exactly clear about what it was they sought, but they thought it might be found in the open spaces of the great land of this country. This movement has been historically called the Manifest Destiny. Folks traveled north, south, east, and west, they looked high in the air and they looked low in the ground. They went everywhere searching for the best this country could offer. Many thought they had found the answer when in 1848 gold was discovered in the eastern part of this state. When others heard that there was something extremely valuable here, they dropped everything they were doing, left everything behind, deserting families, friends, and jobs, because they thought this gold was the real treasure, and there might be some for them. Gold was one of the most valuable things that men could conceive of and they sacrificed everything, even their own lives, for it.

Well now Sutter's mine is exhausted and the Comstock Lode is a dribble, and the people who made fortunes in gold and silver are now dead. As a consequence of the gold rush this state came to be populated, and the West Coast cities sprang to life, and the people were oppressed. There appeared to be no way. Had the Manifest Destiny exhausted itself and failed to fulfill the hopes of the American dreamers? All the land is gone. There is no place to go. Yet this restless, searching spirit is still active and growing anxious and nervous. Then a light appeared to the darkening America. The Dharma of the Buddha revealed a new land, a virgin soil that has been completely overlooked before. The mind ground of all Buddhas present in each living being promises to be the real land sought by Europeans coming to this country. The treasure to be found in the True mind of each individual is far more valuable than all of California's gold and silver. Mind treasures are more lasting and durable and they certainly don't attract thieves.

And it just happens that there is no other place than right here at the Buddhist Lecture Hall that this valuable mine is being excavated and cultivated. The minds of all the people who come to the meeting place are the wealthiest minds that this country has ever known, and the seeds of Buddhadharma that are planted here will produce the richest fruit this country has ever born.

The Manifest Destiny has indeed been fulfilled, yet there are very few people who know about it. Now that we have discovered real treasure, what else can we do but tell everyone else that the promise that America held 400 years ago has now come to realization, and that what Americans have died for can now be enjoyed by their children. It is needless to say that the Buddhadharma that can be found here is far more valuable than any gold or any jewel for that matter, because it will buy your way to Buddhahood and no sack of gold can do that. In fact all a sack of gold can do is invite thieves and other troubles.

Deep Dharmas always reveal a paradox. Most people in confusion and ignorance think it is this way: the more a man can amass and control, the greater man he is. It turns out now that it is quite the opposite. It is not, in the Buddha teaching, how much a man can amass and control, but how much he can offer up and go without that makes him truly a man.

Although today is the end of the summer session, it is really another beginning. When we leave here and go back into the world, we are armed with something we did not have before. The truths and skillful devices of the Buddhadharma are our weapons against enemies and our jewels and gold to use against poverty. We have a mission, and that is to let everybody else in America know that what our forefathers came to this country to find has now been found.

● Upasika Kuo Hsun
presently serving as a Director in the Dept. of Recreation and Parks, San Francisco City Government; Editorial Staff, V.B.S.

First I would like to say that it is almost inconceivable how so many of you have completed the summer session. This was not an easy thing to do; in fact, it was probably one of the most difficult things in this world to do. When you came here, whether you knew it or not, you were like someone in a labyrinth, lost in a maze. It was dark and you occasionally bumped into things, but it didn't make much difference if your labyrinth was made out of steel or of marshmallow, or of anything in between.

When you came here you started meditating, and slowly, through your meditation, you have been able to see a little light, sometimes here and sometimes there, and you have found that the labyrinth is not completely dark. You have also been taught, through the Sutras, and a lot of Dharma, which has told you what these objects are that you have been bumping into, how they got there, where they are going and what they are doing. And thirdly you have met a guide who can lead you out of the labyrinth, the Abbot, your teacher.

So you have everything you need to find your way out, all you have to do is the work. You've got the light, the names and the guide. That is all you need. You have already started, you have been at it now for about three months.

I would like to congratulate you on your hard work and say that I hope you continue.

