若自悟者，不假外求。若一向執謂須他善知識方得解脫者，無有是處。何以故？自心內有知識自悟。

If awaken through own mind, need not seek outside. Preoccupation with needing a virtuous and knowledgeable teacher to attain liberation does no good. Why? Within one’s own mind holds the capacity to self-enlighten.

The first key point here is self. Yourself. Within yourself is your buddha nature. If you awaken, you’ll be free from attachment and won’t need to seek outside for liberation. It’s like you ask buddhas and bodhisattvas for liberation. Buddha can’t liberate you. You have to awaken in order to be free. What the Sixth Patriarch wanted you to do is to grasp your buddha nature and awaken; save and free yourself.

When we chant a sutra, we chant to awaken our buddha nature, not for buddhas to listen. Sutras are discourse made by the Buddha. He spoke so you can understand. If you just repeat his words back to him, what’s the use? He spoke dharma to awake your buddha nature. Sutra chanting for the departed is meant to awake their buddha nature. I propagate dharma to awake everyone’s buddha nature. When you are enlightened, you will realize you don’t need to seek help from another. You can liberate yourself.

Praying is a psychological comfort. Praying to God or Buddha for blessings is mostly looking for psychological comfort. Why not study buddhas’ sutras? There is great knowledge in sutras. Learn Buddha’s Prajna rather than praying to Buddha. Offering incense to buddhas is to pay respect to them. Praying to Buddha won’t help you gain his great knowledge. If you don’t understand Buddha’s Prajna you won’t awaken.

As Buddhists, we can’t develop fixation. Don’t think that we don’t need to learn anything anyway, to assimilate Tatagata’s Prajna, to awaken own buddha nature. Don’t think you can simply lean on Grand Master. Just rely on Grand Master. Grand Master will save us. Such fixation should be dismissed. Whether I can save you depends on your karma. Therefore, Buddha says there are three important fruits: the divergently-ripening fruit, the augmenting fruit, and the same-order fruit.

The divergently-ripening fruit means you will reap the results of your good and bad actions. The augmenting fruit has the power of amplification. If you have a bad temper, you would be surrounded by family members, friends, even superiors, with bad tempers. The same-order fruit is your habitual nature. For example, if you exploit or steal from the temple, through the divergently-ripening fruit, you will reborn in the three lower realms. How about augmenting fruit? You will starve in the next life, having nothing to eat. The same-order fruit makes you enjoy abusing the temple’s goodwill even more. This would become your habitual nature.

Reverend Lian Yu talked about integrating your practice with the daily life. Offering your pure speech, body and mind to Buddha. Start your practice with your speech, body and mind. We learn what Acharya Lian Deng referred to as the “body and mind shed and fall.” When you reach the highest statue, your body and mind shed and fall. You feel nothing about life and death. I am not surprised with the coming of 2012. I personally feel that I have attained the supreme perfect enlightenment. If you have attained the supreme perfect enlightenment, you have obtained Prajna and you will have everything in this world as well as everything out of this world. You will have your pure land and you will be radiant like Buddha. It is perfect. If there is no more past 2012, it is perfect too. If nothing happens in 2012, it’s still perfect. Prajna is perfect. If you attain enlightenment, you won’t worry about life and death. Your body and mind shed and fall and you feel nothing about disasters.

We have to be grateful to Buddha Shakyamuni for passing on all the dharma and amazing Prajna. He doesn’t distinguish one from another. Some religions differentiate. We believe everyone is equal for everyone has buddha nature. We welcome everyone to take refuge in True Buddha School . You don’t take refuge in me. You take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. When I am around, you take refuge in Root Guru. When I am not around, you take refuge in other Acharyas. You take refuge in virtuous and knowledgeable teachers.

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若自不悟，需覓大善知識，解最上乘法者，直示正路，是善知識有大因緣。所謂化導令得見性；一切善法，因善知識能發起故。三世諸佛，十二部經，在人性中本自具有。不能自悟，須求善知識指示方見。

If not awaken through own mind, ought to seek great virtuous and knowledgeable teachers, who understand the great vehicle dharma, to disclose the right path. Such encounter requires remarkable karmic affinity. As so-called teaching and guiding to see self-nature; all right dharma initiated through the virtuous and knowledgeable teachers. All Buddhas of three ages and twelve divisions of the Canon, are inherent within nature. If cannot awaken by self, ought to supplicate virtuous and knowledgeable teachers for guidance to enlightenment.

