8 [Wisdom of Training] What should a Practitioner Have?

[국제과학명상센터]

What should a Practitioner Have?

     There are four things that a practitioner must have in order to attain the Way. It is what many enlightened ones have consistently said, and it is essential for practitioners to have it.

First, a practitioner must have confidence in the fact that he is a Buddha.

Anyone can become a Buddha, but Shakyamuni Buddha started edifying people out of pity for sentient beings living in suffering without knowing this. It means that our bodies and the bodies of the Buddhas are all the same. If only those who have absolute god-ike powers can become Buddhas, achieve the Way, and become immortals, then the Buddha would not have told us that everyone was born with the body of a Buddha. Human beings were born with the same internal organs as they were tens of thousands of years ago. That is, they all have the same biological structure. Then why can't we become Buddhas? All of us are pure beings when we are born. However, as the body and mind are gradually stained, the thoughts are polluted, and the world is tamed, the body hardens and the mind accumulates karmic obstacles.

In this way, if the body and mind are not kept clean and get sick, life will fall into the abyss of pain and die. Therefore, practitioners must have the conviction that they can become Buddhas by restoring their original bodies and minds.

Second, we must meet bright leaders. 

According to Buddhism, meeting a teacher's fate is equal to the probability that a turtle living in the deep sea comes up to the surface once every hundred years and gets its neck stuck in a plank with a hole floating on the water. What the hell does this mean? A tortoise comes up on the water once in a hundred years, how will the plank pass in time? Even if the planks went through, how could there be holes in them? This is absolutely impossible. Probability is close to 0%. It is difficult to find such a bright teacher. Today, a man with a beard looks like an educator, and when a man with a haircut passes by, even a dog joins his palms, so this person and that person are doing this as well. However, true Daoists are nowhere to be found, and it has become a world where people deceive themselves and deceive others.

The ultimate goal of Buddhism is not to make people believe in Buddhism, but to make Buddha. However, Buddha is nowhere to be found and only believers in Buddha are increasing, which is a pity. Then how can we meet bright leaders? How do you know if you are a bright leader or not?

First, it is necessary to penetrate the conception and governor (vessel) meridian to see if the body is healthy and has good complexion. People with open conception meridian and governor meridian have open nostrils. If you insert a cotton swab into your nostril, it goes in deeply. 

A person with open conception meridian and governor meridian has achieved ‘ma-umjangsang’. In other words, it is like the penis of a horse. But you can't ask to see your genitals, so you won't be able to confirm‎ it. Writer Cho Yong-heon, who writes a lot about Buddhism, says he goes to the public bath with the monks to learn about their power. However, it is not easy for him to meet a Taoist who has achieved ma-eumjangsang.

In any case, if you take such a person as your teacher and receive guidance, you can achieve the Way. If a blind person were to follow a path guided by a blind man, wouldn't both of them fall into the pit?

Third, you must have the highest tolerance. 

It is better not to start at all if the yogi who wants to attain the way is in a rough mindset. Regarding the tolerance that practitioners must have, we replace it with the contents of the Forty-two Tripitaka. I hope you put it in a place where you can easily see it and engrave it deeply.

It is difficult to be born as a human being.

Even if a person has escaped the evil realm, it is difficult to be reborn as a human again.

It is difficult to be a man among people,

Even if he becomes a man, it is difficult for him to fully possess the six senses,

Even if you have six senses, it is difficult to be born in a large country.

Even if you were born in a big country, it is difficult to meet the Buddha's world.

Even if you meet the Buddha world, it is difficult to meet a practitioner,

Even if you meet a monk, it is difficult to develop faith.

Even if you have faith, it is difficult to develop Bodhi mind.

Even if one develops the mind of Bodhi, it is truly difficult to reach a state where there is neither cultivation nor increase.

Even if my disciples are far from me

If you always remember the precepts I taught you

You will surely be able to achieve the Tao,

Even if you always look at me by my side

If you do not follow my precepts, you will never attain the Way.

A person practicing the Way is like one person fighting against ten thousand people.

You may put on your armor and walk out the door, then become weak-willed and frightened;

Or you can step back half way,

They fight against each other, die, win, and come back.

When a recluse learns, he should hold his heart firmly and advance courageously.

You must defeat all demons to reap the fruits of the Way.

When making metal bowls, throw away useless metal

Just as a bowl must be made of good metal to be clean and strong.

Even those who learn the Way must cleanse their minds of dirt.

The action will be purified.

Fourth, you must have power. 

Power means wealth. Wealth doesn't mean a lot of wealth. Most of you will have a family. Some people need to take care of their parents, while others have to take care of their wives and children. In this way, it is difficult to attain the Way while fulfilling one's duties and responsibilities in the mundane world.

I hope you set a regular time every day for training while doing your best in the responsibilities and duties given to you. Keep in mind that Tao is never something that can be achieved overnight. By practicing regularly like this, I hope you complete your duties as a husband and wife as a head of household or as a child, then go into a quiet secret place and devote yourself to ascetic practices.

In order to do that, I hope you will collect the funds that will go into practice little by little from now on. I had to go through a lot of difficulties because I was not prepared for that at all. Even food was difficult to procure, so there were many days of starvation. During deep meditation, if there is no stable place to practice, there will be many obstacles to meditation. Even if you are not well fed or well clothed, you must not starve and you must not shiver in the cold. This is the meaning of power (wealth).