● Upasaka Kuo T'ung
Graduate of the 1970 Lecture and Cultivation Session

"Being a student of the Buddhadharma gives me a joyous feeling." says Upasaka Kuo T'ung. Here her receives his diploma from Professor Lancaster.

Being new to the Buddhist Lecture Hall, I did not think that I would be chosen today. I find that everything in the Buddhist Lecture Hall is done for a reason however, and even though the reason might not be immediately apparent to my discriminating mind, it is really there. Basically I do not have anything at all to say. I am trying to put into words that which cannot be put into words, and perhaps in doing this I can uncover some of what can't be said from the minds of all of us who attended this summer session.

Being a student of the Buddhadharma for the very first time gives me a joyous feeling. It is as if I have always been a student of the Buddhadharma. Now in my own past affairs I can see nothing but confusion, nothing that ever happened for any other reason than the reasons, which led me to come here. When I try to think about what I am doing, there is difficulty. I feel as though I am trying to drive a bulldozer down a tight-wire. But when I try to turn off my thoughts and be mindful of the true self-nature within, somehow all things become easier. There is no bulldozer, there is no wire.

I am sure that all of us who have come to this session, even for just a short time, even the people who were unable to stay for various reasons and left, have accomplished a beginning. Something to help us begin what is real and end what is false. This Dharma, this gift of Dharma which we have received, is really wonderful, and I am sure that if we cultivate as has been suggested in many, many ways, that we will achieve success. The world that is without and the world that is within: all the same. We just have to turn our light inward and contemplate.

● The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

Everything I have to say to you has already been said; there is no more to say. I hope that you don't conduct yourselves in accord with what I have said; and that you don't follow your own thoughts either. Listen to and obey the Buddha. Listen to and obey the Dharma-doors and principles which the Buddha taught in the sutras. If you can cultivate according to the Dharma spoken by the Buddha, you will make no mistakes. You want to study the Buddha's Dharma, you want to understand the Buddha's Dharma, In the future you want to accomplish Buddhahood—you must cultivate in accord with the Buddhadharma. Apart from the Buddhadharma, there is nothing. This is what I have to say to you today.

I will tell you a bit more of importance. But I said there was nothing to say. Can there yet be something of importance?

You are still young and need supervising. Now I will introduce you to a supervisor. Professor Lancaster, of the University of California. In the future, when you meet with irresolvable problems, you may request his guidance. You must, however, be most respectful, not muddled and confused. You can't conduct yourselves as you did before, wagging your heads, and shuffling about, shouting, "Hey! I want to ask you a question." Don't be like that. You must be courteous and respectful, Desiring understanding, you must first be respectful. From today onward, whatever principles you don't understand you may ask of this Professor who will hand out your diplomas. This is very important, and should not be forgotten, because Professor Lancaster, despite his busy schedule, has come to tie up Dharma conditions with you, and in the future you should not forget the advantages to be gained from this. Therefore, whatever problems you have you can ask his advice. This Professor is a transformation body that has come; in the future he will be a transformation body that goes.

There are also two Dharma Masters who have come today. I had requested them to give you some Dharma food, but they said you were full, and they did not want you to overeat. So they will wait for another opportunity to serve you Dharma food. One is Dharma Master Tsu Yin whom I have known for a long time. The other is Dharma Master Chih Hai. Both of these Dharma Masters are my supervisors; therefore, I am unable to make mistakes, and am very happy. It is all due to their instruction and help.

Once I begin talking, there is no end. At first I decided not to speak; however, once begun, there was much to be said.

Professor Lancaster has been on vacation. When he departed, I wished that he would quickly return and not go other places, but return and tie up Dharma conditions with the students of Buddhadharma. And after I had thought this way, he returned. Therefore I said he was a transformation body come.

This thought of mine was a false thought. I did not write a letter, or send him a telegram, nor telephone him; however, he returned. So now it's out in the open. This is an inconceivable state and you should not forget it.

