When an ordinary person does meritorious deeds he becomes attached to subject and object. “I did that meritorious deed. He is the recipient of my good deed.” That is the way a common person thinks.

Bodhisattvas should adorn Buddhalands without the thought of adornment. That is not to say they should not adorn Buddhalands. It means they should adorn them as if they had done nothing.

To adorn a Buddhaland is to cause the country of a Buddha to be especially beautiful. Our offerings of flowers, fruit, and incense to the Triple Jewel are adornments of Buddhalands. That is not to say you should not adorn Buddhalands. It means you should adorn them, and yet not adorn them. Offerings to the Triple Jewel of flowers, fruit, and incense also serve as adornments for Buddhalands.

From the point of view of common truth there is adornment of Buddhalands. From the point of view of actual truth there is no adornment. If viewed from the doctrine which is perfectly fused without obstruction, adornment is merely a name and nothing more.

When Śākyamuni Buddha first resolved to cultivate the Way, he was a master potter named Expansive Splendor. At that time there was a Buddha in the world named Sakya Tathagata who saw that conditions were ripe to take across the master potter. When the potter Expansive Splendor saw that Sakya Tathagata had come, he welcomed him eagerly. It was with extreme pleasure that he said, “Ahh, I too see the Buddha.” He gazed at the Buddha and then asked him to speak dharma. Upon hearing the dharma the potter immediately made the vow: “Buddha, you are truly superb. In the future when I realize Buddhahood, I will be a Buddha just like you. My name will also be Śākyamuni.” He made the vow to cultivate the Way before that Buddha. Seventy-five thousand Buddhas appeared in the world after that Sakya Buddha, the last of whom was Accumulation of Jewels Tathagata. The period of these 75,000 Buddhas is called the first asaṃkhyeya kalpa. The actual length of time in that first asaṃkhyeya kalpa is certainly incalculable. From Accumulation of Jewels Tathagata to Burning Lamp Buddha is a period in which 76,000 Buddhas appeared in the world, and is called the second asaṃkhyeya kalpa. From Burning Lamp Buddha to Victorious Contemplation Buddha is a period in which 77,000 Buddhas appeared in the world and is called the third great asaṃkhyeya kalpa. It was during those three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas that Śākyamuni Buddha cultivated the Way to the realization of Buddhahood.

Therefore the Buddha said, “Prior to Burning Lamp Buddha, I encountered eighty-four thousands of millions of billions of nayutas of Buddhas, and made offerings to them all, and served them all without exception.” Throughout his long period of cultivation Śākyamuni Buddha never failed to serve the Buddhas who appeared in the world. He made offerings to them all.

However the Buddha further pointed out that “If there is someone in the Dharma Ending Age who can receive the sūtra with his mind and hold it with his body, and who can read or recite it, his merit and virtue is greater than mine for having made offerings for three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas to all eighty-four thousands of millions of nayutas of Buddhas, by several hundred, thousand, million, billion times. Neither calculation, nor analogy, nor comparison can adequately express it.

Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of himself saying “I.” After Sakyamuni Buddha realized Buddhahood, he certified to the Eight Great Independent Aspects of “I”:

1. He could manifest one body as many bodies.
2. He could display one body the size of a mote of dust which filled three thousand great thousand world systems.
3. He had a great body which could float and travel long distances.
4. He could manifest in limitless ways while constantly residing in one land. “Limitless ways” include in the body of a Buddha, of a Bodhisattva, a Sound-Hearer, One Enlightened to Conditions, a god, a man, an asura, a ghost, an animal, and so forth.
5. He had the mutual functioning of all sense faculties. It may sound strange to people who have never heard sutras before that the eyes can eat, the ears can see, the nose can speak, and the mouth can hear and see as well as eat. However, it is possible for the six faculties of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind to function mutually so that each has the abilities of all the others.
6. He fathomed the dharma without the thought of dharma.
7. He could speak the meaning of one gāthā for limitless kalpas.
8. He had a body which could pervade all places like empty space.