Everyone should seek out great teachers who are virtuous and knowledgeable and have reached enlightenment. However, if you seek guidance from teachers who may yet to reach enlightenment, then it is just like the blind leading the blind.

You should seek out great teachers who are virtuous and knowledgeable and who have already obtained enlightenment. This is because all virtuous teachings are derived from virtuous knowledge. If at first you cannot find such great teachers, you must keep searching until you find one.

You must have great karmic affinity; otherwise, you will not be able to find great virtuous and knowledgeable teachers. It is the karmic affinity that lead you to eventual enlightenment.

The virtuous and knowledgeable teachers must provide proper guidance and help to develop the wisdom within the students. In the case of fishing where bait is used to lure fish, you are the fish while the great virtuous and knowledgeable teachers are the fishermen.

You should attend sermons given by the great virtuous and knowledgeable teachers and listen to their guidance. It is equally important to listen because only by listening will you be able to develop the wisdom of dharma. When you think you may have reached enlightenment, you may inquire your teachers for guidance to ensure you are on the right path. Similarly, some of you may be far from enlightenment but if you keep listening to the Grand Master’s sermons and teachings, you will slowly understand and eventually be able to reach enlightenment.

Reverend Lian You spoke of the importance of cultivating and practicing Buddhism. Padmasambhava once said that you should aim high when it comes to reaching for enlightenment, but you should still start from the most basic step in cultivation.

I’ve often said that I am neither a good person nor a bad person. I simply don’t do things to cause anyone harm.

Also, Acharya Lian-Ning spoke of the year 2012 and the various prophecies being circulated about the end of the world. If it happens, we should be happy and leave the world without regrets. If it doesn’t happen, we should also be happy that we will have more time to study and practice Buddhism.

We need to understand that we have the wisdom of Prajna within ourselves. Just like how our bodies are made up of earth, water, fire, wind, and emptiness, everyone has Buddha nature within themselves. The question is how you could discover Buddha nature.

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善知識！我於忍和尚處，一聞言下便悟，頓見真如本性。是以將此教法流行，令學道者頓悟菩提。各自觀心，自見本性。

Virtuous and knowledgeable friend, At Monk Ren’s, I awakened promptly as I heard his words, instantly seeing the Tathata. Hence the spread of this teaching. Bring practitioners to sudden awakening of Bodhi. For each to contemplate own mind to see own self-nature.

In plain language, what the Sixth Patriarch meant in the introduction was the audience, those present to hear his dharma talk, are genuine and with great wisdom. The Sixth Patriarch felt that when he heard the Fifth Patriarch’s words, he immediately awakened. He could experience his Tathata. He was able to grasp his Buddha nature. Now by disseminating the Sudden Teaching dharma-gate, it will help all practitioners to speedily realize their Bodhicitta. When you can do that, contemplate your mind and you will be able to see your Buddha nature. This is what the Sixth Patriarch is saying.

So what are the key points here? I think it’s not very easy to suddenly see your Tathata. That is, in one instant, catch sight of your Buddha nature. It is not easy to do. On the other hand, if sudden awakening conveys the notion of before long, to be able to detect your Buddha nature, then it makes better sense. It is very unlikely, upon hearing Master Hong Ren’s discourse, that I would instantly see my Buddha nature.

But if you come to the awareness, detection, or feeling of your Buddha nature, it can be interpreted as suddenly seeing the Tathata.

If you can see the Buddha nature, you are very much like Buddha. Then go home and contemplate your mind. Examine your heart carefully. You will eventually see your self-nature, to personally corroborate the Buddha nature. There is still a difference. So when the Sixth Patriarch was at the Fifth Patriarch’s, he did know and sense the Buddha nature. Then, he had to hide. Shelter himself. He hid among the hunters for many years. All this time, he diligently practiced contemplating his mind. This is called the Mind Contemplation dharma-gate. There is still a ways to go from awakening to enlightenment. What this really means is that once you awaken, you have to always examine your mind to see if you truly attained what you have awakened to, and if you have departed from the awakened state. If your mind conforms to the awakening every single moment, one day you will corroborate the Buddha nature personally. This is called witnessing self-nature, personally seeing the Buddha nature.

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