Now we will request Professor Lancaster to first speak the principles you wish to know. Afterwards we will request him to hand out the diplomas to all of you.

Professor Lewis Lancaster
Oriental Languages & Literature, University of California, Berkeley

Since I spent the summer, not as many of you have in meditation, but rather in travel and some study, I have not a lot to offer but should listen to you instead.

There is one thing, which I have been thinking about this summer, and that is, "How does a man reach enlightenment; and what is the process by which he does it?" For a long time I have been working with one of the stories in the Prajnaparamita about a Bodhisattva named Sadaprarudita, which means the "Ever Weeping Bodhisattva", and I have continued to think about the process by which he reached enlightenment.

It seems to me that first people, for whatever karmic reasons, decide that the world in which they live is not as they thought it was, and that the world in which they live is in essence an illusory world. This produces in them a great feeling of despair, a feeling of wishing to turn away from the world that is the illusory world. It was this feeling, I think, that Sakyamuni had when he left home.

After leaving home, after, for some reason, being led to start this thing of meditation and practice, for all of these individuals there has then come a feeling of great inner light and joy. And then I think the most unpredictable thing in Buddhism happens, something, which I have always thought about, a conclusion, which I don't believe we could arrive at through normal logical reasoning. At the very moment when they realize that the world around them is illusory, that it is not what they have thought, that it is not some precious thing, that it may, in fact, be a great burden, a burden which they are unwilling to lay down, they do not, at the moment of awakening, hate it, have a great revulsion for it, but instead they have compassion. There is no way to predict that this will occur.

I believe therefore, that there is no way to predict what happens to anyone when they seek enlightenment, There is no way that I, a person who reads the texts and studies, can predict what will happen to any of you if you do the practice. The result of practice, the end result of it, is something, which comes through the insights gained from the practice itself. And whatever it is, it will be an experience, which occurs to you and which you may then tell someone like me about. So, for those of you who have begun the practice, wherever you are along the way, whether it is with the revulsion of the world around you, whether you have first experienced this inner joy which comes, whether you have begun to experience the feeling of non-attachment, someday perhaps you put it all together as the Bodhisattvas seem to have done in the past, and arrive at a feeling of non-attachment, of joy and compassion. How these three go together I can't tell you, I can only say I think they do go together.

So for those of you who have gone through this very arduous summer, you are doing something, which is rare in the world. There are very few places, even in the Buddhist countries in Asia, where people are practicing at this kind of level. There are very few teachers in Asia who are the equal of your own. I hope that as you come to the end of this particular session, you recognize that it is part of a journey. I have no way of knowing where that journey leads you because I am not enlightened. But I believe it is a good journey.

Upasika Kuo Hsu
Graduate of the 1970 Lecture and Cultivation Session

After rigorously studying the Buddhadharma, many students awakened to the vast wisdom and universal compassion of the Buddha's teachings, and decided to further their progress along the way to Buddhahood by taking refuge in the Triple Jewel. Here, (l. to r.) Upasikas Kuo T'ung, Kuo T'ung, Upasaka Kuo T'ung, and Upasika Kuo Hsu, kneel in front of the Buddha and receive refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Good knowing advisors. Well, I learned a lot this summer, the most important of which can't be put in words. So I would like to say, more than anything else, something I am sure we all feel, that is that we are very, very lucky to have met with the Buddhadharma, and to have met with such a very good teacher, such a compassionate teacher. I think that as time goes by and the aching in our legs subsides a little bit we will appreciate this even more and more. I am especially grateful to Professor Lancaster who introduced me to the Buddhist Lecture Hall.

What should we do with all this really good luck? We can't keep it, nor hide it away, because it is not something which can be held on to. The only way we can keep it is by passing it on to others, because that is the way it works. That is the way that we practice.

So I would like to say again, because it cannot be said too often, thank you. Thank you to all of these good knowing advisors, good Dharma masters, honored guests, and all of the people who have been here for several years and made all of this possible.

▲Top