There are ten kinds of offerings:

1. Incense. The finest, most expensive incense should be offered to the Buddhas. If you were to buy old incense which shopkeepers were about to discard and bring it as an offering to the Buddha, your heart would be lacking in sincerity. On the other hand, if you were to offer Gosirsa-candana, “Ox-head Sandalwood” incense, your gift, involving considerable sacrifice on your part, could be considered sincere. “Ox-head” incense is often mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra explains that this incense was so fragrant that it could be detected within a radius of thirteen miles when it was being burned in the city of Sravasti during the Buddha’s dharma assemblies. The Brahman woman in the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra sold her house and sacrificed her wealth in order to make a great offering to Enlightenment Flower Samadhi Self-Existent King Tathagata. Her sincerity was so great that she sold the very roof over her head in order to make the very best offerings to the Buddha. The reward for offering incense to the Buddha is that in the future your body will be fragrant. A rare scent constantly issued from Śākyamuni Buddha’s mouth and from every pore on his body. An ordinary person’s body has such a foul odor it can be detected for miles. If you don’t believe that, just consider how a police dog is able to trace a human scent at a distance of three to five miles. However if you make offerings of incense to the Buddha with the hope of gaining a fragrant body, then you have missed the point. You should not seek for it. When your merit and virtue are sufficient your body will quite naturally be fragrant. The gods, for example, have fragrant bodies because they made offerings of incense to the Buddha in former lives. Until your merits and virtues are sufficient, you will continue to have a common stinking body no matter how much you strive to attain a fragrant odor.
2. Flowers. The finer the flowers that you offer to the Buddha, the greater the merit and virtue you receive from the offering. Do not spend all your money for good things to eat, save a little for an offering to the Buddha. The reward for offerings of flowers is that you will have perfect features and be very beautiful or extremely handsome in your next life. People will fall in love with you at first sight. Women will be strongly attracted to you if you are a man, and men will be unable to resist your beauty if you are a woman. “That is too much trouble,” you may say. “I don’t want to get involved with that.” If you don’t want that kind of trouble, so much the better. Śākyamuni Buddha had perfect features as a result of offering incense and flowers to Buddhas in former lives. If you fear the trouble a perfect appearance might bring, you can imitate Patriarch Bodhidharma who had a ragged beard and ugly features! It is up to you. However you like it, you can have it that way.
3. Lamps. If you light lamps before the Buddha, next life your eyes will be bright. You will be able to see the things other people cannot see and know the things other people cannot know. You will be able to attain the penetration of the Five Eyes, the Heavenly eye, the Buddha eye, the Dharma eye, the Wisdom eye, and the Flesh eye. “So-and-so has the Buddha eye,” you may complain. “Why don’t I have one?” Of course you do not have the five eyes; in the past you never bought one lamp to offer to the Buddha. If you want the five eyes you should quickly bring in the very finest incense and oil and light lamps before the Buddha as an offering. The merit and virtue of this kind of offering is so wonderful that as a result you can obtain the five eyes and six spiritual penetrations.
4. Necklaces. Rare jewels and gems may be placed before the Buddha as offerings.
5. Jeweled parasols. Items used in adornment of the Buddha hall are also an acceptable offering.
6. Banners and canopies. Banners made of cloth which has been painted or stitched with adornments, or wooden plaques which have been carved with inscriptions, are offerings appropriate to place before the Buddha. You may also hang canopies like the Great Brahma Heaven King’s net canopy which is circular and adorned with jewels.
7. Clothes. When you make or buy fine clothes you may place them on the altar before the Buddha prior to wearing them. Only upper garments should be offered. Although the Buddha cannot wear the clothes, the offering is a gesture to express the sincerity of your heart.
8. Fruit and food. Food should be placed before the Buddha prior to being eaten. This offering as well is a gesture of respect.
9. Music. Making temple music includes beating the wooden fish, playing the drum and bell, ringing the small bells, striking the gong, and singing praises. Music such as this is an offering to the Buddha.
10. Joined Palms. The tenth kind of offering is simple and does not expend any energy. This is merely placing your palms together as an offering.

“World Honored One, at present, I, Subhūti, hear the Vajra Prajña Pāramita Sūtra and with pure faith I understand the wonderful dharma of prajña, can receive it with my mind, hold it with my body, and not forget it. I do so without difficulty.” Why was it so easy for Subhūti? Because he had planted good roots for many kalpas. If he had lacked good roots, then upon hearing the wonderful dharma of prajña his faith would have been defiled by doubts and skepticism. However, in the past he had made offerings to limitless Buddhas and had planted all good roots of which there are eleven kinds:

1. Faith;
2. Shame;
3. Remorse. You would do well to produce a mind of shame and remorse, recognizing your own wrongdoings and changing the bad to good. In that way you plant good roots. Lack of shame and remorse indicates a lack of good roots;
4. Absence of greed;
5. Absence of hostility;
6. Absence of stupidity;
7. Vigor;
8. Tranquility, which refers to the light ease of sitting in Dhyana;
9. Non-laxity, which means not being careless or lazy, not running wild and being too casual. It also means not disobeying rules. If you are not lax then you follow rules;
10. Non-harming, which means not hurting other creatures; and
11. Renunciation, which means practicing giving without attachment to the mark of giving.

These are the eleven good phenomena of the fifty-one that belong to the mind.

People who are at home should make these offerings. People who have left the home life receive them. Since Sangha members receive offerings in that way, they cultivate the Three Recollections and Five Contemplations as they take their daily meal. Actually, members of the lay community as well as members of the Sangha should practice the Three Recollections as they eat.

With the first bite of food one thinks, “I vow to cut off all evil.” The vow precludes giving rise to any evil thought, not to mention doing evil deeds. With the second bite of food one thinks, “I vow to cultivate all good.” You should not just mechanically recite the vows and consider that sufficient. You need to truly cut off all evil and actually cultivate all good. With the third bite of food one thinks, “I vow to take all living beings across.” The vow means to take all living beings across the sea of suffering to Buddhahood.

You should not glance around as you eat, finding out what everyone else is eating, until you discover, “My bowl doesn’t have any of the delicacies you had to eat. … How come he gets to eat better food than I do?” You should not give rise to such greed. Instead, you should be mindful of Five Contemplations:

1. Reckon the amount of work it took to bring the food to where you eat it.

Figure out how much work the farmer did to plant the fields, and the amount of manual labor needed to cultivate, weed, nourish, and water the crops as they ripened. When ripe the rice had to be harvested and the chaff had to be separated from the grain. Through this contemplation you come to realize it was not easy to bring the food to your bowl.

2. Consider whether your virtuous conduct is sufficient for you to accept the offering.

Ask yourself, “Do I have any cultivation? Do I have any Way virtue? If I am receiving people’s offerings and I have no cultivation, I should be ashamed and penitent.” Then encourage yourself, “Ah, I must immediately cultivate. I must use effort and do the work to end birth and death.” If your virtue is abundant, you should say, “Although I am a greatly virtuous High Master probably the foremost of all High Masters in the world in Way virtue nonetheless I shall work even harder. I accept this offering, and afterwards I shall use even more effort. I still need to progress. If I have certified to the first fruit of Arhatship, then I shall seek the second fruit; if I have certified to the second fruit, I shall seek the third; and if I am a third stage Arhat, then I shall seek to reach the fourth stage. I need to go forward with ever increasing vigor.”

3. Guard your mind against excesses of which greed and so forth are the source.

When you eat, don’t stuff. Eat just enough, then stop. Do not be greedy for more. Sickness enters through the mouth. If you are too greedy, you get diarrhea. No matter how good the food is, if you eat too much and there is no room for it In your stomach, it will have to move out fast, and you will suffer the illness which results from passing undigested food.

4. This is a dose of medicine to keep my body from wasting away. The food is like medicine which keeps my body healthy.

5. It is to accomplish my karma of the Way that I should accept this food.

Ask yourself, “Why do I eat these things?” Then answer yourself, “because I want to cultivate and realize my Way karma so that ultimately I become a Buddha.”

When members of the Sangha are given offerings, they should not be arrogant. And when no one makes offerings to them, they should not harbor greed. Even if you are starving to death, you should cultivate the Way. To starve to death in the course of cultivation is the very greatest glory, the worthiest kind of sacrifice. Don’t fear starvation.

Lao Zi was a transformation body of the Venerable Mahākāśyapa. When the Buddha entered the world, he saw that living beings in China committed many offenses and did not conduct themselves in accord with propriety, so he sent Lao Zi, Confucius, and Yan Hui to China to teach and transform living beings. All three were transformation bodies of Bodhisattvas.

Lao Zi introduced the concept of the unconditioned to the Chinese people. If one can understand unconditioned dharma, one can then come to understand that which is not unconditioned. The Buddhadharma speaks of that which is unconditioned and yet not unconditioned.

A Srotaāpanna is a first stage Arhat. Certification to the first fruit of Arhatship, which is within the Small Vehicle, comes when the eighty-eight categories of view delusions are smashed. It is called the Position of the Way of Seeing. By means of sixteen minds one can cut off the eighty-eight categories of view delusions and certify to the truth.

View delusions are the result of the greed and love that arise when viewing situations. Before one sees something, one has no greed or love concerning it, but once the thing is seen, greed and love for it arise. The production of greed and love regarding states is termed view delusion. The eighty-eight categories of view delusions are cut off by means of the sixteen states of mind, which are aspects of the Four Noble Truths of suffering, accumulation, extinction, and the Way.

Within the desire realm are eight of these hearts:

1. Patience Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Suffering.
2. Wisdom Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Suffering.
3. Patience Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Accumulation,
4. Wisdom Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Accumulation,
5. Patience Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Extinction,
6. Wisdom Regarding the Phenomena Involved in Extinction,
7. Patience Regarding the Phenomena Involved in the Way,
8. Wisdom Regarding the Phenomena Involved in the Way.

The form realm and formless realm have eight:

1. Subsequent Patience Regarding Suffering.
2. Subsequent Wisdom Regarding Suffering.
3. Subsequent Patience Regarding Accumulation,
4. Subsequent Wisdom Regarding Accumulation,
5. Subsequent Patience Regarding Extinction,
6. Subsequent Wisdom Regarding Extinction,
7. Subsequent Patience Regarding the Way,
8. Subsequent Wisdom Regarding the Way.

The sixteen minds are all located in realms where there is attachment to marks. At the fifteenth of the sixteen minds, Subsequent Patience Regarding the Way, view delusions are cut off. That point is classified as Inclination Towards the First Fruit, and is called a Way of Non-Interruption. When one completely attains the sixteenth mind, Subsequent Wisdom Regarding the Way, that is certification to the first fruit of Arhatship. It is called a Way of Liberation, for at that point delusion is completely severed and liberation is obtained.

Some people say that there is no need to hold precepts, and will not even hold the five precepts in order to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and the use of intoxicants. “The Buddhadharma is flexible, not fixed,” they contend, “so my killing isn’t killing, my stealing isn’t stealing, my lying isn’t lying.” One who has such great deviant knowledge and views certainly will fall into the hells in the future. Be very careful not to fall into the kind of total emptiness which denies cause and effect by professing “Offenses are empty, blessings are empty, everything is empty.” If you do not perform acts of merit and virtue you create offenses and bad karma. Right practice is to do good deeds and not to be attached to them. It is essential to perform acts of merit and virtue and maintain the precepts. If you do not maintain the precepts, you can fall into the hells. Everyone should be very clear about that.

The section of text which begins, “If, on the other hand, a person were to receive and hold from this sutra,” was spoken by Śākyamuni Buddha. Receive means that the mind receives it. Hold means that the body puts the teaching into practice. …

In general, one may memorize any four-lines that suit him and explain them to others. One should not interpret the passage of sutra text in this section as referring only to the verses in this particular sutra, because the dharma is not fixed; it’s not inflexible. If one insists on a given four lines, the dharma becomes static. The Vajra Sutra subdues the mind and rids it of rigid attachments, enabling it to separate from all marks. It sweeps away all phenomena and separates from all marks. Separation from all marks is Buddhahood. Do not be attached to a particular four lines. Keep the dharma alive! Let it be like a vital dragon, like a coursing tiger. Speak the sutra until it leaps and bounds. Talk until it soars. Do not be so stuffy that you put everyone to sleep, and then be so stupid as to think your lecturing has caused them to enter samadhi.

Receiving and holding the sutra is self-benefitting cultivation which leads to self-enlightenment. Explaining it to others benefits and enlightens them.

If you can receive and hold a four-line gāthā yourself, and speak it for others, the blessings and virtue of that act are far greater than the blessings and virtue derived by the person who gives three thousand great thousand world systems full of the seven precious gems as a gift. Why? Because the giving of dharma is the most supreme kind of giving, and as such far surpasses the giving of wealth.